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• Screenshot Tour: Ubuntu Touch 14.04 on a Nexus 7

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Ubuntu 14.04 LTS will “form the basis of the first commercially available Ubuntu tablets,” according to Canonical. We installed Ubuntu Touch 14.04 on our own hardware to see what those tablets will be like. We don’t recommend installing this yourself, as it’s still not a polished, complete experience. We’re using “Ubuntu Touch” as shorthand here — apparently this project’s new name is “Ubuntu For Devices.” The Welcome Screen Ubuntu’s touch interface is all about edge swipes and hidden interface elements — it has a lot in common with Windows 8, actually. You’ll see the welcome screen when you boot up or unlock a Ubuntu tablet or phone. If you have new emails, text messages, or other information, it will appear on this screen along with the time and date. If you don’t, you’ll just see a message saying “No data sources available.” The Dash Swipe in from the right edge of the welcome screen to access the Dash, or home screen. This is actually very similar to the Dash on Ubuntu’s Unity desktop. This isn’t a surprise — Canonical wants the desktop and touch versions of Ubuntu to use the same code. In the future, the desktop and touch versions of Ubuntu will use the same version of Unity and Unity will adjust its interface depending on what type of device your’e using. Here you’ll find apps you have installed and apps available to install. Tap an installed app to launch it or tap an available app to view more details and install it. Tap the My apps or Available headings to view a complete list of apps you have installed or apps you can install. Tap the Search box at the top of the screen to start searching — this is how you’d search for new apps to install. As you’d expect, a touch keyboard appears when you tap in the Search field or any other text field. The launcher isn’t just for apps. Tap the Apps heading at the top of the screen and you’ll see hidden text appear — Music, Video, and Scopes. This hidden navigation is used throughout Ubuntu’s different apps and can be easy to miss at first. Swipe to the left or right to move between these screens. These screens are also similar to the different panels in Unity on the desktop. The Scopes section allows you to view different search scopes you have installed. These are used to search different sources when you start a search from the Dash. Search from the Music or Videos scopes to search for local media files on your device or media files online. For example, searching in the Music scope will show you music results from Grooveshark by default. Navigating Ubuntu Touch Swipe in from the left edge anywhere on the system to open the launcher, a bar with shortcuts to apps. This launcher is very similar to the launcher on the left of Ubuntu’s Unity desktop — that’s the whole idea, after all. Once you’ve opened an app, you can leave the app by swiping in from the left. The launcher will appear — keep moving your finger towards the right edge of teh screen. This will swipe the current app off the screen, taking you back to the Dash. Once back on the Dash, you’ll see your open apps represented as thumbnails under Recent. Tap a thumbnail here to go back to a running app. To remove an app from here, long-press it and tap the X button that appears. Swipe in from the right edge in any app to quickly switch between recent apps. Swipe in from the right edge and hold your finger down to reveal an application switcher that shows all your recent apps and lets you choose between them. Swipe down from the top of the screen to access the indicator panel. Here you can connect to Wi-Fi networks, view upcoming events, control GPS and Bluetooth hardware, adjust sound settings, see incoming messages, and more. This panel is for quick access to hardware settings and notifications, just like the indicators on Ubuntu’s Unity desktop. The Apps System settings not included in the pull-down panel are available in the System Settings app. To access it, tap My apps on the Dash and tap System Settings, search for the System Settings app, or open the launcher bar and tap the settings icon. The settings here a bit limited compared to other operating systems, but many of the important options are available here. You can add Evernote, Ubuntu One, Twitter, Facebook, and Google accounts from here. A free Ubuntu One account is mandatory for downloading and updating apps. A Google account can be used to sync contacts and calendar events. Some apps on Ubuntu are native apps, while many are web apps. For example, the Twitter, Gmail, Amazon, Facebook, and eBay apps included by default are all web apps that open each service’s mobile website as an app. Other applications, such as the Weather, Calendar, Dialer, Calculator, and Notes apps are native applications. Theoretically, both types of apps will be able to scale to different screen resolutions. Ubuntu Touch and Ubuntu desktop may one day share the same apps, which will adapt to different display sizes and input methods. Like Windows 8 apps, Ubuntu apps hide interface elements by default, providing you with a full-screen view of the content. Swipe up from the bottom of an app’s screen to view its interface elements. For example, swiping up from the bottom of the Web Browser app reveals Back, Forward, and Refresh buttons, along with an address bar and Activity button so you can view current and recent web pages. Swipe up even more from the bottom and you’ll see a button hovering in the middle of the app. Tap the button and you’ll see many more settings. This is an overflow area for application options and functions that can’t fit on the navigation bar. The Terminal app has a few surprising Easter eggs in this panel, including a “Hack into the NSA” option. Tap it and the following text will appear in the terminal: That’s not very nice, now tracing your location . . . . . . . . . . . .Trace failed You got away this time, but don’t try again. We’d expect to see such Easter eggs disappear before Ubuntu Touch actually ships on real devices. Ubuntu Touch has come a long way, but it’s still not something you want to use today. For example, it doesn’t even have a built-in email client — you’ll have to us your email service’s mobile website. Few apps are available, and many of the ones that are are just mobile websites. It’s not a polished operating system intended for normal users yet — it’s more of a preview for developers and device manufacturers. If you really want to try it yourself, you can install it on a Wi-Fi Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 10, or Nexus 4 device. Follow Ubuntu’s installation instructions here.

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• CCSpriteHole in cocos2d 2.0?

  - by rakkarage

  i was using this cocos2d class CCSpriteHole in cocos2d 1.0 fine... http://jpsarda.tumblr.com/post/15779708304/new-cocos2d-iphone-extensions-a-progress-bar-and-a i am trying to convert it to cocos2d 2.0... i got it to compile by changing glVertexPointer to glVertexAttribPointer like in the 2.0 version of CCSpriteScale9 here http://jpsarda.tumblr.com/post/9162433577/scale9grid-for-cocos2d and changing contentSizeInPixels_ to contentSize_... -(id) init { if( (self=[super init]) ) { opacityModifyRGB_ = YES; opacity_ = 255; color_ = colorUnmodified_ = ccWHITE; capSize=capSizeInPixels=CGSizeZero; //Not used blendFunc_.src = CC_BLEND_SRC; blendFunc_.dst = CC_BLEND_DST; // update texture (calls updateBlendFunc) [self setTexture:nil]; // default transform anchor anchorPoint_ = ccp(0.5f, 0.5f); vertexDataCount=24; vertexData = (ccV2F_C4F_T2F*) malloc(vertexDataCount * sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F)); [self setTextureRectInPixels:CGRectZero untrimmedSize:CGSizeZero]; } return self; } -(id) initWithTexture:(CCTexture2D*)texture rect:(CGRect)rect { NSAssert(texture!=nil, @"Invalid texture for sprite"); // IMPORTANT: [self init] and not [super init]; if( (self = [self init]) ) { [self setTexture:texture]; [self setTextureRect:rect]; } return self; } -(id) initWithTexture:(CCTexture2D*)texture { NSAssert(texture!=nil, @"Invalid texture for sprite"); CGRect rect = CGRectZero; rect.size = texture.contentSize; return [self initWithTexture:texture rect:rect]; } -(id) initWithFile:(NSString*)filename { NSAssert(filename!=nil, @"Invalid filename for sprite"); CCTexture2D *texture = [[CCTextureCache sharedTextureCache] addImage: filename]; if( texture ) return [self initWithTexture:texture]; return nil; } +(id)spriteWithFile:(NSString*)f { return [[self alloc] initWithFile:f]; } - (void) dealloc { if (vertexData) free(vertexData); } -(void) updateColor { ccColor4F color4; color4.r=(float)color_.r/255.0f; color4.g=(float)color_.g/255.0f; color4.b=(float)color_.b/255.0f; color4.a=(float)opacity_/255.0f; for (int i=0; i<vertexDataCount; i++) { vertexData[i].colors=color4; } } -(void)updateTextureCoords:(CGRect)rect { CCTexture2D *tex = texture_; if(!tex) return; float atlasWidth = (float)tex.pixelsWide; float atlasHeight = (float)tex.pixelsHigh; float left,right,top,bottom; left = rect.origin.x/atlasWidth; right = left + rect.size.width/atlasWidth; top = rect.origin.y/atlasHeight; bottom = top + rect.size.height/atlasHeight; // // |/|/|/| // CGSize capTexCoordsSize=CGSizeMake(capSizeInPixels.width/atlasWidth, capSizeInPixels.height/atlasHeight); // From left to right //Top band // Left vertexData[0].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left,top}; vertexData[1].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left,top+capTexCoordsSize.height}; vertexData[2].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left+capTexCoordsSize.width,top}; vertexData[3].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left+capTexCoordsSize.width,top+capTexCoordsSize.height}; // Center vertexData[4].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right-capTexCoordsSize.width,top}; vertexData[5].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right-capTexCoordsSize.width,top+capTexCoordsSize.height}; // Right vertexData[6].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right,top}; vertexData[7].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right,top+capTexCoordsSize.height}; //Center band // Left vertexData[8].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left,bottom-capTexCoordsSize.height}; vertexData[9].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left,top+capTexCoordsSize.height}; vertexData[10].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left+capTexCoordsSize.width,bottom-capTexCoordsSize.height}; vertexData[11].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left+capTexCoordsSize.width,top+capTexCoordsSize.height}; // Center vertexData[12].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right-capTexCoordsSize.width,bottom-capTexCoordsSize.height}; vertexData[13].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right-capTexCoordsSize.width,top+capTexCoordsSize.height}; // Right vertexData[14].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right,bottom-capTexCoordsSize.height}; vertexData[15].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right,top+capTexCoordsSize.height}; //Bottom band //Left vertexData[16].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left,bottom}; vertexData[17].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left,bottom-capTexCoordsSize.height}; vertexData[18].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left+capTexCoordsSize.width,bottom}; vertexData[19].texCoords=(ccTex2F){left+capTexCoordsSize.width,bottom-capTexCoordsSize.height}; // Center vertexData[20].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right-capTexCoordsSize.width,bottom}; vertexData[21].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right-capTexCoordsSize.width,bottom-capTexCoordsSize.height}; // Right vertexData[22].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right,bottom}; vertexData[23].texCoords=(ccTex2F){right,bottom-capTexCoordsSize.height}; } -(void) updateVertices { float left=0; //-spriteSizeInPixels.width*0.5f; float right=left+contentSize_.width; float bottom=0; //-spriteSizeInPixels.height*0.5f; float top=bottom+contentSize_.height; float holeLeft=holeRect.origin.x*CC_CONTENT_SCALE_FACTOR(); float holeRight=holeLeft+holeRect.size.width*CC_CONTENT_SCALE_FACTOR(); float holeBottom=holeRect.origin.y*CC_CONTENT_SCALE_FACTOR(); float holeTop=holeBottom+holeRect.size.height*CC_CONTENT_SCALE_FACTOR(); // // |/|/|/| // // From left to right //Top band // Left vertexData[0].vertices=(ccVertex2F){left,top}; vertexData[1].vertices=(ccVertex2F){left,holeTop}; vertexData[2].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeLeft,top}; vertexData[3].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeLeft,holeTop}; // Center vertexData[4].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeRight,top}; vertexData[5].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeRight,holeTop}; // Right vertexData[6].vertices=(ccVertex2F){right,top}; vertexData[7].vertices=(ccVertex2F){right,holeTop}; //Center band // Left vertexData[8].vertices=(ccVertex2F){left,holeBottom}; vertexData[9].vertices=(ccVertex2F){left,holeTop}; vertexData[10].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeLeft,holeBottom}; vertexData[11].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeLeft,holeTop}; // Center vertexData[12].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeRight,holeBottom}; vertexData[13].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeRight,holeTop}; // Right vertexData[14].vertices=(ccVertex2F){right,holeBottom}; vertexData[15].vertices=(ccVertex2F){right,holeTop}; //Bottom band //Left vertexData[16].vertices=(ccVertex2F){left,bottom}; vertexData[17].vertices=(ccVertex2F){left,holeBottom}; vertexData[18].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeLeft,bottom}; vertexData[19].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeLeft,holeBottom}; // Center vertexData[20].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeRight,bottom}; vertexData[21].vertices=(ccVertex2F){holeRight,holeBottom}; // Right vertexData[22].vertices=(ccVertex2F){right,bottom}; vertexData[23].vertices=(ccVertex2F){right,holeBottom}; } -(void) setHole:(CGRect)r inRect:(CGRect)totalSurface { holeRect=r; self.contentSize=totalSurface.size; holeRect.origin=ccpSub(holeRect.origin,totalSurface.origin); CGPoint holeCenter=ccp(holeRect.origin.x+holeRect.size.width*0.5f,holeRect.origin.y+holeRect.size.height*0.5f); self.anchorPoint=ccp(holeCenter.x/contentSize_.width,holeCenter.y/contentSize_.height); //[self updateTextureCoords:rectInPixels_]; [self updateVertices]; [self updateColor]; } -(void) draw { BOOL newBlend = NO; if( blendFunc_.src != CC_BLEND_SRC || blendFunc_.dst != CC_BLEND_DST ) { newBlend = YES; glBlendFunc( blendFunc_.src, blendFunc_.dst ); } glBindTexture(GL_TEXTURE_2D, [texture_ name]); glVertexAttribPointer(kCCVertexAttrib_Position, 2, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F), &vertexData[0].vertices); glVertexAttribPointer(kCCVertexAttrib_TexCoords, 2, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F), &vertexData[0].texCoords); glVertexAttribPointer(kCCVertexAttrib_Color, 4, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F), &vertexData[0].colors); glDrawArrays(GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP, 0, 8); glVertexAttribPointer(kCCVertexAttrib_Position, 2, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F), &vertexData[8].vertices); glVertexAttribPointer(kCCVertexAttrib_TexCoords, 2, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F), &vertexData[8].texCoords); glVertexAttribPointer(kCCVertexAttrib_Color, 4, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F), &vertexData[8].colors); glDrawArrays(GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP, 0, 8); glVertexAttribPointer(kCCVertexAttrib_Position, 2, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F), &vertexData[16].vertices); glVertexAttribPointer(kCCVertexAttrib_TexCoords, 2, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F), &vertexData[16].texCoords); glVertexAttribPointer(kCCVertexAttrib_Color, 4, GL_FLOAT, GL_FALSE, sizeof(ccV2F_C4F_T2F), &vertexData[16].colors); glDrawArrays(GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP, 0, 8); if( newBlend ) glBlendFunc(CC_BLEND_SRC, CC_BLEND_DST); } -(void)setTextureRectInPixels:(CGRect)rect untrimmedSize:(CGSize)untrimmedSize { rectInPixels_ = rect; rect_ = CC_RECT_PIXELS_TO_POINTS( rect ); //[self setContentSizeInPixels:untrimmedSize]; [self updateTextureCoords:rectInPixels_]; } -(void)setTextureRect:(CGRect)rect { CGRect rectInPixels = CC_RECT_POINTS_TO_PIXELS( rect ); [self setTextureRectInPixels:rectInPixels untrimmedSize:rectInPixels.size]; } // // RGBA protocol // #pragma mark CCSpriteHole - RGBA protocol -(GLubyte) opacity { return opacity_; } -(void) setOpacity:(GLubyte) anOpacity { opacity_ = anOpacity; // special opacity for premultiplied textures if( opacityModifyRGB_ ) [self setColor: (opacityModifyRGB_ ? colorUnmodified_ : color_ )]; [self updateColor]; } - (ccColor3B) color { if(opacityModifyRGB_){ return colorUnmodified_; } return color_; } -(void) setColor:(ccColor3B)color3 { color_ = colorUnmodified_ = color3; if( opacityModifyRGB_ ){ color_.r = color3.r * opacity_/255; color_.g = color3.g * opacity_/255; color_.b = color3.b * opacity_/255; } [self updateColor]; } -(void) setOpacityModifyRGB:(BOOL)modify { ccColor3B oldColor = self.color; opacityModifyRGB_ = modify; self.color = oldColor; } -(BOOL) doesOpacityModifyRGB { return opacityModifyRGB_; } #pragma mark CCSpriteHole - CocosNodeTexture protocol -(void) updateBlendFunc { if( !texture_ || ! [texture_ hasPremultipliedAlpha] ) { blendFunc_.src = GL_SRC_ALPHA; blendFunc_.dst = GL_ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA; [self setOpacityModifyRGB:NO]; } else { blendFunc_.src = CC_BLEND_SRC; blendFunc_.dst = CC_BLEND_DST; [self setOpacityModifyRGB:YES]; } } -(void) setTexture:(CCTexture2D*)texture { // accept texture==nil as argument NSAssert( !texture || [texture isKindOfClass:[CCTexture2D class]], @"setTexture expects a CCTexture2D. Invalid argument"); texture_ = texture; [self updateBlendFunc]; } -(CCTexture2D*) texture { return texture_; } @end but now positioning and scaling seem to not work? and it starts in the wrong position... but changing the opacity still works. so i was wondering if anyone can see why my 2.0 version is not working? or if maybe there is a better way to do a sprite hole with cocos2d/opengl 2.0? shaders? thanks

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• SOA Implementation Challenges

  Why do companies think that if they put up a web service that they are doing Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)? Unfortunately, the IT and business world love to run on the latest hype or buzz words of which very few even understand the meaning. One of the largest issues companies have today as they consider going down the path of SOA, is the lack of knowledge regarding the architectural style and the over usage of the term SOA. So how do we solve this issue?I am sure most of you are thinking by now that you know what SOA is because you developed a few web services.  Isn’t that SOA, right? No, that is not SOA, but instead Just Another Web Service (JAWS). For us to better understand what SOA is let’s look at a few definitions.Douglas K. Bary defines service-oriented architecture as a collection of services. These services are enabled to communicate with each other in order to pass data or coordinating some activity with other services.If you look at this definition closely you will notice that Bary states that services communicate with each other. Let us compare this statement with my first statement regarding companies that claim to be doing SOA when they have just a collection of web services. In order for these web services to for an SOA application they need to be interdependent on one another forming some sort of architectural hierarchy. Just because a company has a few web services does not mean that they are all interconnected.SearchSOA from TechTarget.com states that SOA defines how two computing entities work collectively to enable one entity to perform a unit of work on behalf of another. Once again, just because a company has a few web services does not guarantee that they are even working together let alone if they are performing work for each other.SearchSOA also points out service interactions should be self-contained and loosely-coupled so that all interactions operate independent of each other.Of all the definitions regarding SOA Thomas Erl’s seems to shed the most light on this concept. He states that “SOA establishes an architectural model that aims to enhance the efficiency, agility, and productivity of an enterprise by positioning services as the primary means through which solution logic is represented in support of the realization of the strategic goals associated with service-oriented computing.” (Erl, 2011) Once again this definition proves that a collection of web services does not mean that a company is doing SOA. However, it does mean that a company has a collection of web services, and that is it.In order for a company to start to go down the path of SOA, they must take  a hard look at their existing business process while abstracting away any technology so that they can define what is they really want to accomplish. Once a company has done this, they can begin to factor out common sub business process like credit card process, user authentication or system notifications in to small components that can be built independent of each other and then reassembled to form new and dynamic services that are loosely coupled and agile in that they can change as a business grows.Another key pitfall of companies doing SOA is the fact that they let vendors drive their architecture. Why do companies do this? Vendors’ do not hold your company’s success as their top priority; in fact they hold their own success as their top priority by selling you as much stuff as you are willing to buy. In my experience companies tend to strive for the maximum amount of benefits with a minimal amount of cost. Does anyone else see any conflicts between this and the driving force behind vendors.Mike Kavis recommends in an article written in CIO.com that companies need to figure out what they need before they talk to a vendor or at least have some idea of what they need. It is important to thoroughly evaluate each vendor and watch them perform a live demo of their system so that you as the company fully understand what kind of product or service the vendor is actually offering. In addition, do research on each vendor that you are considering, check out blog posts, online reviews, and any information you can find on the vendor through various search engines.Finally he recommends companies to verify any recommendations supplied by a vendor. From personal experience this is very important. I can remember when the company I worked for purchased a $200,000 add-on to their phone system that never actually worked as it was intended. In fact, just after my departure from the company started the process of attempting to get their money back from the vendor. This potentially could have been avoided if the company had done the research before selecting this vendor to ensure that their product and vendor would live up to their claims. I know that some SOA vendor offer free training regarding SOA because they know that there are a lot of misconceptions about the topic. Superficially this is a great thing for companies to take part in especially if the company is starting to implement SOA architecture and are still unsure about some topics or are looking for some guidance regarding the topic. However beware that some companies will focus on their product line only regarding the training. As an example, InfoWorld.com claims that companies providing deep seminars disguised as training, focusing more about ESBs and SOA governance technology, and less on how to approach and solve the architectural issues of the attendees.In short, it is important to remember that we as software professionals are responsible for guiding a business’s technology sections should be well informed and fully understand any new concepts that may be considered for implementation. As I have demonstrated already a company that has a few web services does not mean that they are doing SOA.  Additionally, we must not let the new buzz word of the day drive our technology, but instead our technology decisions should be driven from research and proven experience. Finally, it is important to rely on vendors when necessary, however, always take what they say with a grain of salt while cross checking any claims that they may make because we have to live with the aftermath of a system after the vendors are gone.   References: Barry, D. K. (2011). Service-oriented architecture (SOA) definition. Retrieved 12 12, 2011, from Service-Architecture.com: http://www.service-architecture.com/web-services/articles/service-oriented_architecture_soa_definition.html Connell, B. (2003, 9). service-oriented architecture (SOA). Retrieved 12 12, 2011, from SearchSOA: http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/service-oriented-architecture Erl, T. (2011, 12 12). Service-Oriented Architecture. Retrieved 12 12, 2011, from WhatIsSOA: http://www.whatissoa.com/p10.php InfoWorld. (2008, 6 1). Should you get your SOA knowledge from SOA vendors? . Retrieved 12 12, 2011, from InfoWorld.com: http://www.infoworld.com/d/architecture/should-you-get-your-soa-knowledge-soa-vendors-453 Kavis, M. (2008, 6 18). Top 10 Reasons Why People are Making SOA Fail. Retrieved 12 13, 2011, from CIO.com: http://www.cio.com/article/438413/Top_10_Reasons_Why_People_are_Making_SOA_Fail?page=5&taxonomyId=3016  

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• Session Evaluations

  - by BuckWoody

  I do a lot of public speaking. I write, teach, present and communicate at many levels. I love to do those things. And I love to get better at them. And one of the ways you get better at something is to get feedback on how you did. That being said, I have to confess that I really despise the “evaluations” I get at most venues. From college to technical events to other locations, at Microsoft and points in between, I find these things to be just shy of damaging, and most certainly useless. And it’s not always your fault. Ouch. That seems harsh. But let me ask you one question – and be as honest as you can with the answer – think about it first: “What is the point of a session evaluation?” I’m not saying there isn’t one. In fact, I think there’s a really important reason for them. In my mind, it’s really this: To make the speaker / next session better. Now, if you look at that, you can see right away that most session evals don’t accomplish this goal – not even a little. No, the way that they are worded and the way you (and I) fill them out, it’s more like the implied goal is this: Tell us how you liked this speaker / session. The current ones are for you, not for the speaker or the next person. It’s a popularity contest. Don’t get me wrong. I want to you have a good time. I want you to learn. I want (desperately, oh, please oh please) for you to like me. But in fact, that’s probably not why you went to the session / took the class / read that post. No, you want to learn, and to learn for a particular reason. Remember, I’m talking about college classes, sessions and other class environments here, not a general public event. Most – OK, all – session evaluations make you answer the second goal, not the first. Let’s see how: First, they don’t ask you why you’re there. They don’t ask you if you’re even qualified to evaluate the session or speaker. They don’t ask you how to make it better or keep it great. They use odd numeric scales that are meaningless. For instance, can someone really tell me the difference between a 100-level session and a 200-level one? Between a 400-level and a 500? Is it “internals” (whatever that means) or detail, or length or code, or what? I once heard a great description: A 100-level session makes me say, “wow - I’m smart.” A 500-level session makes me say “wow – that presenter is smart.” And just what is the difference between a 6 and a 7 answer on this question: How well did the speaker know the material? 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 Oh. My. Gosh. How does that make the next session better, or the speaker? And what criteria did you use to answer? And is a “10” better than a “1” (not always clear, and various cultures answer this differently). When it’s all said and done, a speaker basically finds out one thing from the current session evals: “They liked me. They really really liked me.” Or, “Wow. I think I may need to schedule some counseling for the depression I’m about to go into.” You may not think that’s what the speaker hears, but trust me, they do. Those are the only two reactions to the current feedback sheets they get. Either they keep doing what they are doing, or they get their feelings hurt. They just can’t use the information provided to do better. Sorry, but there it is. Keep in mind I do want your feedback. I want to get better. I want you to get your money and time’s worth, probably as much as any speaker alive. But I want those evaluations to be accurate, specific and actionable. I want to know if you had a good time, sure, but I also want to know if I did the right things, and if not, if I can do something different or better. And so, for your consideration, here is the evaluation form I would LOVE for you to use. Feel free to copy it and mail it to me any time. I’m going to put some questions here, and then I’ll even include why they are there. Notice that the form asks you a subjective question right away, and then makes you explain why. That’s work on your part. Notice also that it separates the room and the coffee and the lights and the LiveMeeting from the presenter. So many presenters are faced with circumstances beyond their control, and yet are rated high or low personally on those things. This form helps tease those apart. It’s not numeric. Numbers are easier for the scoring committees but are useless for you and me. So I don’t have any numbers. We’re actually going to have to read these things, not put them in a machine. Hey, if you put in the work to write stuff down, the least we could do is take the time to read it. It’s not anonymous. If you’ve got something to say, say it, and own up to it. People are not “more honest” when they are anonymous, they are less honest. So put your name on it. In fact – this is radical – I posit that these evaluations should be publicly available. Forever. Just like replies to a blog post. Hey, if I’m an organizer, I would LOVE to be able to have access to specific, actionable information on the attendees and the speakers. So if you want mine to be public, go for it. I’ll take the good and the bad. Enjoy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Session Evaluation – Date, Time, Location, Topic Thanks for giving us your time today. We know that’s valuable, and we hope you learned something you can use from the session. If you can answer these questions as completely as you can, it will help the next person who attends a session here. Your Name: What you do for a living: (We Need your background to evaluate your evaluation) How long you have been doing that: (Again, we need your background to evaluate your evaluation) Paste Session Description Here: (This is what I said I would talk about) Did you like the session?                     No        Meh        Yes (General subjective question – overall “feeling”. You’ll tell us why in a minute.)  Tell us about the venue. Temperature, lights, coffee, or the online sound, performance, anything other than the speaker and the material. (Helps the logistics to be better or as good for the next person) 1. What did you expect to learn in this session? (How did you interpret that extract – did you have expectations that I should work towards for the next person?) 2. Did you learn what you expected to learn? Why? Be very specific. (This is the most important question there is. It tells us how to make the session better for someone like you.) 3. If you were giving this presentation, would you have done anything differently? What? (Helps us to gauge you, the listener, and might give us a great idea on how to do something better. Thanks!) 4. What will you do with the information you got? (Every presenter wants you to learn, and learn something useful. This will help us do that as well or better)  

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• LibGDX onTouch() method Array and flip method

  - by johnny-b

  How can I add this on my application. i want to use the onTouch() method from the implementation of the InputProcessor to kill the enemies on screen. how do i do that? do i have to do anything to the enemy class? also i am trying to add a Array of enemies and it keeps throwing exceptions or the bullet now is facing LEFT <--- again after I used the flip method in the bullet class. All the code is below so please anyone feel free to have a look thanks. please help Thank you M // This is the bullet class. public class Bullet extends Sprite { public static final float BULLET_HOMING = 6000; public static final float BULLET_SPEED = 300; private Vector2 velocity; private float lifetime; private Rectangle bul; public Bullet(float x, float y) { velocity = new Vector2(0, 0); setPosition(x, y); AssetLoader.bullet1.flip(true, false); AssetLoader.bullet2.flip(true, false); setSize(AssetLoader.bullet1.getWidth(), AssetLoader.bullet1.getHeight()); bul = new Rectangle(); } public void update(float delta) { float targetX = GameWorld.getBall().getX(); float targetY = GameWorld.getBall().getY(); float dx = targetX - getX(); float dy = targetY - getY(); float distToTarget = (float) Math.sqrt(dx * dx + dy * dy); dx /= distToTarget; dy /= distToTarget; dx *= BULLET_HOMING; dy *= BULLET_HOMING; velocity.x += dx * delta; velocity.y += dy * delta; float vMag = (float) Math.sqrt(velocity.x * velocity.x + velocity.y * velocity.y); velocity.x /= vMag; velocity.y /= vMag; velocity.x *= BULLET_SPEED; velocity.y *= BULLET_SPEED; bul.set(getX(), getY(), getOriginX(), getOriginY()); Vector2 v = velocity.cpy().scl(delta); setPosition(getX() + v.x, getY() + v.y); setOriginCenter(); setRotation(velocity.angle()); } public Rectangle getBounds() { return bul; } public Rectangle getBounds1() { return this.getBoundingRectangle(); } } // This is the class where i load all the images from public class AssetLoader { public static Texture texture; public static TextureRegion bg, ball1, ball2; public static Animation bulletAnimation, ballAnimation; public static Sprite bullet1, bullet2; public static void load() { texture = new Texture(Gdx.files.internal("SpriteN1.png")); texture.setFilter(TextureFilter.Nearest, TextureFilter.Nearest); bg = new TextureRegion(texture, 80, 421, 395, 30); bg.flip(false, true); ball1 = new TextureRegion(texture, 0, 321, 32, 32); ball1.flip(false, true); ball2 = new TextureRegion(texture, 32, 321, 32, 32); ball2.flip(false, true); bullet1 = new Sprite(texture, 380, 350, 45, 20); bullet1.flip(false, true); bullet2 = new Sprite(texture, 425, 350, 45, 20); bullet2.flip(false, true); TextureRegion[] balls = { ball1, ball2 }; ballAnimation = new Animation(0.16f, balls); ballAnimation.setPlayMode(Animation.PlayMode.LOOP); } Sprite[] bullets = { bullet1, bullet2 }; bulletAnimation = new Animation(0.06f, aims); bulletAnimation.setPlayMode(Animation.PlayMode.LOOP); } public static void dispose() { texture.dispose(); } // This is for the rendering or drawing onto the screen/canvas. public class GameRenderer { private Bullet bullet; private Ball ball; public GameRenderer(GameWorld world) { myWorld = world; cam = new OrthographicCamera(); cam.setToOrtho(true, 480, 320); batcher = new SpriteBatch(); // Attach batcher to camera batcher.setProjectionMatrix(cam.combined); shapeRenderer = new ShapeRenderer(); shapeRenderer.setProjectionMatrix(cam.combined); // Call helper methods to initialize instance variables initGameObjects(); initAssets(); } private void initGameObjects() { ball = GameWorld.getBall(); bullet = myWorld.getBullet(); scroller = myWorld.getScroller(); } private void initAssets() { ballAnimation = AssetLoader.ballAnimation; bulletAnimation = AssetLoader.bulletAnimation; } public void render(float runTime) { Gdx.gl.glClearColor(0, 0, 0, 1); Gdx.gl.glClear(GL30.GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT); batcher.begin(); batcher.disableBlending(); batcher.enableBlending(); batcher.draw(AssetLoader.ballAnimation.getKeyFrame(runTime), ball.getX(), ball.getY(), ball.getWidth(), ball.getHeight()); batcher.draw(AssetLoader.bulletAnimation.getKeyFrame(runTime), bullet.getX(), bullet.getY(), bullet.getOriginX(), bullet.getOriginY(), bullet.getWidth(), bullet.getHeight(), 1.0f, 1.0f, bullet.getRotation()); // End SpriteBatch batcher.end(); } } // this is to load the image etc on the screen i guess public class GameWorld { public static Ball ball; private Bullet bullet; private ScrollHandler scroller; public GameWorld() { ball = new Ball(480, 273, 32, 32); bullet = new Bullet(10, 10); scroller = new ScrollHandler(0); } public void update(float delta) { ball.update(delta); bullet.update(delta); scroller.update(delta); } public static Ball getBall() { return ball; } public ScrollHandler getScroller() { return scroller; } public Bullet getBullet() { return bullet; } } //This is the input handler class public class InputHandler implements InputProcessor { private Ball myBall; private Bullet bullet; private GameRenderer aims; // Ask for a reference to the Soldier when InputHandler is created. public InputHandler(Ball ball) { myBall = ball; } @Override public boolean touchDown(int screenX, int screenY, int pointer, int button) { return false; } @Override public boolean keyDown(int keycode) { return false; } @Override public boolean keyUp(int keycode) { return false; } @Override public boolean keyTyped(char character) { return false; } @Override public boolean touchUp(int screenX, int screenY, int pointer, int button) { return false; } @Override public boolean touchDragged(int screenX, int screenY, int pointer) { return false; } @Override public boolean mouseMoved(int screenX, int screenY) { return false; } @Override public boolean scrolled(int amount) { return false; } } i am rendering all graphics in a GameRender class and a gameworld class if you need more info please let me know I am trying to make the array work but keep finding that when an array is initialized then the bullet fips back to the original and ends up being backwards???? and if I create an array I keep getting Exceptions throw??? Thank you for any help given.

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, May 29, 2014

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, May 29, 2014Popular ReleasesQuickMon: Version 3.13: 1. Adding an Audio/sound notifier that can be used to simply draw attention to the application of a warning pr error state is returned by a collector. 2. Adding a property for Notifiers so it can be set to 'Attended', 'Unattended' or 'Both' modes. 3. Adding a WCF method to remote agent host so the version can be checked remotely. 4. Adding some 'Sample' monitor packs to installer. Note: this release and the next release (3.14 aka Pie release) will have some breaking changes and will be incom...fnr.exe - Find And Replace Tool: 1.7: Bug fixes Refactored logic for encoding text values to command line to handle common edge cases where find/replace operation works in GUI but not in command line Fix for bug where selection in Encoding drop down was different when generating command line in some cases. It was reported in: https://findandreplace.codeplex.com/workitem/34 Fix for "Backslash inserted before dot in replacement text" reported here: https://findandreplace.codeplex.com/discussions/541024 Fix for finding replacing...VG-Ripper & PG-Ripper: VG-Ripper 2.9.59: changes NEW: Added Support for 'GokoImage.com' links NEW: Added Support for 'ViperII.com' links NEW: Added Support for 'PixxxView.com' links NEW: Added Support for 'ImgRex.com' links NEW: Added Support for 'PixLiv.com' links NEW: Added Support for 'imgsee.me' links NEW: Added Support for 'ImgS.it' linksXsemmel - XML Editor and Viewer: 29-MAY-2014: WINDOWS XP IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED If you need support for WinXP, download release 15-MAR-2014 instead. FIX: Some minor issues NEW: Better visualisation of validation issues NEW: Printing CHG: Disabled Jumplist CHG: updated to .net 4.5, WinXP NO LONGER SUPPORTEDSPART (SharePoint Admin & Reporting Tool): Installation Kit V1.1: Installation Kit SPART V1.1 This release covers, • Site Size • Count - Sites, Site Collection, Document • Site collection quota information • Site/Web apps / Site collection permission which seeks URL as input/ • Last content change for sites which displays the time stampPerformance Analyzer for Microsoft Dynamics: DynamicsPerf 1.20: Version 1.20 Improved performance in PERFHOURLYROWDATA_VW Fixed error handling encrypted triggers Added logic ACTIVITYMONITORVW to handle Context_Info for Dynamics AX 2012 and above with this flag set on AOS Added logic to optional blocking to handle Context_Info for Dynamics AX 2012 and above with this flag set on AOS Added additional queries for investigating blocking Added logic to collect Baseline capture data (NOTE: QUERY_STATS table has entire procedure cache for that db during...Toolbox for Dynamics CRM 2011/2013: XrmToolBox (v1.2014.5.28): XrmToolbox improvement XrmToolBox updates (v1.2014.5.28)Fix connecting to a connection with custom authentication without saved password Tools improvement New tool!Solution Components Mover (v1.2014.5.22) Transfer solution components from one solution to another one Import/Export NN relationships (v1.2014.3.7) Allows you to import and export many to many relationships Tools updatesAttribute Bulk Updater (v1.2014.5.28) Audit Center (v1.2014.5.28) View Layout Replicator (v1.2014.5.28) Scrip...Microsoft Ajax Minifier: Microsoft Ajax Minifier 5.10: Fix for Issue #20875 - echo switch doesn't work for CSS CSS should honor the SASS source-file comments JS should allow multi-line comment directivesClosedXML - The easy way to OpenXML: ClosedXML 0.71.1: More performance improvements. It's faster and consumes less memory.Dynamics CRM Rich UX: RichUX Managed Solution File v0.4: Added format type attribute so icons, CSS and colors may be defined by the retrieved entity record. Also added samples in documentation on setting up FetchXML and tabs. Only for demo / experimenting. Do not use in production without extensive testing. Please help make this package better by reporting all issues.Fluentx: Fluentx v1.4.0: Added object to object mapper, added new NotIn extention method, and added documentation to library with fluentx.xmlVK.NET - Vkontakte API for .NET: VkNet 1.0.5: ?????????? ????? ??????.Kartris E-commerce: Kartris v2.6002: Minor release: Double check that Logins_GetList sproc is present, sometimes seems to get missed earlier if upgrading which can give error when viewing logins page Added CSV and TXT export option; this is not Google Products compatible, but can give a good base for creating a file for some other systems such as Amazon Fixed some minor combination and options issues to improve interface back and front Turn bitcoin and some other gateways off by default Minor CSS changes Fixed currenc...SimCityPak: SimCityPak 0.3.1.0: Main New Features: Fixed Importing of Instance Names (get rid of the Dutch translations) Added advanced editor for Decal Dictionaries Added possibility to import .PNG to generate new decals Added advanced editor for Path display entriesTiny Deduplicator: Tiny Deduplicator 1.0.1.0: Increased version number to 1.0.1.0 Moved all options to a separate 'Options' dialog window. Allows the user to specify a selection strategy which will help when dealing with large numbers of duplicate files. Available options are "None," "Keep First," and "Keep Last"SEToolbox: SEToolbox 01.031.009 Release 1: Added mirroring of ConveyorTubeCurved. Updated Ship cube rotation to rotate ship back to original location (cubes are reoriented but ship appears no different to outsider), and to rotate Grouped items. Repair now fixes the loss of Grouped controls due to changes in Space Engineers 01.030. Added export asteroids. Rejoin ships will merge grouping and conveyor systems (even though broken ships currently only maintain the Grouping on one part of the ship). Installation of this version wi...Player Framework by Microsoft: Player Framework for Windows and WP v2.0: Support for new Universal and Windows Phone 8.1 projects for both Xaml and JavaScript projects. See a detailed list of improvements, breaking changes and a general overview of version 2 ADDITIONAL DOWNLOADSSmooth Streaming Client SDK for Windows 8 Applications Smooth Streaming Client SDK for Windows 8.1 Applications Smooth Streaming Client SDK for Windows Phone 8.1 Applications Microsoft PlayReady Client SDK for Windows 8 Applications Microsoft PlayReady Client SDK for Windows 8.1 Applicat...TerraMap (Terraria World Map Viewer): TerraMap 1.0.6: Added support for the new Terraria v1.2.4 update. New items, walls, and tiles Added the ability to select multiple highlighted block types. Added a dynamic, interactive highlight opacity slider, making it easier to find highlighted tiles with dark colors (and fixed blurriness from 1.0.5 alpha). Added ability to find Enchanted Swords (in the stone) and Water Bolt books Fixed Issue 35206: Hightlight/Find doesn't work for Demon Altars Fixed finding Demon Hearts/Shadow Orbs Fixed inst...DotNet.Highcharts: DotNet.Highcharts 4.0 with Examples: DotNet.Highcharts 4.0 Tested and adapted to the latest version of Highcharts 4.0.1 Added new chart type: Heatmap Added new type PointPlacement which represents enumeration or number for the padding of the X axis. Changed target framework from .NET Framework 4 to .NET Framework 4.5. Closed issues: 974: Add 'overflow' property to PlotOptionsColumnDataLabels class 997: Split container from JS 1006: Series/Categories with numeric names don't render DotNet.Highcharts.Samples Updated s...Extended WPF Toolkit™ Community Edition: Extended WPF Toolkit - 2.2.0: What's new in v2.2.0 Community Edition? Improvements and bug fixes Two new free controls: TimeSpanUpDown and RangeSlider 15 bug fixes and improvements (See the complete list of improvements in v2.2.0). Updated Live Explorer app available online as a Click Once app. Try it now! Want an easier way to install the Extended WPF Toolkit? The Extended WPF Toolkit is available on Nuget. .NET Framework notes:Requires .NET Framework 4.0 or 4.5. A build for .NET 3.5 is available but also requires ...New Projects2112110026: OOP- Lê Th? Xuân HuongASP.Net Controls Extended: ASP controls' look modified and behavior extended.Audio Tools: The project is intended to capture common knowledge about popular audio file formats and related stuff.Dnn Bootstrap Helpers: Dnn Bootstrap helpers ( Tabs, Accordion & Carousel )itouch - JS touch library for browser: this project hosts a JavaScript library which enables you to handle user's touch gestures like swiping, pinching, clicking on your web app cross platform/deviceMySQL Powershell Library: This PowerShell Module attempt to provide a convenient methods for working with MySQL. It make use of the Oracle MySQL .Net connector version 6.8.3Performance Analyzer for Microsoft Dynamics: Performance Analyzer for Microsoft Dynamics is a toolset developed by Premier Field Engineering at Microsoft for resolving performance issues with Dynamics PRISA NEW: LIBRERIA PRISAQFix Rx: This project aims at enabling Rx based programming for Quick FIX / n API by pushing events to Quick FIX / n API and subscribing to to event feeds from the API.Riccsson.System a C# .NET library for C++: Riccsson.System is a C#-like library for C++ with support of Events, Delegates, Properties, Threading, Locking, and more. For easier to port C# libraries to C++SusicoTrader: A F# / C# based trading API with connections to IB and QuickFix/n API. TestCodePlex: testTP2Academia.net: .net projectoTypeScriptTD: TypeScriptTD is a tower defense game written in TypeScript with help of the Phaser game engine. It is a port of ScriptTD http://scripttd.codeplex.com/Universal Autosave: Universal Autosave (UA) is extension for DNN Platform. It allows easy and fast to configure autosave functionality for any form/control without any coding.WeatherView: A universal Windows app written in C# demonstrating geolocation and webservices.

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• Who could ask for more with LESS CSS? (Part 2 of 3&ndash;Setup)

  - by ToStringTheory

  Welcome to part two in my series covering the LESS CSS language.  In the first post, I covered the two major CSS precompiled languages - LESS and SASS to a small extent, iterating over some of the features that you could expect to find in them.  In this post, I will go a little further in depth into the setup and execution of using the LESS framework. Introduction It really doesn’t take too much to get LESS working in your project.  The basic workflow will be including the necessary translator in your project, defining bundles for the LESS files, add the necessary code to your layouts.cshtml file, and finally add in all your necessary styles to the LESS files!  Lets get started… New Project Just like all great experiments in Visual Studio, start up a File > New Project, and create a new MVC 4 Web Application.  The Base Package After you have the new project spun up, use the Nuget Package Manager to install the Bundle Transformer: LESS package. This will take care of installing the main translator that we will be using for LESS code (dotless which is another Nuget package), as well as the core framework for the Bundle Transformer library.  The installation will come up with some instructions in a readme file on how to modify your web.config to handle all your *.less requests through the Bundle Transformer, which passes the translating onto dotless. Where To Put These LESS Files?! This step isn’t really a requirement, however I find that I don’t like how ASP.Net MVC just has a content directory where they store CSS, content images, css images….  In my project, I went ahead and created a new directory just for styles – LESS files, CSS files, and images that are only referenced in LESS or CSS.  Ignore the MVC directory as this was my testbed for another project I was working on at the same time.  As you can see here, I have: A top level directory for images which contains only images used in a page A top level directory for scripts A top level directory for Styles A few directories for plugins I am using (Colrizr, JQueryUI, Farbtastic) Multiple *.less files for different functions (I’ll go over these in a minute) I find that this layout offers the best separation of content types.  Bring Out Your Bundles! The next thing that we need to do is add in the necessary code for the bundling of these LESS files.  Go ahead and open your BundleConfig.cs file, usually located in the /App_Start/ folder of the project.  As you will see in a minute, instead of using the method Microsoft does in the base MVC 4 project, I change things up a bit.  Define Constants The first thing I do is define constants for each of the virtual paths that will be used in the bundler: The main reason is that I hate magic strings in my program, so the fact that you first defined a virtual path in the BundleConfig file, and then used that path in the _Layout.cshtml file really irked me. Add Bundles to the BundleCollection Next, I am going to define the bundles for my styles in my AddStyleBundles method: That is all it takes to get all of my styles in play with LESS.  The CssTransformer and NullOrderer types come from the Bundle Transformer we grabbed earlier.  If we didn’t use that package, we would have to write our own function (not too hard, but why do it if it’s been done). I use the site.less file as my main hub for LESS - I will cover that more in the next section. Add Bundles To Layout.cshtml File With the constants in the BundleConfig file, instead of having to use the same magic string I defined for the bundle virtual path, I am able to do this: Notice here that besides the RenderSection magic strings (something I am working on in another side project), all of the bundles are now based on const strings.  If I need to change the virtual path, I only have to do it in one place.  Nifty! Get Started! We are now ready to roll!  As I said in the previous section, I use the site.less file as a central hub for my styles: As seen here, I have a reset.css file which is a simple CSS reset.  Next, I have created a file for managing all my color variables – colors.less: Here, you can see some of the standards I started to use, in this case for color variables.  I define all color variables with the @col prefix.  Currently, I am going for verbose variable names. The next file imported is my font.less file that defines the typeface information for the site: Simple enough.  A couple of imports for fonts from Google, and then declaring variables for use throughout LESS.  I also set up the heading sizes, margins, etc..  You can also see my current standardization for font declaration strings – @font. Next, I pull in a mixins.less file that I grabbed from the Twitter Bootstrap library that gives some useful parameterized mixins for use such as border-radius, gradient, box-shadow, etc… The common.less file is a file that just contains items that I will be defining that can be used across all my LESS files.  Kind of like my own mixins or font-helpers: Finally I have my layout.less file that contains all of my definitions for general site layout – width, main/sidebar widths, footer layout, etc: That’s it!  For the rest of my one off definitions/corrections, I am currently putting them into the site.less file beneath my original imports Note Probably my favorite side effect of using the LESS handler/translator while bundling is that it also does a CSS checkup when rendering…  See, when your web.config is set to debug, bundling will output the url to the direct less file, not the bundle, and the http handler intercepts the call, compiles the less, and returns the result.  If there is an error in your LESS code, the CSS file can be returned empty, or may have the error output as a comment on the first couple lines. If you have the web.config set to not debug, then if there is an error in your code, you will end up with the usual ASP.Net exception page (unless you catch the exception of course), with information regarding the failure of the conversion, such as brace mismatch, undefined variable, etc…  I find it nifty. Conclusion This is really just the beginning.  LESS is very powerful and exciting!  My next post will show an actual working example of why LESS is so powerful with its functions and variables…  At least I hope it will!  As for now, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on my current practice, I would love to hear them!  Feel free to drop a comment or shoot me an email using the contact page.  In the mean time, I plan on posting the final post in this series tomorrow or the day after, with my side project, as well as a whole base ASP.Net MVC4 templated project with LESS added in it so that you can check out the layout I have in this post.  Until next time…

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• FOUR questions to ask if you are implementing DATABASE-AS-A-SERVICE

  - by Sudip Datta

  During my ongoing tenure at Oracle, I have met all types of DBAs. Happy DBAs, unhappy DBAs, proud DBAs, risk-loving DBAs, cautious DBAs. These days, as Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) becomes more mainstream, I find some complacent DBAs who are basking in their achievement of having implemented DBaaS. Some others, however, are not that happy. They grudgingly complain that they did not have much of a say in the implementation, they simply had to follow what their cloud architects (mostly infrastructure admins) offered them. In most cases it would be a database wrapped inside a VM that would be labeled as “Database as a Service”. In other cases, it would be existing brute-force automation simply exposed in a portal. As much as I think that there is more to DBaaS than those approaches and often get tempted to propose Enterprise Manager 12c, I try to be objective. Neither do I want to dampen the spirit of the happy ones, nor do I want to stoke the pain of the unhappy ones. As I mentioned in my previous post, I don’t deny vanilla automation could be useful. I like virtualization too for what it has helped us accomplish in terms of resource management, but we need to scrutinize its merit on a case-by-case basis and apply it meaningfully. For DBAs who either claim to have implemented DBaaS or are planning to do so, I simply want to provide four key questions to ponder about: 1. Does it make life easier for your end users? Database-as-a-Service can have several types of end users. Junior DBAs, QA Engineers, Developers- each having their own skillset. The objective of DBaaS is to make their life simple, so that they can focus on their core responsibilities without having to worry about additional stuff. For example, if you are a Developer using Oracle Application Express (APEX), you want to deal with schema, objects and PL/SQL code and not with datafiles or listener configuration. If you are a QA Engineer needing database copies for functional testing, you do not want to deal with underlying operating system patching and compliance issues. The question to ask, therefore, is, whether DBaaS makes life easier for those users. It is often convenient to give them VM shells to deal with a la Amazon EC2 IaaS, but is that what they really want? Is it a productive use of a developer's time if he needs to apply RPM errata to his Linux operating system. Asking him to keep the underlying operating system current is like making a guest responsible for a restaurant's decor. 2. Does it make life easier for your administrators? Cloud, in general, is supposed to free administrators from attending to mundane tasks like provisioning services for every single end user request. It is supposed to enable a readily consumable platform and enforce standardization in the process. For example, if a Service Catalog exposes DBaaS of specific database versions and configurations, it, by its very nature, enforces certain discipline and standardization within the IT environment. What if, instead of specific database configurations, cloud allowed each end user to create databases of their liking resulting in hundreds of version and patch levels and thousands of individual databases. Therefore the right question to ask is whether the unwanted consequence of DBaaS is OS and database sprawl. And if so, who is responsible for tracking them, backing them up, administering them? Studies have shown that these administrative overheads increase exponentially with new targets, and it could result in a management nightmare. That leads us to our next question. 3. Does it satisfy your Security Officers and Compliance Auditors? Compliance Auditors need to know who did what and when. They also want the cloud platform to be secure, so that end users have little freedom in tampering with it. Dealing with VM sprawl is not the easiest of challenges, let alone dealing with them as they keep getting reconfigured and moved around. This leads to the proverbial needle in the haystack problem, and all it needs is one needle to cause a serious compliance issue in the enterprise. Bottomline is, flexibility and agility should not come at the expense of compliance and it is very important to get the balance right. Can we have security and isolation without creating compliance challenges? Instead of a ‘one size fits all approach’ i.e. OS level isolation, can we think smartly about database isolation or schema based isolation? This is where the appropriate resource modeling needs to be applied. The usual systems management vendors out there with heterogeneous common-denominator approach have compromised on these semantics. If you follow Enterprise Manager’s DBaaS solution, you will see that we have considered different models, not precluding virtualization, for different customer use cases. The judgment to use virtual assemblies versus databases on physical RAC versus Schema-as-a-Service in a single database, should be governed by the need of the applications and not by putting compliance considerations in the backburner. 4. Does it satisfy your CIO? Finally, does it satisfy your higher ups? As the sponsor of cloud initiative, the CIO is expected to lead an IT transformation project, not merely a run-of-the-mill IT operations. Simply virtualizing server resources and delivering them through self-service is a good start, but hardly transformational. CIOs may appreciate the instant benefit from server consolidation, but studies have revealed that the ROI from consolidation would flatten out at 20-25%. The question would be: what next? As we go higher up in the stack, the need to virtualize, segregate and optimize shifts to those layers that are more palpable to the business users. As Sushil Kumar noted in his blog post, " the most important thing to note here is the enterprise private cloud is not just an IT project, rather it is a business initiative to create an IT setup that is more aligned with the needs of today's dynamic and highly competitive business environment." Business users could not care less about infrastructure consolidation or virtualization - they care about business agility and service level assurance. Last but not the least, lot of CIOs get miffed if we ask them to throw away their existing hardware investments for implementing DBaaS. In Oracle, we always emphasize on freedom of choosing a platform; hence Enterprise Manager’s DBaaS solution is platform neutral. It can work on any Operating System (that the agent is certified on) Oracle’s hardware as well as 3rd party hardware. As a parting note, I urge you to remember these 4 questions. Remember that your satisfaction as an implementer lies in the satisfaction of others.

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• MySQL Utility Users' Console Oerview

  - by rudrap

  MySQL Utility Users' Console (mysqluc): The MySQL Utilities Users' Console is designed to make using the utilities easier via a dedicated console. It helps us to use the utilities without worrying about the python and utility paths. Why do we need a special console? - It does provide a unique shell environment with command completion, help for each utility, user defined variables, and type completion for options. - You no longer have to type out the entire name of the utility. - You don't need to remember the name of a database utility you want to use. - You can define variables and reuse them in your utility commands. - It is possible to run utility command along with mysqluc and come out of the mysqluc console. Console commands: mysqluc> help Command Description ----------------------           --------------------------------------------------- help utilities                     Display list of all utilities supported. help <utility>                  Display help for a specific utility. help or help commands   Show this list. exit or quit                       Exit the console. set <variable>=<value>  Store a variable for recall in commands. show options                   Display list of options specified by the user on launch. show variables                 Display list of variables. <ENTER>                       Press ENTER to execute command. <ESCAPE>                     Press ESCAPE to clear the command entry. <DOWN>                       Press DOWN to retrieve the previous command. <UP>                               Press UP to retrieve the next command in history. <TAB>                            Press TAB for type completion of utility, option,or variable names. <TAB><TAB>                Press TAB twice for list of matching type completion (context sensitive). How do I use it? Pre-requisites: - Download the latest version of MySQL Workbench. - Mysql Servers are running. - Your Pythonpath is set. (e.g. Export PYTHONPATH=/...../mysql-utilities/) Check the Version of mysqluc Utility: /usr/bin/python mysqluc.py –version It should display something like this MySQL Utilities mysqluc.py version 1.1.0 - MySQL Workbench Distribution 5.2.44 Copyright (c) 2010, 2012 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This program is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, to the extent permitted by law. Use of TAB to get the current utilities: mysqluc> mysqldb<TAB><TAB> Utility Description -------------        ------------------------------------------------------------ mysqldbcopy      copy databases from one server to another mysqldbexport    export metadata and data from databases mysqldbimport    import metadata and data from files mysqluc> mysqldbcopy –source=$se<TAB> Variable Value -------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- server1 root@localhost:3306 server2 root@localhost:3307 you can see the variables starting with se and then decide which to use Run a utility via the console: /usr/bin/python mysqluc.py -e "mysqldbcopy --source=root@localhost:3306 --destination=root@localhost:3307 dbname" Get help for utilities in the console: mysqluc> help utilities Display help for a utility mysqluc> help mysqldbcopy Details about mysqldbcopy and its options set variables and use them in commands: mysqluc> set server1 = root@localhost:3306 mysqluc>show variables Variable Value -------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- server1    root@localhost:3306 server2    root@localhost:3307 mysqluc> mysqldbcopy –source=$server1 –destination=$server2 dbname <Enter> Mysqldbcopy utility output will display. mysqluc>show options Display list of options specified by the user mysqluc SERVER=root@host123 VAR_A=57 -e "show variables" Variable Value -------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- SERVER root@host123 VAR_A 57 Finding option names for an Utility: mysqluc> mysqlserverclone --n Option Description ------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- --new-data=NEW_DATA the full path to the location of the data directory for the new instance --new-port=NEW_PORT the new port for the new instance - default=3307 --new-id=NEW_ID the server_id for the new instance - default=2 Limitations: User defined variables have a lifetime of the console run time.

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• Vlc And other Multi Media Problems

  - by MrMagu

  ive tried numerous Free Multimedia Programs on ubuntu and i get the same result when i go to watch one of my movies off my other hardrive it allways ends up full screening with a stuck image in the middle and vlc ends up looking pitch black. ive look all over the web for this issue im wondering if anyone is experinceing the same problems I Dont know if it has to do with the duel monitors ive tried adding and re adding the repositorys but it seems to be doing the same repetive thing for over a month now do i need to reinstall the whole system or what idk anyhelp please would be much appreciated Ty MrMagu Xorg Conf File nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings nvidia-settings: version 304.37 (buildd@allspice) Sun Sep 9 05:59:26 UTC 2012 Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Layout0" Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0 InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer" Option "Xinerama" "0" EndSection Section "Files" EndSection Section "InputDevice" # generated from default Identifier "Mouse0" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "auto" Option "Device" "/dev/psaux" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" EndSection Section "InputDevice" # generated from default Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "kbd" EndSection Section "Monitor" # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Unknown" ModelName "Ancor Communications Inc VE247" HorizSync 30.0 - 83.0 VertRefresh 50.0 - 76.0 Option "DPMS" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor1" VendorName "Unknown" ModelName "Ancor Communications Inc VE247" HorizSync 30.0 - 83.0 VertRefresh 50.0 - 76.0 EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Device0" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" BoardName "Quadro FX 1500" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Device1" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation" BoardName "Quadro FX 1500" BusID "PCI:1:0:0" Screen 1 EndSection Section "Screen" Removed Option "metamodes" "DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, DFP-1: nvidia-auto-select +1920+0; DFP-0: 1920x1080 +0+0, DFP-1: 1920x1080 +1920+0" Removed Option "metamodes" "DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0; DFP-0: 1920x1080 +0+0; DFP-0: 1920x1080_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1680x1050 +0+0; DFP-0: 1680x1050_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1440x900 +0+0; DFP-0: 1440x900_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x1024 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x1024_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x1024_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x960 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x960_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1152x864 +0+0; DFP-0: 1152x864_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768_70 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_72 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_56 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480_72 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480_60 +0+0; DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select @1920x720 +0+0" Removed Option "metamodes" "DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0; DFP-0: 1920x1080 +0+0; DFP-0: 1920x1080_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1680x1050 +0+0; DFP-0: 1680x1050_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1440x900 +0+0; DFP-0: 1440x900_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x1024 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x1024_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x1024_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x960 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x960_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1152x864 +0+0; DFP-0: 1152x864_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768_70 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_72 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_56 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480_72 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480_60 +0+0" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Device0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 Option "TwinView" "1" Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0" Option "Stereo" "0" Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0" Option "metamodes" "DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, DFP-1: 1920x1080 +1920+0; DFP-0: 1920x1080 +0+0, DFP-1: nvidia-auto-select +1920+0; DFP-0: 1920x1080_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1680x1050 +0+0; DFP-0: 1680x1050_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1440x900 +0+0; DFP-0: 1440x900_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x1024 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x1024_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x1024_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x960 +0+0; DFP-0: 1280x960_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 1152x864 +0+0; DFP-0: 1152x864_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768_70 +0+0; DFP-0: 1024x768_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_72 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_60 +0+0; DFP-0: 800x600_56 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480_75 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480_72 +0+0; DFP-0: 640x480_60 +0+0" SubSection "Display" Depth 24 EndSubSection EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen1" Device "Device1" Monitor "Monitor1" DefaultDepth 24 Option "Stereo" "0" Option "metamodes" "DFP-1: 1920x1080 +0+0" SubSection "Display" Depth 24 EndSubSection EndSection Section "InputClass" Identifier "Mouse Remap" MatchProduct "Saitek Cyborg R.A.T.7 Mouse" MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*" Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 0 0 0 0" EndSection Pictures http://tinypic.com/r/34o7j1h/6 http://tinypic.com/r/3rn20/6 Ty so Much Mr Magu

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• a friendly elaboratation on how iceweasel misses as recent request was discovered in post tut

  - by v3x3n

  I would like to specify what you asked about in how iceweasel misses on in hopes that you are interested in considering the answer to be valid considering the package should run efficient to a novice user especially when getting a first impression on a new software, browser, or package they are given by default. First let me say that I am very grateful for all debian has and continues to do for its user base and I am not complaining, only hoping that in mentioning such it will eventually aid in improving the disappointing experience iceweasel gave me in multiple ways right from the start of using it. I am sure tremendous amounts of hard work went into making it work as well as it does, and tremendous effort continues to go into IW like the rest of the package and distros such as this... Having said that, I do aim to keep my examples simple as possible but also explained in enough detail as to not leave out important info to get a full idea of my issue... (Thanks for understanding if I sound novice to debian, I am but continue to learn and advance by trial and error each day, and of course the wonderful help from all the great minds available here and there)... Well, my bone to pick (unfortunately as I disdain being a complainer when so much has been done for us, the end user) with IW is mainly 3 immediately noticed problems in offering me a smooth test drive (completely normal browsing conduct of your average user, I should indicate) as soon as I started out a task using IW (heading directly to google images and searched for a few web sized images, then saved a few (no more than 800 to 900 in dimensions, typically a normal procedure I would imagine) I experienced a horrendous reoccurring freeze and lag time that almost left me to kill the process more than once on each attempt and continued to compound so that by a few attempts later, even 1 single image save locked up the entire browser, ultimately giving up on my procedure in its simplicity with a bit of aggravation, if there was something I had done wrong on my end pre-attempt or during installation. Secondly, visiting video player sites in this case youtube will not allow for any video feed to play whatsoever and again, experienced a slight freezing that eventually dissipated as long as I didn't attempt to press play or reload another video trial... Very annoying and possibly related to my first issue (which could rely on my own lack of knowledge in setup config, but that troubles me if so).... Lastly as another user has stated already, in which brought you to ask them what exactly seemed to be the problem in the first place is also my final straw that broke the weasel's back, leading me here to find a solution to a updated version of firefox... being that iceweasel (an apparent build of firefox 17.x.x) leaving the user to find themselves out of luck when installing their favorite or much useful add-ons or plugins that aid their task or normal usage online.... As the other user clearly stated... there is almost zero options and barely any luck to find compatible plugins with such an outdated version still being used... I can only imagine if as a novoice or standard user to linux... and beginner to debian (which I am all for btw!) if I am discovering major conductivity issues which hinder normal user conduct right off the bat... that there is probably a bundle or more of security vulnerabilities that would unravel to me if I continued to give mr Hommey's package any further attention, or interest in continuing to use... This is a deal breaker on any account, unless all 3 of these issues stated are due to a very n00berish setting or lack thereof (which if that is the case, such was not properly stated for beginner in any place available by following installation tutorials such as LVM installers, which I felt lacked a clear understanding to someone who is trying to learn why and how, rather than, a fix to a potentially broken out of box installation... I really think that is irrelevant in any case however, as there is much step by step support regarding that kind of thing, just saying... its very challenging, along side a job to keep deadlines on, and the need to learn a better and more costomizible system, that was not as popularized when I became a dev via windows (OK OK I know thats a huge mistake and now I am way off original topic but anyway) Thanks very much for taking the time to read over this, and I hope it honestly gives you a few good and valid reasons for users wanting and seeking a way to get around iceweasel altogether... Finally, if I am missing something vital that renders all I've stated invalid or useless, please feel free to shove that elephant in the room my direction! Thanks for all you do, as I am sure it is very useful and dedicated, being you are a debian maintainer, and super user! Much love for intelligence, freedom and sharing the secrets of the web! May it remain unregulated and a good place to grow and learn for generations to come! Stay true! Take care now! -v3x (v3x @ gmx .com)

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• EF4 POCO WCF Serialization problems (no lazy loading, proxy/no proxy, circular references, etc)

  - by kdawg

  OK, I want to make sure I cover my situation and everything I've tried thoroughly. I'm pretty sure what I need/want can be done, but I haven't quite found the perfect combination for success. I'm utilizing Entity Framework 4 RTM and its POCO support. I'm looking to query for an entity (Config) that contains a many-to-many relationship with another entity (App). I turn off lazy loading and disable proxy creation for the context and explicitly load the navigation property (either through .Include() or .LoadProperty()). However, when the navigation property is loaded (that is, Apps is loaded for a given Config), the App objects that were loaded already contain references to the Configs that have been brought to memory. This creates a circular reference. Now I know the DataContractSerializer that WCF uses can handle circular references, by setting the preserveObjectReferences parameter to true. I've tried this with a couple of different attribute implementations I've found online. It is needed to prevent the "the object graph contains circular references and cannot be serialized" error. However, it doesn't prevent the serialization of the entire graph, back and forth between Config and App. If I invoke it via WcfTestClient.exe, I get a stackoverflow (ha!) exception from the client and I'm hosed. I get different results from different invocation environments (C# unit test with a local reference to the web service appears to work ok though I still can drill back and forth between Configs and Apps endlessly, but calling it from a coldfusion environment only returns the first Config in the list and errors out on the others.) My main goal is to have a serialized representation of the graph I explicitly load from EF (ie: list of Configs, each with their Apps, but no App back to Config navigation.) NOTE: I've also tried using the ProxyDataContractResolver technique and keeping the proxy creation enabled from my context. This blows up complaining about unknown types encountered. I read that the ProxyDataContractResolver didn't fully work in Beta2, but should work in RTM. For some reference, here is roughly how I'm querying the data in the service: var repo = BootStrapper.AppCtx["AppMeta.ConfigRepository"] as IRepository<Config>; repo.DisableLazyLoading(); repo.DisableProxyCreation(); //var temp2 = repo.Include(cfg => cfg.Apps).Where(cfg => cfg.Environment.Equals(environment)).ToArray(); var temp2 = repo.FindAll(cfg => cfg.Environment.Equals(environment)).ToArray(); foreach (var cfg in temp2) { repo.LoadProperty(cfg, c => c.Apps); } return temp2; I think the crux of my problem is when loading up navigation properties for POCO objects from Entity Framework 4, it prepopulates navigation properties for objects already in memory. This in turn hoses up the WCF serialization, despite every effort made to properly handle circular references. I know it's a lot of information, but it's really standing in my way of going forward with EF4/POCO in our system. I've found several articles and blogs touching upon these subjects, but for the life of me, I cannot resolve this issue. Feel free to simply ask questions and help me brainstorm this situation. PS: For the sake of being thorough, I am injecting the WCF services using the HEAD build of Spring.NET for the fix to Spring.ServiceModel.Activation.ServiceHostFactory. However I don't think this is the source of the problem.

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• create fixed length flat file with Java

  - by Leslie

  I have a process that currently runs in a Delphi application that I wrote and I need to convert it to a Java process that will run on our web application. Basically our State Financial (legacy) system requires this file in a specific output. In Delphi it is like this: procedure CreateSHAREJournalFile(AppDate : string; ClassCode : string; BudgetRef : String; AccountNumber : string; FYEStep : integer); var GLFileInfo : TStrings; MPayFormat, HPayFormat, TPayFormat : string;<br> const<br> //this is the fixed length format for each item in the file<br> HeaderFormat = '%-1s%-5s%-10s%-8s%-12s%-10s%-21s%-3s%-71s%-3s%-20s%-1s';<br> DetailFormat = '%-1s%-5s%-9s%-10s%-10s%-10s%-10s%-8s%-6s%-5s%-5s%-5s%-8s%-25s%-10s%-60s%-28s%-66s%-28s';<br> begin<br> try<br>//get the data from the query<br> with dmJMS.qryShare do<br> begin<br> SQL.Clear;<br> SQL.Add('SELECT SUM(TOTHRPAY) As HourPay, SUM(TOTMLPAY) As MilePay, SUM(TOTALPAY) AS TotalPay FROM JMPCHECK INNER JOIN JMPMAIN ON JMPCHECK.JURNUM = JMPMAIN.JURNUM WHERE PANELID LIKE ''' + Copy(AppDate, 3, 6) + '%'' ');<br> if FYEStep > -1 then<br> SQL.Add('AND WARRANTNO = ' + QUotedStr(IntToStr(FYEStep)));<br> Active := True;<br> //assign totals to variables so they can be padded with leading zeros<br> MPayFormat := FieldByName('MilePay').AsString;<br> while length(MPayFormat) < 28 do <br>MPayFormat := '0' + MPayFormat;<br> HPayFormat := FieldByName('HourPay').AsString;<br> while length(HPayFormat) < 28 do <br>HPayFormat := '0' + HPayFormat;<br> TPayFormat := Format('%f' ,[(FieldByName('TotalPay').AsCurrency)]);<br> while length(TPayFormat) < 27 do<br> TPayFormat := '0' + TPayFormat;<br> TPayFormat := '-' + TPayFormat;<br> //create a TStringlist to put each line item into<br> GLFileInfo := TStringList.Create;<br> //add header info using HeaderFormat defined above<br> GLFileInfo.Add(Format(HeaderFormat, ['H', '21801', 'NEXT', FormatDateTime('MMDDYYYY', Today), '', 'ACTUALS', '', 'EXT', '', 'EXT', '', 'N']));<br> //add detail info using DetailFormat defined above<br> GLFileInfo.Add(Format(DetailFormat, ['L', '21801', '1', 'ACTUALS', AccountNumber, '', '1414000000', '111500', '', '01200', ClassCode, '', BudgetRef, '', AccountNumber + '0300', '', MPayFormat, '', MPayFormat]));<br> GLFileInfo.Add(Format(DetailFormat, ['L', '21801', '2', 'ACTUALS', AccountNumber, '', '1414000000', '111500', '', '01200', ClassCode, '', BudgetRef, '', AccountNumber + '0100', '', HPayFormat, '', HPayFormat]));<br> GLFileInfo.Add(Format(DetailFormat, ['L', '21801', '3', 'ACTUALS', '101900', '', '1414000000', '111500', '', '01200', ClassCode, '', BudgetRef, '', '', '', TPayFormat, '', TPayFormat]));<br> //save TStringList to text file<br> GLFileINfo.SaveToFile(ExtractFilePath(Application.ExeName) + 'FileTransfer\GL_' + formatdateTime('mmddyy', Today) + SequenceID + '24400' + '.txt');<br> end;<br> finally<br> GLFileINfo.Free;<br> end; end; is there an equivalent in Java for the Format option? Or the TStringList that saves to a text file? Thanks for any information....haven't done a lot of Java programming! Leslie

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• Entity Framework and multi-tenancy database design

  - by Junto

  I am looking at multi-tenancy database schema design for an SaaS concept. It will be ASP.NET MVC - EF, but that isn't so important. Below you can see an example database schema (the Tenant being the Company). The CompanyId is replicated throughout the schema and the primary key has been placed on both the natural key, plus the tenant Id. Plugging this schema into the Entity Framework gives the following errors when I add the tables into the Entity Model file (Model1.edmx): The relationship 'FK_Order_Customer' uses the set of foreign keys '{CustomerId, CompanyId}' that are partially contained in the set of primary keys '{OrderId, CompanyId}' of the table 'Order'. The set of foreign keys must be fully contained in the set of primary keys, or fully not contained in the set of primary keys to be mapped to a model. The relationship 'FK_OrderLine_Customer' uses the set of foreign keys '{CustomerId, CompanyId}' that are partially contained in the set of primary keys '{OrderLineId, CompanyId}' of the table 'OrderLine'. The set of foreign keys must be fully contained in the set of primary keys, or fully not contained in the set of primary keys to be mapped to a model. The relationship 'FK_OrderLine_Order' uses the set of foreign keys '{OrderId, CompanyId}' that are partially contained in the set of primary keys '{OrderLineId, CompanyId}' of the table 'OrderLine'. The set of foreign keys must be fully contained in the set of primary keys, or fully not contained in the set of primary keys to be mapped to a model. The relationship 'FK_Order_Customer' uses the set of foreign keys '{CustomerId, CompanyId}' that are partially contained in the set of primary keys '{OrderId, CompanyId}' of the table 'Order'. The set of foreign keys must be fully contained in the set of primary keys, or fully not contained in the set of primary keys to be mapped to a model. The relationship 'FK_OrderLine_Customer' uses the set of foreign keys '{CustomerId, CompanyId}' that are partially contained in the set of primary keys '{OrderLineId, CompanyId}' of the table 'OrderLine'. The set of foreign keys must be fully contained in the set of primary keys, or fully not contained in the set of primary keys to be mapped to a model. The relationship 'FK_OrderLine_Order' uses the set of foreign keys '{OrderId, CompanyId}' that are partially contained in the set of primary keys '{OrderLineId, CompanyId}' of the table 'OrderLine'. The set of foreign keys must be fully contained in the set of primary keys, or fully not contained in the set of primary keys to be mapped to a model. The relationship 'FK_OrderLine_Product' uses the set of foreign keys '{ProductId, CompanyId}' that are partially contained in the set of primary keys '{OrderLineId, CompanyId}' of the table 'OrderLine'. The set of foreign keys must be fully contained in the set of primary keys, or fully not contained in the set of primary keys to be mapped to a model. The question is in two parts: Is my database design incorrect? Should I refrain from these compound primary keys? I'm questioning my sanity regarding the fundamental schema design (frazzled brain syndrome). Please feel free to suggest the 'idealized' schema. Alternatively, if the database design is correct, then is EF unable to match the keys because it perceives these foreign keys as a potential mis-configured 1:1 relationships (incorrectly)? In which case, is this an EF bug and how can I work around it?

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• Simple jquery ajax call leaks memory in ie.

  - by Thomas Lane

  I created a web page that makes an ajax call every second. In Internet Explorer 7, it leaks memory badly (20MB in about 15 minutes). The program is very simple. It just runs a javascript function that makes an ajax call. The server returns an empty string, and the javascript does nothing with it. I use setTimout to run the function every second, and I'm using Drip to watch the thing. Here is the source: <html> <head> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> google.load('jquery', '1.4.2'); google.load('jqueryui', '1.7.2'); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> setTimeout('testJunk()',1000); function testJunk() { $.ajax({ url: 'http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/test', // The url returns an empty string dataType: 'html', success: function(data){} }); setTimeout('testJunk()',1000) } </script> </head> <body> Why is memory usage going up? </body> </html> Anyone have an idea how to plug this leak? I have a real application that updates a large table this way, but left unattended will eat up Gigabytes of memory. Okay, so after some good suggestions, I modified the code to: <html> <head> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> google.load('jquery', '1.4.2'); google.load('jqueryui', '1.7.2'); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> setTimeout(testJunk,1000); function testJunk() { $.ajax({ url: 'http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/test', // The url returns an empty string dataType: 'html', success: function(data){setTimeout(testJunk,1000)} }); } </script> </head> <body> Why is memory usage going up? </body> </html> It didn't seem to make any difference though. I'm not doing anything with the DOM, and if I comment out the ajax call, the memory leak stops. So it looks like the leak is entirely in the ajax call. Does jquery ajax inherently create some sort of circular reference, and if so, how can I free it? By the way, it doesn't leak in Firefox. Someone suggested running the test in another VM and see if the results are the same. Rather than setting up another VM, I found a laptop that was running XP Home with IE8. It exhibits the same problem. I tried some older versions of jquery and got better results, but the problem didn't go away entirely until I abandoned ajax in jquery and went with more traditional (and ugly) ajax.

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• Help With Database Layout

  - by three3

  Hello everyone, I am working on a site similar to Craigslist where users can make postings and sell items in different cities. One difference between my site and Craigslist will be you will be able to search by zip code instead of having all of the cities listed on the page. I already have the ZIP Code database that has all of the city, state, latitude, longitude, and zip code info for each city. Okay, so to dive into what I need done and what I need help with: 1.) Although I have the ZIP Code database, it is not setup perfectly for my use. (I downloaded it off of the internet for free from http://zips.sourceforge.net/) 2.) I need help setting up my database structure (Ex: How many different tables should I use and how should I link them) I will be using PHP and MySQL. These our my thoughts so far on how the database can be setup: (I am not sure if this will work though.) Scenario: Someone goes to the homepage and it will tell them, "Please enter your ZIP Code.". If they enter "17241" for example, this ZIP Code is for a city named Newville located in Pennsylvania. The query would look like this with the current database setup: SELECT city FROM zip_codes WHERE zip = 17241; The result of the query would be "Newville". The problem I see here now is when they want to post something in the Newville section of the site, I will have to have an entire table setup just for the Newville city postings. There are over 42,000 cities which means I would have to have over 42,000 tables (one for each city) so that would be insane to have to do it that way. One way I was thinking of doing it was to add a column to the ZIP Code database called "city_id" which would be a unique number assigned to each city. So for example, the city Newville would have a city_id of 83. So now if someone comes and post a listing in the city Newville I would only need one other table. That one other table would be setup like this: CREATE TABLE postings ( posting_id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, for_sale LONGTEXT NULL, for_sale_date DATETIME NULL, for_sale_city_id INT NULL, jobs LONGTEXT NULL, jobs_date DATETIME NULL, jobs_city_id INT NULL, PRIMARY KEY(posting_id) ); (The for_sale and job_ column names are categories of the types of postings users will be able to list under. There will be many more categories than just those two but this is just for example.) So now when when someone comes to the website and they are looking for something to buy and not sell, they can enter their ZIP Code, 17241, for example, and this is the query that will run: SELECT city, city_id FROM zip_codes WHERE zip = 17241; //Result: Newville 83 (Please note that I will be using PHP to store the ZIP Code the user enters in SESSIONS and Cookies to remember them throughout the site) Now it will tell them, "Please choose your category.". If they choose the category "Items For Sale" then this is the query to run and sort the results: SELECT posting_id, for_sale, for_sale_date FROM postings WHERE for_sale_city_id = $_SESSION['zip_code']; Will this work? So now my question to everyone is will this work? I am pretty sure it will but I do not want to set this thing up and realize I overlooked something and have to start from all over from scratch. Any opinions and ideas are welcomed and I will listen to anyone who has some thoughts. I really appreciate the help in advance :D

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• Paying great programmers more than average programmers

  - by Kelly French

  It's fairly well recognized that some programmers are up to 10 times more productive than others. Joel mentions this topic on his blog. There is a whole blog devoted to the idea of the "10x productive programmer". In years since the original study, the general finding that "There are order-of-magnitude differences among programmers" has been confirmed by many other studies of professional programmers (Curtis 1981, Mills 1983, DeMarco and Lister 1985, Curtis et al. 1986, Card 1987, Boehm and Papaccio 1988, Valett and McGarry 1989, Boehm et al 2000). Fred Brooks mentions the wide range in the quality of designers in his "No Silver Bullet" article, The differences are not minor--they are rather like the differences between Salieri and Mozart. Study after study shows that the very best designers produce structures that are faster, smaller, simpler, cleaner, and produced with less effort. The differences between the great and the average approach an order of magnitude. The study that Brooks cites is: H. Sackman, W.J. Erikson, and E.E. Grant, "Exploratory Experimental Studies Comparing Online and Offline Programming Performance," Communications of the ACM, Vol. 11, No. 1 (January 1968), pp. 3-11. The way programmers are paid by employers these days makes it almost impossible to pay the great programmers a large multiple of what the entry-level salary is. When the starting salary for a just-graduated entry-level programmer, we'll call him Asok (From Dilbert), is $40K, even if the top programmer, we'll call him Linus, makes $120K that is only a multiple of 3. I'd be willing to be that Linus does much more than 3 times what Asok does, so why wouldn't we expect him to get paid more as well? Here is a quote from Stroustrup: "The companies are complaining because they are hurting. They can't produce quality products as cheaply, as reliably, and as quickly as they would like. They correctly see a shortage of good developers as a part of the problem. What they generally don't see is that inserting a good developer into a culture designed to constrain semi-skilled programmers from doing harm is pointless because the rules/culture will constrain the new developer from doing anything significantly new and better." This leads to two questions. I'm excluding self-employed programmers and contractors. If you disagree that's fine but please include your rationale. It might be that the self-employed or contract programmers are where you find the top-10 earners, but please provide a explanation/story/rationale along with any anecdotes. [EDIT] I thought up some other areas in which talent/ability affects pay. Financial traders (commodities, stock, derivatives, etc.) designers (fashion, interior decorators, architects, etc.) professionals (doctor, lawyer, accountant, etc.) sales Questions: Why aren't the top 1% of programmers paid like A-list movie stars? What would the industry be like if we did pay the "Smart and gets things done" programmers 6, 8, or 10 times what an intern makes? [Footnote: I posted this question after submitting it to the Stackoverflow podcast. It was included in episode 77 and I've written more about it as a Codewright's Tale post 'Of Rockstars and Bricklayers'] Epilogue: It's probably unfair to exclude contractors and the self-employed. One aspect of the highest earners in other fields is that they are free-agents. The competition for their skills is what drives up their earning power. This means they can not be interchangeable or otherwise treated as a plug-and-play resource. I liked the example in one answer of a major league baseball team trying to field two first-basemen. Also, something that Joel mentioned in the Stackoverflow podcast (#77). There are natural dynamics to shrink any extreme performance/pay ranges between the highs and lows. One is the peer pressure of organizations to pay within a given range, another is the likelyhood that the high performer will realize their undercompensation and seek greener pastures.

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• Git for beginners: The definitive practical guide

  - by Adam Davis

  Ok, after seeing this post by PJ Hyett, I have decided to skip to the end and go with git. So what I need is a beginners practical guide to git. "Beginner" being defined as someone who knows how to handle their compiler, understands to some level what a makefile is, and has touched source control without understanding it very well. "Practical" being defined as this person doesn't want to get into great detail regarding what git is doing in the background, and doesn't even care (or know) that it's distributed. Your answers might hint at the possibilities, but try to aim for the beginner that wants to keep a 'main' repository on a 'server' which is backed up and secure, and treat their local repository as merely a 'client' resource. Procedural note: PLEASE pick one and only one of the below topics and answer it clearly and concisely in any given answer. Don't try to jam a bunch of information into one answer. Don't just link to other resources - cut and paste with attribution if copyright allows, otherwise learn it and explain it in your own words (ie, don't make people leave this page to learn a task). Please comment on, or edit, an already existing answer unless your explanation is very different and you think the community is better served with a different explanation rather than altering the existing explanation. So: Installation/Setup How to install git How do you set up git? Try to cover linux, windows, mac, think 'client/server' mindset. Setup GIT Server with Msysgit on Windows How do you create a new project/repository? How do you configure it to ignore files (.obj, .user, etc) that are not really part of the codebase? Working with the code How do you get the latest code? How do you check out code? How do you commit changes? How do you see what's uncommitted, or the status of your current codebase? How do you destroy unwanted commits? How do you compare two revisions of a file, or your current file and a previous revision? How do you see the history of revisions to a file? How do you handle binary files (visio docs, for instance, or compiler environments)? How do you merge files changed at the "same time"? How do you undo (revert or reset) a commit? Tagging, branching, releases, baselines How do you 'mark' 'tag' or 'release' a particular set of revisions for a particular set of files so you can always pull that one later? How do you pull a particular 'release'? How do you branch? How do you merge branches? How do you resolve conflicts and complete the merge? How do you merge parts of one branch into another branch? What is rebasing? How do I track remote branches? How can I create a branch on a remote repository? Other Describe and link to a good gui, IDE plugin, etc that makes git a non-command line resource, but please list its limitations as well as its good. msysgit - Cross platform, included with git gitk - Cross platform history viewer, included with git gitnub - OS X gitx - OS X history viewer smartgit - Cross platform, commercial, beta tig - console GUI for Linux qgit - GUI for Windows, Linux Any other common tasks a beginner should know? Git Status tells you what you just did, what branch you have, and other useful information How do I work effectively with a subversion repository set as my source control source? Other git beginner's references git guide git book git magic gitcasts github guides git tutorial Progit - book by Scott Chacon Git - SVN Crash Course Delving into git Understanding git conceptually I will go through the entries from time to time and 'tidy' them up so they have a consistent look/feel and it's easy to scan the list - feel free to follow a simple "header - brief explanation - list of instructions - gotchas and extra info" template. I'll also link to the entries from the bullet list above so it's easy to find them later.

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• Synapse and string problems with HTTPSend in Delphi 2010

  - by Mick

  I have been trying to get to the bottom of this problem off and on for the past 2 days and I'm really stuck. Hopefully some smart folks can help me out. The issue is that I have a function that I call in a thread that downloads a file (using Synapse libraries) from a website that is passed to it. However, I've found that every once in a while there are sites where it will not pull down a file, but wget or Firefox/IE will download it without issue. Digging into it, I've found some curious things. Here is the relevant code: uses //[..] HTTPSend, blcksock; //[..] type TMyThread = class(TThread) protected procedure Execute; override; private { Private declarations } fTheUrl: string; procedure GetFile(const TheUrl: string); public property thrd_TheUrl: string read fTheUrl write fTheUrl; end; implementation [..] procedure TMyThread.GetFile(const TheUrl: string); var HTTP: THTTPSend; success: boolean; sLocalUrl: string; IsSame : boolean; begin HTTP := THTTPSend.Create; try HTTP.UserAgent := 'Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)'; HTTP.ProxyHost := 'MYPROXY.COM'; HTTP.ProxyPort := '80'; sLocalUrl := 'http://web.archive.org/web/20071212205017/energizer.com/usbcharger/download/UsbCharger_setup_V1_1_1.exe'; IsSame := SameText(sLocalUrl, sTheUrl); //this equals True when I debug /// /// /// THIS IS WHERE THE ISSUE BEGINS /// I will comment out 1 of the following when debugging /// HTTP.HTTPMethod('GET', sLocalUrl); // ----this works and WILL download the file HTTP.HTTPMethod('GET', sTheUrl); // --- this always fails, and HTTP.ResultString contains "Not Found" success := SysUtils.UpperCase(HTTP.ResultString) = 'OK'; if HTTP.ResultCode > 0 then success := True; //this is here just to keep the value around while debugging finally HTTP.Free; end; end; procedure TMyThread.Execute begin //fTheURL contains this value: http://web.archive.org/web/20071212205017/energizer.com/usbcharger/download/UsbCharger_setup_V1_1_1.exe GetFile(fTheUrl); end; The problem is that when I assign a local variable to the function and give it the URL directly, everything works. However, when passing the variable into the function, it fails. Anyone have any ideas? HTTP.HTTPMethod('GET', sLocalUrl); // ----this works and WILL download the file HTTP.HTTPMethod('GET', sTheUrl); // --- this always fails, and HTTP.ResultString contains "Not Found" I'm using the latest version of Synapse from their SVN repository (version from 2 days ago). NOTE: The file I am attempting to download is known to have a virus, the program I am writing is meant to download malicious files for analysis. So, don't execute the file once you download it. However, I'm using this URL b/c this is the one I can reproduce the issue with.

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• Resolving html entities with NSXMLParse on iPhone

  - by Roberto

  Hi all, i think i read every single web page relating to this problem but i still cannot find a solution to it, so here i am. I have an HTML web page wich is not under my control and i need to parse it from my iPhone application. Here it is a sample of the web page i'm talking about: <HTML> <HEAD> <META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> </HEAD> <BODY> <LI class="bye bye" rel="hello 1"> <H5 class="onlytext"> <A name="morning_part">morning</A> </H5> <DIV class="mydiv"> <SPAN class="myclass">something about you</SPAN> <SPAN class="anotherclass"> <A href="http://www.google.it">Bye Bye &egrave; un saluto</A> </SPAN> </DIV> </LI> </BODY> </HTML> I'm using NSXMLParser and it is going well till it find the è html entity. It calls foundCharacters: for "Bye Bye" and then it calls resolveExternalEntityName:systemID:: with an entityName of "egrave". In this method i'm just returning the character "è" trasformed in an NSData, the foundCharacters is called again adding the string "è" to the previous one "Bye Bye " and then the parser raise the NSXMLParserUndeclaredEntityError error. I have no DTD and i cannot change the html file i'm parsing. Do you have any ideas on this problem? Thanks in advance to all of you, Rob. Update (12/03/2010). After the suggestion of Griffo i ended up with something like this: data = [self replaceHtmlEntities:data]; NSXMLParser *parser = [[NSXMLParser alloc] initWithData:data]; [parser setDelegate:self]; [parser parse]; where replaceHtmlEntities:(NSData *) is something like this: - (NSData *)replaceHtmlEntities:(NSData *)data { NSString *htmlCode = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:data encoding:NSISOLatin1StringEncoding]; NSMutableString *temp = [NSMutableString stringWithString:htmlCode]; [temp replaceOccurrencesOfString:@"&amp;" withString:@"&" options:NSLiteralSearch range:NSMakeRange(0, [temp length])]; [temp replaceOccurrencesOfString:@"&nbsp;" withString:@" " options:NSLiteralSearch range:NSMakeRange(0, [temp length])]; ... [temp replaceOccurrencesOfString:@"&Agrave;" withString:@"À" options:NSLiteralSearch range:NSMakeRange(0, [temp length])]; NSData *finalData = [temp dataUsingEncoding:NSISOLatin1StringEncoding]; return finalData; } But i am still looking the best way to solve this problem. I will try TouchXml in the next days but i still think that there should be a way to do this using NSXMLParser API, so if you know how, feel free to write it here :)

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• calculater by using reverse polish notation and using a stack

  - by programmer

  hello everyone I have a segmentation fault ,can you help please? if i have this operater "3 5 +" that mean 3+5 and like "9 8 * 5 + 4 + sin", "sin(((9*8)+5)+4)" so my idea is check if the first and second are numbers and push theem in the stack then when i have operator i pop the numbers and make the calculation then push the answer again. ` typedef struct st_node { float val; struct st_node *next; } t_node; typedef t_node t_stack; // a function to allocate memory for a stack and returns the stack t_stack* fnewCell() { t_stack* ret; ret = (t_stack*) malloc(sizeof(t_stack)); return ret; } // a function to allocate memory for a stack, fills it with value v and pointer n , and returns the stack t_stack* fnewCellFilled(float v, t_stack* n) { t_stack* ret; ret = fnewCell(); ret->val = v; ret->next =n; return ret; } //function to initialize stack void initstack(t_stack** stack) { fnewCellFilled(0,NULL); } // add new cell void insrtHead(t_stack** head,float val) { *head = fnewCellFilled(val,*head); } //function to push the value v into the stack s void push(t_stack **s, float val) { insrtHead(s,val); } //function to pop a value from the stack and returns it int pop(t_stack **s) { t_stack* tmp; int ret; tmp = (*s)->next; ret = (*s)->val; free(*s); (*s) = tmp; return ret; } int isempty (t_stack *t) { return t == NULL; } //function to transfer a string(str) to int (value) //returns -1 when success , i otherwise int str2int(char *str,int *value) { int i; *value = 0; int sign=(str[0]=='-' ? -1 : 1); for(i=(str[0]=='-' ? 1 : 0);str[i]!=0;i++) { if(!(str[i]>=48 && str[i]<=57)) // Ascii char 0 to 9 return i; *value= *value*10+(str[i]-48); } *value = *value * sign; return -1; } //a function that takes a string, transfer it into integer and make operation using a stack void function(t_stack *stack, char *str) { char x[10]=" "; int y,j,i=0,z; printf("++\n"); if(str[i] != '\0') { strcpy(x, strtok(str, " ")); z= str2int(x, &y); if(z == -1) { push(&stack,y); i=i+2; } } while(str[i] != '\0') { strcpy(x, strtok(NULL, " ")); z= str2int(x, &y); if(z == -1) { printf("yes %d",y); push(&stack,y); i=i+2; } else { y=pop(&stack); j=pop(&stack); if(x[0] == '+' ) push(&stack,y+j); else if (x[0] == '-' ) push(&stack,j-y); else if(x[0] == '*' ) push(&stack,j*y); else if(x[0] == '/') push (&stack ,j/y); } } } int main() { t_stack *s; initstack(&s); char *str="3 5 +"; function(s,str); return 0; } `

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• How do I sign my certificate using the root certificate

  - by Asif Alam

  I am using certificate based authentication between my server and client. I have generated Root Certificate. My client at the time of installation will generate a new Certificate and use the Root Certificate to sign it. I need to use Windows API. Cannot use any windows tools like makecert. Till now I have been able to Install the Root certificate in store. Below code X509Certificate2 ^ certificate = gcnew X509Certificate2("C:\\rootcert.pfx","test123"); X509Store ^ store = gcnew X509Store( "teststore",StoreLocation::CurrentUser ); store->Open( OpenFlags::ReadWrite ); store->Add( certificate ); store->Close(); Then open the installed root certificate to get the context GetRootCertKeyInfo(){ HCERTSTORE hCertStore; PCCERT_CONTEXT pSignerCertContext=NULL; DWORD dwSize = NULL; CRYPT_KEY_PROV_INFO* pKeyInfo = NULL; DWORD dwKeySpec; if ( !( hCertStore = CertOpenStore(CERT_STORE_PROV_SYSTEM, 0, NULL, CERT_SYSTEM_STORE_CURRENT_USER,L"teststore"))) { _tprintf(_T("Error 0x%x\n"), GetLastError()); } pSignerCertContext = CertFindCertificateInStore(hCertStore,MY_ENCODING_TYPE,0,CERT_FIND_ANY,NULL,NULL); if(NULL == pSignerCertContext) { _tprintf(_T("Error 0x%x\n"), GetLastError()); } if(!(CertGetCertificateContextProperty( pSignerCertContext, CERT_KEY_PROV_INFO_PROP_ID, NULL, &dwSize))) { _tprintf(_T("Error 0x%x\n"), GetLastError()); } if(pKeyInfo) free(pKeyInfo); if(!(pKeyInfo = (CRYPT_KEY_PROV_INFO*)malloc(dwSize))) { _tprintf(_T("Error 0x%x\n"), GetLastError()); } if(!(CertGetCertificateContextProperty( pSignerCertContext, CERT_KEY_PROV_INFO_PROP_ID, pKeyInfo, &dwSize))) { _tprintf(_T("Error 0x%x\n"), GetLastError()); } return pKeyInfo; } Then finally created the certificate and signed with the pKeyInfo // Acquire key container if (!CryptAcquireContext(&hCryptProv, _T("trykeycon"), NULL, PROV_RSA_FULL, CRYPT_MACHINE_KEYSET)) { _tprintf(_T("Error 0x%x\n"), GetLastError()); // Try to create a new key container _tprintf(_T("CryptAcquireContext... ")); if (!CryptAcquireContext(&hCryptProv, _T("trykeycon"), NULL, PROV_RSA_FULL, CRYPT_NEWKEYSET | CRYPT_MACHINE_KEYSET)) { _tprintf(_T("Error 0x%x\n"), GetLastError()); return 0; } else { _tprintf(_T("Success\n")); } } else { _tprintf(_T("Success\n")); } // Generate new key pair _tprintf(_T("CryptGenKey... ")); if (!CryptGenKey(hCryptProv, AT_SIGNATURE, 0x08000000 /*RSA-2048-BIT_KEY*/, &hKey)) { _tprintf(_T("Error 0x%x\n"), GetLastError()); return 0; } else { _tprintf(_T("Success\n")); } //some code CERT_NAME_BLOB SubjectIssuerBlob; memset(&SubjectIssuerBlob, 0, sizeof(SubjectIssuerBlob)); SubjectIssuerBlob.cbData = cbEncoded; SubjectIssuerBlob.pbData = pbEncoded; // Prepare algorithm structure for self-signed certificate CRYPT_ALGORITHM_IDENTIFIER SignatureAlgorithm; memset(&SignatureAlgorithm, 0, sizeof(SignatureAlgorithm)); SignatureAlgorithm.pszObjId = szOID_RSA_SHA1RSA; // Prepare Expiration date for self-signed certificate SYSTEMTIME EndTime; GetSystemTime(&EndTime); EndTime.wYear += 5; // Create self-signed certificate _tprintf(_T("CertCreateSelfSignCertificate... ")); CRYPT_KEY_PROV_INFO* aKeyInfo; aKeyInfo = GetRootCertKeyInfo(); pCertContext = CertCreateSelfSignCertificate(NULL, &SubjectIssuerBlob, 0, aKeyInfo, &SignatureAlgorithm, 0, &EndTime, 0); With the above code I am able to create the certificate but it does not looks be signed by the root certificate. I am unable to figure what I did is right or not.. Any help with be greatly appreciated.. Thanks Asif

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• Using windows command line from Pascal

  - by Jordan

  I'm trying to use some windows command line tools from within a short Pascal program. To make it easier, I'm writing a function called DoShell which takes a command line string as an argument and returns a record type called ShellResult, with one field for the process's exitcode and one field for the process's output text. I'm having major problems with some standard library functions not working as expected. The DOS Exec() function is not actually carrying out the command i pass to it. The Reset() procedure gives me a runtime error RunError(2) unless i set the compiler mode {I-}. In that case i get no runtime error, but the Readln() functions that i use on that file afterwards don't actually read anything, and furthermore the Writeln() functions used after that point in the code execution do nothing as well. Here's the source code of my program so far. I'm using Lazarus 0.9.28.2 beta, with Free Pascal Compiler 2.24 program project1; {$mode objfpc}{$H+} uses Classes, SysUtils, StrUtils, Dos { you can add units after this }; {$IFDEF WINDOWS}{$R project1.rc}{$ENDIF} type ShellResult = record output : AnsiString; exitcode : Integer; end; function DoShell(command: AnsiString): ShellResult; var exitcode: Integer; output: AnsiString; exepath: AnsiString; exeargs: AnsiString; splitat: Integer; F: Text; readbuffer: AnsiString; begin //Initialize variables exitcode := 0; output := ''; exepath := ''; exeargs := ''; splitat := 0; readbuffer := ''; Result.exitcode := 0; Result.output := ''; //Split command for processing splitat := NPos(' ', command, 1); exepath := Copy(command, 1, Pred(splitat)); exeargs := Copy(command, Succ(splitat), Length(command)); //Run command and put output in temporary file Exec(FExpand(exepath), exeargs + ' __output'); exitcode := DosExitCode(); //Get output from file Assign(F, '__output'); Reset(F); Repeat Readln(F, readbuffer); output := output + readbuffer; readbuffer := ''; Until Eof(F); //Set Result Result.exitcode := exitcode; Result.output := output; end; var I : AnsiString; R : ShellResult; begin Writeln('Enter a command line to run.'); Readln(I); R := DoShell(I); Writeln('Command Exit Code:'); Writeln(R.exitcode); Writeln('Command Output:'); Writeln(R.output); end.

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• Delphi 7 SOAP Authentication and SessionID HowTo

  - by Justin Philbrow

  Hello All, I am developing a 3 tier database application. 1.) MS SQL DB 2.) Middle tier SOAP Server (with Delphi 7) connected to the DB 3.) Clients (first win32 gui (with Delphi 7) - later other platfomrs) connected to the SOAP server I chose a SOAP Server to be open to various clients at a later stage (also some of the win32 gui clients will be stationed abroad - so the clients need to be thin) (this as suggested by Dr. Bob). I am new to SOAP and have been looking at different examples and papers about authentication. But cant quite get my head around it. I have made a SOAP server and client with Delphi's SOAP Server Application Wizard and added a SOAP SERVER Data Module, added a database connection and some datasets and providers. Connected the client with dbgrid etc and that part works fine. But I want the client first to login and then be able to access data and I want the server to log each connection and also when the client logs off or is disconnected, so I am guessing I need the sessionID and a timeout. I also want the server to be able to tell the clients who else is "connected" (or whos session is still active) at any given time. I have gathered that I need to make a authentication header, but cant figure out where or who I can get a sessionID. I presume that each time a client connectes to the server the server generates a sessionID? How do I get this? Any help or suggestions/pointer would be appreciated, thanks Justin OK take 2: OK, I have done the following so far (this is used from the example Bank Account SOAP application that comes with Delphi 7): procedure TForm1.btnLoginClick(Sender: TObject); var H: TAuthHeader; Headers: ISOAPHeaders; SoapData: IThorPayServerDB; begin SoapData := HTTPRIOOnForm as IThorPayServerDB; if not(SoapData.login(edtUser.Text,edtPassword.Text)) then begin showmessage('Not correct login'); exit; end; Headers := SoapData as ISoapHeaders; { Get the header from the incoming message } Headers.Get(TAuthHeader, TSoapHeader(H)); try if H < nil then begin FIdKey := H.IdNumber; FTimeStamp := H.TimeStamp; end else ShowMessage('No authentication header received from server'); finally H.Free; end; if FIdKey 0 then showmessage('Authenticated');; end; The SoapData.login returns the correct result, but for some reason I cant get hold of the header. In this case H is nil and the result becomes 'No authentication header received from server'. If I intersept the SOAP xml I can see that the header is there, here is the returned package: 1 1 4208687 2010-05-14T10:03:49.469+03:00 true Anyone any idea? In this case I am not using the SOAPConnetion that I am using for the DB, but a seperate HTTPTRIO component.

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• How to install PyQt on Mac OS X 10.6.

  - by Jebagnanadas

  Hello all, I'm quite new to Mac OS X. when i tried to install PyQt on Mac Os X after installing python 3.1, Qt 4.6.2 and SIP 4.10.1 i encounter the following error when i execute $python3 configure.py command. Determining the layout of your Qt installation... This is the GPL version of PyQt 4.7 (licensed under the GNU General Public License) for Python 3.1 on darwin. Type '2' to view the GPL v2 license. Type '3' to view the GPL v3 license. Type 'yes' to accept the terms of the license. Type 'no' to decline the terms of the license. Do you accept the terms of the license? yes Checking to see if the QtGui module should be built... Checking to see if the QtHelp module should be built... Checking to see if the QtMultimedia module should be built... Checking to see if the QtNetwork module should be built... Checking to see if the QtOpenGL module should be built... Checking to see if the QtScript module should be built... Checking to see if the QtScriptTools module should be built... Checking to see if the QtSql module should be built... Checking to see if the QtSvg module should be built... Checking to see if the QtTest module should be built... Checking to see if the QtWebKit module should be built... Checking to see if the QtXml module should be built... Checking to see if the QtXmlPatterns module should be built... Checking to see if the phonon module should be built... Checking to see if the QtAssistant module should be built... Checking to see if the QtDesigner module should be built... Qt v4.6.2 free edition is being used. Qt is built as a framework. SIP 4.10.1 is being used. The Qt header files are in /usr/include. The shared Qt libraries are in /Library/Frameworks. The Qt binaries are in /Developer/Tools/Qt. The Qt mkspecs directory is in /usr/local/Qt4.6. These PyQt modules will be built: QtCore. The PyQt Python package will be installed in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.1/lib/python3.1/site-packages. PyQt is being built with generated docstrings. PyQt is being built with 'protected' redefined as 'public'. The Designer plugin will be installed in /Developer/Applications/Qt/plugins/designer. The PyQt .sip files will be installed in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.1/share/sip/PyQt4. pyuic4, pyrcc4 and pylupdate4 will be installed in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.1/bin. Generating the C++ source for the QtCore module... sip: Usage: sip [-h] [-V] [-a file] [-b file] [-c dir] [-d file] [-e] [-g] [-I dir] [-j #] [-k] [-m file] [-o] [-p module] [-r] [-s suffix] [-t tag] [-w] [-x feature] [-z file] [file] Error: Unable to create the C++ code. Anybody here installed PyQt on Mac OS X 10.6.2 successfully.. Any help would be much appreciated.. Thanks in advance..

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