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  • Why do we need different CPU architecture for server & mini/mainframe & mixed-core?

    - by claws
    Hello, I was just wondering what other CPU architectures are available other than INTEL & AMD. So, found List of CPU architectures on Wikipedia. It categorizes notable CPU architectures into following categories. Embedded CPU architectures Microcomputer CPU architectures Workstation/Server CPU architectures Mini/Mainframe CPU architectures Mixed core CPU architectures I was analyzing the purposes and have few doubts. I taking Microcomputer CPU (PC) architecture as reference and comparing others. Embedded CPU architecture: They are a completely new world. Embedded systems are small & do very specific task mostly real time & low power consuming so we do not need so many & such wide registers available in a microcomputer CPU (typical PC). In other words we do need a new small & tiny architecture. Hence new architecture & new instruction RISC. The above point also clarifies why do we need a separate operating system (RTOS). Workstation/Server CPU architectures I don't know what is a workstation. Someone clarify regarding the workstation. As of the server. It is dedicated to run a specific software (server software like httpd, mysql etc.). Even if other processes run we need to give server process priority therefore there is a need for new scheduling scheme and thus we need operating system different than general purpose one. If you have any more points for the need of server OS please mention. But I don't get why do we need a new CPU Architecture. Why cant Microcomputer CPU architecture do the job. Can someone please clarify? Mini/Mainframe CPU architectures Again I don't know what are these & what miniframes or mainframes used for? I just know they are very big and occupy complete floor. But I never read about some real world problems they are trying to solve. If any one working on one of these. Share your knowledge. Can some one clarify its purpose & why is it that microcomputer CPU archicture not suitable for it? Is there a new kind of operating system for this too? Why? Mixed core CPU architectures Never heard of these. If possible please keep your answer in this format: XYZ CPU architectures Purpose of XYZ Need for a new architecture. why can't current microcomputer CPU architecture work? They go upto 3GHZ & have upto 8 cores. Need for a new Operating System Why do we need a new kind of operating system for this kind of archictures?

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  • How do I catch this WPF Bitmap loading exception?

    - by mmr
    I'm developing an application that loads bitmaps off of the web using .NET 3.5 sp1 and C#. The loading code looks like: try { CurrentImage = pics[unChosenPics[index]]; bi = new BitmapImage(CurrentImage.URI); // BitmapImage.UriSource must be in a BeginInit/EndInit block. bi.DownloadCompleted += new EventHandler(bi_DownloadCompleted); AssessmentImage.Source = bi; } catch { System.Console.WriteLine("Something broke during the read!"); } and the code to load on bi_DownloadCompleted is: void bi_DownloadCompleted(object sender, EventArgs e) { try { double dpi = 96; int width = bi.PixelWidth; int height = bi.PixelHeight; int stride = width * 4; // 4 bytes per pixel byte[] pixelData = new byte[stride * height]; bi.CopyPixels(pixelData, stride, 0); BitmapSource bmpSource = BitmapSource.Create(width, height, dpi, dpi, PixelFormats.Bgra32, null, pixelData, stride); AssessmentImage.Source = bmpSource; Loading.Visibility = Visibility.Hidden; AssessmentImage.Visibility = Visibility.Visible; } catch { System.Console.WriteLine("Exception when viewing bitmap."); } } Every so often, an image comes along that breaks the reader. I guess that's to be expected. However, rather than being caught by either of those try/catch blocks, the exception is apparently getting thrown outside of where I can handle it. I could handle it using global WPF exceptions, like this SO question. However, that will seriously mess up the control flow of my program, and I'd like to avoid that if at all possible. I have to do the double source assignment because it appears that many images are lacking in width/height parameters in the places where the microsoft bitmap loader expects them to be. So, the first assignment appears to force the download, and the second assignment gets the dpi/image dimensions happen properly. What can I do to catch and handle this exception? Stack trace: at MS.Internal.HRESULT.Check(Int32 hr) at System.Windows.Media.Imaging.BitmapFrameDecode.get_ColorContexts() at System.Windows.Media.Imaging.BitmapImage.FinalizeCreation() at System.Windows.Media.Imaging.BitmapImage.OnDownloadCompleted(Object sender, EventArgs e) at System.Windows.Media.UniqueEventHelper.InvokeEvents(Object sender, EventArgs args) at System.Windows.Media.Imaging.LateBoundBitmapDecoder.DownloadCallback(Object arg) at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter) at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter, Delegate catchHandler) at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.InvokeImpl() at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.runTryCode(Object userData) at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers.ExecuteCodeWithGuaranteedCleanup(TryCode code, CleanupCode backoutCode, Object userData) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.Invoke() at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.ProcessQueue() at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WndProcHook(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled) at MS.Win32.HwndWrapper.WndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled) at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.DispatcherCallbackOperation(Object o) at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter) at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter, Delegate catchHandler) at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.InvokeImpl(DispatcherPriority priority, TimeSpan timeout, Delegate method, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter) at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.SubclassWndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam) at MS.Win32.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessage(MSG& msg) at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.TranslateAndDispatchMessage(MSG& msg) at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrameImpl(DispatcherFrame frame) at System.Windows.Application.RunInternal(Window window) at LensComparison.App.Main() in C:\Users\Mark64\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\LensComparison\LensComparison\obj\Release\App.g.cs:line 48 at System.AppDomain._nExecuteAssembly(Assembly assembly, String[] args) at Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssembly() at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()

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  • A* (A-star) implementation in AS3

    - by Bryan Hare
    Hey, I am putting together a project for a class that requires me to put AI in a top down Tactical Strategy game in Flash AS3. I decided that I would use a node based path finding approach because the game is based on a circular movement scheme. When a player moves a unit he essentially draws a series of line segments that connect that a player unit will follow along. I am trying to put together a similar operation for the AI units in our game by creating a list of nodes to traverse to a target node. Hence my use of Astar (the resulting path can be used to create this line). Here is my Algorithm function findShortestPath (startN:node, goalN:node) { var openSet:Array = new Array(); var closedSet:Array = new Array(); var pathFound:Boolean = false; startN.g_score = 0; startN.h_score = distFunction(startN,goalN); startN.f_score = startN.h_score; startN.fromNode = null; openSet.push (startN); var i:int = 0 for(i= 0; i< nodeArray.length; i++) { for(var j:int =0; j<nodeArray[0].length; j++) { if(!nodeArray[i][j].isPathable) { closedSet.push(nodeArray[i][j]); } } } while (openSet.length != 0) { var cNode:node = openSet.shift(); if (cNode == goalN) { resolvePath (cNode); return true; } closedSet.push (cNode); for (i= 0; i < cNode.dirArray.length; i++) { var neighborNode:node = cNode.nodeArray[cNode.dirArray[i]]; if (!(closedSet.indexOf(neighborNode) == -1)) { continue; } neighborNode.fromNode = cNode; var tenativeg_score:Number = cNode.gscore + distFunction(neighborNode.fromNode,neighborNode); if (openSet.indexOf(neighborNode) == -1) { neighborNode.g_score = neighborNode.fromNode.g_score + distFunction(neighborNode,cNode); if (cNode.dirArray[i] >= 4) { neighborNode.g_score -= 4; } neighborNode.h_score=distFunction(neighborNode,goalN); neighborNode.f_score=neighborNode.g_score+neighborNode.h_score; insertIntoPQ (neighborNode, openSet); //trace(" F Score of neighbor: " + neighborNode.f_score + " H score of Neighbor: " + neighborNode.h_score + " G_score or neighbor: " +neighborNode.g_score); } else if (tenativeg_score <= neighborNode.g_score) { neighborNode.fromNode=cNode; neighborNode.g_score=cNode.g_score+distFunction(neighborNode,cNode); if (cNode.dirArray[i]>=4) { neighborNode.g_score-=4; } neighborNode.f_score=neighborNode.g_score+neighborNode.h_score; openSet.splice (openSet.indexOf(neighborNode),1); //trace(" F Score of neighbor: " + neighborNode.f_score + " H score of Neighbor: " + neighborNode.h_score + " G_score or neighbor: " +neighborNode.g_score); insertIntoPQ (neighborNode, openSet); } } } trace ("fail"); return false; } Right now this function creates paths that are often not optimal or wholly inaccurate given the target and this generally happens when I have nodes that are not path able, and I am not quite sure what I am doing wrong right now. If someone could help me correct this I would appreciate it greatly. Some Notes My OpenSet is essentially a Priority Queue, so thats how I sort my nodes by cost. Here is that function function insertIntoPQ (iNode:node, pq:Array) { var inserted:Boolean=true; var iterater:int=0; while (inserted) { if (iterater==pq.length) { pq.push (iNode); inserted=false; } else if (pq[iterater].f_score >= iNode.f_score) { pq.splice (iterater,0,iNode); inserted=false; } ++iterater; } } Thanks!

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  • Getting timing consistency in Linux

    - by Jim Hunziker
    I can't seem to get a simple program (with lots of memory access) to achieve consistent timing in Linux. I'm using a 2.6 kernel, and the program is being run on a dual-core processor with realtime priority. I'm trying to disable cache effects by declaring the memory arrays as volatile. Below are the results and the program. What are some possible sources of the outliers? Results: Number of trials: 100 Range: 0.021732s to 0.085596s Average Time: 0.058094s Standard Deviation: 0.006944s Extreme Outliers (2 SDs away from mean): 7 Average Time, excluding extreme outliers: 0.059273s Program: #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <math.h> #include <sched.h> #include <sys/time.h> #define NUM_POINTS 5000000 #define REPS 100 unsigned long long getTimestamp() { unsigned long long usecCount; struct timeval timeVal; gettimeofday(&timeVal, 0); usecCount = timeVal.tv_sec * (unsigned long long) 1000000; usecCount += timeVal.tv_usec; return (usecCount); } double convertTimestampToSecs(unsigned long long timestamp) { return (timestamp / (double) 1000000); } int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { unsigned long long start, stop; double times[REPS]; double sum = 0; double scale, avg, newavg, median; double stddev = 0; double maxval = -1.0, minval = 1000000.0; int i, j, freq, count; int outliers = 0; struct sched_param sparam; sched_getparam(getpid(), &sparam); sparam.sched_priority = sched_get_priority_max(SCHED_FIFO); sched_setscheduler(getpid(), SCHED_FIFO, &sparam); volatile float* data; volatile float* results; data = calloc(NUM_POINTS, sizeof(float)); results = calloc(NUM_POINTS, sizeof(float)); for (i = 0; i < REPS; ++i) { start = getTimestamp(); for (j = 0; j < NUM_POINTS; ++j) { results[j] = data[j]; } stop = getTimestamp(); times[i] = convertTimestampToSecs(stop-start); } free(data); free(results); for (i = 0; i < REPS; i++) { sum += times[i]; if (times[i] > maxval) maxval = times[i]; if (times[i] < minval) minval = times[i]; } avg = sum/REPS; for (i = 0; i < REPS; i++) stddev += (times[i] - avg)*(times[i] - avg); stddev /= REPS; stddev = sqrt(stddev); for (i = 0; i < REPS; i++) { if (times[i] > avg + 2*stddev || times[i] < avg - 2*stddev) { sum -= times[i]; outliers++; } } newavg = sum/(REPS-outliers); printf("Number of trials: %d\n", REPS); printf("Range: %fs to %fs\n", minval, maxval); printf("Average Time: %fs\n", avg); printf("Standard Deviation: %fs\n", stddev); printf("Extreme Outliers (2 SDs away from mean): %d\n", outliers); printf("Average Time, excluding extreme outliers: %fs\n", newavg); return 0; }

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  • Astar implementation in AS3

    - by Bryan Hare
    Hey, I am putting together a project for a class that requires me to put AI in a top down Tactical Strategy game in Flash AS3. I decided that I would use a node based path finding approach because the game is based on a circular movement scheme. When a player moves a unit he essentially draws a series of line segments that connect that a player unit will follow along. I am trying to put together a similar operation for the AI units in our game by creating a list of nodes to traverse to a target node. Hence my use of Astar (the resulting path can be used to create this line). Here is my Algorithm function findShortestPath (startN:node, goalN:node) { var openSet:Array = new Array(); var closedSet:Array = new Array(); var pathFound:Boolean = false; startN.g_score = 0; startN.h_score = distFunction(startN,goalN); startN.f_score = startN.h_score; startN.fromNode = null; openSet.push (startN); var i:int = 0 for(i= 0; i< nodeArray.length; i++) { for(var j:int =0; j<nodeArray[0].length; j++) { if(!nodeArray[i][j].isPathable) { closedSet.push(nodeArray[i][j]); } } } while (openSet.length != 0) { var cNode:node = openSet.shift(); if (cNode == goalN) { resolvePath (cNode); return true; } closedSet.push (cNode); for (i= 0; i < cNode.dirArray.length; i++) { var neighborNode:node = cNode.nodeArray[cNode.dirArray[i]]; if (!(closedSet.indexOf(neighborNode) == -1)) { continue; } neighborNode.fromNode = cNode; var tenativeg_score:Number = cNode.gscore + distFunction(neighborNode.fromNode,neighborNode); if (openSet.indexOf(neighborNode) == -1) { neighborNode.g_score = neighborNode.fromNode.g_score + distFunction(neighborNode,cNode); if (cNode.dirArray[i] >= 4) { neighborNode.g_score -= 4; } neighborNode.h_score=distFunction(neighborNode,goalN); neighborNode.f_score=neighborNode.g_score+neighborNode.h_score; insertIntoPQ (neighborNode, openSet); //trace(" F Score of neighbor: " + neighborNode.f_score + " H score of Neighbor: " + neighborNode.h_score + " G_score or neighbor: " +neighborNode.g_score); } else if (tenativeg_score <= neighborNode.g_score) { neighborNode.fromNode=cNode; neighborNode.g_score=cNode.g_score+distFunction(neighborNode,cNode); if (cNode.dirArray[i]>=4) { neighborNode.g_score-=4; } neighborNode.f_score=neighborNode.g_score+neighborNode.h_score; openSet.splice (openSet.indexOf(neighborNode),1); //trace(" F Score of neighbor: " + neighborNode.f_score + " H score of Neighbor: " + neighborNode.h_score + " G_score or neighbor: " +neighborNode.g_score); insertIntoPQ (neighborNode, openSet); } } } trace ("fail"); return false; } Right now this function creates paths that are often not optimal or wholly inaccurate given the target and this generally happens when I have nodes that are not path able, and I am not quite sure what I am doing wrong right now. If someone could help me correct this I would appreciate it greatly. Some Notes My OpenSet is essentially a Priority Queue, so thats how I sort my nodes by cost. Here is that function function insertIntoPQ (iNode:node, pq:Array) { var inserted:Boolean=true; var iterater:int=0; while (inserted) { if (iterater==pq.length) { pq.push (iNode); inserted=false; } else if (pq[iterater].f_score >= iNode.f_score) { pq.splice (iterater,0,iNode); inserted=false; } ++iterater; } } Thanks!

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  • Help with infrequent segmentation fault in accessing boost::unordered_multimap or struct

    - by Sarah
    I'm having trouble debugging a segmentation fault. I'd appreciate tips on how to go about narrowing in on the problem. The error appears when an iterator tries to access an element of a struct Infection, defined as: struct Infection { public: explicit Infection( double it, double rt ) : infT( it ), recT( rt ) {} double infT; // infection start time double recT; // scheduled recovery time }; These structs are kept in a special structure, InfectionMap: typedef boost::unordered_multimap< int, Infection > InfectionMap; Every member of class Host has an InfectionMap carriage. Recovery times and associated host identifiers are kept in a priority queue. When a scheduled recovery event arises in the simulation for a particular strain s in a particular host, the program searches through carriage of that host to find the Infection whose recT matches the recovery time (double recoverTime). (For reasons that aren't worth going into, it's not as expedient for me to use recT as the key to InfectionMap; the strain s is more useful, and coinfections with the same strain are possible.) assert( carriage.size() > 0 ); pair<InfectionMap::iterator,InfectionMap::iterator> ret = carriage.equal_range( s ); InfectionMap::iterator it; for ( it = ret.first; it != ret.second; it++ ) { if ( ((*it).second).recT == recoverTime ) { // produces seg fault carriage.erase( it ); } } I get a "Program received signal EXC_BAD_ACCESS, Could not access memory. Reason: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at address..." on the line specified above. The recoverTime is fine, and the assert(...) in the code is not tripped. As I said, this seg fault appears 'randomly' after thousands of successful recovery events. How would you go about figuring out what's going on? I'd love ideas about what could be wrong and how I can further investigate the problem. Update I added a new assert and a check just inside the for loop: assert( carriage.size() > 0 ); assert( carriage.count( s ) > 0 ); pair<InfectionMap::iterator,InfectionMap::iterator> ret = carriage.equal_range( s ); InfectionMap::iterator it; cout << "carriage.count(" << s << ")=" << carriage.count(s) << endl; for ( it = ret.first; it != ret.second; it++ ) { cout << "(*it).first=" << (*it).first << endl; // error here if ( ((*it).second).recT == recoverTime ) { carriage.erase( it ); } } The EXC_BAD_ACCESS error now appears at the (*it).first call, again after many thousands of successful recoveries. Can anyone give me tips on how to figure out how this problem arises? I'm trying to use gdb. Frame 0 from the backtrace reads "#0 0x0000000100001d50 in Host::recover (this=0x100530d80, s=0, recoverTime=635.91148029170529) at Host.cpp:317" I'm not sure what useful information I can extract here. Update 2 I added a break; after the carriage.erase(it). This works, but I have no idea why (e.g., why it would remove the seg fault at (*it).first.

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  • What can I do to improve a project if there is a no-listening situation. Developers vs Management

    - by NazGul
    Hi all, I hope that I'm not the only one and I can get a answer from someone with more experience than me, so I can think cleaner and I don't get depressed with this developer's life. I'm working as developer for a small company three years now. In that three years I'm working in the same project and sincerely, I think this project could be used as a CASE STUDY because it has all the situations that cannot happen in a project and that makes a project fails. To begin with, and I believe you've already noticed, the project has 3 years already (develoment only) and is still unfinished, because in every meeting there is a "new priority" ,or a "new problem" to be solve or a "new feature" to be add. So, first problem is no target set. How can you know when something is finished if you don't know what you want? I understand Management, because they see an oportunity and try to get that, but I don't understand how can they not see (or hear us) that they'll lose all they already have and what they'll eventually get. Second, there is no team group. My team consists of three people, a Senior Developer, a DBA and, finally, I for all the work (support, testing, new features, bug fixing, meeting, projet management of clients, etc) aka Junior Developer. The first (senior developer), does not perform any tests on his changes, so, most of the time, his changes give us problems (us = me, since I'm the one who will fix it). The second (DBA) is an uncompromising person and you can not talk to him, believe me, I tried! In his view, everything he does is fantastic... even if it is the most complicated to make it... And he does everything he wants, even if we need that only for 5 months later and would help some extra-hand to do the things we have to do for now. As you can see, there is very hard to work with no help... Third, there is no testings. Every... I repeat, Every release of the project, the customers wants to kill us, because there is a lot of bugs. Management? They say that they want tests before the release. Us? We say the same. Time? No time. Management? There is always some time to open the application and click in some buttons. Us? Try to explain that it is not so simple. Management doesn't care... end of story. Actually, must of the bugs could be avoid with a rigorous work... Some people just want to do the show to the Management. "Did you ask for this? Cool, it's done. Bugs? The Do-all-the-work guy will solve." Unfortunally for me, sometimes the Do-all-the-work also has to finish it. And to makes this all better, I'm the person who will listen the complaints from the customers. Cool, huh? I know, everyone makes mistakes. But there is mistakes and mistakes... To complete, in the Management view, "the problem is the lack of an individual project management", because we cannot do all the stuff they ask, even if there is no PM for the project itself. And ask us to work overtime without any reward... I do say all this stuff to the management and others members, but by telling this, the I'm the bad guy, the guy who is complain when everything is going well... but we need to work overtime... sigh What can I do to make it works? Anyone has a situation like this, what did you do? I hope you could understand my problem, my English is a little rusty. Thanks.

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  • Why can't my program display this dialog box, while another program can?

    - by nonoitall
    I'm trying to write a wrapper for Winamp input plugins and have hit a bit of a snag. I'd like my wrapper to be able to display a plugin's configuration dialog, which is (or should be) achieved by calling the plugin's Config(HWND hwndParent) function. For most plugins, this works fine and my program is able to display the plugin's configuration dialog. However, 64th Note (a plugin for playing USF files) is giving me problems. Winamp can display its configuration dialog just fine, but whenever I try to display it from my wrapper, the dialog gets destroyed before it ever shows itself. Thankfully, 64th Note is open source, so I took a look at its innards to try and get an idea of what's going wrong. I've trimmed off the irrelevant bits and am left with this: Config function in the plugin (should show configuration dialog): void Config(HWND hwndParent) { DialogBox(slave, (const char *) IDD_CONFIG_WINDOW, NULL, configDlgProc); } (Slave is the plugin DLL's HINSTANCE handle.) The proc for the dialog is as follows (I have stripped out all the functionality, since it doesn't appear to have an influence on this problem): BOOL CALLBACK configDlgProc(HWND hDlg, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam) { return 0; } The template for IDD_CONFIG_WINDOW is as follows: IDD_CONFIG_WINDOW DIALOGEX 0, 0, 269, 149 STYLE DS_SETFONT | DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU CAPTION "64th Note configuration" FONT 8, "MS Sans Serif", 0, 0, 0x0 BEGIN DEFPUSHBUTTON "OK",IDOK,212,38,50,14 CONTROL "Play Forever",IDC_NOLENGTH,"Button",BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON,7,7,55,8 CONTROL "Always Use Default Length",IDC_SETLEN,"Button",BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON,7,17,101,8 CONTROL "Default Length",IDC_DEFLEN,"Button",BS_AUTORADIOBUTTON,7,29,63,8 EDITTEXT IDC_DEFLENVAL,71,28,38,12,ES_AUTOHSCROLL EDITTEXT IDC_DEFFADEVAL,71,42,38,12,ES_AUTOHSCROLL CONTROL "Detect Silence",IDC_DETSIL,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,7,56,63,8 EDITTEXT IDC_DETSILVAL,71,56,38,12,ES_AUTOHSCROLL CONTROL "Slider2",IDC_PRISLIDER,"msctls_trackbar32",TBS_AUTOTICKS | WS_TABSTOP,74,90,108,11 EDITTEXT IDC_TITLEFMT,7,127,255,15,ES_AUTOHSCROLL CONTROL "Default to file name on missing field",IDC_FNONMISSINGTAG, "Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,50,114,124,8 CONTROL "Use Recompiler CPU",IDC_RECOMPILER,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,145,7,83,8 CONTROL "Round Frequency",IDC_ROUNDFREQ,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,145,16,73,8 CONTROL "Seek Backwards",IDC_BACKWARDS,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,145,26,70,8 CONTROL "Fast Seek",IDC_FASTSEEK,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,145,35,48,8 CONTROL "RSP Sections",IDC_SECTIONS,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,145,45,60,8 CONTROL "Soft Amplify",IDC_SOFTAMP,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,145,54,53,8 CONTROL "Audio HLE",IDC_AUDIOHLE,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,145,63,50,8 CONTROL "Auto Audio HLE",IDC_AUTOAUDIOHLE,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,145,72,64,8 CONTROL "Display Errors",IDC_DISPERROR,"Button",BS_AUTOCHECKBOX | WS_TABSTOP,145,81,58,8 EDITTEXT IDC_RELVOL,211,104,28,12,ES_AUTOHSCROLL PUSHBUTTON "Cancel",IDCANCEL,212,54,50,14 PUSHBUTTON "Help",IDHELPBUTTON,212,71,50,14 LTEXT "Title format:",IDC_STATIC,7,113,38,8 LTEXT "seconds",IDC_STATIC,112,29,28,8 LTEXT "Default Fade",IDC_STATIC,19,43,42,8 LTEXT "seconds",IDC_STATIC,112,43,28,8 LTEXT "seconds",IDC_STATIC,112,57,28,8 CTEXT "CPU Thread Priority",IDC_STATIC,7,91,63,8 CTEXT "Look ma, I'm data!",IDC_CPUPRI,75,104,108,8 LTEXT "Relative Volume",IDC_STATIC,199,94,52,8 LTEXT "Fade Type",IDC_STATIC,7,75,35,8 COMBOBOX IDC_FADETYPE,45,72,87,74,CBS_DROPDOWNLIST | WS_TABSTOP END Naturally, without any substance in the proc function, the dialog doesn't have any functionality, but it still displays in Winamp when the Config function is invoked. However, it does not appear when I invoke it from my wrapper program. When I monitored the messages sent to the dialog in its proc function, I saw that WM_DESTROY and WM_NCDESTROY were sent within the first few messages, though I have no clue as to why. If I change the Config function so that it displays the plugin's About dialog instead of its configuration dialog, both Winamp and my wrapper will display the About dialog, which suggests that there is something unique to the configuration dialog template that's causing the problem. The modified Config function reads like so: void Config(HWND hwndParent) { DialogBox(slave, (const char *) IDD_ABOUTBOX, NULL, configDlgProc); } The template for the About dialog is as follows: IDD_ABOUTBOX DIALOGEX 0, 0, 152, 151 STYLE DS_SETFONT | DS_MODALFRAME | WS_POPUP | WS_CAPTION | WS_SYSMENU CAPTION "About 64th Note" FONT 8, "MS Sans Serif", 0, 0, 0x1 BEGIN LTEXT "64th Note v1.2 beta 3\nBased on Project 64 1.6 by Zilmar and Jabo\nAudio HLE by Azimer\nPSF concept and tagging by Neill Corlett\nPlayer by hcs, Josh W, dr0\nhttp://hcs64.com/usf",IDC_STATIC,7,94,138,50 CONTROL 110,IDC_STATIC,"Static",SS_BITMAP,26,7,95,86,WS_EX_DLGMODALFRAME END Like I said, my wrapper displays the About dialog just fine, as does Winamp. Why can Winamp display the Config dialog, while my wrapper cannot?

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  • [C#][XNA] Draw() 20,000 32 by 32 Textures or 1 Large Texture 20,000 Times

    - by Rudi
    The title may be confusing - sorry about that, it's a poor summary. Here's my dilemma. I'm programming in C# using the .NET Framework 4, and aiming to make a tile-based game with XNA. I have one large texture (256 pixels by 4096 pixels). Remember this is a tile-based game, so this texture is so massive only because it contains many tiles, which are each 32 pixels by 32 pixels. I think the experts will definitely know what a tile-based game is like. The orientation is orthogonal (like a chess board), not isometric. In the Game.Draw() method, I have two choices, one of which will be incredibly more efficient than the other. Choice/Method #1: Semi-Pseudocode: public void Draw() { // map tiles are drawn left-to-right, top-to-bottom for (int x = 0; x < mapWidth; x++) { for (int y = 0; y < mapHeight; y++) { SpriteBatch.Draw( MyLargeTexture, // One large 256 x 4096 texture new Rectangle(x, y, 32, 32), // Destination rectangle - ignore this, its ok new Rectangle(x, y, 32, 32), // Notice the source rectangle 'cuts out' 32 by 32 squares from the texture corresponding to the loop Color.White); // No tint - ignore this, its ok } } } Caption: So, effectively, the first method is referencing one large texture many many times, each time using a small rectangle of this large texture to draw the appropriate tile image. Choice/Method #2: Semi-Pseudocode: public void Draw() { // map tiles are drawn left-to-right, top-to-bottom for (int x = 0; x < mapWidth; x++) { for (int y = 0; y < mapHeight; y++) { Texture2D tileTexture = map.GetTileTexture(x, y); // Getting a small 32 by 32 texture (different each iteration of the loop) SpriteBatch.Draw( tileTexture, new Rectangle(x, y, 32, 32), // Destination rectangle - ignore this, its ok new Rectangle(0, 0, tileTexture.Width, tileTexture.Height), // Notice the source rectangle uses the entire texture, because the entire texture IS 32 by 32 Color.White); // No tint - ignore this, its ok } } } Caption: So, effectively, the second method is drawing many small textures many times. The Question: Which method and why? Personally, I would think it would be incredibly more efficient to use the first method. If you think about what that means for the tile array in a map (think of a large map with 2000 by 2000 tiles, let's say), each Tile object would only have to contain 2 integers, for the X and Y positions of the source rectangle in the one large texture - 8 bytes. If you use method #2, however, each Tile object in the tile array of the map would have to store a 32by32 Texture - an image - which has to allocate memory for the R G B A pixels 32 by 32 times - is that 4096 bytes per tile then? So, which method and why? First priority is speed, then memory-load, then efficiency or whatever you experts believe.

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  • Sharepoint RSS feed description fields as elements

    - by Jay
    Hello, This is my first time working with RSS but I am fluent with XML/XSL. I have a RSS feed that I am pulling from a list in Sharepoint. The sample XML is below. The RSS description element parses the various columns (Body, Expires, Attachments) that are in the Sharepoint list automatically. I know that from the list I can control which fields are included in the description, but this is not what I am looking to do. Is there any way to force the fields to come through in an XML element format instead of the CDATA that converted to HTML? For example, I may want to check a priority field and if it is important when applying the XSL I would bold red it or something. Since this is in the HTML/CDATA format it makes it messy to parse that field. <rss version="2.0"> <channel> <title>Announcements</title> <link>http://somewebsite/Announcements/Current.aspx</link> <description>RSS feed for the Announcements list.</description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:31:01 GMT</lastBuildDate> <generator>Windows SharePoint Services V3 RSS Generator</generator> <ttl>1</ttl> <image> <title>Announcements</title> <url>/_layouts/images/homepage.gif</url> <link>http://somewebsite/Announcements/Current.aspx</link> </image> <item> <title>Woohoo a post! </title> <link>http://somewebsite/Announcements/DispForm.aspx?ID=36</link> <description> <![CDATA[<div><b>Body:</b> <div> <div>The attached email was sent from chairman and CEO on Tuesday March 3, 2009.</div> <div></div></div></div> <div><b>Expires:</b> 7/30/2009</div> <div><b>Attachments:</b> <a href="http://somewebsite/Woohoo.htm">http://somewebsite/Woohoo.htm</a><br><a href=""></a></div> ]]> </description> <author>Me, Myself and I</author> <pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:38:32 GMT</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="true">http://somewebsite/Announcements/DispForm.aspx?ID=69</guid> </item> </channel> </rss>

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  • Database Table Schema and Aggregate Roots

    - by bretddog
    Hi, Applicaiton is single user, 1-tier(1 pc), database SqlCE. DataService layer will be (I think) : Repository returning domain objects and quering database with LinqToSql (dbml). There are obviously a lot more columns, this is simplified view. http://img573.imageshack.us/img573/3612/ss20110115171817w.png This is my first attempt of creating a 2 tables database. I think the table schema makes sense, but I need some reassurance or critics. Because the table relations looks quite scary to be honest. I'm hoping you could; Look at the table schema and respond if there are clear signs of troubles or errors that you spot right away.. And if you have time, Look at Program Summary/Questions, and see if the table layout makes makes sense to those points. Please be brutal, I will try to defend :) Program summary: a) A set of categories, each having a set of strategies (1:m) b) Each day a number of items will be produced. And each strategy MAY reference it. (So there can be 50 items, and a strategy may reference 23 of them) c) An item can be referenced by more than one strategy. So I think it's an m:m relation. d) Status values will be logged at fixed time-fractions through the day, for: - .... each Strategy.....each StrategyItem....each item e) An action on an item may be executed by a strategy that reference it. - This is logged as ItemAction (Could have called it StrategyItemAction) User Requsts b) - e) described the main activity mode of the program. To work with only today's DayLog , for each category. 2nd priority activity is retrieval of history, which typically will be From all categories, from day x to day y; Get all StrategyDailyLog. Questions First, does the overall layout look sound? I'm worried to see that there are so many relationships in all directions, connecting everything. Is this normal, or does it look like trouble? StrategyItem is made to represent an m:m relationship. Is it correct as I noted 1:m / 1:1 (marked red) ? StrategyItemTimeLog and ItemTimeLog; Logs values that both need to be retrieved together, when retreiving a StrategyItem. Reason I separated is that the first one is strategy-specific, and several strategies can reference same item. So I thought not to duplicate those values that are not dependent no strategy, but only on the item. Hence I also dragged out the LogTime, as it seems to be the only parameter to unite the logs. But this all looks quite disturbing with those 3 tables. Does it make sense at all? Or you have suggestion? Pink circles shows my vague attempt of Aggregate Root Paths. I've been thinking in terms of "what entity is responsible for delete". Though I'm unsure about the actual root. I think it's Category. Does it make sense related to User Requests described above?

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  • Agile: User Stories for Machine Learning Project?

    - by benjismith
    I've just finished up with a prototype implementation of a supervised learning algorithm, automatically assigning categorical tags to all the items in our company database (roughly 5 million items). The results look good, and I've been given the go-ahead to plan the production implementation project. I've done this kind of work before, so I know how the functional components of the software. I need a collection of web crawlers to fetch data. I need to extract features from the crawled documents. Those documents need to be segregated into a "training set" and a "classification set", and feature-vectors need to be extracted from each document. Those feature vectors are self-organized into clusters, and the clusters are passed through a series of rebalancing operations. Etc etc etc etc. So I put together a plan, with about 30 unique development/deployment tasks, each with time estimates. The first stage of development -- ignoring some advanced features that we'd like to have in the long-term, but aren't high enough priority to make it into the development schedule yet -- is slated for about two months worth of work. (Keep in mind that I already have a working prototype, so the final implementation is significantly simpler than if the project was starting from scratch.) My manager said the plan looked good to him, but he asked if I could reorganize the tasks into user stories, for a few reasons: (1) our project management software is totally organized around user stories; (2) all of our scheduling is based on fitting entire user stories into sprints, rather than individually scheduling tasks; (3) other teams -- like the web developers -- have made great use of agile methodologies, and they've benefited from modelling all the software features as user stories. So I created a user story at the top level of the project: As a user of the system, I want to search for items by category, so that I can easily find the most relevant items within a huge, complex database. Or maybe a better top-level story for this feature would be: As a content editor, I want to automatically create categorical designations for the items in our database, so that customers can easily find high-value data within our huge, complex database. But that's not the real problem. The tricky part, for me, is figuring out how to create subordinate user stories for the rest of the machine learning architecture. Case in point... I know that the algorithm requires two major architectural subdivisions: (A) training, and (B) classification. And I know that the training portion of the architecture requires construction of a cluster-space. All the Agile Development literature I've read seems to indicate that a user story should be the "smallest possible implementation that provides any business value". And that makes a lot of sense when designing a piece of end-user software. Start small, and then incrementally add value when users demand additional functionality. But a cluster-space, in and of itself, provides zero business value. Nor does a crawler, or a feature-extractor. There's no business value (not for the end-user, or for any of the roles internal to the company) in a partial system. A trained cluster-space is only possible with the crawler and feature extractor, and only relevant if we also develop an accompanying classifier. I suppose it would be possible to create user stories where the subordinate components of the system act as the users in the stories: As a supervised-learning cluster-space construction routine, I want to consume data from a feature extractor, so that I can exist. But that seems really weird. What benefit does it provide me as the developer (or our users, or any other stakeholders, for that matter) to model my user stories like that? Although the main story can be easily divided along architectural-component boundaries (crawler, trainer, classifier, etc), I can't think of any useful decomposition from a user's perspective. What do you guys think? How do you plan Agile user stories for sophisticated, indivisible, non-user-facing components?

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  • Effective optimization strategies on modern C++ compilers

    - by user168715
    I'm working on scientific code that is very performance-critical. An initial version of the code has been written and tested, and now, with profiler in hand, it's time to start shaving cycles from the hot spots. It's well-known that some optimizations, e.g. loop unrolling, are handled these days much more effectively by the compiler than by a programmer meddling by hand. Which techniques are still worthwhile? Obviously, I'll run everything I try through a profiler, but if there's conventional wisdom as to what tends to work and what doesn't, it would save me significant time. I know that optimization is very compiler- and architecture- dependent. I'm using Intel's C++ compiler targeting the Core 2 Duo, but I'm also interested in what works well for gcc, or for "any modern compiler." Here are some concrete ideas I'm considering: Is there any benefit to replacing STL containers/algorithms with hand-rolled ones? In particular, my program includes a very large priority queue (currently a std::priority_queue) whose manipulation is taking a lot of total time. Is this something worth looking into, or is the STL implementation already likely the fastest possible? Along similar lines, for std::vectors whose needed sizes are unknown but have a reasonably small upper bound, is it profitable to replace them with statically-allocated arrays? I've found that dynamic memory allocation is often a severe bottleneck, and that eliminating it can lead to significant speedups. As a consequence I'm interesting in the performance tradeoffs of returning large temporary data structures by value vs. returning by pointer vs. passing the result in by reference. Is there a way to reliably determine whether or not the compiler will use RVO for a given method (assuming the caller doesn't need to modify the result, of course)? How cache-aware do compilers tend to be? For example, is it worth looking into reordering nested loops? Given the scientific nature of the program, floating-point numbers are used everywhere. A significant bottleneck in my code used to be conversions from floating point to integers: the compiler would emit code to save the current rounding mode, change it, perform the conversion, then restore the old rounding mode --- even though nothing in the program ever changed the rounding mode! Disabling this behavior significantly sped up my code. Are there any similar floating-point-related gotchas I should be aware of? One consequence of C++ being compiled and linked separately is that the compiler is unable to do what would seem to be very simple optimizations, such as move method calls like strlen() out of the termination conditions of loop. Are there any optimization like this one that I should look out for because they can't be done by the compiler and must be done by hand? On the flip side, are there any techniques I should avoid because they are likely to interfere with the compiler's ability to automatically optimize code? Lastly, to nip certain kinds of answers in the bud: I understand that optimization has a cost in terms of complexity, reliability, and maintainability. For this particular application, increased performance is worth these costs. I understand that the best optimizations are often to improve the high-level algorithms, and this has already been done.

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  • Building services with .Net Part 1

    - by Allan Rwakatungu
    On the 26th of May 2010 , I made a presentation to the .NET user group meeting (thanks to Malisa Ncube for organizing this event every month … ). If you missed my presentation , we talked about why we should all be building services … better still using the .NET framework. This blog post is an introduction to services , why you would want to build services and how you can build services using the .NET framework. What is a service? OASIS defines service as "a mechanism to enable access to one or more capabilities, where the access is provided using a prescribed interface and is exercised consistent with constraints and policies as specified by the service description." [1]. If the above definition sounds to academic , you can also define a service as loosely coupled units of functionality that have no calls to each other embedded in the. Instead of services embedding calls to each other in their service code they use defined protocols that describe how services pass and parse messages. This is a good way to think about services if you’re from an objected oriented background. While in object oriented programming functions make calls to each other, in service oriented programming, functions pass messages between each other. Why would you want to use services? 1. If your enterprise architecture looks like this   Services are the building blocks for SOA . With SOA you can move away from the sphaggetti infrastructure that is common in most enterprises. The complexity or lack of visibility of the integration points in your enterprises makes it difficult and costly to implement new initiatives and changes into the business - and even impossible in some cases - as it is not possible to identify the impact a change in one system might have to other systems. With services you can move to an architecture like this Your building blocks from Spaghetti infrastructure to something that is more well-defined and manageable to achieve cost efficiency and not least business agility - enabling you to react to changes in the market with speed and achieve operational efficiency and control are services. 2. If you want to become the Gates or Zuckerburger. Have you heard about Web 2.0 ? Mashups? Software as a service (SAAS) ? Cloud computing ?   They all offer you the opportunity to have scalable but low cost business models and they built using services.  Some of my favorite companies that leverage services for their business models include  https://www.salesforce.com/ (cloud CRM) http://www. twitter.com (more people use twitter clients built by 3rd parties than their official clients) http://www.kayak.com/ (compares data from other travel sites to give information to users in one location) Services with the .NET framework      If you are a .NET developer and you want to develop services, Windows Communication Framework (WCF) is the tool for you. WCF is Microsoft’s unified programming model (service model) for building service oriented applications. ( Before .NET 3.0 you had several models for programming services in .NET including .NET remoting, Web services (ASMX), COM +, Microsoft Messaging queuing (MSMQ) etc, after .NET 3.0 the programming model was unified into one i.e. WCF ). Windows Communication Framework (WCF) provides you 1. An Software Development Kit (SDK) for creating SOA applications 2. A runtime for running services on the Windows platform Why should you use Windows Communication Foundation if you’re programming services?   1. It supports interoperable and open standards e.g. WS* protocols for programming SOAP services 2. It has a unified programming model. Whether you use TCP or Http or Pipes or transmitting using Messaging Queues, programmers need to learn just one way to program. Previously you had .NET remoting, MSMQ, Web services, COM+ and they were all done differently 3. Productive programming model You don’t have to worry about all the plumbing involved to write services. You have a rich declarative programming model to add stuff like logging, transactions, and reliable messages in-built in the Windows Communication Framework. Understanding services in WCF The basic principles of WCF are as easy as ABC A – Address This is where the service is located B- Binding This describes how you communicate with the service e.g. Use TCP, HTTP or both. How to exchange security information with the service etc. C – Contract This defines what the service can do. E.g. Pay water bill, Make a phone call A - Addresses In WCF, an address is a combination of transport, server name, port and path Example addresses may include http://localhost:8001 net.tcp://localhost:8002/MyService net.pipe://localhost/MyPipe net.msmq://localhost/private/MyService net.msmq://localhost/MyService B- Binding   There are numerous ways to communicate with services , different ways that a message can be formatted/sent/secured, that allows you to tailor your service for the compatibility/performance you require for your solution. Transport You can use HTTP TCP MSMQ , Named pipes, Your own custom transport etc Message You  can send a plain text binary, Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (MTOM) message Communication security No security Transport security Message security Authenticating and authorizing callers etc Behaviour You service can support Transactions Be reliable Use queues Support ajax etc C - Contract You define what your service can do using Service contracts :- Define operations that your service can do, communications and behaviours Data contracts :- Define the messages that are passed from and into your service and how they are formatted Fault contracts :- Defines errors types in your service   As an example, suppose your service service shows money. You define your service contract using a interface [ServiceContract] public interface IShowMeTheMoney {   [OperationContract]    Money Show(); } You define the data contract by annotating a class it with the Data Contract attribute and fields you want to pass in the message as Data Members. (Note:- In the latest versions of WCF you dont have to use attributes if you passing all the objects properties in the message) [DataContract] public Money {   [DataMember]   public string Currency { get; set; }   [DataMember]   public Decimal Amount { get; set; }   public string Comment { get; set; } } Features of Windows Communication Foundation Windows Communication Foundation is not only simple but feature rich , offering you several options to tweak your service to fit your business requirements. Some of the features of WCF include 1. Workflow services You can combine WCF with Windows WorkFlow Foundation (WWF) to write workflow type services 2. Control how your data (messages) are transferred and serialized e.g. you can serialize your business objects as XML or binary 3. control over session management , instance creation and concurrency management without writing code if you like 4. Queues and reliable sessions. You can store messages from the sending client and later forward them to the receiving application. You can also guarantee that messages will arrive at their destincation. 5.Transactions:  You can have different services participate in a transaction operations that can be rolled back if needed 6. Security. WCF has rich features for authorization and authentication  as well as keep audit trails 7. Web programming model. WCF allows developers to expose services as non SOAP endpoints 8. Inbuilt features that you can use to write JSON and services that support AJAX applications And lots more In my next blog I will show you how you can use WCF features to write a real world business service.               Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ]] /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

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  • Oracle WebCenter Partner Program

    - by kellsey.ruppel
    In competitive marketplaces, your company needs to quickly respond to changes and new trends, in order to open opportunities and build long-term growth. Oracle has a variety of next-generation services, solutions and resources that will leverage the differentiators in your offerings. Name your partnering needs: Oracle has the answer. This week we’d like to focus on Partners and the value your organization can gain from working with the Oracle PartnerNetwork. The Oracle PartnerNetwork will empower your company with exceptional resources to distinguish your offerings from the competition, seize opportunities, and increase your sales. We’re happy to welcome Christine Kungl, and Brian Buzzell, from Oracle’s World Wide Alliances & Channels (WWA&C) WebCenter Partner Enablement team, as today’s guests on the Oracle WebCenter blog. Q: What is the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN)?A: Christine: Oracle’s PartnerNetwork (OPN) is a collaborative partnership which allows registered companies specific added value resources to help differentiate themselves from their competition. Through OPN programs it provides companies the ability to seize and target opportunities, educate and train their teams, and leverage unparalleled opportunity given Oracle’s large market footprint. OPN’s multi-level programs are targeted at different levels allowing companies to grow and evolve with Oracle based on their business needs.  As part of their OPN memberships partners are encouraged to become OPN Specialized allowing those partners additional differentiation in Oracle’s Partner Network Community.  Q: What is an OPN Specialization and what resources are available for Specialized Partners?A: Brian: Oracle wanted a better way for our partners to differentiate their special skills and expertise, as well a more effective way to communicate that difference to customers.  Oracle’s expanding product portfolio demanded that we be able to identify partners with significant product knowledge—those who had made an investment in Oracle and a continuing commitment to deliver Oracle solutions. And with more than 30,000 Oracle partners around the world, Oracle needed a way for our customers to choose the right partner for their business. So how did Oracle meet this need? With the new partner program:  Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized. In this new program, Oracle partners are: Specialized :  Differentiating themselves from the competition with expertise that set them apart Recognized:  Being acknowledged for investing in becoming Oracle experts in specialized areas. Preferred :  Connecting with potential customers who are seeking  value-added solutions for their business OPN Specialized provides all partners with educational opportunities, training, and tools specially designed to build competency and grow business.  Partners can serve their customers better through key resources:OPN Specialized Knowledge Zones – Located on the updated and enhanced OPN portal— provide a single point of entry for all education and training information for Oracle partners. Enablement 2.0 Resources —Enablement 2.0 helps Oracle partners build their competencies and skills through a variety of educational opportunities and expanded training choices. These resources include: Enablement 2.0 “Boot camps” provide three-tiered learning levels that help jump-start partner training The role-based training covers Oracle’s application and technology products and offers a combination of classroom lectures, hands-on lab exercises, and case studies. Enablement 2.0 Interactive guided learning paths (GLPs) with recommendations on how to achieve specialization Upgraded partner solution kits Enhanced, specialized business centers available 24/7 around the globe on the OPN portal OPN Competency Center—Tracking ProgressThe OPN Competency Center keeps track as a partner applies for and achieves specialization in selected areas. You start with an assessment that compares your organization’s current skills and experience with the requirements for specialization in the area you have chosen. The OPN Competency Center then provides a roadmap that itemizes the skills and the knowledge you need to earn specialized status. In summary, OPN Specialization not only includes key training resources but a way to track and show progression for your partner organization. Q: What is are the OPN Membership Levels and what are the benefits?A:  Christine: The base OPN membership levels are: Remarketer: At the Remarketer level, retailers can choose to resell select Oracle products with the backing of authorized, regionally located, value-added distributors (VADs). The Remarketer level has no fees and no partner agreement with Oracle, but does offer online training and sales tools through the OPN portal.Program Details: RemarketerSilver Level: The Silver level is for Oracle partners who are focused on reselling and developing business with products ordered through the Oracle 1-Click Ordering Program. The Silver level provides a cost-effective, yet scalable way for partners to start an OPN Specialized membership and offers a substantial set of benefits that lets partners increase their competitive positioning. Program Details: SilverGold Level: Gold-level partners have the ability to specialize, helping them grow their business and create differentiation in the marketplace. Oracle partners at the Gold level can develop, sell, or implement the full stack of Oracle solutions and can apply to resell Oracle Applications.Program Details: GoldPlatinum Level: The Platinum level is for Oracle partners who want the highest level of benefits and are committed to reaching a minimum of five specializations. Platinum partners are recognized for their expertise in a broad range of products and technology, and receive dedicated support from Oracle.Program Details: PlatinumIn addition we recently introduced a new level:Diamond Level: This level is the most prestigious level of OPN Specialized. It allows companies to differentiate further because of their focused depth and breadth of their expertise. Program Details: DiamondSo as you can see there are various levels cost effective ways that Partners can get assistance, differentiation through OPN membership. Q: What role does the Oracle's World Wide Alliances & Channels (WWA&C), Partner Enablement teams and the WebCenter Community play?  A: Brian: Oracle’s WWA&C teams are responsible for manage relationships, educating their teams, creating go-to-market solutions and fostering communities for Oracle partners worldwide.  The WebCenter Partner Enablement Middleware Team is tasked to create, manage and distribute Specialization resources for the WebCenter Partner community. Q: What WebCenter Specializations are currently available?A: Christine:  As of now here are the following WebCenter Specializations and their availability: Oracle WebCenter Portal Specialization (Oracle WebCenter Portal): Available NowThe Oracle WebCenter Specialization provides insight into the following products: WebCenter Services, WebCenter Spaces, and WebLogic Portal.Oracle WebCenter Specialized Partners can efficiently use Oracle WebCenter products to create social applications, enterprise portals, communities, composite applications, and Internet or intranet Web sites on a standards-based, service-oriented architecture (SOA). The suite combines the development of rich internet applications; a multi-channel portal framework; and a suite of horizontal WebCenter applications, which provide content, presence, and social networking capabilities to create a highly interactive user experience. Oracle WebCenter Content Specialization: Available NowThe Oracle WebCenter Content Specialization provides insight into the following products; Universal Content Management, WebCenter Records Management, WebCenter Imaging, WebCenter Distributed Capture, and WebCenter Capture.Oracle WebCenter Content Specialized Partners can efficiently build content-rich business applications, reuse content, and integrate hundreds of content services with other business applications. This allows our customers to decrease costs, automate processes, reduce resource bottlenecks, share content effectively, minimize the number of lost documents, and better manage risk. Oracle WebCenter Sites Specialization: Available Q1 2012Oracle WebCenter Sites is part of the broader Oracle WebCenter platform that provides organizations with a complete customer experience management solution.  Partners that align with the new Oracle WebCenter Sites platform allow their customers organizations to: Leverage customer information from all channels and systems Manage interactions across all channels Unify commerce, merchandising, marketing, and service across all channels Provide personalized, choreographed consumer journeys across all channels Integrate order orchestration, supply chain management and order fulfillment Q: What criteria does the Partner organization need to achieve Specialization? What about individual Sales, PreSales & Implementation Specialist/Technical consultants?A: Brian: Each Oracle WebCenter Specialization has unique Business Criteria that must be met in order to achieve that Specialization.  This includes a unique number of transactions (co-sell, re-sell, and referral), customer references and then unique number of specialists as part of a partner team (Sales, Pre-Sales, Implementation, and Support).   Each WebCenter Specialization provides training resources (GLPs, BootCamps, Assessments and Exams for individuals on a partner’s staff to fulfill those requirements.  That criterion can be found for each Specialization on the Specialize tab for each WebCenter Knowledge Zone.  Here are the sample criteria, recommended courses, exams for the WebCenter Portal Specialization: WebCenter Portal Specialization Criteria Q: Do you have any suggestions on the best way for partners to get started if they would like to know more?A: Christine:   The best way to start is for partners is look at their business and core Oracle team focus and then look to become specialized in one or more areas.  Once you have selected the Specializations that are right for your business, you need to follow the first 3 key steps described below. The fourth step outlines the additional process to follow if you meet the criteria to be Advanced Specialized. Note that Step 4 may not be done without first following Steps 1-3.1. Join the Knowledge Zone(s) where you want to achieve Specialized status Go to the Knowledge Zone lick on the "Why Partner" tab Click on the "Join Knowledge Zone" link 2. Meet the Specialization criteria - Define and implement plans in your organization to achieve the competency and business criteria targets of the Specialization. (Note: Worldwide OPN members at the Gold, Platinum, or Diamond level and their Associates at the Gold, Platinum, or Diamond level may count their collective resources to meet the business and competency criteria required for specialization in this area.) 3. Apply for Specialization – when you have met the business and competency criteria required, inform Oracle by completing the following steps: Click on the "Specialize" tab in the Knowledge Zone Click on the "Apply Now" button Complete the online application form Oracle will validate the information provided, and once approved, you will receive notification from Oracle of your awarded Specialized status. Need more information? Access our Step by Step Guide (PDF) 4. Apply for Advanced Specialization (Optional) – If your company has on staff 50 unique Certified Implementation Specialists in your company's approved Specialization's product set, let Oracle know by following these steps: Ensure that you have 50 or more unique individuals that are Certified Implementation Specialists in the specific Specialization awarded to your company If you are pooling resources from another Associate or Worldwide entity, ensure you know that company’s name and country Have your Oracle PRM Administrator complete the online Advanced Specialization Application Oracle will validate the information provided, and once approved, you will receive notification from Oracle of your awarded Advanced Specialized status. There are additional resources on OPN as well as the broader WebCenter Community: v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} Normal 0 false false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

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  • NRF Online Merchandising Workshop: Where Online Retailers Are Focusing for Holiday and Beyond

    - by Rose Spicer-Oracle
    0 0 1 1204 6863 Oracle Corporation 57 16 8051 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Last month we attended the NRF Online Merchandising Workshop in LA, and it was a great opportunity to catch up with our customers, meet new retailers, and hear some great presentations from VF Corporation, Zazzle, Julep Beauty, Backcountry, eBags and more. The one-on-one conversations with Merchants and the keynote presentations carry the same themes across companies of all sizes and across verticals. With only 125 days left (and counting) until Black Friday, these conversations provided some great insight in to what’s top of mind for retailers during the most stressful time of their year, and a sneak peek in to what they will deliver this holiday season.  Some of the most popular topics were: When to start promoting for holiday: seems like a funny conversation to have in July, but a number of retailers said they already had their holiday shopping gift guides live on their site, and it was attracting a significant portion of their onsite traffic. When it comes to timing, most retailers were questioning when to begin their holiday promotions -- carefully balancing when to release pricing and specials, and knowing that customers are holding out for last-minute deals and price drops. Many retailers noted the frustrations around transparent pricing by Amazon and a few other mega-retailers last year, publishing their “lowest prices of the season” as early as October – ensuring shoppers that those prices were the best they could get all season long. Many retailers felt their hands were forced to drop prices. Others kept their set pricing with negative customer reaction, causing some to miss their holiday goals. The pressure is on, and most retailers identified November 1 as their target start date for the holiday promotions blitz. Some are even waiting for the big guys to release their “lowest prices of the season” guides and will then follow suit.      Attribution is tough – and a huge focus: understanding the path to conversion is a tough nut to crack, especially in the new omnichannel world where consumers use multiple touchpoints to make a single purchase, and internal management wants to know hard data. This has lead many retailers to invest in attribution; carefully tracking their online marketing efforts to determine what gets “credit” for the sale, instead of giving credit to the “last click.” Retailers noted that it is very difficult to determine the numbers when online and offline worlds collide – like when a shopper uses digital channels for research and then makes a purchase in a store. As one of the presenters from The North Face mentioned in her keynote, a key to enabling better customer service and satisfaction when it comes to converged online and offline sales is training the in-store staff, and creating a culture where it eventually “doesn’t matter what group gets the credit” if they all add to the sale. No doubt, the area of attribution will be a big area of retail investment in the coming years.      How to plan for the converged world: planning to ensure inventory gets where it needs to be was another concern. In conversations with retailers, we advised them to analyze customer patterns: where shoppers purchase items, where the items were sourced from and even where items are returned. This analysis is very valuable in determining inventory plans. From there, retailers can more accurately plan and allocate inventory to support both the online and offline customer behavior. As we head into the holiday season, the need for accurate enterprise-wide inventory visibility, and providing that information to associates, is even more critical to the brand-wide customer experience.       Improving the search / navigation / usability of the site(s): Aside from some of the big ideas and standard holiday pricing pressure, most conversations we had centered around continuing to improve the basics of the site. Reinvesting in search and navigation came up time and time again (FitForCommerce blogged about what a big topic it was at the event as well). Obviously getting shoppers on their path quickly and allowing them to find what they need fast is critical, but it was definitely interesting to hear just how much effort is still going in to honing the search and navigation experience. Adding new elements to search and navigation like typeahed, inventive navigation refinements, and new navigation categories like gift guides, specialized boutiques and flash sales were top of mind, in addition to searchandising and making search-driven product recommendations. (Oracle can help!)       Reducing cart abandonment: always a hot topic that is top of mind for every online retailer. Getting shoppers to the cart is often less then half the battle; getting them to click “buy” and complete the transaction is much more difficult. While retailers carefully study the checkout process and where shoppers tend to bounce, they know that how they design their checkout page is critical. We’re all online shoppers in our personal lives and we know how frustrating it can be when total prices are not transparent (i.e. shipping, processing, taxes is not included until the very last possible screen before clicking that buy button). Online retailers are struggling with where in the checkout process to surface the total price to be charged to reduce cart abandonment, while not showing the total figure too early in the process that it keeps shoppers from getting to checkout altogether. Recent research shows that providing total pricing prior to the checkout process dramatically reduces cart abandonment – as it serves as a filter to those shopping within a specific price band. Much of the cart abandonment discussion leads us to…       The free shipping / free returns question: it’s no secret that because of Amazon and programs like Prime, consumers expect free shipping, much to the chagrin of the smaller retailer. The reality is that if you’re not a mega-retailer, shipping is an expensive part of doing business that doesn’t allow most retailers to keep their prices low and offer free shipping. This has many retailers venturing out on the “free returns” path, especially in apparel. A number of retailers we spoke with are testing a flat rate shipping fee with free returns to see if they can crack the price threshold where shoppers are willing to pay for shipping with an added service. But, free shipping remains king.      Social ads and retargeting: they are working, but do they turn off consumers? That’s the big question. Every retailer we spoke with during a roundtable on the topic said that social ads and retargeting (where that pair of boots you’re been eyeing on a site magically follows you around the Internet) work and are meeting campaign goals. The larger question many retailers are asking is if this type of tactic is turning off a large number of shoppers, even if these campaigns are meeting their early goals. Retailers also mentioned that Facebook ads are working very well for them, especially when it comes to new customer acquisition, serving as a complimentary a channel to SEO when it comes to engaging new customers. While there are always new things to experiment with in retail, standard challenges are top of mind as retailers scramble to get ready for holiday. It will undoubtedly be another record-breaking online shopping season, but as retailers get more and more advanced with each Black Friday, expect some exciting things. This excitement needs to be backed by sound solutions and optimized operations. Then again, consumers are expecting more than ever, so I don’t doubt that retailers are already thinking about the possibilities of holiday 2015… and beyond. Customers who read this article, also found value in the following stories: Personalization for Retail: http://blogs.oracle.com/retail/entry/personalization_for_retailShop Direct User Experience Focus Drives Sales:https://blogs.oracle.com/retail/entry/shop_direct_user_experience_focusMaking Waves: Australian Online Retailer SurfStitch: https://blogs.oracle.com/oracleretail/entry/surf_stitchWhat’s new in Oracle Commerce v11.1 for RetailWhat the Content+Commerce Equation is Missing

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  • tfs 2010 RC Agile Process template update New Task progress report

    Maybe my next post will just be about why I am so excited and impressed with the out of the box templates.  But, for this first blog with my new focus, I thought I would just walk through the process I went through to create a task progress report (to enhance the out of the box Agile template). So, I started with the MSF for Agile Development 5.0 RC template.  After reviewing the template, I came away pretty excited about many of the new reports.  I am especially excited about the reporting services reports.  The big advantage I see here is that these are querying the Warehouse directly instead of the Analysis Services Cube which means that they are much closer to real-time which I find very important for reports like Burndown and task status.  One report that I focused on right away was the User Story Progress Report.  An overview is shown below: This report is very useful, but a lot of our internal managers really prefer to manage at the task level and either dont have stories in TFS or would like to view this type of report for tasks in addition to the User Stories.  So, what did I do? Step 1: Download the Agile Template In VS 2010 RC, open Process Template Manager from Team->Team Project Collection Settings.  Download the MSF for Agile Development template to your local file system.  A project template is a folder of xml files.  There is a ProcessTemplate.xml in the root and then a bunch of directories for things like Work Item Definitions and Queries, Reports, Shared Documents and Source Control Settings.  Step 2: Copy the folder My plan here is to make a new template with all of my modifications.  You can also just enhance update the MSF template.  However, I think it is cleaner when you start making modifications to make your own template.  So, copy the folder and name it with your new template name. Step 3: Change Template Name Open ProcessTemplate.xml and change the <name> of the template. Step 4: Copy the rdl of the Report you want to use a starting point In my case, I copied Stories Progress.rdl and named the file Task Progress Breakdown.rdl.  I reviewed the requirements for the new report with some of the users here and came up with this plan.  Should show tasks and be expandable to show subtasks.  Should add Assigned To and Estimated Finish Date as 2 extra columns. Step 5: Walkthrough the existing report to understand how it works The main thing that I do here is try to get the sql to run in SQL Management Studio.  So, I can walkthrough the process of building up the data for the report. After analyzing this particular report I found a couple of very useful things.  One, this report is already built to display subtasks if I just flip the IncludeTasks flag to 1.  So, if you are using Stories and have tasks assigned to each story.  This might give you everything you want.  For my purposes, I did make that change to the Stories Progress report as I find it to be a more useful report to be able to see the tasks that comprise each story.  But, I still wanted a task only version with the additional fields. Step 6: Update the report definition I tend to work on rdl in visual studio directly as xml.  Especially when I am just altering an existing report, I find it easier than trying to deal with the BI Studio designer.  For my report I made the following changes. Updated Fields Removed Stack Rank and Replaced with Priority since we dont use Stack Rank Added FinishDate and AssignedTo Changed the root deliverable SQL to pull @tasks instead of @deliverablecategory and added a join CurrentWorkItemView for FinishDate and Assigned to SELECT cwi.[System_Id] AS ID FROM [CurrentWorkItemView] cwi             WHERE cwi.[System_WorkItemType] IN (@Task)             AND cwi.[ProjectNodeGUID] = @ProjectGuid SELECT lh.SourceWorkItemID AS ID FROM FactWorkItemLinkHistory lh             INNER JOIN [CurrentWorkItemView] cwi ON lh.TargetWorkItemID = cwi.[System_Id]             WHERE lh.WorkItemLinkTypeSK = @ParentWorkItemLinkTypeSK                 AND lh.RemovedDate = CONVERT(DATETIME, '9999', 126)                 AND lh.TeamProjectCollectionSK = @TeamProjectCollectionSK                 AND cwi.[System_WorkItemType] NOT IN (@DeliverableCategory) Added AssignedTo and FinishDate columns to the @Rollups table Added two columns to the table used for column headers <Tablix Name="ProgressTable">         <TablixBody>           <TablixColumns>             <TablixColumn>               <Width>2.7625in</Width>             </TablixColumn>             <TablixColumn>               <Width>0.5125in</Width>             </TablixColumn>             <TablixColumn>               <Width>3.4625in</Width>             </TablixColumn>             <TablixColumn>               <Width>0.7625in</Width>             </TablixColumn>             <TablixColumn>               <Width>1.25in</Width>             </TablixColumn>             <TablixColumn>               <Width>1.25in</Width>             </TablixColumn>           </TablixColumns> Added Cells for the two new headers Added Cells to the data table to include the two new values (Assigned to & Finish Date) Changed a bunch of widths that would change the format of the report to display landscape and have room for the two additional columns Set the Value of the IncludeTasks Parameter to 1 <ReportParameter Name="IncludeTasks">       <DataType>Integer</DataType>       <DefaultValue>         <Values>           <Value>=1</Value>         </Values>       </DefaultValue>       <Prompt>IncludeTasks</Prompt>       <Hidden>true</Hidden>     </ReportParameter> Change a few descriptions on how the report should be used This is the resulting report I have attached the final rdl. Step 7: Update ReportTasks.xml Last step before the template is ready for use is to update the reportTasks.xml file in the reports folder.  This file defines the reports that are available in the template.           <report name="Task Progress Breakdown" filename="Reports\Task Progress Breakdown.rdl" folder="Project Management" cacheExpiration="30">             <parameters>               <parameter name="ExplicitProject" value="" />             </parameters>             <datasources>               <reference name="/Tfs2010ReportDS" dsname="TfsReportDS" />             </datasources>           </report> Step 8: Upload the template Open the process Template Manager just like Step 1.  And upload the new template. Thats it.  One other note, if you want to add this report to existing team project you will have to go into reportmanager (the reporting services portal) and upload the rdl to that projects directory.Did you know that DotNetSlackers also publishes .net articles written by top known .net Authors? We already have over 80 articles in several categories including Silverlight. Take a look: here.

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  • Professional Scrum Developer (.NET) Training in London

    - by Martin Hinshelwood
    On the 26th - 30th July in Microsoft’s offices in London Adam Cogan from SSW will be presenting the first Professional Scrum Developer course in the UK. I will be teaching this course along side Adam and it is a fantastic experience. You are split into teams and go head-to-head to deliver units of potentially shippable work in four two hour sprints. The Professional Scrum Developer course is the only course endorsed by both Microsoft and Ken Schwaber and they have worked together very effectively in brining this course to fruition. This course is the brain child of Richard Hundhausen, a Microsoft Regional Director, and both Adam and I attending the Trainer Prep in Sydney when he was there earlier this year. He is a fantastic trainer and no matter where you do this course you can be safe in the knowledge that he has trained and vetted all of the teachers. A tools version of Ken if you will Find a course and register Download this syllabus Download the Scrum Guide What is the Professional Scrum Developer course all about? Professional Scrum Developer course is a unique and intensive five-day experience for software developers. The course guides teams on how to turn product requirements into potentially shippable increments of software using the Scrum framework, Visual Studio 2010, and modern software engineering practices. Attendees will work in self-organizing, self-managing teams using a common instance of Team Foundation Server 2010. Who should attend this course? This course is suitable for any member of a software development team – architect, programmer, database developer, tester, etc. Entire teams are encouraged to attend and experience the course together, but individuals are welcome too. Attendees will self-organize to form cross-functional Scrum teams. These teams require an aggregate of skills specific to the selected case study. Please see the last page of this document for specific details. Product Owners, ScrumMasters, and other stakeholders are welcome too, but keep in mind that everyone who attends will be expected to commit to work and pull their weight on a Scrum team. What should you know by the end of the course? Scrum will be experienced through a combination of lecture, demonstration, discussion, and hands-on exercises. Attendees will learn how to do Scrum correctly while being coached and critiqued by the instructor, in the following topic areas: Form effective teams Explore and understand legacy “Brownfield” architecture Define quality attributes, acceptance criteria, and “done” Create automated builds How to handle software hotfixes Verify that bugs are identified and eliminated Plan releases and sprints Estimate product backlog items Create and manage a sprint backlog Hold an effective sprint review Improve your process by using retrospectives Use emergent architecture to avoid technical debt Use Test Driven Development as a design tool Setup and leverage continuous integration Use Test Impact Analysis to decrease testing times Manage SQL Server development in an Agile way Use .NET and T-SQL refactoring effectively Build, deploy, and test SQL Server databases Create and manage test plans and cases Create, run, record, and play back manual tests Setup a branching strategy and branch code Write more maintainable code Identify and eliminate people and process dysfunctions Inspect and improve your team’s software development process What does the week look like? This course is a mix of lecture, demonstration, group discussion, simulation, and hands-on software development. The bulk of the course will be spent working as a team on a case study application delivering increments of new functionality in mini-sprints. Here is the week at a glance: Monday morning and most of the day Friday will be spent with the computers powered off, so you can focus on sharpening your game of Scrum and avoiding the common pitfalls when implementing it. The Sprints Timeboxing is a critical concept in Scrum as well as in this course. We expect each team and student to understand and obey all of the timeboxes. The timebox duration will always be clearly displayed during each activity. Expect the instructor to enforce it. Each of the ½ day sprints will roughly follow this schedule: Component Description Minutes Instruction Presentation and demonstration of new and relevant tools & practices 60 Sprint planning meeting Product owner presents backlog; each team commits to delivering functionality 10 Sprint planning meeting Each team determines how to build the functionality 10 The Sprint The team self-organizes and self-manages to complete their tasks 120 Sprint Review meeting Each team will present their increment of functionality to the other teams = 30 Sprint Retrospective A group retrospective meeting will be held to inspect and adapt 10 Each team is expected to self-organize and manage their own work during the sprint. Pairing is highly encouraged. The instructor/product owner will be available if there are questions or impediments, but will be hands-off by default. You should be prepared to communicate and work with your team members in order to achieve your sprint goal. If you have development-related questions or get stuck, your partner or team should be your first level of support. Module 1: INTRODUCTION This module provides a chance for the attendees to get to know the instructors as well as each other. The Professional Scrum Developer program, as well as the day by day agenda, will be explained. Finally, the Scrum team will be selected and assembled so that the forming, storming, norming, and performing can begin. Trainer and student introductions Professional Scrum Developer program Agenda Logistics Team formation Retrospective Module 2: SCRUMDAMENTALS This module provides a level-setting understanding of the Scrum framework including the roles, timeboxes, and artifacts. The team will then experience Scrum firsthand by simulating a multi-day sprint of product development, including planning, review, and retrospective meetings. Scrum overview Scrum roles Scrum timeboxes (ceremonies) Scrum artifacts Simulation Retrospective It’s required that you read Ken Schwaber’s Scrum Guide in preparation for this module and course. MODULE 3: IMPLEMENTING SCRUM IN VISUAL STUDIO 2010 This module demonstrates how to implement Scrum in Visual Studio 2010 using a Scrum process template*. The team will learn the mapping between the Scrum concepts and how they are implemented in the tool. After connecting to the shared Team Foundation Server, the team members will then return to the simulation – this time using Visual Studio to manage their product development. Mapping Scrum to Visual Studio 2010 User Story work items Task work items Bug work items Demonstration Simulation Retrospective Module 4: THE CASE STUDY In this module the team is introduced to their problem domain for the week. A kickoff meeting by the Product Owner (the instructor) will set the stage for the why and what that will take during the upcoming sprints. The team will then define the quality attributes of the project and their definition of “done.” The legacy application code will be downloaded, built, and explored, so that any bugs can be discovered and reported. Introduction to the case study Download the source code, build, and explore the application Define the quality attributes for the project Define “done” How to file effective bugs in Visual Studio 2010 Retrospective Module 5: HOTFIX This module drops the team directly into a Brownfield (legacy) experience by forcing them to analyze the existing application’s architecture and code in order to locate and fix the Product Owner’s high-priority bug(s). The team will learn best practices around finding, testing, fixing, validating, and closing a bug. How to use Architecture Explorer to visualize and explore Create a unit test to validate the existence of a bug Find and fix the bug Validate and close the bug Retrospective Module 6: PLANNING This short module introduces the team to release and sprint planning within Visual Studio 2010. The team will define and capture their goals as well as other important planning information. Release vs. Sprint planning Release planning and the Product Backlog Product Backlog prioritization Acceptance criteria and tests Sprint planning and the Sprint Backlog Creating and linking Sprint tasks Retrospective At this point the team will have the knowledge of Scrum, Visual Studio 2010, and the case study application to begin developing increments of potentially shippable functionality that meet their definition of done. Module 7: EMERGENT ARCHITECTURE This module introduces the architectural practices and tools a team can use to develop a valid design on which to develop new functionality. The teams will learn how Scrum supports good architecture and design practices. After the discussion, the teams will be presented with the product owner’s prioritized backlog so that they may select and commit to the functionality they can deliver in this sprint. Architecture and Scrum Emergent architecture Principles, patterns, and practices Visual Studio 2010 modeling tools UML and layer diagrams SPRINT 1 Retrospective Module 8: TEST DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT This module introduces Test Driven Development as a design tool and how to implement it using Visual Studio 2010. To maximize productivity and quality, a Scrum team should setup Continuous Integration to regularly build every team member’s code changes and run regression tests. Refactoring will also be defined and demonstrated in combination with Visual Studio’s Test Impact Analysis to efficiently re-run just those tests which were impacted by refactoring. Continuous integration Team Foundation Build Test Driven Development (TDD) Refactoring Test Impact Analysis SPRINT 2 Retrospective Module 9: AGILE DATABASE DEVELOPMENT This module lets the SQL Server database developers in on a little secret – they can be agile too. By using the database projects in Visual Studio 2010, the database developers can join the rest of the team. The students will see how to apply Agile database techniques within Visual Studio to support the SQL Server 2005/2008/2008R2 development lifecycle. Agile database development Visual Studio database projects Importing schema and scripts Building and deploying Generating data Unit testing SPRINT 3 Retrospective Module 10: SHIP IT Teams need to know that just because they like the functionality doesn’t mean the Product Owner will. This module revisits acceptance criteria as it pertains to acceptance testing. By refining acceptance criteria into manual test steps, team members can execute the tests, recording the results and reporting bugs in a number of ways. Manual tests will be defined and executed using the Microsoft Test Manager tool. As the Sprint completes and an increment of functionality is delivered, the team will also learn why and when they should create a branch of the codeline. Acceptance criteria Testing in Visual Studio 2010 Microsoft Test Manager Writing and running manual tests Branching SPRINT 4 Retrospective Module 11: OVERCOMING DYSFUNCTION This module introduces the many types of people, process, and tool dysfunctions that teams face in the real world. Many dysfunctions and scenarios will be identified, along with ideas and discussion for how a team might mitigate them. This module will enable you and your team to move toward independence and improve your game of Scrum when you depart class. Scrum-butts and flaccid Scrum Best practices working as a team Team challenges ScrumMaster challenges Product Owner challenges Stakeholder challenges Course Retrospective What will be expected of you and you team? This is a unique course in that it’s technically-focused, team-based, and employs timeboxes. It demands that the members of the teams self-organize and self-manage their own work to collaboratively develop increments of software. All attendees must commit to: Pay attention to all lectures and demonstrations Participate in team and group discussions Work collaboratively with other team members Obey the timebox for each activity Commit to work and do your best to deliver All teams should have these skills: Understanding of Scrum Familiarity with Visual Studio 201 C#, .NET 4.0 & ASP.NET 4.0 experience*  SQL Server 2008 development experience Software testing experience * Check with the instructor ahead of time for the exact technologies Self-organising teams Another unique attribute of this course is that it’s a technical training class being delivered to teams of developers, not pairs, and not individuals. Ideally, your actual software development team will attend the training to ensure that all necessary skills are covered. However, if you wish to attend an open enrolment course alone or with just a couple of colleagues, realize that you may be placed on a team with other attendees. The instructor will do his or her best to ensure that each team is cross-functional to tackle the case study, but there are no guarantees. You may be required to try a new role, learn a new skill, or pair with somebody unfamiliar to you. This is just good Scrum! Who should NOT take this course? Because of the nature of this course, as explained above, certain types of people should probably not attend this course: Students requiring command and control style instruction – there are no prescriptive/step-by-step (think traditional Microsoft Learning) labs in this course Students who are unwilling to work within a timebox Students who are unwilling to work collaboratively on a team Students who don’t have any skill in any of the software development disciplines Students who are unable to commit fully to their team – not only will this diminish the student’s learning experience, but it will also impact their team’s learning experience Find a course and register Download this syllabus Download the Scrum Guide Technorati Tags: Scrum,SSW,Pro Scrum Dev

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, November 11, 2012

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, November 11, 2012Popular ReleasesZXMAK2: Version 2.7.2.0: show extended rzx error info fix reset lag for PROFI ULA 5.xx fix reset behavior fix PROFI ULA timings (thanks to solegstar) fix #FF port for PROFI ULA add ATM710 memory module add new predefined machine configs: ATM Turbo 2, PROFI 3.XX???????: Monitor 2012-11-11: This is the first releaseVidCoder: 1.4.5 Beta: Removed the old Advanced user interface and moved x264 preset/profile/tune there instead. The functionality is still available through editing the options string. Added ability to specify the H.264 level. Added ability to choose VidCoder's interface language. If you are interested in translating, we can get VidCoder in your language! Updated WPF text rendering to use the better Display mode. Updated HandBrake core to SVN 5045. Removed logic that forced the .m4v extension in certain ...ImageGlass: Version 1.5: http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc483/phapsuxeko/ImageGlass/1.png v1.5.4401.3015 Thumbnail bar: Increase loading speed Thumbnail image with ratio Support personal customization: mouse up, mouse down, mouse hover, selected item... Scroll to show all items Image viewer Zoom by scroll, or selected rectangle Speed up loading Zoom to cursor point New background design and customization and others... v1.5.4430.483 Thumbnail bar: Auto move scroll bar to selected image Show / Hi...Building Windows 8 Apps with C# and XAML: Full Source Chapters 1 - 10 for Windows 8 Fix 002: This is the full source from all chapters of the book, compiled and tested on Windows 8 RTM. Includes: A fix for the Netflix example from Chapter 6 that was missing a service reference A fix for the ImageHelper issue (images were not being saved) - this was due to the buffer being inadequate and required streaming the writeable bitmap to a buffer first before encoding and savingmyCollections: Version 2.3.2.0: New in this version : Added TheGamesDB.net API for Games and NDS Added Support for Windows Media Center Added Support for myMovies Added Support for XBMC Added Support for Dune HD Added Support for Mede8er Added Support for WD HDTV Added Fast search options Added order by Artist/Album for music You can now create covers and background for games You can now update your ID3 tag with the info of myCollections Fixed several provider Performance improvement New Splash ...Draw: Draw 1.0: Drawing PadPlayer Framework by Microsoft: Player Framework for Windows 8 (v1.0): IMPORTANT: List of breaking changes from preview 7 Ability to move control panel or individual elements outside media player. more info... New Entertainment app theme for out of the box support for Windows 8 Entertainment app guidelines. more info... VSIX reference names shortened. Allows seeing plugin name from "Add Reference" dialog without resizing. FreeWheel SmartXML now supports new "Standard" event callback type. Other minor misc fixes and improvements ADDITIONAL DOWNLOADSSmo...WebSearch.Net: WebSearch.Net 3.1: WebSearch.Net is an open-source research platform that provides uniform data source access, data modeling, feature calculation, data mining, etc. It facilitates the experiments of web search researchers due to its high flexibility and extensibility. The platform can be used or extended by any language compatible for .Net 2 framework, from C# (recommended), VB.Net to C++ and Java. Thanks to the large coverage of knowledge in web search research, it is necessary to model the techniques and main...Umbraco CMS: Umbraco 4.10.0: NugetNuGet BlogRead the release blog post for 4.10.0. Whats newMVC support New request pipeline Many, many bugfixes (see the issue tracker for a complete list) Read the documentation for the MVC bits. Breaking changesWe have done all we can not to break backwards compatibility, but we had to do some minor breaking changes: Removed graphicHeadlineFormat config setting from umbracoSettings.config (an old relic from the 3.x days) U4-690 DynamicNode ChildrenAsList was fixed, altering it'...SQL Server Partitioned Table Framework: Partitioned Table Framework Release 1.0: SQL Server 2012 ReleaseSharePoint Manager 2013: SharePoint Manager 2013 Release ver 1.0.12.1106: SharePoint Manager 2013 Release (ver: 1.0.12.1106) is now ready for SharePoint 2013. The new version has an expanded view of the SharePoint object model and has been tested on SharePoint 2013 RTM. As a bonus, the new version is also available for SharePoint 2010 as a separate download.D3D9Client: D3D9Client R7: New release for Orbiter 2010-P1 - Added horizon/sun angle for night-lights into the configuration file (default 10deg) - Some runway lights related bugs are fixed - Added more configuration options for runway lightsFiskalizacija za developere: FiskalizacijaDev 1.2: Verzija 1.2. je, prije svega, odgovor na novu verziju Tehnicke specifikacije (v1.1.) koja je objavljena prije nekoliko dana. Pored novosti vezanih uz (sitne) izmjene u spomenutoj novoj verziji Tehnicke dokumentacije, projekt smo prošili sa nekim dodatnim feature-ima od kojih je vecina proizašla iz vaših prijedloga - hvala :) Novosti u v1.2. su: - Neusuglašenost zahtjeva (http://fiskalizacija.codeplex.com/workitem/645) - Sample projekt - iznosi se množe sa 100 (http://fiskalizacija.codeplex.c...MFCMAPI: October 2012 Release: Build: 15.0.0.1036 Full release notes at SGriffin's blog. If you just want to run the MFCMAPI or MrMAPI, get the executables. If you want to debug them, get the symbol files and the source. The 64 bit builds will only work on a machine with Outlook 2010 64 bit installed. All other machines should use the 32 bit builds, regardless of the operating system. Facebook BadgeDictationTool: DictationCool-WPF: • Open a media file to start a new dication. • Open a dct file to continue a dictation. • Compare your dictation with original text if exists. • Save your dictation to dct file, and restore it to continue later. • Save the compared result to html file.MCEBuddy 2.x: MCEBuddy 2.3.7: Changelog for 2.3.7 (32bit and 64bit) 1. Improved performance of MP4 Fast and M4V Fast Profiles (no deinterlacing, removed --decomb) 2. Improved priority handling 3. Added support for Pausing and Resume conversions 4. Added support for fallback to source directory if network destination directory is unavailable 5. MCEBuddy now installs ShowAnalyzer during installation 6. Added support for long description atom in iTunesDyanamic Reports (RDLC) - SharePoint 2010 Visual WebPart: Initial Release: This is a Initial Release.HTML Renderer: HTML Renderer 1.0.0.0 (3): Major performance improvement (http://theartofdev.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/how-i-optimized-html-renderer-and-fell-in-love-with-vs-profiler/) Minor fixes raised in issue tracker and discussions.Window Manager: Window Manager 1.0: First releaseNew Projectsarteytex: este es una prueba blockworld: An implementation of a goal stack planner.Customer Note: customer note is windows store applicationDraw: ?????????????:??????、CAD??、????。Football Management: Football Management System is web management system for football (soccer) leagues, teams and players. Hijri Converter API: This project is aimed to create a simple RESTful API using VB and ASP.NET to do Hijri-to-Gregorian and Gregorian-to-Hijri conversion.httpclient?????????: httpclient?????????(1)??????????(2)?????????(3)??2012-11-06??,???????。 Imagine Cup 2013: Develop project to Imagine Cup 2013MyAppReji: MyAppN2F Request: The N2F Request object is used to handle interactions between N2F and the global $_REQUEST variable, sanitizing any results which are returned.Orchard Metro Theme: Orchard Metro Theme is a clean and flexible multi-zone theme.Poker Clock And Goodies: poker w8ProjectASPReviewer: Review website for notebooks, tablets and smartphones.Prototype: Its about making an proto type for the final project.Prototype - 7COM0207: 7COM0207 web scripting module, Assignment 2QuickToAD: QuickToAD is a foundational development project for the purpose of jump-starting data-driven application projects.Release Manager: Release Manager is a project to design and develop Windows based Release Management Software.ResW File Code Generator: A Visual Studio 2012 Custom Tool for generating a strongly typed helper class for accessing localized resources from a .ResW file.SEO Tools: This is a website containing some commonly used SEO tools. I have only added a blog ping utility at this time but there is more to come. Thales communicator: A C# library that helps communicate with Thales HSMTrivial: A trivia framework: Trivial is a C# framework that helps you creating custom trivia-like applications.

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  • Caching NHibernate Named Queries

    - by TStewartDev
    I recently started a new job and one of my first tasks was to implement a "popular products" design. The parameters were that it be done with NHibernate and be cached for 24 hours at a time because the query will be pretty taxing and the results do not need to be constantly up to date. This ended up being tougher than it sounds. The database schema meant a minimum of four joins with filtering and ordering criteria. I decided to use a stored procedure rather than letting NHibernate create the SQL for me. Here is a summary of what I learned (even if I didn't ultimately use all of it): You can't, at the time of this writing, use Fluent NHibernate to configure SQL named queries or imports You can return persistent entities from a stored procedure and there are a couple ways to do that You can populate POCOs using the results of a stored procedure, but it isn't quite as obvious You can reuse your named query result mapping other places (avoid duplication) Caching your query results is not at all obvious Testing to see if your cache is working is a pain NHibernate does a lot of things right. Having unified, up-to-date, comprehensive, and easy-to-find documentation is not one of them. By the way, if you're new to this, I'll use the terms "named query" and "stored procedure" (from NHibernate's perspective) fairly interchangeably. Technically, a named query can execute any SQL, not just a stored procedure, and a stored procedure doesn't have to be executed from a named query, but for reusability, it seems to me like the best practice. If you're here, chances are good you're looking for answers to a similar problem. You don't want to read about the path, you just want the result. So, here's how to get this thing going. The Stored Procedure NHibernate has some guidelines when using stored procedures. For Microsoft SQL Server, you have to return a result set. The scalar value that the stored procedure returns is ignored as are any result sets after the first. Other than that, it's nothing special. CREATE PROCEDURE GetPopularProducts @StartDate DATETIME, @MaxResults INT AS BEGIN SELECT [ProductId], [ProductName], [ImageUrl] FROM SomeTableWithJoinsEtc END The Result Class - PopularProduct You have two options to transport your query results to your view (or wherever is the final destination): you can populate an existing mapped entity class in your model, or you can create a new entity class. If you go with the existing model, the advantage is that the query will act as a loader and you'll get full proxied access to the domain model. However, this can be a disadvantage if you require access to the related entities that aren't loaded by your results. For example, my PopularProduct has image references. Unless I tie them into the query (thus making it even more complicated and expensive to run), they'll have to be loaded on access, requiring more trips to the database. Since we're trying to avoid trips to the database by using a second-level cache, we should use the second option, which is to create a separate entity for results. This approach is (I believe) in the spirit of the Command-Query Separation principle, and it allows us to flatten our data and optimize our report-generation process from data source to view. public class PopularProduct { public virtual int ProductId { get; set; } public virtual string ProductName { get; set; } public virtual string ImageUrl { get; set; } } The NHibernate Mappings (hbm) Next up, we need to let NHibernate know about the query and where the results will go. Below is the markup for the PopularProduct class. Notice that I'm using the <resultset> element and that it has a name attribute. The name allows us to drop this into our query map and any others, giving us reusability. Also notice the <import> element which lets NHibernate know about our entity class. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <hibernate-mapping xmlns="urn:nhibernate-mapping-2.2"> <import class="PopularProduct, Infrastructure.NHibernate, Version=1.0.0.0"/> <resultset name="PopularProductResultSet"> <return-scalar column="ProductId" type="System.Int32"/> <return-scalar column="ProductName" type="System.String"/> <return-scalar column="ImageUrl" type="System.String"/> </resultset> </hibernate-mapping>  And now the PopularProductsMap: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <hibernate-mapping xmlns="urn:nhibernate-mapping-2.2"> <sql-query name="GetPopularProducts" resultset-ref="PopularProductResultSet" cacheable="true" cache-mode="normal"> <query-param name="StartDate" type="System.DateTime" /> <query-param name="MaxResults" type="System.Int32" /> exec GetPopularProducts @StartDate = :StartDate, @MaxResults = :MaxResults </sql-query> </hibernate-mapping>  The two most important things to notice here are the resultset-ref attribute, which links in our resultset mapping, and the cacheable attribute. The Query Class – PopularProductsQuery So far, this has been fairly obvious if you're familiar with NHibernate. This next part, maybe not so much. You can implement your query however you want to; for me, I wanted a self-encapsulated Query class, so here's what it looks like: public class PopularProductsQuery : IPopularProductsQuery { private static readonly IResultTransformer ResultTransformer; private readonly ISessionBuilder _sessionBuilder;   static PopularProductsQuery() { ResultTransformer = Transformers.AliasToBean<PopularProduct>(); }   public PopularProductsQuery(ISessionBuilder sessionBuilder) { _sessionBuilder = sessionBuilder; }   public IList<PopularProduct> GetPopularProducts(DateTime startDate, int maxResults) { var session = _sessionBuilder.GetSession(); var popularProducts = session .GetNamedQuery("GetPopularProducts") .SetCacheable(true) .SetCacheRegion("PopularProductsCacheRegion") .SetCacheMode(CacheMode.Normal) .SetReadOnly(true) .SetResultTransformer(ResultTransformer) .SetParameter("StartDate", startDate.Date) .SetParameter("MaxResults", maxResults) .List<PopularProduct>();   return popularProducts; } }  Okay, so let's look at each line of the query execution. The first, GetNamedQuery, matches up with our NHibernate mapping for the sql-query. Next, we set it as cacheable (this is probably redundant since our mapping also specified it, but it can't hurt, right?). Then we set the cache region which we'll get to in the next section. Set the cache mode (optional, I believe), and my cache is read-only, so I set that as well. The result transformer is very important. This tells NHibernate how to transform your query results into a non-persistent entity. You can see I've defined ResultTransformer in the static constructor using the AliasToBean transformer. The name is obviously leftover from Java/Hibernate. Finally, set your parameters and then call a result method which will execute the query. Because this is set to cached, you execute this statement every time you run the query and NHibernate will know based on your parameters whether to use its cached version or a fresh version. The Configuration – hibernate.cfg.xml and Web.config You need to explicitly enable second-level caching in your hibernate configuration: <hibernate-configuration xmlns="urn:nhibernate-configuration-2.2"> <session-factory> [...] <property name="dialect">NHibernate.Dialect.MsSql2005Dialect</property> <property name="cache.provider_class">NHibernate.Caches.SysCache.SysCacheProvider,NHibernate.Caches.SysCache</property> <property name="cache.use_query_cache">true</property> <property name="cache.use_second_level_cache">true</property> [...] </session-factory> </hibernate-configuration> Both properties "use_query_cache" and "use_second_level_cache" are necessary. As this is for a web deployement, we're using SysCache which relies on ASP.NET's caching. Be aware of this if you're not deploying to the web! You'll have to use a different cache provider. We also need to tell our cache provider (in this cache, SysCache) about our caching region: <syscache> <cache region="PopularProductsCacheRegion" expiration="86400" priority="5" /> </syscache> Here I've set the cache to be valid for 24 hours. This XML snippet goes in your Web.config (or in a separate file referenced by Web.config, which helps keep things tidy). The Payoff That should be it! At this point, your queries should run once against the database for a given set of parameters and then use the cache thereafter until it expires. You can, of course, adjust settings to work in your particular environment. Testing Testing your application to ensure it is using the cache is a pain, but if you're like me, you want to know that it's actually working. It's a bit involved, though, so I'll create a separate post for it if comments indicate there is interest.

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  • guvcview recording video and audio out of synchronisation in Ubuntu 10.10

    - by SIJAR
    I finally got Guvcview, a great software for Logitech webcam and it does all the stuff that one wants out of it. But I'm not satisfy with the video recording, video and audio out of synchronisation also video seems to be in slow motion. Please help so that I can tweak in and get a good video recording with the webcam. Below is the log of Guvcview ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- guvcview 1.4.1 video_device: /dev/video0 vid_sleep: 0 cap_meth: 1 resolution: 640 x 480 windowsize: 1024 x 715 vert pane: 578 spin behavior: 0 mode: mjpg fps: 1/25 Display Fps: 0 bpp: 0 hwaccel: 1 avi_format: 4 sound: 1 sound Device: 4 sound samp rate: 0 sound Channels: 0 Sound delay: 0 nanosec Sound Format: 85 Pan Step: 2 degrees Tilt Step: 2 degrees Video Filter Flags: 0 image inc: 0 profile(default):/home/sijar/default.gpfl starting portaudio... bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111) bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111) bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111) bt_audio_service_open: connect() failed: Connection refused (111) Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory Cannot connect to server socket jack server is not running or cannot be started language catalog= dir:/usr/share/locale type:UTF-8 lang:en_US.utf8 cat:guvcview.mo mjpg: setting format to 1196444237 capture method = 1 video device: /dev/video0 libv4lconvert: warning more framesizes then I can handle! libv4lconvert: warning more framesizes then I can handle! /dev/video0 - device 1 libv4lconvert: warning more framesizes then I can handle! libv4lconvert: warning more framesizes then I can handle! Init. UVC Camera (046d:0825) (location: usb-0000:00:1d.7-5) { pixelformat = 'YUYV', description = 'YUV 4:2:2 (YUYV)' } { discrete: width = 640, height = 480 } Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5, { discrete: width = 160, height = 120 } Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5, { discrete: width = 176, height = 144 } Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5, { discrete: width = 320, height = 176 } Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5, { discrete: width = 320, height = 240 } Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5, { discrete: width = 352, height = 288 } Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5, { discrete: width = 432, height = 240 } Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5, { discrete: width = 544, height = 288 } Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5, { discrete: width = 640, height = 360 } Time interval between frame: 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/10, 1/5, ... repeats a couple of times ... vid:046d pid:0825 driver:uvcvideo Adding control for Pan (relative) UVCIOC_CTRL_ADD - Error: Operation not permitted checking format: 1196444237 VIDIOC_G_COMP:: Invalid argument compression control not supported fps is set to 1/25 drawing controls control[0]: 0x980900 Brightness, 0:255:1, default 128 control[0]: 0x980901 Contrast, 0:255:1, default 32 control[0]: 0x980902 Saturation, 0:255:1, default 32 control[0]: 0x98090c White Balance Temperature, Auto, 0:1:1, default 1 control[0]: 0x980913 Gain, 0:255:1, default 0 control[0]: 0x980918 Power Line Frequency, 0:2:1, default 2 control[0]: 0x98091a White Balance Temperature, 0:10000:10, default 4000 control[0]: 0x98091b Sharpness, 0:255:1, default 24 control[0]: 0x98091c Backlight Compensation, 0:1:1, default 1 control[0]: 0x9a0901 Exposure, Auto, 0:3:1, default 3 control[0]: 0x9a0902 Exposure (Absolute), 1:10000:1, default 166 control[0]: 0x9a0903 Exposure, Auto Priority, 0:1:1, default 0 resolutions of format(2) = 19 frame rates of 1º resolution=6 Def. Res: 0 numb. fps:6 --------------------------------------- device #0 Name = Intel 82801DB-ICH4: Intel 82801DB-ICH4 (hw:0,0) Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 2, Max outputs = 2 Def. low input latency = 0.012 Def. low output latency = 0.012 Def. high input latency = 0.046 Def. high output latency = 0.046 Def. sample rate = 44100.00 --------------------------------------- device #1 Name = Intel 82801DB-ICH4: Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - MIC ADC (hw:0,1) Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 2, Max outputs = 0 Def. low input latency = 0.011 Def. low output latency = -1.000 Def. high input latency = 0.043 Def. high output latency = -1.000 Def. sample rate = 48000.00 --------------------------------------- device #2 Name = Intel 82801DB-ICH4: Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - MIC2 ADC (hw:0,2) Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 2, Max outputs = 0 Def. low input latency = 0.011 Def. low output latency = -1.000 Def. high input latency = 0.043 Def. high output latency = -1.000 Def. sample rate = 48000.00 --------------------------------------- device #3 Name = Intel 82801DB-ICH4: Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - ADC2 (hw:0,3) Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 2, Max outputs = 0 Def. low input latency = 0.011 Def. low output latency = -1.000 Def. high input latency = 0.043 Def. high output latency = -1.000 Def. sample rate = 48000.00 --------------------------------------- device #4 Name = Intel 82801DB-ICH4: Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - IEC958 (hw:0,4) Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 0, Max outputs = 2 Def. low input latency = -1.000 Def. low output latency = 0.011 Def. high input latency = -1.000 Def. high output latency = 0.043 Def. sample rate = 48000.00 --------------------------------------- device #5 Name = USB Device 0x46d:0x825: USB Audio (hw:1,0) Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 1, Max outputs = 0 Def. low input latency = 0.011 Def. low output latency = -1.000 Def. high input latency = 0.043 Def. high output latency = -1.000 Def. sample rate = 48000.00 --------------------------------------- device #6 Name = front Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 0, Max outputs = 2 Def. low input latency = -1.000 Def. low output latency = 0.012 Def. high input latency = -1.000 Def. high output latency = 0.046 Def. sample rate = 44100.00 --------------------------------------- device #7 Name = iec958 Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 0, Max outputs = 2 Def. low input latency = -1.000 Def. low output latency = 0.011 Def. high input latency = -1.000 Def. high output latency = 0.043 Def. sample rate = 48000.00 --------------------------------------- device #8 Name = spdif Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 0, Max outputs = 2 Def. low input latency = -1.000 Def. low output latency = 0.011 Def. high input latency = -1.000 Def. high output latency = 0.043 Def. sample rate = 48000.00 --------------------------------------- device #9 Name = pulse Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 32, Max outputs = 32 Def. low input latency = 0.012 Def. low output latency = 0.012 Def. high input latency = 0.046 Def. high output latency = 0.046 Def. sample rate = 44100.00 --------------------------------------- device #10 Name = dmix Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 0, Max outputs = 2 Def. low input latency = -1.000 Def. low output latency = 0.043 Def. high input latency = -1.000 Def. high output latency = 0.043 Def. sample rate = 48000.00 --------------------------------------- device #11 [ Default Input, Default Output ] Name = default Host API = ALSA Max inputs = 32, Max outputs = 32 Def. low input latency = 0.012 Def. low output latency = 0.012 Def. high input latency = 0.046 Def. high output latency = 0.046 Def. sample rate = 44100.00 ---------------------------------------------- SampleRate:0 Channels:0 Video driver: x11 A window manager is available VIDIOC_S_EXT_CTRLS for multiple controls failed (error -1) using VIDIOC_S_CTRL for user class controls control(0x0098091a) "White Balance Temperature" failed to set (error -1) VIDIOC_S_EXT_CTRLS for multiple controls failed (error -1) using VIDIOC_S_EXT_CTRLS on single controls for class: 0x009a0000 control(0x009a0902) "Exposure (Absolute)" failed to set (error -1) VIDIOC_S_EXT_CTRLS for multiple controls failed (error -1) using VIDIOC_S_CTRL for user class controls control(0x0098091a) "White Balance Temperature" failed to set (error -1) VIDIOC_S_EXT_CTRLS for multiple controls failed (error -1) using VIDIOC_S_EXT_CTRLS on single controls for class: 0x009a0000 control(0x009a0902) "Exposure (Absolute)" failed to set (error -1) Cap Video toggled: 1 (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25371756K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K using audio codec: 0x0055 Audio frame size is 1152 samples for selected codec IO thread started...OK [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2 Cache64 [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]profile Baseline, level 3.0 [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]non-strictly-monotonic PTS shift sound by -9 ms shift sound by -9 ms shift sound by -9 ms AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data ... repeats a couple of times ... AUDIO: droping audio data (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25371748K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data ... repeats a couple of times ... Cap Video toggled: 0 Shuting Down IO Thread AUDIO: droping audio data stop= 4426644744000 start=4416533023000 VIDEO: 146 frames in 10111.000000 ms = 14.439719 fps Stoping audio stream Closing audio stream... close avi Last message repeated 145 times [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]frame I:2 Avg QP:14.10 size: 24492 [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]frame P:103 Avg QP:16.06 size: 20715 [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]mb I I16..4: 48.4% 0.0% 51.6% [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]mb P I16..4: 57.5% 0.0% 0.0% P16..4: 40.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% skip: 2.3% [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]final ratefactor: 62.05 [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]coded y,uvDC,uvAC intra: 79.7% 92.2% 68.4% inter: 62.4% 87.5% 48.0% [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]i16 v,h,dc,p: 23% 17% 41% 19% [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 30% 24% 26% 2% 5% 3% 3% 3% 4% [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]i8c dc,h,v,p: 53% 20% 23% 4% [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]ref P L0: 63.0% 37.0% [libx264 @ 0x8cbd8b0]kb/s:-0.00 total frames encoded: 0 total audio frames encoded: 0 IO thread finished...OK IO Thread finished enabling controls Cap Video toggled: 1 (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25379744K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K using audio codec: 0x0055 Audio frame size is 1152 samples for selected codec IO thread started...OK [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2 Cache64 [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]profile Baseline, level 3.0 [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]non-strictly-monotonic PTS shift sound by -236 ms shift sound by -236 ms shift sound by -236 ms (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25377044K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25373408K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data ... repeats a couple of times ... (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25370696K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data AUDIO: droping audio data ... repeats a couple of times ... (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25367680K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25364052K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25360312K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25356628K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25352908K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25349316K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25345552K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25341828K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25338092K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K (/home/sijar/Videos/Webcam) 25334412K bytes free on a total of 39908968K (used: 36 %) treshold=51200K Cap Video toggled: 0 Shuting Down IO Thread stop= 4708817235000 start=4578624714000 VIDEO: 1604 frames in 130192.000000 ms = 12.320265 fps Stoping audio stream Closing audio stream... close avi Last message repeated 1603 times [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]frame I:16 Avg QP:14.78 size: 42627 [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]frame P:1547 Avg QP:16.44 size: 28599 [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]mb I I16..4: 21.6% 0.0% 78.4% [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]mb P I16..4: 28.1% 0.0% 0.0% P16..4: 70.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% skip: 1.4% [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]final ratefactor: 88.17 [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]coded y,uvDC,uvAC intra: 74.4% 95.8% 83.2% inter: 75.2% 94.6% 69.2% [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]i16 v,h,dc,p: 27% 17% 40% 16% [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 25% 25% 21% 3% 6% 4% 5% 4% 7% [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]i8c dc,h,v,p: 61% 18% 18% 4% [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]ref P L0: 64.0% 36.0% [libx264 @ 0x8cfba20]kb/s:-0.00 total frames encoded: 0 total audio frames encoded: 0 IO thread finished...OK IO Thread finished enabling controls Shuting Down Thread Thread terminated... cleaning Thread allocations: 100% SDL Quit Video Thread finished write /home/sijar/.guvcviewrc OK free audio mutex closed v4l2 strutures free controls free controls - vidState cleaned allocations - 100% Closing portaudio ...OK Closing GTK... OK

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  • Commit in SQL

    - by PRajkumar
    SQL Transaction Control Language Commands (TCL)                                           (COMMIT) Commit Transaction As a SQL language we use transaction control language very frequently. Committing a transaction means making permanent the changes performed by the SQL statements within the transaction. A transaction is a sequence of SQL statements that Oracle Database treats as a single unit. This statement also erases all save points in the transaction and releases transaction locks. Oracle Database issues an implicit COMMIT before and after any data definition language (DDL) statement. Oracle recommends that you explicitly end every transaction in your application programs with a COMMIT or ROLLBACK statement, including the last transaction, before disconnecting from Oracle Database. If you do not explicitly commit the transaction and the program terminates abnormally, then the last uncommitted transaction is automatically rolled back.   Until you commit a transaction: ·         You can see any changes you have made during the transaction by querying the modified tables, but other users cannot see the changes. After you commit the transaction, the changes are visible to other users' statements that execute after the commit ·         You can roll back (undo) any changes made during the transaction with the ROLLBACK statement   Note: Most of the people think that when we type commit data or changes of what you have made has been written to data files, but this is wrong when you type commit it means that you are saying that your job has been completed and respective verification will be done by oracle engine that means it checks whether your transaction achieved consistency when it finds ok it sends a commit message to the user from log buffer but not from data buffer, so after writing data in log buffer it insists data buffer to write data in to data files, this is how it works.   Before a transaction that modifies data is committed, the following has occurred: ·         Oracle has generated undo information. The undo information contains the old data values changed by the SQL statements of the transaction ·         Oracle has generated redo log entries in the redo log buffer of the System Global Area (SGA). The redo log record contains the change to the data block and the change to the rollback block. These changes may go to disk before a transaction is committed ·         The changes have been made to the database buffers of the SGA. These changes may go to disk before a transaction is committed   Note:   The data changes for a committed transaction, stored in the database buffers of the SGA, are not necessarily written immediately to the data files by the database writer (DBWn) background process. This writing takes place when it is most efficient for the database to do so. It can happen before the transaction commits or, alternatively, it can happen some times after the transaction commits.   When a transaction is committed, the following occurs: 1.      The internal transaction table for the associated undo table space records that the transaction has committed, and the corresponding unique system change number (SCN) of the transaction is assigned and recorded in the table 2.      The log writer process (LGWR) writes redo log entries in the SGA's redo log buffers to the redo log file. It also writes the transaction's SCN to the redo log file. This atomic event constitutes the commit of the transaction 3.      Oracle releases locks held on rows and tables 4.      Oracle marks the transaction complete   Note:   The default behavior is for LGWR to write redo to the online redo log files synchronously and for transactions to wait for the redo to go to disk before returning a commit to the user. However, for lower transaction commit latency application developers can specify that redo be written asynchronously and that transaction do not need to wait for the redo to be on disk.   The syntax of Commit Statement is   COMMIT [WORK] [COMMENT ‘your comment’]; ·         WORK is optional. The WORK keyword is supported for compliance with standard SQL. The statements COMMIT and COMMIT WORK are equivalent. Examples Committing an Insert INSERT INTO table_name VALUES (val1, val2); COMMIT WORK; ·         COMMENT Comment is also optional. This clause is supported for backward compatibility. Oracle recommends that you used named transactions instead of commit comments. Specify a comment to be associated with the current transaction. The 'text' is a quoted literal of up to 255 bytes that Oracle Database stores in the data dictionary view DBA_2PC_PENDING along with the transaction ID if a distributed transaction becomes in doubt. This comment can help you diagnose the failure of a distributed transaction. Examples The following statement commits the current transaction and associates a comment with it: COMMIT     COMMENT 'In-doubt transaction Code 36, Call (415) 555-2637'; ·         WRITE Clause Use this clause to specify the priority with which the redo information generated by the commit operation is written to the redo log. This clause can improve performance by reducing latency, thus eliminating the wait for an I/O to the redo log. Use this clause to improve response time in environments with stringent response time requirements where the following conditions apply: The volume of update transactions is large, requiring that the redo log be written to disk frequently. The application can tolerate the loss of an asynchronously committed transaction. The latency contributed by waiting for the redo log write to occur contributes significantly to overall response time. You can specify the WAIT | NOWAIT and IMMEDIATE | BATCH clauses in any order. Examples To commit the same insert operation and instruct the database to buffer the change to the redo log, without initiating disk I/O, use the following COMMIT statement: COMMIT WRITE BATCH; Note: If you omit this clause, then the behavior of the commit operation is controlled by the COMMIT_WRITE initialization parameter, if it has been set. The default value of the parameter is the same as the default for this clause. Therefore, if the parameter has not been set and you omit this clause, then commit records are written to disk before control is returned to the user. WAIT | NOWAIT Use these clauses to specify when control returns to the user. The WAIT parameter ensures that the commit will return only after the corresponding redo is persistent in the online redo log. Whether in BATCH or IMMEDIATE mode, when the client receives a successful return from this COMMIT statement, the transaction has been committed to durable media. A crash occurring after a successful write to the log can prevent the success message from returning to the client. In this case the client cannot tell whether or not the transaction committed. The NOWAIT parameter causes the commit to return to the client whether or not the write to the redo log has completed. This behavior can increase transaction throughput. With the WAIT parameter, if the commit message is received, then you can be sure that no data has been lost. Caution: With NOWAIT, a crash occurring after the commit message is received, but before the redo log record(s) are written, can falsely indicate to a transaction that its changes are persistent. If you omit this clause, then the transaction commits with the WAIT behavior. IMMEDIATE | BATCH Use these clauses to specify when the redo is written to the log. The IMMEDIATE parameter causes the log writer process (LGWR) to write the transaction's redo information to the log. This operation option forces a disk I/O, so it can reduce transaction throughput. The BATCH parameter causes the redo to be buffered to the redo log, along with other concurrently executing transactions. When sufficient redo information is collected, a disk write of the redo log is initiated. This behavior is called "group commit", as redo for multiple transactions is written to the log in a single I/O operation. If you omit this clause, then the transaction commits with the IMMEDIATE behavior. ·         FORCE Clause Use this clause to manually commit an in-doubt distributed transaction or a corrupt transaction. ·         In a distributed database system, the FORCE string [, integer] clause lets you manually commit an in-doubt distributed transaction. The transaction is identified by the 'string' containing its local or global transaction ID. To find the IDs of such transactions, query the data dictionary view DBA_2PC_PENDING. You can use integer to specifically assign the transaction a system change number (SCN). If you omit integer, then the transaction is committed using the current SCN. ·         The FORCE CORRUPT_XID 'string' clause lets you manually commit a single corrupt transaction, where string is the ID of the corrupt transaction. Query the V$CORRUPT_XID_LIST data dictionary view to find the transaction IDs of corrupt transactions. You must have DBA privileges to view the V$CORRUPT_XID_LIST and to specify this clause. ·         Specify FORCE CORRUPT_XID_ALL to manually commit all corrupt transactions. You must have DBA privileges to specify this clause. Examples Forcing an in doubt transaction. Example The following statement manually commits a hypothetical in-doubt distributed transaction. Query the V$CORRUPT_XID_LIST data dictionary view to find the transaction IDs of corrupt transactions. You must have DBA privileges to view the V$CORRUPT_XID_LIST and to issue this statement. COMMIT FORCE '22.57.53';

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  • This is the End of Business as Usual...

    - by Michael Snow
    This week, we'll be hosting our last Social Business Thought Leader Series Webcast for 2012. Our featured guest this week will be Brian Solis of Altimeter Group. As we've been going through the preparations for Brian's webcast, it became very clear that an hour's time is barely scraping the surface of the depth of Brian's insights and analysis. Accordingly, in the spirit of sharing Brian's perspective for all of our readers, we'll be featuring guest posts all this week pulled from Brian's larger collection of blog postings on his own website. If you like what you've read here this week, we highly recommend digging deeper into his tome of wisdom. Guest Post by Brian Solis, Analyst, Altimeter Group as originally featured on his site with the minor change of the video addition at the beginning of the post. This is the End of Business as Usual and the Beginning of a New Era of Relevance - Brian Solis, Principal Analyst, Altimeter Group The Times They Are A-Changin’ Come gather ’round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you Is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’. - Bob Dylan I’m sure you are wondering why I chose lyrics to open this article. If you skimmed through them, stop here for a moment. Go back through the Dylan’s words and take your time. Carefully read, and feel, what it is he’s saying and savor the moment to connect the meaning of his words to the challenges you face today. His message is as important and true today as it was when they were first written in 1964. The tide is indeed once again turning. And even though the 60s now live in the history books, right here, right now, Dylan is telling us once again that this is our time to not only sink or swim, but to do something amazing. This is your time. This is our time. But, these times are different and what comes next is difficult to grasp. How people communicate. How people learn and share. How people make decisions. Everything is different now. Think about this…you’re reading this article because it was sent to you via email. Yet more people spend their online time in social networks than they do in email. Duh. According to Nielsen, of the total time spent online 22.5% are connecting and communicating in social networks. To put that in perspective, the time spent in the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube is greater than online gaming at 9.8%, email at 7.6% and search at 4%. Imagine for a moment if you and I were connected to one another in Facebook, which just so happens to be the largest social network in the world. How big? Well, Facebook is the size today of the entire Internet in 2004. There are over 1 billion people friending, Liking, commenting, sharing, and engaging in Facebook…that’s roughly 12% of the world’s population. Twitter has over 200 million users. Ever hear of tumblr? More time is spent on this popular microblogging community than Twitter. The point is that the landscape for communication and all that’s affected by human interaction is profoundly different than how you and I learned, shared or talked to one another yesterday. This transformation is only becoming more pervasive and, it’s not going back. Survival of the Fitting But social media is just one of the channels we can use to reach people. I must be honest. I’m as much a part of tomorrow as I am of yesteryear. It’s why I spend all of my time researching the evolution of media and its impact on business and culture. Because of you, I share everything I learn in newsletters, emails, blogs, Youtube videos, and also traditional books. I’m dedicated to helping everyone not only understand, but grasp the change that’s before you. Technologies such as social, mobile, virtual, augmented, et al compel us adapt our story and value proposition and extend our reach to be part of communities we don’t realize exist. The people who will keep you in business or running tomorrow are the very people you’re not reaching today. Before you continue to read on, allow me to clarify my point of view. My inspiration for writing this is to help you augment, not necessarily replace, the programs you’re running today. We must still reach those whom matter to us in the ways they prefer to be engaged. To reach what I call the connected consumer of Geneeration-C we must too reach them in the ways they wish to be engaged. And in all of my work, how they connect, talk to one another, influence others, and make decisions are not at all like the traditional consumers of the past. Nor are they merely the kids…the Millennial. Connected consumers are representative across every age group and demographic. As you can see, use of social networks, media sharing sites, microblogs, blogs, etc. equally span across Gen Y, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. The DNA of connected customers is indiscriminant of age or any other demographic for that matter. This is more about psychographics, the linkage of people through common interests (than it is their age, gender, education, nationality or level of income. Once someone is introduced to the marvels of connectedness, the sensation becomes a contagion. It touches and affects everyone. And, that’s why this isn’t going anywhere but normalcy. Social networking isn’t just about telling people what you’re doing. Nor is it just about generic, meaningless conversation. Today’s connected consumer is incredibly influential. They’re connected to hundreds and even thousands of other like-minded people. What they experiences, what they support, it’s shared throughout these networks and as information travels, it shapes and steers impressions, decisions, and experiences of others. For example, if we revisit the Nielsen research, we get an idea of just how big this is becoming. 75% spend heavily on music. How does that translate to the arts? I’d imagine the number is equally impressive. If 53% follow their favorite brand or organization, imagine what’s possible. Just like this email list that connects us, connections in social networks are powerful. The difference is however, that people spend more time in social networks than they do in email. Everything begins with an understanding of the “5 W’s and H.E.” – Who, What, When, Where, How, and to What Extent? The data that comes back tells you which networks are important to the people you’re trying to reach, how they connect, what they share, what they value, and how to connect with them. From there, your next steps are to create a community strategy that extends your mission, vision, and value and it align it with the interests, behavior, and values of those you wish to reach and galvanize. To help, I’ve prepared an action list for you, otherwise known as the 10 Steps Toward New Relevance: 1. Answer why you should engage in social networks and why anyone would want to engage with you 2. Observe what brings them together and define how you can add value to the conversation 3. Identify the influential voices that matter to your world, recognize what’s important to them, and find a way to start a dialogue that can foster a meaningful and mutually beneficial relationship 4. Study the best practices of not just organizations like yours, but also those who are successfully reaching the type of people you’re trying to reach – it’s benching marking against competitors and benchmarking against undefined opportunities 5. Translate all you’ve learned into a convincing presentation written to demonstrate tangible opportunity to your executive board, make the case through numbers, trends, data, insights – understanding they have no idea what’s going on out there and you are both the scout and the navigator (start with a recommended pilot so everyone can learn together) 6. Listen to what they’re saying and develop a process to learn from activity and adapt to interests and steer engagement based on insights 7. Recognize how they use social media and innovate based on what you observe to captivate their attention 8. Align your objectives with their objectives. If you’re unsure of what they’re looking for…ask 9. Invest in the development of content, engagement 10. Build a community, invest in values, spark meaningful dialogue, and offer tangible value…the kind of value they can’t get anywhere else. Take advantage of the medium and the opportunity! The reality is that we live and compete in a perpetual era of Digital Darwinism, the evolution of consumer behavior when society and technology evolve faster than our ability to adapt. This is why it’s our time to alter our course. We must connect with those who are defining the future of engagement, commerce, business, and how the arts are appreciated and supported. Even though it is the end of business as usual, it is the beginning of a new age of opportunity. The consumer revolution is already underway, and the question is: How do you better understand the role you play in this production as a connected or social consumer as well as business professional? Again, this is your time to define a new era of engagement and relevance. Originally written for The National Arts Marketing Project Connect with Brian via: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ --- Note from Michael: If you really like this post above - check out Brian's TEDTalk and his thought process for preparing it in this post: 12.00 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} http://www.briansolis.com/2012/10/tedtalk-reinventing-consumer-capitalism-screw-business-as-usual/

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  • Adding an Admin user to an ASP.NET MVC 4 application using a single drop-in file

    - by Jon Galloway
    I'm working on an ASP.NET MVC 4 tutorial and wanted to set it up so just dropping a file in App_Start would create a user named "Owner" and assign them to the "Administrator" role (more explanation at the end if you're interested). There are reasons why this wouldn't fit into most application scenarios: It's not efficient, as it checks for (and creates, if necessary) the user every time the app starts up The username, password, and role name are hardcoded in the app (although they could be pulled from config) Automatically creating an administrative account in code (without user interaction) could lead to obvious security issues if the user isn't informed However, with some modifications it might be more broadly useful - e.g. creating a test user with limited privileges, ensuring a required account isn't accidentally deleted, or - as in my case - setting up an account for demonstration or tutorial purposes. Challenge #1: Running on startup without requiring the user to install or configure anything I wanted to see if this could be done just by having the user drop a file into the App_Start folder and go. No copying code into Global.asax.cs, no installing addition NuGet packages, etc. That may not be the best approach - perhaps a NuGet package with a dependency on WebActivator would be better - but I wanted to see if this was possible and see if it offered the best experience. Fortunately ASP.NET 4 and later provide a PreApplicationStartMethod attribute which allows you to register a method which will run when the application starts up. You drop this attribute in your application and give it two parameters: a method name and the type that contains it. I created a static class named PreApplicationTasks with a static method named, then dropped this attribute in it: [assembly: PreApplicationStartMethod(typeof(PreApplicationTasks), "Initializer")] That's it. One small gotcha: the namespace can be a problem with assembly attributes. I decided my class didn't need a namespace. Challenge #2: Only one PreApplicationStartMethod per assembly In .NET 4, the PreApplicationStartMethod is marked as AllMultiple=false, so you can only have one PreApplicationStartMethod per assembly. This was fixed in .NET 4.5, as noted by Jon Skeet, so you can have as many PreApplicationStartMethods as you want (allowing you to keep your users waiting for the application to start indefinitely!). The WebActivator NuGet package solves the multiple instance problem if you're in .NET 4 - it registers as a PreApplicationStartMethod, then calls any methods you've indicated using [assembly: WebActivator.PreApplicationStartMethod(type, method)]. David Ebbo blogged about that here:  Light up your NuGets with startup code and WebActivator. In my scenario (bootstrapping a beginner level tutorial) I decided not to worry about this and stick with PreApplicationStartMethod. Challenge #3: PreApplicationStartMethod kicks in before configuration has been read This is by design, as Phil explains. It allows you to make changes that need to happen very early in the pipeline, well before Application_Start. That's fine in some cases, but it caused me problems when trying to add users, since the Membership Provider configuration hadn't yet been read - I got an exception stating that "Default Membership Provider could not be found." The solution here is to run code that requires configuration in a PostApplicationStart method. But how to do that? Challenge #4: Getting PostApplicationStartMethod without requiring WebActivator The WebActivator NuGet package, among other things, provides a PostApplicationStartMethod attribute. That's generally how I'd recommend running code that needs to happen after Application_Start: [assembly: WebActivator.PostApplicationStartMethod(typeof(TestLibrary.MyStartupCode), "CallMeAfterAppStart")] This works well, but I wanted to see if this would be possible without WebActivator. Hmm. Well, wait a minute - WebActivator works in .NET 4, so clearly it's registering and calling PostApplicationStartup tasks somehow. Off to the source code! Sure enough, there's even a handy comment in ActivationManager.cs which shows where PostApplicationStartup tasks are being registered: public static void Run() { if (!_hasInited) { RunPreStartMethods(); // Register our module to handle any Post Start methods. But outside of ASP.NET, just run them now if (HostingEnvironment.IsHosted) { Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.DynamicModuleHelper.DynamicModuleUtility.RegisterModule(typeof(StartMethodCallingModule)); } else { RunPostStartMethods(); } _hasInited = true; } } Excellent. Hey, that DynamicModuleUtility seems familiar... Sure enough, K. Scott Allen mentioned it on his blog last year. This is really slick - a PreApplicationStartMethod can register a new HttpModule in code. Modules are run right after application startup, so that's a perfect time to do any startup stuff that requires configuration to be read. As K. Scott says, it's this easy: using System; using System.Web; using Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.DynamicModuleHelper; [assembly:PreApplicationStartMethod(typeof(MyAppStart), "Start")] public class CoolModule : IHttpModule { // implementation not important // imagine something cool here } public static class MyAppStart { public static void Start() { DynamicModuleUtility.RegisterModule(typeof(CoolModule)); } } Challenge #5: Cooperating with SimpleMembership The ASP.NET MVC Internet template includes SimpleMembership. SimpleMembership is a big improvement over traditional ASP.NET Membership. For one thing, rather than forcing a database schema, it can work with your database schema. In the MVC 4 Internet template case, it uses Entity Framework Code First to define the user model. SimpleMembership bootstrap includes a call to InitializeDatabaseConnection, and I want to play nice with that. There's a new [InitializeSimpleMembership] attribute on the AccountController, which calls \Filters\InitializeSimpleMembershipAttribute.cs::OnActionExecuting(). That comment in that method that says "Ensure ASP.NET Simple Membership is initialized only once per app start" which sounds like good advice. I figured the best thing would be to call that directly: new Mvc4SampleApplication.Filters.InitializeSimpleMembershipAttribute().OnActionExecuting(null); I'm not 100% happy with this - in fact, it's my least favorite part of this solution. There are two problems - first, directly calling a method on a filter, while legal, seems odd. Worse, though, the Filter lives in the application's namespace, which means that this code no longer works well as a generic drop-in. The simplest workaround would be to duplicate the relevant SimpleMembership initialization code into my startup code, but I'd rather not. I'm interested in your suggestions here. Challenge #6: Module Init methods are called more than once When debugging, I noticed (and remembered) that the Init method may be called more than once per page request - it's run once per instance in the app pool, and an individual page request can cause multiple resource requests to the server. While SimpleMembership does have internal checks to prevent duplicate user or role entries, I'd rather not cause or handle those exceptions. So here's the standard single-use lock in the Module's init method: void IHttpModule.Init(HttpApplication context) { lock (lockObject) { if (!initialized) { //Do stuff } initialized = true; } } Putting it all together With all of that out of the way, here's the code I came up with: using Mvc4SampleApplication.Filters; using System.Web; using System.Web.Security; using WebMatrix.WebData; [assembly: PreApplicationStartMethod(typeof(PreApplicationTasks), "Initializer")] public static class PreApplicationTasks { public static void Initializer() { Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure.DynamicModuleHelper.DynamicModuleUtility .RegisterModule(typeof(UserInitializationModule)); } } public class UserInitializationModule : IHttpModule { private static bool initialized; private static object lockObject = new object(); private const string _username = "Owner"; private const string _password = "p@ssword123"; private const string _role = "Administrator"; void IHttpModule.Init(HttpApplication context) { lock (lockObject) { if (!initialized) { new InitializeSimpleMembershipAttribute().OnActionExecuting(null); if (!WebSecurity.UserExists(_username)) WebSecurity.CreateUserAndAccount(_username, _password); if (!Roles.RoleExists(_role)) Roles.CreateRole(_role); if (!Roles.IsUserInRole(_username, _role)) Roles.AddUserToRole(_username, _role); } initialized = true; } } void IHttpModule.Dispose() { } } The Verdict: Is this a good thing? Maybe. I think you'll agree that the journey was undoubtedly worthwhile, as it took us through some of the finer points of hooking into application startup, integrating with membership, and understanding why the WebActivator NuGet package is so useful Will I use this in the tutorial? I'm leaning towards no - I think a NuGet package with a dependency on WebActivator might work better: It's a little more clear what's going on Installing a NuGet package might be a little less error prone than copying a file A novice user could uninstall the package when complete It's a good introduction to NuGet, which is a good thing for beginners to see This code either requires either duplicating a little code from that filter or modifying the file to use the namespace Honestly I'm undecided at this point, but I'm glad that I can weigh the options. If you're interested: Why are you doing this? I'm updating the MVC Music Store tutorial to ASP.NET MVC 4, taking advantage of a lot of new ASP.NET MVC 4 features and trying to simplify areas that are giving people trouble. One change that addresses both needs us using the new OAuth support for membership as much as possible - it's a great new feature from an application perspective, and we get a fair amount of beginners struggling with setting up membership on a variety of database and development setups, which is a distraction from the focus of the tutorial - learning ASP.NET MVC. Side note: Thanks to some great help from Rick Anderson, we had a draft of the tutorial that was looking pretty good earlier this summer, but there were enough changes in ASP.NET MVC 4 all the way up to RTM that there's still some work to be done. It's high priority and should be out very soon. The one issue I ran into with OAuth is that we still need an Administrative user who can edit the store's inventory. I thought about a number of solutions for that - making the first user to register the admin, or the first user to use the username "Administrator" is assigned to the Administrator role - but they both ended up requiring extra code; also, I worried that people would use that code without understanding it or thinking about whether it was a good fit.

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  • Notes on Oracle BPM PS6 Adaptive Case Management

    - by gcolman
    v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} I have recently been looking at the  latest release of the BPM Case Management feature in the Oracle BPM PS6 release. I had put together some notes to help me gain a better understanding of the context of the PS6 BPM Case Management. Hopefully, this along with the other resources will enable you to gain a clear picture of the flexibility of this feature. Oracle BPM PS6 release includes Case Management capability. This initial release aims to provide: Case Management Framework Integration of Case Management with BPM & SOA suite It is best to regard the current PS6 case management feature as a case management framework. The framework provides the building blocks for creating a case management system that is fully integrated into Oracle BPM suite. As of the current PS6 release, no UI tooling exists to help manage cases or the case lifecycle. Mark Foster has written a good blog which outlines Case Management within PS6 in the following link. I wanted to provide more context on Case Management from my perspective in this blog. PS6 Case Management - High level View BPM PS6 includes “Case” as a first class component in a SOA Suite composite. The Case components (added to the SOA Composite) are created when a BPM process is assigned to a case in JDveloper. The SOA Case component is defined and configured within JDevloper, which allows us to specify the case data structures and metadata such as stakeholders, outcomes, milestones, document stores etc. "Activities" are associated with a case, and become available to be executed via the case apis. Activities are BPM processes, Human Activities or Java call outs. The PS6 release includes some additional database tables to store the case metadata and case instance data (data object, comments, etc…). These new tables are created within the SOA_INFRA schema and the documents associated with that case into a document repository that is configured with the case. One of the main features of Case Management is the control of the case logic through case events and case business rules. A PS6 Case has an associated business rule component, which can be configured to control the availability and execution of activities within the case. The business rules component is able to act upon events that the PS6 Case Management framework generates during the lifecycle of that case. Events are fired during the lifetime of the case (e.g. Case created, activity started, activity ended, note added, document uploaded.) Internal Case state The internal state of a case is represented by the diagram below. This shows the internal states and the transition paths for a Case from one state to the next Each transition in state will create an event that can be enacted upon via the Case rules engine. The internal case state lifecycle is defined as follows Defining a case A Case is created and defined as a component of a JDeveloper BPM project. When you create a Case as part of a BPM project, JDeveloper, creates the following components within the SCA composite: Case component Case component interfaces (WSDL etc) Case Rules component (Oracle Business Rules) Adds the Case Component and Case Rules Component to the BPM SOA composite Case Configuration The following section gives a high level overview of the items that can be configured for a BPM Case. Case Activities A Case is associated with a set of activities that are to be performed as part of that Case. Case activities can be: SOA Human Tasks BPM processes Custom Task (Java Class) Case activities are created from pre-existing BPM process or human tasks, which, once defined, can be configured additionally as Case activities in JDeveloper and made available within the lifecycle of a case. I've described the following configurable components of a case (very!) briefly as: Milestones Milestones are (optional) user defined logical milestones that can be achieved within a case. No activities are associates with a milestone, but milestone attainment can be programmatically set and events raised when milestones are reached Outcomes User defined status of a completed case. An event is fired when an outcome is attained. Case Data Defines the data that will be stored with a case XML schemas define the data that is stored with the case. Case Documents Defines the location of documents that are attached to a case (e.g. WebCenter Content) User Defined Events Optional user defined events that can be fired or captured to drive case processing rules Stakeholders Defines the actors who can participate in the case (roles, users, groups) Defines permissions for individual case permissions (read case, create document etc…) Business Rules Business rules are the main component controlling the flow of a Case Each case has an associated business ruleset Rules are fired on receiving Case events (or User defined events) Life cycle events Milestone events Activity events Data events Document events Comment events User event Managing the Case Managing the lifecycle of a case is achieved in two ways: Managing case logic with Business Rules Managing the case lifecycle via the Case APIs. A BPM Case can be viewed as a set of case data & documents along with the activities that can be performed within a case and also the case lifecycle state expressed as milestones and internal lifecycle state. The management of the case life is achieved though both the configuration of business rules and the “manual” interaction with a case instance through the Case APIs. Business Rules and Case Events A key component within the Case management framework is the event model. The BPM Case Management solution internally utilizes Oracle EDN (Event Delivery Network) to publish and subscribe to events generated by the Case framework. Events are generated by the Case framework on each of the processes and stages that a case instance will travel on its lifetime. The following case events are part of the BPM Case: Life cycle events Milestone events Activity events Data events Document events Comment events User event The Case business rules are configured to listen for these events, and business logic can be coded into the Case rules component to enact upon an event being received. Case API & Interaction Along with the business rules component, Cases can be managed via the Case API interfaces. These interfaces allow for the building of custom applications to integrate into case management framework. The API’s allow for updating case comments & documents, executing case activities, updating milestones etc. As there is no in built case management UI functions within the PS6 release, Cases need to be managed via a custom built UI, interacting with selected case instances, launching case activities, closing cases etc. (There is expected to be a UI component within subsequent releases) Logical Case Flow The diagram below is intended to depict a logical view of the case steps for a typical case. A UI or other service calls the Case interface to create a Case instance The case instance is created & database data inserted A lifecycle event is raised indicating a case activity (created) event The case business rules capture the event and decide on an action to take Additionally other parties can subscribe to Case events via EDN The business rules may handle the event, e.g. configured to execute a case activity on case creation event The BPM/Human Workflow/Custom activity is executed A case activity event is raised on the execute activity A case work UI or business service can inspect the case instance and call other actions to progress that case, such as: Execute activity Add Note Add document Add case data Update Milestone Raise user defined event Suspend case Resume case Close Case Summary Having had a little time to play around with the APIs and the case configuration, I really like the flexibility and power of combining Oracle Business Rules and the BPM Case Management event model. Creating something this flexible and powerful without BPM Case Management would take a lot of time and effort. This is hopefully going to save my customers a lot of time and effort! I may make amendments to this post as my understanding of Case Management increases! Take a look at the following links for official documentation etc. http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E28280_01/doc.1111/e15176/case_mgmt_bpmpd.htm https://blogs.oracle.com/bpm/entry/just_in_case Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}

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