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  • MMO Web game mouse vs wasd

    - by LazyProgrammer
    If considering to develop a web browser based game with multiple people and it's an RPG, click to move would probably be the only choice in movement right? Because if you were to use WASD and then ajax to the server every second that a player held on to the WASD key, that'd be pretty resource intensive if the server had to calculate the position and return the map image, assuming the next few screens are already buffered right? or is there a way to implement a WASD style and still have server side do all the calculations. (server side calculations to avoid cheating)

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  • Keyboard layout to shift wasd keys

    - by Joel Coehoorn
    I like to play video games on my computer. One of the things that bugs me, though, is how the wasd keys became the standard movement keys in first person shooters and mmorpgs. To me, esdf makes a lot more sense, because that matches your normal hand placement for typing. "Fixing" that layout is always the first thing I do when installing a new game. Sadly, this is often a pain in the neck, and some games won't let you do it at all. Is there an alternative keyboard layout you can install that will just switch these around, so the wasd keys fall in the esdf positions? And is low-level enough two work with DirectX/DirectInput, perhaps that works with the language bar for easy swapping back and forth?

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  • I cant use wasd and arrow keys at the same time?

    - by William
    I am having this promblem where if I press one key on either one of the arrow keys or wasd, I cant press that direction on the other one unless that key is the only key of wasd or the arrow keys being pressed at that time. For example: I can press D and RIGHT, but if I do, I cant press W,A,S,LEFT,UP and DOWN. If I press A and S then I cant press LEFT and Down. Does anyone have a solution to that problem, cause I have searhed around, and found no similar problem.

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  • Node.js Adventure - Storage Services and Service Runtime

    - by Shaun
    When I described on how to host a Node.js application on Windows Azure, one of questions might be raised about how to consume the vary Windows Azure services, such as the storage, service bus, access control, etc.. Interact with windows azure services is available in Node.js through the Windows Azure Node.js SDK, which is a module available in NPM. In this post I would like to describe on how to use Windows Azure Storage (a.k.a. WAS) as well as the service runtime.   Consume Windows Azure Storage Let’s firstly have a look on how to consume WAS through Node.js. As we know in the previous post we can host Node.js application on Windows Azure Web Site (a.k.a. WAWS) as well as Windows Azure Cloud Service (a.k.a. WACS). In theory, WAWS is also built on top of WACS worker roles with some more features. Hence in this post I will only demonstrate for hosting in WACS worker role. The Node.js code can be used when consuming WAS when hosted on WAWS. But since there’s no roles in WAWS, the code for consuming service runtime mentioned in the next section cannot be used for WAWS node application. We can use the solution that I created in my last post. Alternatively we can create a new windows azure project in Visual Studio with a worker role, add the “node.exe” and “index.js” and install “express” and “node-sqlserver” modules, make all files as “Copy always”. In order to use windows azure services we need to have Windows Azure Node.js SDK, as knows as a module named “azure” which can be installed through NPM. Once we downloaded and installed, we need to include them in our worker role project and make them as “Copy always”. You can use my “Copy all always” tool mentioned in my last post to update the currently worker role project file. You can also find the source code of this tool here. The source code of Windows Azure SDK for Node.js can be found in its GitHub page. It contains two parts. One is a CLI tool which provides a cross platform command line package for Mac and Linux to manage WAWS and Windows Azure Virtual Machines (a.k.a. WAVM). The other is a library for managing and consuming vary windows azure services includes tables, blobs, queues, service bus and the service runtime. I will not cover all of them but will only demonstrate on how to use tables and service runtime information in this post. You can find the full document of this SDK here. Back to Visual Studio and open the “index.js”, let’s continue our application from the last post, which was working against Windows Azure SQL Database (a.k.a. WASD). The code should looks like this. 1: var express = require("express"); 2: var sql = require("node-sqlserver"); 3:  4: var connectionString = "Driver={SQL Server Native Client 10.0};Server=tcp:ac6271ya9e.database.windows.net,1433;Database=synctile;Uid=shaunxu@ac6271ya9e;Pwd={PASSWORD};Encrypt=yes;Connection Timeout=30;"; 5: var port = 80; 6:  7: var app = express(); 8:  9: app.configure(function () { 10: app.use(express.bodyParser()); 11: }); 12:  13: app.get("/", function (req, res) { 14: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 15: if (err) { 16: console.log(err); 17: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 18: } 19: else { 20: conn.queryRaw("SELECT * FROM [Resource]", function (err, results) { 21: if (err) { 22: console.log(err); 23: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 24: } 25: else { 26: res.json(results); 27: } 28: }); 29: } 30: }); 31: }); 32:  33: app.get("/text/:key/:culture", function (req, res) { 34: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 35: if (err) { 36: console.log(err); 37: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 38: } 39: else { 40: var key = req.params.key; 41: var culture = req.params.culture; 42: var command = "SELECT * FROM [Resource] WHERE [Key] = '" + key + "' AND [Culture] = '" + culture + "'"; 43: conn.queryRaw(command, function (err, results) { 44: if (err) { 45: console.log(err); 46: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 47: } 48: else { 49: res.json(results); 50: } 51: }); 52: } 53: }); 54: }); 55:  56: app.get("/sproc/:key/:culture", function (req, res) { 57: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 58: if (err) { 59: console.log(err); 60: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 61: } 62: else { 63: var key = req.params.key; 64: var culture = req.params.culture; 65: var command = "EXEC GetItem '" + key + "', '" + culture + "'"; 66: conn.queryRaw(command, function (err, results) { 67: if (err) { 68: console.log(err); 69: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 70: } 71: else { 72: res.json(results); 73: } 74: }); 75: } 76: }); 77: }); 78:  79: app.post("/new", function (req, res) { 80: var key = req.body.key; 81: var culture = req.body.culture; 82: var val = req.body.val; 83:  84: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 85: if (err) { 86: console.log(err); 87: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 88: } 89: else { 90: var command = "INSERT INTO [Resource] VALUES ('" + key + "', '" + culture + "', N'" + val + "')"; 91: conn.queryRaw(command, function (err, results) { 92: if (err) { 93: console.log(err); 94: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 95: } 96: else { 97: res.send(200, "Inserted Successful"); 98: } 99: }); 100: } 101: }); 102: }); 103:  104: app.listen(port); Now let’s create a new function, copy the records from WASD to table service. 1. Delete the table named “resource”. 2. Create a new table named “resource”. These 2 steps ensures that we have an empty table. 3. Load all records from the “resource” table in WASD. 4. For each records loaded from WASD, insert them into the table one by one. 5. Prompt to user when finished. In order to use table service we need the storage account and key, which can be found from the developer portal. Just select the storage account and click the Manage Keys button. Then create two local variants in our Node.js application for the storage account name and key. Since we need to use WAS we need to import the azure module. Also I created another variant stored the table name. In order to work with table service I need to create the storage client for table service. This is very similar as the Windows Azure SDK for .NET. As the code below I created a new variant named “client” and use “createTableService”, specified my storage account name and key. 1: var azure = require("azure"); 2: var storageAccountName = "synctile"; 3: var storageAccountKey = "/cOy9L7xysXOgPYU9FjDvjrRAhaMX/5tnOpcjqloPNDJYucbgTy7MOrAW7CbUg6PjaDdmyl+6pkwUnKETsPVNw=="; 4: var tableName = "resource"; 5: var client = azure.createTableService(storageAccountName, storageAccountKey); Now create a new function for URL “/was/init” so that we can trigger it through browser. Then in this function we will firstly load all records from WASD. 1: app.get("/was/init", function (req, res) { 2: // load all records from windows azure sql database 3: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 4: if (err) { 5: console.log(err); 6: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 7: } 8: else { 9: conn.queryRaw("SELECT * FROM [Resource]", function (err, results) { 10: if (err) { 11: console.log(err); 12: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 13: } 14: else { 15: if (results.rows.length > 0) { 16: // begin to transform the records into table service 17: } 18: } 19: }); 20: } 21: }); 22: }); When we succeed loaded all records we can start to transform them into table service. First I need to recreate the table in table service. This can be done by deleting and creating the table through table client I had just created previously. 1: app.get("/was/init", function (req, res) { 2: // load all records from windows azure sql database 3: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 4: if (err) { 5: console.log(err); 6: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 7: } 8: else { 9: conn.queryRaw("SELECT * FROM [Resource]", function (err, results) { 10: if (err) { 11: console.log(err); 12: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 13: } 14: else { 15: if (results.rows.length > 0) { 16: // begin to transform the records into table service 17: // recreate the table named 'resource' 18: client.deleteTable(tableName, function (error) { 19: client.createTableIfNotExists(tableName, function (error) { 20: if (error) { 21: error["target"] = "createTableIfNotExists"; 22: res.send(500, error); 23: } 24: else { 25: // transform the records 26: } 27: }); 28: }); 29: } 30: } 31: }); 32: } 33: }); 34: }); As you can see, the azure SDK provide its methods in callback pattern. In fact, almost all modules in Node.js use the callback pattern. For example, when I deleted a table I invoked “deleteTable” method, provided the name of the table and a callback function which will be performed when the table had been deleted or failed. Underlying, the azure module will perform the table deletion operation in POSIX async threads pool asynchronously. And once it’s done the callback function will be performed. This is the reason we need to nest the table creation code inside the deletion function. If we perform the table creation code after the deletion code then they will be invoked in parallel. Next, for each records in WASD I created an entity and then insert into the table service. Finally I send the response to the browser. Can you find a bug in the code below? I will describe it later in this post. 1: app.get("/was/init", function (req, res) { 2: // load all records from windows azure sql database 3: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 4: if (err) { 5: console.log(err); 6: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 7: } 8: else { 9: conn.queryRaw("SELECT * FROM [Resource]", function (err, results) { 10: if (err) { 11: console.log(err); 12: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 13: } 14: else { 15: if (results.rows.length > 0) { 16: // begin to transform the records into table service 17: // recreate the table named 'resource' 18: client.deleteTable(tableName, function (error) { 19: client.createTableIfNotExists(tableName, function (error) { 20: if (error) { 21: error["target"] = "createTableIfNotExists"; 22: res.send(500, error); 23: } 24: else { 25: // transform the records 26: for (var i = 0; i < results.rows.length; i++) { 27: var entity = { 28: "PartitionKey": results.rows[i][1], 29: "RowKey": results.rows[i][0], 30: "Value": results.rows[i][2] 31: }; 32: client.insertEntity(tableName, entity, function (error) { 33: if (error) { 34: error["target"] = "insertEntity"; 35: res.send(500, error); 36: } 37: else { 38: console.log("entity inserted"); 39: } 40: }); 41: } 42: // send the 43: console.log("all done"); 44: res.send(200, "All done!"); 45: } 46: }); 47: }); 48: } 49: } 50: }); 51: } 52: }); 53: }); Now we can publish it to the cloud and have a try. But normally we’d better test it at the local emulator first. In Node.js SDK there are three build-in properties which provides the account name, key and host address for local storage emulator. We can use them to initialize our table service client. We also need to change the SQL connection string to let it use my local database. The code will be changed as below. 1: // windows azure sql database 2: //var connectionString = "Driver={SQL Server Native Client 10.0};Server=tcp:ac6271ya9e.database.windows.net,1433;Database=synctile;Uid=shaunxu@ac6271ya9e;Pwd=eszqu94XZY;Encrypt=yes;Connection Timeout=30;"; 3: // sql server 4: var connectionString = "Driver={SQL Server Native Client 11.0};Server={.};Database={Caspar};Trusted_Connection={Yes};"; 5:  6: var azure = require("azure"); 7: var storageAccountName = "synctile"; 8: var storageAccountKey = "/cOy9L7xysXOgPYU9FjDvjrRAhaMX/5tnOpcjqloPNDJYucbgTy7MOrAW7CbUg6PjaDdmyl+6pkwUnKETsPVNw=="; 9: var tableName = "resource"; 10: // windows azure storage 11: //var client = azure.createTableService(storageAccountName, storageAccountKey); 12: // local storage emulator 13: var client = azure.createTableService(azure.ServiceClient.DEVSTORE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT, azure.ServiceClient.DEVSTORE_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY, azure.ServiceClient.DEVSTORE_TABLE_HOST); Now let’s run the application and navigate to “localhost:12345/was/init” as I hosted it on port 12345. We can find it transformed the data from my local database to local table service. Everything looks fine. But there is a bug in my code. If we have a look on the Node.js command window we will find that it sent response before all records had been inserted, which is not what I expected. The reason is that, as I mentioned before, Node.js perform all IO operations in non-blocking model. When we inserted the records we executed the table service insert method in parallel, and the operation of sending response was also executed in parallel, even though I wrote it at the end of my logic. The correct logic should be, when all entities had been copied to table service with no error, then I will send response to the browser, otherwise I should send error message to the browser. To do so I need to import another module named “async”, which helps us to coordinate our asynchronous code. Install the module and import it at the beginning of the code. Then we can use its “forEach” method for the asynchronous code of inserting table entities. The first argument of “forEach” is the array that will be performed. The second argument is the operation for each items in the array. And the third argument will be invoked then all items had been performed or any errors occurred. Here we can send our response to browser. 1: app.get("/was/init", function (req, res) { 2: // load all records from windows azure sql database 3: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 4: if (err) { 5: console.log(err); 6: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 7: } 8: else { 9: conn.queryRaw("SELECT * FROM [Resource]", function (err, results) { 10: if (err) { 11: console.log(err); 12: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 13: } 14: else { 15: if (results.rows.length > 0) { 16: // begin to transform the records into table service 17: // recreate the table named 'resource' 18: client.deleteTable(tableName, function (error) { 19: client.createTableIfNotExists(tableName, function (error) { 20: if (error) { 21: error["target"] = "createTableIfNotExists"; 22: res.send(500, error); 23: } 24: else { 25: async.forEach(results.rows, 26: // transform the records 27: function (row, callback) { 28: var entity = { 29: "PartitionKey": row[1], 30: "RowKey": row[0], 31: "Value": row[2] 32: }; 33: client.insertEntity(tableName, entity, function (error) { 34: if (error) { 35: callback(error); 36: } 37: else { 38: console.log("entity inserted."); 39: callback(null); 40: } 41: }); 42: }, 43: // send reponse 44: function (error) { 45: if (error) { 46: error["target"] = "insertEntity"; 47: res.send(500, error); 48: } 49: else { 50: console.log("all done"); 51: res.send(200, "All done!"); 52: } 53: } 54: ); 55: } 56: }); 57: }); 58: } 59: } 60: }); 61: } 62: }); 63: }); Run it locally and now we can find the response was sent after all entities had been inserted. Query entities against table service is simple as well. Just use the “queryEntity” method from the table service client and providing the partition key and row key. We can also provide a complex query criteria as well, for example the code here. In the code below I queried an entity by the partition key and row key, and return the proper localization value in response. 1: app.get("/was/:key/:culture", function (req, res) { 2: var key = req.params.key; 3: var culture = req.params.culture; 4: client.queryEntity(tableName, culture, key, function (error, entity) { 5: if (error) { 6: res.send(500, error); 7: } 8: else { 9: res.json(entity); 10: } 11: }); 12: }); And then tested it on local emulator. Finally if we want to publish this application to the cloud we should change the database connection string and storage account. For more information about how to consume blob and queue service, as well as the service bus please refer to the MSDN page.   Consume Service Runtime As I mentioned above, before we published our application to the cloud we need to change the connection string and account information in our code. But if you had played with WACS you should have known that the service runtime provides the ability to retrieve configuration settings, endpoints and local resource information at runtime. Which means we can have these values defined in CSCFG and CSDEF files and then the runtime should be able to retrieve the proper values. For example we can add some role settings though the property window of the role, specify the connection string and storage account for cloud and local. And the can also use the endpoint which defined in role environment to our Node.js application. In Node.js SDK we can get an object from “azure.RoleEnvironment”, which provides the functionalities to retrieve the configuration settings and endpoints, etc.. In the code below I defined the connection string variants and then use the SDK to retrieve and initialize the table client. 1: var connectionString = ""; 2: var storageAccountName = ""; 3: var storageAccountKey = ""; 4: var tableName = ""; 5: var client; 6:  7: azure.RoleEnvironment.getConfigurationSettings(function (error, settings) { 8: if (error) { 9: console.log("ERROR: getConfigurationSettings"); 10: console.log(JSON.stringify(error)); 11: } 12: else { 13: console.log(JSON.stringify(settings)); 14: connectionString = settings["SqlConnectionString"]; 15: storageAccountName = settings["StorageAccountName"]; 16: storageAccountKey = settings["StorageAccountKey"]; 17: tableName = settings["TableName"]; 18:  19: console.log("connectionString = %s", connectionString); 20: console.log("storageAccountName = %s", storageAccountName); 21: console.log("storageAccountKey = %s", storageAccountKey); 22: console.log("tableName = %s", tableName); 23:  24: client = azure.createTableService(storageAccountName, storageAccountKey); 25: } 26: }); In this way we don’t need to amend the code for the configurations between local and cloud environment since the service runtime will take care of it. At the end of the code we will listen the application on the port retrieved from SDK as well. 1: azure.RoleEnvironment.getCurrentRoleInstance(function (error, instance) { 2: if (error) { 3: console.log("ERROR: getCurrentRoleInstance"); 4: console.log(JSON.stringify(error)); 5: } 6: else { 7: console.log(JSON.stringify(instance)); 8: if (instance["endpoints"] && instance["endpoints"]["nodejs"]) { 9: var endpoint = instance["endpoints"]["nodejs"]; 10: app.listen(endpoint["port"]); 11: } 12: else { 13: app.listen(8080); 14: } 15: } 16: }); But if we tested the application right now we will find that it cannot retrieve any values from service runtime. This is because by default, the entry point of this role was defined to the worker role class. In windows azure environment the service runtime will open a named pipeline to the entry point instance, so that it can connect to the runtime and retrieve values. But in this case, since the entry point was worker role and the Node.js was opened inside the role, the named pipeline was established between our worker role class and service runtime, so our Node.js application cannot use it. To fix this problem we need to open the CSDEF file under the azure project, add a new element named Runtime. Then add an element named EntryPoint which specify the Node.js command line. So that the Node.js application will have the connection to service runtime, then it’s able to read the configurations. Start the Node.js at local emulator we can find it retrieved the connections, storage account for local. And if we publish our application to azure then it works with WASD and storage service through the configurations for cloud.   Summary In this post I demonstrated how to use Windows Azure SDK for Node.js to interact with storage service, especially the table service. I also demonstrated on how to use WACS service runtime, how to retrieve the configuration settings and the endpoint information. And in order to make the service runtime available to my Node.js application I need to create an entry point element in CSDEF file and set “node.exe” as the entry point. I used five posts to introduce and demonstrate on how to run a Node.js application on Windows platform, how to use Windows Azure Web Site and Windows Azure Cloud Service worker role to host our Node.js application. I also described how to work with other services provided by Windows Azure platform through Windows Azure SDK for Node.js. Node.js is a very new and young network application platform. But since it’s very simple and easy to learn and deploy, as well as, it utilizes single thread non-blocking IO model, Node.js became more and more popular on web application and web service development especially for those IO sensitive projects. And as Node.js is very good at scaling-out, it’s more useful on cloud computing platform. Use Node.js on Windows platform is new, too. The modules for SQL database and Windows Azure SDK are still under development and enhancement. It doesn’t support SQL parameter in “node-sqlserver”. It does support using storage connection string to create the storage client in “azure”. But Microsoft is working on make them easier to use, working on add more features and functionalities.   PS, you can download the source code here. You can download the source code of my “Copy all always” tool here.   Hope this helps, Shaun All documents and related graphics, codes are provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. Copyright © Shaun Ziyan Xu. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License.

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  • (Canvas/JS) Getting strange results with moving the view and fillRect, not sure what the problem is

    - by AngerAlone
    I'm really new to JS and have been banging my head against this problem all day. Here's a jsfiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/4ShH4/1/ AND fullscreen: http://jsfiddle.net/4ShH4/1/embedded/result/ I'm getting this weird tearing/elongation of the drawn elements when I move the screen with WASD. I have no idea whats causing the problem. I've put comments on the fiddle to explain my code. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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  • HTG Reviews the CODE Keyboard: Old School Construction Meets Modern Amenities

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    There’s nothing quite as satisfying as the smooth and crisp action of a well built keyboard. If you’re tired of  mushy keys and cheap feeling keyboards, a well-constructed mechanical keyboard is a welcome respite from the $10 keyboard that came with your computer. Read on as we put the CODE mechanical keyboard through the paces. What is the CODE Keyboard? The CODE keyboard is a collaboration between manufacturer WASD Keyboards and Jeff Atwood of Coding Horror (the guy behind the Stack Exchange network and Discourse forum software). Atwood’s focus was incorporating the best of traditional mechanical keyboards and the best of modern keyboard usability improvements. In his own words: The world is awash in terrible, crappy, no name how-cheap-can-we-make-it keyboards. There are a few dozen better mechanical keyboard options out there. I’ve owned and used at least six different expensive mechanical keyboards, but I wasn’t satisfied with any of them, either: they didn’t have backlighting, were ugly, had terrible design, or were missing basic functions like media keys. That’s why I originally contacted Weyman Kwong of WASD Keyboards way back in early 2012. I told him that the state of keyboards was unacceptable to me as a geek, and I proposed a partnership wherein I was willing to work with him to do whatever it takes to produce a truly great mechanical keyboard. Even the ardent skeptic who questions whether Atwood has indeed created a truly great mechanical keyboard certainly can’t argue with the position he starts from: there are so many agonizingly crappy keyboards out there. Even worse, in our opinion, is that unless you’re a typist of a certain vintage there’s a good chance you’ve never actually typed on a really nice keyboard. Those that didn’t start using computers until the mid-to-late 1990s most likely have always typed on modern mushy-key keyboards and never known the joy of typing on a really responsive and crisp mechanical keyboard. Is our preference for and love of mechanical keyboards shining through here? Good. We’re not even going to try and hide it. So where does the CODE keyboard stack up in pantheon of keyboards? Read on as we walk you through the simple setup and our experience using the CODE. Setting Up the CODE Keyboard Although the setup of the CODE keyboard is essentially plug and play, there are two distinct setup steps that you likely haven’t had to perform on a previous keyboard. Both highlight the degree of care put into the keyboard and the amount of customization available. Inside the box you’ll find the keyboard, a micro USB cable, a USB-to-PS2 adapter, and a tool which you may be unfamiliar with: a key puller. We’ll return to the key puller in a moment. Unlike the majority of keyboards on the market, the cord isn’t permanently affixed to the keyboard. What does this mean for you? Aside from the obvious need to plug it in yourself, it makes it dead simple to repair your own keyboard cord if it gets attacked by a pet, mangled in a mechanism on your desk, or otherwise damaged. It also makes it easy to take advantage of the cable routing channels in on the underside of the keyboard to  route your cable exactly where you want it. While we’re staring at the underside of the keyboard, check out those beefy rubber feet. By peripherals standards they’re huge (and there is six instead of the usual four). Once you plunk the keyboard down where you want it, it might as well be glued down the rubber feet work so well. After you’ve secured the cable and adjusted it to your liking, there is one more task  before plug the keyboard into the computer. On the bottom left-hand side of the keyboard, you’ll find a small recess in the plastic with some dip switches inside: The dip switches are there to switch hardware functions for various operating systems, keyboard layouts, and to enable/disable function keys. By toggling the dip switches you can change the keyboard from QWERTY mode to Dvorak mode and Colemak mode, the two most popular alternative keyboard configurations. You can also use the switches to enable Mac-functionality (for Command/Option keys). One of our favorite little toggles is the SW3 dip switch: you can disable the Caps Lock key; goodbye accidentally pressing Caps when you mean to press Shift. You can review the entire dip switch configuration chart here. The quick-start for Windows users is simple: double check that all the switches are in the off position (as seen in the photo above) and then simply toggle SW6 on to enable the media and backlighting function keys (this turns the menu key on the keyboard into a function key as typically found on laptop keyboards). After adjusting the dip switches to your liking, plug the keyboard into an open USB port on your computer (or into your PS/2 port using the included adapter). Design, Layout, and Backlighting The CODE keyboard comes in two flavors, a traditional 87-key layout (no number pad) and a traditional 104-key layout (number pad on the right hand side). We identify the layout as traditional because, despite some modern trapping and sneaky shortcuts, the actual form factor of the keyboard from the shape of the keys to the spacing and position is as classic as it comes. You won’t have to learn a new keyboard layout and spend weeks conditioning yourself to a smaller than normal backspace key or a PgUp/PgDn pair in an unconventional location. Just because the keyboard is very conventional in layout, however, doesn’t mean you’ll be missing modern amenities like media-control keys. The following additional functions are hidden in the F11, F12, Pause button, and the 2×6 grid formed by the Insert and Delete rows: keyboard illumination brightness, keyboard illumination on/off, mute, and then the typical play/pause, forward/backward, stop, and volume +/- in Insert and Delete rows, respectively. While we weren’t sure what we’d think of the function-key system at first (especially after retiring a Microsoft Sidewinder keyboard with a huge and easily accessible volume knob on it), it took less than a day for us to adapt to using the Fn key, located next to the right Ctrl key, to adjust our media playback on the fly. Keyboard backlighting is a largely hit-or-miss undertaking but the CODE keyboard nails it. Not only does it have pleasant and easily adjustable through-the-keys lighting but the key switches the keys themselves are attached to are mounted to a steel plate with white paint. Enough of the light reflects off the interior cavity of the keys and then diffuses across the white plate to provide nice even illumination in between the keys. Highlighting the steel plate beneath the keys brings us to the actual construction of the keyboard. It’s rock solid. The 87-key model, the one we tested, is 2.0 pounds. The 104-key is nearly a half pound heavier at 2.42 pounds. Between the steel plate, the extra-thick PCB board beneath the steel plate, and the thick ABS plastic housing, the keyboard has very solid feel to it. Combine that heft with the previously mentioned thick rubber feet and you have a tank-like keyboard that won’t budge a millimeter during normal use. Examining The Keys This is the section of the review the hardcore typists and keyboard ninjas have been waiting for. We’ve looked at the layout of the keyboard, we’ve looked at the general construction of it, but what about the actual keys? There are a wide variety of keyboard construction techniques but the vast majority of modern keyboards use a rubber-dome construction. The key is floated in a plastic frame over a rubber membrane that has a little rubber dome for each key. The press of the physical key compresses the rubber dome downwards and a little bit of conductive material on the inside of the dome’s apex connects with the circuit board. Despite the near ubiquity of the design, many people dislike it. The principal complaint is that dome keyboards require a complete compression to register a keystroke; keyboard designers and enthusiasts refer to this as “bottoming out”. In other words, the register the “b” key, you need to completely press that key down. As such it slows you down and requires additional pressure and movement that, over the course of tens of thousands of keystrokes, adds up to a whole lot of wasted time and fatigue. The CODE keyboard features key switches manufactured by Cherry, a company that has manufactured key switches since the 1960s. Specifically the CODE features Cherry MX Clear switches. These switches feature the same classic design of the other Cherry switches (such as the MX Blue and Brown switch lineups) but they are significantly quieter (yes this is a mechanical keyboard, but no, your neighbors won’t think you’re firing off a machine gun) as they lack the audible click found in most Cherry switches. This isn’t to say that they keyboard doesn’t have a nice audible key press sound when the key is fully depressed, but that the key mechanism isn’t doesn’t create a loud click sound when triggered. One of the great features of the Cherry MX clear is a tactile “bump” that indicates the key has been compressed enough to register the stroke. For touch typists the very subtle tactile feedback is a great indicator that you can move on to the next stroke and provides a welcome speed boost. Even if you’re not trying to break any word-per-minute records, that little bump when pressing the key is satisfying. The Cherry key switches, in addition to providing a much more pleasant typing experience, are also significantly more durable than dome-style key switch. Rubber dome switch membrane keyboards are typically rated for 5-10 million contacts whereas the Cherry mechanical switches are rated for 50 million contacts. You’d have to write the next War and Peace  and follow that up with A Tale of Two Cities: Zombie Edition, and then turn around and transcribe them both into a dozen different languages to even begin putting a tiny dent in the lifecycle of this keyboard. So what do the switches look like under the classicly styled keys? You can take a look yourself with the included key puller. Slide the loop between the keys and then gently beneath the key you wish to remove: Wiggle the key puller gently back and forth while exerting a gentle upward pressure to pop the key off; You can repeat the process for every key, if you ever find yourself needing to extract piles of cat hair, Cheeto dust, or other foreign objects from your keyboard. There it is, the naked switch, the source of that wonderful crisp action with the tactile bump on each keystroke. The last feature worthy of a mention is the N-key rollover functionality of the keyboard. This is a feature you simply won’t find on non-mechanical keyboards and even gaming keyboards typically only have any sort of key roller on the high-frequency keys like WASD. So what is N-key rollover and why do you care? On a typical mass-produced rubber-dome keyboard you cannot simultaneously press more than two keys as the third one doesn’t register. PS/2 keyboards allow for unlimited rollover (in other words you can’t out type the keyboard as all of your keystrokes, no matter how fast, will register); if you use the CODE keyboard with the PS/2 adapter you gain this ability. If you don’t use the PS/2 adapter and use the native USB, you still get 6-key rollover (and the CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT don’t count towards the 6) so realistically you still won’t be able to out type the computer as even the more finger twisting keyboard combos and high speed typing will still fall well within the 6-key rollover. The rollover absolutely doesn’t matter if you’re a slow hunt-and-peck typist, but if you’ve read this far into a keyboard review there’s a good chance that you’re a serious typist and that kind of quality construction and high-number key rollover is a fantastic feature.  The Good, The Bad, and the Verdict We’ve put the CODE keyboard through the paces, we’ve played games with it, typed articles with it, left lengthy comments on Reddit, and otherwise used and abused it like we would any other keyboard. The Good: The construction is rock solid. In an emergency, we’re confident we could use the keyboard as a blunt weapon (and then resume using it later in the day with no ill effect on the keyboard). The Cherry switches are an absolute pleasure to type on; the Clear variety found in the CODE keyboard offer a really nice middle-ground between the gun-shot clack of a louder mechanical switch and the quietness of a lesser-quality dome keyboard without sacrificing quality. Touch typists will love the subtle tactile bump feedback. Dip switch system makes it very easy for users on different systems and with different keyboard layout needs to switch between operating system and keyboard layouts. If you’re investing a chunk of change in a keyboard it’s nice to know you can take it with you to a different operating system or “upgrade” it to a new layout if you decide to take up Dvorak-style typing. The backlighting is perfect. You can adjust it from a barely-visible glow to a blazing light-up-the-room brightness. Whatever your intesity preference, the white-coated steel backplate does a great job diffusing the light between the keys. You can easily remove the keys for cleaning (or to rearrange the letters to support a new keyboard layout). The weight of the unit combined with the extra thick rubber feet keep it planted exactly where you place it on the desk. The Bad: While you’re getting your money’s worth, the $150 price tag is a shock when compared to the $20-60 price tags you find on lower-end keyboards. People used to large dedicated media keys independent of the traditional key layout (such as the large buttons and volume controls found on many modern keyboards) might be off put by the Fn-key style media controls on the CODE. The Verdict: The keyboard is clearly and heavily influenced by the needs of serious typists. Whether you’re a programmer, transcriptionist, or just somebody that wants to leave the lengthiest article comments the Internet has ever seen, the CODE keyboard offers a rock solid typing experience. Yes, $150 isn’t pocket change, but the quality of the CODE keyboard is so high and the typing experience is so enjoyable, you’re easily getting ten times the value you’d get out of purchasing a lesser keyboard. Even compared to other mechanical keyboards on the market, like the Das Keyboard, you’re still getting more for your money as other mechanical keyboards don’t come with the lovely-to-type-on Cherry MX Clear switches, back lighting, and hardware-based operating system keyboard layout switching. If it’s in your budget to upgrade your keyboard (especially if you’ve been slogging along with a low-end rubber-dome keyboard) there’s no good reason to not pickup a CODE keyboard. Key animation courtesy of Geekhack.org user Lethal Squirrel.       

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  • Is there a expected set of button mappings games commonly use?

    - by Scott Chamberlain
    I am making a game that will support a XBox 360 controller but I would like to try and keep the default button mappings to be what is expected from a user's past history from playing other games. Is there a set of guidelines from Microsoft on what should map to what (Do you use A for fire or left trigger?), or has the gaming community picked up a common set of controls that is just not written anywhere, everyone just "knows" it (like WASD for movement). The hardest thing for me is I have walking movement, vehicle movement, and airplane movement. I plan on allowing custom configuration of each, but I don't know what to set as the defaults.

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  • Title of a specific retro game with color absorption

    - by Rene B
    I am looking for the title a free multiplayer (on one machine) DOS game i can't remember Players are steering (with cursors/WASD keys) kind of ufos which looks like donuts from top-down view. These 'ufos' attract colored particles. When your particles collide with particles from other players (in a different color), the colors will mix. If the particles are more your color than the other players color, they will start following you. The only remaining player (with the most color particles) wins the game. Can you please give me the game title? THANK YOU!

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  • LWJGL - Continuous key press event without delay

    - by Zarkopafilis
    I am checking for key presses and then based on the keys pressed I am moving a square around the screen. I am setting booleans for the keys WASD. But , Whenever I try to keep the key down , it takes a while till it moves continuously (Just a half second stop after a single move.) Any way to get rid of that and make it be "smooth"? Code: up = false; down = false; left = false; right = false; reset = false; while(Keyboard.next()){ if (Keyboard.getEventKeyState()) { if(Keyboard.isKeyDown(Keyboard.KEY_SPACE)){ reset = false; } if(Keyboard.isKeyDown(Keyboard.KEY_W)){ up = true; } if(Keyboard.isKeyDown(Keyboard.KEY_S)){ down = true; } if(Keyboard.isKeyDown(Keyboard.KEY_A)){ left = true; } if(Keyboard.isKeyDown(Keyboard.KEY_D)){ right = true; } } }

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  • SQL Down Under Show 51 - Guest Conor Cunningham - Now online

    - by Greg Low
    Late last night I got to record an interview with Conor Cunningham.Most people that know Conor have come across him as the product team wizard that knows so much about query processing and optimization in SQL Server. Conor is currently spending quite a lot of time working on Windows Azure SQL Database, which we used to know as SQL Azure. I'm still trying to think of a good way to say "WASD". I suppose I'll pronounce it like "wassid". Windows Azure SQL Reporting is easier. I think it just needs to be pronounced like "wazza" with a very Australian accent.In the show, we've spent time on the current state of the platform, on dispelling a number of common misbeliefs about the product, and hopefully on answering most of the common questions that seem to get asked about it. We then ventured into Federations, Data Sync, and Reporting.You'll find the show (and previous shows) here: http://www.sqldownunder.com/Resources/Podcast.aspxEnjoy!PS: For those that like transcripts, we've got the process for producing them much improved now and the transcript should also be up within a few days.

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  • Unity3D 3.5 pro - Moving the camera vs setting draw distance

    - by stoicfury
    I move the camera mostly via right-click + WASD, sometimes with [shift] if I want it to move faster. Occasionally, instead of moving my camera, it alters the draw distance / FOV / some visual aspect of the editing scene that causes trees and other object to disappear when I scroll enough, and eventually even the terrain starts disappearing. It is not m "zooming out". My camera does not move, the width and height of the FOV stays the same (one might say the depth is being altered though). What key am I hitting to cause this to happen, and is it possible to disable it? side note: "keybinds" is probably the most spot-on tag for this question but it doesn't exist (surprisingly) and I lack the rep to create it.

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  • How do you make a 2D character in Javascript? [on hold]

    - by user36507
    How do you actually make a character in JS? I know you are supposed to use objects like var character = new Object(); (If the code has errors I apologise.)But how do you make the character move using keys WASD or let the character pick up items. What I want to know is that whether you need a canvas created specially for the character, how to add attributes and use keys to move it all in code. Also it would be great if you could help me on how to import pictures to JS to use it.

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  • Evoland: A Video Game About Video Game History

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Browser-based Evoland is, hands down, one of the more clever video game concepts to come across our desk. The game itself is a history of video games–as you play the game the game evolves from a limited 8-bit monochrome adventure into a modern game. You start off unable to do anything but move right and collect a treasure chest. That treasure chest unlocks the left key (keys are configured in a WASD style keypad) which in turn allows you to move around a simple monochromatic forest clearing to unlock the rest of the movement keys. From there you begin unlocking more game features, effectively evolving the game from monochrome to 16 and then 64 bit color and unlocking various game play features. The game itself is short and can be played in about the same time you could watch a video covering the basics of various game changes over the last 30 years but actually playing the game and watching the evolution in progress is far more rewarding. Hit up the link below to take it for a spin. Evoland [via Boing Boing] How To Switch Webmail Providers Without Losing All Your Email How To Force Windows Applications to Use a Specific CPU HTG Explains: Is UPnP a Security Risk?

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  • Pygame Tile Based Character movement speed

    - by Ryan
    Thanks for taking the time to read this. Right now I'm making a really basic tile based game. The map is a large amount of 16x16 tiles, and the character image is 16x16 as well. My character has its own class that is an extension of the sprite class, and the x and y position is saved in terms of the tile position. To note I am fairly new to pygame. My question is, I am planning to have character movement restricted to one tile at a time, and I'm not sure how to make it so that, even if the player hits the directional key dozens of time quickly, (WASD or arrow keys) it will only move from tile to tile at a certain speed. How could I implement this generally with pygame? (Similar to game movement of like Pokemon or NexusTk). Edit: I should probably note that I want it so that the player can only end a movement in a tile. He couldn't stop moving halfway inbetween a tile for example. Thanks for your time! Ryan

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  • How to I get a rotated sprite to move left or right?

    - by rphello101
    Using Java/Slick 2D, I'm using the mouse to rotate a sprite on the screen and the directional keys (in this case, WASD) to move the spite. Forwards and backwards is easy, just position += cos(ang)*speed or position -= cos(ang)*speed. But how do I get the sprite to move left or right? I'm thinking it has something to do with adding 90 degrees to the angle or something. Any ideas? Rotation code: int mX = Mouse.getX(); int mY = HEIGHT - Mouse.getY(); int pX = sprite.x+sprite.image.getWidth()/2; int pY = sprite.y+sprite.image.getHeight()/2; double mAng; if(mX!=pX){ mAng = Math.toDegrees(Math.atan2(mY - pY, mX - pX)); if(mAng==0 && mX<=pX) mAng=180; } else{ if(mY>pY) mAng=90; else mAng=270; } sprite.angle = mAng; sprite.image.setRotation((float) mAng); And the movement code (delta is change in time): Input input = gc.getInput(); Vector2f direction = new Vector2f(); Vector2f velocity = new Vector2f(); direction.x = (float) Math.cos(Math.toRadians(sprite.angle)); direction.y = (float) Math.sin(Math.toRadians(sprite.angle)); if(direction.length()>0) direction = direction.normalise(); //On a separate note, what does this line of code do? velocity.x = (float) (direction.x * sprite.moveSpeed); velocity.y = (float) (direction.y * sprite.moveSpeed); if(input.isKeyDown(sprite.up)){ sprite.x += velocity.x*delta; sprite.y += velocity.y*delta; }if (input.isKeyDown(sprite.down)){ sprite.x -= velocity.x*delta; sprite.y -= velocity.y*delta; }if (input.isKeyDown(sprite.left)){ //??? }if (input.isKeyDown(sprite.right)){ //??? }

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  • Determinism in multiplayer simulation with Box2D, and single computer

    - by Jake
    I wrote a small test car driving multiplayer game with Box2D using TCP server-client communcations. I ran 1 instance of server.exe and 2 instance of client.exe on the same machine that I code and compile the executables. I type inputs (WASD for a simple car movement) into one of the 2 clients and I can get both clients to update the simulation. There are 2 cars in the simulation. As long as the cars do not collide, I get the same identical output on both client.exe. I can run the car(s) around for as long as I could they still update the same. However, if I start to collide the cars, very quickly they go out of sync. My tools: Windows 7, C++, MSVS 2010, Box2D, freeGlut. My Psuedocode: // client.exe void timer(int value) { tcpServer.send(my_inputs); foreach(i = player including myself) inputs[i] = tcpServer.receive(); foreach(i = player including myself) players[i].process(inputs[i]); myb2World.step(33, 8, 6); // Box2D world step simulation foreach(i = player including myself) renderer.render(player[i]); glutTimerFunc(33, timer, 0); } // server.exe void serviceloop { while(all clients alive) { foreach(c = clients) tcpClients[c].receive(&inputs[c]); // send input of each client to all clients foreach(source = clients) { foreach(dest = clients) { tcpClients[dest].send(inputs[source]); } } } } I have read all over the internet and SE the following claims (paraphrased): Box2D is deterministic as long as floating point architecture/implementation is the same. (For any deterministic engine) Determinism is gauranteed if playback of recorded inputs is on the same machine with exe compiled using same compiler and machine. Additionally my server.exe and client.exe gameloop is single thread with blocking socket calls and fixed time step. Question: Can anyone explain what I did wrong to get different Box2D output?

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  • How can I make smoother upwards/downwards controls in pygame?

    - by Zolani13
    This is a loop I use to interpret key events in a python game. # Event Loop for event in pygame.event.get(): if event.type == QUIT: pygame.quit() sys.exit() if event.type == pygame.KEYDOWN: if event.key == pygame.K_a: my_speed = -10; if event.key == pygame.K_d: my_speed = 10; if event.type == pygame.KEYUP: if event.key == pygame.K_a: my_speed = 0; if event.key == pygame.K_d: my_speed = 0; The 'A' key represents up, while the 'D' key represents down. I use this loop within a larger drawing loop, that moves the sprite using this: Paddle1.rect.y += my_speed; I'm just making a simple pong game (as my first real code/non-gamemaker game) but there's a problem between moving upwards <= downwards. Essentially, if I hold a button upwards (or downwards), and then press downwards (or upwards), now holding both buttons, the direction will change, which is a good thing. But if I then release the upward button, then the sprite will stop. It won't continue in the direction of my second input. This kind of key pressing is actually common with WASD users, when changing directions quickly. Few people remember to let go of the first button before pressing the second. But my program doesn't accommodate the habit. I think I understand the reason, which is that when I let go of my first key, the KEYUP event still triggers, setting the speed to 0. I need to make sure that if a key is released, it only sets the speed to 0 if another key isn't being pressed. But the interpreter will only go through one event at a time, I think, so I can't check if a key has been pressed if it's only interpreting the commands for a released key. This is my dilemma. I want set the key controls so that a player doesn't have to press one button at a time to move upwards <= downwards, making it smoother. How can I do that?

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  • I have an "amoeba" game mechanic. Any idea on how to implement it?

    - by Jason
    Outside of a tetris clone, a crappy 2D top-down shooter, and some messing around with stuff like Unity and Flixel, I realize that I have yet to complete a single, polished, bells-and-whistles game. I want to change this, and I have an idea for my next project. The idea is that you're an amoeba. Amoebas have these eye-like cores (or something like that, I don't know biology), and you have two of 'em. You control one with WASD and the other with IJKL. There has to be a constant radius of stuff around each of the cores: And the area of the amoeba has to stay constant. So if you move a core in one direction, you increase the amoeba's area, but that increase is compensated by a decrease somewhere else: Aaaaaand I'd like to implement a vagination mechanic. You absorb things by engulfing them, like a boss. Maybe even an extra core, or a needle that pops you and causes all your inner stuff to start gushing out: But here's the problem: I don't know how to make this. However, I would like some ideas on how to implement it. Should I explore physics libraries like Box2D? Or maybe something involving fluid physics? Any help would be much appreciated. P.S. Feel free to steal this idea. I have plenty of ideas. If you do, please tell me how you made it so I can try it myself.

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  • Free movement in a tile-based isometric game

    - by xtr486
    Is there a reasonable easy way to implement free movement in a tile-based isometric game? Meaning that the player wouldn't just instantly jump from one tile to another or not be "snapped" to the grid (for example, if the movement between tiles were animated but you'd be locked from doing anything before the animation finishes). I'm a really beginner with anything related to game programming, but with the help of this site and some other resources it was quite easy to do the basic stuff, but I haven't been able to find any useful resources for this particular problem. Currently I've improvised something close to this: http://jsfiddle.net/KwW5b/4/ (WASD movement). The idea for the movement was to use the mouse map to detect when the player has moved to a different tile and then flip the offsets, and for the most part it works correctly (each corner makes the player move to wrong location: see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xr15IaOhrI, which is probably because I couldn't get the full mouse map work properly), but I have no illusions that it is even close to a good/sane solution. And anyway, it's mostly just to demonstrate what kind of a thing I'd like to implement.

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  • Can we run windowservice or EXE in Azure website or in Virtual Machine?

    - by Arun Rana
    I have experienced with cloud service/hosted service on Azure. However regarding another project i am confused in selection in terms of functionalities. I have project (2 tier asp.net app) with that i need to run windowservice or exe which will do some functionality every day (like fetch data) so my confusions are as below Regarding Azure website Can i access RDP if i'll move to reserved instance? can i run windowservice/exe ? Regarding Virtual Machine Is it same as dedicated server? can i use WASD as database from application reside in same? I think i can run any exe and installed anything however azure is going to recycle this and if yes then what happened on recycling? can i use new window server 2012 (VHD) in that? Azure website & VM both are in preview mode so is it reliable to use it as production version?

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  • Java multidimensional array and scanner novice Q

    - by Max
    I'm new to Java and trying to in essence implement a grid with a character, and if the user inputs 'w' 'a' 's' or 'd' the character moves up/down/left/right within the plane. I created a multidimensional array sized 10x10 public static String[][] grid = new String[10][10]; And then just used a for loop to print "*"s in a 10x10 grid, except for grid[a][b] which is equal to character "A" i.e. my thing to be moved around. That seemed to work alright, then I needed to detect the 'wasd' input from the user so I set up a: Scanner in = new Scanner (System.in); while (in.hasNext()) And I had then: String s = in.next(); char ch = s.charAt(0); switch (ch) but I couldn't make this work, and it wasn't because I didn't complete the "switch" statement, I did, I just see it void copying and pasting the entire thing. I'm sure its incredibly easy slight thing I am missing, can you please point it out for me?

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  • Node.js Adventure - Host Node.js on Windows Azure Worker Role

    - by Shaun
    In my previous post I demonstrated about how to develop and deploy a Node.js application on Windows Azure Web Site (a.k.a. WAWS). WAWS is a new feature in Windows Azure platform. Since it’s low-cost, and it provides IIS and IISNode components so that we can host our Node.js application though Git, FTP and WebMatrix without any configuration and component installation. But sometimes we need to use the Windows Azure Cloud Service (a.k.a. WACS) and host our Node.js on worker role. Below are some benefits of using worker role. - WAWS leverages IIS and IISNode to host Node.js application, which runs in x86 WOW mode. It reduces the performance comparing with x64 in some cases. - WACS worker role does not need IIS, hence there’s no restriction of IIS, such as 8000 concurrent requests limitation. - WACS provides more flexibility and controls to the developers. For example, we can RDP to the virtual machines of our worker role instances. - WACS provides the service configuration features which can be changed when the role is running. - WACS provides more scaling capability than WAWS. In WAWS we can have at most 3 reserved instances per web site while in WACS we can have up to 20 instances in a subscription. - Since when using WACS worker role we starts the node by ourselves in a process, we can control the input, output and error stream. We can also control the version of Node.js.   Run Node.js in Worker Role Node.js can be started by just having its execution file. This means in Windows Azure, we can have a worker role with the “node.exe” and the Node.js source files, then start it in Run method of the worker role entry class. Let’s create a new windows azure project in Visual Studio and add a new worker role. Since we need our worker role execute the “node.exe” with our application code we need to add the “node.exe” into our project. Right click on the worker role project and add an existing item. By default the Node.js will be installed in the “Program Files\nodejs” folder so we can navigate there and add the “node.exe”. Then we need to create the entry code of Node.js. In WAWS the entry file must be named “server.js”, which is because it’s hosted by IIS and IISNode and IISNode only accept “server.js”. But here as we control everything we can choose any files as the entry code. For example, I created a new JavaScript file named “index.js” in project root. Since we created a C# Windows Azure project we cannot create a JavaScript file from the context menu “Add new item”. We have to create a text file, and then rename it to JavaScript extension. After we added these two files we should set their “Copy to Output Directory” property to “Copy Always”, or “Copy if Newer”. Otherwise they will not be involved in the package when deployed. Let’s paste a very simple Node.js code in the “index.js” as below. As you can see I created a web server listening at port 12345. 1: var http = require("http"); 2: var port = 12345; 3:  4: http.createServer(function (req, res) { 5: res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }); 6: res.end("Hello World\n"); 7: }).listen(port); 8:  9: console.log("Server running at port %d", port); Then we need to start “node.exe” with this file when our worker role was started. This can be done in its Run method. I found the Node.js and entry JavaScript file name, and then create a new process to run it. Our worker role will wait for the process to be exited. If everything is OK once our web server was opened the process will be there listening for incoming requests, and should not be terminated. The code in worker role would be like this. 1: public override void Run() 2: { 3: // This is a sample worker implementation. Replace with your logic. 4: Trace.WriteLine("NodejsHost entry point called", "Information"); 5:  6: // retrieve the node.exe and entry node.js source code file name. 7: var node = Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables(@"%RoleRoot%\approot\node.exe"); 8: var js = "index.js"; 9:  10: // prepare the process starting of node.exe 11: var info = new ProcessStartInfo(node, js) 12: { 13: CreateNoWindow = false, 14: ErrorDialog = true, 15: WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal, 16: UseShellExecute = false, 17: WorkingDirectory = Environment.ExpandEnvironmentVariables(@"%RoleRoot%\approot") 18: }; 19: Trace.WriteLine(string.Format("{0} {1}", node, js), "Information"); 20:  21: // start the node.exe with entry code and wait for exit 22: var process = Process.Start(info); 23: process.WaitForExit(); 24: } Then we can run it locally. In the computer emulator UI the worker role started and it executed the Node.js, then Node.js windows appeared. Open the browser to verify the website hosted by our worker role. Next let’s deploy it to azure. But we need some additional steps. First, we need to create an input endpoint. By default there’s no endpoint defined in a worker role. So we will open the role property window in Visual Studio, create a new input TCP endpoint to the port we want our website to use. In this case I will use 80. Even though we created a web server we should add a TCP endpoint of the worker role, since Node.js always listen on TCP instead of HTTP. And then changed the “index.js”, let our web server listen on 80. 1: var http = require("http"); 2: var port = 80; 3:  4: http.createServer(function (req, res) { 5: res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "text/plain" }); 6: res.end("Hello World\n"); 7: }).listen(port); 8:  9: console.log("Server running at port %d", port); Then publish it to Windows Azure. And then in browser we can see our Node.js website was running on WACS worker role. We may encounter an error if we tried to run our Node.js website on 80 port at local emulator. This is because the compute emulator registered 80 and map the 80 endpoint to 81. But our Node.js cannot detect this operation. So when it tried to listen on 80 it will failed since 80 have been used.   Use NPM Modules When we are using WAWS to host Node.js, we can simply install modules we need, and then just publish or upload all files to WAWS. But if we are using WACS worker role, we have to do some extra steps to make the modules work. Assuming that we plan to use “express” in our application. Firstly of all we should download and install this module through NPM command. But after the install finished, they are just in the disk but not included in the worker role project. If we deploy the worker role right now the module will not be packaged and uploaded to azure. Hence we need to add them to the project. On solution explorer window click the “Show all files” button, select the “node_modules” folder and in the context menu select “Include In Project”. But that not enough. We also need to make all files in this module to “Copy always” or “Copy if newer”, so that they can be uploaded to azure with the “node.exe” and “index.js”. This is painful step since there might be many files in a module. So I created a small tool which can update a C# project file, make its all items as “Copy always”. The code is very simple. 1: static void Main(string[] args) 2: { 3: if (args.Length < 1) 4: { 5: Console.WriteLine("Usage: copyallalways [project file]"); 6: return; 7: } 8:  9: var proj = args[0]; 10: File.Copy(proj, string.Format("{0}.bak", proj)); 11:  12: var xml = new XmlDocument(); 13: xml.Load(proj); 14: var nsManager = new XmlNamespaceManager(xml.NameTable); 15: nsManager.AddNamespace("pf", "http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"); 16:  17: // add the output setting to copy always 18: var contentNodes = xml.SelectNodes("//pf:Project/pf:ItemGroup/pf:Content", nsManager); 19: UpdateNodes(contentNodes, xml, nsManager); 20: var noneNodes = xml.SelectNodes("//pf:Project/pf:ItemGroup/pf:None", nsManager); 21: UpdateNodes(noneNodes, xml, nsManager); 22: xml.Save(proj); 23:  24: // remove the namespace attributes 25: var content = xml.InnerXml.Replace("<CopyToOutputDirectory xmlns=\"\">", "<CopyToOutputDirectory>"); 26: xml.LoadXml(content); 27: xml.Save(proj); 28: } 29:  30: static void UpdateNodes(XmlNodeList nodes, XmlDocument xml, XmlNamespaceManager nsManager) 31: { 32: foreach (XmlNode node in nodes) 33: { 34: var copyToOutputDirectoryNode = node.SelectSingleNode("pf:CopyToOutputDirectory", nsManager); 35: if (copyToOutputDirectoryNode == null) 36: { 37: var n = xml.CreateNode(XmlNodeType.Element, "CopyToOutputDirectory", null); 38: n.InnerText = "Always"; 39: node.AppendChild(n); 40: } 41: else 42: { 43: if (string.Compare(copyToOutputDirectoryNode.InnerText, "Always", true) != 0) 44: { 45: copyToOutputDirectoryNode.InnerText = "Always"; 46: } 47: } 48: } 49: } Please be careful when use this tool. I created only for demo so do not use it directly in a production environment. Unload the worker role project, execute this tool with the worker role project file name as the command line argument, it will set all items as “Copy always”. Then reload this worker role project. Now let’s change the “index.js” to use express. 1: var express = require("express"); 2: var app = express(); 3:  4: var port = 80; 5:  6: app.configure(function () { 7: }); 8:  9: app.get("/", function (req, res) { 10: res.send("Hello Node.js!"); 11: }); 12:  13: app.get("/User/:id", function (req, res) { 14: var id = req.params.id; 15: res.json({ 16: "id": id, 17: "name": "user " + id, 18: "company": "IGT" 19: }); 20: }); 21:  22: app.listen(port); Finally let’s publish it and have a look in browser.   Use Windows Azure SQL Database We can use Windows Azure SQL Database (a.k.a. WACD) from Node.js as well on worker role hosting. Since we can control the version of Node.js, here we can use x64 version of “node-sqlserver” now. This is better than if we host Node.js on WAWS since it only support x86. Just install the “node-sqlserver” module from NPM, copy the “sqlserver.node” from “Build\Release” folder to “Lib” folder. Include them in worker role project and run my tool to make them to “Copy always”. Finally update the “index.js” to use WASD. 1: var express = require("express"); 2: var sql = require("node-sqlserver"); 3:  4: var connectionString = "Driver={SQL Server Native Client 10.0};Server=tcp:{SERVER NAME}.database.windows.net,1433;Database={DATABASE NAME};Uid={LOGIN}@{SERVER NAME};Pwd={PASSWORD};Encrypt=yes;Connection Timeout=30;"; 5: var port = 80; 6:  7: var app = express(); 8:  9: app.configure(function () { 10: app.use(express.bodyParser()); 11: }); 12:  13: app.get("/", function (req, res) { 14: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 15: if (err) { 16: console.log(err); 17: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 18: } 19: else { 20: conn.queryRaw("SELECT * FROM [Resource]", function (err, results) { 21: if (err) { 22: console.log(err); 23: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 24: } 25: else { 26: res.json(results); 27: } 28: }); 29: } 30: }); 31: }); 32:  33: app.get("/text/:key/:culture", function (req, res) { 34: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 35: if (err) { 36: console.log(err); 37: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 38: } 39: else { 40: var key = req.params.key; 41: var culture = req.params.culture; 42: var command = "SELECT * FROM [Resource] WHERE [Key] = '" + key + "' AND [Culture] = '" + culture + "'"; 43: conn.queryRaw(command, function (err, results) { 44: if (err) { 45: console.log(err); 46: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 47: } 48: else { 49: res.json(results); 50: } 51: }); 52: } 53: }); 54: }); 55:  56: app.get("/sproc/:key/:culture", function (req, res) { 57: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 58: if (err) { 59: console.log(err); 60: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 61: } 62: else { 63: var key = req.params.key; 64: var culture = req.params.culture; 65: var command = "EXEC GetItem '" + key + "', '" + culture + "'"; 66: conn.queryRaw(command, function (err, results) { 67: if (err) { 68: console.log(err); 69: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 70: } 71: else { 72: res.json(results); 73: } 74: }); 75: } 76: }); 77: }); 78:  79: app.post("/new", function (req, res) { 80: var key = req.body.key; 81: var culture = req.body.culture; 82: var val = req.body.val; 83:  84: sql.open(connectionString, function (err, conn) { 85: if (err) { 86: console.log(err); 87: res.send(500, "Cannot open connection."); 88: } 89: else { 90: var command = "INSERT INTO [Resource] VALUES ('" + key + "', '" + culture + "', N'" + val + "')"; 91: conn.queryRaw(command, function (err, results) { 92: if (err) { 93: console.log(err); 94: res.send(500, "Cannot retrieve records."); 95: } 96: else { 97: res.send(200, "Inserted Successful"); 98: } 99: }); 100: } 101: }); 102: }); 103:  104: app.listen(port); Publish to azure and now we can see our Node.js is working with WASD through x64 version “node-sqlserver”.   Summary In this post I demonstrated how to host our Node.js in Windows Azure Cloud Service worker role. By using worker role we can control the version of Node.js, as well as the entry code. And it’s possible to do some pre jobs before the Node.js application started. It also removed the IIS and IISNode limitation. I personally recommended to use worker role as our Node.js hosting. But there are some problem if you use the approach I mentioned here. The first one is, we need to set all JavaScript files and module files as “Copy always” or “Copy if newer” manually. The second one is, in this way we cannot retrieve the cloud service configuration information. For example, we defined the endpoint in worker role property but we also specified the listening port in Node.js hardcoded. It should be changed that our Node.js can retrieve the endpoint. But I can tell you it won’t be working here. In the next post I will describe another way to execute the “node.exe” and Node.js application, so that we can get the cloud service configuration in Node.js. I will also demonstrate how to use Windows Azure Storage from Node.js by using the Windows Azure Node.js SDK.   Hope this helps, Shaun All documents and related graphics, codes are provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. Copyright © Shaun Ziyan Xu. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License.

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  • Why does my sprite glitch when moving? [closed]

    - by rphello101
    Using Slick 2D/Java, I'm using the mouse to rotate a sprite and WASD to move it (A and D are used to strafe). I finally got the directional keys and rotation to work in sync, but I'm having problems with sporadic movement. It seems that the move speed is not always set to the value I have it at. Sometimes the sprite with just shoot across the screen. Furthermore, it seems that at 0 degrees, when the left key is pressed, the sprite moves backwards, not to the left. There also seems to be quite a bit of glitching when two keys are pressed, like left and up. Anyone see anything obvious? Here is the rotational code: int mX = Mouse.getX(); int mY = HEIGHT - Mouse.getY(); int pX = sprite.x+sprite.image.getWidth()/2; int pY = sprite.y+sprite.image.getHeight()/2; double mAng; if(mX!=pX){ mAng = Math.toDegrees(Math.atan2(mY - pY, mX - pX)); if(mAng==0 && mX<=pX) mAng=180; } else{ if(mY>pY) mAng=90; else mAng=270; } sprite.angle = mAng; sprite.image.setRotation((float) mAng); Movement code: Input input = gc.getInput(); Vector2f direction = new Vector2f(); Vector2f velocity = new Vector2f(); Vector2f left; Vector2f right; direction.x = (float) Math.cos(Math.toRadians(sprite.angle)); direction.y = (float) Math.sin(Math.toRadians(sprite.angle)); if(direction.length()>0) direction = direction.normalise(); left = new Vector2f(-direction.y, direction.x); right = new Vector2f(direction.y, -direction.x); velocity.x = (float) (direction.x * sprite.moveSpeed); velocity.y = (float) (direction.y * sprite.moveSpeed); if(input.isKeyDown(sprite.up)){ sprite.x += velocity.x*delta; sprite.y += velocity.y*delta; }if (input.isKeyDown(sprite.down)){ sprite.x -= velocity.x*delta; sprite.y -= velocity.y*delta; }if (input.isKeyDown(sprite.left)){ sprite.x += left.x * sprite.moveSpeed * delta; sprite.y += left.y * sprite.moveSpeed * delta; }if (input.isKeyDown(sprite.right)){ sprite.x += right.x * sprite.moveSpeed * delta; sprite.y += right.y * sprite.moveSpeed * delta; }

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  • AutoHotkey - Organizing hotkeys so as to use Several hotkeys optimally

    - by Stenemo
    My question is how to structure key combinations in script below most effectively using AutoHotkey. Having searched for exactly how to do this for hours I figured I should post here so others can at least find this solution if they are trying to do the same: http://www.autohotkey.com/board/topic/90013-solved-wasd-fna-left-fnalta-home-fnctrla-ctrl-left-etc/ and How to combine three keys as a hotkey with Autohotkey? My Question is how to use this method most effectively, and is not answered in those threads. My idea would be to use this for everything related to up (etc), e.g.: ; Up Combinations: Ctrl Up, SHIFT + Up, SHIFT + Ctrl Up, [Alt/win + Up easily added and organized using this system] CapsLock & w:: GetKeyState, stateCtrl, LCtrl GetKeyState, stateShift, LShift GetKeyState, stateWin, LWin GetKeyState, stateAlt, LAlt if stateCtrl = D if stateShift = D if stateWin = D Send ^+#{Up}; Ctrl + SHIFT + Win + Up else Send ^+{Up} ; Ctrl + SHIFT + Up else if stateWin = D Send ^#{Up} ; Ctrl + Win + Up else Send ^{Up} ; Ctrl Up else if stateShift = D Send +{Up} ; SHIFT + Up else if stateWin = D Send #{Up} ; Win + Up else if stateAlt = D Send !{Up} ; Alt + Up else Send {Up} ; Up return Also, if there is a better way to do this, that would be great. E.g.: *CapsLock & w:: send {Up} Does almost exactly the opposite of what I want (sends up even if other modifiers are held down). When I hold e.g. control at the same time, I want it to do control + up. Have I missed such a AutoHotkey command? If anyone has a better way to do this that would be great.

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  • Some of my keys are automatically being pressed along with other keys

    - by Santosh
    History The last time when my computer shutdown was a power failure. Now some keys are automatically being pressed when I type something. The last thing I did to keyboard setting was adding a keyboard layout (on Ubuntu). What is happening Whenever I press c, xc is writeen s gives me sd d gives me sd e gives me we 2 gives me 23, So when I want @ it gives me @# 3 gives me 23 Pressing CAPS Lock gives me F3 and vice-versa. All other key are either working fine or I don't use them. I have two operating system Ubuntu and Windows, I use Windows very less and found this problem on Ubuntu, but as soon as I logged in to Windows (for checking) then I found that Windows has the same problem. Effects on my life This starts form the time of login, even I have problem in typing my password. Whenever I try to save any webpage, it is bookmarked automatically. Whenever I copy, it is cut automatically. I have to spend more than half of time correcting what I have typed. Note: Typing thisd quwesdtion wasd rweally a big pain to mwe.

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