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Is it possible to embed dynamic text into Keynote'09?

- by Roman Kagan

I wonder if it is possible to embed dynamic text into Keynote'09? I want to create a new presentation and run this presentation with different text messages (depending on the time of the day and day of the month).

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Facade controller, is it efficient?

- by Berlioz

Using a facade controller pattern in .net. It seems as if though it is not efficient BECAUSE, for every event that happens in a domain object(Sales, Register, Schedule, Car) it has to be subscribed to by the controller(use case controller) and then the controller in turn has to duplicate that same event to make it available for the presentation, so that the presentation can show it to the user. Does this make sense? Please comment!

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LaTex, Problem with Beamer and Listings

- by Valdor65

Hi, I'm trying to add some code in a presentation made with LaTex. I used beamer, added some frames without problems but once I add the listing, I can't compile the presentation anymore. \begin{frame}{Code} \begin{lstlisting} Sample Code \end{lstlisting} \end{frame} The error I pdflatex gave me is: Package Listings Warning: Text dropped after begin of listing on input line 80. Is there anything special to add to make it work ? Thanks

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Remove objects from UINavigationController

- by Joshep Freeman

I would like to know if there is a way to know which objects [UIViewControllers?] are stored inside [self navigationController] (I'm guessing they are stored there with pushViewController?), and if there is a way to remove such objects. Consider this scenario: 1.- Show "Presentation screen" (a logo) 2.- Wait 2 seconds 3.- Push "Data screen" (no need for "Presentation screen" anymore but it's stored in Memory) Thanks for your time.

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How much does Javascript garbage collection affect performance?

- by Long Ouyang

I'm writing a bunch of scripts that present images serially (e.g. 1 per second) and require the user to make either a keyboard or mouse response. I'm using closures to handle the timing of image presentation and user input. This causes garbage collection to happen pretty frequently and I'm wondering if that will affect the performance (viz. timing of image presentation).

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AngularJS on top of ASP.NET: Moving the MVC framework out to the browser

- by Varun Chatterji

Heavily drawing inspiration from Ruby on Rails, MVC4’s convention over configuration model of development soon became the Holy Grail of .NET web development. The MVC model brought with it the goodness of proper separation of concerns between business logic, data, and the presentation logic. However, the MVC paradigm, was still one in which server side .NET code could be mixed with presentation code. The Razor templating engine, though cleaner than its predecessors, still encouraged and allowed you to mix .NET server side code with presentation logic. Thus, for example, if the developer required a certain <div> tag to be shown if a particular variable ShowDiv was true in the View’s model, the code could look like the following: Fig 1: To show a div or not. Server side .NET code is used in the View Mixing .NET code with HTML in views can soon get very messy. Wouldn’t it be nice if the presentation layer (HTML) could be pure HTML? Also, in the ASP.NET MVC model, some of the business logic invariably resides in the controller. It is tempting to use an antipattern like the one shown above to control whether a div should be shown or not. However, best practice would indicate that the Controller should not be aware of the div. The ShowDiv variable in the model should not exist. A controller should ideally, only be used to do the plumbing of getting the data populated in the model and nothing else. The view (ideally pure HTML) should render the presentation layer based on the model. In this article we will see how Angular JS, a new JavaScript framework by Google can be used effectively to build web applications where: 1. Views are pure HTML 2. Controllers (in the server sense) are pure REST based API calls 3. The presentation layer is loaded as needed from partial HTML only files. What is MVVM? MVVM short for Model View View Model is a new paradigm in web development. In this paradigm, the Model and View stuff exists on the client side through javascript instead of being processed on the server through postbacks. These frameworks are JavaScript frameworks that facilitate the clear separation of the “frontend” or the data rendering logic from the “backend” which is typically just a REST based API that loads and processes data through a resource model. The frameworks are called MVVM as a change to the Model (through javascript) gets reflected in the view immediately i.e. Model > View. Also, a change on the view (through manual input) gets reflected in the model immediately i.e. View > Model. The following figure shows this conceptually (comments are shown in red): Fig 2: Demonstration of MVVM in action In Fig 2, two text boxes are bound to the same variable model.myInt. Thus, changing the view manually (changing one text box through keyboard input) also changes the other textbox in real time demonstrating V > M property of a MVVM framework. Furthermore, clicking the button adds 1 to the value of model.myInt thus changing the model through JavaScript. This immediately updates the view (the value in the two textboxes) thus demonstrating the M > V property of a MVVM framework. Thus we see that the model in a MVVM JavaScript framework can be regarded as “the single source of truth“. This is an important concept. Angular is one such MVVM framework. We shall use it to build a simple app that sends SMS messages to a particular number. Application, Routes, Views, Controllers, Scope and Models Angular can be used in many ways to construct web applications. For this article, we shall only focus on building Single Page Applications (SPAs). Many of the approaches we will follow in this article have alternatives. It is beyond the scope of this article to explain every nuance in detail but we shall try to touch upon the basic concepts and end up with a working application that can be used to send SMS messages using Sent.ly Plus (a service that is itself built using Angular). Before you read on, we would like to urge you to forget what you know about Models, Views, Controllers and Routes in the ASP.NET MVC4 framework. All these words have different meanings in the Angular world. Whenever these words are used in this article, they will refer to Angular concepts and not ASP.NET MVC4 concepts. The following figure shows the skeleton of the root page of an SPA: Fig 3: The skeleton of a SPA The skeleton of the application is based on the Bootstrap starter template which can be found at: http://getbootstrap.com/examples/startertemplate/ Apart from loading the Angular, jQuery and Bootstrap JavaScript libraries, it also loads our custom scripts /app/js/controllers.js /app/js/app.js These scripts define the routes, views and controllers which we shall come to in a moment. Application Notice that the body tag (Fig. 3) has an extra attribute: ngapp=”smsApp” Providing this tag “bootstraps” our single page application. It tells Angular to load a “module” called smsApp. This “module” is defined /app/js/app.js angular.module('smsApp', ['smsApp.controllers', function () {}]) Fig 4: The definition of our application module The line shows above, declares a module called smsApp. It also declares that this module “depends” on another module called “smsApp.controllers”. The smsApp.controllers module will contain all the controllers for our SPA. Routing and Views Notice that in the Navbar (in Fig 3) we have included two hyperlinks to: “#/app” “#/help” This is how Angular handles routing. Since the URLs start with “#”, they are actually just bookmarks (and not server side resources). However, our route definition (in /app/js/app.js) gives these URLs a special meaning within the Angular framework. angular.module('smsApp', ['smsApp.controllers', function () { }]) //Configure the routes .config(['$routeProvider', function ($routeProvider) { $routeProvider.when('/binding', { templateUrl: '/app/partials/bindingexample.html', controller: 'BindingController' }); }]); Fig 5: The definition of a route with an associated partial view and controller As we can see from the previous code sample, we are using the $routeProvider object in the configuration of our smsApp module. Notice how the code “asks for” the $routeProvider object by specifying it as a dependency in the [] braces and then defining a function that accepts it as a parameter. This is known as dependency injection. Please refer to the following link if you want to delve into this topic: http://docs.angularjs.org/guide/di What the above code snippet is doing is that it is telling Angular that when the URL is “#/binding”, then it should load the HTML snippet (“partial view”) found at /app/partials/bindingexample.html. Also, for this URL, Angular should load the controller called “BindingController”. We have also marked the div with the class “container” (in Fig 3) with the ngview attribute. This attribute tells Angular that views (partial HTML pages) defined in the routes will be loaded within this div. You can see that the Angular JavaScript framework, unlike many other frameworks, works purely by extending HTML tags and attributes. It also allows you to extend HTML with your own tags and attributes (through directives) if you so desire, you can find out more about directives at the following URL: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/607873/ExtendingHTMLwithAngularJSDirectives Controllers and Models We have seen how we define what views and controllers should be loaded for a particular route. Let us now consider how controllers are defined. Our controllers are defined in the file /app/js/controllers.js. The following snippet shows the definition of the “BindingController” which is loaded when we hit the URL http://localhost:port/index.html#/binding (as we have defined in the route earlier as shown in Fig 5). Remember that we had defined that our application module “smsApp” depends on the “smsApp.controllers” module (see Fig 4). The code snippet below shows how the “BindingController” defined in the route shown in Fig 5 is defined in the module smsApp.controllers: angular.module('smsApp.controllers', [function () { }]) .controller('BindingController', ['$scope', function ($scope) { $scope.model = {}; $scope.model.myInt = 6; $scope.addOne = function () { $scope.model.myInt++; } }]); Fig 6: The definition of a controller in the “smsApp.controllers” module. The pieces are falling in place! Remember Fig.2? That was the code of a partial view that was loaded within the container div of the skeleton SPA shown in Fig 3. The route definition shown in Fig 5 also defined that the controller called “BindingController” (shown in Fig 6.) was loaded when we loaded the URL: http://localhost:22544/index.html#/binding The button in Fig 2 was marked with the attribute ngclick=”addOne()” which added 1 to the value of model.myInt. In Fig 6, we can see that this function is actually defined in the “BindingController”. Scope We can see from Fig 6, that in the definition of “BindingController”, we defined a dependency on $scope and then, as usual, defined a function which “asks for” $scope as per the dependency injection pattern. So what is $scope? Any guesses? As you might have guessed a scope is a particular “address space” where variables and functions may be defined. This has a similar meaning to scope in a programming language like C#. Model: The Scope is not the Model It is tempting to assign variables in the scope directly. For example, we could have defined myInt as $scope.myInt = 6 in Fig 6 instead of $scope.model.myInt = 6. The reason why this is a bad idea is that scope in hierarchical in Angular. Thus if we were to define a controller which was defined within the another controller (nested controllers), then the inner controller would inherit the scope of the parent controller. This inheritance would follow JavaScript prototypal inheritance. Let’s say the parent controller defined a variable through $scope.myInt = 6. The child controller would inherit the scope through java prototypical inheritance. This basically means that the child scope has a variable myInt that points to the parent scopes myInt variable. Now if we assigned the value of myInt in the parent, the child scope would be updated with the same value as the child scope’s myInt variable points to the parent scope’s myInt variable. However, if we were to assign the value of the myInt variable in the child scope, then the link of that variable to the parent scope would be broken as the variable myInt in the child scope now points to the value 6 and not to the parent scope’s myInt variable. But, if we defined a variable model in the parent scope, then the child scope will also have a variable model that points to the model variable in the parent scope. Updating the value of $scope.model.myInt in the parent scope would change the model variable in the child scope too as the variable is pointed to the model variable in the parent scope. Now changing the value of $scope.model.myInt in the child scope would ALSO change the value in the parent scope. This is because the model reference in the child scope is pointed to the scope variable in the parent. We did no new assignment to the model variable in the child scope. We only changed an attribute of the model variable. Since the model variable (in the child scope) points to the model variable in the parent scope, we have successfully changed the value of myInt in the parent scope. Thus the value of $scope.model.myInt in the parent scope becomes the “single source of truth“. This is a tricky concept, thus it is considered good practice to NOT use scope inheritance. More info on prototypal inheritance in Angular can be found in the “JavaScript Prototypal Inheritance” section at the following URL: https://github.com/angular/angular.js/wiki/UnderstandingScopes. Building It: An Angular JS application using a .NET Web API Backend Now that we have a perspective on the basic components of an MVVM application built using Angular, let’s build something useful. We will build an application that can be used to send out SMS messages to a given phone number. The following diagram describes the architecture of the application we are going to build: Fig 7: Broad application architecture We are going to add an HTML Partial to our project. This partial will contain the form fields that will accept the phone number and message that needs to be sent as an SMS. It will also display all the messages that have previously been sent. All the executable code that is run on the occurrence of events (button clicks etc.) in the view resides in the controller. The controller interacts with the ASP.NET WebAPI to get a history of SMS messages, add a message etc. through a REST based API. For the purposes of simplicity, we will use an in memory data structure for the purposes of creating this application. Thus, the tasks ahead of us are: Creating the REST WebApi with GET, PUT, POST, DELETE methods. Creating the SmsView.html partial Creating the SmsController controller with methods that are called from the SmsView.html partial Add a new route that loads the controller and the partial. 1. Creating the REST WebAPI This is a simple task that should be quite straightforward to any .NET developer. The following listing shows our ApiController: public class SmsMessage { public string to { get; set; } public string message { get; set; } } public class SmsResource : SmsMessage { public int smsId { get; set; } } public class SmsResourceController : ApiController { public static Dictionary<int, SmsResource> messages = new Dictionary<int, SmsResource>(); public static int currentId = 0; // GET api/<controller> public List<SmsResource> Get() { List<SmsResource> result = new List<SmsResource>(); foreach (int key in messages.Keys) { result.Add(messages[key]); } return result; } // GET api/<controller>/5 public SmsResource Get(int id) { if (messages.ContainsKey(id)) return messages[id]; return null; } // POST api/<controller> public List<SmsResource> Post([FromBody] SmsMessage value) { //Synchronize on messages so we don't have id collisions lock (messages) { SmsResource res = (SmsResource) value; res.smsId = currentId++; messages.Add(res.smsId, res); //SentlyPlusSmsSender.SendMessage(value.to, value.message); return Get(); } } // PUT api/<controller>/5 public List<SmsResource> Put(int id, [FromBody] SmsMessage value) { //Synchronize on messages so we don't have id collisions lock (messages) { if (messages.ContainsKey(id)) { //Update the message messages[id].message = value.message; messages[id].to = value.message; } return Get(); } } // DELETE api/<controller>/5 public List<SmsResource> Delete(int id) { if (messages.ContainsKey(id)) { messages.Remove(id); } return Get(); } } Once this class is defined, we should be able to access the WebAPI by a simple GET request using the browser: http://localhost:port/api/SmsResource Notice the commented line: //SentlyPlusSmsSender.SendMessage The SentlyPlusSmsSender class is defined in the attached solution. We have shown this line as commented as we want to explain the core Angular concepts. If you load the attached solution, this line is uncommented in the source and an actual SMS will be sent! By default, the API returns XML. For consumption of the API in Angular, we would like it to return JSON. To change the default to JSON, we make the following change to WebApiConfig.cs file located in the App_Start folder. public static class WebApiConfig { public static void Register(HttpConfiguration config) { config.Routes.MapHttpRoute( name: "DefaultApi", routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}", defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional } ); var appXmlType = config.Formatters.XmlFormatter. SupportedMediaTypes. FirstOrDefault( t => t.MediaType == "application/xml"); config.Formatters.XmlFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.Remove(appXmlType); } } We now have our backend REST Api which we can consume from Angular! 2. Creating the SmsView.html partial This simple partial will define two fields: the destination phone number (international format starting with a +) and the message. These fields will be bound to model.phoneNumber and model.message. We will also add a button that we shall hook up to sendMessage() in the controller. A list of all previously sent messages (bound to model.allMessages) will also be displayed below the form input. The following code shows the code for the partial:  <div class="well" style="margin-top: 30px;"> <table style="width: 100%;"> <tr> <td style="width: 45%; text-align: center;"> <input type="text" placeholder="Phone number (eg; +44 7778 609466)" ng-model="model.phoneNumber" class="form-control" style="width: 90%" onkeypress="return checkPhoneInput();" /> </td> <td style="width: 45%; text-align: center;"> <input type="text" placeholder="Message" ng-model="model.message" class="form-control" style="width: 90%" /> </td> <td style="text-align: center;"> <button class="btn btn-danger" ng-click="sendMessage();" ng-disabled="model.isAjaxInProgress" style="marginright: 5px;">Send</button> <img src="/Content/ajax-loader.gif" ng-show="model.isAjaxInProgress" /> </td> </tr> </table> </div>  <div style="margin-top: 30px;">  <div ng-show="model.allMessages.length == 0"> No messages have been sent yet! </div>  <div ng-show="model.allMessages.length == 0"> <table style="width: 100%;" class="table table-striped"> <tr> <td>Phone Number</td> <td>Message</td> <td></td> </tr>  <tr ng-repeat="message in model.allMessages"> <td>{{ message.to }}</td> <td>{{ message.message }}</td> <td> <button class="btn btn-danger" ng-click="delete(message.smsId);" ng-disabled="model.isAjaxInProgress">Delete</button> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </div> The above code is commented and should be self explanatory. Conditional rendering is achieved through using the ng-show=”condition” attribute on various div tags. Input fields are bound to the model and the send button is bound to the sendMessage() function in the controller as through the ngclick=”sendMessage()” attribute defined on the button tag. While AJAX calls are taking place, the controller sets model.isAjaxInProgress to true. Based on this variable, buttons are disabled through the ng-disabled directive which is added as an attribute to the buttons. The ng-repeat directive added as an attribute to the tr tag causes the table row to be rendered multiple times much like an ASP.NET repeater. 3. Creating the SmsController controller The penultimate piece of our application is the controller which responds to events from our view and interacts with our MVC4 REST WebAPI. The following listing shows the code we need to add to /app/js/controllers.js. Note that controller definitions can be chained. Also note that this controller “asks for” the $http service. The $http service is a simple way in Angular to do AJAX. So far we have only encountered modules, controllers, views and directives in Angular. The $http is new entity in Angular called a service. More information on Angular services can be found at the following URL: http://docs.angularjs.org/guide/dev_guide.services.understanding_services. .controller('SmsController', ['$scope', '$http', function ($scope, $http) { //We define the model $scope.model = {}; //We define the allMessages array in the model //that will contain all the messages sent so far $scope.model.allMessages = []; //The error if any $scope.model.errorMessage = undefined; //We initially load data so set the isAjaxInProgress = true; $scope.model.isAjaxInProgress = true; //Load all the messages $http({ url: '/api/smsresource', method: "GET" }). success(function (data, status, headers, config) { this callback will be called asynchronously //when the response is available $scope.model.allMessages = data; //We are done with AJAX loading $scope.model.isAjaxInProgress = false; }). error(function (data, status, headers, config) { //called asynchronously if an error occurs //or server returns response with an error status. $scope.model.errorMessage = "Error occurred status:" + status; //We are done with AJAX loading $scope.model.isAjaxInProgress = false; }); $scope.delete = function (id) { //We are making an ajax call so we set this to true $scope.model.isAjaxInProgress = true; $http({ url: '/api/smsresource/' + id, method: "DELETE" }). success(function (data, status, headers, config) { // this callback will be called asynchronously // when the response is available $scope.model.allMessages = data; //We are done with AJAX loading $scope.model.isAjaxInProgress = false; }); error(function (data, status, headers, config) { // called asynchronously if an error occurs // or server returns response with an error status. $scope.model.errorMessage = "Error occurred status:" + status; //We are done with AJAX loading $scope.model.isAjaxInProgress = false; }); } $scope.sendMessage = function () { $scope.model.errorMessage = undefined; var message = ''; if($scope.model.message != undefined) message = $scope.model.message.trim(); if ($scope.model.phoneNumber == undefined || $scope.model.phoneNumber == '' || $scope.model.phoneNumber.length < 10 || $scope.model.phoneNumber[0] != '+') { $scope.model.errorMessage = "You must enter a valid phone number in international format. Eg: +44 7778 609466"; return; } if (message.length == 0) { $scope.model.errorMessage = "You must specify a message!"; return; } //We are making an ajax call so we set this to true $scope.model.isAjaxInProgress = true; $http({ url: '/api/smsresource', method: "POST", data: { to: $scope.model.phoneNumber, message: $scope.model.message } }). success(function (data, status, headers, config) { // this callback will be called asynchronously // when the response is available $scope.model.allMessages = data; //We are done with AJAX loading $scope.model.isAjaxInProgress = false; }). error(function (data, status, headers, config) { // called asynchronously if an error occurs // or server returns response with an error status. $scope.model.errorMessage = "Error occurred status:" + status // We are done with AJAX loading $scope.model.isAjaxInProgress = false; }); } }]); We can see from the previous listing how the functions that are called from the view are defined in the controller. It should also be evident how easy it is to make AJAX calls to consume our MVC4 REST WebAPI. Now we are left with the final piece. We need to define a route that associates a particular path with the view we have defined and the controller we have defined. 4. Add a new route that loads the controller and the partial This is the easiest part of the puzzle. We simply define another route in the /app/js/app.js file: $routeProvider.when('/sms', { templateUrl: '/app/partials/smsview.html', controller: 'SmsController' }); Conclusion In this article we have seen how much of the server side functionality in the MVC4 framework can be moved to the browser thus delivering a snappy and fast user interface. We have seen how we can build client side HTML only views that avoid the messy syntax offered by server side Razor views. We have built a functioning app from the ground up. The significant advantage of this approach to building web apps is that the front end can be completely platform independent. Even though we used ASP.NET to create our REST API, we could just easily have used any other language such as Node.js, Ruby etc without changing a single line of our front end code. Angular is a rich framework and we have only touched on basic functionality required to create a SPA. For readers who wish to delve further into the Angular framework, we would recommend the following URL as a starting point: http://docs.angularjs.org/misc/started. To get started with the code for this project: Sign up for an account at http://plus.sent.ly (free) Add your phone number Go to the “My Identies Page” Note Down your Sender ID, Consumer Key and Consumer Secret Download the code for this article at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzjEWqSE31yoZjZlV0d0R2Y3eW8/edit?usp=sharing Change the values of Sender Id, Consumer Key and Consumer Secret in the web.config file Run the project through Visual Studio!

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Azure WNS to Win8 - Push Notifications for Metro Apps

- by JoshReuben

Background The Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 allows you to build a Windows Azure Cloud Service that can send Push Notifications to registered Metro apps via Windows Notification Service (WNS). Some configuration is required - you need to: Register the Metro app for Windows Live Application Management Provide Package SID & Client Secret to WNS Modify the Azure Cloud App cscfg file and the Metro app package.appxmanifest file to contain matching Metro package name, SID and client secret. The Mechanism: These notifications take the form of XAML Tile, Toast, Raw or Badge UI notifications. The core engine is provided via the WNS nuget recipe, which exposes an API for constructing payloads and posting notifications to WNS. An application receives push notifications by requesting a notification channel from WNS, which returns a channel URI that the application then registers with a cloud service. In the cloud service, A WnsAccessTokenProvider authenticates with WNS by providing its credentials, the package SID and secret key, and receives in return an access token that the provider caches and can reuse for multiple notification requests. The cloud service constructs a notification request by filling out a template class that contains the information that will be sent with the notification, including text and image references. Using the channel URI of a registered client, the cloud service can then send a notification whenever it has an update for the user. The package contains the NotificationSendUtils class for submitting notifications. The Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 (WAT) provides the PNWorker sample pair of solutions - The Azure server side contains a WebRole & a WorkerRole. The WebRole allows submission of new push notifications into an Azure Queue which the WorkerRole extracts and processes. Further background resources: http://watwindows8.codeplex.com/ - Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 http://watwindows8.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Push%20Notification%20Worker%20Sample - WAT WNS sample setup http://watwindows8.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Using%20the%20Windows%208%20Cloud%20Application%20Services%20Application – using Windows 8 with Cloud Application Services A bit of Configuration Register the Metro apps for Windows Live Application Management From the current app manifest of your metro app Publish tab, copy the Package Display Name and the Publisher From: https://manage.dev.live.com/Build/ Package name: <-- we need to change this Client secret: keep this Package Security Identifier (SID): keep this Verify the app here: https://manage.dev.live.com/Applications/Index - so this step is done "If you wish to send push notifications in your application, provide your Package Security Identifier (SID) and client secret to WNS." Provide Package SID & Client Secret to WNS http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh465407.aspx - How to authenticate with WNS https://appdev.microsoft.com/StorePortals/en-us/Account/Signup/PurchaseSubscription - register app with dashboard - need registration code or register a new account & pay $170 shekels http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh868184.aspx - Registering for a Windows Store developer account http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh868187.aspx - Picking a Microsoft account for the Windows Store The WNS Nuget Recipe The WNS Recipe is a nuget package that provides an API for authenticating against WNS, constructing payloads and posting notifications to WNS. After installing this package, a WnsRecipe assembly is added to project references. To send notifications using WNS, first register the application at the Windows Push Notifications & Live Connect portal to obtain Package Security Identifier (SID) and a secret key that your cloud service uses to authenticate with WNS. An application receives push notifications by requesting a notification channel from WNS, which returns a channel URI that the application then registers with a cloud service. In the cloud service, the WnsAccessTokenProvider authenticates with WNS by providing its credentials, the package SID and secret key, and receives in return an access token that the provider caches and can reuse for multiple notification requests. The cloud service constructs a notification request by filling out a template class that contains the information that will be sent with the notification, including text and image references.Using the channel URI of a registered client, the cloud service can then send a notification whenever it has an update for the user. var provider = new WnsAccessTokenProvider(clientId, clientSecret); var notification = new ToastNotification(provider) { ToastType = ToastType.ToastText02, Text = new List<string> { "blah"} }; notification.Send(channelUri); the WNS Recipe is instrumented to write trace information via a trace listener – configuratively or programmatically from Application_Start(): WnsDiagnostics.Enable(); WnsDiagnostics.TraceSource.Listeners.Add(new DiagnosticMonitorTraceListener()); WnsDiagnostics.TraceSource.Switch.Level = SourceLevels.Verbose; The WAT PNWorker Sample The Azure server side contains a WebRole & a WorkerRole. The WebRole allows submission of new push notifications into an Azure Queue which the WorkerRole extracts and processes. Overview of Push Notification Worker Sample The toolkit includes a sample application based on the same solution structure as the one created by theWindows 8 Cloud Application Services project template. The sample demonstrates how to off-load the job of sending Windows Push Notifications using a Windows Azure worker role. You can find the source code in theSamples\PNWorker folder. This folder contains a full version of the sample application showing how to use Windows Push Notifications using ASP.NET Membership as the authentication mechanism. The sample contains two different solution files: WATWindows.Azure.sln: This solution must be opened with Visual Studio 2010 and contains the projects related to the Windows Azure web and worker roles. WATWindows.Client.sln: This solution must be opened with Visual Studio 11 and contains the Windows Metro style application project. Only Visual Studio 2010 supports Windows Azure cloud projects so you currently need to use this edition to launch the server application. This will change in a future release of the Windows Azure tools when support for Visual Studio 11 is enabled. Important: Setting up the PNWorker Sample Before running the PNWorker sample, you need to register the application and configure it: 1. Register the app: To register your application, go to the Windows Live Application Management site for Metro style apps at https://manage.dev.live.com/build and sign in with your Windows Live ID. In the Windows Push Notifications & Live Connect page, enter the following information. Package Display Name PNWorker.Sample Publisher CN=127.0.0.1, O=TESTING ONLY, OU=Windows Azure DevFabric 2. 3. Once you register the application, make a note of the values shown in the portal for Client Secret,Package Name and Package SID. 4. Configure the app - double-click the SetupSample.cmd file located inside the Samples\PNWorker folder to launch a tool that will guide you through the process of configuring the sample. setup runs a PowerShell script that requires running with administration privileges to allow the scripts to execute in your machine. When prompted, enter the Client Secret, Package Name, and Package Security Identifier you obtained previously and wait until the tool finishes configuring your sample. Running the PNWorker Sample To run this sample, you must run both the client and the server application projects. 1. Open Visual Studio 2010 as an administrator. Open the WATWindows.Azure.sln solution. Set the start-up project of the solution as the cloud project. Run the app in the dev fabric to test. 2. Open Visual Studio 11 and open the WATWindows.Client.sln solution. Run the Metro client application. In the client application, click Reopen channel and send to server. à the application opens the channel and registers it with the cloud application, & the Output area shows the channel URI. 3. Refresh the WebRole's Push Notifications page to see the UI list the newly registered client. 4. Send notifications to the client application by clicking the Send Notification button. Setup 3 command files + 1 powershell script: SetupSample.cmd –> SetupWPNS.vbs –> SetupWPNS.cmd –> SetupWPNS.UpdateWPNSCredentialsInServiceConfiguration.ps1 appears to set PackageName – from manifest Client Id package security id (SID) – from registration Client Secret – from registration The following configs are modified: WATWindows\ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg WATWindows\ServiceConfiguration.Local.cscfg WATWindows.Client\package.appxmanifest WatWindows.Notifications A class library – it references the following WNS DLL: C:\WorkDev\CountdownValue\AzureToolkits\WATWindows8\Samples\PNWorker\packages\WnsRecipe.0.0.3.0\lib\net40\WnsRecipe.dll NotificationJobRequest A DataContract for triggering notifications: using System.Runtime.Serialization; using Microsoft.Windows.Samples.Notifications; [DataContract] [KnownType(typeof(WnsAccessTokenProvider))] public class NotificationJobRequest { [DataMember] public bool ProcessAsync { get; set; } [DataMember] public string Payload { get; set; } [DataMember] public string ChannelUrl { get; set; } [DataMember] public NotificationType NotificationType { get; set; } [DataMember] public IAccessTokenProvider AccessTokenProvider { get; set; } [DataMember] public NotificationSendOptions NotificationSendOptions{ get; set; } } Investigated these types: WnsAccessTokenProvider – a DataContract that contains the client Id and client secret NotificationType – an enum that can be: Tile, Toast, badge, Raw IAccessTokenProvider – get or reset the access token NotificationSendOptions – SecondsTTL, NotificationPriority (enum), isCache, isRequestForStatus, Tag There is also a NotificationJobSerializer class which basically wraps a DataContractSerializer serialization / deserialization of NotificationJobRequest The WNSNotificationJobProcessor class This class wraps the NotificationSendUtils API – it periodically extracts any NotificationJobRequest objects from a CloudQueue and submits them to WNS. The ProcessJobMessageRequest method – this is the punchline: it will deserialize a CloudQueueMessage into a NotificationJobRequest & send pass its contents to NotificationUtils to SendAsynchronously / SendSynchronously, (and then dequeue the message). public override void ProcessJobMessageRequest(CloudQueueMessage notificationJobMessageRequest) { Trace.WriteLine("Processing a new Notification Job Request", "Information"); NotificationJobRequest pushNotificationJob = NotificationJobSerializer.Deserialize(notificationJobMessageRequest.AsString); if (pushNotificationJob != null) { if (pushNotificationJob.ProcessAsync) { Trace.WriteLine("Sending the notification asynchronously", "Information"); NotificationSendUtils.SendAsynchronously( new Uri(pushNotificationJob.ChannelUrl), pushNotificationJob.AccessTokenProvider, pushNotificationJob.Payload, result => this.ProcessSendResult(pushNotificationJob, result), result => this.ProcessSendResultError(pushNotificationJob, result), pushNotificationJob.NotificationType, pushNotificationJob.NotificationSendOptions); } else { Trace.WriteLine("Sending the notification synchronously", "Information"); NotificationSendResult result = NotificationSendUtils.Send( new Uri(pushNotificationJob.ChannelUrl), pushNotificationJob.AccessTokenProvider, pushNotificationJob.Payload, pushNotificationJob.NotificationType, pushNotificationJob.NotificationSendOptions); this.ProcessSendResult(pushNotificationJob, result); } } else { Trace.WriteLine("Could not deserialize the notification job", "Error"); } this.queue.DeleteMessage(notificationJobMessageRequest); } Investigation of NotificationSendUtils class - This is the engine – it exposes Send and a SendAsyncronously overloads that take the following params from the NotificationJobRequest: Channel Uri AccessTokenProvider Payload NotificationType NotificationSendOptions WebRole WebRole is a large MVC project – it references WatWindows.Notifications as well as the following WNS DLL: \AzureToolkits\WATWindows8\Samples\PNWorker\packages\WnsRecipe.0.0.3.0\lib\net40\NotificationsExtensions.dll Controllers\PushNotificationController.cs Notification related namespaces: using Notifications; using NotificationsExtensions; using NotificationsExtensions.BadgeContent; using NotificationsExtensions.RawContent; using NotificationsExtensions.TileContent; using NotificationsExtensions.ToastContent; using Windows.Samples.Notifications; TokenProvider – initialized from the Azure RoleEnvironment: IAccessTokenProvider tokenProvider = new WnsAccessTokenProvider( RoleEnvironment.GetConfigurationSettingValue("WNSPackageSID"), RoleEnvironment.GetConfigurationSettingValue("WNSClientSecret")); SendNotification method – calls QueuePushMessage method to create and serialize a NotificationJobRequest and enqueue it in a CloudQueue [HttpPost] public ActionResult SendNotification( [ModelBinder(typeof(NotificationTemplateModelBinder))] INotificationContent notification, string channelUrl, NotificationPriority priority = NotificationPriority.Normal) { var payload = notification.GetContent(); var options = new NotificationSendOptions() { Priority = priority }; var notificationType = notification is IBadgeNotificationContent ? NotificationType.Badge : notification is IRawNotificationContent ? NotificationType.Raw : notification is ITileNotificationContent ? NotificationType.Tile : NotificationType.Toast; this.QueuePushMessage(payload, channelUrl, notificationType, options); object response = new { Status = "Queued for delivery to WNS" }; return this.Json(response); } GetSendTemplate method: Create the cshtml partial rendering based on the notification type [HttpPost] public ActionResult GetSendTemplate(NotificationTemplateViewModel templateOptions) { PartialViewResult result = null; switch (templateOptions.NotificationType) { case "Badge": templateOptions.BadgeGlyphValueContent = Enum.GetNames(typeof( GlyphValue)); ViewBag.ViewData = templateOptions; result = PartialView("_" + templateOptions.NotificationTemplateType); break; case "Raw": ViewBag.ViewData = templateOptions; result = PartialView("_Raw"); break; case "Toast": templateOptions.TileImages = this.blobClient.GetAllBlobsInContainer(ConfigReader.GetConfigValue("TileImagesContainer")).OrderBy(i => i.FileName).ToList(); templateOptions.ToastAudioContent = Enum.GetNames(typeof( ToastAudioContent)); templateOptions.Priorities = Enum.GetNames(typeof( NotificationPriority)); ViewBag.ViewData = templateOptions; result = PartialView("_" + templateOptions.NotificationTemplateType); break; case "Tile": templateOptions.TileImages = this.blobClient.GetAllBlobsInContainer(ConfigReader.GetConfigValue("TileImagesContainer")).OrderBy(i => i.FileName).ToList(); ViewBag.ViewData = templateOptions; result = PartialView("_" + templateOptions.NotificationTemplateType); break; } return result; } Investigated these types: ToastAudioContent – an enum of different Win8 sound effects for toast notifications GlyphValue – an enum of different Win8 icons for badge notifications · Infrastructure\NotificationTemplateModelBinder.cs WNS Namespace references using NotificationsExtensions.BadgeContent; using NotificationsExtensions.RawContent; using NotificationsExtensions.TileContent; using NotificationsExtensions.ToastContent; Various NotificationFactory derived types can server as bindable models in MVC for creating INotificationContent types. Default values are also set for IWideTileNotificationContent & IToastNotificationContent. Type factoryType = null; switch (notificationType) { case "Badge": factoryType = typeof(BadgeContentFactory); break; case "Tile": factoryType = typeof(TileContentFactory); break; case "Toast": factoryType = typeof(ToastContentFactory); break; case "Raw": factoryType = typeof(RawContentFactory); break; } Investigated these types: BadgeContentFactory – CreateBadgeGlyph, CreateBadgeNumeric (???) TileContentFactory – many notification content creation methods , apparently one for every tile layout type ToastContentFactory – many notification content creation methods , apparently one for every toast layout type RawContentFactory – passing strings WorkerRole WNS Namespace references using Notifications; using Notifications.WNS; using Windows.Samples.Notifications; OnStart() Method – on Worker Role startup, initialize the NotificationJobSerializer, the CloudQueue, and the WNSNotificationJobProcessor _notificationJobSerializer = new NotificationJobSerializer(); _cloudQueueClient = this.account.CreateCloudQueueClient(); _pushNotificationRequestsQueue = _cloudQueueClient.GetQueueReference(ConfigReader.GetConfigValue("RequestQueueName")); _processor = new WNSNotificationJobProcessor(_notificationJobSerializer, _pushNotificationRequestsQueue); Run() Method – poll the Azure Queue for NotificationJobRequest messages & process them: while (true) { Trace.WriteLine("Checking for Messages", "Information"); try { Parallel.ForEach( this.pushNotificationRequestsQueue.GetMessages(this.batchSize), this.processor.ProcessJobMessageRequest); } catch (Exception e) { Trace.WriteLine(e.ToString(), "Error"); } Trace.WriteLine(string.Format("Sleeping for {0} seconds", this.pollIntervalMiliseconds / 1000)); Thread.Sleep(this.pollIntervalMiliseconds); } How I learned to appreciate Win8 There is really only one application architecture for Windows 8 apps: Metro client side and Azure backend – and that is a good thing. With WNS, tier integration is so automated that you don’t even have to leverage a HTTP push API such as SignalR. This is a pretty powerful development paradigm, and has changed the way I look at Windows 8 for RAD business apps. When I originally looked at Win8 and the WinRT API, my first opinion on Win8 dev was as follows – GOOD:WinRT, WRL, C++/CX, WinJS, XAML (& ease of Direct3D integration); BAD: low projected market penetration,.NET lobotomized (Only 8% of .NET 4.5 classes can be used in Win8 non-desktop apps - http://bit.ly/HRuJr7); UGLY:Metro pascal tiles! Perhaps my 80s teenage years gave me a punk reactionary sense of revulsion towards the Partridge Family 70s style that Metro UX seems to have appropriated: On second thought though, it simplifies UI dev to a single paradigm (although UX guys will need to change career) – you will not find an easier app dev environment. Speculation: If LightSwitch is going to support HTML5 client app generation, then its a safe guess to say that vnext will support Win8 Metro XAML - a much easier port from Silverlight XAML. Given the VS2012 LightSwitch integration as a thumbs up from the powers that be at MS, and given that Win8 C#/XAML Metro apps tend towards a streamlined 'golden straight-jacket' cookie cutter app dev style with an Azure back-end supporting Win8 push notifications... --> its easy to extrapolate than LightSwitch vnext could well be the Win8 Metro XAML to Azure RAD tool of choice! The hook is already there - :) Why else have the space next to the HTML Client box? This high level of application development abstraction will facilitate rapid app cookie-cutter architecture-infrastructure frameworks for wrapping any app. This will allow me to avoid too much XAML code-monkeying around & focus on my area of interest: Technical Computing.

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The Benefits of Smart Grid Business Software

- by Sylvie MacKenzie, PMP

Smart Grid Background What Are Smart Grids?Smart Grids use computer hardware and software, sensors, controls, and telecommunications equipment and services to: Link customers to information that helps them manage consumption and use electricity wisely. Enable customers to respond to utility notices in ways that help minimize the duration of overloads, bottlenecks, and outages. Provide utilities with information that helps them improve performance and control costs. What Is Driving Smart Grid Development? Environmental ImpactSmart Grid development is picking up speed because of the widespread interest in reducing the negative impact that energy use has on the environment. Smart Grids use technology to drive efficiencies in transmission, distribution, and consumption. As a result, utilities can serve customers’ power needs with fewer generating plants, fewer transmission and distribution assets,and lower overall generation. With the possible exception of wind farm sprawl, landscape preservation is one obvious benefit. And because most generation today results in greenhouse gas emissions, Smart Grids reduce air pollution and the potential for global climate change.Smart Grids also more easily accommodate the technical difficulties of integrating intermittent renewable resources like wind and solar into the grid, providing further greenhouse gas reductions. CostsThe ability to defer the cost of plant and grid expansion is a major benefit to both utilities and customers. Utilities do not need to use as many internal resources for traditional infrastructure project planning and management. Large T&D infrastructure expansion costs are not passed on to customers.Smart Grids will not eliminate capital expansion, of course. Transmission corridors to connect renewable generation with customers will require major near-term expenditures. Additionally, in the future, electricity to satisfy the needs of population growth and additional applications will exceed the capacity reductions available through the Smart Grid. At that point, expansion will resume—but with greater overall T&D efficiency based on demand response, load control, and many other Smart Grid technologies and business processes. Energy efficiency is a second area of Smart Grid cost saving of particular relevance to customers. The timely and detailed information Smart Grids provide encourages customers to limit waste, adopt energy-efficient building codes and standards, and invest in energy efficient appliances. Efficiency may or may not lower customer bills because customer efficiency savings may be offset by higher costs in generation fuels or carbon taxes. It is clear, however, that bills will be lower with efficiency than without it. Utility Operations Smart Grids can serve as the central focus of utility initiatives to improve business processes. Many utilities have long “wish lists” of projects and applications they would like to fund in order to improve customer service or ease staff’s burden of repetitious work, but they have difficulty cost-justifying the changes, especially in the short term. Adding Smart Grid benefits to the cost/benefit analysis frequently tips the scales in favor of the change and can also significantly reduce payback periods.Mobile workforce applications and asset management applications work together to deploy assets and then to maintain, repair, and replace them. Many additional benefits result—for instance, increased productivity and fuel savings from better routing. Similarly, customer portals that provide customers with near-real-time information can also encourage online payments, thus lowering billing costs. Utilities can and should include these cost and service improvements in the list of Smart Grid benefits. What Is Smart Grid Business Software? Smart Grid business software gathers data from a Smart Grid and uses it improve a utility’s business processes. Smart Grid business software also helps utilities provide relevant information to customers who can then use it to reduce their own consumption and improve their environmental profiles. Smart Grid Business Software Minimizes the Impact of Peak Demand Utilities must size their assets to accommodate their highest peak demand. The higher the peak rises above base demand: The more assets a utility must build that are used only for brief periods—an inefficient use of capital. The higher the utility’s risk profile rises given the uncertainties surrounding the time needed for permitting, building, and recouping costs. The higher the costs for utilities to purchase supply, because generators can charge more for contracts and spot supply during high-demand periods. Smart Grids enable a variety of programs that reduce peak demand, including: Time-of-use pricing and critical peak pricing—programs that charge customers more when they consume electricity during peak periods. Pilot projects indicate that these programs are successful in flattening peaks, thus ensuring better use of existing T&D and generation assets. Direct load control, which lets utilities reduce or eliminate electricity flow to customer equipment (such as air conditioners). Contracts govern the terms and conditions of these turn-offs. Indirect load control, which signals customers to reduce the use of on-premises equipment for contractually agreed-on time periods. Smart Grid business software enables utilities to impose penalties on customers who do not comply with their contracts. Smart Grids also help utilities manage peaks with existing assets by enabling: Real-time asset monitoring and control. In this application, advanced sensors safely enable dynamic capacity load limits, ensuring that all grid assets can be used to their maximum capacity during peak demand periods. Real-time asset monitoring and control applications also detect the location of excessive losses and pinpoint need for mitigation and asset replacements. As a result, utilities reduce outage risk and guard against excess capacity or “over-build”. Better peak demand analysis. As a result: Distribution planners can better size equipment (e.g. transformers) to avoid over-building. Operations engineers can identify and resolve bottlenecks and other inefficiencies that may cause or exacerbate peaks. As above, the result is a reduction in the tendency to over-build. Supply managers can more closely match procurement with delivery. As a result, they can fine-tune supply portfolios, reducing the tendency to over-contract for peak supply and reducing the need to resort to spot market purchases during high peaks. Smart Grids can help lower the cost of remaining peaks by: Standardizing interconnections for new distributed resources (such as electricity storage devices). Placing the interconnections where needed to support anticipated grid congestion. Smart Grid Business Software Lowers the Cost of Field Services By processing Smart Grid data through their business software, utilities can reduce such field costs as: Vegetation management. Smart Grids can pinpoint momentary interruptions and tree-caused outages. Spatial mash-up tools leverage GIS models of tree growth for targeted vegetation management. This reduces the cost of unnecessary tree trimming. Service vehicle fuel. Many utility service calls are “false alarms.” Checking meter status before dispatching crews prevents many unnecessary “truck rolls.” Similarly, crews use far less fuel when Smart Grid sensors can pinpoint a problem and mobile workforce applications can then route them directly to it. Smart Grid Business Software Ensures Regulatory Compliance Smart Grids can ensure compliance with private contracts and with regional, national, or international requirements by: Monitoring fulfillment of contract terms. Utilities can use one-hour interval meters to ensure that interruptible (“non-core”) customers actually reduce or eliminate deliveries as required. They can use the information to levy fines against contract violators. Monitoring regulations imposed on customers, such as maximum use during specific time periods. Using accurate time-stamped event history derived from intelligent devices distributed throughout the smart grid to monitor and report reliability statistics and risk compliance. Automating business processes and activities that ensure compliance with security and reliability measures (e.g. NERC-CIP 2-9). Grid Business Software Strengthens Utilities’ Connection to Customers While Reducing Customer Service Costs During outages, Smart Grid business software can: Identify outages more quickly. Software uses sensors to pinpoint outages and nested outage locations. They also permit utilities to ensure outage resolution at every meter location. Size outages more accurately, permitting utilities to dispatch crews that have the skills needed, in appropriate numbers. Provide updates on outage location and expected duration. This information helps call centers inform customers about the timing of service restoration. Smart Grids also facilitates display of outage maps for customer and public-service use. Smart Grids can significantly reduce the cost to: Connect and disconnect customers. Meters capable of remote disconnect can virtually eliminate the costs of field crews and vehicles previously required to change service from the old to the new residents of a metered property or disconnect customers for nonpayment. Resolve reports of voltage fluctuation. Smart Grids gather and report voltage and power quality data from meters and grid sensors, enabling utilities to pinpoint reported problems or resolve them before customers complain. Detect and resolve non-technical losses (e.g. theft). Smart Grids can identify illegal attempts to reconnect meters or to use electricity in supposedly vacant premises. They can also detect theft by comparing flows through delivery assets with billed consumption. Smart Grids also facilitate outreach to customers. By monitoring and analyzing consumption over time, utilities can: Identify customers with unusually high usage and contact them before they receive a bill. They can also suggest conservation techniques that might help to limit consumption. This can head off “high bill” complaints to the contact center. Note that such “high usage” or “additional charges apply because you are out of range” notices—frequently via text messaging—are already common among mobile phone providers. Help customers identify appropriate bill payment alternatives (budget billing, prepayment, etc.). Help customers find and reduce causes of over-consumption. There’s no waiting for bills in the mail before they even understand there is a problem. Utilities benefit not just through improved customer relations but also through limiting the size of bills from customers who might struggle to pay them. Where permitted, Smart Grids can open the doors to such new utility service offerings as: Monitoring properties. Landlords reduce costs of vacant properties when utilities notify them of unexpected energy or water consumption. Utilities can perform similar services for owners of vacation properties or the adult children of aging parents. Monitoring equipment. Power-use patterns can reveal a need for equipment maintenance. Smart Grids permit utilities to alert owners or managers to a need for maintenance or replacement. Facilitating home and small-business networks. Smart Grids can provide a gateway to equipment networks that automate control or let owners access equipment remotely. They also facilitate net metering, offering some utilities a path toward involvement in small-scale solar or wind generation. Prepayment plans that do not need special meters. Smart Grid Business Software Helps Customers Control Energy Costs There is no end to the ways Smart Grids help both small and large customers control energy costs. For instance: Multi-premises customers appreciate having all meters read on the same day so that they can more easily compare consumption at various sites. Customers in competitive regions can match their consumption profile (detailed via Smart Grid data) with specific offerings from competitive suppliers. Customers seeing inexplicable consumption patterns and power quality problems may investigate further. The result can be discovery of electrical problems that can be resolved through rewiring or maintenance—before more serious fires or accidents happen. Smart Grid Business Software Facilitates Use of Renewables Generation from wind and solar resources is a popular alternative to fossil fuel generation, which emits greenhouse gases. Wind and solar generation may also increase energy security in regions that currently import fossil fuel for use in generation. Utilities face many technical issues as they attempt to integrate intermittent resource generation into traditional grids, which traditionally handle only fully dispatchable generation. Smart Grid business software helps solves many of these issues by: Detecting sudden drops in production from renewables-generated electricity (wind and solar) and automatically triggering electricity storage and smart appliance response to compensate as needed. Supporting industry-standard distributed generation interconnection processes to reduce interconnection costs and avoid adding renewable supplies to locations already subject to grid congestion. Facilitating modeling and monitoring of locally generated supply from renewables and thus helping to maximize their use. Increasing the efficiency of “net metering” (through which utilities can use electricity generated by customers) by: Providing data for analysis. Integrating the production and consumption aspects of customer accounts. During non-peak periods, such techniques enable utilities to increase the percent of renewable generation in their supply mix. During peak periods, Smart Grid business software controls circuit reconfiguration to maximize available capacity. Conclusion Utility missions are changing. Yesterday, they focused on delivery of reasonably priced energy and water. Tomorrow, their missions will expand to encompass sustainable use and environmental improvement.Smart Grids are key to helping utilities achieve this expanded mission. But they come at a relatively high price. Utilities will need to invest heavily in new hardware, software, business process development, and staff training. Customer investments in home area networks and smart appliances will be large. Learning to change the energy and water consumption habits of a lifetime could ultimately prove even more formidable tasks.Smart Grid business software can ease the cost and difficulties inherent in a needed transition to a more flexible, reliable, responsive electricity grid. Justifying its implementation, however, requires a full understanding of the benefits it brings—benefits that can ultimately help customers, utilities, communities, and the world address global issues like energy security and climate change while minimizing costs and maximizing customer convenience. This white paper is available for download here. For further information about Oracle's Primavera Solutions for Utilities, please read our Utilities e-book.

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Office 2010: It’s not just DOC(X) and XLS(X)

- by andrewbrust

Office 2010 has released to manufacturing. The bits have left the (product team’s) building. Will you upgrade? This version of Office is officially numbered 14, a designation that correlates with the various releases, through the years, of Microsoft Word. There were six major versions of Word for DOS, during whose release cycles came three 16-bit Windows versions. Then, starting with Word 95 and counting through Word 2007, there have been six more versions – all for the 32-bit Windows platform. Skip version 13 to ward off folksy bad luck (and, perhaps, the bugs that could come with it) and that brings us to version 14, which includes implementations for both 32- and 64-bit Windows platforms. We’ve come a long way baby. Or have we? As it does every three years or so, debate will now start to rage on over whether we need a “14th” version the PC platform’s standard word processor, or a “13th” version of the spreadsheet. If you accept the premise of that question, then you may be on a slippery slope toward answering it in the negative. Thing is, that premise is valid for certain customers and not others. The Microsoft Office product has morphed from one that offered core word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and email functionality to a suite of applications that provides unique, new value-added features, and even whole applications, in the context of those core services. The core apps thus grow in mission: Excel is a BI tool. Word is a collaborative editorial system for the production of publications. PowerPoint is a media production platform for for live presentations and, increasingly, for delivering more effective presentations online. Outlook is a time and task management system. Access is a rich client front-end for data-driven self-service SharePoint applications. OneNote helps you capture ideas, corral random thoughts in a semi-structured way, and then tie them back to other, more rigidly structured, Office documents. Google Docs and other cloud productivity platforms like Zoho don’t really do these things. And there is a growing chorus of voices who say that they shouldn’t, because those ancillary capabilities are over-engineered, over-produced and “under-necessary.” They might say Microsoft is layering on superfluous capabilities to avoid admitting that Office’s core capabilities, the ones people really need, have become commoditized. It’s hard to take sides in that argument, because different people, and the different companies that employ them, have different needs. For my own needs, it all comes down to three basic questions: will the new version of Office save me time, will it make the mundane parts of my job easier, and will it augment my services to customers? I need my time back. I need to spend more of it with my family, and more of it focusing on my own core capabilities rather than the administrative tasks around them. And I also need my customers to be able to get more value out of the services I provide. Help me triage my inbox, help me get proposals done more quickly and make them easier to read. Let me get my presentations done faster, make them more effective and make it easier for me to reuse materials from other presentations. And, since I’m in the BI and data business, help me and my customers manage data and analytics more easily, both on the desktop and online. Those are my criteria. And, with those in mind, Office 2010 is looking like a worthwhile upgrade. Perhaps it’s not earth-shattering, but it offers a combination of incremental improvements and a few new major capabilities that I think are quite compelling. I provide a brief roundup of them here. It’s admittedly arbitrary and not comprehensive, but I think it tells the Office 2010 story effectively. Across the Suite More than any other, this release of Office aims to give collaboration a real workout. In certain apps, for the first time, documents can be opened simultaneously by multiple users, with colleagues’ changes appearing in near real-time. Web-browser-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote will be available to extend collaboration to contributors who are off the corporate network. The ribbon user interface is now more pervasive (for example, it appears in OneNote and in Outlook’s main window). It’s also customizable, allowing users to add, easily, buttons and options of their choosing, into new tabs, or into new groups within existing tabs. Microsoft has also taken the File menu (which was the “Office Button” menu in the 2007 release) and made it into a full-screen “Backstage” view where document-wide operations, like saving, printing and online publishing are performed. And because, more and more, heavily formatted content is cut and pasted between documents and applications, Office 2010 makes it easier to manage the retention or jettisoning of that formatting right as the paste operation is performed. That’s much nicer than stripping it off, or adding it back, afterwards. And, speaking of pasting, a number of Office apps now make it especially easy to insert screenshots within their documents. I know that’s useful to me, because I often document or critique applications and need to show them in action. For the vast majority of users, I expect that this feature will be more useful for capturing snapshots of Web pages, but we’ll have to see whether this feature becomes popular. Excel At first glance, Excel 2010 looks and acts nearly identically to the 2007 version. But additional glances are necessary. It’s important to understand that lots of people in the working world use Excel as more of a database, analytics and mathematical modeling tool than merely as a spreadsheet. And it’s also important to understand that Excel wasn’t designed to handle such workloads past a certain scale. That all changes with this release. The first reason things change is that Excel has been tuned for performance. It’s been optimized for multi-threaded operation; previously lengthy processes have been shortened, especially for large data sets; more rows and columns are allowed and, for the first time, Excel (and the rest of Office) is available in a 64-bit version. For Excel, this means users can take advantage of more than the 2GB of memory that the 32-bit version is limited to. On the analysis side, Excel 2010 adds Sparklines (tiny charts that fit into a single cell and can therefore be presented down an entire column or across a row) and Slicers (a more user-friendly filter mechanism for PivotTables and charts, which visually indicates what the filtered state of a given data member is). But most important, Excel 2010 supports the new PowerPIvot add-in which brings true self-service BI to Office. PowerPivot allows users to import data from almost anywhere, model it, and then analyze it. Rather than forcing users to build “spreadmarts” or use corporate-built data warehouses, PowerPivot models function as true columnar, in-memory OLAP cubes that can accommodate millions of rows of data and deliver fast drill-down performance. And speaking of OLAP, Excel 2010 now supports an important Analysis Services OLAP feature called write-back. Write-back is especially useful in financial forecasting scenarios for which Excel is the natural home. Support for write-back is long overdue, but I’m still glad it’s there, because I had almost given up on it. PowerPoint This version of PowerPoint marks its progression from a presentation tool to a video and photo editing and production tool. Whether or not it’s successful in this pursuit, and if offering this is even a sensible goal, is another question. Regardless, the new capabilities are kind of interesting. A greatly enhanced set of slide transitions with 3D effects; in-product photo and video editing; accommodation of embedded videos from services such as YouTube; and the ability to save a presentation as a video each lay testimony to PowerPoint’s transformation into a media tool and away from a pure presentation tool. These capabilities also recognize the importance of the Web as both a source for materials and a channel for disseminating PowerPoint output. Congruent with that is PowerPoint’s new ability to broadcast a slide presentation, using a quickly-generated public URL, without involving the hassle or expense of a Web meeting service like GoToMeeting or Microsoft’s own LiveMeeting. Slides presented through this broadcast feature retain full color fidelity and transitions and animations are preserved as well. Outlook Microsoft’s ubiquitous email/calendar/contact/task management tool gains long overdue speed improvements, especially against POP3 email accounts. Outlook 2010 also supports multiple Exchange accounts, rather than just one; tighter integration with OneNote; and a new Social Connector providing integration with, and presence information from, online social network services like LinkedIn and Facebook (not to mention Windows Live). A revamped conversation view now includes messages that are part of a given thread regardless of which folder they may be stored in. I don’t know yet how well the Social Connector will work or whether it will keep Outlook relevant to those who live on Facebook and LinkedIn. But among the other features, there’s very little not to like. OneNote To me, OneNote is the part of Office that just keeps getting better. There is one major caveat to this, which I’ll cover in a moment, but let’s first catalog what new stuff OneNote 2010 brings. The best part of OneNote, is the way each of its versions have managed hierarchy: Notebooks have sections, sections have pages, pages have sub pages, multiple notes can be contained in either, and each note supports infinite levels of indentation. None of that is new to 2010, but the new version does make creation of pages and subpages easier and also makes simple work out of promoting and demoting pages from sub page to full page status. And relationships between pages are quite easy to create now: much like a Wiki, simply typing a page’s name in double-square-brackets (“[[…]]”) creates a link to it. OneNote is also great at integrating content outside of its notebooks. With a new Dock to Desktop feature, OneNote becomes aware of what window is displayed in the rest of the screen and, if it’s an Office document or a Web page, links the notes you’re typing, at the time, to it. A single click from your notes later on will bring that same document or Web page back on-screen. Embedding content from Web pages and elsewhere is also easier. Using OneNote’s Windows Key+S combination to grab part of the screen now allows you to specify the destination of that bitmap instead of automatically creating a new note in the Unfiled Notes area. Using the Send to OneNote buttons in Internet Explorer and Outlook result in the same choice. Collaboration gets better too. Real-time multi-author editing is better accommodated and determining author lineage of particular changes is easily carried out. My one pet peeve with OneNote is the difficulty using it when I’m not one a Windows PC. OneNote’s main competitor, Evernote, while I believe inferior in terms of features, has client versions for PC, Mac, Windows Mobile, Android, iPhone, iPad and Web browsers. Since I have an Android phone and an iPad, I am practically forced to use it. However, the OneNote Web app should help here, as should a forthcoming version of OneNote for Windows Phone 7. In the mean time, it turns out that using OneNote’s Email Page ribbon button lets you move a OneNote page easily into EverNote (since every EverNote account gets a unique email address for adding notes) and that Evernote’s Email function combined with Outlook’s Send to OneNote button (in the Move group of the ribbon’s Home tab) can achieve the reverse. Access To me, the big change in Access 2007 was its tight integration with SharePoint lists. Access 2010 and SharePoint 2010 continue this integration with the introduction of SharePoint’s Access Services. Much as Excel Services provides a SharePoint-hosted experience for viewing (and now editing) Excel spreadsheet, PivotTable and chart content, Access Services allows for SharePoint browser-hosted editing of Access data within the forms that are built in the Access client itself. To me this makes all kinds of sense. Although it does beg the question of where to draw the line between Access, InfoPath, SharePoint list maintenance and SharePoint 2010’s new Business Connectivity Services. Each of these tools provide overlapping data entry and data maintenance functionality. But if you do prefer Access, then you’ll like things like templates and application parts that make it easier to get off the blank page. These features help you quickly get tables, forms and reports built out. To make things look nice, Access even gets its own version of Excel’s Conditional Formatting feature, letting you add data bars and data-driven text formatting. Word As I said at the beginning of this post, upgrades to Office are about much more than enhancing the suite’s flagship word processing application. So are there any enhancements in Word worth mentioning? I think so. The most important one has to be the collaboration features. Essentially, when a user opens a Word document that is in a SharePoint document library (or Windows Live SkyDrive folder), rather than the whole document being locked, Word has the ability to observe more granular locks on the individual paragraphs being edited. Word also shows you who’s editing what and its Save function morphs into a sync feature that both saves your changes and loads those made by anyone editing the document concurrently. There’s also a new navigation pane that lets you manage sections in your document in much the same way as you manage slides in a PowerPoint deck. Using the navigation pane, you can reorder sections, insert new ones, or promote and demote sections in the outline hierarchy. Not earth shattering, but nice. Other Apps and Summarized Findings What about InfoPath, Publisher, Visio and Project? I haven’t looked at them yet. And for this post, I think that’s fine. While those apps (and, arguably, Access) cater to specific tasks, I think the apps we’ve looked at in this post service the general purpose needs of most users. And the theme in those 2010 apps is clear: collaboration is key, the Web and productivity are indivisible, and making data and analytics into a self-service amenity is the way to go. But perhaps most of all, features are still important, as long as they get you through your day faster, rather than adding complexity for its own sake. I would argue that this is true for just about every product Microsoft makes: users want utility, not complexity.

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Oracle Customer Reference Forum – Apex IT – Oracle Sales Cloud

- by Richard Lefebvre

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Apex IT, an Oracle Platinum Partner, wins Nucleus Research's ROI Award with a 724% return. Learn how you can improve your ROI with Oracle Sales and Marketing Cloud. We are pleased to invite you to a discussion with Apex IT on industry trends, why sales automation is important, the decision making process for choosing Oracle Sales Cloud, and benefits achieved since going live. Apex IT works with clients large and small, assisting them at all stages in the process: organizing ideas and developing strategies, selecting the most appropriate package, implementing it for best results, and keeping systems optimized with long-term support. Please plan to register at least three hours prior to the event taking place in order to participate and get the dial-in information associated in due time. Speakers: Bryan Hinz, Vice President of Business Development, Apex IT (Speaker) Chris Haven, Senior Director Product Management, Oracle (Moderator) Organization Profile: Since 1997, Apex IT has helped public sector, corporate and higher education clients use technology to streamline their processes and increase productivity and profitability. Based on products and best practices from Oracle our experts provide a full range of enterprise solutions including CX/CRM and related applications that support marketing, sales, and service; HR and HR Helpdesk; and Business Intelligence. Our project approach is results-driven and our attitude is people-focused. Industry: Professional Services Products/Services: Oracle Sales Cloud Organization Website: http://apexit.com/ Event Description: In this informal reference call, you will have the opportunity to hear Apex IT discuss industry trends, why sales automation is important, the decision making process for choosing Oracle Sales Cloud, and benefits achieved since going live. The call will open with a brief overview, followed by discussion, and an open question and answer session. Please allow one hour for the call. Why Oracle: Apex IT needed a mobile-enabled sales force automation tool that could promote account collaboration and integrate with Microsoft Outlook. Oracle Sales Cloud met these needs and Apex IT’s requirements for: Improved collaborative selling Improved quality of customer engagement and information Improved business development Improved pipeline management Please plan to register at least three hours prior to the event taking place in order to participate and get the dial-in information associated in due time. After you register your information will be forwarded through an Approval Process. Once your registration request has been validated against the invitation database, you will receive an email confirmation with your registration details as long as there is availability. Please be advised that Apex IT will revise the registrants list and may dismiss registrations as they see fit. Note: To access more information at the corporate site you would need an Oracle.com account. If you do not already have an account, getting one is easy and free. Click on the link and you will be prompted to create an account. After you have created your account, you will be automatically returned to the full page description of this event. Register Now! /* 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-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; 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 Support Master Note for Troubleshooting Advanced Queuing and Oracle Streams Propagation Issues (Doc ID 233099.1)

- by faye.todd(at)oracle.com

Master Note for Troubleshooting Advanced Queuing and Oracle Streams Propagation Issues (Doc ID 233099.1) Copyright (c) 2010, Oracle Corporation. All Rights Reserved. In this Document Purpose Last Review Date Instructions for the Reader Troubleshooting Details 1. Scope and Application 2. Definitions and Classifications 3. How to Use This Guide 4. Basic AQ Propagation Troubleshooting 5. Additional Troubleshooting Steps for AQ Propagation of User-Enqueued and Dequeued Messages 6. Additional Troubleshooting Steps for Propagation in an Oracle Streams Environment 7. Performance Issues References Applies to: Oracle Server - Enterprise Edition - Version: 8.1.7.0 to 11.2.0.2 - Release: 8.1.7 to 11.2Information in this document applies to any platform. Purpose This document presents a step-by-step methodology for troubleshooting and resolving problems with Advanced Queuing Propagation in both Streams and basic Advanced Queuing environments. It also serves as a master reference for other more specific notes on Oracle Streams Propagation and Advanced Queuing Propagation issues. Last Review Date December 20, 2010 Instructions for the Reader A Troubleshooting Guide is provided to assist in debugging a specific issue. When possible, diagnostic tools are included in the document to assist in troubleshooting. Troubleshooting Details 1. Scope and Application This note is intended for Database Administrators of Oracle databases where issues are being encountered with propagating messages between advanced queues, whether the queues are used for user-created messaging systems or for Oracle Streams. It contains troubleshooting steps and links to notes for further problem resolution.It can also be used a template to document a problem when it is necessary to engage Oracle Support Services. Knowing what is NOT happening can frequently speed up the resolution process by focusing solely on the pertinent problem area. This guide is divided into five parts: Section 2: Definitions and Classifications (discusses the different types and features of propagations possible - helpful for understanding the rest of the guide) Section 3: How to Use this Guide (to be used as a start part for determining the scope of the problem and what sections to consult) Section 4. Basic AQ propagation troubleshooting (applies to both AQ propagation of user enqueued and dequeued messages as well as Oracle Streams propagations) Section 5. Additional troubleshooting steps for AQ propagation of user enqueued and dequeued messages Section 6. Additional troubleshooting steps for Oracle Streams propagation Section 7. Performance issues 2. Definitions and Classifications Given the potential scope of issues that can be encountered with AQ propagation, the first recommended step is to do some basic diagnosis to determine the type of problem that is being encountered. 2.1. What Type of Propagation is Being Used? 2.1.1. Buffered Messaging For an advanced queue, messages can be maintained on disk (persistent messaging) or in memory (buffered messaging). To determine if a queue is buffered or not, reference the GV_$BUFFERED_QUEUES view. If the queue does not appear in this view, it is persistent. 2.1.2. Propagation mode - queue-to-dblink vs queue-to-queue As of 10.2, an AQ propagation can also be defined as queue-to-dblink, or queue-to-queue: queue-to-dblink: The propagation delivers messages or events from the source queue to all subscribing queues at the destination database identified by the dblink. A single propagation schedule is used to propagate messages to all subscribing queues. Hence any changes made to this schedule will affect message delivery to all the subscribing queues. This mode does not support multiple propagations from the same source queue to the same target database. queue-to-queue: Added in 10.2, this propagation mode delivers messages or events from the source queue to a specific destination queue identified on the database link. This allows the user to have fine-grained control on the propagation schedule for message delivery. This new propagation mode also supports transparent failover when propagating to a destination Oracle RAC system. With queue-to-queue propagation, you are no longer required to re-point a database link if the owner instance of the queue fails on Oracle RAC. This mode supports multiple propagations to the same target database if the target queues are different. The default is queue-to-dblink. To verify if queue-to-queue propagation is being used, in non-Streams environments query DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES.DESTINATION - if a remote queue is listed along with the remote database link, then queue-to-queue propagation is being used. For Streams environments, the DBA_PROPAGATION.QUEUE_TO_QUEUE column can be checked.See the following note for a method to switch between the two modes:Document 827473.1 How to alter propagation from queue-to-queue to queue-to-dblink 2.1.3. Combined Capture and Apply (CCA) for Streams In 11g Oracle Streams environments, an optimization called Combined Capture and Apply (CCA) is implemented by default when possible. Although a propagation is configured in this case, Streams does not use it; instead it passes information directly from capture to an apply receiver. To see if CCA is in use: COLUMN CAPTURE_NAME HEADING 'Capture Name' FORMAT A30COLUMN OPTIMIZATION HEADING 'CCA Mode?' FORMAT A10SELECT CAPTURE_NAME, DECODE(OPTIMIZATION,0, 'No','Yes') OPTIMIZATIONFROM V$STREAMS_CAPTURE; Also, see the following note:Document 463820.1 Streams Combined Capture and Apply in 11g 2.2. Queue Table Compatibility There are three types of queue table compatibility. In more recent databases, queue tables may be present in all three modes of compatibility: 8.0 - earliest version, deprecated in 10.2 onwards 8.1 - support added for RAC, asynchronous notification, secure queues, queue level access control, rule-based subscribers, separate storage of history information 10.0 - if the database is in 10.1-compatible mode, then the default value for queue table compatibility is 10.0 2.3. Single vs Multiple Consumer Queue Tables If more than one recipient can dequeue a message from a queue, then its queue table is multiple consumer. You can propagate messages from a multiple-consumer queue to a single-consumer queue. Propagation from a single-consumer queue to a multiple-consumer queue is not possible. 3. How to Use This Guide 3.1. Are Messages Being Propagated at All, or is the Propagation Just Slow? Run the following query on the source database for the propagation (assuming that it is running): select TOTAL_NUMBER from DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES where QNAME='<source_queue_name>'; If TOTAL_NUMBER is increasing, then propagation is most likely functioning, although it may be slow. For performance issues, see Section 7. 3.2. Propagation Between Persistent User-Created Queues See Sections 4 and 5 (and optionally Section 6 if performance is an issue). 3.3. Propagation Between Buffered User-Created Queues See Sections 4, 5, and 6 (and optionally Section 7 if performance is an issue). 3.4. Propagation between Oracle Streams Queues (without Combined Capture and Apply (CCA) Optimization) See Sections 4 and 6 (and optionally Section 7 if performance is an issue). 3.5. Propagation between Oracle Streams Queues (with Combined Capture and Apply (CCA) Optimization) Although an AQ propagation is not used directly in this case, some characteristics of the message transfer are inferred from the propagation parameters used. Some parts of Sections 4 and 6 still apply. 3.6. Messaging Gateway Propagations This note does not apply to Messaging Gateway propagations. 4. Basic AQ Propagation Troubleshooting 4.1. Double-check Your Code Make sure that you are consistent in your usage of the database link(s) names, queue names, etc. It may be useful to plot a diagram of which queues are connected via which database links to make sure that the logical structure is correct. 4.2. Verify that Job Queue Processes are Running 4.2.1. Versions 10.2 and Lower - DBA_JOBS Package For versions 10.2 and lower, a scheduled propagation is managed by DBMS_JOB package. The propagation is performed by job queue process background processes. Therefore we need to verify that there are sufficient processes available for the propagation process. We should have at least 4 job queue processes running and preferably more depending on the number of other jobs running in the database. It should be noted that for AQ specific work, AQ will only ever use half of the job queue processes available.An issue caused by an inadequate job queue processes parameter setting is described in the following note:Document 298015.1 Kwqjswproc:Excep After Loop: Assigning To Self 4.2.1.1. Job Queue Processes in Initalization Parameter File The parameter JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES in the init.ora/spfile should be > 0. The value can be changed dynamically via connect / as sysdbaalter system set JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES=10; 4.2.1.2. Job Queue Processes in Memory The following command will show how many job queue processes are currentlyin use by this instance (this may be different than what is in the init.ora/spfile): connect / as sysdbashow parameter job; 4.2.1.3. OS PIDs Corresponding to Job Queue Processes Identify the operating system process ids (spids) of job queue processes involved in propagation via select p.SPID, p.PROGRAM from V$PROCESS p, DBA_JOBS_RUNNING jr, V$SESSION s, DBA_JOBS j where s.SID=jr.SID and s.PADDR=p.ADDR and jr.JOB=j.JOBand j.WHAT like '%sys.dbms_aqadm.aq$_propaq(job)%'; and these SPIDs can be used to check at the operating system level that they exist.In 8i a job queue process will have a name similar to: ora_snp1_<instance_name>.In 9i onwards you will see a coordinator process: ora_cjq0_ and multiple slave processes: ora_jnnn_<instance_name>, where nnn is an integer between 1 and 999. 4.2.2. Version 11.1 and Above - Oracle Scheduler In version 11.1 and above, Oracle Scheduler is used to perform AQ and Streams propagations. Oracle Scheduler automatically tunes the number of slave processes for these jobs based on the load on the computer system, and the JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES initialization parameter is only used to specify the maximum number of slave processes. Therefore, the JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES initialization parameter does not need to be set (it defaults to a very high number), unless you want to limit the number of slaves that can be created. If JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES = 0, no propagation jobs will run.See the following note for a discussion of Oracle Streams 11g and Oracle Scheduler:Document 1083608.1 11g Streams and Oracle Scheduler 4.2.2.1. Job Queue Processes in Initalization Parameter File The parameter JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES in the init.ora/spfile should be > 0, and preferably be left at its default value. The value can be changed dynamically via connect / as sysdbaalter system set JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES=10; To set the JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES parameter to its default value, run: connect / as sysdbaalter system reset JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES; and then bounce the instance. 4.2.2.2. Job Queue Processes in Memory The following command will show how many job queue processes are currently in use by this instance (this may be different than what is in the init.ora/spfile): connect / as sysdbashow parameter job; 4.2.2.3. OS PIDs Corresponding to Job Queue Processes Identify the operating system process ids (SPIDs) of job queue processes involved in propagation via col PROGRAM for a30select p.SPID, p.PROGRAM, j.JOB_namefrom v$PROCESS p, DBA_SCHEDULER_RUNNING_JOBS jr, V$SESSION s, DBA_SCHEDULER_JOBS j where s.SID=jr.SESSION_ID and s.PADDR=p.ADDRand jr.JOB_name=j.JOB_NAME and j.JOB_NAME like '%AQ_JOB$_%'; and these SPIDs can be used to check at the operating system level that they exist.You will see a coordinator process: ora_cjq0_ and multiple slave processes: ora_jnnn_<instance_name>, where nnn is an integer between 1 and 999. 4.3. Check the Alert Log and Any Associated Trace Files The first place to check for propagation failures is the alert logs at all sites (local and if relevant all remote sites). When a job queue process attempts to execute a schedule and fails it will always write an error stack to the alert log. This error stack will also be written in a job queue process trace file, which will be written to the BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST location for 10.2 and below, and in the DIAGNOSTIC_DEST location for 11g. The fact that errors are written to the alert log demonstrates that the schedule is executing. This means that the problem could be with the set up of the schedule. In this example the ORA-02068 demonstrates that the failure was at the remote site. Further investigation revealed that the remote database was not open, hence the ORA-03114 error. Starting the database resolved the problem. Thu Feb 14 10:40:05 2002 Propagation Schedule for (AQADM.MULTIPLEQ, SHANE816.WORLD) encountered following error:ORA-04052: error occurred when looking up Remote object [email protected]: error occurred at recursive SQL level 4ORA-02068: following severe error from SHANE816ORA-03114: not connected to ORACLEORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_AQADM_SYS", line 4770ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_AQADM", line 548ORA-06512: at line 1 Other potential errors that may be written to the alert log can be found in the following notes:Document 827184.1 AQ Propagation with CLOB data types Fails with ORA-22990 (11.1)Document 846297.1 AQ Propagation Fails : ORA-00600[kope2upic2954] or Ora-00600[Kghsstream_copyn] (10.2, 11.1)Document 731292.1 ORA-25215 Reported on Local Propagation When Using Transformation with ANYDATA queue tables (10.2, 11.1, 11.2)Document 365093.1 ORA-07445 [kwqppay2aqe()+7360] Reported on Propagation of a Transformed Message (10.1, 10.2)Document 219416.1 Advanced Queuing Propagation Fails with ORA-22922 (9.0)Document 1203544.1 AQ Propagation Aborted with ORA-600 [ociksin: invalid status] on SYS.DBMS_AQADM_SYS.AQ$_PROPAGATION_PROCEDURE After Upgrade (11.1, 11.2)Document 1087324.1 ORA-01405 ORA-01422 reported by Advanced Queuing Propagation schedules after RAC reconfiguration (10.2)Document 1079577.1 Advanced Queuing Propagation Fails With "ORA-22370 incorrect usage of method" (9.2, 10.2, 11.1, 11.2)Document 332792.1 ORA-04061 error relating to SYS.DBMS_PRVTAQIP reported when setting up Statspack (8.1, 9.0, 9.2, 10.1)Document 353325.1 ORA-24056: Internal inconsistency for QUEUE <queue_name> and destination <dblink> (8.1, 9.0, 9.2, 10.1, 10.2, 11.1, 11.2)Document 787367.1 ORA-22275 reported on Propagating Messages with LOB component when propagating between 10.1 and 10.2 (10.1, 10.2)Document 566622.1 ORA-22275 when propagating >4K AQ$_JMS_TEXT_MESSAGEs from 9.2.0.8 to 10.2.0.1 (9.2, 10.1)Document 731539.1 ORA-29268: HTTP client error 401 Unauthorized Error when the AQ Servlet attempts to Propagate a message via HTTP (9.0, 9.2, 10.1, 10.2, 11.1)Document 253131.1 Concurrent Writes May Corrupt LOB Segment When Using Auto Segment Space Management (ORA-1555) (9.2)Document 118884.1 How to unschedule a propagation schedule stuck in pending stateDocument 222992.1 DBMS_AQADM.DISABLE_PROPAGATION_SCHEDULE Returns ORA-24082Document 282987.1 Propagated Messages marked UNDELIVERABLE after Drop and Recreate Of Remote QueueDocument 1204080.1 AQ Propagation Failing With ORA-25329 After Upgraded From 8i or 9i to 10g or 11g.Document 1233675.1 AQ Propagation stops after upgrade to 11.2.0.1 ORA-30757 4.3.1. Errors Related to Incorrect Network Configuration The most common propagation errors result from an incorrect network configuration. The list below contains common errors caused by tnsnames.ora file or database links being configured incorrectly: - ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve service name- ORA-12505: TNS:listener does not currently know of SID given in connect descriptor- ORA-12514: TNS:listener could not resolve SERVICE_NAME - ORA-12541: TNS-12541 TNS:no listener 4.4. Check the Database Links Exist and are Functioning Correctly For schedules to remote databases confirm the database link exists via. SQL> col DBLINK for a45SQL> select QNAME, NVL(REGEXP_SUBSTR(DESTINATION, '[^@]+', 1, 2), DESTINATION) dblink2 from DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES3 where MESSAGE_DELIVERY_MODE = 'PERSISTENT';QNAME DBLINK------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------MY_QUEUE ORCL102B.WORLD Connect as the owner of the link and select across it to verify it works and connects to the database we expect. i.e. select * from ALL_QUEUES@ ORCL102B.WORLD; You need to ensure that the userid that scheduled the propagation (using DBMS_AQADM.SCHEDULE_PROPAGATION or DBMS_PROPAGATION_ADM.CREATE_PROPAGATION if using Streams) has access to the database link for the destination. 4.5. Has Propagation Been Correctly Scheduled? Check that the propagation schedule has been created and that a job queue process has been assigned. Look for the entry in DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES and SYS.AQ$_SCHEDULES for your schedule. For 10g and below, check that it has a JOBNO entry in SYS.AQ$_SCHEDULES, and that there is an entry in DBA_JOBS with that JOBNO. For 11g and above, check that the schedule has a JOB_NAME entry in SYS.AQ$_SCHEDULES, and that there is an entry in DBA_SCHEDULER_JOBS with that JOB_NAME. Check the destination is as intended and spelled correctly. SQL> select SCHEMA, QNAME, DESTINATION, SCHEDULE_DISABLED, PROCESS_NAME from DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES;SCHEMA QNAME DESTINATION S PROCESS------- ---------- ------------------ - -----------AQADM MULTIPLEQ AQ$_LOCAL N J000 AQ$_LOCAL in the destination column shows that the queue to which we are propagating to is in the same database as the source queue. If the propagation was to a remote (different) database, a database link will be in the DESTINATION column. The entry in the SCHEDULE_DISABLED column, N, means that the schedule is NOT disabled. If Y (yes) appears in this column, propagation is disabled and the schedule will not be executed. If not using Oracle Streams, propagation should resume once you have enabled the schedule by invoking DBMS_AQADM.ENABLE_PROPAGATION_SCHEDULE (for 10.2 Oracle Streams and above, the DBMS_PROPAGATION_ADM.START_PROPAGATION procedure should be used). The PROCESS_NAME is the name of the job queue process currently allocated to execute the schedule. This process is allocated dynamically at execution time. If the PROCESS_NAME column is null (empty) the schedule is not currently executing. You may need to execute this statement a number of times to verify if a process is being allocated. If a process is at some time allocated to the schedule, it is attempting to execute. SQL> select SCHEMA, QNAME, LAST_RUN_DATE, NEXT_RUN_DATE from DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES;SCHEMA QNAME LAST_RUN_DATE NEXT_RUN_DATE------ ----- ----------------------- ----------------------- AQADM MULTIPLEQ 13-FEB-2002 13:18:57 13-FEB-2002 13:20:30 In 11g, these dates are expressed in TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE datatypes. If the NEXT_RUN_DATE and NEXT_RUN_TIME columns are null when this statement is executed, the scheduled propagation is currently in progress. If they never change it would suggest that the schedule itself is never executing. If the next scheduled execution is too far away, change the NEXT_TIME parameter of the schedule so that schedules are executed more frequently (assuming that the window is not set to be infinite). Parameters of a schedule can be changed using the DBMS_AQADM.ALTER_PROPAGATION_SCHEDULE call. In 10g and below, scheduling propagation posts a job in the DBA_JOBS view. The columns are more or less the same as DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES so you just need to recognize the job and verify that it exists. SQL> select JOB, WHAT from DBA_JOBS where WHAT like '%sys.dbms_aqadm.aq$_propaq(job)%';JOB WHAT---- ----------------- 720 next_date := sys.dbms_aqadm.aq$_propaq(job); For 11g, scheduling propagation posts a job in DBA_SCHEDULER_JOBS instead: SQL> select JOB_NAME from DBA_SCHEDULER_JOBS where JOB_NAME like 'AQ_JOB$_%';JOB_NAME------------------------------AQ_JOB$_41 If no job exists, check DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES to make sure that the schedule has not been disabled. For 10g and below, the job number is dynamic for AQ propagation schedules. The procedure that is executed to expedite a propagation schedule runs, removes itself from DBA_JOBS, and then reposts a new job for the next scheduled propagation. The job number should therefore always increment unless the schedule has been set up to run indefinitely. 4.6. Is the Schedule Executing but Failing to Complete? Run the following query: SQL> select FAILURES, LAST_ERROR_MSG from DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES;FAILURES LAST_ERROR_MSG------------ -----------------------1 ORA-25207: enqueue failed, queue AQADM.INQ is disabled from enqueueingORA-02063: preceding line from SHANE816 The failures column shows how many times we have attempted to execute the schedule and failed. Oracle will attempt to execute the schedule 16 times after which it will be removed from the DBA_JOBS or DBA_SCHEDULER_JOBS view and the schedule will become disabled. The column DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES.SCHEDULE_DISABLED will show 'Y'. For 11g and above, the DBA_SCHEDULER_JOBS.STATE column will show 'BROKEN' for the job corresponding to DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES.JOB_NAME. Prior to 10g the back off algorithm for failures was exponential, whereas from 10g onwards it is linear. The propagation will become disabled on the 17th attempt. Only the last execution failure will be reflected in the LAST_ERROR_MSG column. That is, if the schedule fails 5 times for 5 different reasons, only the last set of errors will be recorded in DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES. Any errors need to be resolved to allow propagation to continue. If propagation has also become disabled due to 17 failures, first resolve the reason for the error and then re-enable the schedule using the DBMS_AQADM.ENABLE_PROPAGATION_SCHEDULE procedure, or DBMS_PROPAGATION_ADM.START_PROPAGATION if using 10.2 or above Oracle Streams. As soon as the schedule executes successfully the error message entries will be deleted. Oracle does not keep a history of past failures. However, when using Oracle Streams, the errors will be retained in the DBA_PROPAGATION view even after the schedule resumes successfully. See the following note for instructions on how to clear out the errors from the DBA_PROPAGATION view:Document 808136.1 How to clear the old errors from DBA_PROPAGATION view?If a schedule is active and no errors are being reported then the source queue may not have any messages to be propagated. 4.7. Do the Propagation Notification Queue Table and Queue Exist? Check to see that the propagation notification queue table and queue exist and are enabled for enqueue and dequeue. Propagation makes use of the propagation notification queue for handling propagation run-time events, and the messages in this queue are stored in a SYS-owned queue table. This queue should never be stopped or dropped and the corresponding queue table never be dropped. 10g and belowThe propagation notification queue table is of the format SYS.AQ$_PROP_TABLE_n, where 'n' is the RAC instance number, i.e. '1' for a non-RAC environment. This queue and queue table are created implicitly when propagation is first scheduled. If propagation has been scheduled and these objects do not exist, try unscheduling and rescheduling propagation. If they still do not exist contact Oracle Support. SQL> select QUEUE_TABLE from DBA_QUEUE_TABLES2 where QUEUE_TABLE like '%PROP_TABLE%' and OWNER = 'SYS';QUEUE_TABLE------------------------------AQ$_PROP_TABLE_1SQL> select NAME, ENQUEUE_ENABLED, DEQUEUE_ENABLED2 from DBA_QUEUES where owner='SYS'3 and QUEUE_TABLE like '%PROP_TABLE%';NAME ENQUEUE DEQUEUE------------------------------ ------- -------AQ$_PROP_NOTIFY_1 YES YESAQ$_AQ$_PROP_TABLE_1_E NO NO If the AQ$_PROP_NOTIFY_1 queue is not enabled for enqueue or dequeue, it should be so enabled using DBMS_AQADM.START_QUEUE. However, the exception queue AQ$_AQ$_PROP_TABLE_1_E should not be enabled for enqueue or dequeue.11g and aboveThe propagation notification queue table is of the format SYS.AQ_PROP_TABLE, and is created when the database is created. If they do not exist, contact Oracle Support. SQL> select QUEUE_TABLE from DBA_QUEUE_TABLES2 where QUEUE_TABLE like '%PROP_TABLE%' and OWNER = 'SYS';QUEUE_TABLE------------------------------AQ_PROP_TABLESQL> select NAME, ENQUEUE_ENABLED, DEQUEUE_ENABLED2 from DBA_QUEUES where owner='SYS'3 and QUEUE_TABLE like '%PROP_TABLE%';NAME ENQUEUE DEQUEUE------------------------------ ------- -------AQ_PROP_NOTIFY YES YESAQ$_AQ_PROP_TABLE_E NO NO If the AQ_PROP_NOTIFY queue is not enabled for enqueue or dequeue, it should be so enabled using DBMS_AQADM.START_QUEUE. However, the exception queue AQ$_AQ$_PROP_TABLE_E should not be enabled for enqueue or dequeue. 4.8. Does the Remote Queue Exist and is it Enabled for Enqueueing? Check that the remote queue the propagation is transferring messages to exists and is enabled for enqueue: SQL> select DESTINATION from USER_QUEUE_SCHEDULES where QNAME = 'OUTQ';DESTINATION-----------------------------------------------------------------------------"AQADM"."INQ"@M2V102.ESSQL> select OWNER, NAME, ENQUEUE_ENABLED, DEQUEUE_ENABLED from [email protected];OWNER NAME ENQUEUE DEQUEUE-------- ------ ----------- -----------AQADM INQ YES YES 4.9. Do the Target and Source Database Charactersets Differ? If a message fails to propagate, check the database charactersets of the source and target databases. Investigate whether the same message can propagate between the databases with the same characterset or it is only a particular combination of charactersets which causes a problem. 4.10. Check the Queue Table Type Agreement Propagation is not possible between queue tables which have types that differ in some respect. One way to determine if this is the case is to run the DBMS_AQADM.VERIFY_QUEUE_TYPES procedure for the two queues that the propagation operates on. If the types do not agree, DBMS_AQADM.VERIFY_QUEUE_TYPES will return '0'.For AQ propagation between databases which have different NLS_LENGTH_SEMANTICS settings, propagation will not work, unless the queues are Oracle Streams ANYDATA queues.See the following notes for issues caused by lack of type agreement:Document 1079577.1 Advanced Queuing Propagation Fails With "ORA-22370: incorrect usage of method"Document 282987.1 Propagated Messages marked UNDELIVERABLE after Drop and Recreate Of Remote QueueDocument 353754.1 Streams Messaging Propagation Fails between Single and Multi-byte Charactersets when using Chararacter Length Semantics in the ADT 4.11. Enable Propagation Tracing 4.11.1. System Level This is set it in the init.ora/spfile as follows: event="24040 trace name context forever, level 10" and restart the instanceThis event cannot be set dynamically with an alter system command until version 10.2: SQL> alter system set events '24040 trace name context forever, level 10'; To unset the event: SQL> alter system set events '24040 trace name context off'; Debugging information will be logged to job queue trace file(s) (jnnn) as propagation takes place. You can check the trace file for errors, and for statements indicating that messages have been sent. For the most part the trace information is understandable. This trace should also be uploaded to Oracle Support if a service request is created. 4.11.2. Attaching to a Specific Process We can also attach to an existing job queue processes that is running a propagation schedule and trace it individually using the oradebug utility, as follows:10.2 and below connect / as sysdbaselect p.SPID, p.PROGRAM from v$PROCESS p, DBA_JOBS_RUNNING jr, V$SESSION s, DBA_JOBS j where s.SID=jr.SID and s.PADDR=p.ADDR and jr.JOB=j.JOB and j.WHAT like '%sys.dbms_aqadm.aq$_propaq(job)%';-- For the process id (SPID) attach to it via oradebug and generate the following traceoradebug setospid <SPID>oradebug unlimitoradebug Event 10046 trace name context forever, level 12oradebug Event 24040 trace name context forever, level 10-- Trace the process for 5 minutesoradebug Event 10046 trace name context offoradebug Event 24040 trace name context off-- The following command returns the pathname/filename to the file being written tooradebug tracefile_name 11g connect / as sysdbacol PROGRAM for a30select p.SPID, p.PROGRAM, j.JOB_NAMEfrom v$PROCESS p, DBA_SCHEDULER_RUNNING_JOBS jr, V$SESSION s, DBA_SCHEDULER_JOBS j where s.SID=jr.SESSION_ID and s.PADDR=p.ADDR and jr.JOB_NAME=j.JOB_NAME and j.JOB_NAME like '%AQ_JOB$_%';-- For the process id (SPID) attach to it via oradebug and generate the following traceoradebug setospid <SPID>oradebug unlimitoradebug Event 10046 trace name context forever, level 12oradebug Event 24040 trace name context forever, level 10-- Trace the process for 5 minutesoradebug Event 10046 trace name context offoradebug Event 24040 trace name context off-- The following command returns the pathname/filename to the file being written tooradebug tracefile_name 4.11.3. Further Tracing The previous tracing steps only trace the job queue process executing the propagation on the source. At times it is useful to trace the propagation receiver process (the session which is enqueueing the messages into the target queue) on the target database which is associated with the job queue process on the source database.These following queries provide ways of identifying the processes involved in propagation so that you can attach to them via oradebug to generate trace information.In order to identify the propagation receiver process you need to execute the query as a user with privileges to access the v$ views in both the local and remote databases so the database link must connect as a user with those privileges in the remote database. The <DBLINK> in the queries should be replaced by the appropriate database link.The queries have two forms due to the differences between operating systems. The value returned by 'Rem Process' is the operating system identifier of the propagation receiver on the remote database. Once identified, this process can be attached to and traced on the remote database using the commands given in Section 4.11.2.10.2 and below - Windows select pl.SPID "JobQ Process", pl.PROGRAM, sr.PROCESS "Rem Process" from v$PROCESS pl, DBA_JOBS_RUNNING jr, V$SESSION s, DBA_JOBS j, V$SESSION@<DBLINK> sr where s.SID=jr.SID and s.PADDR=pl.ADDR and jr.JOB=j.JOB and j.WHAT like '%sys.dbms_aqadm.aq$_propaq(job)%' and pl.SPID=substr(sr.PROCESS, instr(sr.PROCESS,':')+1); 10.2 and below - Unix select pl.SPID "JobQ Process", pl.PROGRAM, sr.PROCESS "Rem Process" from V$PROCESS pl, DBA_JOBS_RUNNING jr, V$SESSION s, DBA_JOBS j, V$SESSION@<DBLINK> sr where s.SID=jr.SID and s.PADDR=pl.ADDR and jr.JOB=j.JOB and j.WHAT like '%sys.dbms_aqadm.aq$_propaq(job)%' and pl.SPID=sr.PROCESS; 11g - Windows select pl.SPID "JobQ Process", pl.PROGRAM, sr.PROCESS "Rem Process" from V$PROCESS pl, DBA_SCHEDULER_RUNNING_JOBS jr, V$SESSION s, DBA_SCHEDULER_JOBS j, V$SESSION@<DBLINK> sr where s.SID=jr.SESSION_ID and s.PADDR=pl.ADDR and jr.JOB_NAME=j.JOB_NAME and j.JOB_NAME like '%AQ_JOB$_%%' and pl.SPID=substr(sr.PROCESS, instr(sr.PROCESS,':')+1); 11g - Unix select pl.SPID "JobQ Process", pl.PROGRAM, sr.PROCESS "Rem Process" from V$PROCESS pl, DBA_SCHEDULER_RUNNING_JOBS jr, V$SESSION s, DBA_SCHEDULER_JOBS j, V$SESSION@<DBLINK> sr where s.SID=jr.SESSION_ID and s.PADDR=pl.ADDR and jr.JOB_NAME=j.JOB_NAME and j.JOB_NAME like '%AQ_JOB$_%%' and pl.SPID=sr.PROCESS; 5. Additional Troubleshooting Steps for AQ Propagation of User-Enqueued and Dequeued Messages 5.1. Check the Privileges of All Users Involved Ensure that the owner of the database link has the necessary privileges on the aq packages. SQL> select TABLE_NAME, PRIVILEGE from USER_TAB_PRIVS;TABLE_NAME PRIVILEGE------------------------------ ----------------------------------------DBMS_LOCK EXECUTEDBMS_AQ EXECUTEDBMS_AQADM EXECUTEDBMS_AQ_BQVIEW EXECUTEQT52814_BUFFER SELECT Note that when queue table is created, a view called QT<nnn>_BUFFER is created in the SYS schema, and the queue table owner is given SELECT privileges on it. The <nnn> corresponds to the object_id of the associated queue table. SQL> select * from USER_ROLE_PRIVS;USERNAME GRANTED_ROLE ADM DEF OS_------------------------------ ------------------------------ ---- ---- ---AQ_USER1 AQ_ADMINISTRATOR_ROLE NO YES NOAQ_USER1 CONNECT NO YES NOAQ_USER1 RESOURCE NO YES NO It is good practice to configure central AQ administrative user. All admin and processing jobs are created, executed and administered as this user. This configuration is not mandatory however, and the database link can be owned by any existing queue user. If this latter configuration is used, ensure that the connecting user has the necessary privileges on the AQ packages and objects involved. Privileges for an AQ Administrative user Execute on DBMS_AQADM Execute on DBMS_AQ Granted the AQ_ADMINISTRATOR_ROLE Privileges for an AQ user Execute on DBMS_AQ Execute on the message payload Enqueue privileges on the remote queue Dequeue privileges on the originating queue Privileges need to be confirmed on both sites when propagation is scheduled to remote destinations. Verify that the user ID used to login to the destination through the database link has been granted privileges to use AQ. 5.2. Verify Queue Payload Types AQ will not propagate messages from one queue to another if the payload types of the two queues are not verified to be equivalent. An AQ administrator can verify if the source and destination's payload types match by executing the DBMS_AQADM.VERIFY_QUEUE_TYPES procedure. The results of the type checking will be stored in the SYS.AQ$_MESSAGE_TYPES table. This table can be accessed using the object identifier OID of the source queue and the address database link of the destination queue, i.e. [schema.]queue_name[@destination]. Prior to Oracle 9i the payload (message type) had to be the same for all the queue tables involved in propagation. From Oracle9i onwards a transformation can be used so that payloads can be converted from one type to another. The following procedural call made on the source database can verify whether we can propagate between the source and the destination queue tables. connect aq_user1/[email protected] serverout onDECLARErc_value number;BEGINDBMS_AQADM.VERIFY_QUEUE_TYPES(src_queue_name => 'AQ_USER1.Q_1', dest_queue_name => 'AQ_USER2.Q_2',destination => 'dbl_aq_user2.es',rc => rc_value);dbms_output.put_line('rc_value code is '||rc_value);END;/ If propagation is possible then the return code value will be 1. If it is 0 then propagation is not possible and further investigation of the types and transformations used by and in conjunction with the queue tables is required. With regard to comparison of the types the following sql can be used to extract the DDL for a specific type with' %' changed appropriately on the source and target. This can then be compared for the source and target. SET LONG 20000 set pagesize 50 EXECUTE DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM(DBMS_METADATA.SESSION_TRANSFORM, 'STORAGE',false); SELECT DBMS_METADATA.GET_DDL('TYPE',t.type_name) from user_types t WHERE t.type_name like '%'; EXECUTE DBMS_METADATA.SET_TRANSFORM_PARAM(DBMS_METADATA.SESSION_TRANSFORM, 'DEFAULT'); 5.3. Check Message State and Destination The first step in this process is to identify the queue table associated with the problem source queue. Although you schedule propagation for a specific queue, most of the meta-data associated with that queue is stored in the underlying queue table. The following statement finds the queue table for a given queue (note that this is a multiple-consumer queue table). SQL> select QUEUE_TABLE from DBA_QUEUES where NAME = 'MULTIPLEQ';QUEUE_TABLE --------------------MULTIPLEQTABLE For a small amount of messages in a multiple-consumer queue table, the following query can be run: SQL> select MSG_STATE, CONSUMER_NAME, ADDRESS from AQ$MULTIPLEQTABLE where QUEUE = 'MULTIPLEQ';MSG_STATE CONSUMER_NAME ADDRESS-------------- ----------------------- -------------READY AQUSER2 [email protected] AQUSER1READY AQUSER3 AQADM.INQ In this example we see 2 messages ready to be propagated to remote queues and 1 that is not. If the address column is blank, the message is not scheduled for propagation and can only be dequeued from the queue upon which it was enqueued. The MSG_STATE column values are discussed in Document 102330.1 Advanced Queueing MSG_STATE Values and their Interpretation. If the address column has a value, the message has been enqueued for propagation to another queue. The first row in the example includes a database link (@M2V102.ES). This demonstrates that the message should be propagated to a queue at a remote database. The third row does not include a database link so will be propagated to a queue that resides on the same database as the source queue. The consumer name is the intended recipient at the target queue. Note that we are not querying the base queue table directly; rather, we are querying a view that is available on top of every queue table, AQ$<queue_table_name>.A more realistic query in an environment where the queue table contains thousands of messages is8.0.3-compatible multiple-consumer queue table and all compatibility single-consumer queue tables select count(*), MSG_STATE, QUEUE from AQ$<queue_table_name> group by MSG_STATE, QUEUE; 8.1.3 and 10.0-compatible queue tables select count(*), MSG_STATE, QUEUE, CONSUMER_NAME from AQ$<queue_table_name>group by MSG_STATE, QUEUE, CONSUMER_NAME; For multiple-consumer queue tables, if you did not see the expected CONSUMER_NAME , check the syntax of the enqueue code and verify the recipients are declared correctly. If a recipients list is not used on enqueue, check the subscriber list in the AQ$_<queue_table_name>_S view (note that a single-consumer queue table does not have a subscriber view. This view records all members of the default subscription list which were added using the DBMS_AQADM.ADD_SUBSCRIBER procedure and also those enqueued using a recipient list. SQL> select QUEUE, NAME, ADDRESS from AQ$MULTIPLEQTABLE_S;QUEUE NAME ADDRESS---------- ----------- -------------MULTIPLEQ AQUSER2 [email protected] AQUSER1 In this example we have 2 subscribers registered with the queue. We have a local subscriber AQUSER1, and a remote subscriber AQUSER2, on the queue INQ, owned by AQADM, at M2V102.ES. Unless overridden with a recipient list during enqueue every message enqueued to this queue will be propagated to INQ at M2V102.ES.For 8.1 style and above multiple consumer queue tables, you can also check the following information at the target: select CONSUMER_NAME, DEQ_TXN_ID, DEQ_TIME, DEQ_USER_ID, PROPAGATED_MSGID from AQ$<queue_table_name> where QUEUE = '<QUEUE_NAME>'; For 8.0 style queues, if the queue table supports multiple consumers you can obtain the same information from the history column of the queue table: select h.CONSUMER, h.TRANSACTION_ID, h.DEQ_TIME, h.DEQ_USER, h.PROPAGATED_MSGIDfrom AQ$<queue_table_name> t, table(t.history) h where t.Q_NAME = '<QUEUE_NAME>'; A non-NULL TRANSACTION_ID indicates that the message was successfully propagated. Further, the DEQ_TIME indicates the time of propagation, the DEQ_USER indicates the userid used for propagation, and the PROPAGATED_MSGID indicates the message ID of the message that was enqueued at the destination. 6. Additional Troubleshooting Steps for Propagation in an Oracle Streams Environment 6.1. Is the Propagation Enabled? For a propagation job to propagate messages, the propagation must be enabled. For Streams, a special view called DBA_PROPAGATION exists to convey information about Streams propagations. If messages are not being propagated by a propagation as expected, then the propagation might not be enabled. To query for this: SELECT p.PROPAGATION_NAME, DECODE(s.SCHEDULE_DISABLED, 'Y', 'Disabled','N', 'Enabled') SCHEDULE_DISABLED, s.PROCESS_NAME, s.FAILURES, s.LAST_ERROR_MSGFROM DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES s, DBA_PROPAGATION pWHERE p.DESTINATION_DBLINK = NVL(REGEXP_SUBSTR(s.DESTINATION, '[^@]+', 1, 2), s.DESTINATION) AND s.SCHEMA = p.SOURCE_QUEUE_OWNER AND s.QNAME = p.SOURCE_QUEUE_NAME AND MESSAGE_DELIVERY_MODE = 'PERSISTENT' order by PROPAGATION_NAME; At times, the propagation job may become "broken" or fail to start after an error has been encountered or after a database restart. If an error is indicated by the above query, an attempt to disable the propagation and then re-enable it can be made. In the examples below, for the propagation named STRMADMIN_PROPAGATE where the queue name is STREAMS_QUEUE owned by STRMADMIN and the destination database link is ORCL2.WORLD, the commands would be:10.2 and above exec dbms_propagation_adm.stop_propagation('STRMADMIN_PROPAGATE'); exec dbms_propagation_adm.start_propagation('STRMADMIN_PROPAGATE'); If the above does not fix the problem, stop the propagation specifying the force parameter (2nd parameter on stop_propagation) as TRUE: exec dbms_propagation_adm.stop_propagation('STRMADMIN_PROPAGATE',true); exec dbms_propagation_adm.start_propagation('STRMADMIN_PROPAGATE'); The statistics for the propagation as well as any old error messages are cleared when the force parameter is set to TRUE. Therefore if the propagation schedule is stopped with FORCE set to TRUE, and upon restart there is still an error message in DBA_PROPAGATION, then the error message is current.9.2 or 10.1 exec dbms_aqadm.disable_propagation_schedule('STRMADMIN.STREAMS_QUEUE','ORCL2.WORLD'); exec dbms.aqadm.enable_propagation_schedule('STRMADMIN.STREAMS_QUEUE','ORCL2.WORLD'); If the above does not fix the problem, perform an unschedule of propagation and then schedule_propagation: exec dbms_aqadm.unschedule_propagation('STRMADMIN.STREAMS_QUEUE','ORCL2.WORLD'); exec dbms_aqadm.schedule_propagation('STRMADMIN.STREAMS_QUEUE','ORCL2.WORLD'); Typically if the error from the first query in Section 6.1 recurs after restarting the propagation as shown above, further troubleshooting of the error is needed. 6.2. Check Propagation Rule Sets and Transformations Inspect the configuration of the rules in the rule set that is associated with the propagation process to make sure that they evaluate to TRUE as expected. If not, then the object or schema will not be propagated. Remember that when a negative rule evaluates to TRUE, the specified object or schema will not be propagated. Finally inspect any rule-based transformations that are implemented with propagation to make sure they are changing the data in the intended way.The following query shows what rule sets are assigned to a propagation: select PROPAGATION_NAME, RULE_SET_OWNER||'.'||RULE_SET_NAME "Positive Rule Set",NEGATIVE_RULE_SET_OWNER||'.'||NEGATIVE_RULE_SET_NAME "Negative Rule Set"from DBA_PROPAGATION; The next two queries list the propagation rules and their conditions. The first is for the positive rule set, the second is for the negative rule set: set long 4000select rsr.RULE_SET_OWNER||'.'||rsr.RULE_SET_NAME RULE_SET ,rsr.RULE_OWNER||'.'||rsr.RULE_NAME RULE_NAME,r.RULE_CONDITION CONDITION fromDBA_RULE_SET_RULES rsr, DBA_RULES rwhere rsr.RULE_NAME = r.RULE_NAME and rsr.RULE_OWNER = r.RULE_OWNER and RULE_SET_NAME in(select RULE_SET_NAME from DBA_PROPAGATION) order by rsr.RULE_SET_OWNER, rsr.RULE_SET_NAME; set long 4000select c.PROPAGATION_NAME, rsr.RULE_SET_OWNER||'.'||rsr.RULE_SET_NAME RULE_SET ,rsr.RULE_OWNER||'.'||rsr.RULE_NAME RULE_NAME,r.RULE_CONDITION CONDITION fromDBA_RULE_SET_RULES rsr, DBA_RULES r ,DBA_PROPAGATION cwhere rsr.RULE_NAME = r.RULE_NAME and rsr.RULE_OWNER = r.RULE_OWNER andrsr.RULE_SET_OWNER=c.NEGATIVE_RULE_SET_OWNER and rsr.RULE_SET_NAME=c.NEGATIVE_RULE_SET_NAMEand rsr.RULE_SET_NAME in(select NEGATIVE_RULE_SET_NAME from DBA_PROPAGATION) order by rsr.RULE_SET_OWNER, rsr.RULE_SET_NAME; 6.3. Determining the Total Number of Messages and Bytes Propagated As in Section 3.1, determining if messages are flowing can be instructive to see whether the propagation is entirely hung or just slow. If the propagation is not in flow control (see Section 6.5.2), but the statistics are incrementing slowly, there may be a performance issue. For Streams implementations two views are available that can assist with this that can show the number of messages sent by a propagation, as well as the number of acknowledgements being returned from the target site: the V$PROPAGATION_SENDER view at the Source site and the V$PROPAGATION_RECEIVER view at the destination site. It is helpful to query both to determine if messages are being delivered to the target. Look for the statistics to increase.Source: select QUEUE_SCHEMA, QUEUE_NAME, DBLINK,HIGH_WATER_MARK, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, TOTAL_MSGS, TOTAL_BYTESfrom V$PROPAGATION_SENDER; Target: select SRC_QUEUE_SCHEMA, SRC_QUEUE_NAME, SRC_DBNAME, DST_QUEUE_SCHEMA, DST_QUEUE_NAME, HIGH_WATER_MARK, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, TOTAL_MSGS from V$PROPAGATION_RECEIVER; 6.4. Check Buffered Subscribers The V$BUFFERED_SUBSCRIBERS view displays information about subscribers for all buffered queues in the instance. This view can be queried to make sure that the site that the propagation is propagating to is listed as a subscriber address for the site being propagated from: select QUEUE_SCHEMA, QUEUE_NAME, SUBSCRIBER_ADDRESS from V$BUFFERED_SUBSCRIBERS; The SUBSCRIBER_ADDRESS column will not be populated when the propagation is local (between queues on the same database). 6.5. Common Streams Propagation Errors 6.5.1. ORA-02082: A loopback database link must have a connection qualifier. This error can occur if you use the Streams Setup Wizard in Oracle Enterprise Manager without first configuring the GLOBAL_NAME for your database. 6.5.2. ORA-25307: Enqueue rate too high. Enable flow control DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES will display this informational message for propagation when the automatic flow control (10g feature of Streams) has been invoked.Similar to Streams capture processes, a Streams propagation process can also go into a state of 'flow control. This is an informative message that indicates flow control has been automatically enabled to reduce the rate at which messages are being enqueued into at target queue.This typically occurs when the target site is unable to keep up with the rate of messages flowing from the source site. Other than checking that the apply process is running normally on the target site, usually no action is required by the DBA. Propagation and the capture process will be resumed automatically when the target site is able to accept more messages.The following document contains more information:Document 302109.1 Streams Propagation Error: ORA-25307 Enqueue rate too high. Enable flow controlSee the following document for one potential cause of this situation:Document 1097115.1 Oracle Streams Apply Reader is in 'Paused' State 6.5.3. ORA-25315 unsupported configuration for propagation of buffered messages This error typically occurs when the target database is RAC and usually indicates that an attempt was made to propagate buffered messages with the database link pointing to an instance in the destination database which is not the owner instance of the destination queue. To resolve the problem, use queue-to-queue propagation for buffered messages. 6.5.4. ORA-600 [KWQBMCRCPTS101] after dropping / recreating propagation For cause/fixes refer to:Document 421237.1 ORA-600 [KWQBMCRCPTS101] reported by a Qmon slave process after dropping a Streams Propagation 6.5.5. Stopping or Dropping a Streams Propagation Hangs See the following note:Document 1159787.1 Troubleshooting Streams Propagation When It is Not Functioning and Attempts to Stop It Hang 6.6. Streams Propagation-Related Notes for Common Issues Document 437838.1 Streams Specific PatchesDocument 749181.1 How to Recover Streams After Dropping PropagationDocument 368912.1 Queue to Queue Propagation Schedule encountered ORA-12514 in a RAC environmentDocument 564649.1 ORA-02068/ORA-03114/ORA-03113 Errors From Streams Propagation Process - Remote Database is Available and Unschedule/Reschedule Does Not ResolveDocument 553017.1 Stream Propagation Process Errors Ora-4052 Ora-6554 From 11g To 10201Document 944846.1 Streams Propagation Fails Ora-7445 [kohrsmc]Document 745601.1 ORA-23603 'STREAMS enqueue aborted due to low SGA' Error from Streams Propagation, and V$STREAMS_CAPTURE.STATE Hanging on 'Enqueuing Message'Document 333068.1 ORA-23603: Streams Enqueue Aborted Eue To Low SGADocument 363496.1 Ora-25315 Propagating on RAC StreamsDocument 368237.1 Unable to Unschedule Propagation. Streams Queue is InvalidDocument 436332.1 dbms_propagation_adm.stop_propagation hangsDocument 727389.1 Propagation Fails With ORA-12528Document 730911.1 ORA-4063 Is Reported After Dropping Negative Prop.RulesetDocument 460471.1 Propagation Blocked by Qmon Process - Streams_queue_table / 'library cache lock' waitsDocument 1165583.1 ORA-600 [kwqpuspse0-ack] In Streams EnvironmentDocument 1059029.1 Combined Capture and Apply (CCA) : Capture aborts : ORA-1422 after schedule_propagationDocument 556309.1 Changing Propagation/ queue_to_queue : false -> true does does not work; no LCRs propagatedDocument 839568.1 Propagation failing with error: ORA-01536: space quota exceeded for tablespace ''Document 311021.1 Streams Propagation Process : Ora 12154 After Reboot with Transparent Application Failover TAF configuredDocument 359971.1 STREAMS propagation to Primary of physical Standby configuation errors with Ora-01033, Ora-02068Document 1101616.1 DBMS_PROPAGATION_ADM.DROP_PROPAGATION FAILS WITH ORA-1747 7. Performance Issues A propagation may seem to be slow if the queries from Sections 3.1 and 6.3 show that the message statistics are not changing quickly. In Oracle Streams, this more usually is due to a slow apply process at the target rather than a slow propagation. Propagation could be inferred to be slow if the message statistics are changing, and the state of a capture process according to V$STREAMS_CAPTURE.STATE is PAUSED FOR FLOW CONTROL, but an ORA-25307 'Enqueue rate too high. Enable flow control' warning is NOT observed in DBA_QUEUE_SCHEDULES per Section 6.5.2. If this is the case, see the following notes / white papers for suggestions to increase performance:Document 335516.1 Master Note for Streams Performance RecommendationsDocument 730036.1 Overview for Troubleshooting Streams Performance IssuesDocument 780733.1 Streams Propagation Tuning with Network ParametersWhite Paper: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/features/availability/maa-wp-10gr2-streams-performance-130059.pdfWhite Paper: Oracle Streams Configuration Best Practices: Oracle Database 10g Release 10.2, http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/features/availability/maa-10gr2-streams-configuration-132039.pdf, See APPENDIX A: USING STREAMS CONFIGURATIONS OVER A NETWORKFor basic AQ propagation, the network tuning in the aforementioned Appendix A of the white paper 'Oracle Streams Configuration Best Practices: Oracle Database 10g Release 10.2' is applicable. References NOTE:102330.1 - Advanced Queueing MSG_STATE Values and their InterpretationNOTE:102771.1 - Advanced Queueing Propagation using PL/SQLNOTE:1059029.1 - Combined Capture and Apply (CCA) : Capture aborts : ORA-1422 after schedule_propagationNOTE:1079577.1 - Advanced Queuing Propagation Fails With "ORA-22370: incorrect usage of method"NOTE:1083608.1 - 11g Streams and Oracle SchedulerNOTE:1087324.1 - ORA-01405 ORA-01422 reported by Adavanced Queueing Propagation schedules after RAC reconfigurationNOTE:1097115.1 - Oracle Streams Apply Reader is in 'Paused' StateNOTE:1101616.1 - DBMS_PROPAGATION_ADM.DROP_PROPAGATION FAILS WITH ORA-1747NOTE:1159787.1 - Troubleshooting Streams Propagation When It is Not Functioning and Attempts to Stop It HangNOTE:1165583.1 - ORA-600 [kwqpuspse0-ack] In Streams EnvironmentNOTE:118884.1 - How to unschedule a propagation schedule stuck in pending stateNOTE:1203544.1 - AQ PROPAGATION ABORTED WITH ORA-600[OCIKSIN: INVALID STATUS] ON SYS.DBMS_AQADM_SYS.AQ$_PROPAGATION_PROCEDURE AFTER UPGRADENOTE:1204080.1 - AQ Propagation Failing With ORA-25329 After Upgraded From 8i or 9i to 10g or 11g.NOTE:219416.1 - Advanced Queuing Propagation fails with ORA-22922NOTE:222992.1 - DBMS_AQADM.DISABLE_PROPAGATION_SCHEDULE Returns ORA-24082NOTE:253131.1 - Concurrent Writes May Corrupt LOB Segment When Using Auto Segment Space Management (ORA-1555)NOTE:282987.1 - Propagated Messages marked UNDELIVERABLE after Drop and Recreate Of Remote QueueNOTE:298015.1 - Kwqjswproc:Excep After Loop: Assigning To SelfNOTE:302109.1 - Streams Propagation Error: ORA-25307 Enqueue rate too high. Enable flow controlNOTE:311021.1 - Streams Propagation Process : Ora 12154 After Reboot with Transparent Application Failover TAF configuredNOTE:332792.1 - ORA-04061 error relating to SYS.DBMS_PRVTAQIP reported when setting up StatspackNOTE:333068.1 - ORA-23603: Streams Enqueue Aborted Eue To Low SGANOTE:335516.1 - Master Note for Streams Performance RecommendationsNOTE:353325.1 - ORA-24056: Internal inconsistency for QUEUE and destination NOTE:353754.1 - Streams Messaging Propagation Fails between Single and Multi-byte Charactersets when using Chararacter Length Semantics in the ADT.NOTE:359971.1 - STREAMS propagation to Primary of physical Standby configuation errors with Ora-01033, Ora-02068NOTE:363496.1 - Ora-25315 Propagating on RAC StreamsNOTE:365093.1 - ORA-07445 [kwqppay2aqe()+7360] reported on Propagation of a Transformed MessageNOTE:368237.1 - Unable to Unschedule Propagation. Streams Queue is InvalidNOTE:368912.1 - Queue to Queue Propagation Schedule encountered ORA-12514 in a RAC environmentNOTE:421237.1 - ORA-600 [KWQBMCRCPTS101] reported by a Qmon slave process after dropping a Streams PropagationNOTE:436332.1 - dbms_propagation_adm.stop_propagation hangsNOTE:437838.1 - Streams Specific PatchesNOTE:460471.1 - Propagation Blocked by Qmon Process - Streams_queue_table / 'library cache lock' waitsNOTE:463820.1 - Streams Combined Capture and Apply in 11gNOTE:553017.1 - Stream Propagation Process Errors Ora-4052 Ora-6554 From 11g To 10201NOTE:556309.1 - Changing Propagation/ queue_to_queue : false -> true does does not work; no LCRs propagatedNOTE:564649.1 - ORA-02068/ORA-03114/ORA-03113 Errors From Streams Propagation Process - Remote Database is Available and Unschedule/Reschedule Does Not ResolveNOTE:566622.1 - ORA-22275 when propagating >4K AQ$_JMS_TEXT_MESSAGEs from 9.2.0.8 to 10.2.0.1NOTE:727389.1 - Propagation Fails With ORA-12528NOTE:730036.1 - Overview for Troubleshooting Streams Performance IssuesNOTE:730911.1 - ORA-4063 Is Reported After Dropping Negative Prop.RulesetNOTE:731292.1 - ORA-25215 Reported On Local Propagation When Using Transformation with ANYDATA queue tablesNOTE:731539.1 - ORA-29268: HTTP client error 401 Unauthorized Error when the AQ Servlet attempts to Propagate a message via HTTPNOTE:745601.1 - ORA-23603 'STREAMS enqueue aborted due to low SGA' Error from Streams Propagation, and V$STREAMS_CAPTURE.STATE Hanging on 'Enqueuing Message'NOTE:749181.1 - How to Recover Streams After Dropping PropagationNOTE:780733.1 - Streams Propagation Tuning with Network ParametersNOTE:787367.1 - ORA-22275 reported on Propagating Messages with LOB component when propagating between 10.1 and 10.2NOTE:808136.1 - How to clear the old errors from DBA_PROPAGATION view ?NOTE:827184.1 - AQ Propagation with CLOB data types Fails with ORA-22990NOTE:827473.1 - How to alter propagation from queue_to_queue to queue_to_dblinkNOTE:839568.1 - Propagation failing with error: ORA-01536: space quota exceeded for tablespace ''NOTE:846297.1 - AQ Propagation Fails : ORA-00600[kope2upic2954] or Ora-00600[Kghsstream_copyn]NOTE:944846.1 - Streams Propagation Fails Ora-7445 [kohrsmc]

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Christian Radio Locator iPhone app

- by Tim Hibbard

For the last three months or so I've been working on an iPhone (and iPad) app in my spare time. It all started when I took the kids to Minneapolis and had a hard time finding radio stations to listen to on the trip. I looked in the App Store for an app that would use my GPS to show me Christian radio stations nearby, but there wasn't one. So I decided to build my own. Using public information from the FCC and a few other sources, I built a database in Google docs that contains the frequency for all Christian radio stations, where the tower is located and how far the tower can reach. I also included any streaming audio information and other contact information like Facebook or Twitter that I could find. Google spreadsheets publish in JSON format (yes, really) and Xcode can automatically deserialize JSON into a properly formatted entity. This is one area that Xcode is far superior to C#. In a just a few lines of code, I can have a list of in-memory strongly typed objects from a web-based JSON feed. To accomplish the same thing natively in .NET would be much more work and wouldn't feel nearly as clean when it was said and done. The snazzy icon shown above was built by my very talented wife. She hasn't yet provided any feedback on the app's user interface, which is why it is so plain and boring. I used a navigation view controller and EGO pull to refresh table view to construct the main window. Pulling down to refresh initiates a GPS lookup, which queries the database for radio stations in range (yes, you can pass parameters to Google spreadsheets and get a subset back in JSON). Pulling up on the table extends the range of the search and includes stations that may not be close enough to get clear audio. This feature is not that intuitive and the next version contains an update to that functionality. Tapping a cell will show a detail view that displays additional information about the station. The user can click to view the station on a map, click to listen to an online stream (if available) or click to see the station's Facebook or Twitter pages. Swiping back and forth on the table changes the information that is displayed on the right hand side of the table cell. It scrolls through the city where the tower is located, how far the phone is from the tower, the range of the tower and in the next version a signal strength indicator. This was pretty easy to implement once I figured out how to assign the gesture recognizer delegate. Tapping and holding on a cell will jump the user to the map view screen. Which is pretty cool, but very hard for even a power user to discover. To tackle the issue of discoverability, the next version has a series of instructions displayed at the bottom of the screen to show the user the various shortcuts. Once the user has performed the swipes and long holds, the instructions disappear. I've learned a lot developing this app. Spending over a decade exclusively in .NET made the learning curve a bit steep, but once I learned the structure and syntax of Objective-C, I've learned to appreciate the power and simplicity of it. Here are a few screenshots. I would really appreciate any feedback and especially iTunes reviews. Technically it is open source and a smart googler could probably find it. I just haven't promoted it as open source. Cross posted from timhibbard.com

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Calling XAI Inbound Services from Oracle BI Publisher

- by ACShorten

Note: This technique requires Oracle BI Publisher 1.1.3.4.1 which supports Service Complex Types. Web Services require credentials for authentication. Note: The deafults for the product installation are used in this article. If your site uses alternative values then substitute those alternatives where applicable. Note: Examples shown in this article are examples for illustrative purposes only. When building a report in Oracle BI Publisher it may be necessary to call an XAI Inbound Service to get information via the object rather than directly calling the database tables for various reasons: The CLOB fields used in the Object are accessible for a report. Note: CLOB fields cannot be used as criteria in the current release. Objects can take advantage of algorithms to format or calculate additional data that is not stored in the database directly. For example, Information format strings can automatically generated by the object which gives consistent information between a report and the online screens. To use this facility the following process must be performed: Ensure that the product group, cisusers by default, is enabled for the SPLServiceBean in the console. This allows BI Publisher access to call Web Services directly. To ensure this follow the instructions below: Logon to the Oracle WebLogic server console using an appropriate administrator account. By default the user system or weblogic is provided for this purpose. Navigate to the Security Realms section and select your configured realm. This is set to myrealm by default. In the Roles and Policies section, expand the SPLService section of the Deployments option to reveal the SPLServiceBean roles. If there is no role associated with the SPLServiceBean, create a new EJB role and specify the cisusers role, by default. For example: Add a Role Condition to the role just created, with a Predicate List of Group and specify cisusers as the Group Argument Name. For example: Save all your changes. The XAI Inbound Services to be used by BI Publisher must be defined prior to using the interface. Refer to the XAI Best Practices (Doc Id: 942074.1) from My Oracle Support or via the online help for more information about this process. Inside BI Publisher create your report, according to the BI Publisher documentation. When specifying the dataset, under the Data Model Report option, specify the following to use an XAI Inbound Service as a data source: Parameter Comment Type Web Service Complex Type true Username Any valid user name within the product. This user MUST have security access to the objects referenced in the XAI Inbound Service Password Authentication password for Username Timeout Timeout, in seconds, set for the Web Service call. For example 60 seconds. WSDL URL Use the WSDL URL on the XAI Inbound Service definition as your WSDL URL. It will be in the following format by default:http://<host>:<port>/<server>/XAIApp/xaiserver/<service>?WSDLwhere: <host> - Host Name of Web Application Server <port> - Port allocated to Web Application Server for product access <server> - Server context for server <service> - XAI Inbound Service Name Note: For customers using secure transmission should substitute https instead of http and use the HTTPS port allocated to the product at installation time. Web Service Select the name of the service that shows in the drop-down menu. If no service name shows up, it means that Publisher could not establish a connection with the server or WSDL name provided in the above URL in order to get the service name. See BI Publisher server log for more information. Method Select the name of the Method that shows in the drop-down menu. A method name should show in the Method drop-down menu once the Web Service name is selected. For example: Additionally, filters can be used from the Web Service that can be generated, required or optional, from the WSDL in the Parameter List. For example:

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Java Spotlight Episode 103: 2012 Duke Choice Award Winners

- by Roger Brinkley

Our annual interview with the 2012 Duke Choice Award Winners recorded live at the JavaOne 2012. Right-click or Control-click to download this MP3 file. You can also subscribe to the Java Spotlight Podcast Feed to get the latest podcast automatically. If you use iTunes you can open iTunes and subscribe with this link: Java Spotlight Podcast in iTunes. Show Notes Events Oct 13, Devoxx 4 Kids Nederlands Oct 15-17, JAX London Oct 20, Devoxx 4 Kids Français Oct 22-23, Freescale Technology Forum - Japan, Tokyo Oct 30-Nov 1, Arm TechCon, Santa Clara Oct 31, JFall, Netherlands Nov 2-3, JMagreb, Morocco Nov 13-17, Devoxx, Belgium Feature Interview Duke Choice Award Winners 2012 - Show Presentation London Java CommunityThe second user group receiving a Duke’s Choice Award this year, the London Java Community (LJC) and its users have been active in the OpenJDK, the Java Community Process (JCP) and other efforts within the global Java community. Student Nokia Developer GroupThis year’s student winner, Ram Kashyap, is the founder and president of the Nokia Student Network, and was profiled in the “The New Java Developers” feature in the March/April 2012 issue of Java Magazine. Since then, Ram has maintained a hectic pace, graduating from the People’s Education Society Institute of Technology in Bangalore, India, while working on a Java mobile startup and training students on Java ME. Jelastic, Inc.Moving existing Java applications to the cloud can be a daunting task, but startup Jelastic, Inc. offers the first all-Java platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that enables existing Java applications to be deployed in the cloud without code changes or lock-in. NATOThe first-ever Community Choice Award goes to the MASE Integrated Console Environment (MICE) in use at NATO. Built in Java on the NetBeans platform, MICE provides a high-performance visualization environment for conducting air defense and battle-space operations. DuchessRather than focus on a specific geographic area like most Java User Groups (JUGs), Duchess fosters the participation of women in the Java community worldwide. The group has more than 500 members in 60 countries, and provides a platform through which women can connect with each other and get involved in all aspects of the Java community. AgroSense ProjectImproving farming methods to feed a hungry world is the goal of AgroSense, an open source farm information management system built in Java and the NetBeans platform. AgroSense enables farmers, agribusinesses, suppliers and others to develop modular applications that will easily exchange information through a common underlying NetBeans framework. Apache Software Foundation Hadoop ProjectThe Apache Software Foundation’s Hadoop project, written in Java, provides a framework for distributed processing of big data sets across clusters of computers, ranging from a few servers to thousands of machines. This harnessing of large data pools allows organizations to better understand and improve their business. Parleys.comE-learning specialist Parleys.com, based in Brussels, Belgium, uses Java technologies to bring online classes and full IT conferences to desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile devices. Parleys.com has hosted more than 1,700 conferences—including Devoxx and JavaOne—for more than 800,000 unique visitors. Winners not presenting at JavaOne 2012 Duke Choice Awards BOF Liquid RoboticsRobotics – Liquid Robotics is an ocean data services provider whose Wave Glider technology collects information from the world’s oceans for application in government, science and commercial applications. The organization features the “father of Java” James Gosling as its chief software architect.United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesThe United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is on the front lines of crises around the world, from civil wars to natural disasters. To help facilitate its mission of humanitarian relief, the UNHCR has developed a light-client Java application on the NetBeans platform. The Level One registration tool enables the UNHCR to collect information on the number of refugees and their water, food, housing, health, and other needs in the field, and combines that with geocoding information from various sources. This enables the UNHCR to deliver the appropriate kind and amount of assistance where it is needed.

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Combining Scrum, TFS2010 and Email to keep everyone in the loop

- by Martin Hinshelwood

Often you will receive rich information from your Product Owner (Customer) about tasks. That information can be in the form of Word documents, HTML Emails and Pictures, but you generally receive them in the context of an Email. You need to keep these so your Team can refer to it later, and so you can send a “done” when the task has been completed. This preserves the “history” of the task and allows you to keep relevant partied included in any future conversation. At SSW we keep the original email so that we can reply Done and delete the email. But keeping it in your email does not help other members of the team if they complete the task and need to send the “done”. Worse yet, the description field in Team Foundation Server 2010 (TFS 2010) does not support HTML and images, nor does the default task template support an “interested parties” or CC field. You can attach this content manually, but it can be time consuming. Figure: Description only supports plain text, and History supports HTML with no images What should we do? At SSW we always follow the rules, and it just so happened that we have rules to both achieve this, and to make it easier. You should follow the existing Rules to Better Project Management and attach the email to your task so you can refer to and reply to it later when you close the task: Do you know what Outlook add-ins you need? Describe the work item request in an email Use Outlook Add-in to move the email to a TFS Work Item When replying to an email with “done” you should follow: Do you update Team Companion template, so the email "subject" doesn't change? Do you update Team Companion template, so you can generate a proper "done" mail? Following these simple rules will help your Product Owner understand you better, and allow your team to more effectively collaborate with each other. An added bonus is that as we are keeping the email history in sync with TFS. When you “reply all” to the email all of the interested partied to the Task are also included. This notified those that may have been blocked by your task to keep up to date with its status. This has been published as Do you know to ensure that relevant emails are attached to tasks in our Rules to Better Scrum using TFS. What could we do better? I would like to see this process automated so that we capture the information correctly in the task without the need to use email. This would require a change to the process template in Team Foundation Server to add an “Interested Parties” field. Each reply to the email would need to be automatically processed into a Work Item. This could be done by adding a task identifier as the first item in the “Relates to” email header, and copying in an email address that you watch. This would then parse out the relevant information and add the new message to the history, update the “Interested parties” field and attach the Images. Upon reflection, it may even be possible, but more difficult to do this using ONLY the History field and including some of the header information in there to the build a done email with history. This would not currently deal with email “forks” well, but I think it would be adequate for our needs. It would be nice if we could find time to implement this, but currently it is but a pipe dream. Maybe Microsoft could implement something in the next version of Team Foundation Server, and in the mean time we have a process that works well. Technorati Tags: Scrum,SSW Rules,TFS 2010,TFS 2008

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Welcome to the Oracle EMEA Partner Community for Exadata!

- by javier.puerta(at)oracle.com

The EMEA Partner Community for Exadata is the place where partners in Europe, Middle East and Africa can share experiences and best practices about selling and implementing Exadata projects. You will also receive first-hand information from Oracle on products, training and tools that can help you better market, sell and implement your Exadata-based projects and services Who should join the Community? Community membership is for individuals. If you are working for a company that is an Oracle partner and your job is selling, implementing or supporting Exadata projects in EMEA then this community is for you. How is this different from the Oracle Exadata Knowledge Zone? The Oracle Exadata Knowledge Zone is the fundamental source of information from Oracle for partners interested in specializing on Exadata. It is higly recommended that you get access to the Knowledge Zones related to the product areas of your interest. To get access to any of the Knowledge Zones an application must be completed by the Partner Program Administrator for your company. The Exadata Partner Community complements the Knowledge Zone by providing partners with information which is specific for the EMEA market (market, references, training, events,..) and it is also a mechanism to share experiences and best practices among partners in marketing, selling, implementing and supporting Exadata projects. How to join? For you to be able to register as an individual, your company must be member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) and should be working towards becoming OPN Specialized in Exadata. If this is the case then Join the EMEA Exadata Partner Community Now! If your company is not an OPN member yet, then Join Oracle PartnerNetwork first. How do you get access to the information for the community members? We use two mechanisms to provide and share information: The EMEA Exadata Partner Community blog. This is a public blog and we use it to provide quick and easy communication to the community members. For detailed or restricted material we will point you to a restricted area. The EMEA Exadata Partner Community Collaborative Workspace. This is an area with restricted access that only community members can access. It contains materials from community events, sales kits, implementation experiences,... reserved to community members. It also allows for partners to share content and collaborate with other community members. You will get access to this restricted area when you register as a member of the EMEA Exadata Partner Community Need help? I hope that you will find useful the resources and the experience exchange provided by the community. If you need help or any further clarification, don't hesitate to contact me! Javier Puerta ([email protected])Director Core Technology Partner ProgramsAlliances & Channels EMEAPhone: +34916312141 Mobile: +34609062373

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System.Threading.ThreadAbortException executing WCF service

- by SURESH GIRIRAJAN

In one of our prod server we recently ran into issue when we went and update the web.config and try to browse the service. We started seeing the service was not responding and getting the following warning in the application log. Our service is WCF service, BizTalk orchestration exposed as service. We have other prod server where we never ran into this issue, so what’s different with this server. After going thru lot of forum and came up on some Microsoft service pack and hot fix which related to FCN. But I don’t want to apply any patch on this server then we need to do on all the other servers too. So solution is simple, I dropped the existing website, created a new site with different name with updated web.config browse the service. Then dropped that site and recreate the original web site and it worked fine without any issue. Event Viewer: Event Type: Warning Event Source: ASP.NET 2.0.50727.0 Event Category: Web Event Event ID: 1309 Date: 6/6/2011 Time: 5:41:42 PM User: N/A Computer: PRODP02 Description: Event code: 3005 Event message: An unhandled exception has occurred. Event time: 6/6/2011 5:41:42 PM Event time (UTC): 6/6/2011 9:41:42 PM Event ID: a71769f42b304355a58c482bfec267f2 Event sequence: 3 Event occurrence: 1 Event detail code: 0 Application information: Application domain: /LM/W3SVC/518296899/ROOT/PortArrivals-2-129518698821558995 Trust level: Full Application Virtual Path: /TESTSVC Application Path: D:\inetpub\wwwroot\RFID\TESTSVC\ Machine name: PRODP02 Process information: Process ID: 8752 Process name: w3wp.exe Account name: domain\BizTalk_Svc_Hostlso Exception information: Exception type: ThreadAbortException Exception message: Thread was being aborted. Request information: Request URL: http://localhost:81/TESTSVC/TESTSVCS.svc Request path: /TESTSVC/TESTSVCS.svc User host address: 127.0.0.1 User: Is authenticated: False Authentication Type: Thread account name: domain\BizTalk_Svc_Hostlso Thread information: Thread ID: 22 Thread account name: domain\BizTalk_Svc_Hostlso Is impersonating: False Stack trace: at System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) at System.Web.HttpApplication.ApplicationStepManager.ResumeSteps(Exception error) at System.Web.HttpApplication.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.BeginProcessRequest(HttpContext context, AsyncCallback cb, Object extraData) at System.Web.HttpRuntime.ProcessRequestInternal(HttpWorkerRequest wr) <Description>Handling an exception.</Description> <AppDomain>/LM/W3SVC/518296899/ROOT/TESTSVC-6-129518741899334691</AppDomain> <Exception> <ExceptionType>System.Threading.ThreadAbortException, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089</ExceptionType> <Message>Thread was being aborted.</Message> <StackTrace> at System.Threading.Monitor.Enter(Object obj) at System.ServiceModel.ServiceHostingEnvironment.HostingManager.EnsureServiceAvailable(String normalizedVirtualPath) at System.ServiceModel.ServiceHostingEnvironment.EnsureServiceAvailableFast(String relativeVirtualPath) at System.ServiceModel.Activation.HostedHttpRequestAsyncResult.HandleRequest() at System.ServiceModel.Activation.HostedHttpRequestAsyncResult.BeginRequest() at System.ServiceModel.Activation.HostedHttpRequestAsyncResult.OnBeginRequest(Object state) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.WorkItem.Invoke2() at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.WorkItem.Invoke() at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.ProcessCallbacks() at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.CompletionCallback(Object state) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.ScheduledOverlapped.IOCallback(UInt32 errorCode, UInt32 numBytes, NativeOverlapped* nativeOverlapped) at System.ServiceModel.Diagnostics.Utility.IOCompletionThunk.UnhandledExceptionFrame(UInt32 error, UInt32 bytesRead, NativeOverlapped* nativeOverlapped) </StackTrace> <ExceptionString>System.Threading.ThreadAbortException: Thread was being aborted. at System.Threading.Monitor.Enter(Object obj) at System.ServiceModel.ServiceHostingEnvironment.HostingManager.EnsureServiceAvailable(String normalizedVirtualPath) at System.ServiceModel.ServiceHostingEnvironment.EnsureServiceAvailableFast(String relativeVirtualPath) at System.ServiceModel.Activation.HostedHttpRequestAsyncResult.HandleRequest() at System.ServiceModel.Activation.HostedHttpRequestAsyncResult.BeginRequest() at System.ServiceModel.Activation.HostedHttpRequestAsyncResult.OnBeginRequest(Object state) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.WorkItem.Invoke2() at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.WorkItem.Invoke() at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.ProcessCallbacks() at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.CompletionCallback(Object state) at System.ServiceModel.Channels.IOThreadScheduler.CriticalHelper.ScheduledOverlapped.IOCallback(UInt32 errorCode, UInt32 numBytes, NativeOverlapped* nativeOverlapped) at System.ServiceModel.Diagnostics.Utility.IOCompletionThunk.UnhandledExceptionFrame(UInt32 error, UInt32 bytesRead, NativeOverlapped* nativeOverlapped)</ExceptionString>

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New Training and Support Center Coming Soon!

- by Ruth

The CRM On Demand Training and Support Center is getting a face lift. In May 2010 we will unveil the new and improved layout, look and feel, and even some new content. Some of you told us loud and clear that you wanted an easier way to find our training courses and other important information. Well, here you are: Immediately you see the look and feel has changed and things have moved around a bit. You may ask, "How can I find the training catalog? Service requests? Downloads?" There are a few ways to find what you're looking for. You may use the search box to find training, quick guides, downloads, best practices, FAQs and more. You may also click the tabs or links in the blue bar, like Browse Training, to browse other documents and information. Here is a brief outline of the tabs and links that will help as you navigate this new tool: The Support tab provides alerts and notifications specific to your application environment. The Get Started tab is organized by role and contains links to resources aimed at helping you get the most out of your first 30 days with CRM On Demand. The Learn More tab outlines information in key topic areas, like administration, integration, and reports. Go to this tab to get the resources you need to move beyond the basics. The Release Information tab contains information specific to the current and upcoming releases of CRM On Demand. Access this tab to learn about and prepare for upgrades to your CRM On Demand application. The Best Practices tab contains a compilation of knowledge gained by experts that work with CRM On Demand day in and day out. Access this knowledge to benefit from their vast experience. The Communities tab offers connections to others in the CRM On Demand community through forums, communities, blogs, and more. The Browse training link opens the training catalog.Take a look at the instructor-led training, Webinars, quick guides, use cases, and tools available to you. The Browse Knowledge link takes you to our knowledge base where you can get answers to frequently asked questions. The Submit a Service Request link directs you to My Oracle Support where you can log a service request. The steps in that process have not changed. The Web Services Library provides simple APIs and a link to Oracle Sample Code where you can get samples that can help you build custom integrations. The Add-On Applications link allows access to our downloadable applications that allow you to extend the functionality of CRM On Demand. The Templates and Tools link provides access to resources that can help you design and build CRM On Demand to meet your company's specific needs. A lot has changed and I know it is a lot to take in. To help you out, we have a printable quick guide that you can use during this transition. As always, let us know what you think: [email protected].

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E-Business Suite 12.1.3 Data Masking Certified with Enterprise Manager 12c

- by Elke Phelps (Oracle Development)

Following up on our prior announcement for EM 11g, we're pleased to announce the certification of the E-Business Suite 12.1.3 Data Masking Template for the Data Masking Pack with Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c. You can use the Oracle Data Masking Pack with Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control 12c to scramble sensitive data in cloned E-Business Suite environments. Due to data dependencies, scrambling E-Business Suite data is not a trivial task. The data needs to be scrubbed in such a way that allows the application to continue to function. You may scramble data in E-Business Suite cloned environments with EM12c using the following template: E-Business Suite 12.1.3 Data Masking Template for Data Masking Pack with EM12c (Patch 14407414) What does data masking do in E-Business Suite environments? Application data masking does the following: De-identify the data: Scramble identifiers of individuals, also known as personally identifiable information or PII. Examples include information such as name, account, address, location, and driver's license number. Mask sensitive data: Mask data that, if associated with personally identifiable information (PII), would cause privacy concerns. Examples include compensation, health and employment information. Maintain data validity: Provide a fully functional application. How can EBS customers use data masking? The Oracle E-Business Suite Template for Data Masking Pack can be used in situations where confidential or regulated data needs to be shared with other non-production users who need access to some of the original data, but not necessarily every table. Examples of non-production users include internal application developers or external business partners such as offshore testing companies, suppliers or customers. The template works with the Oracle Data Masking Pack and Oracle Enterprise Manager to obscure sensitive E-Business Suite information that is copied from production to non-production environments. The Oracle E-Business Suite Template for Data Masking Pack is applied to a non-production environment with the Enterprise Manager Grid Control Data Masking Pack. When applied, the Oracle E-Business Suite Template for Data Masking Pack will create an irreversibly scrambled version of your production database for development and testing. What's new with EM 12c? Some of the execution steps may also be performed with EM Command Line Interface (EM CLI). Support of EM CLI is a new feature with the E-Business Suite Release 12.1.3 template for EM 12c. Is there a charge for this? Yes. You must purchase licenses for the Oracle Data Masking Pack plug-in. The Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.3 Template for the Data Masking Pack is included with the Oracle Data Masking Pack license. You can contact your Oracle account manager for more details about licensing. References Additional details and requirements are provided in the following My Oracle Support Note: Using Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.3 Template for the Data Masking Pack with Oracle Enterprise Manager 12.1.0.2 Data Masking Tool (Note 1481916.1) Masking Sensitive Data in the Oracle Database Real Application Testing User's Guide 11g Release 2 (11.2) Related Articles Scrambling Sensitive Data in E-Business Suite

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Duke's Choice Award Ceremony

- by Tori Wieldt

The 2012 Duke's Choice Awards winners and their creative, Java-based technologies and Java community contributions were honored after the Sunday night JavaOne keynotes. Sharat Chander, Group Director for Java Technology Outreach, presented the awards. "Having the community participate directly in both submission and selection truly shows how we are driving exposure of the innovation happening in the Java community," he said. Apache Software Foundation Hadoop Project The Apache Software Foundation’s Hadoop project, written in Java, provides a framework for distributed processing of big data sets across clusters of computers, ranging from a few servers to thousands of machines. This harnessing of large data pools allows organizations to better understand and improve their business. AgroSense Project Improving farming methods to feed a hungry world is the goal of AgroSense, an open source farm information management system built in Java and the NetBeans platform. AgroSense enables farmers, agribusinesses, suppliers and others to develop modular applications that will easily exchange information through a common underlying NetBeans framework. JDuchess Rather than focus on a specific geographic area like most Java User Groups (JUGs), JDuchess fosters the participation of women in the Java community worldwide. The group has more than 500 members in 60 countries, and provides a platform through which women can connect with each other and get involved in all aspects of the Java community. Jelastic, Inc. Moving existing Java applications to the cloud can be a daunting task, but startup Jelastic, Inc. offers the first all-Java platform-as-a-service (PaaS) that enables existing Java applications to be deployed in the cloud without code changes or lock-in. Liquid Robotics Robotics – Liquid Robotics is an ocean data services provider whose Wave Glider technology collects information from the world’s oceans for application in government, science and commercial applications. The organization features the “father of Java” James Gosling as its chief software architect. London Java Community The second user group receiving a Duke’s Choice Award this year, the London Java Community (LJC) and its users have been active in the OpenJDK, the Java Community Process (JCP) and other efforts within the global Java community. NATO The first-ever Community Choice Award goes to the MASE Integrated Console Environment (MICE) in use at NATO. Built in Java on the NetBeans platform, MICE provides a high-performance visualization environment for conducting air defense and battle-space operations. Parleys.com E-learning specialist Parleys.com, based in Brussels, Belgium, uses Java technologies to bring online classes and full IT conferences to desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile devices. Parleys.com has hosted more than 1,700 conferences—including Devoxx and JavaOne—for more than 800,000 unique visitors. Student Nokia Developer Group This year’s student winner, Ram Kashyap, is the founder and president of the Nokia Student Network, and was profiled in the “The New Java Developers” feature in the March/April 2012 issue of Java Magazine. Since then, Ram has maintained a hectic pace, graduating from the People’s Education Society Institute of Technology in Bangalore, India, while working on a Java mobile startup and training students on Java ME. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is on the front lines of crises around the world, from civil wars to natural disasters. To help facilitate its mission of humanitarian relief, the UNHCR has developed a light-client Java application on the NetBeans platform. The Level One registration tool enables the UNHCR to collect information on the number of refugees and their water, food, housing, health, and other needs in the field, and combines that with geocoding information from various sources. This enables the UNHCR to deliver the appropriate kind and amount of assistance where it is needed. You can read more about the winners in the current issue of Java Magazine.

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How to Add Your Gmail Account to Outlook 2013 Using IMAP

- by Lori Kaufman

If you use Outlook to check and manage your email, you can easily use it to check your Gmail account as well. You can setup your Gmail account to allow you to synchronize email across multiple machines using email clients instead of a browser. We will show you how to use IMAP in your Gmail account so you can synchronize your Gmail account across multiple machines, and then how to add your Gmail account to Outlook 2013. To setup your Gmail account to use IMAP, sign in to your Gmail account and go to Mail. Click the Settings button in the upper, right corner of the window and select Settings from the drop-down menu. On the Settings screen, click Forwarding and POP/IMAP. Scroll down to the IMAP Access section and select Enable IMAP. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen. Close your browser and open Outlook. To begin adding your Gmail account, click the File tab. On the Account Information screen, click Add Account. On the Add Account dialog box, you can choose the E-mail Account option which automatically sets up your Gmail account in Outlook. To do this enter your name, email address, and the password for your Gmail account twice. Click Next. The progress of the setup displays. The automatic process may or may not work. If the automatic process fails, select Manual setup or additional server types, instead of E-mail Account, and click Next. On the Choose Service screen, select POP or IMAP and click Next. On the POP and IMAP Account Settings enter the User, Server, and Logon Information. For the Server Information, select IMAP from the Account Type drop-down list and enter the following for the incoming and outgoing server information: Incoming mail server: imap.googlemail.com Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.googlemail.com Make sure you enter your full email address for the User Name and select Remember password if you want Outlook to automatically log you in when checking email. Click More Settings. On the Internet E-mail Settings dialog box, click the Outgoing Server tab. Select the My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication and make sure the Use same settings as my incoming mail server option is selected. While still in the Internet E-mail Settings dialog box, click the Advanced tab. Enter the following information: Incoming server: 993 Incoming server encrypted connection: SSL Outgoing server encrypted connection TLS Outgoing server: 587 NOTE: You need to select the type of encrypted connection for the outgoing server before entering 587 for the Outgoing server (SMTP) port number. If you enter the port number first, the port number will revert back to port 25 when you change the type of encrypted connection. Click OK to accept your changes and close the Internet E-mail Settings dialog box. Click Next. Outlook tests the accounts settings by logging into the incoming mail server and sending a test email message. When the test is finished, click Close. You should see a screen saying “You’re all set!”. Click Finish. Your Gmail address displays in the account list on the left with any other email addresses you have added to Outlook. Click the Inbox to see what’s in your Inbox in your Gmail account. Because you’re using IMAP in your Gmail account and you used IMAP to add the account to Outlook, the messages and folders in Outlook reflect what’s in your Gmail account. Any changes you make to folders and any time you move email messages among folders in Outlook, the same changes are made in your Gmail account, as you will see when you log into your Gmail account in a browser. This works the other way as well. Any changes you make to the structure of your account (folders, etc.) in a browser will be reflected the next time you log into your Gmail account in Outlook.

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Social Technology and the Potential for Organic Business Networks

- by Michael Snow

Guest Blog Post by: Michael Fauscette, IDCThere has been a lot of discussion around the topic of social business, or social enterprise, over the last few years. The concept of applying emerging technologies from the social Web, combined with changes in processes and culture, has the potential to provide benefits across the enterprise over a wide range of operations impacting employees, customers, partners and suppliers. Companies are using social tools to build out enterprise social networks that provide, among other things, a people-centric collaborative and knowledge sharing work environment which over time can breakdown organizational silos. On the outside of the business, social technology is adding new ways to support customers, market to prospects and customers, and even support the sales process. We’re also seeing new ways of connecting partners to the business that increases collaboration and innovation. All of the new "connectivity" is, I think, leading businesses to a business model built around the concept of the network or ecosystem instead of the old "stand-by-yourself" approach. So, if you think about businesses as networks in the context of all of the other technical and cultural change factors that we're seeing in the new information economy, you can start to see that there’s a lot of potential for co-innovation and collaboration that was very difficult to arrange before. This networked business model, or what I've started to call “organic business networks,” is the business model of the information economy.The word “organic” could be confusing, but when I use it in this context, I’m thinking it has similar traits to organic computing. Organic computing is a computing system that is self-optimizing, self-healing, self-configuring, and self-protecting. More broadly, organic models are generally patterns and methods found in living systems used as a metaphor for non-living systems.Applying an organic model, organic business networks are networks that represent the interconnectedness of the emerging information business environment. Organic business networks connect people, data/information, content, and IT systems in a flexible, self-optimizing, self-healing, self-configuring, and self-protecting system. People are the primary nodes of the network, but the other nodes — data, content, and applications/systems — are no less important.A business built around the organic business network business model would incorporate the characteristics of a social business, but go beyond the basics—i.e., use social business as the operational paradigm, but also use organic business networks as the mode of operating the business. The two concepts complement each other: social business is the “what,” and the organic business network is the “how.”An organic business network lets the business work go outside of traditional organizational boundaries and become the continuously adapting implementation of an optimized business strategy. Value creation can move to the optimal point in the network, depending on strategic influencers such as the economy, market dynamics, customer behavior, prospect behavior, partner behavior and needs, supply-chain dynamics, predictive business outcomes, etc.An organic business network driven company is the antithesis of a hierarchical, rigid, reactive, process-constrained, and siloed organization. Instead, the business can adapt to changing conditions, leverage assets effectively, and thrive in a hyper-connected, global competitive, information-driven environment.To hear more on this topic – I’ll be presenting in the next webcast of the Oracle Social Business Thought Leader Webcast Series - “Organic Business Networks: Doing Business in a Hyper-Connected World” this coming Thursday, June 21, 2012, 10:00 AM PDT – Register here

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Moving monarchs and dragons: migrating the JDK bugs to JIRA

- by darcy

Among insects, monarch butterflies and dragonflies have the longest migrations; migrating JDK bugs involves a long journey as well! As previously announced by Mark back in March, we've been working according to a revised plan to transition the JDK bug management from Sun's legacy system to initially an Oracle-internal JIRA instance which is afterward made visible and usable externally. I've been busily working on this project for the last few months and the team has made good progress on many aspects of the effort: JDK bugs will be imported into JIRA regardless of age; bugs will also be imported regardless of state, including closed bugs. Consequently, the JDK bug project will start pre-populated with over 100,000 existing bugs, some dating all the way back to 1994. This will allow a continuity of information and allow new issues to be linked to old ones. Using a custom import process, the Sun bug numbers will be preserved in JIRA. For example, the Sun bug with bug number 4040458 will become "JDK-4040458" in JIRA. In JIRA the project name, "JDK" in our case, is part of the bug's identifier. Bugs created after the JIRA migration will be numbered starting at 8000000; bugs imported from the legacy system have numbers ranging between 1000000 and 79999999. We're working with the bugs.sun.com team to try to maintain continuity of the ability to both read JDK bug information as well as to file new incidents. At least for now, the overall architecture of bugs.sun.com will be the same as it is today: it will be a gateway bridging to an Oracle-internal system, but the internal system will change to JIRA from the legacy database. Generally we are aiming to preserve the visibility of bugs currently viewable on bugs.sun.com; however, bugs in areas not related to the JDK will not be visible after the transition to JIRA. New incoming incidents will be sent to a separate JIRA project for initial triage before possibly being moved into the JDK project. JDK bug management leans heavily on being able to track the state of bugs in multiple releases, especially to coordinate delivering synchronized security releases (known as CPUs, critital patch updates, in Oracle parlance). For a security release, it is common for half a dozen or more release trains to be affected (for example, JDK 5, JDK 6 update, OpenJDK 6, JDK 7 update, JDK 8, virtual releases for HotSpot express, etc.). We've determined we need to track at least the tuple of (release, responsible engineer/assignee for the release, status in the release) for the release trains a fix is going into. To do this in JIRA, we are creating a separate port/backport issue type along with a custom link type to allow the multiple release information to be easily grouped and presented together. The Sun legacy system had a three-level classification scheme, product, category, and subcategory. Out of the box, JIRA only has a one-level classification, component. We've implemented a custom second-level classification, subcomponent. As part of the bug migration we've taken the opportunity to think about how bugs should be grouped under a two-level system and we'll the new system will be simpler and more regular. The main top-level components of the JDK product will include: core-libs client-libs deploy install security-libs other-libs tools hotspot For the libs areas, the primary name of the subcomportment will be the package of the API in question. In the core-libs component, there will be subcomponents like: java.lang java.lang.class_loading java.math java.util java.util:i18n In the tools component, subcomponents will primarily correspond to command names in $JDK/bin like, jar, javac, and javap. The first several bulk imports of the JDK bugs into JIRA have gone well and we're continuing to refine the import to have greater fidelity to the current data, including by reconstructing information not brought over in a structured fashion during the previous large JDK bug system migration back in 2004. We don't currently have a firm timeline of when the new system will be usable externally, but as it becomes available, I'll share further information in follow-up blog posts.

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13 MORE Things from the Oracle Social Summit You Should Know

- by Mike Stiles

In our previous blog, we started giving those of you who couldn’t make it just a sampling of the valuable takeaways from the first annual Oracle Social Summit, held Nov 14 and 15 in Las Vegas. And while yes, 13 items is a pretty healthy sampling, we wanted to go the extra mile and give you 13 more, an indication of just how much great information came out of it. Follow the arrow, and come on in as if you were there with us. 1. Weber Shandwick takes a 70/20/10 approach when advising clients how to allocate resources to paid social opportunities. 70% of spend should go toward paid opportunities the agency and client both know work, 20% should go toward paid social the agency knows works, and 10% should go toward experimentation. (Matt Dickman – Weber Shandwick) 2. By 2017, the technically competent CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO. (Gartner Study) 3. CIOs are focused on infrastructure. As the roles of the CMO and CIO continue coming together, those CIOs have to make a very conscious decision to get CMOs what they need. 4. It’s now harder for brands to differentiate based on product. The advantage will go to the brands that are successful in garnering customer trust. 5. More and more, enterprise software is going to start looking like the software consumers are used to seeing and using. 6. You will see brands prioritizing mobile and dropping investments in www, HTML, POS systems, etc. 7. The social graph has to be added to brands’ customer data for a more holistic view. Customers will give you the information you need if the reward is appropriate. 8. Viacom did a study that showed viewers are most honest on social. Not so much on surveys or other feedback vehicles. 9. How are you determining your influencers? Influence isn’t about reach. It’s about getting people to change behavior. 10. A mix of skills is becoming critically important in a social staff. It shouldn’t be a mixture of several disciplines, not just a bunch of “social experts.” 11. If senior management isn’t engaged, the social team is forced into guessing what might be considered a “success” by the C-suite. 12. Mobile customization will be getting big investments from brands in 2013. Brands need to provide shoppers utility, not just information. 75% will use mobile this holiday season to avoid in-store madness. 13. Data becomes information, information becomes insight, and insight becomes actionable. The Oracle Social Summit brought together brands, agencies, Oracle social experts and industry thought leaders to take a serious look at where social stands today, and where it’s headed in the near future. Given the speed of social’s evolution, attending such events (or at least reading nifty summary blogs) is a good investment in making sure your enterprise isn’t falling gradually behind.

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Types of semantic bugs, logic errors [closed]

- by C-Otto

I am a PhD student and currently focus on automatically finding instances of new types of bugs in (Java) programs that cannot be found by existing tools like FindBugs. The existing tool currently is used to prove/disprove termination of (Java) programs. I have some ideas (see below), but I could need more input from you (experienced programmers, potential users of my tool). What kind of bugs do you wish to find? What types of bugs exist and might be suitable for my analysis? One strength of the approach I use is detailled information about the heap. So in contrast to FindBugs, I can work with knowledge of the form "variable x and variable y are disjoint on the heap" or "variable z is not cyclic". It is also possible to see if a method might have side effects (and if so, which variables may/may not be affected by it). Example 1: Vacuous call: Graph graphOne = createGraph(); Graph graphTwo = createGraph(); Node source = graphTwo.getRootNode(); for (Node n : graphOne.getNodes()) { if (areConnected(source, n)) { graphTwo.addNode(n); } } Imagine createGraph() creates a fresh graph, so that graphOne and graphTwo are disjoint on the heap. Then, because source is taken from graphTwo instead of graphOne, the call to areConnected always returns false. In this situation I could find out that the call areConnected is useless (because it does not have any side effect and the return value always is false) which helps finding the real bug (taking source from the wrong graph). For this the information that x and y are disjoint (because graphOne and graphTwo are disjoint) is crucial. This bug is related to calling x.equals(y) where x and y are objects of different classes. In this scenario, most implementations of equals() always return false, which most likely is not the intended result. FindBugs already finds this bug (hardcoded to equals(), semantics of implementation is not checked). Example 2: Useless code: someCode(); while (something()) { yetMoreSomething(); } moreCode(); In the case that the loop (so the code in something() and yetMoreSomething()) does not modify anything visible outside the loop, it does not make sense to run this code - the program has the same behaviour as someCode(); moreCode() (i.e., without the loop). To find this out, one needs detailled information about the side effects of the (possibly useless) code. If I can prove that the code does not have any side effect that can be observed afterwards (in the example: in moreCode() or later), then the code indeed is useless. Of course, here Input/Output of any form must be seen as a side effect, so that a System.out.println(...) is not considered useless. Example 3: Ignored return value: Instead of x = foo(); and making use of x, the method is called without storing the result: foo();. If the method does not have any side effect, its invocation is useless and can be dropped. Most likely, the bug here is that the returned value should have been used. Here, too, detailled information about side effects are needed. Can you think of similar types of bugs that might be detected (only) with detailled information about the heap, side effects, semantics of called methods, ...? Did you encounter bugs related to the ones shown below in "real life"? By the way, the tool is AProVE and Java related publications can be found on my homepage. Thanks a lot, Carsten

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