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• MAXDOP in SQL Azure

  - by Herve Roggero

  In my search of better understanding the scalability options of SQL Azure I stumbled on an interesting aspect: Query Hints in SQL Azure. More specifically, the MAXDOP hint. A few years ago I did a lot of analysis on this query hint (see article on SQL Server Central:  http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Configuring/managingmaxdegreeofparallelism/1029/).  Here is a quick synopsis of MAXDOP: It is a query hint you use when issuing a SQL statement that provides you control with how many processors SQL Server will use to execute the query. For complex queries with lots of I/O requirements, more CPUs can mean faster parallel searches. However the impact can be drastic on other running threads/processes. If your query takes all available processors at 100% for 5 minutes... guess what... nothing else works. The bottom line is that more is not always better. The use of MAXDOP is more art than science... and a whole lot of testing; it depends on two things: the underlying hardware architecture and the application design. So there isn't a magic number that will work for everyone... except 1... :) Let me explain. The rules of engagements are different. SQL Azure is about sharing. Yep... you are forced to nice with your neighbors.  To achieve this goal SQL Azure sets the MAXDOP to 1 by default, and ignores the use of the MAXDOP hint altogether. That means that all you queries will use one and only one processor.  It really isn't such a bad thing however. Keep in mind that in some of the largest SQL Server implementations MAXDOP is usually also set to 1. It is a well known configuration setting for large scale implementations. The reason is precisely to prevent rogue statements (like a SELECT * FROM HISTORY) from bringing down your systems (like a report that should have been running on a different in the first place) and to avoid the overhead generated by executing too many parallel queries that could cause internal memory management nightmares to the host Operating System. Is summary, forcing the MAXDOP to 1 in SQL Azure makes sense; it ensures that your database will continue to function normally even if one of the other tenants on the same server is running massive queries that would otherwise bring you down. Last but not least, keep in mind as well that when you test your database code for performance on-premise, make sure to set the DOP to 1 on your SQL Server databases to simulate SQL Azure conditions.

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• The softer side of BPM

  - by [email protected]

  BPM and RTD are great complementary technologies that together provide a much higher benefit than each of them separately. BPM covers the need for automating processes, making sure that there is uniformity, that rules and regulations are complied with and that the process runs smoothly and quickly processes the units flowing through it. By nature, this automation and unification can lead to a stricter, less flexible process. To avoid this problem it is common to encounter process definition that include multiple conditional branches and human input to help direct processing in the direction that best applies to the current situation. This is where RTD comes into play. The selection of branches and conditions and the optimization of decisions is better left in the hands of a system that can measure the results of its decisions in a closed loop fashion and make decisions based on the empirical knowledge accumulated through observing the running of the process.When designing a business process there are key places in which it may be beneficial to introduce RTD decisions. These are:Thresholds - whenever a threshold is used to determine the processing of a unit, there may be an opportunity to make the threshold "softer" by introducing an RTD decision based on predicted results. For example an insurance company process may have a total claim threshold to initiate an investigation. Instead of having that threshold, RTD could be used to help determine what claims to investigate based on the likelihood they are fraudulent, cost of investigation and effect on processing time.Human decisions - sometimes a process will let the human participants make decisions of flow. For example, a call center process may leave the escalation decision to the agent. While this has flexibility, it may produce undesired results and asymetry in customer treatment that is not based on objective functions but subjective reasoning by the agent. Instead, an RTD decision may be introduced to recommend escalation or other kinds of treatments.Content Selection - a process may include the use of messaging with customers. The selection of the most appropriate message to the customer given the content can be optimized with RTD.A/B Testing - a process may have optional paths for which it is not clear what populations they work better for. Rather than making the arbitrary selection or selection by committee of the option deeped the best, RTD can be introduced to dynamically determine the best path for each unit.In summary, RTD can be used to make BPM based process automation more dynamic and adaptable to the different situations encountered in processing. Effectively making the automation softer, less rigid in its processing.

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• SQL SERVER – Puzzle to Win Print Book – Explain Value of PERCENTILE_CONT() Using Simple Example

  - by pinaldave

  From last several days I am working on various Denali Analytical functions and it is indeed really fun to refresh the concept which I studied in the school. Earlier I wrote article where I explained how we can use PERCENTILE_CONT() to find median over here SQL SERVER – Introduction to PERCENTILE_CONT() – Analytic Functions Introduced in SQL Server 2012. Today I am going to ask question based on the same blog post. Again just like last time the intention of this puzzle is as following: Learn new concept of SQL Server 2012 Learn new concept of SQL Server 2012 even if you are on earlier version of SQL Server. On another note, SQL Server 2012 RC0 has been announced and available to download SQL SERVER – 2012 RC0 Various Resources and Downloads. Now let’s have fun following query: USE AdventureWorks GO SELECT SalesOrderID, OrderQty, ProductID, PERCENTILE_CONT(0.5) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY ProductID) OVER (PARTITION BY SalesOrderID) AS MedianCont FROM Sales.SalesOrderDetail WHERE SalesOrderID IN (43670, 43669, 43667, 43663) ORDER BY SalesOrderID DESC GO The above query will give us the following result: The reason we get median is because we are passing value .05 to PERCENTILE_COUNT() function. Now run read the puzzle. Puzzle: Run following T-SQL code: USE AdventureWorks GO SELECT SalesOrderID, OrderQty, ProductID, PERCENTILE_CONT(0.9) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY ProductID) OVER (PARTITION BY SalesOrderID) AS MedianCont FROM Sales.SalesOrderDetail WHERE SalesOrderID IN (43670, 43669, 43667, 43663) ORDER BY SalesOrderID DESC GO Observe the result and you will notice that MidianCont has different value than before, the reason is PERCENTILE_CONT function has 0.9 value passed. For first four value the value is 775.1. Now run following T-SQL code: USE AdventureWorks GO SELECT SalesOrderID, OrderQty, ProductID, PERCENTILE_CONT(0.1) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY ProductID) OVER (PARTITION BY SalesOrderID) AS MedianCont FROM Sales.SalesOrderDetail WHERE SalesOrderID IN (43670, 43669, 43667, 43663) ORDER BY SalesOrderID DESC GO Observe the result and you will notice that MidianCont has different value than before, the reason is PERCENTILE_CONT function has 0.1 value passed. For first four value the value is 709.3. Now in my example I have explained how the median is found using this function. You have to explain using mathematics and explain (in easy words) why the value in last columns are 709.3 and 775.1 Hint: SQL SERVER – Introduction to PERCENTILE_CONT() – Analytic Functions Introduced in SQL Server 2012 Rules Leave a comment with your detailed answer by Nov 25's blog post. Open world-wide (where Amazon ships books) If you blog about puzzle’s solution and if you win, you win additional surprise gift as well. Prizes Print copy of my new book SQL Server Interview Questions Amazon|Flipkart If you already have this book, you can opt for any of my other books SQL Wait Stats [Amazon|Flipkart|Kindle] and SQL Programming [Amazon|Flipkart|Kindle]. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Function, SQL Puzzle, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Executive Weighs in on Policy Administration Modernization

  - by helen.pitts(at)oracle.com

  James Klauer, vice president of Client Services Technology at Fidelity Investment Life Insurance, weighs in on the rationale and challenges associated with policy administration system replacement in this month's digital issue of Insurance Networking News.    In "The Policy Administration Replacement Quandary"  Klauer shared the primary business benefit that can be realized by adopting a modern policy administration system--a timely topic given that recent industry analyst surveys indicate policy administration replacement and modernization will continue to be a top priority for insurers this year.    "Modern policy administration systems are more flexible than systems of the past," Klauer says in the article. " This has allowed us to shorten our delivery time for new products and product changes.  We have also had a greater ability to integrate with other systems and to deliver process efficiencies."   Klauer goes on to advise that insurers ensure they have a solid understanding of the requirements when replacing their legacy policy administration system. "If you can afford the time, take the opportunity to re-engineer your business processes.  We were able to drastically change our death processes, introducing automation and error-proofing." Click here to read more of Klauer's insights and recommendations for best practices in the publication's "Ask & Answered" column.   You also can learn more the benefits of an adaptive, rules-driven approach to policy administration and how to mitigate risks associated with system replacement by attending the free Oracle Insurance Virtual Summit:  Fueling the Adaptive Insurance Enterprise, 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, January 26.      Insurance Networking News and Oracle Insurance have teamed up to bring you this first-of-its-kind event. This year's theme, "Fueling the Adaptive Insurance Enterprise," will focus on bringing you information about exciting new technology concepts, which can help your company react more quickly to new market opportunities and, ultimately, grow the business.    Visit virtual booths and chat online with Oracle product specialists, network with other insurers, learn about exciting new product announcements, win prizes, and much more--all without leaving your office.  Be sure and attend the on-demand session, "Adapt, Transform and Grow: Accelerate Speed to Market with Adaptive Insurance Policy Administration," hosted by Kate Fowler, product strategy director for Oracle Insurance Policy Administration for Life and Annuity.   Register Now!   Helen Pitts is senior product marketing manager for Oracle Insurance's life and annuities solutions.

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• Instalar SQL Server 2008

  - by Jason Ulloa

  En este post trataré de explicar los pasos para la instalación de SQL y su posterior configuración. Primer paso: Instalación de las reglas de Soporte (Setup Support Rules) Está será la primer pantalla de instalación con la que nos toparemos cuando tratemos de instalar sql server. En ella, únicamente debemos dar clic en siguiente(next). Paso 2: Selección de las características de instalación de SQL Server (Feature Selection) Este es a mi parecer el paso mas importante del proceso de instalación de SQL, pues es el que nos permitirá seleccionar todos los componentes que este tendrá posteriormente Acá lo importante es: Servicios de bases de datos y herramientas de administración. Todas las demás son plus del motor.   Paso 3: Configuración de la Instancia En este paso, no debemos preocuparnos por nada. Únicamente presionamos siguiente. Paso 4: Requerimientos de espacio en disco Nuevamente en esta instancia no tendremos trabajo alguno. Únicamente es una pantalla informativa de SQL en donde se muestra el espacio actual del disco y el espacio que la instalación de SQL Server consumirá. Presionamos siguiente (next). Paso 5: Configuración del servidor Este paso es uno de los mas importantes, pues en el le indicaremos a SQL que usuario utilizará para autenticarse y levantar cada uno de los servicios que hayamos seleccionado al inicio. Generalmente cuando se trabaja en local el usuario NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM es la mejor opción. Si en este paso, seleccionamos un usuario con permisos insuficientes SQL nos dará un error. Presionamos siguiente (next) Paso 6: Configuración del motor de bases de datos En este paso, nos enfocaremos en la pestaña Account Provisioning, que será en la que le indiquemos el usuario con el que el motor de bases de datos funcionará por defecto. Lo mas recomendado sería hacer clic en la opción add current user, la cual agregará el usuario de windows  que se encuentre en ese momento. También, podremos seleccionar si queremos el modo de autenticación de SQL o el modo Mixto, que incluye autenticación de SQL Server y Windows. Para nuestra instalación seleccionaremos unicamente modo de autenticación de SQL. Una vez que agregamos el usuario presionamos siguiente (next) Paso 7:  Finalizar la configuración Luego de los pasos anteriores, las demás pantallas no requieren nada especial. Únicamente presionar siguiente y esperar a que la instalación de SQL termine.

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• Configure clean URLs using Laravel using a rewrite rule to index.php

  - by yannis hristofakis

  Recently I've started learning Laravel , I have none experience with framework before. I'm encountering the following problem .I'm trying to configure the .htaccess file so I can have clean URLs but the only thing I get are 404 Not Found error pages. I have created a virtual host - you can see below the configuration file - and changed the .htaccesss file on the public directory. /etc/apache2/sites-available <VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin [email protected] ServerName laravel.lar DocumentRoot "/home/giannis/Desktop/laravel/public" <Directory "/home/giannis/Desktop/laravel/public"> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews AllowOverride All </Directory> <Directory /var/www/> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews AllowOverride None Order allow,deny allow from all </Directory> ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ /usr/lib/cgi-bin/ <Directory "/usr/lib/cgi-bin"> AllowOverride None Options +ExecCGI -MultiViews +SymLinksIfOwnerMatch Order allow,deny Allow from all </Directory> ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log # Possible values include: debug, info, notice, warn, error, crit, # alert, emerg. LogLevel warn CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined Alias /doc/ "/usr/share/doc/" <Directory "/usr/share/doc/"> Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks AllowOverride None Order deny,allow Deny from all Allow from 127.0.0.0/255.0.0.0 ::1/128 </Directory> </VirtualHost> .htaccesss file: laravel/public # Apache configuration file # http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/quickreference.html # Note: ".htaccess" files are an overhead for each request. This logic should # be placed in your Apache config whenever possible. # http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/howto/htaccess.html # Turning on the rewrite engine is necessary for the following rules and # features. "+FollowSymLinks" must be enabled for this to work symbolically. <IfModule mod_rewrite.c> Options +FollowSymLinks RewriteEngine On </IfModule> # For all files not found in the file system, reroute the request to the # "index.php" front controller, keeping the query string intact <IfModule mod_rewrite.c> RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?/$1 [L] </IfModule> In order to test it, I have created a view named about and made the proper routing. If I link to http://laravel.lar/index.php/about/ I'm routing to the about page instead if I link to http://laravel.lar/about/ I get a 404 Not Found error. I'm using a Debian based system.

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• JCP.Next - Early Adopters of JCP 2.8

  - by Heather VanCura

  JCP.Next is a series of three JSRs (JSR 348, JSR 355 and JSR 358), to be defined through the JCP process itself, with the JCP Executive Committee serving as the Expert Group. The proposed JSRs will modify the JCP's processes  - the Process Document and Java Specification Participation Agreement (JSPA) and will apply to all new JSRs for all Java platforms.   The first - JCP.next.1, or more formally JSR 348, Towards a new version of the Java Community Process - was completed and put into effect in October 2011 as JCP 2.8. This focused on a small number of simple but important changes to make our process more transparent and to enable broader participation. We're already seeing the benefits of these changes as new and existing JSRs adopt the new requirements. The second - JSR 355, Executive Committee Merge, is also Final. You can read the JCP 2.9 Process Document .  As part of the JSR 355 Final Release, the JCP Executive Committee published revisions to the JCP Process Document (version 2.9) and the EC Standing Rules (version 2.2).  The changes went into effect following the 2012 EC Elections in November. The third JSR 358, A major revision of the Java Community Process was submitted in June 2012.  This JSR will modify the Java Specification Participation Agreement (JSPA) as well as the Process Document, and will tackle a large number of complex issues, many of them postponed from JSR 348. For these reasons, the JCP EC (acting as the Expert Group for this JSR), expects to spend a considerable amount of time working on. The JSPA is defined by the JCP as "a one-year, renewable agreement between the Member and Oracle. The success of the Java community depends upon an open and transparent JCP program.  JSR 358, A major revision of the Java Community Process, is now in process and can be followed on java.net. The following JSRs and Spec Leads were the early adopters of JCP 2.8, who voluntarily migrated their JSRs from JCP 2.x to JCP 2.8 or above.  More candidates for 2012 JCP Star Spec Leads! JSR 236, Concurrency Utilities for Java EE (Anthony Lai/Oracle), migrated April 2012 JSR 308, Annotations on Java Types (Michael Ernst, Alex Buckley/Oracle), migrated September 2012 JSR 335, Lambda Expressions for the Java Programming Language (Brian Goetz/Oracle), migrated October 2012 JSR 337, Java SE 8 Release Contents (Mark Reinhold/Oracle) – EG Formation, migrated September 2012 JSR 338, Java Persistence 2.1 (Linda DeMichiel/Oracle), migrated January 2012 JSR 339, JAX-RS 2.0: The Java API for RESTful Web Services (Santiago Pericas-Geertsen, Marek Potociar/Oracle), migrated July 2012 JSR 340, Java Servlet 3.1 Specification (Shing Wai Chan, Rajiv Mordani/Oracle), migrated August 2012 JSR 341, Expression Language 3.0 (Kin-man Chung/Oracle), migrated August 2012 JSR 343, Java Message Service 2.0 (Nigel Deakin/Oracle), migrated March 2012 JSR 344, JavaServer Faces 2.2 (Ed Burns/Oracle), migrated September 2012 JSR 345, Enterprise JavaBeans 3.2 (Marina Vatkina/Oracle), migrated February 2012 JSR 346, Contexts and Dependency Injection for Java EE 1.1 (Pete Muir/RedHat) – migrated December 2011

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• Fair Comments

  - by Tony Davis

  To what extent is good code self-documenting? In one of the most entertaining sessions I saw at the recent PASS summit, Jeremiah Peschka (blog | twitter) got a laugh out of a sleepy post-lunch audience with the following remark: "Some developers say good code is self-documenting; I say, get off my team" I silently applauded the sentiment. It's not that all comments are useful, but that I mistrust the basic premise that "my code is so clearly written, it doesn't need any comments". I've read many pieces describing the road to self-documenting code, and my problem with most of them is that they feed the myth that comments in code are a sign of weakness. They aren't; in fact, used correctly I'd say they are essential. Regardless of how far intelligent naming can get you in describing what the code does, or how well any accompanying unit tests can explain to your fellow developers why it works that way, it's no excuse not to document fully the public interfaces to your code. Maybe I just mixed with the wrong crowd while learning my favorite language, but when I open a stored procedure I lose the will even to read it unless I see a big Phil Factor- or Jeff Moden-style header summarizing in plain English what the code does, how it fits in to the broader application, and a usage example. This public interface describes the high-level process and should explain the role of the code, clearly, for fellow developers, language non-experts, and even any non-technical stake holders in the project. When you step into the body of the code, the low-level details, then I agree that the rules are somewhat different; especially when code is subject to frequent refactoring that can quickly render comments redundant or misleading. At their worst, here, inline comments are sticking plaster to cover up the scars caused by poor naming conventions, failure in clarity when mapping a complex domain into code, or just by not entirely understanding the problem (/ this is the clever part). If you design and refactor your code carefully so that it is as simple as possible, your functions do one thing only, you avoid having two completely different algorithms in the same piece of code, and your functions, classes and variables are intelligently named, then, yes, the need for inline comments should be minimal. And yet, even given this, I'd still argue that many languages (T-SQL certainly being one) just don't lend themselves to readability when performing even moderately-complex tasks. If the algorithm is complex, I still like to see the occasional helpful comment. Please, therefore, be as liberal as you see fit in the detail of the comments you apply to this editorial, for like code it is bound to increase its' clarity and usefulness. Cheers, Tony.

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• We’ve Got 10 Free Copies of Microsoft’s Networking Windows 7 eBook to Give Away. Get Yours!

  - by The Geek

  Last month, we reviewed our friend Ciprian’s new book by Microsoft Press, Network Your Computers & Devices: Step by Step—and we’ve twisted his arm until he decided to give away 10 free copies for our readers. First, the book: It’s a great book that covers networking between computers running Windows 7, XP, Vista, Linux, and even Mac OS X. Just as the title suggests, he’s got step-by-step tutorials that explain how to get your network up and running with a minimum of fuss. Want to see for yourself? You can grab a copy of the free sample chapter if you’d like, or you can look through the chapter outline: Chapter 1: Setting Up a Router and Devices Chapter 2: Setting User Accounts on All Computers Chapter 3: Setting Up Your Libraries on All Windows 7 Computers Chapter 4: Creating the Network Chapter 5: Customizing Network Sharing Settings in Windows 7 Chapter 6: Creating the Homegroup and Joining Windows 7 Computers Chapter 7: Sharing Libraries and Folders Chapter 8: Sharing and Working with Devices Chapter 9: Streaming Media Over the Network and the Internet Chapter 10: Sharing Between Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 Computers Chapter 11: Sharing Between Mac OS X and Windows 7 Computers Chapter 12: Sharing Between Ubuntu Linux and Windows 7 Computers Chapter 13: Keeping the Network Secure Chapter 14: Setting Up Parental Controls Chapter 15: Troubleshooting Network and Internet Problems Whether you believe it’s the perfect book or not, we’re giving away one for free, so keep reading. Giveaway Details: Or What You Need to Do Since we’ve got an awful lot of subscribers, and we’ve only got 10 ebooks to give away, we need a few rules. So here’s how you can put your name into the hat for the giveaway: Method 1: Leave a comment on the giveaway post over on our Facebook Fan page. Obviously you’ll need to Like us before you can leave a comment. Method 2: If you don’t use Facebook, you can tweet this post using the Tweet button at the top of the article. Winners: We’ll randomly pick 10 winners from those who participate. Expiration: This giveaway expires in 3 days, give or take a day. We’ll announce the winners and contact them directly. So go forth, and get yourself a free ebook! Of course, if you want the print version, you can get that for a discount over on Amazon at the moment. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Internet Explorer 9 RC Now Available: Here’s the Most Interesting New Stuff Here’s a Super Simple Trick to Defeating Fake Anti-Virus Malware How to Change the Default Application for Android Tasks Stop Believing TV’s Lies: The Real Truth About "Enhancing" Images The How-To Geek Valentine’s Day Gift Guide Inspire Geek Love with These Hilarious Geek Valentines MyPaint is an Open-Source Graphics App for Digital Painters Can the Birds and Pigs Really Be Friends in the End? [Angry Birds Video] Add the 2D Version of the New Unity Interface to Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04 MightyMintyBoost Is a 3-in-1 Gadget Charger Watson Ties Against Human Jeopardy Opponents Peaceful Tropical Cavern Wallpaper

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• Spotlight on a career path: Paul, Business Development Consultant

  - by Maria Sandu

  I came to work for Oracle in November 2012 as a Customer Intelligence Representative and since then I was promoted to a Business Development Consultant, for Commercial Industries in the UK, based in Dublin. My background was primarily in Logistics, working for such companies as Indaver Ireland, Wincanton and P&O. I spent 10 years working in this industry and gained experience in negotiating with customers and suppliers in order to meet the needs of both, monitoring the quality and quantity of goods as well as the efficiency and organisation of the movement and storage of products. I decided to move from my logistics career in 2009 to study Information Technology in D.I.T. This was a challenge for me to move my career path; however the lectures at the college helped me significantly with the ability to understand how IT can have an effect on how businesses operate. Following on from college I came to work for Oracle. This also presented challenges but the training I received and the encouragement from management helped me understand that the same business rules apply no matter what background you come from. I have also learnt that using my past experience in working with customers and suppliers in Logistics has helped me understand how to meet customer’s needs. Oracle has offered me excellent training such as Sandler Sales Techniques and John Costigan. I continue to get all the training that I need to develop my career. If you’re interested in joining the Business Development Group visit http://bit.ly/oracledirectcareers or follow our CareersatOracle Facebook Community! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

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• Calling All Agile Customers-Share Your Stories at the Upcoming PLM Summit

  - by Terri Hiskey

  Now that we've closed the door on another Oracle OpenWorld, planning is in full swing for the next PLM Summit, taking place February 4-6, 2013 in San Francisco, in conjunction with the Oracle Value Chain Summit. This event is a must-attend for all Agile PLM customers. We will be holding five tracks with over forty Agile PLM-focused sessions covering a range of topics and industries. If you'd like to be notified once registration is live for this event, be sure to sign up at www.oracle.com/goto/vcs. CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS: We are looking for some fresh, new customer stories to share with attendees. Read below for descriptions of the five tracks, and the suggested topics that we'd like to hear from customers. If you are interested in presenting at the PLM Summit (and getting a FREE pass to attend if your presentation is accepted!) send me an email at terri.hiskey-AT-oracle.com with: Your proposed session title and the track your session fits into 3-5 bullets of takeaways that attendees will get from your presentation Your complete contact information including name, title, company, telephone number and email The deadline for this call for presentations is Thursday, November 15, so get your submission in soon! PLM Track #1:  Product Insights and Best Practices This track will provide executive attendees and line of business managers with an overview of how Agile PLM has been deployed and used at customers to enable and manage critical product-related business processes including enterprise quality and supplier management, compliance, product cost management, portfolio management, commercialization and software lifecycle management. These sessions will also provide details around how to manage the development and rollout of the solutions and how to achieve and track value. Possible session topics: Software Lifecycle Management Enterprise Quality Management New Product Development Integrated Business Planning ECO effectivity planning Rapid Commercialization             Manage the Design to Release Process for Complex Configured Products PLM for Life Sciences Companies I (Compliant Data Set) PLM for Life Sciences Companies II (eMDR, UDI) Discrete CPG – Private Label Mgmt Cost Management and Strategic Sourcing IP Mgmt in the Semiconductor Industry Implementing the Enterprise Training Record using Agile PLM PLM Track #2: Product Deep Dives & Demos This track is aimed at line of business  and IT managers who would like to understand the benefits of expanding their PLM footprint. The sessions in this track will provide attendees with an up-close and in-depth look Agile PLM’s newer and exciting applications, including analytics and innovation management, and will detail features and functionality that are available in the latest version of Agile PLM Possible session topics: Oracle Product Lifecycle Analytics Integrating PLM with Engineering and Supply Chain Systems Streamline PLM Design to Manufacturing Processes with AutoVue Visualization Solutions         Achieve Environmental Compliance (REACH and ROHS) with Agile Product Governance & Compliance PIM Deep Dive Achieving Integrated Change Control with Agile PLM and E-Business Suite Deploying PLM at Small and Midsize Enterprises Enhancing Oracle PQM w/APQP and 8D functionality Advanced Roles and Privileges – Enabling ITAR Model Unit Effectivity Implementing REACH with 9.3.2 Deploying Job Functions, Functional Teams in 9.3.2 to Improve Your Approval Matrix PLM Track #3: Administration & Integrations This track will provide sessions for Agile administrators, managers and daily Agile PLM users who are preparing to upgrade or looking to extend the use of their current PLM implementation through AIA and process extensions. It will include deeper conversation about Agile PLM features and best practices on managing an Agile PLM infrastructure. Possible session topics: Expand the Value of your Agile Investment with Innovative Process Extension Ideas Ensuring Implementation & Upgrade Success Ensure the Integrity and Accuracy of Product Data Across the Enterprise              Maximize the Benefits of an Integrated Architecture with AIA Integrating your PLM Implementation with ERP               Infrastructure Optimization Expanding Your PLM Implementation PLM Administrator Open Forum Q&A/Discussion FDA Validation Best Practices Best Practices for Managing a large Agile Deployment: Clustering, Load Balancing and Firewalls PLM Track #4: Agile PLM for Process This track is aimed at attendees interested in or currently using Agile PLM for Process. The sessions in this track will go over new features and functionality available in the newest version of PLM for Process and will give attendees an overview on how PLM for Process is being used to manage critical business processes such as formulation, recipe and specification management Possible session topics: PLM for Process Strategy, Roadmap and Update New Product Development and Introduction Effective Product Supplier Collaboration             Leverage Agile Formulation and Compliance to Manage Cost, Compliance, Quality, Labeling and Nutrition Menu Management Innovation Data Management Food Safety/ Introduction of P4P Quality Mgmt PLM Track #5: Agile PLM and Innovation Management This track consists of five sessions, and is for attendees interested in learning more about Oracle’s Agile Innovation Management, an exciting new addition to the Agile PLM application family that redefines the industry’s scope of product lifecycle management. Oracle’s innovation solutions enable companies to collaborate in a focused way among various functional groups (marketing, sales, operations, engineering/R&D and sourcing), combining insights of customer needs/requirements, competition, available technologies, alternate design scenarios and portfolio constraints to deliver what customers truly value. The results are better products, higher margins, greater efficiencies, more satisfied customers and the increased ability to continuously innovate. Possible session topics: Product Innovation Management Solution Overview Product Requirements & Ideation Management Concept Design Management Product Lifecycle Portfolio Management Innovation as a Competitive Differentiator

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• SQL SERVER – Identify Numbers of Non Clustered Index on Tables for Entire Database

  - by pinaldave

  Here is the script which will give you numbers of non clustered indexes on any table in entire database. SELECT COUNT(i.TYPE) NoOfIndex, [schema_name] = s.name, table_name = o.name FROM sys.indexes i INNER JOIN sys.objects o ON i.[object_id] = o.[object_id] INNER JOIN sys.schemas s ON o.[schema_id] = s.[schema_id] WHERE o.TYPE IN ('U') AND i.TYPE = 2 GROUP BY s.name, o.name ORDER BY schema_name, table_name Here is the small story behind why this script was needed. I recently went to meet my friend in his office and he introduced me to his colleague in office as someone who is an expert in SQL Server Indexing. I politely said I am yet learning about Indexing and have a long way to go. My friend’s colleague right away said – he had a suggestion for me with related to Index. According to him he was looking for a script which will count all the non clustered on all the tables in the database and he was not able to find that on SQLAuthority.com. I was a bit surprised as I really do not remember all the details about what I have written so far. I quickly pull up my phone and tried to look for the script on my custom search engine and he was correct. I never wrote a script which will count all the non clustered indexes on tables in the whole database. Excessive indexing is not recommended in general. If you have too many indexes it will definitely negatively affect your performance. The above query will quickly give you details of numbers of indexes on tables on your entire database. You can quickly glance and use the numbers as reference. Please note that the number of the index is not a indication of bad indexes. There is a lot of wisdom I can write here but that is not the scope of this blog post. There are many different rules with Indexes and many different scenarios. For example – a table which is heap (no clustered index) is often not recommended on OLTP workload (here is the blog post to identify them), drop unused indexes with careful observation (here is the script for it), identify missing indexes and after careful testing add them (here is the script for it). Even though I have given few links here it is just the tip of the iceberg. If you follow only above four advices your ship may still sink. Those who wants to learn the subject in depth can watch the videos here after logging in. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Index, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• 2d tank movement and turret solution

  - by Phil

  Hi! I'm making a simple top-down tank game on the ipad where the user controls the movement of the tank with the left "joystick" and the rotation of the turret with the right one. I've spent several hours just trying to get it to work decently but now I turn to the pros :) I have two referencial objects, one for the movement and one for the rotation. The referencial objects always stay max two units away from the tank and I use them to tell the tank in what direction to move. I chose this approach to decouple movement and rotational behaviour from the raw input of the joysticks, I believe this will make it simpler to implement whatever behaviour I want for the tank. My problem is 1; the turret rotates the long way to the target. With this I mean that the target can be -5 degrees away in rotation and still it rotates 355 degrees instead of -5 degrees. I can't figure out why. The other problem is with the movement. It just doesn't feel right to have the tank turn while moving. I'd like to have a solution that would work as well for the AI as for the player. A blackbox function for the movement where the player only specifies in what direction it should move and it moves there under the constraints that are imposed on it. I am using the standard joystick class found in the Unity iPhone package. This is the code I'm using for the movement: public class TankFollow : MonoBehaviour { //Check angle difference and turn accordingly public GameObject followPoint; public float speed; public float turningSpeed; void Update() { transform.position = Vector3.Slerp(transform.position, followPoint.transform.position, speed * Time.deltaTime); //Calculate angle var forwardA = transform.forward; var forwardB = (followPoint.transform.position - transform.position); var angleA = Mathf.Atan2(forwardA.x, forwardA.z) * Mathf.Rad2Deg; var angleB = Mathf.Atan2(forwardB.x, forwardB.z) * Mathf.Rad2Deg; var angleDiff = Mathf.DeltaAngle(angleA, angleB); //print(angleDiff.ToString()); if (angleDiff > 5) { //Rotate to transform.Rotate(new Vector3(0, (-turningSpeed * Time.deltaTime),0)); //transform.rotation = new Quaternion(transform.rotation.x, transform.rotation.y + adjustment, transform.rotation.z, transform.rotation.w); } else if (angleDiff < 5) { transform.Rotate(new Vector3(0, (turningSpeed * Time.deltaTime),0)); //transform.rotation = new Quaternion(transform.rotation.x, transform.rotation.y + adjustment, transform.rotation.z, transform.rotation.w); } else { } transform.position = new Vector3(transform.position.x, 0, transform.position.z); } } And this is the code I'm using to rotate the turret: void LookAt() { var forwardA = -transform.right; var forwardB = (toLookAt.transform.position - transform.position); var angleA = Mathf.Atan2(forwardA.x, forwardA.z) * Mathf.Rad2Deg; var angleB = Mathf.Atan2(forwardB.x, forwardB.z) * Mathf.Rad2Deg; var angleDiff = Mathf.DeltaAngle(angleA, angleB); //print(angleDiff.ToString()); if (angleDiff - 180 > 1) { //Rotate to transform.Rotate(new Vector3(0, (turretSpeed * Time.deltaTime),0)); //transform.rotation = new Quaternion(transform.rotation.x, transform.rotation.y + adjustment, transform.rotation.z, transform.rotation.w); } else if (angleDiff - 180 < -1) { transform.Rotate(new Vector3(0, (-turretSpeed * Time.deltaTime),0)); //transform.rotation = new Quaternion(transform.rotation.x, transform.rotation.y + adjustment, transform.rotation.z, transform.rotation.w); print((angleDiff - 180).ToString()); } else { } } Since I want the turret reference point to turn in relation to the tank (when you rotate the body, the turret should follow and not stay locked on since it makes it impossible to control when you've got two thumbs to work with), I've made the TurretFollowPoint a child of the Turret object, which in turn is a child of the body. I'm thinking that I'm making it too difficult for myself with the reference points but I'm imagining that it's a good idea. Please be honest about this point. So I'll be grateful for any help I can get! I'm using Unity3d iPhone. Thanks!

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• What will be important in Training in 2011?

  - by anders.northeved

    Now that we have started a new year I would like to give you a list of topics I think we will be discussing in training and learning in 2011. Some of the areas we have discussed earlier will still be just as important in 2011: Time-to-knowledge Still one of the most important issues for the training department. Internal content production Related to time-to-knowledge. How do we convert internal knowledge to a format that can be used for teaching others? LMS integration How do we get our existing LMS fully integrated with our other ERP modules like HCM, Order Management, Finance, Payroll etc. Some areas have been discussed before, but we’ll focus more on these in 2011: Combining internal and external training A majority of training departments use a combination of external and internal training. Having the right mix is vital for the quality and efficiency for most training organizations. Certification More rules and regulations means managing all employee certifications is more important than ever. Evolving trends in 2011: Social Learning We have been talking about this for a long time, but 2011 will be the year where we will start using it for real (OK, I also said so last year – but this year I’m right…). Real-life use of SCORM 2004 Again a topic we have talked about for a long time, but we are now actually starting to use it to give learners a better e-learning experience. How do we engage and delight the learner? e-learning makes economical sense, it can be easy to understand, it is convenient – but how do we make it more engaging and delight our learners? How to include more types of training in LMS One of the main focus area of 2011 will be how to manage and measure mobile learning , on-the-job-training and other forms of training in the LMS. Mobile Learning With the ever growing use of smart phones mobile learning will be THE hot topic of 2011 in the training world. New topics we will begin discussing in 2011: What is beyond web 2.0 and social learning? - could it be content verification and personal accreditation? Why gaming will not be the silver bullet for all types of e-learning Many people believe gaming can be used for any kind of training, but the creation is too expensive and time consuming for most applications. Do you agree with these predictions? What are your own predictions? Let me see your comments! (photo: © Marti, photoxpress.com)

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• Understanding each other in web development

  - by Pete Hotchkin

  During my career I have been lucky enough to work in several different roles within web development with many extremely talented people, from incredible designers who were passionate about the placement of every pixel right through to server administrators and DBAs who were always measuring the improvements they were making to their queries in the smallest possible unit. The problem I always faced was that more often than not I was stuck in the middle trying to mediate between these different functions and enable each side to understand the other’s point of view. The main areas of contention that there have always been between these functional groups in my experience have been at 2 key points: during the build phase and then when there is a problem post-build. During both of these times it is often easier for someone to pass the buck onto someone else than spend the time to understand the other person’s perspective. Below is a quick look at two upcoming tools that will not only speed up the build phase for each function, but  also help when it comes to the issues faced once a site has been pushed live. In my experience a web project goes through several phases of development. The first of these is design, generally handled as Photoshop files which are then passed onto a front-end developer. This is the first point at which heated discussions can arise. One problem I’ve seen several times is that the designer doesn’t fully understand the platform constraints that need to be considered, and as a result has designed something that does not translate very well or is simply not possible. Working at Red Gate, I am lucky enough to be able to meet some amazing people and this happened just the other day when I was introduced to Neil Kinnish and Pete Nelson, the creators of what I believe could be a great asset in this designer-developer relationship, Mixture. Mixture allows the front end developer to quickly prototype a web page with built-in frameworks such as bootstrap. It’s not an IDE however, it just sits there in the background and monitors the project files in the background so every time you save a file from your favorite IDE, it will compile things like LESS, compact your JavaScript and the automatically refresh your test browser so you can see the changes instantly. I think one of the best parts of this however is a single button that pushes the changed files up to the web so the designer can instantly see how far the developer has got and the problem that he is facing at that time without the need to spend time setting up a remote server. I can see this being a real asset to remote teams where there needs to be a compromise between the designer and the front-end developer, or just to allow the designer to see how the build is progressing and suggest small alterations. Once the design has been built into the front end the designer’s job is generally done and there are no other points of contention between the designer and the other functions involved in building these web projects. As the project moves into the stage of integrating it into the back end and deploying it to the production server other functions start to be pulled in and other issues arise such as the back-end developer understanding the frameworks that they are using such as the routes that are in place in an MVC application or the number of database calls that the ORM layer is actually making. There are many tools out there that can actually help with these problems such as mini profiler that gives you a quick snapshot of what is going on directly in the browser. For a slightly more in-depth look at what is happening and to gain a deeper understanding of an application you may be working on though, you may want to consider Glimpse. Created by Nik and Anthony, it is an application that sits at the bottom of your browser (installed via NuGet) which can show you information about how your application is pieced together and how the information on screen is being delivered as it happens. With a wealth of community-built plugins such as one for nHibernate and linq2SQL (full list of plugins on NuGet). It can be customized directly to your own setup to truly delve into the code to see what is happening, and can help to reduce the number of confusing moments about whether it is your code that is going wrong or whether there is something more sinister happening directly on the server. All the tools that I have mentioned in this post help to do one thing above all, and that is to ease the barrier of understanding between the different functions that are involved in building and maintaining a web application. In my experience it is very easy to say “Well, that’s not my problem”, simply because the two functions involved don’t truly understand the other’s point of view. Software should not only be seen as a way to streamline our own working process or as a debugging tool but also a communication aid to improve the entire lifecycle of a web project. Glimpse is actually the project that I am the designer on and I would love to get your feedback if you do decide to try it out or if you would like to share your own experiences of working on web projects please fill in your details at https://www.surveymk.com/s/joinGlimpse  or add a comment below and I will get in touch with you.

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• Oracle Tutor: Are Documented Policies and Procedures Necessary?

  - by emily.chorba(at)oracle.com

  People refer to policies and procedures with a variety of expressions including business process documentation, standard operating procedures (SOPs), department operating procedures (DOPs), work instructions, specifications, and so on. For our purpose here, policies and procedures mean a set of documents that describe an organization's policies (rules) for operation and the procedures (containing tasks performed by individuals) to fulfill the policies. When an organization documents policies and procedures properly, they can be the strategic link between an organization's vision and its daily operations. Policies and procedures are often necessary because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental regulations. One example of an external requirement would be the American Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requiring full openness in accounting practices. Here are a few other examples of business issues that necessitate writing policies and procedures: Operational needs -- policies and procedures ensure fundamental processes are performed in a consistent way that meets the organization's needs. Risk management -- policies and procedures are identified by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) as a control activity needed to manage risk. Continuous improvement -- Procedures can improve processes by building important internal communication practices. Compliance -- Well-defined and documented processes (i.e. procedures, training materials) along with records that demonstrate process capability can demonstrate an effective internal control system compliant with regulations and standards. In addition to helping with the above business issues, policies and procedures can support the basic needs of employees and management. Well documented and easy to access policies and procedures: allow employees to understand their roles and responsibilities within predefined limits and to stay on the accepted path indentified by the organization's management provide clarity to the reader when dealing with accountability issues or activities that are of critical importance allow management to guide operations without constant intervention allow managers to control events in advance and prevent employees from making costly mistakes Can you think of another way organizations can meet the above needs of management and their employees in place of documented Policies and Procedures? Probably not, but we would love your feedback on this question. And that my friends, is why documented policies and procedures are very necessary. Learn MoreFor more information about Tutor, visit Oracle.com or the Tutor Blog. Post your questions at the Tutor Forum. Emily ChorbaPrinciple Product Manager Oracle Tutor & BPM

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• How To: Automatically Remove www from a Domain in IIS7

  I recently moved the DevMavens.com site from one server to another and needed to ensure that the www.devmavens.com domain correctly redirected to simply devmavens.com.  This is important for SEO reasons (you dont want multiple domains to refer to the same content) and its generally better to use the shorter URL (www is so 20th century) rather than wasting 4 characters for zero gain. My friend and IIS guru Scott Forsyth pointed me to his blog post on how to set up IIS URL Rewriting.  To get started, you simply install IIS Rewrite from this link using the super awesome Web Platform Installer.  You should get something like this when youre done with the install: If you already have IIS Manager open, you may need to close it and re-open it before you see the URL Rewrite module.  Once you do, you should see it listed for any given Site under the IIS section: Double click on the URL Rewrite icon, and then choose the Add Rule(s) action.  You can simply create a blank rule, and name it Redirect from www to domain.com.  Essentially were following the instructions from Scott Forsyths post, but in reverse since hes showing how to add 4 useless characters to the URL and Im interested in removing them. After adding the name, well set the Match Url sections Using dropdown to Wildcards and specify a pattern of simply * to match anything. In the Conditions section we need to add a new condition with an Input of {HTTP_HOST} such that it should match the pattern www.devmavens.com (replace this with your domain). Ignore the Server Variables section. Set the action to Redirect and the Redirect URL to http://devmavens.com/{R:0} (replace with your domain).  The {R:0} will be replaced with whatever the user had entered.  So if they were going to http://www.devmavens.com/default.aspx theyll now be going to http://devmavens.com/default.aspx. The complete Inbound Rule should look like this: Thats it!  Test it out and make sure you havent accidentally used my exact URLs and started sending all of your users to devmavens.com! :)  Be sure to read Scotts post for more information on how to use regular expressions for your rules, and how to set them up via web.config rather than IIS manager. Did you know that DotNetSlackers also publishes .net articles written by top known .net Authors? We already have over 80 articles in several categories including Silverlight. Take a look: here.

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• What&rsquo;s new in VS.10 &amp; TFS.10?

  - by johndoucette

  Getting my geek on… I have decided to call the products VS.10 (Visual Studio 2010), TP.10 (Test Professional 2010),  and TFS.10 (Team Foundation Server 2010) Thanks Neno Loje. What's new in Visual Studio & Team Foundation Server 2010? Focusing on Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) ALM-related parts: Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 NEW: IntelliTrace® (aka the historical debugger) NEW: Architecture Tools New Project Type: Modeling Project UML Diagrams UML Use Case Diagram UML Class Diagram UML Sequence Diagram (supports reverse enginneering) UML Activity Diagram UML Component Diagram Layer Diagram (with Team Build integration for layer validation) Architecuture Explorer Dependency visualization DGML Web & Load Tests Visual Studio Premium 2010 NEW: Architecture Tools Read-only model viewer Development Tools Code Analysis New Rules like SQL Injection detection Rule Sets Code Profiler Multi-Tier Profiling JScript Profiling Profiling applications on virtual machines in sampling mode Code Metrics Test Tools Code Coverage NEW: Test Impact Analysis NEW: Coded UI Test Database Tools (DB schema versioning & deployment) Visual Studio Professional 2010 Debuger Mixed Mode Debugging for 64-bit Applications Export/Import of Breakpoints and data tips Visual Studio Test Professional 2010 Microsoft Test Manager (MTM, formerly known as "Camano")) Fast Forward Testing Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 Work Item Tracking and Project Management New MSF templatesfor Agile and CMMI (V 5.0) Hierarchical Work Items Custom Work Item Link Types Ready to use Excel agile project management workbooks for managing your backlogs (including capacity planing) Convert Work Item query to an Excel report MS Excel integration Support for Work Item hierarchies Formatting is preserved after doing a 'Refresh' MS Project integration Hierarchy and successor/predecessor info is now synchronized NEW: Test Case Management Version Control Public Workspaces Branch & Merge Visualization Tracking of Changesets & Work Items Gated Check-In Team Build Build Controllers and Agents Workflow 4-based build process NEW: Lab Management (only a pre-release is avaiable at the moment!) Project Portal & Reporting Dashboards (on SharePoint Portal) Burndown Chart TFS Web Parts (to show data from TFS) Administration & Operations Topology enhancements Application tier network load balancing (NLB) SQL Server scale out Improved Sharepoint flexibility Report Server flexibility Zone support Kerberos support Separation of TFS and SQL administration Setup Separate install from configure Improved installation wizards Optional components Simplified account requirements Improved Reporting Services configuration Setup consolidation Upgrading from previous TFS versions Improved IIS flexibility Administration Consolidation of command line tools User rename support Project Collections Archive/restore individual project collections Move Team Project Collections Server consolidation Team Project Collection Split Team Project Collection Isolation Server request cancellation Licensing: TFS server license included in MSDN subscriptions Removed features (former features not part of Visual Studio 2010): Debug » Start With Application Verifier Object Test Bench IntelliSense for C++ / CLI Debugging support for SQL 2000

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• Separating physics and game logic from UI code

  - by futlib

  I'm working on a simple block-based puzzle game. The game play consists pretty much of moving blocks around in the game area, so it's a trivial physics simulation. My implementation, however, is in my opinion far from ideal and I'm wondering if you can give me any pointers on how to do it better. I've split the code up into two areas: Game logic and UI, as I did with a lot of puzzle games: The game logic is responsible for the general rules of the game (e.g. the formal rule system in chess) The UI displays the game area and pieces (e.g. chess board and pieces) and is responsible for animations (e.g. animated movement of chess pieces) The game logic represents the game state as a logical grid, where each unit is one cell's width/height on the grid. So for a grid of width 6, you can move a block of width 2 four times until it collides with the boundary. The UI takes this grid, and draws it by converting logical sizes into pixel sizes (that is, multiplies it by a constant). However, since the game has hardly any game logic, my game logic layer [1] doesn't have much to do except collision detection. Here's how it works: Player starts to drag a piece UI asks game logic for the legal movement area of that piece and lets the player drag it within that area Player lets go of a piece UI snaps the piece to the grid (so that it is at a valid logical position) UI tells game logic the new logical position (via mutator methods, which I'd rather avoid) I'm not quite happy with that: I'm writing unit tests for my game logic layer, but not the UI, and it turned out all the tricky code is in the UI: Stopping the piece from colliding with others or the boundary and snapping it to the grid. I don't like the fact that the UI tells the game logic about the new state, I would rather have it call a movePieceLeft() method or something like that, as in my other games, but I didn't get far with that approach, because the game logic knows nothing about the dragging and snapping that's possible in the UI. I think the best thing to do would be to get rid of my game logic layer and implement a physics layer instead. I've got a few questions regarding that: Is such a physics layer common, or is it more typical to have the game logic layer do this? Would the snapping to grid and piece dragging code belong to the UI or the physics layer? Would such a physics layer typically work with pixel sizes or with some kind of logical unit, like my game logic layer? I've seen event-based collision detection in a game's code base once, that is, the player would just drag the piece, the UI would render that obediently and notify the physics system, and the physics system would call a onCollision() method on the piece once a collision is detected. What is more common? This approach or asking for the legal movement area first? [1] layer is probably not the right word for what I mean, but subsystem sounds overblown and class is misguiding, because each layer can consist of several classes.

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• Using SQL Source Control and Vault Professional Part 4

  - by Ajarn Mark Caldwell

  Two weeks ago I upgraded our installation of Fortress to the latest version, which is now named Vault Professional.  This is the version of Vault (i.e. Vault Standard 5.1 / Vault Professional 5.1) that will be officially supported with Red-Gate SQL Source Control 2.1.  While the folks at Red-Gate did a fantastic job of working with me to get SQL Source Control to work with the older Fortress version, we weren’t going to just sit on that.  There are a couple of things that Vault Professional cleaned up for us, such as improved integration with Visual Studio 2010, so it was a win all around. Shortly after that upgrade, I received notice from Red-Gate that they had a new Early Access version of SQL Source Control available that included the ability to source control static data.  The idea here is that you probably have a few fairly static lookup tables in your system, and those data values are similar in concept to source code, and should be versioned in your source control management system also.  I agree with this, but please be wise…somebody out there is bound to try to use this feature as their disaster recovery for their entire database, and that is NOT the purpose.  First off, you should never have your PROD (or LIVE, whatever you call it) system attached to source control.  Source Control is for development, not for PROD systems.  Second, use the features that are intended for this purpose, such as BACKUP and RESTORE. Laying that tangent aside, it is great that now you can include these critical values in your repository and make them part of a deployment process.  As you would guess, SQL Source Control uses SQL Data Compare to create the data change scripts just like it uses SQL Compare to create the schema change scripts.  Once again, they did a very good job with the integration to their other products.  At this point we are really starting to see some good payback on our investment in the full SQL Developer Bundle.  Those products were worth the investment back when we only used them sporadically for troubleshooting and DBA analysis, but now with SQL Source Control, they are becoming everyday-use products for the development team. I like this software (SQL Source Control) so much that I am about to break my own rules and distribute it to my team to use even though it is still in beta.  This is the first time that I have approved the use of any beta software in a production scenario (actively building our next versions of internal software) but I predict that the usability and productivity gain of using SQL Source Control over manual scripting is worth the risk.  Of course, I have also put this beta software through its paces pretty well to be comfortable with it, and Red-Gate has proven their responsiveness to issues that came up in my early beta testing, and so I am willing to bet on their continued support.  Likewise, SourceGear, the maker of Vault Professional, has proven itself to me as well, and so the combination of SQL Source Control with Vault Professional is the new standard for my development team.

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• DBCC CHECKDB (BatmanDb, REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS) &ndash; Are you Feeling Lucky?

  - by David Totzke

  I’m currently working for a client on a PowerBuilder to WPF migration.  It’s one of those “I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you” kind of clients and the quick-lime pits are currently occupied by the EMC tech…but I’ve said too much already. At approximately 3 or 4 pm that day users of the Batman[1] application here in Gotham[1] started to experience problems accessing the application.  Batman[2] is a document management system here that also integrates with the ERP system.  Very little goes on here that doesn’t involve Batman in some way.  The errors being received seemed to point to network issues (TCP protocol error, connection forcibly closed by the remote host etc…) but the real issue was much more insidious. Connecting to the database via SSMS and performing selects on certain tables underlying the application areas that were having problems started to reveal the issue.  You couldn’t do a SELECT * FROM MyTable without it bombing and giving the same error noted above.  A run of DBCC CHECKDB revealed 14 tables with corruption.  One of the tables with issues was the Document table.  Pretty central to a “document management” system.  Information was obtained from IT that a single drive in the SAN went bad in the night.  A new drive was in place and was working fine.  The partition that held the Batman database is configured for RAID Level 5 so a single drive failure shouldn’t have caused any trouble and yet, the database is corrupted.  They do hourly incremental backups here so the first thing done was to try a restore.  A restore of the most recent backup failed so they worked backwards until they hit a good point.  This successful restore was for a backup at 3AM – a full day behind.  This time also roughly corresponds with the time the SAN started to report the drive failure.  The plot thickens… I got my hands on the output from DBCC CHECKDB and noticed a pattern.  What’s sad is that nobody that should have noticed the pattern in the DBCC output did notice.  There was a rush to do things to try and recover the data before anybody really understood what was wrong with it in the first place.  Cooler heads must prevail in these circumstances and some investigation should be done and a plan of action laid out or you could end up making things worse[3].  DBCC CHECKDB also told us that: repair_allow_data_loss is the minimum repair level for the errors found by DBCC CHECKDB Yikes.  That means that the database is so messed up that you’re definitely going to lose some stuff when you repair it to get it back to a consistent state.  All the more reason to do a little more investigation into the problem.  Rescuing this database is preferable to having to export all of the data possible from this database into a new one.  This is a fifteen year old application with about seven hundred tables.  There are TRIGGERS everywhere not to mention the referential integrity constraints to deal with.  Only fourteen of the tables have an issue.  We have a good backup that is missing the last 24 hours of business which means we could have a “do-over” of yesterday but that’s not a very palatable option either. All of the affected tables had TEXT columns and all of the errors were about LOB data types and orphaned off-row data which basically means TEXT, IMAGE or NTEXT columns.  If we did a SELECT on an affected table and excluded those columns, we got all of the rows.  We exported that data into a separate database.  Things are looking up.  Working on a copy of the production database we then ran DBCC CHECKDB with REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS and that “fixed” everything up.   The allow data loss option will delete the bad rows.  This isn’t too horrible as we have all of those rows minus the text fields from out earlier export.  Now I could LEFT JOIN to the exported data to find the missing rows and INSERT them minus the TEXT column data. We had the restored data from the good 3AM backup that we could now JOIN to and, with fingers crossed, recover the missing TEXT column information.  We got lucky in that all of the affected rows were old and in the end we didn’t lose anything.  :O  All of the row counts along the way worked out and it looks like we dodged a major bullet here. We’ve heard back from EMC and it turns out the SAN firmware that they were running here is apparently buggy.  This thing is only a couple of months old.  Grrr…. They dispatched a technician that night to come and update it .  That explains why RAID didn’t save us. All-in-all this could have been a lot worse.  Given the root cause here, they basically won the lottery in not losing anything. Here are a few links to some helpful posts on the SQL Server Engine blog.  I love the title of the first one: Which part of 'REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS' isn't clear? CHECKDB (Part 8): Can repair fix everything? (in fact, read the whole series) Ta da! Emergency mode repair (we didn’t have to resort to this one thank goodness)   Dave Just because I can…   [1] Names have been changed to protect the guilty. [2] I'm Batman. [3] And if I'm the coolest head in the room, you've got even bigger problems...

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• Achieving Zero Downtime Deployment

  - by MattW

  I am trying to achieve zero downtime deployments so I can deploy less during off hours and more during "slower" hours - or anytime, in theory. My current setup, somewhat simplified: Web Server A (.NET App) Web Server B (.NET App) Database Server (SQL Server) My current deployment process: "Stop" the sites on both Web Server A and B Upgrade the database schema for the version of the app being deployed Update Web Server A Update Web Server B Bring everything back online Current Problem This leads to a small amount of downtime each month - about 30 mins. I do this during off hours, so it isn't a huge problem - but it is something I'd like to get away from. Also - there is no way to really go 'back'. I don't generally make rollback DB scripts - only upgrade scripts. Leveraging The Load Balancer I'd love to be able to upgrade one Web Server at a time. Take Web Server A out of the load balancer, upgrade it, put it back online, then repeat for Web Server B. The problem is the database. Each version of my software will need to execute against a different version of the database - so I am sort of "stuck". Possible Solution A current solution I am considering is adopting the following rules: Never delete a database table. Never delete a database column. Never rename a database column. Never reorder a column. Every stored procedure must be versioned. Meaning - 'spFindAllThings' will become 'spFindAllThings_2' when it is edited. Then it becomes 'spFindAllThings_3' when edited again. Same rule applies to views. While, this seems a bit extreme - I think it solves the problem. Each version of the application will be hitting the DB in a non breaking way. The code expects certain results from the views/stored procedures - and this keeps that 'contract' valid. The problem is - it just seeps sloppy. I know I can clean up old stored procedures after the app is deployed for awhile, but it just feels dirty. Also - it depends on all of the developers following these rule, which will mostly happen, but I imagine someone will make a mistake. Finally - My Question Is this sloppy or hacky? Is anybody else doing it this way? How are other people solving this problem?

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• SQL SERVER – Inviting Ideas for SQL in Sixty Seconds – 12/12/12

  - by pinaldave

  Today is 12/12/12 – I am not sure when will I write this kind of date again – maybe never. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime when we have the same date, month and year all have same digit. December 12th is one of the most fantastic day in my personal life. Four years ago, this day I got married to my wife – Nupur Dave.  Here are photos of our wedding (Dec 12, 2008). Here is a very interesting photo of myself earlier this year. It is not photoshoped or modified photo. The only modification I have done here is to add arrow and speech bubble. Every Wednesday I tried to put one SQL in Sixty Seconds Video. The journey has been fantastic and so far I have put a total of 35 SQL in Sixty Seconds Video. The goal of the video is to learn something in 1 minute. In our daily life we are all very busy and hardly have time for anything. No matter how much we are busy – we all have one minute of time. Sometime we wait for a minute in elevators, at the escalator, at a coffee shop, or just waiting for our phone reboot. Today is a fantastic day – 12/12/12. Let me invite all of you submits SQL in Sixty Seconds idea. If I like your idea and create a sixty second video over it – you will win surprise learning material from me. There are two very simple rules of the contest: - I should have not have already recorded the tip. The tip should be descriptive. Do not just suggest to cover “Performance Tuning” or “How to Create Index” or “More of reporting services”. The tip should have around 100 words of description explaining SQL Tip. The contest is open forever. The winner will be announced whenever I use the tip to convert to video. If I use your tip, I will for sure mention in the blog post that it is inspired from your suggestion. Meanwhile, do not forget to subscribe YouTube Channel. Here are my latest three videos from SQL in Sixty Seconds. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: About Me, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL in Sixty Seconds, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology, Video

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• Responding to Invites

  - by Daniel Moth

  Following up from my post about Sending Outlook Invites here is a shorter one on how to respond. Whatever your choice (ACCEPT, TENTATIVE, DECLINE), if the sender has not unchecked the "Request Response" option, then send your response. Always send your response. Even if you think the sender made a mistake in keeping it on, send your response. Seriously, not responding is plain rude. If you knew about the meeting, and you are happy investing your time in it, and the time and location work for you, and there is an implicit/explicit agenda, then ACCEPT and send it. If one or more of those things don't work for you then you have a few options. Send a DECLINE explaining why. Reply with email to ask for further details or for a change to be made. If you don’t receive a response to your email, send a DECLINE when you've waited enough. Send a TENTATIVE if you haven't made up your mind yet. Hint: if they really require you there, they'll respond asking "why tentative" and you have a discussion about it. When you deem appropriate, instead of the options above, you can also use the counter propose feature of Outlook but IMO that feature has questionable interaction model and UI (on both sender and recipient) so many people get confused by it. BTW, two of my outlook rules are relevant to invites. The first one auto-marks as read the ACCEPT responses if there is no comment in the body of the accept (I check later who has accepted and who hasn't via the "Tracking" button of the invite). I don’t have a rule for the DECLINE and TENTATIVE cause typically I follow up with folks that send those.   The second rule ensures that all Invites go to a specific folder. That is the first folder I see when I triage email. It is also the only folder which I have configured to show a count of all items inside it, rather than the unread count - when sending a response to an invite the item disappears from the folder and hence it is empty and not nagging me. Comments about this post by Daniel Moth welcome at the original blog.

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• Joins in single-table queries

  - by Rob Farley

  Tables are only metadata. They don’t store data. I’ve written something about this before, but I want to take a viewpoint of this idea around the topic of joins, especially since it’s the topic for T-SQL Tuesday this month. Hosted this time by Sebastian Meine (@sqlity), who has a whole series on joins this month. Good for him – it’s a great topic. In that last post I discussed the fact that we write queries against tables, but that the engine turns it into a plan against indexes. My point wasn’t simply that a table is actually just a Clustered Index (or heap, which I consider just a special type of index), but that data access always happens against indexes – never tables – and we should be thinking about the indexes (specifically the non-clustered ones) when we write our queries. I described the scenario of looking up phone numbers, and how it never really occurs to us that there is a master list of phone numbers, because we think in terms of the useful non-clustered indexes that the phone companies provide us, but anyway – that’s not the point of this post. So a table is metadata. It stores information about the names of columns and their data types. Nullability, default values, constraints, triggers – these are all things that define the table, but the data isn’t stored in the table. The data that a table describes is stored in a heap or clustered index, but it goes further than this. All the useful data is going to live in non-clustered indexes. Remember this. It’s important. Stop thinking about tables, and start thinking about indexes. So let’s think about tables as indexes. This applies even in a world created by someone else, who doesn’t have the best indexes in mind for you. I’m sure you don’t need me to explain Covering Index bit – the fact that if you don’t have sufficient columns “included” in your index, your query plan will either have to do a Lookup, or else it’ll give up using your index and use one that does have everything it needs (even if that means scanning it). If you haven’t seen that before, drop me a line and I’ll run through it with you. Or go and read a post I did a long while ago about the maths involved in that decision. So – what I’m going to tell you is that a Lookup is a join. When I run SELECT CustomerID FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader WHERE SalesPersonID = 285; against the AdventureWorks2012 get the following plan: I’m sure you can see the join. Don’t look in the query, it’s not there. But you should be able to see the join in the plan. It’s an Inner Join, implemented by a Nested Loop. It’s pulling data in from the Index Seek, and joining that to the results of a Key Lookup. It clearly is – the QO wouldn’t call it that if it wasn’t really one. It behaves exactly like any other Nested Loop (Inner Join) operator, pulling rows from one side and putting a request in from the other. You wouldn’t have a problem accepting it as a join if the query were slightly different, such as SELECT sod.OrderQty FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader AS soh JOIN Sales.SalesOrderDetail as sod on sod.SalesOrderID = soh.SalesOrderID WHERE soh.SalesPersonID = 285; Amazingly similar, of course. This one is an explicit join, the first example was just as much a join, even thought you didn’t actually ask for one. You need to consider this when you’re thinking about your queries. But it gets more interesting. Consider this query: SELECT SalesOrderID FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader WHERE SalesPersonID = 276 AND CustomerID = 29522; It doesn’t look like there’s a join here either, but look at the plan. That’s not some Lookup in action – that’s a proper Merge Join. The Query Optimizer has worked out that it can get the data it needs by looking in two separate indexes and then doing a Merge Join on the data that it gets. Both indexes used are ordered by the column that’s indexed (one on SalesPersonID, one on CustomerID), and then by the CIX key SalesOrderID. Just like when you seek in the phone book to Farley, the Farleys you have are ordered by FirstName, these seek operations return the data ordered by the next field. This order is SalesOrderID, even though you didn’t explicitly put that column in the index definition. The result is two datasets that are ordered by SalesOrderID, making them very mergeable. Another example is the simple query SELECT CustomerID FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader WHERE SalesPersonID = 276; This one prefers a Hash Match to a standard lookup even! This isn’t just ordinary index intersection, this is something else again! Just like before, we could imagine it better with two whole tables, but we shouldn’t try to distinguish between joining two tables and joining two indexes. The Query Optimizer can see (using basic maths) that it’s worth doing these particular operations using these two less-than-ideal indexes (because of course, the best indexese would be on both columns – a composite such as (SalesPersonID, CustomerID – and it would have the SalesOrderID column as part of it as the CIX key still). You need to think like this too. Not in terms of excusing single-column indexes like the ones in AdventureWorks2012, but in terms of having a picture about how you’d like your queries to run. If you start to think about what data you need, where it’s coming from, and how it’s going to be used, then you will almost certainly write better queries. …and yes, this would include when you’re dealing with regular joins across multiples, not just against joins within single table queries.

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