sql function - Page 2507

Why isn't my operator overloading working properly?

- by Mithrax

I have the following Polynomial class I'm working on: #include <iostream> using namespace std; class Polynomial { //define private member functions private: int coef[100]; // array of coefficients // coef[0] would hold all coefficients of x^0 // coef[1] would hold all x^1 // coef[n] = x^n ... int deg; // degree of polynomial (0 for the zero polynomial) //define public member functions public: Polynomial::Polynomial() //default constructor { for ( int i = 0; i < 100; i++ ) { coef[i] = 0; } } void set ( int a , int b ) //setter function { //coef = new Polynomial[b+1]; coef[b] = a; deg = degree(); } int degree() { int d = 0; for ( int i = 0; i < 100; i++ ) if ( coef[i] != 0 ) d = i; return d; } void print() { for ( int i = 99; i >= 0; i-- ) { if ( coef[i] != 0 ) { cout << coef[i] << "x^" << i << " "; } } } // use Horner's method to compute and return the polynomial evaluated at x int evaluate ( int x ) { int p = 0; for ( int i = deg; i >= 0; i-- ) p = coef[i] + ( x * p ); return p; } // differentiate this polynomial and return it Polynomial differentiate() { if ( deg == 0 ) { Polynomial t; t.set ( 0, 0 ); return t; } Polynomial deriv;// = new Polynomial ( 0, deg - 1 ); deriv.deg = deg - 1; for ( int i = 0; i < deg; i++ ) deriv.coef[i] = ( i + 1 ) * coef[i + 1]; return deriv; } Polynomial Polynomial::operator + ( Polynomial b ) { Polynomial a = *this; //a is the poly on the L.H.S Polynomial c; for ( int i = 0; i <= a.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] += a.coef[i]; for ( int i = 0; i <= b.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] += b.coef[i]; c.deg = c.degree(); return c; } Polynomial Polynomial::operator += ( Polynomial b ) { Polynomial a = *this; //a is the poly on the L.H.S Polynomial c; for ( int i = 0; i <= a.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] += a.coef[i]; for ( int i = 0; i <= b.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] += b.coef[i]; c.deg = c.degree(); for ( int i = 0; i < 100; i++) a.coef[i] = c.coef[i]; a.deg = a.degree(); return a; } Polynomial Polynomial::operator -= ( Polynomial b ) { Polynomial a = *this; //a is the poly on the L.H.S Polynomial c; for ( int i = 0; i <= a.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] += a.coef[i]; for ( int i = 0; i <= b.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] -= b.coef[i]; c.deg = c.degree(); for ( int i = 0; i < 100; i++) a.coef[i] = c.coef[i]; a.deg = a.degree(); return a; } Polynomial Polynomial::operator *= ( Polynomial b ) { Polynomial a = *this; //a is the poly on the L.H.S Polynomial c; for ( int i = 0; i <= a.deg; i++ ) for ( int j = 0; j <= b.deg; j++ ) c.coef[i+j] += ( a.coef[i] * b.coef[j] ); c.deg = c.degree(); for ( int i = 0; i < 100; i++) a.coef[i] = c.coef[i]; a.deg = a.degree(); return a; } Polynomial Polynomial::operator - ( Polynomial b ) { Polynomial a = *this; //a is the poly on the L.H.S Polynomial c; for ( int i = 0; i <= a.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] += a.coef[i]; for ( int i = 0; i <= b.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] -= b.coef[i]; c.deg = c.degree(); return c; } Polynomial Polynomial::operator * ( Polynomial b ) { Polynomial a = *this; //a is the poly on the L.H.S Polynomial c; for ( int i = 0; i <= a.deg; i++ ) for ( int j = 0; j <= b.deg; j++ ) c.coef[i+j] += ( a.coef[i] * b.coef[j] ); c.deg = c.degree(); return c; } }; int main() { Polynomial a, b, c, d; a.set ( 7, 4 ); //7x^4 a.set ( 1, 2 ); //x^2 b.set ( 6, 3 ); //6x^3 b.set ( -3, 2 ); //-3x^2 c = a - b; // (7x^4 + x^2) - (6x^3 - 3x^2) a -= b; c.print(); cout << "\n"; a.print(); cout << "\n"; c = a * b; // (7x^4 + x^2) * (6x^3 - 3x^2) c.print(); cout << "\n"; d = c.differentiate().differentiate(); d.print(); cout << "\n"; cout << c.evaluate ( 2 ); //substitue x with 2 cin.get(); } Now, I have the "-" operator overloaded and it works fine: Polynomial Polynomial::operator - ( Polynomial b ) { Polynomial a = *this; //a is the poly on the L.H.S Polynomial c; for ( int i = 0; i <= a.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] += a.coef[i]; for ( int i = 0; i <= b.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] -= b.coef[i]; c.deg = c.degree(); return c; } However, I'm having difficulty with my "-=" operator: Polynomial Polynomial::operator -= ( Polynomial b ) { Polynomial a = *this; //a is the poly on the L.H.S Polynomial c; for ( int i = 0; i <= a.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] += a.coef[i]; for ( int i = 0; i <= b.deg; i++ ) c.coef[i] -= b.coef[i]; c.deg = c.degree(); // overwrite value of 'a' with the newly computed 'c' before returning 'a' for ( int i = 0; i < 100; i++) a.coef[i] = c.coef[i]; a.deg = a.degree(); return a; } I just slightly modified my "-" operator method to overwrite the value in 'a' and return 'a', and just use the 'c' polynomial as a temp. I've put in some debug print statement and I confirm that at the time of computation, both: c = a - b; and a -= b; are computed to the same value. However, when I go to print them, their results are different: Polynomial a, b; a.set ( 7, 4 ); //7x^4 a.set ( 1, 2 ); //x^2 b.set ( 6, 3 ); //6x^3 b.set ( -3, 2 ); //-3x^2 c = a - b; // (7x^4 + x^2) - (6x^3 - 3x^2) a -= b; c.print(); cout << "\n"; a.print(); cout << "\n"; Result: 7x^4 -6x^3 4x^2 7x^4 1x^2 Why is my c = a - b and a -= b giving me different results when I go to print them?

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A Linker Resolution Problem in a C++ Program

- by Vlad

We have two source files, a.cpp and b.cpp and a header file named constructions.h. We define a simple C++ class with the same name (class M, for instance) in each source file, respectively. The file a.cpp looks like this: #include "iostream" #include "constructions.h" class M { int i; public: M(): i( -1 ) { cout << "M() from a.cpp" << endl; } M( int a ) : i( a ) { cout << "M(int) from a.cpp, i: " << i << endl; } M( const M& b ) { i = b.i; cout << "M(M&) from a.cpp, i: " << i << endl; } M& operator = ( M& b ) { i = b.i; cout << "M::operator =(), i: " << i << endl; return *this; } virtual ~M(){ cout << "M::~M() from a.cpp" << endl; } operator int() { cout << "M::operator int() from a.cpp" << endl; return i; } }; void test1() { cout << endl << "Example 1" << endl; M b1; cout << "b1: " << b1 << endl; cout << endl << "Example 2" << endl; M b2 = 5; cout << "b2: " << b2 << endl; cout << endl << "Example 3" << endl; M b3(6); cout << "b3: " << b3 << endl; cout << endl << "Example 4" << endl; M b4 = b1; cout << "b4: " << b4 << endl; cout << endl << "Example 5" << endl; M b5; b5 = b2; cout << "b5: " << b5 << endl; } int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { test1(); test2(); cin.get(); return 0; } The file b.cpp looks like this: #include "iostream" #include "constructions.h" class M { public: M() { cout << "M() from b.cpp" << endl; } ~M() { cout << "M::~M() from b.cpp" << endl; } }; void test2() { M m; } Finally, the file constructions.h contains only the declaration of the function "test2()" (which is defined in "b.cpp"), so that it can be used in "a.cpp": using namespace std; void test2(); We compiled and linked these three files using either VS2005 or the GNU 4.1.0 compiler and the 2.16.91 ld linker under Suse. The results are surprising and different between the two build environments. But in both cases it looks like the linker gets confused about which definition of the class M it should use. If we comment out the definition of test2() from b.cpp and its invocation from a.cpp, then all the C++ objects created in test1() are of the type M defined in a.cpp and the program executes normally under Windows and Suse. Here is the run output under Windows: Example 1 M() from a.cpp M::operator int() from a.cpp b1: -1 Example 2 M(int) from a.cpp, i: 5 M::operator int() from a.cpp b2: 5 Example 3 M(int) from a.cpp, i: 6 M::operator int() from a.cpp b3: 6 Example 4 M(M&) from a.cpp, i: -1 M::operator int() from a.cpp b4: -1 Example 5 M() from a.cpp M::operator =(), i: 5 M::operator int() from a.cpp b5: 5 M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp If we enable the definition of test2() in "b.cpp" but comment out its invocation from main(), then the results are different. Under Suse, the C++ objects created in test1() are still of the type M defined in a.cpp and the program still seems to execute normally. The VS2005 versions behave differently in Debug or Release mode: in Debug mode, the program still seems to execute normally, but in Release mode, b1 and b5 are of the type M defined in b.cpp (as the constructor invocation proves), although the other member functions called (including the destructor), belong to M defined in a.cpp. Here is the run output for the executable built in Release mode: Example 1 M() from b.cpp M::operator int() from a.cpp b1: 4206872 Example 2 M(int) from a.cpp, i: 5 M::operator int() from a.cpp b2: 5 Example 3 M(int) from a.cpp, i: 6 M::operator int() from a.cpp b3: 6 Example 4 M(M&) from a.cpp, i: 4206872 M::operator int() from a.cpp b4: 4206872 Example 5 M() from b.cpp M::operator =(), i: 5 M::operator int() from a.cpp b5: 5 M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp Finally, if we allow the call to test2() from main, the program misbehaves in all circumstances (that is under Suse and under Windows in both Debug and Release modes). The Windows-Debug version finds a memory corruption around the variable m, defined in test2(). Here is the Windows output in Release mode (test2() seems to have created an instance of M defined in b.cpp): Example 1 M() from b.cpp M::operator int() from a.cpp b1: 4206872 Example 2 M(int) from a.cpp, i: 5 M::operator int() from a.cpp b2: 5 Example 3 M(int) from a.cpp, i: 6 M::operator int() from a.cpp b3: 6 Example 4 M(M&) from a.cpp, i: 4206872 M::operator int() from a.cpp b4: 4206872 Example 5 M() from b.cpp M::operator =(), i: 5 M::operator int() from a.cpp b5: 5 M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M() from b.cpp M::~M() from b.cpp And here is the Suse output. The objects created in test1() are of the type M defined in a.cpp but the object created in test2() is also of the type M defined in a.cpp, unlike the object created under Windows which is of the type M defined in b.cpp. The program crashed in the end: Example 1 M() from a.cpp M::operator int() from a.cpp b1: -1 Example 2 M(int) from a.cpp, i: 5 M::operator int() from a.cpp b2: 5 Example 3 M(int) from a.cpp, i: 6 M::operator int() from a.cpp b3: 6 Example 4 M(M&) from a.cpp, i: -1 M::operator int() from a.cpp b4: -1 Example 5 M() from a.cpp M::operator =(), i: 5 M::operator int() from a.cpp b5: 5 M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp M() from a.cpp M::~M() from a.cpp Segmentation fault (core dumped) I couldn't make the angle brackets appear using Markdown, so I used quotes around the header file name iostream. Otherwise, the code could be copied verbatim and tried. It is purely scholastic. The statement cin.get() at the end of main() was included just to facilitate running the program directly from VS2005 (cause it to display the output window until we could analyze the output). We are looking for a software engineer in Sunnyvale, CA and may offer that position to the programmer capable of providing an intelligent and comprehensive explanation of these anomalies. I can be contacted at [email protected].

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Getting Selected Dropdown content to show in a form-generated email

- by fmz

I have a small contact form: <form method="post" action="contact.php" name="contactform" id="contactform"> <fieldset> <legend>Please fill in the following form to contact us</legend> <label for="name"><span class="required">*</span> Your Name</label> <input name="name" type="text" id="name" size="30" value="" /> <br /> <label for="company"><span class="required">*</span> Company</label> <input name="company" type="text" id="name" size="30" value="" /> <br /> <label for="email"><span class="required">*</span> Email</label> <input name="email" type="text" id="email" size="30" value="" /> <br /> <label for="phone"><span class="required">*</span> Phone</label> <input name="phone" type="text" id="phone" size="30" value="" /> <br /> <label for="purpose"><span class="required">*</span> Purpose</label> <select id="purpose" style="width: 300px; height:35px;"> <option value="I am interested in your services">I am interested in your services!</option> <option value="I am interested in a partnership">I am interested in a partnership!</option> <option value="I am interested in a job">I am interested in a job!</option> </select> <br /> <label for=comments><span class="required">*</span> Comments</label> <textarea name="comments" cols="40" rows="3" id="comments" style="width: 350px;"></textarea> <p><span class="required">*</span> Please help us control spam.</p> <label for=verify accesskey=V>   3 + 1 =</label> <input name="verify" type="text" id="verify" size="4" value="" style="width: 30px;" /><br /><br /> <input type="submit" class="submit" id="submit" value="Submit" /> </fieldset> </form> I want to send the results of the form in a php generated email. Everything is coming through except the selected contents of the "purpose" drop down. Here is the PHP: <?php if(!$_POST) exit; $name = $_POST['name']; $company = $_POST['company']; $email = $_POST['email']; $phone = $_POST['phone']; $purpose = $_POST['purpose']; $comments = $_POST['comments']; $verify = $_POST['verify']; if(trim($name) == '') { echo '<div class="error_message">Attention! You must enter your name.</div>'; exit(); } else if(trim($company) == '') { echo '<div class="error_message">Attention! Please enter your company name.</div>'; exit(); } else if(trim($email) == '') { echo '<div class="error_message">Attention! Please enter a valid email address.</div>'; exit(); } else if(trim($phone) == '') { echo '<div class="error_message">Attention! Please enter a valid phone number.</div>'; exit(); } else if(!isEmail($email)) { echo '<div class="error_message">Attention! You have enter an invalid e-mail address, try again.</div>'; exit(); } if(trim($comments) == '') { echo '<div class="error_message">Attention! Please enter your message.</div>'; exit(); } else if(trim($verify) == '') { echo '<div class="error_message">Attention! Please enter the verification number.</div>'; exit(); } else if(trim($verify) != '4') { echo '<div class="error_message">Attention! The verification number you entered is incorrect.</div>'; exit(); } if($error == '') { if(get_magic_quotes_gpc()) { $comments = stripslashes($comments); } // Configuration option. // Enter the email address that you want to emails to be sent to. // Example $address = "[email protected]"; $address = "[email protected]"; // Configuration option. // i.e. The standard subject will appear as, "You've been contacted by John Doe." // Example, $e_subject = '$name . ' has contacted you via Your Website.'; $e_subject = 'You\'ve been contacted by ' . $name . '.'; // Configuration option. // You can change this if you feel that you need to. // Developers, you may wish to add more fields to the form, in which case you must be sure to add them here. $e_body = "You have been contacted by $name.\r\n\n"; $e_content = "Comments: \"$comments\"\r\n\n"; $e_company = "Company: $company\r\n\n"; $e_purpose = "Reason for contact: $purpose\r\n"; $e_reply = "You can contact $name via email, $email or via phone $phone"; $msg = $e_body . $e_content . $e_company . $e_purpose . $e_reply; if(mail($address, $e_subject, $msg, "From: $email\r\nReply-To: $email\r\nReturn-Path: $email\r\n")) { // Email has sent successfully, echo a success page. echo "<fieldset>"; echo "<div id='success_page'>"; echo "<h1>Email Sent Successfully.</h1>"; echo "<p>Thank you <strong>$name</strong>, your message has been submitted to us.</p>"; echo "</div>"; echo "</fieldset>"; } else { echo 'ERROR!'; } } function isEmail($email) { // Email address verification, do not edit. return(preg_match("/^[-_.[:alnum:]]+@((([[:alnum:]]|[[:alnum:]][[:alnum:]-]*[[:alnum:]])\.)+(ad|ae|aero|af|ag|ai|al|am|an|ao|aq|ar|arpa|as|at|au|aw|az|ba|bb|bd|be|bf|bg|bh|bi|biz|bj|bm|bn|bo|br|bs|bt|bv|bw|by|bz|ca|cc|cd|cf|cg|ch|ci|ck|cl|cm|cn|co|com|coop|cr|cs|cu|cv|cx|cy|cz|de|dj|dk|dm|do|dz|ec|edu|ee|eg|eh|er|es|et|eu|fi|fj|fk|fm|fo|fr|ga|gb|gd|ge|gf|gh|gi|gl|gm|gn|gov|gp|gq|gr|gs|gt|gu|gw|gy|hk|hm|hn|hr|ht|hu|id|ie|il|in|info|int|io|iq|ir|is|it|jm|jo|jp|ke|kg|kh|ki|km|kn|kp|kr|kw|ky|kz|la|lb|lc|li|lk|lr|ls|lt|lu|lv|ly|ma|mc|md|mg|mh|mil|mk|ml|mm|mn|mo|mp|mq|mr|ms|mt|mu|museum|mv|mw|mx|my|mz|na|name|nc|ne|net|nf|ng|ni|nl|no|np|nr|nt|nu|nz|om|org|pa|pe|pf|pg|ph|pk|pl|pm|pn|pr|pro|ps|pt|pw|py|qa|re|ro|ru|rw|sa|sb|sc|sd|se|sg|sh|si|sj|sk|sl|sm|sn|so|sr|st|su|sv|sy|sz|tc|td|tf|tg|th|tj|tk|tm|tn|to|tp|tr|tt|tv|tw|tz|ua|ug|uk|um|us|uy|uz|va|vc|ve|vg|vi|vn|vu|wf|ws|ye|yt|yu|za|zm|zw)$|(([0-9][0-9]?|[0-1][0-9][0-9]|[2][0-4][0-9]|[2][5][0-5])\.){3}([0-9][0-9]?|[0-1][0-9][0-9]|[2][0-4][0-9]|[2][5][0-5]))$/i",$email)); } ?> What am I missing? Thanks.

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Problem after adding <form>?

- by Mahmoud

When i added <form> to my web page, all my javascript stopped working, and when i put the form at the begining of my table submit wont work, what i am doing wrong. below is my code <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>Sabay Afrah.Inc | Contact Us</title> <script src="js/clear.js" language="javascript" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="js/SpryValidationSelect.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/jscript"> function Checking(form){ if(empty(form.fname.value){ alert("do nothing"); } } </script> <style type="text/css">  </style> <link href="theme/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="theme/SpryValidationSelect.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> </head> <body> <form action="enterdb.php" method="post"> <table width="1000" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td align="center"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td><table width="1006" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="4"> </td> <td width="93" align="right"> </td> <td width="4"> </td> <td width="374" ><img src="images/logo.png" width="230" height="114" /></td> <td width="426" align="right" class="address"> 10 GlenLake parkway<br /> Suite 130, mailbox # 76<br /> Atlanta, GA 30328<br /> Phone #: + 678-222-3442<br /> Fax #: +678-222-3401<br /> Office hours: M-F 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.<br /> </td> <td width="99"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="5"><table width="600" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td> </td> <td class="title"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="84"><br /></td> <td width="516" class="title">Contact Us</td> </tr> </table></td> <td> </td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <table width="883" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr class="table"> <td width="27" rowspan="10" bgcolor="#330099" class="textable"> </td> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#330099" class="textable"> </td> <td width="29" rowspan="8" bgcolor="#330099" class="textable"> </td> <td colspan="3" class="textable"> </td> </tr> <tr > <td width="139" height="31" bgcolor="#330099" class="textable">First Name:</td> <td> <input id="fname" name="fname" type="text" size="40" /> </td> <td width="150" class="textable">Last Name:</td> <td width="265" class="textable"><table width="200" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td ><table width="200" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td ><input id="lname" name="lname" type="text" size="40" /></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> </table></td> <td width="32" class="textable"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="30" class="textable">Subject:</td> <td> <span id="spryselect1"> <label> <select name="sub" id="sub"> <option> Choose a Subject</option> <option> General Question</option> <option> MemberShip Area</option> <option> Others</option> </select> </label> <span class="selectRequiredMsg">Please select a Subject.</span></span> </td> <td colspan="3" class="textable"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="33" class="textable">Company Name:</td> <td> <input id="cname" name="cname" type="text" size="40" /></td> <td class="textable">Company Address:</td> <td class="textable"><table width="200" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td><input id="cadd" name="cadd" type="text" size="40" onclick="" /></td> </tr> </table></td> <td class="textable"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="31" class="textable">Phone Number:</td> <td><input id="phonen" name="phonen" type="text" size="40" /> </td> <td colspan="3" rowspan="4" class="textable"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="31" class="textable">Fax Number:</td><td> <input id="faxn" name="faxn" type="text" size="40" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="32" class="textable">Email Address:</td><td><input id="email" name="email" type="text" size="40" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" class="textable"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" class="textable">Additional Information:</td> <td colspan="5" class="textable"><table width="600" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td colspan="2" align="center"> <textarea id="add" name="add" cols="70" rows="10" /></textarea> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" class="textable"> <input name="Submit" type="submit" value="Submit" onclick="Checking()"/> </td> <td align="center" class="textable"> <input type="reset" value="Clear" /> </td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="6" class="textable"> </td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> </table> </form> <script type="text/javascript">  </script> </body> </html>

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Trying to find USB device on iphone with IOKit.framework

- by HuGeek

Hi all, i'm working on a project were i need the usb port to communicate with a external device. I have been looking for exemple on the net (Apple and /developer/IOKit/usb exemple) and trying some other but i can't even find the device. In my code i blocking at the place where the fucntion looks for a next iterator (pointer in fact) with the function getNextIterator but never returns a good value so the code is blocking. By the way i am using toolchain and added IOKit.framework in my project. All i what right now is the communicate or do like a ping to someone on the USB bus!! I blocking in the 'FindDevice'....i can't manage to enter in the while because the variable usbDevice is always = to 0....i have tested my code in a small mac program and it works... Thanks Here is my code : IOReturn ConfigureDevice(IOUSBDeviceInterface **dev) { UInt8 numConfig; IOReturn result; IOUSBConfigurationDescriptorPtr configDesc; //Get the number of configurations result = (*dev)->GetNumberOfConfigurations(dev, &numConfig); if (!numConfig) { return -1; } // Get the configuration descriptor result = (*dev)->GetConfigurationDescriptorPtr(dev, 0, &configDesc); if (result) { NSLog(@"Couldn't get configuration descriptior for index %d (err=%08x)\n", 0, result); return -1; } ifdef OSX_DEBUG NSLog(@"Number of Configurations: %d\n", numConfig); endif // Configure the device result = (*dev)->SetConfiguration(dev, configDesc->bConfigurationValue); if (result) { NSLog(@"Unable to set configuration to value %d (err=%08x)\n", 0, result); return -1; } return kIOReturnSuccess; } IOReturn FindInterfaces(IOUSBDeviceInterface *dev, IOUSBInterfaceInterface **itf) { IOReturn kr; IOUSBFindInterfaceRequest request; io_iterator_t iterator; io_service_t usbInterface; IOUSBInterfaceInterface **intf = NULL; IOCFPlugInInterface **plugInInterface = NULL; HRESULT res; SInt32 score; UInt8 intfClass; UInt8 intfSubClass; UInt8 intfNumEndpoints; int pipeRef; CFRunLoopSourceRef runLoopSource; NSLog(@"Debut FindInterfaces \n"); request.bInterfaceClass = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; request.bInterfaceSubClass = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; request.bInterfaceProtocol = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; request.bAlternateSetting = kIOUSBFindInterfaceDontCare; kr = (*dev)->CreateInterfaceIterator(dev, &request, &iterator); usbInterface = IOIteratorNext(iterator); IOObjectRelease(iterator); NSLog(@"Interface found.\n"); kr = IOCreatePlugInInterfaceForService(usbInterface, kIOUSBInterfaceUserClientTypeID, kIOCFPlugInInterfaceID, &plugInInterface, &score); kr = IOObjectRelease(usbInterface); // done with the usbInterface object now that I have the plugin if ((kIOReturnSuccess != kr) || !plugInInterface) { NSLog(@"unable to create a plugin (%08x)\n", kr); return -1; } // I have the interface plugin. I need the interface interface res = (*plugInInterface)->QueryInterface(plugInInterface, CFUUIDGetUUIDBytes(kIOUSBInterfaceInterfaceID), (LPVOID*) &intf); (*plugInInterface)->Release(plugInInterface); // done with this if (res || !intf) { NSLog(@"couldn't create an IOUSBInterfaceInterface (%08x)\n", (int) res); return -1; } // Now open the interface. This will cause the pipes to be instantiated that are // associated with the endpoints defined in the interface descriptor. kr = (*intf)->USBInterfaceOpen(intf); if (kIOReturnSuccess != kr) { NSLog(@"unable to open interface (%08x)\n", kr); (void) (*intf)->Release(intf); return -1; } kr = (*intf)->CreateInterfaceAsyncEventSource(intf, &runLoopSource); if (kIOReturnSuccess != kr) { NSLog(@"unable to create async event source (%08x)\n", kr); (void) (*intf)->USBInterfaceClose(intf); (void) (*intf)->Release(intf); return -1; } CFRunLoopAddSource(CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), runLoopSource, kCFRunLoopDefaultMode); if (!intf) { NSLog(@"Interface is NULL!\n"); } else { *itf = intf; } NSLog(@"End of FindInterface \n \n"); return kr; } unsigned int FindDevice(void *refCon, io_iterator_t iterator) { kern_return_t kr; io_service_t usbDevice; IOCFPlugInInterface **plugInInterface = NULL; HRESULT result; SInt32 score; UInt16 vendor; UInt16 product; UInt16 release; unsigned int count = 0; NSLog(@"Searching Device....\n"); while (usbDevice = IOIteratorNext(iterator)) { // create intermediate plug-in NSLog(@"Found a device!\n"); kr = IOCreatePlugInInterfaceForService(usbDevice, kIOUSBDeviceUserClientTypeID, kIOCFPlugInInterfaceID, &plugInInterface, &score); kr = IOObjectRelease(usbDevice); if ((kIOReturnSuccess != kr) || !plugInInterface) { NSLog(@"Unable to create a plug-in (%08x)\n", kr); continue; } // Now create the device interface result = (*plugInInterface)->QueryInterface(plugInInterface, CFUUIDGetUUIDBytes(kIOUSBDeviceInterfaceID), (LPVOID)&dev); // Don't need intermediate Plug-In Interface (*plugInInterface)->Release(plugInInterface); if (result || !dev) { NSLog(@"Couldn't create a device interface (%08x)\n", (int)result); continue; } // check these values for confirmation kr = (*dev)->GetDeviceVendor(dev, &vendor); kr = (*dev)->GetDeviceProduct(dev, &product); //kr = (*dev)->GetDeviceReleaseNumber(dev, &release); //if ((vendor != LegoUSBVendorID) || (product != LegoUSBProductID) || (release != LegoUSBRelease)) { if ((vendor != LegoUSBVendorID) || (product != LegoUSBProductID)) { NSLog(@"Found unwanted device (vendor = %d != %d, product = %d != %d, release = %d)\n", vendor, kUSBVendorID, product, LegoUSBProductID, release); (void) (*dev)-Release(dev); continue; } // Open the device to change its state kr = (*dev)->USBDeviceOpen(dev); if (kr == kIOReturnSuccess) { count++; } else { NSLog(@"Unable to open device: %08x\n", kr); (void) (*dev)->Release(dev); continue; } // Configure device kr = ConfigureDevice(dev); if (kr != kIOReturnSuccess) { NSLog(@"Unable to configure device: %08x\n", kr); (void) (*dev)->USBDeviceClose(dev); (void) (*dev)->Release(dev); continue; } break; } return count; } // USB rcx Init IOUSBInterfaceInterface** osx_usb_rcx_init (void) { CFMutableDictionaryRef matchingDict; kern_return_t result; IOUSBInterfaceInterface **intf = NULL; unsigned int device_count = 0; // Create master handler result = IOMasterPort(MACH_PORT_NULL, &gMasterPort); if (result || !gMasterPort) { NSLog(@"ERR: Couldn't create master I/O Kit port(%08x)\n", result); return NULL; } else { NSLog(@"Created Master Port.\n"); NSLog(@"Master port 0x:08X \n \n", gMasterPort); } // Set up the matching dictionary for class IOUSBDevice and its subclasses matchingDict = IOServiceMatching(kIOUSBDeviceClassName); if (!matchingDict) { NSLog(@"Couldn't create a USB matching dictionary \n"); mach_port_deallocate(mach_task_self(), gMasterPort); return NULL; } else { NSLog(@"USB matching dictionary : %08X \n", matchingDict); } CFDictionarySetValue(matchingDict, CFSTR(kUSBVendorID), CFNumberCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault, kCFNumberShortType, &LegoUSBVendorID)); CFDictionarySetValue(matchingDict, CFSTR(kUSBProductID), CFNumberCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault, kCFNumberShortType, &LegoUSBProductID)); result = IOServiceGetMatchingServices(gMasterPort, matchingDict, &gRawAddedIter); matchingDict = 0; // this was consumed by the above call // Iterate over matching devices to access already present devices NSLog(@"RawAddedIter : 0x:%08X \n", &gRawAddedIter); device_count = FindDevice(NULL, gRawAddedIter); if (device_count == 1) { result = FindInterfaces(dev, &intf); if (kIOReturnSuccess != result) { NSLog(@"unable to find interfaces on device: %08x\n", result); (*dev)-USBDeviceClose(dev); (*dev)-Release(dev); return NULL; } // osx_usb_rcx_wakeup(intf); return intf; } else if (device_count 1) { NSLog(@"too many matching devices (%d) !\n", device_count); } else { NSLog(@"no matching devices found\n"); } return NULL; } int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { int returnCode; NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init]; NSLog(@"Debut du programme \n \n"); osx_usb_rcx_init(); NSLog(@"Fin du programme \n \n"); return 0; // returnCode = UIApplicationMain(argc, argv, @"Untitled1App", @"Untitled1App"); // [pool release]; // return returnCode; }

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ASP.NET MVC2 custom rolemanager (webconfig problem)

- by ile

Structure of the web: SAMembershipProvider.cs namespace User.Membership { public class SAMembershipProvider : MembershipProvider { #region - Properties - private int NewPasswordLength { get; set; } private string ConnectionString { get; set; } //private MachineKeySection MachineKey { get; set; } //Used when determining encryption key values. public bool enablePasswordReset { get; set; } public bool enablePasswordRetrieval { get; set; } public bool requiresQuestionAndAnswer { get; set; } public bool requiresUniqueEmail { get; set; } public int maxInvalidPasswordAttempts { get; set; } public int passwordAttemptWindow { get; set; } public MembershipPasswordFormat passwordFormat { get; set; } public int minRequiredNonAlphanumericCharacters { get; set; } public int minRequiredPasswordLength { get; set; } public string passwordStrengthRegularExpression { get; set; } public override string ApplicationName { get; set; } // Indicates whether passwords can be retrieved using the provider's GetPassword method. // This property is read-only. public override bool EnablePasswordRetrieval { get { return enablePasswordRetrieval; } } // Indicates whether passwords can be reset using the provider's ResetPassword method. // This property is read-only. public override bool EnablePasswordReset { get { return enablePasswordReset; } } // Indicates whether a password answer must be supplied when calling the provider's GetPassword and ResetPassword methods. // This property is read-only. public override bool RequiresQuestionAndAnswer { get { return requiresQuestionAndAnswer; } } public override int MaxInvalidPasswordAttempts { get { return maxInvalidPasswordAttempts; } } // For a description, see MaxInvalidPasswordAttempts. // This property is read-only. public override int PasswordAttemptWindow { get { return passwordAttemptWindow; } } // Indicates whether each registered user must have a unique e-mail address. // This property is read-only. public override bool RequiresUniqueEmail { get { return requiresUniqueEmail; } } public override MembershipPasswordFormat PasswordFormat { get { return passwordFormat; } } // The minimum number of characters required in a password. // This property is read-only. public override int MinRequiredPasswordLength { get { return minRequiredPasswordLength; } } // The minimum number of non-alphanumeric characters required in a password. // This property is read-only. public override int MinRequiredNonAlphanumericCharacters { get { return minRequiredNonAlphanumericCharacters; } } // A regular expression specifying a pattern to which passwords must conform. // This property is read-only. public override string PasswordStrengthRegularExpression { get { return passwordStrengthRegularExpression; } } #endregion #region - Methods - public override void Initialize(string name, NameValueCollection config) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } public override bool ChangePassword(string username, string oldPassword, string newPassword) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } public override bool ChangePasswordQuestionAndAnswer(string username, string password, string newPasswordQuestion, string newPasswordAnswer) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a user name, password, e-mail address, and other information and adds a new user // to the membership data source. CreateUser returns a MembershipUser object representing the newly // created user. It also accepts an out parameter (in Visual Basic, ByRef) that returns a // MembershipCreateStatus value indicating whether the user was successfully created or, if the user // was not created, the reason why. If the user was not created, CreateUser returns null. // Before creating a new user, CreateUser calls the provider's virtual OnValidatingPassword method to // validate the supplied password. It then creates the user or cancels the action based on the outcome of the call. public override MembershipUser CreateUser(string username, string password, string email, string passwordQuestion, string passwordAnswer, bool isApproved, object providerUserKey, out MembershipCreateStatus status) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } public override bool DeleteUser(string username, bool deleteAllRelatedData) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } public override MembershipUserCollection FindUsersByEmail(string emailToMatch, int pageIndex, int pageSize, out int totalRecords) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Returns a MembershipUserCollection containing MembershipUser objects representing users whose user names // match the usernameToMatch input parameter. Wildcard syntax is data source-dependent. MembershipUser objects // in the MembershipUserCollection are sorted by user name. If FindUsersByName finds no matching users, it // returns an empty MembershipUserCollection. // For an explanation of the pageIndex, pageSize, and totalRecords parameters, see the GetAllUsers method. public override MembershipUserCollection FindUsersByName(string usernameToMatch, int pageIndex, int pageSize, out int totalRecords) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Returns a MembershipUserCollection containing MembershipUser objects representing all registered users. If // there are no registered users, GetAllUsers returns an empty MembershipUserCollection // The results returned by GetAllUsers are constrained by the pageIndex and pageSize input parameters. pageSize // specifies the maximum number of MembershipUser objects to return. pageIndex identifies which page of results // to return. Page indexes are 0-based. // // GetAllUsers also takes an out parameter (in Visual Basic, ByRef) named totalRecords that, on return, holds // a count of all registered users. public override MembershipUserCollection GetAllUsers(int pageIndex, int pageSize, out int totalRecords) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Returns a count of users that are currently online-that is, whose LastActivityDate is greater than the current // date and time minus the value of the membership service's UserIsOnlineTimeWindow property, which can be read // from Membership.UserIsOnlineTimeWindow. UserIsOnlineTimeWindow specifies a time in minutes and is set using // the <membership> element's userIsOnlineTimeWindow attribute. public override int GetNumberOfUsersOnline() { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a user name and a password answer and returns that user's password. If the user name is not // valid, GetPassword throws a ProviderException. // Before retrieving a password, GetPassword verifies that EnablePasswordRetrieval is true. If // EnablePasswordRetrieval is false, GetPassword throws a NotSupportedException. If EnablePasswordRetrieval is // true but the password format is hashed, GetPassword throws a ProviderException since hashed passwords cannot, // by definition, be retrieved. A membership provider should also throw a ProviderException from Initialize if // EnablePasswordRetrieval is true but the password format is hashed. // // GetPassword also checks the value of the RequiresQuestionAndAnswer property before retrieving a password. If // RequiresQuestionAndAnswer is true, GetPassword compares the supplied password answer to the stored password // answer and throws a MembershipPasswordException if the two don't match. GetPassword also throws a // MembershipPasswordException if the user whose password is being retrieved is currently locked out. public override string GetPassword(string username, string answer) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a user name or user ID (the method is overloaded) and a Boolean value indicating whether // to update the user's LastActivityDate to show that the user is currently online. GetUser returns a MembershipUser // object representing the specified user. If the user name or user ID is invalid (that is, if it doesn't represent // a registered user) GetUser returns null (Nothing in Visual Basic). public override MembershipUser GetUser(object providerUserKey, bool userIsOnline) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a user name or user ID (the method is overloaded) and a Boolean value indicating whether to // update the user's LastActivityDate to show that the user is currently online. GetUser returns a MembershipUser // object representing the specified user. If the user name or user ID is invalid (that is, if it doesn't represent // a registered user) GetUser returns null (Nothing in Visual Basic). public override MembershipUser GetUser(string username, bool userIsOnline) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, an e-mail address and returns the first registered user name whose e-mail address matches the // one supplied. // If it doesn't find a user with a matching e-mail address, GetUserNameByEmail returns an empty string. public override string GetUserNameByEmail(string email) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Virtual method called when a password is created. The default implementation in MembershipProvider fires a // ValidatingPassword event, so be sure to call the base class's OnValidatingPassword method if you override // this method. The ValidatingPassword event allows applications to apply additional tests to passwords by // registering event handlers. // A custom provider's CreateUser, ChangePassword, and ResetPassword methods (in short, all methods that record // new passwords) should call this method. protected override void OnValidatingPassword(ValidatePasswordEventArgs e) { base.OnValidatingPassword(e); } // Takes, as input, a user name and a password answer and replaces the user's current password with a new, random // password. ResetPassword then returns the new password. A convenient mechanism for generating a random password // is the Membership.GeneratePassword method. // If the user name is not valid, ResetPassword throws a ProviderException. ResetPassword also checks the value of // the RequiresQuestionAndAnswer property before resetting a password. If RequiresQuestionAndAnswer is true, // ResetPassword compares the supplied password answer to the stored password answer and throws a // MembershipPasswordException if the two don't match. // // Before resetting a password, ResetPassword verifies that EnablePasswordReset is true. If EnablePasswordReset is // false, ResetPassword throws a NotSupportedException. If the user whose password is being changed is currently // locked out, ResetPassword throws a MembershipPasswordException. // // Before resetting a password, ResetPassword calls the provider's virtual OnValidatingPassword method to validate // the new password. It then resets the password or cancels the action based on the outcome of the call. If the new // password is invalid, ResetPassword throws a ProviderException. // // Following a successful password reset, ResetPassword updates the user's LastPasswordChangedDate. public override string ResetPassword(string username, string answer) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Unlocks (that is, restores login privileges for) the specified user. UnlockUser returns true if the user is // successfully unlocked. Otherwise, it returns false. If the user is already unlocked, UnlockUser simply returns true. public override bool UnlockUser(string userName) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a MembershipUser object representing a registered user and updates the information stored for // that user in the membership data source. If any of the input submitted in the MembershipUser object is not valid, // UpdateUser throws a ProviderException. // Note that UpdateUser is not obligated to allow all the data that can be encapsulated in a MembershipUser object to // be updated in the data source. public override void UpdateUser(MembershipUser user) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a user name and a password and verifies that they are valid-that is, that the membership data // source contains a matching user name and password. ValidateUser returns true if the user name and password are // valid, if the user is approved (that is, if MembershipUser.IsApproved is true), and if the user isn't currently // locked out. Otherwise, it returns false. // Following a successful validation, ValidateUser updates the user's LastLoginDate and fires an // AuditMembershipAuthenticationSuccess Web event. Following a failed validation, it fires an // // AuditMembershipAuthenticationFailure Web event. public override bool ValidateUser(string username, string password) { throw new NotImplementedException(); //if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(password.Trim())) return false; //string hash = EncryptPassword(password); //User user = _repository.GetByUserName(username); //if (user == null) return false; //if (user.Password == hash) //{ // User = user; // return true; //} //return false; } #endregion /// <summary> /// Procuses an MD5 hash string of the password /// </summary> /// <param name="password">password to hash</param> /// <returns>MD5 Hash string</returns> protected string EncryptPassword(string password) { //we use codepage 1252 because that is what sql server uses byte[] pwdBytes = Encoding.GetEncoding(1252).GetBytes(password); byte[] hashBytes = System.Security.Cryptography.MD5.Create().ComputeHash(pwdBytes); return Encoding.GetEncoding(1252).GetString(hashBytes); } } // End Class } SARoleProvider.cs namespace User.Membership { public class SARoleProvider : RoleProvider { #region - Properties - // The name of the application using the role provider. ApplicationName is used to scope // role data so that applications can choose whether to share role data with other applications. // This property can be read and written. public override string ApplicationName { get; set; } #endregion #region - Methods - public override void Initialize(string name, NameValueCollection config) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a list of user names and a list of role names and adds the specified users to // the specified roles. // AddUsersToRoles throws a ProviderException if any of the user names or role names do not exist. // If any user name or role name is null (Nothing in Visual Basic), AddUsersToRoles throws an // ArgumentNullException. If any user name or role name is an empty string, AddUsersToRoles throws // an ArgumentException. public override void AddUsersToRoles(string[] usernames, string[] roleNames) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a role name and creates the specified role. // CreateRole throws a ProviderException if the role already exists, the role name contains a comma, // or the role name exceeds the maximum length allowed by the data source. public override void CreateRole(string roleName) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a role name and a Boolean value that indicates whether to throw an exception if there // are users currently associated with the role, and then deletes the specified role. // If the throwOnPopulatedRole input parameter is true and the specified role has one or more members, // DeleteRole throws a ProviderException and does not delete the role. If throwOnPopulatedRole is false, // DeleteRole deletes the role whether it is empty or not. // // When DeleteRole deletes a role and there are users assigned to that role, it also removes users from the role. public override bool DeleteRole(string roleName, bool throwOnPopulatedRole) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a search pattern and a role name and returns a list of users belonging to the specified role // whose user names match the pattern. Wildcard syntax is data-source-dependent and may vary from provider to // provider. User names are returned in alphabetical order. // If the search finds no matches, FindUsersInRole returns an empty string array (a string array with no elements). // If the role does not exist, FindUsersInRole throws a ProviderException. public override string[] FindUsersInRole(string roleName, string usernameToMatch) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Returns the names of all existing roles. If no roles exist, GetAllRoles returns an empty string array (a string // array with no elements). public override string[] GetAllRoles() { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a user name and returns the names of the roles to which the user belongs. // If the user is not assigned to any roles, GetRolesForUser returns an empty string array // (a string array with no elements). If the user name does not exist, GetRolesForUser throws a // ProviderException. public override string[] GetRolesForUser(string username) { throw new NotImplementedException(); //User user = _repository.GetByUserName(username); //string[] roles = new string[user.Role.Rights.Count + 1]; //roles[0] = user.Role.Description; //int idx = 0; //foreach (Right right in user.Role.Rights) // roles[++idx] = right.Description; //return roles; } public override string[] GetUsersInRole(string roleName) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a role name and returns the names of all users assigned to that role. // If no users are associated with the specified role, GetUserInRole returns an empty string array (a string array with // no elements). If the role does not exist, GetUsersInRole throws a ProviderException. public override bool IsUserInRole(string username, string roleName) { throw new NotImplementedException(); //User user = _repository.GetByUserName(username); //if (user != null) // return user.IsInRole(roleName); //else // return false; } // Takes, as input, a list of user names and a list of role names and removes the specified users from the specified roles. // RemoveUsersFromRoles throws a ProviderException if any of the users or roles do not exist, or if any user specified // in the call does not belong to the role from which he or she is being removed. public override void RemoveUsersFromRoles(string[] usernames, string[] roleNames) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } // Takes, as input, a role name and determines whether the role exists. public override bool RoleExists(string roleName) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } #endregion } // End Class } From Web.config: <membership defaultProvider="SAMembershipProvider" userIsOnlineTimeWindow="15"> <providers> <clear/> <add name="SAMembershipProvider" type="User.Membership.SAMembershipProvider, User" /> </providers> </membership> <roleManager defaultProvider="SARoleProvider" enabled="true" cacheRolesInCookie="true"> <providers> <clear/> <add name="SARoleProvider" type="User.Membership.SARoleProvider" /> </providers> </roleManager> When running project, I get following error: Server Error in '/' Application. Configuration Error Description: An error occurred during the processing of a configuration file required to service this request. Please review the specific error details below and modify your configuration file appropriately. Parser Error Message: The method or operation is not implemented. Source Error: Line 71: <providers> Line 72: <clear/> Line 73: <add name="SARoleProvider" type="User.Membership.SARoleProvider" /> Line 74: </providers> Line 75: </roleManager> I tried: <add name="SARoleProvider" type="User.Membership.SARoleProvider, User" /> and <add name="SARoleProvider" type="User.Membership.SARoleProvider, SARoleProvider" /> and <add name="SARoleProvider" type="User.Membership.SARoleProvider, User.Membership" /> but none works Any idea what's wrong here? Thanks, Ile

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MS Word Macro - Numeric field insertion with automatic calculation at end of page

- by Will

Hi, I am trying to duplicate a feature that exists in Multimate (Ashton Tate) word processor. Yes, the one that hasnt been supported for 20 years! If I can duplicate this one feature I can get all the users off MM and onto Word. The documents they create are billing documents. they consist of a descriptive paragraph of any length on the left side of the page, and a billing amount at the end of the paragraph over on the right hand side, like this (excuse the imperfect formatting).... +-----------------whole page--------------------+ | | | pppp-para 1-pppppppppp | | p p | | p p | | p p | | p p | | p p | | p p | | pppppppppppppppppppp $$$$$ | | | | | | pppp-para 2-pppppppppp | | p p | | p p | | p p | | p p | | p p | | p p | | pppppppppppppppppppp $$$$$ | | | | | | etc | +-----------------------------------------------------+ some of these bills can be a few hundred pages and have a dozen or so paragraphs on each page, which is why none of the users will leave MM until this efficient little feature can be duplicated. The thing that MM does really easily is that there is a function key that they can press at any time that will - - jump the cursor from the paragraph they are writing over to the right hand side - create a numeric field - allow them to enter a number into the numeric field - return them to the left hand side to start a new paragraph What MM also does is automatically total the numeric fields on each page and create a subtotal in the page footer. it also creates a total for the entire document and puts this in the footer of the last page. I would like to duplicate this feature in word with a macro, but have no idea where to start. Any suggestions or code would be great, thanks, will.

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How to Upload a file from client to server using OFBIZ?

- by SIVAKUMAR.J

Hi all, Im new to ofbiz.So is my question is have any mistake forgive me for my mistakes.Im new to ofbiz so i did not know some terminologies in ofbiz.Sometimes my question is not clear because of lack of knowledge in ofbiz.So try to understand my question and give me a good solution with respect to my level.Because some solutions are in very high level cannot able to understand for me.So please give the solution with good examples. My problem is i created a project inside the ofbiz/hot-deploy folder namely "productionmgntSystem".Inside the folder "ofbiz\hot-deploy\productionmgntSystem\webapp\productionmgntSystem" i created a .ftl file namely "app_details_1.ftl" .The following are the coding of this file <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title>Insert title here</title> <script TYPE="TEXT/JAVASCRIPT" language=""JAVASCRIPT"> function uploadFile() { //alert("Before calling upload.jsp"); window.location='<@ofbizUrl>testing_service1</@ofbizUrl>' } </script> </head>  <form action="<@ofbizUrl>logout1</@ofbizUrl>" enctype="multipart/form-data" name="app_details_frm"> <center style="height: 299px; "> <table border="0" style="height: 177px; width: 788px"> <tr style="height: 115px; "> <td style="width: 103px; "> <td style="width: 413px; "><h1>APPLICATION DETAILS</h1> <td style="width: 55px; "> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 125px; ">Application name : </td> <td> <input name="app_name_txt" id="txt_1" value=" " /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 125px; ">Excell sheet         : </td> <td> <input type="file" name="filename"/> </td> </tr> <tr> <td>  <input type="submit" name="logout_cmd" value="logout"/> </td> <td>  <input type="button" name="upload1_cmd" value="Upload" onclick="uploadFile()"/> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </form> </html> the following coding is present in the file "ofbiz\hot-deploy\productionmgntSystem\webapp\productionmgntSystem\WEB-INF\controller.xml" ...... ....... ........ <request-map uri="testing_service1"> <security https="true" auth="true"/> <event type="java" path="org.ofbiz.productionmgntSystem.web_app_req.WebServices1" invoke="testingService"/> <response name="ok" type="view" value="ok_view"/> <response name="exception" type="view" value="exception_view"/> </request-map> .......... ............ .......... <view-map name="ok_view" type="ftl" page="ok_view.ftl"/> <view-map name="exception_view" type="ftl" page="exception_view.ftl"/> ................ ............. ............. The following are the coding present in the file "ofbiz\hot-deploy\productionmgntSystem\src\org\ofbiz\productionmgntSystem\web_app_req\WebServices1.java" package org.ofbiz.productionmgntSystem.web_app_req; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import java.io.DataInputStream; import java.io.FileOutputStream; import java.io.IOException; public class WebServices1 { public static String testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) { //int i=0; String result="ok"; System.out.println("\n\n\t*************************************\n\tInside WebServices1.testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)- Start"); String contentType=request.getContentType(); System.out.println("\n\n\t*************************************\n\tInside WebServices1.testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)- contentType : "+contentType); String str=new String(); // response.setContentType("text/html"); //PrintWriter writer; if ((contentType != null) && (contentType.indexOf("multipart/form-data") >= 0)) { System.out.println("\n\n\t**********************************\n\tInside WebServices1.testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) after if (contentType != null)"); try { // writer=response.getWriter(); System.out.println("\n\n\t**********************************\n\tInside WebServices1.testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) - try Start"); DataInputStream in = new DataInputStream(request.getInputStream()); int formDataLength = request.getContentLength(); byte dataBytes[] = new byte[formDataLength]; int byteRead = 0; int totalBytesRead = 0; //this loop converting the uploaded file into byte code while (totalBytesRead < formDataLength) { byteRead = in.read(dataBytes, totalBytesRead,formDataLength); totalBytesRead += byteRead; } String file = new String(dataBytes); //for saving the file name String saveFile = file.substring(file.indexOf("filename=\"") + 10); saveFile = saveFile.substring(0, saveFile.indexOf("\n")); saveFile = saveFile.substring(saveFile.lastIndexOf("\\")+ 1,saveFile.indexOf("\"")); int lastIndex = contentType.lastIndexOf("="); String boundary = contentType.substring(lastIndex + 1,contentType.length()); int pos; //extracting the index of file pos = file.indexOf("filename=\""); pos = file.indexOf("\n", pos) + 1; pos = file.indexOf("\n", pos) + 1; pos = file.indexOf("\n", pos) + 1; int boundaryLocation = file.indexOf(boundary, pos) - 4; int startPos = ((file.substring(0, pos)).getBytes()).length; int endPos = ((file.substring(0, boundaryLocation)).getBytes()).length; //creating a new file with the same name and writing the content in new file FileOutputStream fileOut = new FileOutputStream("/"+saveFile); fileOut.write(dataBytes, startPos, (endPos - startPos)); fileOut.flush(); fileOut.close(); System.out.println("\n\n\t**********************************\n\tInside WebServices1.testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) - try End"); } catch(IOException ioe) { System.out.println("\n\n\t*********************************\n\tInside WebServices1.testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) - Catch IOException"); //ioe.printStackTrace(); return("exception"); } catch(Exception ex) { System.out.println("\n\n\t*********************************\n\tInside WebServices1.testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) - Catch Exception"); return("exception"); } } else { System.out.println("\n\n\t********************************\n\tInside WebServices1.testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) else part"); result="exception"; } System.out.println("\n\n\t*************************************\n\tInside WebServices1.testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)- End"); return(result); } } I want to upload a file to the server.The file is get from user "<input type="file"..> tag in the "app_details_1.ftl" file & it is updated into the server by using the method "testingService(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)" in the class "WebServices1".But the file is not uploaded. Give me a good solution for uploading a file to the server. Thanks & Regards, Sivakumar.J

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Zend/PHP: Problem uploading/downloading file to/from MySQL's BLOB field.

- by NAVEED

I am uploading file(any type) like this: (It is uploading content of file in blob field of mysql) $organizationModel = new Model_Organization_Object( organizationId ); $myFile = file_get_contents( '../path/to/my/file/filename.ext' ); $organizationModel->setOrganizationProfile( $myFile ); $organizationModel->save(); Now I want to get that file from database and want to download. I doing this in controller's action: (I am aspecting pdf file here therefore it is hardcoded below. But in future I want to download any file from blob field) $organizationModel = new Model_Organization_Object( $organizationId ); $content = $organizationModel->getOrganizationProfile(); header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream'); header("Content-Length: " . strlen($content) ); header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=orgProfile.pdf'); $this->view->organizationProfile = $content; Now in view file I am doing this: echo $this-organizationProfile; But above download process print(echo) the content of file in firbug and does not download file in orignal format. My echo output in firebug is like this: %PDF-1.3 %???? 84 0 obj << /Linearized 1 /O 86 /H [ 541 212 ] /L 958398 /E 11238 /N 27 /T 956600 >> endobj xref 84 7 0000000016 00000 n 0000000486 00000 n 0000000753 00000 n 0000000982 00000 n 0000001102 00000 n 0000000541 00000 n 0000000732 00000 n trailer << /Size 91 /Info 83 0 R /Root 85 0 R /Prev 956590 /ID[<0a8d7035bf08791da591e8cae39b8c49><0a8d7035bf08791da591e8cae39b8c49>] >> startxref 0 %%EOF 85 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Pages 82 0 R >> endobj 89 0 obj << /S 151 /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 90 0 R >> stream H?b```f``?e`b`?f`@\0?.????\\I~aV$?X??dO????bA?Az?lv1o#?{-????1+??G?????N`?b? >?-?? \0\0D40 endstream endobj 90 0 obj 106 endobj 86 0 obj << /Type /Page /Contents 87 0 R /Parent 79 0 R /Resources << /XObject << /img0 88 0 R >> /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI ] >> /MediaBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] /CropBox [ 0 0 612 792 ] /Rotate 0 >> endobj 87 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 46 >> stream x?+T05???P0\0Bs#SC=S3c3??\\???t?|?@.\0??? endstream endobj 88 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Type /XObject /Length 8926 /BitsPerComponent 8 /Height 1122 /ColorSpace [ /Indexed /DeviceRGB 255 (\0\0\0JJJkkk{{{????????????????????????????????????\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\\ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0) ] /Subtype /Image /Width 793 >> stream x???v??\0?bF???mf?\\3??k?~? ?7uj??\\\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0~??/\0~??/\0~?&|??tp?pKS ????Fc???!?Q~?72?&???>???]?$?KUo????9?Tx??E8U}?????? _#=??6 Q{????v?T|s?>\\??w??.|??8?7Q????o.?o????????G??x??|?Is:??????oN>4???jJ?F?v? ? V?q<???P?????I>?.|?iT? ???Ç?Q?m????G?8c`????a`<?.|??~`????OG!?x7j??K*]??S?1??_??1\'?D?????0??\"?w\\?e?????<F:4????E-??Fa????O?v????9??_ m???P??8iuTr?i?FX?????<C? ????t:?(0??I>?2`????.???:??pv:???A??<$M??????e9??\\c???.0???t?kum?K;??<???\\@?]f/?h??m_???g???l?8&??*??2?-??Ew?4[j?v?(?????p?T???M--?8 cb??]?h??pN???kt?J$?m???X???5Cr?]?Jm?VP?X?Ð!? ?$???-?PM??O]??,?h???r=???qV}?p*?c?uq??t??????R6v??l8?I?e?9 {s\\K _?CN?^??W?8%p\']?2U?D{???Z?EB?*?d?va1^??Z\"?7?t]?TL?^??d???.|?4?q?2?&2??S{(??G?vNi4?D?K?)_^?]???D]DK???j?9????OQ?]???us?n?T4?om?P??E?|?t??w?????c?7>!]?\"}$??:??<????[9?C??Wi?u?su#9?\0?t?u=??=w??Q??A??.?dyb vN?N\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0??U/????<??v????S?A\\??qkm? !???&??J????!,??+?w;????{?!D???K×%5?E???????|n?FT*,? ?? ?j#Q??uT~r:}\\?_?????v???8Q?&? ???T?S?I\"?(>Y??????}H??aj?3??u?h?T?X?Z?-~??c\'P?^??d?????????]_???z??O]?q?????7??|?mN%??????T?????o???sUzT???m?v8?q? ??e]?wS???C~Ta???.??[%!??????2x]n~?7??????6.????K??;c }????r?)V?? u???*?7?$c\\???m?~???r??)U{?????????R?? ??D1L_????WUog?>??/?????????~?%???M???}\'?? ;???y??K`?????O?,??????<?,0???;3 #??m?v???aZ=?N?u?J`??dwnm;??.??k?n?K1-M?7????H&??????s?C??? ?}Z?1????c?(0?q?_1??7?%???G7U/??h9I??????S?Q??4nc?Lq??H6??;??c(/O??2???-?*_????%?I?/??I?o????ô?k??<????q??\'??]v?\"??+????,????qxgk?\\\\?6???7??Y???.G???Y??8??.??*???M_??J?hu1????z??W?o_??F?/???s?:?Y~??>0?g\\E?l?K5e???&L?/????k$????{?:\\>??Fs?-??l?>c??o?????9?V+?2;??}q?4 ?zS?|u?A`dK???n~?s???K?hiY?j??#p???S?M\\???0P2?\\*?m+?L5Er????[W?>9|???i?????}`Nmc:Qv??]&|?_????fx???????Ns~w??to????K?M???uN????0J6q1??u(b?M?_?????7?]?m?\':????S@???4?????\\??@~Mn?????|}?9?F6_Vr ??7??{?_??_????Y?Go?9??f1????E?|?Ucd? ????????t7k?? }??:??n?M?_????#?M$DG???:Z??y??;g:?|????F?m??e?F*?uJ?C??-?v?%??^?*??????z:l???w?e???9??i?5j???x?~??Ao???a?x?{?UL??? ??#:???\'^?????W??f;?u???ejq¯?u[?2K8??e?>/?ug?@S??L???? ??u0uI~?z?YYV???[[O?T??-Y?u?j?M?_???n&??7O?f??s??z`.`?,W??#?l??n???s??\'?????=??&#?z?M7_????s???x??y? ??u?p?G???0?e?G????8]{??N?1}??}~Q?[)?XF??_??*? p7iQ????M?(?l????????????f??6????*??U;@~\\k?i??w_??*?#???^?j?\\?L??/?}?Y?[??V??t~?w?n??a???m?O?(.?n;??ji:??W?ZnQ[9?n=?^??sE9??;?.??u3\"???<?L??y8?<H???g??u??\\?q???71p?U??}???f`?Y??m3b*C?t{?SX??7m<??6??8K??[Qs??&_??(M??:?Z???W?????W? ??4d??4?A????lw?e?d?>? ?pCV??h?SS?Z?T??4?N?,?? ?8=-?%???4?p?a??~??R?L??=J??j}??"??,?(?x?????????o?ï??t??X7???~jQ?aK???Z*YL????X??/?m?ot?9&s0???O5??j=?7sb?l?Mh???y?}Q\\4?MM?i5&?Yf??hS??N????\'?\0?????i?9??G?$??R?A1[??Y?t??4b?}????u??3?Y??Il????{??[u??f??q???Z_;??|*?t?uTO??}b?a?0>????>?>w\'P?E??]????6???v?^?,?;?uE?f?;?> yo?eNS@?C???I??????Otf????4I??? ?s????*??G?\'?>?</?=T?CE??5NR?~??%?1?d^V??O??????????e||/b??^ \0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0~????+?W8??t????????}????????X?????7??/???\\}LM?????b?#?q];J??[U???(0N??t?????[??_V?!??%????-?7:?m???9??Dau?o]??^????*??,???h?o3f??[%?FW?W!?X#; ?>HC?-?\'/??^??\'?*?)??!?_?e?+TC?7O??I.?[?tN?,??Rs???u???^???????q??S??.?c?UR?????? ????M????FS???A????>?^K?|[?]z~7??7u???7V]L?|??l???]?[e?+u?????{U}???Em??IWbV7????/v?x?zk??F@.??5?G?Í>f??_???Gg?}??tc??&R???n???G-?N]/?w?? ????f?}Ue%?;?~?:????`6(??_???g???`? E~?p06?}#/?G=????;??<$Y???l??m?T??@Y??p?????r??.?H?>\0.Ih??~???!?N/^o? ??&v??R???9?suJ?r???JZg?z?Y?7??^?J??H>{[?vQ????qw?e{{?l????????u]?.Z?xh%7??>?|???b`?K?|I\"?nh?m?????m?z5Qpw??N3???y?)??k??????,?Ws*SJ]????????!?o?Iq3~x??Az{?v]\'?k????k???Dc ?]??l?)L??? I8eG#r?dC??;??/C???l???rm???????e?6?M??fP?4?r??)?!?\\s???{??!cN??h??>?? ??o>??m?dO=&<??P??]=]???n?v??y?l??\"?K??????rF?I???)Z??]n?J??N?w???S/S??w???R6}\'u??kN?K`?C/???N??,??o??I?>?S?(??hOV????-]?p?r??0??u?(?,a????/???\"o;???44????P?9K!O]??x?r?}??8?????w?4?|?el7U??l.}|w?- ?=?Lq??e<&??g?/z8??7??:n?????ï??~??_?a???&?7sy???,?3?1??rV???m?????s??C?x50?????g???\\??!??????e?????/Cl?Y???:??jz3??????/?a?]}??\\n???BZ?0?J-+u??????x?=??CC??M??W[??v<???S14?????\\C?Z ??g???q:?u?C?k?vc?K?;??\"Y?t?r]??G?z????w???r??????0??????e?:??/f?*^?W?Q8WsN??9}*?|??~x)?N?=6J?l????M?b??????M45?C?k]??r?u??????r ] Can someone help that how to download file or I am doing something wrong with uploading process. setOrganizationProfile() and getOrganizationProfile() function are created by me which are working fine while storing/getting data to/from database. Thanks

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Retrieving saved checkboxes' name and values from database

- by sermed

I have a form with checkboxes, each one has a value. When the registered user select any checkbox the value is incremented (the summation) and then then registred user save his selection of checkbox if he satisfied with the result of summation into database all this work fine ...i want to enable the registred user to view his selection history by retriving and displaying the checkboxes he selected in a page with thier values ... How I can do that? I'm just able to save the selected checkboxes as choice 1, choice 2, for example .. I want to view the selected checkboxes that is saved in database as the appear in the page when the user first select them: for example if the registred user selects these 3 options LEAD DEEP KEEL (1825) FULLY BATTENED MAINSAIL (558) TEAK SIDE DECKS (2889) They will be saved as for example (choice1, choice2, choice3). But if he want to view selected checkboxes the appear exactly as first he selects them: LEAD DEEP KEEL (1825) FULLY BATTENED MAINSAIL (558) TEAK SIDE DECKS (2889) This is my user table: $query="CREATE TABLE User( user_id varchar(20), password varchar(40), user_type varchar(20), firstname varchar(30), lastname varchar(30), street varchar(50), city varchar(50), county varchar(50), post_code varchar(10), country varchar(50), gender varchar(6), dob varchar(15), tel_no varchar(50), vals varchar(50), email varchar(50))"; and the code to inser the options selected to database <?php include("databaseconnection.php"); $str = ''; foreach($_POST as $key => $val) if (strpos($key,'choice') !== false) $str .= $key.','; $query = "INSERT INTO User (vals) VALUES('$str')"; $result=mysql_query($query,$conn); if ($result) { (mysql_error(); } else { echo " done"; } ?> And this is my form: function checkTotal() { document.listForm.total.value = ''; var sum = 0; for (i=0;i <form name="listForm" method="post" action="insert_options.php" > <TABLE cellPadding=3 width=600 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TH align=left width="87%" bgColor=#b0b3b4><SPAN class=whiteText>Item</SPAN></TH> <TH align=right width="13%" bgColor=#b0b3b4><SPAN class=whiteText>Select</SPAN></TH></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>General</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#c4c8ca"><SPAN class=normalText >TEAK SIDE DECKS (2889)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="2889" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()" /></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>LEAD DEEP KEEL (1825)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="1825" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>FULLY BATTENED MAINSAIL (558)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="558" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>HIGH TECH SAILS FOR CONVENTIONAL RIG (1979)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="1979" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>IN MAST REEFING WITH HIGH TECH SAILS (2539)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="2539" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SPlNNAKER GEAR (POLE LINES DECK FITTINGS) (820)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="820" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SPINNAKER POLE VERTICAL STOWAGE SYSTEM (214)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="214" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>GAS ROD KICKER (208)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="208" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SIDE RAIL OPENINGS (BOTH SIDES) (392)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="392" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SPRING CLEATS MIDSHIPS -ALUMIMIUM (148)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="148" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>ELECTRIC ANCHOR WINDLASS (1189)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="1189" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"> </TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>ANCHOR CHAIN GALVANISED (50m) (202)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="202" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"> </TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>ANCHOR CHAIN GALVANISED (50m) (1141)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="1141" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>NAVIGATION & ELECTRONICS</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#c4c8ca"><SPAN class=normalText >WIND VANE (STAINLESS STEEL)(41)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="41" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()" /></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>RAYMARINE ST6O LOG & DEPTH (SEPARATE UNITS)(226)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="226" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>ENGINES & ELECTRICS</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SHORE SUPPLY (220V) WITH 3 OUTLETS (EXCLUDJNG SHORE CABLE) (327)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="327" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>3rd BATTERY(14OA/H)(196)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="196" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>24 AMP BATTERY CHARGER (475)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="475" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>2 BLADED FOLDING PROPELLER (UPGRADE)(299)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="299" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>BELOW DECKS/DOMESTIC</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>WARM WATER (FROM ENGINE & 220V)(749)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="749" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>SHOWER IN AFT HEADS WITH PUMPOUT(446)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="446" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>DECK SUCTION DISPOSAL FOR HOLDINGTANK(166)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="166" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>REFRIGERATED COOLBOX (12V)(666)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="666" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>LFS SAFETY PACKAGE (COCKPIT HARNESS POINTS STAINLESS STEEL JACKSTAYS)(208)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="208" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>UPHOLSTERY UPGRADE IN SALOON (SUEDETYPE)(701)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="701" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#9da8af"colSpan=2><SPAN class=normalText><B>NAVIGATION ELECTRONICS & ELECTRICS</B></SPAN></TD></TR> <TD bgColor=#c4c8ca><SPAN class=normalText>VHF RADIO AERIAL CABLED TO NAVIGATION AREA(178)</SPAN></TD> <TD align=right bgColor=#c4c8ca><input name="choice" value="178" type="checkbox" onchange="checkTotal()"></TD></TR> </table>

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Reuse Client java Socket in a Java Server

- by user1394983

I'm devoloping an Java server two control an android online game. It's possible save the client socket of myserversocket.accept() in a variable in Client class? This are very util because this way, server can communicate with client when server wants and no when client contact server. My actual code are: import java.io.IOException; import java.io.ObjectInputStream; import java.io.ObjectOutputStream; import java.net.ServerSocket; import java.net.Socket; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.UUID; import sal.app.shared.Packet; public class Server { private ArrayList<GameSession> games = new ArrayList<GameSession>(); private ArrayList<Client> pendent_clients = new ArrayList<Client>(); private Packet read_packet= new Packet(); private Packet sent_packet = new Packet(); private Socket clientSocket = null; public static void main(String[] args) throws ClassNotFoundException{ ServerSocket serverSocket = null; //DataInputStream dataInputStream = null; //DataOutputStream dataOutputStream = null; ObjectOutputStream oos=null; ObjectInputStream ois=null; Server myServer = new Server(); try { serverSocket = new ServerSocket(7777); System.out.println("Listening :7777"); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } while(true){ try { myServer.clientSocket = new Socket(); myServer.clientSocket = serverSocket.accept(); myServer.read_packet = new Packet(); myServer.sent_packet = new Packet(); oos = new ObjectOutputStream(myServer.clientSocket.getOutputStream()); ois = new ObjectInputStream(myServer.clientSocket.getInputStream()); //dataInputStream = new DataInputStream(clientSocket.getInputStream()); //dataOutputStream = new DataOutputStream(clientSocket.getOutputStream()); //System.out.println("ip: " + clientSocket.getInetAddress()); //System.out.println("message: " + ois.read()); //dataOutputStream.writeUTF("Hello!"); /*while ((myServer.read_packet = (Packet) ois.readObject()) != null) { myServer.handlePacket(myServer.read_packet); break; }*/ myServer.read_packet=(Packet) ois.readObject(); myServer.handlePacket(myServer.read_packet); //oos.close(); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } finally{ if( myServer.clientSocket!= null){ /*try { //myServer.clientSocket.close(); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); }*/ } /*if( ois!= null){ try { ois.close(); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } } if( oos!= null){ try { oos.close(); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } }*/ } } } public void handlePacket(Packet hp) throws IOException { if(hp.getOpCode() == 1) { registPlayer(hp); } } public void registPlayer(Packet p) throws IOException { Client registClient = new Client(this.clientSocket); this.pendent_clients.add(registClient); if(pendent_clients.size() == 2) { initAGame(); } else { ObjectOutputStream out=null; Packet to_send = new Packet(); to_send.setOpCode(4); out = new ObjectOutputStream(registClient.getClientSocket().getOutputStream()); out.writeObject(to_send); } } public void initAGame() throws IOException { Client c1 = pendent_clients.get(0); Client c2 = pendent_clients.get(1); Packet to_send = new Packet(); ObjectOutputStream out=null; GameSession incomingGame = new GameSession(c1,c2); games.add(incomingGame); to_send.setGameId(incomingGame.getGameId()); to_send.setOpCode(5); out = new ObjectOutputStream(c1.getClientSocket().getOutputStream()); out.writeObject(to_send); out = new ObjectOutputStream(c2.getClientSocket().getOutputStream()); out.writeObject(to_send); pendent_clients.clear(); } public Client getClientById(UUID given_id) { for(GameSession gs: games) { if(gs.getClient1().getClientId().equals(given_id)) { return gs.getClient1(); } else if(gs.getClient2().getClientId().equals(given_id)) { return gs.getClient2(); } } return null; } } With this code i got this erros: java.net.SocketException: Broken pipe at java.net.SocketOutputStream.socketWrite0(Native Method) at java.net.SocketOutputStream.socketWrite(SocketOutputStream.java:92) at java.net.SocketOutputStream.write(SocketOutputStream.java:136) at java.io.ObjectOutputStream$BlockDataOutputStream.drain(ObjectOutputStream.java:1847) at java.io.ObjectOutputStream$BlockDataOutputStream.setBlockDataMode(ObjectOutputStream.java:1756) at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeNonProxyDesc(ObjectOutputStream.java:1257) at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeClassDesc(ObjectOutputStream.java:1211) at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeOrdinaryObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:1395) at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject0(ObjectOutputStream.java:1158) at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeFatalException(ObjectOutputStream.java:1547) at java.io.ObjectOutputStream.writeObject(ObjectOutputStream.java:333) at Server.initAGame(Server.java:146) at Server.registPlayer(Server.java:120) at Server.handlePacket(Server.java:106) at Server.main(Server.java:63) This error ocurre when second client connect and server try to send an Packet to previous client 1 in function initGame() in this code: out = new ObjectOutputStream(c1.getClientSocket().getOutputStream()); out.writeObject(to_send); my android code is this: package sal.app; import java.io.DataInputStream; import java.io.DataOutputStream; import java.io.IOException; import java.io.ObjectInputStream; import java.io.ObjectOutputStream; import java.net.Socket; import java.net.UnknownHostException; import sal.app.logic.DataBaseManager; import sal.app.shared.Packet; import android.app.Activity; import android.os.Bundle; import android.view.Window; import android.view.WindowManager; public class MultiPlayerWaitActivity extends Activity{ private DataBaseManager db; public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE); super.getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN); super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.multiwaitlayout); db=DataBaseManager.getSalDatabase(this); db.teste(); try { db.createDataBase(); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } Socket socket = null; ObjectOutputStream outputStream = null; ObjectInputStream inputStream = null; //System.out.println("dadadad"); try { socket = new Socket("192.168.1.4", 7777); //Game = new MultiPlayerGame(new ServerManager("192.168.1.66"),new Session(), new Player("")); outputStream = new ObjectOutputStream(socket.getOutputStream()); inputStream = new ObjectInputStream(socket.getInputStream()); //dataOutputStream.writeUTF(textOut.getText().toString()); //textIn.setText(dataInputStream.readUTF()); Packet p = new Packet(); Packet r = new Packet(); p.setOpCode(1); outputStream.writeObject(p); /*try { r=(Packet)inputStream.readObject(); } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); }*/ //while(true){ //dataInputStream = new DataInputStream(clientSocket.getInputStream()); //dataOutputStream = new DataOutputStream(clientSocket.getOutputStream()); //System.out.println("ip: " + clientSocket.getInetAddress()); //System.out.println("message: " + ois.read()); //dataOutputStream.writeUTF("Hello!"); /*while ((r= (Packet) inputStream.readObject()) != null) { handPacket(r); break; }*/ r=(Packet) inputStream.readObject(); handPacket(r); //oos.close(); //} /*System.out.println(r.getOpCode()); if(r.getOpCode() == 5) { this.finish(); }*/ } catch (UnknownHostException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } /*finally{ if (socket != null){ try { socket.close(); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } } if (outputStream != null){ try { outputStream.close(); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } } if (inputStream != null){ try { inputStream.close(); } catch (IOException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } } }*/ //catch (ClassNotFoundException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block //e.printStackTrace(); //} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block e.printStackTrace(); } } public void handPacket(Packet hp) { if(hp.getOpCode() == 5) { this.finish(); } this.finish(); } } Regards

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How to display data stored in core data in a table view?

- by Dipanjan Dutta

Hello All, I have developed a core data model for my application. I need to display the saved data into a table view. For my app I have selected split view controller. I am writing down my codes below. Please help me in this regard and write me the code that needs to be added. This is very important as my continuation in my company depends on this. #import "RootViewController.h" #import "DetailViewController.h" #import "AddViewController.h" #import "EmployeeDetailsAppDelegate.h" /* This template does not ensure user interface consistency during editing operations in the table view. You must implement appropriate methods to provide the user experience you require. */ @interface RootViewController () - (void)configureCell:(UITableViewCell *)cell atIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath; @end @implementation RootViewController @synthesize detailViewController, fetchedResultsController, managedObjectContext, results, empName; #pragma mark - #pragma mark View lifecycle - (void)viewDidLoad { results = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc]init]; [results setObject:empName.text forKey:@"EmployeeName"]; [self.tableView reloadData]; [super viewDidLoad]; } /* - (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewWillAppear:animated]; } */ /* - (void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewDidAppear:animated]; } */ /* - (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewWillDisappear:animated]; } */ /* - (void)viewDidDisappear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewDidDisappear:animated]; } */ - (BOOL)shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)interfaceOrientation { // Ensure that the view controller supports rotation and that the split view can therefore show in both portrait and landscape. return YES; } - (void)configureCell:(UITableViewCell *)cell atIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { NSManagedObject *managedObject = [self.fetchedResultsController objectAtIndexPath:indexPath]; cell.textLabel.text = [[managedObject valueForKey:@"EmployeeName"] description]; } #pragma mark - #pragma mark Add a new object - (void)insertNewObject:(id)sender { AddViewController *add = [[AddViewController alloc]initWithNibName:@"AddViewController" bundle:nil]; self.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationFormSheet; add.wantsFullScreenLayout = NO; [self presentModalViewController:add animated:YES]; [add release]; } #pragma mark - #pragma mark Table view data source - (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView { return 1; } - (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section { return 1; } - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"Cell"; UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; if (cell == nil) { cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease]; } // Configure the cell. NSManagedObject *managedObject = [self.fetchedResultsController objectAtIndexPath:indexPath]; cell.textLabel.text = [[managedObject valueForKey:@"EmployeeName"] description]; return cell; } - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView commitEditingStyle:(UITableViewCellEditingStyle)editingStyle forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete) { // Delete the managed object. NSManagedObject *objectToDelete = [self.fetchedResultsController objectAtIndexPath:indexPath]; if (self.detailViewController.detailItem == objectToDelete) { self.detailViewController.detailItem = nil; } NSManagedObjectContext *context = [self.fetchedResultsController managedObjectContext]; [context deleteObject:objectToDelete]; NSError *error; if (![context save:&error]) { /* Replace this implementation with code to handle the error appropriately. abort() causes the application to generate a crash log and terminate. You should not use this function in a shipping application, although it may be useful during development. If it is not possible to recover from the error, display an alert panel that instructs the user to quit the application by pressing the Home button. */ NSLog(@"Unresolved error %@, %@", error, [error userInfo]); abort(); } } } - (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canMoveRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // The table view should not be re-orderable. return NO; } #pragma mark - #pragma mark Table view delegate - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)aTableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // Set the detail item in the detail view controller. NSManagedObject *selectedObject = [self.fetchedResultsController objectAtIndexPath:indexPath]; self.detailViewController.detailItem = selectedObject; } #pragma mark - #pragma mark Fetched results controller - (NSFetchedResultsController *)fetchedResultsController { if (fetchedResultsController != nil) { return fetchedResultsController; } /* Set up the fetched results controller. */ // Create the fetch request for the entity. NSFetchRequest *fetchRequest = [[NSFetchRequest alloc] init]; // Edit the entity name as appropriate. NSEntityDescription *entity = [NSEntityDescription entityForName:@"Details" inManagedObjectContext:managedObjectContext]; [fetchRequest setEntity:entity]; // Set the batch size to a suitable number. [fetchRequest setFetchBatchSize:20]; // Edit the sort key as appropriate. NSSortDescriptor *sortDescriptor = [[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:@"EmployeeName" ascending:NO]; NSArray *sortDescriptors = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:sortDescriptor, nil]; [fetchRequest setSortDescriptors:sortDescriptors]; // Edit the section name key path and cache name if appropriate. // nil for section name key path means "no sections". NSFetchedResultsController *aFetchedResultsController = [[NSFetchedResultsController alloc] initWithFetchRequest:fetchRequest managedObjectContext:managedObjectContext sectionNameKeyPath:nil cacheName:@"Root"]; aFetchedResultsController.delegate = self; self.fetchedResultsController = aFetchedResultsController; [aFetchedResultsController release]; [fetchRequest release]; [sortDescriptor release]; [sortDescriptors release]; return fetchedResultsController; } #pragma mark - #pragma mark Fetched results controller delegate - (void)controllerWillChangeContent:(NSFetchedResultsController *)controller { [self.tableView beginUpdates]; } - (void)controller:(NSFetchedResultsController *)controller didChangeSection:(id <NSFetchedResultsSectionInfo>)sectionInfo atIndex:(NSUInteger)sectionIndex forChangeType:(NSFetchedResultsChangeType)type { switch(type) { case NSFetchedResultsChangeInsert: [self.tableView insertSections:[NSIndexSet indexSetWithIndex:sectionIndex] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade]; break; case NSFetchedResultsChangeDelete: [self.tableView deleteSections:[NSIndexSet indexSetWithIndex:sectionIndex] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade]; break; } } - (void)controller:(NSFetchedResultsController *)controller didChangeObject:(id)anObject atIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath forChangeType:(NSFetchedResultsChangeType)type newIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)newIndexPath { UITableView *tableView = self.tableView; switch(type) { case NSFetchedResultsChangeInsert: [tableView insertRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObject:newIndexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade]; break; case NSFetchedResultsChangeDelete: [tableView deleteRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObject:indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade]; break; case NSFetchedResultsChangeUpdate: [self configureCell:[tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:indexPath] atIndexPath:indexPath]; break; case NSFetchedResultsChangeMove: [tableView deleteRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObject:indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade]; [tableView insertRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObject:newIndexPath]withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade]; break; } } - (void)controllerDidChangeContent:(NSFetchedResultsController *)controller { [self.tableView endUpdates]; } #pragma mark - #pragma mark Memory management - (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning { // Releases the view if it doesn't have a superview. [super didReceiveMemoryWarning]; // Relinquish ownership any cached data, images, etc. that aren't in use. } - (void)viewDidUnload { // Relinquish ownership of anything that can be recreated in viewDidLoad or on demand. // For example: self.myOutlet = nil; } - (void)dealloc { [detailViewController release]; [fetchedResultsController release]; [managedObjectContext release]; [super dealloc]; } @end // // AddViewController.m // EmployeeDetails // // Created by Dipanjan on 15/02/11. // Copyright 2011 __MyCompanyName__. All rights reserved. // #import "AddViewController.h" #import "EmployeeDetailsAppDelegate.h" #import "RootViewController.h" @implementation AddViewController @synthesize empName; @synthesize empID; @synthesize empDepartment; @synthesize backButton; // The designated initializer. Override if you create the controller programmatically and want to perform customization that is not appropriate for viewDidLoad. /* - (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil { self = [super initWithNibName:nibNameOrNil bundle:nibBundleOrNil]; if (self) { // Custom initialization. } return self; } */ /* // Implement viewDidLoad to do additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib. - (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad]; } */ -(void)saveDetails{ EmployeeDetailsAppDelegate *appDelegate = [[UIApplication sharedApplication]delegate]; NSManagedObjectContext *context = [appDelegate managedObjectContext]; NSManagedObject *newDetails; newDetails = [NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:@"Details" inManagedObjectContext:context]; [newDetails setValue:empID.text forKey:@"EmployeeID"]; [newDetails setValue:empName.text forKey:@"EmployeeName"]; [newDetails setValue:empDepartment.text forKey:@"EmployeeDepartment"]; empID.text = @""; empName.text = @""; empDepartment.text = @""; NSLog(@"%@........----->>>...", newDetails); NSError *error; [context save:&error]; [self dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES]; } -(void)findDetails { EmployeeDetailsAppDelegate *appDelegate = [[UIApplication sharedApplication]delegate]; NSManagedObjectContext *context = [appDelegate managedObjectContext]; NSEntityDescription *entityDesc = [NSEntityDescription entityForName:@"Details" inManagedObjectContext:context]; NSFetchRequest *request = [[NSFetchRequest alloc]init]; [request setEntity:entityDesc]; NSPredicate *pred = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:@"(EmployeeName = %@)", empName.text]; [request setPredicate:pred]; NSManagedObject *matches = nil; NSError *error; NSArray *objects = [context executeFetchRequest:request error:&error]; if ([objects count] == 0) { } else { matches = [objects objectAtIndex:0]; empID.text = [matches valueForKey:@"EmployeeID"]; empDepartment.text = [matches valueForKey:@"EmployeeDepartment"]; } [request release]; [self dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES]; } - (BOOL)shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)interfaceOrientation { // Overriden to allow any orientation. return YES; } - (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning { // Releases the view if it doesn't have a superview. [super didReceiveMemoryWarning]; // Release any cached data, images, etc. that aren't in use. } - (void)viewDidUnload { self.empName = nil; self.empID = nil; self.empDepartment = nil; [super viewDidUnload]; // Release any retained subviews of the main view. // e.g. self.myOutlet = nil; } - (void)dealloc { [empID release]; [empName release]; [empDepartment release]; [super dealloc]; } @end Please let me know the answer as soon as possible. Thank you. Regards, Dipanjan

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C++ cin keeps skipping.....

- by user69514

I am having problems with my program. WHen I run it, it asks the user for the album, the title, but then it just exits the loop without asking for the price and the sale tax. Any ideas what's going on? This is a sample run Discounts effective for September 15, 2010 Classical 8% Country 4% International 17% Jazz 0% Rock 16% Show 12% Are there more transactions? Y/N y Enter Artist of CD: Sevendust Enter Title of CD: Self titled Enter Genre of CD: Rock enter price Are there more transactions? Y/N Thank you for shopping with us! Program code: #include <iostream> #include <string> using namespace std; int counter = 0; string discount_tiles[] = {"Classical", "Country", "International", "Jazz", "Rock", "Show"}; int discount_amounts[] = {8, 4, 17, 0, 16, 12, 14}; string date = "September 15, 2010"; // Array Declerations //Artist array char** artist = new char *[100]; //Title array char** title = new char *[100]; //Genres array char** genres = new char *[100]; //Price array double* price[100]; //Discount array double* tax[100]; // sale price array double* sale_price[100]; //sale tax array double* sale_tax[100]; //cash price array double* cash_price[100]; //Begin Prototypes char* getArtist(); char* getTitle(); char* getGenre(); double* getPrice(); double* getTax(); unsigned int* AssignDiscounts(); void ReadTransaction (char ** artist, char ** title, char ** genre, float ** cash, float & taxrate, int albumcount); void computesaleprice(); bool AreThereMore (); //End Prototypes bool areThereMore () { char answer; cout << "Are there more transactions? Y/N" << endl; cin >> answer; if (answer =='y' || answer =='Y') return true; else return false; } char* getArtist() { char * artist= new char [100]; cout << "Enter Artist of CD: " << endl; cin.getline(artist,100); cin.ignore(); return artist; } char* getTitle() { char * title= new char [100]; cout << "Enter Title of CD: " << endl; cin.getline(title,100); cin.ignore(); return title; } char* getGenre() { char * genre= new char [100]; cout << "Enter Genre of CD: " << endl; cin.getline(genre,100); cin.ignore(); return genre; } double* getPrice() { //double* price = new double(); //cout << "Enter Price of CD: " << endl; //cin >> *price; //return price; double p = 0.0; cout<< "enter price" << endl; cin >> p; cin.ignore(); double* pp = &p; return pp; } double* getTax() { double* tax= new double(); cout << "Enter local sales tax: " << endl; cin >> *tax; return tax; } int findDiscount(string str){ if(str.compare(discount_tiles[0]) == 0) return discount_amounts[0]; else if(str.compare(discount_tiles[0]) == 0) return discount_amounts[1]; else if(str.compare(discount_tiles[0]) == 0) return discount_amounts[2]; else if(str.compare(discount_tiles[0]) == 0) return discount_amounts[3]; else if(str.compare(discount_tiles[0]) == 0) return discount_amounts[4]; else if(str.compare(discount_tiles[0]) == 0) return discount_amounts[5]; else{ cout << "Error in findDiscount function" << endl; return 0; } } void computesaleprice() { /** fill in array for all purchases **/ for( int i=0; i<=counter; i++){ double temp = *price[i]; temp -= findDiscount(genres[i]); double* tmpPntr = new double(); tmpPntr = &temp; sale_price[i] = tmpPntr; delete(&temp); delete(tmpPntr); } } void printDailyDiscounts(){ cout << "Discounts effective for " << date << endl; for(int i=0; i < 6; i++){ cout << discount_tiles[i] << "\t" << discount_amounts[i] << "%" << endl; } } //Begin Main int main () { for( int i=0; i<100; i++){ artist[i]=new char [100]; title[i]=new char [100]; genres[i]=new char [100]; price[i] = new double(0.0); tax[i] = new double(0.0); } // End Array Decleration printDailyDiscounts(); bool flag = true; while(flag == true){ if(areThereMore() == true){ artist[counter] = getArtist(); title[counter] = getTitle(); genres[counter] = getGenre(); price[counter] = getPrice(); //tax[counter] = getTax(); //counter++; flag = true; } else { flag = false; } } //compute sale prices //computesaleprice(); cout << "Thank you for shopping with us!" << endl; return 0; } //End Main /** void ReadTransaction (char ** artist, char ** title, char ** genre, float ** cash, float & taxrate, int albumcount) { strcpy(artist[albumcount],getArtist()); strcpy(title[albumcount],getTitle()); strcpy(genre[albumcount],getGenre()); //cash[albumcount][0]=computesaleprice();??????? //taxrate=getTax;?????????????? } * * */ unsigned int * AssignDiscounts() { unsigned int * discount = new unsigned int [7]; cout << "Enter Classical Discount: " << endl; cin >> discount[0]; cout << "Enter Country Discount: " << endl; cin >> discount[1]; cout << "Enter International Discount: " << endl; cin >> discount[2]; cout << "Enter Jazz Discount: " << endl; cin >> discount[3]; cout << "Enter Pop Discount: " << endl; cin >> discount[4]; cout << "Enter Rock Discount: " << endl; cin >> discount[5]; cout << "Enter Show Discount: " << endl; cin >> discount[6]; return discount; } /** char ** AssignGenres () { char ** genres = new char * [7]; for (int x=0;x<7;x++) genres[x] = new char [20]; strcpy(genres [0], "Classical"); strcpy(genres [1], "Country"); strcpy(genres [2], "International"); strcpy(genres [3], "Jazz"); strcpy(genres [4], "Pop"); strcpy(genres [5], "Rock"); strcpy(genres [6], "Show"); return genres; } **/ float getTax(float taxrate) { cout << "Please enter store tax rate: " << endl; cin >> taxrate; return taxrate; }

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Check on every page to ensure user has validated as being over 18

- by liquilife

Hi Guys and Girls. I'm working on a website (tobacco related) that requires all visitors to validate they are over 18 before they can view the site. I have a form in place that validates the age but I'm at a dead end. How can I use this to store a cookie that they've passed the test and do a check on all pages to see if this check has already been passed or not? Any suggestions and help would be hugely appreciated! Below is my validation form: <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <title>Validate</title> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://jqueryjs.googlecode.com/files/jquery-1.3.2.js"></script> <script language="javascript"> function checkAge() { var min_age = 18; var year = parseInt(document.forms["age_form"]["year"].value); var month = parseInt(document.forms["age_form"]["month"].value) - 1; var day = parseInt(document.forms["age_form"]["day"].value); var theirDate = new Date((year + min_age), month, day); var today = new Date; if ( (today.getTime() - theirDate.getTime()) < 0) { alert("You are too young to enter this site!"); return false; } else { return true; } } </script> </head> <body> <form action="index.html" name="age_form" method="get" id="age_form"> <select name="day" id="day"> <option value="0" selected>DAY</option> <option value="1">1</option> <option value="2">2</option> <option value="3">3</option> <option value="4">4</option> <option value="5">5</option> <option value="6">6</option> <option value="7">7</option> <option value="8">8</option> <option value="9">9</option> <option value="10">10</option> <option value="11">11</option> <option value="12">12</option> <option value="13">13</option> <option value="14">14</option> <option value="15">15</option> <option value="16">16</option> <option value="17">17</option> <option value="18">18</option> <option value="19">19</option> <option value="20">20</option> <option value="21">21</option> <option value="22">22</option> <option value="23">23</option> <option value="24">24</option> <option value="25">25</option> <option value="26">26</option> <option value="27">27</option> <option value="28">28</option> <option value="29">29</option> <option value="30">30</option> <option value="31">31</option> </select> <select name="month" id="month"> <option value="0" selected>MONTH</option> <option value="1">January</option> <option value="2">February</option> <option value="3">March</option> <option value="4">April</option> <option value="5">May</option> <option value="6">June</option> <option value="7">July</option> <option value="8">August</option> <option value="9">September</option> <option value="10">October</option> <option value="11">November</option> <option value="12">December</option> </select> <select name="year" id="year"> <option value="0" selected>YEAR</option> <option value="1920">1920</option> <option value="1921">1921</option> <option value="1922">1922</option> <option value="1923">1923</option> <option value="1924">1924</option> <option value="1925">1925</option> <option value="1926">1926</option> <option value="1927">1927</option> <option value="1928">1928</option> <option value="1929">1929</option> <option value="1930">1930</option> <option value="1931">1931</option> <option value="1932">1932</option> <option value="1933">1933</option> <option value="1934">1934</option> <option value="1935">1935</option> <option value="1936">1936</option> <option value="1937">1937</option> <option value="1938">1938</option> <option value="1939">1939</option> <option value="1940">1940</option> <option value="1941">1941</option> <option value="1942">1942</option> <option value="1943">1943</option> <option value="1944">1944</option> <option value="1945">1945</option> <option value="1946">1946</option> <option value="1947">1947</option> <option value="1948">1948</option> <option value="1949">1949</option> <option value="1950">1950</option> <option value="1951">1951</option> <option value="1952">1952</option> <option value="1953">1953</option> <option value="1954">1954</option> <option value="1955">1955</option> <option value="1956">1956</option> <option value="1957">1957</option> <option value="1958">1958</option> <option value="1959">1959</option> <option value="1960">1960</option> <option value="1961">1961</option> <option value="1962">1962</option> <option value="1963">1963</option> <option value="1964">1964</option> <option value="1965">1965</option> <option value="1966">1966</option> <option value="1967">1967</option> <option value="1968">1968</option> <option value="1969">1969</option> <option value="1970">1970</option> <option value="1971">1971</option> <option value="1972">1972</option> <option value="1973">1973</option> <option value="1974">1974</option> <option value="1975">1975</option> <option value="1976">1976</option> <option value="1977">1977</option> <option value="1978">1978</option> <option value="1979">1979</option> <option value="1980">1980</option> <option value="1981">1981</option> <option value="1982">1982</option> <option value="1983">1983</option> <option value="1984">1984</option> <option value="1985">1985</option> <option value="1986">1986</option> <option value="1987">1987</option> <option value="1988">1988</option> <option value="1989">1989</option> <option value="1990">1990</option> <option value="1991">1991</option> <option value="1992">1992</option> <option value="1993">1993</option> <option value="1994">1994</option> <option value="1995">1995</option> <option value="1996">1996</option> <option value="1997">1997</option> <option value="1998">1998</option> <option value="1999">1999</option> </select> </form> </body> </html>

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Multiple errors while adding searching to app

- by Thijs

Hi, I'm fairly new at iOS programming, but I managed to make a (in my opinion quite nice) app for the app store. The main function for my next update will be a search option for the app. I followed a tutorial I found on the internet and adapted it to fit my app. I got back quite some errors, most of which I managed to fix. But now I'm completely stuck and don't know what to do next. I know it's a lot to ask, but if anyone could take a look at the code underneath, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! // // RootViewController.m // GGZ info // // Created by Thijs Beckers on 29-12-10. // Copyright 2010 __MyCompanyName__. All rights reserved. // #import "RootViewController.h" // Always import the next level view controller header(s) #import "CourseCodes.h" @implementation RootViewController @synthesize dataForCurrentLevel, tableViewData; #pragma mark - #pragma mark View lifecycle // OVERRIDE METHOD - (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad]; // Go get the data for the app... // Create a custom string that points to the right location in the app bundle NSString *pathToPlist = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"SCSCurriculum" ofType:@"plist"]; // Now, place the result into the dictionary property // Note that we must retain it to keep it around dataForCurrentLevel = [[NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:pathToPlist] retain]; // Place the top level keys (the program codes) in an array for the table view // Note that we must retain it to keep it around // NSDictionary has a really useful instance method - allKeys // The allKeys method returns an array with all of the keys found in (this level of) a dictionary tableViewData = [[[dataForCurrentLevel allKeys] sortedArrayUsingSelector:@selector(caseInsensitiveCompare:)] retain]; //Initialize the copy array. copyListOfItems = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init]; // Set the nav bar title self.title = @"GGZ info"; //Add the search bar self.tableView.tableHeaderView = searchBar; searchBar.autocorrectionType = UITextAutocorrectionTypeNo; searching = NO; letUserSelectRow = YES; } /* - (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewWillAppear:animated]; } */ /* - (void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewDidAppear:animated]; } */ /* - (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewWillDisappear:animated]; } */ /* - (void)viewDidDisappear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewDidDisappear:animated]; } */ //RootViewController.m - (void) searchBarTextDidBeginEditing:(UISearchBar *)theSearchBar { searching = YES; letUserSelectRow = NO; self.tableView.scrollEnabled = NO; //Add the done button. self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemDone target:self action:@selector(doneSearching_Clicked:)] autorelease]; } - (NSIndexPath *)tableView :(UITableView *)theTableView willSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { if(letUserSelectRow) return indexPath; else return nil; } //RootViewController.m - (void)searchBar:(UISearchBar *)theSearchBar textDidChange:(NSString *)searchText { //Remove all objects first. [copyListOfItems removeAllObjects]; if([searchText length] > 0) { searching = YES; letUserSelectRow = YES; self.tableView.scrollEnabled = YES; [self searchTableView]; } else { searching = NO; letUserSelectRow = NO; self.tableView.scrollEnabled = NO; } [self.tableView reloadData]; } //RootViewController.m - (void) searchBarSearchButtonClicked:(UISearchBar *)theSearchBar { [self searchTableView]; } - (void) searchTableView { NSString *searchText = searchBar.text; NSMutableArray *searchArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init]; for (NSDictionary *dictionary in listOfItems) { NSArray *array = [dictionary objectForKey:@"Countries"]; [searchArray addObjectsFromArray:array]; } for (NSString *sTemp in searchArray) { NSRange titleResultsRange = [sTemp rangeOfString:searchText options:NSCaseInsensitiveSearch]; if (titleResultsRange.length > 0) [copyListOfItems addObject:sTemp]; } [searchArray release]; searchArray = nil; } //RootViewController.m - (void) doneSearching_Clicked:(id)sender { searchBar.text = @""; [searchBar resignFirstResponder]; letUserSelectRow = YES; searching = NO; self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = nil; self.tableView.scrollEnabled = YES; [self.tableView reloadData]; } //RootViewController.m - (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView { if (searching) return 1; else return [listOfItems count]; } // Customize the number of rows in the table view. - (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section { if (searching) return [copyListOfItems count]; else { //Number of rows it should expect should be based on the section NSDictionary *dictionary = [listOfItems objectAtIndex:section]; NSArray *array = [dictionary objectForKey:@"Countries"]; return [array count]; } } - (NSString *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView titleForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section { if(searching) return @""; if(section == 0) return @"Countries to visit"; else return @"Countries visited"; } // Customize the appearance of table view cells. - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"Cell"; UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; if (cell == nil) { cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease]; } // Set up the cell... if(searching) cell.text = [copyListOfItems objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; else { //First get the dictionary object NSDictionary *dictionary = [listOfItems objectAtIndex:indexPath.section]; NSArray *array = [dictionary objectForKey:@"Countries"]; NSString *cellValue = [array objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; cell.text = cellValue; } return cell; } - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { //Get the selected country NSString *selectedCountry = nil; if(searching) selectedCountry = [copyListOfItems objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; else { NSDictionary *dictionary = [listOfItems objectAtIndex:indexPath.section]; NSArray *array = [dictionary objectForKey:@"Countries"]; selectedCountry = [array objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; } //Initialize the detail view controller and display it. DetailViewController *dvController = [[DetailViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"DetailView" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]]; dvController.selectedCountry = selectedCountry; [self.navigationController pushViewController:dvController animated:YES]; [dvController release]; dvController = nil; } //RootViewController.m - (void) searchBarTextDidBeginEditing:(UISearchBar *)theSearchBar { //Add the overlay view. if(ovController == nil) ovController = [[OverlayViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"OverlayView" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]]; CGFloat yaxis = self.navigationController.navigationBar.frame.size.height; CGFloat width = self.view.frame.size.width; CGFloat height = self.view.frame.size.height; //Parameters x = origion on x-axis, y = origon on y-axis. CGRect frame = CGRectMake(0, yaxis, width, height); ovController.view.frame = frame; ovController.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor grayColor]; ovController.view.alpha = 0.5; ovController.rvController = self; [self.tableView insertSubview:ovController.view aboveSubview:self.parentViewController.view]; searching = YES; letUserSelectRow = NO; self.tableView.scrollEnabled = NO; //Add the done button. self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemDone target:self action:@selector(doneSearching_Clicked:)] autorelease]; } // Override to allow orientations other than the default portrait orientation. - (BOOL)shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)interfaceOrientation { // Return YES for supported orientations. return YES; } - (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning { // Releases the view if it doesn't have a superview. [super didReceiveMemoryWarning]; // Relinquish ownership any cached data, images, etc that aren't in use. } - (void)viewDidUnload { // Relinquish ownership of anything that can be recreated in viewDidLoad or on demand. // For example: self.myOutlet = nil; } - (void)dealloc { [dataForCurrentLevel release]; [tableViewData release]; [super dealloc]; } #pragma mark - #pragma mark Table view methods // DATA SOURCE METHOD - (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView { return 1; } // DATA SOURCE METHOD - (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section { // How many rows should be displayed? return [tableViewData count]; } // DELEGATE METHOD - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // Cell reuse block static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"Cell"; UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; if (cell == nil) { cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease]; } // Configure the cell's contents - we want the program code, and a disclosure indicator cell.textLabel.text = [tableViewData objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; cell.accessoryType = UITableViewCellAccessoryDisclosureIndicator; return cell; } //RootViewController.m - (void)searchBar:(UISearchBar *)theSearchBar textDidChange:(NSString *)searchText { //Remove all objects first. [copyListOfItems removeAllObjects]; if([searchText length] > 0) { [ovController.view removeFromSuperview]; searching = YES; letUserSelectRow = YES; self.tableView.scrollEnabled = YES; [self searchTableView]; } else { [self.tableView insertSubview:ovController.view aboveSubview:self.parentViewController.view]; searching = NO; letUserSelectRow = NO; self.tableView.scrollEnabled = NO; } [self.tableView reloadData]; } //RootViewController.m - (void) doneSearching_Clicked:(id)sender { searchBar.text = @""; [searchBar resignFirstResponder]; letUserSelectRow = YES; searching = NO; self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = nil; self.tableView.scrollEnabled = YES; [ovController.view removeFromSuperview]; [ovController release]; ovController = nil; [self.tableView reloadData]; } // DELEGATE METHOD - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // In any navigation-based application, you follow the same pattern: // 1. Create an instance of the next-level view controller // 2. Configure that instance, with settings and data if necessary // 3. Push it on to the navigation stack // In this situation, the next level view controller is another table view // Therefore, we really don't need a nib file (do you see a CourseCodes.xib? no, there isn't one) // So, a UITableViewController offers an initializer that programmatically creates a view // 1. Create the next level view controller // ======================================== CourseCodes *nextVC = [[CourseCodes alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewStylePlain]; // 2. Configure it... // ================== // It needs data from the dictionary - the "value" for the current "key" (that was tapped) NSDictionary *nextLevelDictionary = [dataForCurrentLevel objectForKey:[tableViewData objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]]; nextVC.dataForCurrentLevel = nextLevelDictionary; // Set the view title nextVC.title = [tableViewData objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; // 3. Push it on to the navigation stack // ===================================== [self.navigationController pushViewController:nextVC animated:YES]; // Memory manage it [nextVC release]; } /* // Override to support conditional editing of the table view. - (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canEditRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // Return NO if you do not want the specified item to be editable. return YES; } */ /* // Override to support editing the table view. - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView commitEditingStyle:(UITableViewCellEditingStyle)editingStyle forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete) { // Delete the row from the data source. [tableView deleteRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObject:indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade]; } else if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleInsert) { // Create a new instance of the appropriate class, insert it into the array, and add a new row to the table view. } } */ /* // Override to support rearranging the table view. - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView moveRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)fromIndexPath toIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)toIndexPath { } */ /* // Override to support conditional rearranging of the table view. - (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canMoveRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // Return NO if you do not want the item to be re-orderable. return YES; } */ @end

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How to improve performance of map that loads new overlay images

- by anthonysomerset

I have inherited a website to maintain that uses a html map overlaying a real map to link specific countries to specific pages. previously it loaded the default map image, then with some javascript it would change the image src to an image with that particular country in a different colour on mouseover and reset the image source back to the original image on mouse out to make maintenance (adding new countries) easier i made the initial map a background image by utilising some CSS for the div tag, and then created new images for each country which only had that countries hightlight so that the images remain fairly small. this works great but theres one issue which is particularly noticeable on slower internet connections when you hover over a country if you dont have the image file in your browser cache or downloaded it wont load the image unless you hover over another country and then back onto the first country - i guess this is due to the image having to manually be downloaded on first hover. My question: is it possible to force the load of these extra images AFTER the page and all the other assets have finished loading so that this behaviour is all but eliminated? the html code for the MAP is as follows: <div class="gtmap"><img id="Image-Maps_6200909211657061" src="<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png" usemap="#Image-Maps_6200909211657061" alt="We offer Guided Motorcycle Tours all around the world" width="615" height="296" /> <map id="_Image-Maps_6200909211657061" name="Image-Maps_6200909211657061"> <area shape="poly" coords="511,134,532,107,542,113,520,141" href="/guided-motorcycle-tours-japan/" alt="Guided Japan Motorcycle Tours" title="Japan" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-japan.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="252,61,266,58,275,64,262,68" href="/guided-motorcycle-tour.php?iceland-motorcycle-adventure-39" alt="Guided Iceland Motorcycle Tours" title="Iceland" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-iceland.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="587,246,597,256,577,279,568,270" href="/guided-motorcycle-tour.php?new-zealand-south-island-adventure-10" alt="New Zealand Guided Motorcycle Tours" title="New Zealand" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-nz.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="418,133,412,145,412,154,421,178,430,180,430,166,443,154,443,145,438,144,433,142,430,138,431,130,430,129,425,128" href="/guided-motorcycle-tours-india/" alt="India Guided Motorcycle Tours" title="India" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-india.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="460,152,466,149,474,165,470,171,466,161" href="/guided-motorcycle-tours-laos/" alt="Laos Guided Motorcycle Tours" title="Laos" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-laos.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="468,179,475,166,468,152,475,152,482,169" href="/guided-motorcycle-tour.php?indochina-motorcycle-adventure-tour-32" onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/internal-links/guided-tours/map/vietnam');" alt="Vietnam Guided Motorcycle Tours" title="Vietnam" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-viet.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="330,239,337,235,347,226,352,233,351,243,344,250,335,253,327,255,323,249,322,242,323,241" href="/guided-motorcycle-tours-southafrica/" alt="South Africa Guided Motorcycle Tours" title="South Africa" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-sa.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="290,77,293,86,298,96,286,102,285,97,285,89,282,84,282,79" href="/guided-motorcycle-tour.php?great-britain-isle-of-man-scotland-wales-uk-18" alt="United Kingdom" title="United Kingdom Guided Motorcycle Tours" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-uk.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="357,118,368,118,369,126,345,129,338,125,338,117,342,115,348,116" href="/guided-motorcycle-tour.php?explore-turkey-adventure-45" alt="Turkey" title="Turkey Guided Motorcycle Tours" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-turkey.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="206,95,193,101,185,101,178,106,165,111,157,109,147,105,134,103,121,103,107,103,96,103,86,104,81,99,77,91,70,83,62,79,60,72,61,64,59,57,60,51,71,50,83,49,95,50,107,54,117,53,129,47,137,36,148,37,163,38,177,44,187,54,195,60,184,72,191,80,200,87" href="/guided-motorcycle-tours-canada/" alt="Guided Canada Motorcycle Tours" title="Canada" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-canada.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="61,75,60,62,60,55,59,44,51,44,43,43,36,42,28,43,23,48,17,51,15,62,19,74,27,79,19,83,16,93,35,83,43,77,50,75,55,75" href="/guided-motorcycle-tours-alaska/" alt="Guided Alaska Motorcycle Tours" title="Alaska" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-alaska.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="82,101,99,101,133,101,148,105,161,110,172,106,187,100,180,113,171,122,165,131,159,149,147,141,137,140,129,147,120,141,112,138,103,137,93,132,86,122,86,112,86,106" href="/guided-motorcycle-tours-usa/" alt="USA Guided Motorcycle Tours" title="USA" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-usa.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="178,225,180,214,175,208,174,204,178,198,174,193,167,192,157,199,158,204,164,211,167,218" href="/guided-motorcycle-tour.php?peru-machu-picchu-adventure-25" alt="Peru Guided Motorcycle Tours" title="Peru" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-peru.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="172,226,169,239,166,256,166,267,164,279,171,277,174,262,175,250,179,234,180,225,176,224" href="/guided-motorcycle-tours-chile/" alt="Guided Chile Motorcycle Tours" title="Chile" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-chile.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> <area shape="poly" coords="199,260,194,261,187,265,184,276,183,296,170,292,168,282,174,270,174,257,177,245,180,230,190,228,205,237,199,245" href="/guided-motorcycle-tours-argentina/" alt="Guided Argentina Motorcycle Tours" title="Argentina" onmouseover="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-arg.png';" onmouseout="if(document.images) document.getElementById('Image-Maps_6200909211657061').src='<?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?>assets/wmap/a-guided-tours-map-blank.png';" /> </map> </div> The <?php echo cdnhttpsCheck(); ?> is just a site specific function that gets the correct web domain/url from a config file to load resources from CDN where possible (eg all non HTTPS requests) We are loading Jquery at the bottom of the HTML if anybody wonders why it is missing from the code snippet for reference, the page with the map in question is found here: http://www.motoquest.com/guided-motorcycle-tours/

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Using libgrib2c in c++ application, linker error "Undefined reference to..."

- by Rich

EDIT: If you're going to be doing things with GRIB files I would recommend the GDAL library which is backed by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. You will save yourself a lot of headache :) I'm using Qt creator in Ubuntu creating a c++ app. I am attempting to use an external lib, libgrib2c.a, that has a header grib2.h. Everything compiles, but when it tries to link I get the error: undefined reference to 'seekgb(_IO_FILE*, long, long, long*, long*) I have tried wrapping the header file with: extern "C"{ #include "grib2.h" } But it didn't fix anything so I figured that was not my problem. In the .pro file I have the line: include($${ROOT}/Shared/common/commonLibs.pri) and in commonLibs.pri I have: INCLUDEPATH+=$${ROOT}/external_libs/g2clib/include LIBS+=-L$${ROOT}/external_libs/g2clib/lib LIBS+=-lgrib2c I am not encountering an error finding the library. If I do a nm command on the libgrib2c.a I get: nm libgrib2c.a | grep seekgb seekgb.o: 00000000 T seekgb And when I run qmake with the additional argument of LIBS+=-Wl,--verbose I can find the lib file in the output: attempt to open /usr/lib/libgrib2c.so failed attempt to open /usr/lib/libgrib2c.a failed attempt to open /mnt/sdb1/ESMF/App/ESMF_App/../external_libs/linux/qwt_6.0.2/lib/libgrib2c.so failed attempt to open /mnt/sdb1/ESMF/App/ESMF_App/../external_libs/linux/qwt_6.0.2/lib/libgrib2c.a failed attempt to open ..//Shared/Config/lib/libgrib2c.so failed attempt to open ..//Shared/Config/lib/libgrib2c.a failed attempt to open ..//external_libs/libssh2/lib/libgrib2c.so failed attempt to open ..//external_libs/libssh2/lib/libgrib2c.a failed attempt to open ..//external_libs/openssl/lib/libgrib2c.so failed attempt to open ..//external_libs/openssl/lib/libgrib2c.a failed attempt to open ..//external_libs/g2clib/lib/libgrib2c.so failed attempt to open ..//external_libs/g2clib/lib/libgrib2c.a succeeded Although it doesn't show any of the .o files in the library is this because it is a c library in my c++ app? in the .cpp file that I am trying to use the library I have: #include "gribreader.h" #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <external_libs/g2clib/include/grib2.h> #include <Shared/logging/Logger.hpp> //------------------------------------------------------------------------------ /// Opens a GRIB file from disk. /// /// This function opens the grib file and searches through it for how many GRIB /// messages are contained as well as their starting locations. /// /// \param a_filePath. The path to the file to be opened. /// \return True if successful, false if not. //------------------------------------------------------------------------------ bool GRIBReader::OpenGRIB(std::string a_filePath) { LOG(notification)<<"Attempting to open grib file: "<< a_filePath; if(isOpen()) { CloseGRIB(); } m_filePath = a_filePath; m_filePtr = fopen(a_filePath.c_str(), "r"); if(m_filePtr == NULL) { LOG(error)<<"Unable to open file: " << a_filePath; return false; } LOG(notification)<<"Successfully opened GRIB file"; g2int currentMessageSize(1); g2int seekPosition(0); g2int lengthToBeginningOfGrib(0); g2int seekLength(32000); int i(0); int iterationLimit(300); m_GRIBMessageLocations.clear(); m_GRIBMessageSizes.clear(); while(i < iterationLimit) { seekgb(m_filePtr, seekPosition, seekLength, &lengthToBeginningOfGrib, &currentMessageSize); if(currentMessageSize != 0) { LOG(verbose) << "Adding GRIB message location " << lengthToBeginningOfGrib << " with length " << currentMessageSize; m_GRIBMessageLocations.push_back(lengthToBeginningOfGrib); m_GRIBMessageSizes.push_back(currentMessageSize); seekPosition = lengthToBeginningOfGrib + currentMessageSize; LOG(verbose) << "GRIB seek position moved to " << seekPosition; } else { LOG(notification)<<"End of GRIB file found, after "<< i << " GRIB messages."; break; } } if(i >= iterationLimit) { LOG(warning) << "The iteration limit of " << iterationLimit << "was reached while searching for GRIB messages"; } return true; } And the header grib2.h is as follows: #ifndef _grib2_H #define _grib2_H #include<stdio.h> #define G2_VERSION "g2clib-1.4.0" #ifdef __64BIT__ typedef int g2int; typedef unsigned int g2intu; #else typedef long g2int; typedef unsigned long g2intu; #endif typedef float g2float; struct gtemplate { g2int type; /* 3=Grid Defintion Template. */ /* 4=Product Defintion Template. */ /* 5=Data Representation Template. */ g2int num; /* template number. */ g2int maplen; /* number of entries in the static part */ /* of the template. */ g2int *map; /* num of octets of each entry in the */ /* static part of the template. */ g2int needext; /* indicates whether or not the template needs */ /* to be extended. */ g2int extlen; /* number of entries in the template extension. */ g2int *ext; /* num of octets of each entry in the extension */ /* part of the template. */ }; typedef struct gtemplate gtemplate; struct gribfield { g2int version,discipline; g2int *idsect; g2int idsectlen; unsigned char *local; g2int locallen; g2int ifldnum; g2int griddef,ngrdpts; g2int numoct_opt,interp_opt,num_opt; g2int *list_opt; g2int igdtnum,igdtlen; g2int *igdtmpl; g2int ipdtnum,ipdtlen; g2int *ipdtmpl; g2int num_coord; g2float *coord_list; g2int ndpts,idrtnum,idrtlen; g2int *idrtmpl; g2int unpacked; g2int expanded; g2int ibmap; g2int *bmap; g2float *fld; }; typedef struct gribfield gribfield; /* Prototypes for unpacking API */ void seekgb(FILE *,g2int ,g2int ,g2int *,g2int *); g2int g2_info(unsigned char *,g2int *,g2int *,g2int *,g2int *); g2int g2_getfld(unsigned char *,g2int ,g2int ,g2int ,gribfield **); void g2_free(gribfield *); /* Prototypes for packing API */ g2int g2_create(unsigned char *,g2int *,g2int *); g2int g2_addlocal(unsigned char *,unsigned char *,g2int ); g2int g2_addgrid(unsigned char *,g2int *,g2int *,g2int *,g2int ); g2int g2_addfield(unsigned char *,g2int ,g2int *, g2float *,g2int ,g2int ,g2int *, g2float *,g2int ,g2int ,g2int *); g2int g2_gribend(unsigned char *); /* Prototypes for supporting routines */ extern double int_power(double, g2int ); extern void mkieee(g2float *,g2int *,g2int); void rdieee(g2int *,g2float *,g2int ); extern gtemplate *getpdstemplate(g2int); extern gtemplate *extpdstemplate(g2int,g2int *); extern gtemplate *getdrstemplate(g2int); extern gtemplate *extdrstemplate(g2int,g2int *); extern gtemplate *getgridtemplate(g2int); extern gtemplate *extgridtemplate(g2int,g2int *); extern void simpack(g2float *,g2int,g2int *,unsigned char *,g2int *); extern void compack(g2float *,g2int,g2int,g2int *,unsigned char *,g2int *); void misspack(g2float *,g2int ,g2int ,g2int *, unsigned char *, g2int *); void gbit(unsigned char *,g2int *,g2int ,g2int ); void sbit(unsigned char *,g2int *,g2int ,g2int ); void gbits(unsigned char *,g2int *,g2int ,g2int ,g2int ,g2int ); void sbits(unsigned char *,g2int *,g2int ,g2int ,g2int ,g2int ); int pack_gp(g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *, g2int *); #endif /* _grib2_H */ I have been scratching my head for two days on this. If anyone has an idea on what to do or can point me in some sort of direction, I'm stumped. Also, if you have any comments on how I can improve this post I'd love to hear them, kinda new at this posting thing. Usually I'm able to find an answer in the vast stores of knowledge already contained on the web.

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Wordpress issue with footer

- by Raelona

I've been trying to turn my simple html/css site into a wordpress site. my big issue which no one seem to be able to solve appears in my footer. The footer is pretty much ignoring everything and just staying in the top of the site ( like it was a part of my header). All my files is split into 3 files. A header.php a footer.php and the page.php (one for each site). Header! <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" <?php language_attributes(); ?>> <head profile="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="<?php bloginfo('html_type'); ?>; charset=<?php bloginfo('charset'); ?>" /> <?php if (is_search()) { ?> <meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow" /> <?php } ?> <title> <?php if (function_exists('is_tag') && is_tag()) { single_tag_title("Tag Archive for ""); echo '" - '; } elseif (is_archive()) { wp_title(''); echo ' Archive - '; } elseif (is_search()) { echo 'Search for "'.wp_specialchars($s).'" - '; } elseif (!(is_404()) && (is_single()) || (is_page())) { wp_title(''); echo ' - '; } elseif (is_404()) { echo 'Not Found - '; } if (is_home()) { bloginfo('name'); echo ' - '; bloginfo('description'); } else { bloginfo('name'); } if ($paged>1) { echo ' - page '. $paged; } ?> </title> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php bloginfo('stylesheet_url'); ?>" type="text/css" /> <link rel="pingback" href="<?php bloginfo('pingback_url'); ?>" /> <?php if ( is_singular() ) wp_enqueue_script( 'comment-reply' ); ?> <?php wp_head(); ?> </head> <body <?php body_class(); ?>> <div id="Menu" ></div> <div id="Mainbody"> <div id="Portfolio"><a href="<?php echo get_option('home'); ?>"><?php bloginfo('name'); ?></a> </div> <div id="Slogan"><a href="index.html"><?php bloginfo('description'); ?></a></div> <div id="nav-menu"> <?php $defaults = array( 'theme_location' => '', 'menu' => '', 'container' => 'div', 'container_class' => 'menu-{menu slug}-container', 'container_id' => '', 'menu_class' => 'menu', 'menu_id' => '', 'echo' => true, 'fallback_cb' => 'wp_page_menu', 'before' => '', 'after' => '', 'link_before' => '', 'link_after' => '', 'items_wrap' => '<ul id="%1$s" class="%2$s">%3$s</ul>', 'depth' => 0, 'walker' => '' ); ?> <?php wp_nav_menu( $defaults ); ?> </div> <div class="Box"> <div id="Mainindhold"> page ! <?php get_header(); ?> <div id="Arbejde"> <h2>Uddrag af mine webdesigns</h2> <br /> <br /> <?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?> <?php $key='link'; $custom = get_post_meta($post->ID, $key, true); ?> <?php $key2='brugt'; $custom2 = get_post_meta($post->ID, $key2, true); ?> <?php $key3='linkexternal'; $custom3 = get_post_meta($post->ID, $key3, true); ?> <?php $billede = get_the_post_thumbnail($post->ID, 'full'); ?> <div class="Raekke"> <div class="Arbejds_Billede"> <a href="<?php echo $custom; ?>" rel="lightbox"> <?php print $billede; ?></a> </div> <div class="Arbejdsbeskrivelse"> <h3><?php the_title(); ?></h3> <?php the_content(); ?> <div id="program"> <img src="<?php echo $custom2; ?>" /> </div> <div class="Knap"><a href="<?php echo $custom3; ?>"><p>Besøg siden</p></a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <?php endwhile; else: ?> <?php _e('No posts were fond. Sorry!'); ?> <?php endif; ?> </div> <?php get_footer();?> footer ! </div> </div> </div> <div id="footer"> ©<?php echo date("Y"); echo " "; bloginfo('name'); ?> 4000 Roskilde </div> <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-31920214-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> <?php wp_footer(); ?> </body> </html>

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Website displays in chrome perfectly, but not in mozilla or IE

- by Atharul Khan

here are the code snippets for the html and css. It works finds in Google chrome, but when I try to display it in mozilla or IE, it shows something completely different. I cannot attach images as I do not have the required reputation. I really appreciate the help. Thank you! HTML <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="ak.png"> <title>Home</title> </head> <body> <div class="Nav"> <nav> <ul class="navigation fade-in2"> <li><a href="#home">Home</a></li> <li><a href="#about">About</a></li> <li><a href="#portfolio">Portfolio</a></li> <li><a href="#shop">Shop</a></li> <li><a href="#blog">Blog</a></li> <li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> <div class="logo"><a href="#home"><img class="ak fade-in2" src="ak.png"></a></div> <div class="background"><img class="beauty" src="beauty.jpg"></div> <div class="header"> <h1 class="headerName fade-in">DESIGN | DEVELOP | BRAND</h1> <h4 class="service fade-in3"><a href="#portfolio">VIEW PORTFOLIO</a></h4> <h4 class="service fade-in3"><a href="#services">VIEW SERVICES</a></h4> </div>  </body> </html> CSS @-webkit-keyframes fadeIn { from { opacity:0; } to { opacity:1; } } @-moz-keyframes fadeIn { from { opacity:0; } to { opacity:1; } } @keyframes fadeIn { from { opacity:0; } to { opacity:1; } } * { padding: 0; margin: 0; } li { display: inline; font-size: 15px; font-family: verdana; } nav { width: 100%; text-align: right; background-color: #222222; padding: 0; margin: 0px; line-height: 47px; position: fixed; z-index: 100; } .ak{ width: 90px; height: 55px; z-index: 101; position: fixed; background: transparent; color: transparent; background-color: transparent; } .Nav a{ text-decoration: none; padding: 15px; } .Nav a:link{ color: #A7A7A7; } .Nav a:visited{ color: #A7A7A7; } .Nav a:hover{ color: #DBDBDB; transition: all 0.3s ease-out 0s; transition-property: all; transition-duration: 0.3s; transition-timing-function: ease-out; transition-delay: 0s; } .header { background-color: rgba(0,0,0, 0.25); width: 100%; height: 626px; text-align: center; position: fixed; z-index: 10; } .background { position: fixed; z-index: 8; } .beauty { width: 100%; height: 626px; } .headerName { font-size: 2.5em; text-align: center; color: #D3D3D3; padding: 180px; padding-bottom: 50px; margin: 0px; letter-spacing: 4px; font-weight: 100; font-family: 'Lato', sans-serif; } .fade-in { opacity:0; /* make things invisible upon start */ -webkit-animation:fadeIn ease-in 1; /* call our keyframe named fadeIn, use animation ease-in and repeat it only 1 time */ -moz-animation:fadeIn ease-in 1; animation:fadeIn ease-in 1; -webkit-animation-fill-mode:forwards; /* this makes sure that after animation is done we remain at the last keyframe value (opacity: 1)*/ -moz-animation-fill-mode:forwards; animation-fill-mode:forwards; -webkit-animation-duration:1s; -moz-animation-duration:1s; animation-duration:1s; -webkit-animation-delay: 0.3s; -moz-animation-delay:0.3s; animation-delay: 0.3s; } .fade-in2 { opacity:0; /* make things invisible upon start */ -webkit-animation:fadeIn ease-in 1; /* call our keyframe named fadeIn, use animation ease-in and repeat it only 1 time */ -moz-animation:fadeIn ease-in 1; animation:fadeIn ease-in 1; -webkit-animation-fill-mode:forwards; /* this makes sure that after animation is done we remain at the last keyframe value (opacity: 1)*/ -moz-animation-fill-mode:forwards; animation-fill-mode:forwards; -webkit-animation-duration:1s; -moz-animation-duration:1s; animation-duration:1s; -webkit-animation-delay: 0.6s; -moz-animation-delay:0.6s; animation-delay: 0.6s; } .fade-in3 { opacity:0; /* make things invisible upon start */ -webkit-animation:fadeIn ease-in 1; /* call our keyframe named fadeIn, use animation ease-in and repeat it only 1 time */ -moz-animation:fadeIn ease-in 1; animation:fadeIn ease-in 1; -webkit-animation-fill-mode:forwards; /* this makes sure that after animation is done we remain at the last keyframe value (opacity: 1)*/ -moz-animation-fill-mode:forwards; animation-fill-mode:forwards; -webkit-animation-duration:1s; -moz-animation-duration:1s; animation-duration:1s; -webkit-animation-delay: 0.9s; -moz-animation-delay:0.9s; animation-delay: 0.9s; } .service{ font-size: 14px; width: 190px; text-align: center; font-family: 'Lato', sans-serif; color: #D3D3D3; border: 2px #A7A7A7 solid; border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5); display: inline-block; border-radius: 5px; background-color: transparent; letter-spacing: 2px; } .service a{ text-decoration: none; display: block; padding: 15px 20px; } .service a:link{ color: #D3D3D3; } .service a:visited{ color: #D3D3D3; } .service a:hover{ background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.15); transition: background-color .15s ease-in; -webkit-transition: background-color .15s ease-in; -moz-transition: background-color .15s ease-in; -o-transition: background-color .15s ease-in; } UPDATE 1: I updated both browsers and it seems the css3 animations work perfectly fine on both browsers. What seems to be the problem is the positioning of the pages UPDATE 2: Here are the links to the different browser screen shots Chrome: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jlpa4vu51kdnews/Chrome.JPG InternetExplorer: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbchs3su9ahxr0n/IE.JPG Mozilla Firefox: dropbox(.)com/s/fyalnhsha9ktadz/Mozilla.JPG (I can't post the third link because I don't have enough reputation)

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WPF problem modify style of images in multiple Button Templates

- by user556415

I'm trying to create a control panel for a video camera, the panel has buttons for up, down, left and right etc. Each camera function up, down, left and right is represented by three images (see code below) for the left side, middle and right side. The control panel is circular so the corner images kind of overlap (its complicated to explain this without a visual). When I click on up for example I have to hide the initial three images (leftside, middle and right side) and display another three images for left , middle and right that indicate that the button is pressed. I am achieving this by having a grid inside a button template. The problem I have is that for the corner images for the control there are really four images that represent this. For example for the top left corner the four images would be represent 1. Top not clicked. 2. Top Clicked and 3. Left Not clicked and 4. Left Clicked. My problem is if I need to make the images contained within the Top button have precedence when the top control is clicked or the images in the left button have precedence when the left button is clicked. So it's like I want to modify the left button's image visible property when the top button is clicked and vise versa. This is really difficult to explain so I apologize if it makes little sense but I can email the source code on request if anyone is interested in my predicament. <Grid> <Canvas>  <Button Name="TopSide" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" Height="34" Width="102" Canvas.Left="97" Canvas.Top="60" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" > <Button.Template> <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}"> <Grid Width="100"> <Canvas> <Image Name="TopRightNormal" Source="Resources/topright_off.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="66"></Image> <Image Name="TopRightDown" Source="Resources/topright_down.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="66" Visibility="Hidden" ></Image> <Image Name="TopNormal" Source="Resources/topcenter_off.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="34" /> <Image Name="TopPressed" Source="Resources/topcenter_down.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="34" Visibility="Hidden" /> <Image Name="TopDisabled" Source="Resources/topcenter_off.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="34" Visibility="Hidden" /> <Image Name="TopLeftNormal" Source="Resources/topleft_off.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="2" ></Image> <Image Name="TopLeftDown" Opacity="0" Source="Resources/topleft_down.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="2" Visibility="Hidden" ></Image> </Canvas> </Grid> <ControlTemplate.Triggers> <Trigger Property="IsPressed" Value="True"> <Setter TargetName="TopNormal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="TopPressed" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> <Setter TargetName="TopRightNormal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="TopRightDown" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> <Setter TargetName="TopLeftNormal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="TopLeftDown" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> <Setter TargetName="TopLeftDown" Property="Opacity" Value="100" /> </Trigger> <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="False"> <Setter TargetName="TopNormal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="TopDisabled" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> </Trigger> </ControlTemplate.Triggers> </ControlTemplate> </Button.Template> </Button>   <Button Name="LeftSide" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" Canvas.Left="100" Canvas.Top="60" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" MouseDown="Button_MouseDown_1"> <Button.Template> <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}"> <Grid Width="34" Height="100"> <Canvas> <Image Name="TopLeftNormal" Source="Resources/topleft_off.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="0"></Image> <Image Name="TopLeftDown" Opacity="0" Source="Resources/topleft_leftdown.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="0" Visibility="Hidden" ></Image> <Image Name="Normal" Source="Resources/leftcenter_off.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Top="32" Canvas.Left="0"/> <Image Name="Pressed" Source="Resources/leftcenter_down.jpg" Visibility="Hidden" Canvas.Top="32" Height="34" Width="34" /> <Image Name="Disabled" Source="Resources/leftcenter_off.jpg" Visibility="Hidden" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Top="32" /> </Canvas> </Grid> <ControlTemplate.Triggers> <Trigger Property="IsPressed" Value="True"> <Setter TargetName="Normal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="Pressed" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> <Setter TargetName="TopLeftNormal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="TopLeftNormal" Property="Opacity" Value="0" /> <Setter TargetName="TopLeftDown" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> <Setter TargetName="TopLeftDown" Property="Opacity" Value="100" /> </Trigger> <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="False"> <Setter TargetName="Normal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="Disabled" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> </Trigger> </ControlTemplate.Triggers> </ControlTemplate> </Button.Template> </Button>   <Button xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="165" Canvas.Top="92" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" MouseDown="Button_MouseDown_2" > <Button.Template> <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}"> <Grid> <Image Name="Normal" Source="Resources/rightcenter_off.jpg" /> <Image Name="Pressed" Source="Resources/rightcenter_down.jpg" Visibility="Hidden" /> <Image Name="Disabled" Source="Resources/rightcenter_off.jpg" Visibility="Hidden" /> </Grid> <ControlTemplate.Triggers> <Trigger Property="IsPressed" Value="True"> <Setter TargetName="Normal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="Pressed" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> </Trigger> <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="False"> <Setter TargetName="Normal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="Disabled" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> </Trigger> </ControlTemplate.Triggers> </ControlTemplate> </Button.Template> </Button>   <Button xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="133" Canvas.Top="124" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" > <Button.Template> <ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}"> <Grid> <Image Name="BottomNormal" Source="Resources/bottomcenter_off.jpg" /> <Image Name="BottomPressed" Source="Resources/bottomcenter_down.jpg" Visibility="Hidden" /> <Image Name="BottomDisabled" Source="Resources/bottomcenter_off.jpg" Visibility="Hidden" /> </Grid> <ControlTemplate.Triggers> <Trigger Property="IsPressed" Value="True"> <Setter TargetName="BottomNormal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="BottomPressed" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> </Trigger> <Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="False"> <Setter TargetName="BottomNormal" Property="Visibility" Value="Hidden" /> <Setter TargetName="BottomDisabled" Property="Visibility" Value="Visible" /> </Trigger> </ControlTemplate.Triggers> </ControlTemplate> </Button.Template> </Button>  <Image Source="Resources/bottomright_off.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="165" Canvas.Top="124"></Image> <Image Source="Resources/bottomleft_off.jpg" Height="34" Width="34" Canvas.Left="100" Canvas.Top="124"></Image>  </Canvas> </Grid>

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Zen and the Art of File and Folder Organization

- by Mark Virtue

Is your desk a paragon of neatness, or does it look like a paper-bomb has gone off? If you’ve been putting off getting organized because the task is too huge or daunting, or you don’t know where to start, we’ve got 40 tips to get you on the path to zen mastery of your filing system. For all those readers who would like to get their files and folders organized, or, if they’re already organized, better organized—we have compiled a complete guide to getting organized and staying organized, a comprehensive article that will hopefully cover every possible tip you could want. Signs that Your Computer is Poorly Organized If your computer is a mess, you’re probably already aware of it. But just in case you’re not, here are some tell-tale signs: Your Desktop has over 40 icons on it “My Documents” contains over 300 files and 60 folders, including MP3s and digital photos You use the Windows’ built-in search facility whenever you need to find a file You can’t find programs in the out-of-control list of programs in your Start Menu You save all your Word documents in one folder, all your spreadsheets in a second folder, etc Any given file that you’re looking for may be in any one of four different sets of folders But before we start, here are some quick notes: We’re going to assume you know what files and folders are, and how to create, save, rename, copy and delete them The organization principles described in this article apply equally to all computer systems. However, the screenshots here will reflect how things look on Windows (usually Windows 7). We will also mention some useful features of Windows that can help you get organized. Everyone has their own favorite methodology of organizing and filing, and it’s all too easy to get into “My Way is Better than Your Way” arguments. The reality is that there is no perfect way of getting things organized. When I wrote this article, I tried to keep a generalist and objective viewpoint. I consider myself to be unusually well organized (to the point of obsession, truth be told), and I’ve had 25 years experience in collecting and organizing files on computers. So I’ve got a lot to say on the subject. But the tips I have described here are only one way of doing it. Hopefully some of these tips will work for you too, but please don’t read this as any sort of “right” way to do it. At the end of the article we’ll be asking you, the reader, for your own organization tips. Why Bother Organizing At All? For some, the answer to this question is self-evident. And yet, in this era of powerful desktop search software (the search capabilities built into the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Start Menus, and third-party programs like Google Desktop Search), the question does need to be asked, and answered. I have a friend who puts every file he ever creates, receives or downloads into his My Documents folder and doesn’t bother filing them into subfolders at all. He relies on the search functionality built into his Windows operating system to help him find whatever he’s looking for. And he always finds it. He’s a Search Samurai. For him, filing is a waste of valuable time that could be spent enjoying life! It’s tempting to follow suit. On the face of it, why would anyone bother to take the time to organize their hard disk when such excellent search software is available? Well, if all you ever want to do with the files you own is to locate and open them individually (for listening, editing, etc), then there’s no reason to ever bother doing one scrap of organization. But consider these common tasks that are not achievable with desktop search software: Find files manually. Often it’s not convenient, speedy or even possible to utilize your desktop search software to find what you want. It doesn’t work 100% of the time, or you may not even have it installed. Sometimes its just plain faster to go straight to the file you want, if you know it’s in a particular sub-folder, rather than trawling through hundreds of search results. Find groups of similar files (e.g. all your “work” files, all the photos of your Europe holiday in 2008, all your music videos, all the MP3s from Dark Side of the Moon, all your letters you wrote to your wife, all your tax returns). Clever naming of the files will only get you so far. Sometimes it’s the date the file was created that’s important, other times it’s the file format, and other times it’s the purpose of the file. How do you name a collection of files so that they’re easy to isolate based on any of the above criteria? Short answer, you can’t. Move files to a new computer. It’s time to upgrade your computer. How do you quickly grab all the files that are important to you? Or you decide to have two computers now – one for home and one for work. How do you quickly isolate only the work-related files to move them to the work computer? Synchronize files to other computers. If you have more than one computer, and you need to mirror some of your files onto the other computer (e.g. your music collection), then you need a way to quickly determine which files are to be synced and which are not. Surely you don’t want to synchronize everything? Choose which files to back up. If your backup regime calls for multiple backups, or requires speedy backups, then you’ll need to be able to specify which files are to be backed up, and which are not. This is not possible if they’re all in the same folder. Finally, if you’re simply someone who takes pleasure in being organized, tidy and ordered (me! me!), then you don’t even need a reason. Being disorganized is simply unthinkable. Tips on Getting Organized Here we present our 40 best tips on how to get organized. Or, if you’re already organized, to get better organized. Tip #1. Choose Your Organization System Carefully The reason that most people are not organized is that it takes time. And the first thing that takes time is deciding upon a system of organization. This is always a matter of personal preference, and is not something that a geek on a website can tell you. You should always choose your own system, based on how your own brain is organized (which makes the assumption that your brain is, in fact, organized). We can’t instruct you, but we can make suggestions: You may want to start off with a system based on the users of the computer. i.e. “My Files”, “My Wife’s Files”, My Son’s Files”, etc. Inside “My Files”, you might then break it down into “Personal” and “Business”. You may then realize that there are overlaps. For example, everyone may want to share access to the music library, or the photos from the school play. So you may create another folder called “Family”, for the “common” files. You may decide that the highest-level breakdown of your files is based on the “source” of each file. In other words, who created the files. You could have “Files created by ME (business or personal)”, “Files created by people I know (family, friends, etc)”, and finally “Files created by the rest of the world (MP3 music files, downloaded or ripped movies or TV shows, software installation files, gorgeous desktop wallpaper images you’ve collected, etc).” This system happens to be the one I use myself. See below: Mark is for files created by meVC is for files created by my company (Virtual Creations)Others is for files created by my friends and familyData is the rest of the worldAlso, Settings is where I store the configuration files and other program data files for my installed software (more on this in tip #34, below). Each folder will present its own particular set of requirements for further sub-organization. For example, you may decide to organize your music collection into sub-folders based on the artist’s name, while your digital photos might get organized based on the date they were taken. It can be different for every sub-folder! Another strategy would be based on “currentness”. Files you have yet to open and look at live in one folder. Ones that have been looked at but not yet filed live in another place. Current, active projects live in yet another place. All other files (your “archive”, if you like) would live in a fourth folder. (And of course, within that last folder you’d need to create a further sub-system based on one of the previous bullet points). Put some thought into this – changing it when it proves incomplete can be a big hassle! Before you go to the trouble of implementing any system you come up with, examine a wide cross-section of the files you own and see if they will all be able to find a nice logical place to sit within your system. Tip #2. When You Decide on Your System, Stick to It! There’s nothing more pointless than going to all the trouble of creating a system and filing all your files, and then whenever you create, receive or download a new file, you simply dump it onto your Desktop. You need to be disciplined – forever! Every new file you get, spend those extra few seconds to file it where it belongs! Otherwise, in just a month or two, you’ll be worse off than before – half your files will be organized and half will be disorganized – and you won’t know which is which! Tip #3. Choose the Root Folder of Your Structure Carefully Every data file (document, photo, music file, etc) that you create, own or is important to you, no matter where it came from, should be found within one single folder, and that one single folder should be located at the root of your C: drive (as a sub-folder of C:\). In other words, do not base your folder structure in standard folders like “My Documents”. If you do, then you’re leaving it up to the operating system engineers to decide what folder structure is best for you. And every operating system has a different system! In Windows 7 your files are found in C:\Users\YourName, whilst on Windows XP it was C:\Documents and Settings\YourName\My Documents. In UNIX systems it’s often /home/YourName. These standard default folders tend to fill up with junk files and folders that are not at all important to you. “My Documents” is the worst offender. Every second piece of software you install, it seems, likes to create its own folder in the “My Documents” folder. These folders usually don’t fit within your organizational structure, so don’t use them! In fact, don’t even use the “My Documents” folder at all. Allow it to fill up with junk, and then simply ignore it. It sounds heretical, but: Don’t ever visit your “My Documents” folder! Remove your icons/links to “My Documents” and replace them with links to the folders you created and you care about! Create your own file system from scratch! Probably the best place to put it would be on your D: drive – if you have one. This way, all your files live on one drive, while all the operating system and software component files live on the C: drive – simply and elegantly separated. The benefits of that are profound. Not only are there obvious organizational benefits (see tip #10, below), but when it comes to migrate your data to a new computer, you can (sometimes) simply unplug your D: drive and plug it in as the D: drive of your new computer (this implies that the D: drive is actually a separate physical disk, and not a partition on the same disk as C:). You also get a slight speed improvement (again, only if your C: and D: drives are on separate physical disks). Warning: From tip #12, below, you will see that it’s actually a good idea to have exactly the same file system structure – including the drive it’s filed on – on all of the computers you own. So if you decide to use the D: drive as the storage system for your own files, make sure you are able to use the D: drive on all the computers you own. If you can’t ensure that, then you can still use a clever geeky trick to store your files on the D: drive, but still access them all via the C: drive (see tip #17, below). If you only have one hard disk (C:), then create a dedicated folder that will contain all your files – something like C:\Files. The name of the folder is not important, but make it a single, brief word. There are several reasons for this: When creating a backup regime, it’s easy to decide what files should be backed up – they’re all in the one folder! If you ever decide to trade in your computer for a new one, you know exactly which files to migrate You will always know where to begin a search for any file If you synchronize files with other computers, it makes your synchronization routines very simple. It also causes all your shortcuts to continue to work on the other machines (more about this in tip #24, below). Once you’ve decided where your files should go, then put all your files in there – Everything! Completely disregard the standard, default folders that are created for you by the operating system (“My Music”, “My Pictures”, etc). In fact, you can actually relocate many of those folders into your own structure (more about that below, in tip #6). The more completely you get all your data files (documents, photos, music, etc) and all your configuration settings into that one folder, then the easier it will be to perform all of the above tasks. Once this has been done, and all your files live in one folder, all the other folders in C:\ can be thought of as “operating system” folders, and therefore of little day-to-day interest for us. Here’s a screenshot of a nicely organized C: drive, where all user files are located within the \Files folder: Tip #4. Use Sub-Folders This would be our simplest and most obvious tip. It almost goes without saying. Any organizational system you decide upon (see tip #1) will require that you create sub-folders for your files. Get used to creating folders on a regular basis. Tip #5. Don’t be Shy About Depth Create as many levels of sub-folders as you need. Don’t be scared to do so. Every time you notice an opportunity to group a set of related files into a sub-folder, do so. Examples might include: All the MP3s from one music CD, all the photos from one holiday, or all the documents from one client. It’s perfectly okay to put files into a folder called C:\Files\Me\From Others\Services\WestCo Bank\Statements\2009. That’s only seven levels deep. Ten levels is not uncommon. Of course, it’s possible to take this too far. If you notice yourself creating a sub-folder to hold only one file, then you’ve probably become a little over-zealous. On the other hand, if you simply create a structure with only two levels (for example C:\Files\Work) then you really haven’t achieved any level of organization at all (unless you own only six files!). Your “Work” folder will have become a dumping ground, just like your Desktop was, with most likely hundreds of files in it. Tip #6. Move the Standard User Folders into Your Own Folder Structure Most operating systems, including Windows, create a set of standard folders for each of its users. These folders then become the default location for files such as documents, music files, digital photos and downloaded Internet files. In Windows 7, the full list is shown below: Some of these folders you may never use nor care about (for example, the Favorites folder, if you’re not using Internet Explorer as your browser). Those ones you can leave where they are. But you may be using some of the other folders to store files that are important to you. Even if you’re not using them, Windows will still often treat them as the default storage location for many types of files. When you go to save a standard file type, it can become annoying to be automatically prompted to save it in a folder that’s not part of your own file structure. But there’s a simple solution: Move the folders you care about into your own folder structure! If you do, then the next time you go to save a file of the corresponding type, Windows will prompt you to save it in the new, moved location. Moving the folders is easy. Simply drag-and-drop them to the new location. Here’s a screenshot of the default My Music folder being moved to my custom personal folder (Mark): Tip #7. Name Files and Folders Intelligently This is another one that almost goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway: Do not allow files to be created that have meaningless names like Document1.doc, or folders called New Folder (2). Take that extra 20 seconds and come up with a meaningful name for the file/folder – one that accurately divulges its contents without repeating the entire contents in the name. Tip #8. Watch Out for Long Filenames Another way to tell if you have not yet created enough depth to your folder hierarchy is that your files often require really long names. If you need to call a file Johnson Sales Figures March 2009.xls (which might happen to live in the same folder as Abercrombie Budget Report 2008.xls), then you might want to create some sub-folders so that the first file could be simply called March.xls, and living in the Clients\Johnson\Sales Figures\2009 folder. A well-placed file needs only a brief filename! Tip #9. Use Shortcuts! Everywhere! This is probably the single most useful and important tip we can offer. A shortcut allows a file to be in two places at once. Why would you want that? Well, the file and folder structure of every popular operating system on the market today is hierarchical. This means that all objects (files and folders) always live within exactly one parent folder. It’s a bit like a tree. A tree has branches (folders) and leaves (files). Each leaf, and each branch, is supported by exactly one parent branch, all the way back to the root of the tree (which, incidentally, is exactly why C:\ is called the “root folder” of the C: drive). That hard disks are structured this way may seem obvious and even necessary, but it’s only one way of organizing data. There are others: Relational databases, for example, organize structured data entirely differently. The main limitation of hierarchical filing structures is that a file can only ever be in one branch of the tree – in only one folder – at a time. Why is this a problem? Well, there are two main reasons why this limitation is a problem for computer users: The “correct” place for a file, according to our organizational rationale, is very often a very inconvenient place for that file to be located. Just because it’s correctly filed doesn’t mean it’s easy to get to. Your file may be “correctly” buried six levels deep in your sub-folder structure, but you may need regular and speedy access to this file every day. You could always move it to a more convenient location, but that would mean that you would need to re-file back to its “correct” location it every time you’d finished working on it. Most unsatisfactory. A file may simply “belong” in two or more different locations within your file structure. For example, say you’re an accountant and you have just completed the 2009 tax return for John Smith. It might make sense to you to call this file 2009 Tax Return.doc and file it under Clients\John Smith. But it may also be important to you to have the 2009 tax returns from all your clients together in the one place. So you might also want to call the file John Smith.doc and file it under Tax Returns\2009. The problem is, in a purely hierarchical filing system, you can’t put it in both places. Grrrrr! Fortunately, Windows (and most other operating systems) offers a way for you to do exactly that: It’s called a “shortcut” (also known as an “alias” on Macs and a “symbolic link” on UNIX systems). Shortcuts allow a file to exist in one place, and an icon that represents the file to be created and put anywhere else you please. In fact, you can create a dozen such icons and scatter them all over your hard disk. Double-clicking on one of these icons/shortcuts opens up the original file, just as if you had double-clicked on the original file itself. Consider the following two icons: The one on the left is the actual Word document, while the one on the right is a shortcut that represents the Word document. Double-clicking on either icon will open the same file. There are two main visual differences between the icons: The shortcut will have a small arrow in the lower-left-hand corner (on Windows, anyway) The shortcut is allowed to have a name that does not include the file extension (the “.docx” part, in this case) You can delete the shortcut at any time without losing any actual data. The original is still intact. All you lose is the ability to get to that data from wherever the shortcut was. So why are shortcuts so great? Because they allow us to easily overcome the main limitation of hierarchical file systems, and put a file in two (or more) places at the same time. You will always have files that don’t play nice with your organizational rationale, and can’t be filed in only one place. They demand to exist in two places. Shortcuts allow this! Furthermore, they allow you to collect your most often-opened files and folders together in one spot for convenient access. The cool part is that the original files stay where they are, safe forever in their perfectly organized location. So your collection of most often-opened files can – and should – become a collection of shortcuts! If you’re still not convinced of the utility of shortcuts, consider the following well-known areas of a typical Windows computer: The Start Menu (and all the programs that live within it) The Quick Launch bar (or the Superbar in Windows 7) The “Favorite folders” area in the top-left corner of the Windows Explorer window (in Windows Vista or Windows 7) Your Internet Explorer Favorites or Firefox Bookmarks Each item in each of these areas is a shortcut! Each of those areas exist for one purpose only: For convenience – to provide you with a collection of the files and folders you access most often. It should be easy to see by now that shortcuts are designed for one single purpose: To make accessing your files more convenient. Each time you double-click on a shortcut, you are saved the hassle of locating the file (or folder, or program, or drive, or control panel icon) that it represents. Shortcuts allow us to invent a golden rule of file and folder organization: “Only ever have one copy of a file – never have two copies of the same file. Use a shortcut instead” (this rule doesn’t apply to copies created for backup purposes, of course!) There are also lesser rules, like “don’t move a file into your work area – create a shortcut there instead”, and “any time you find yourself frustrated with how long it takes to locate a file, create a shortcut to it and place that shortcut in a convenient location.” So how to we create these massively useful shortcuts? There are two main ways: “Copy” the original file or folder (click on it and type Ctrl-C, or right-click on it and select Copy): Then right-click in an empty area of the destination folder (the place where you want the shortcut to go) and select Paste shortcut: Right-drag (drag with the right mouse button) the file from the source folder to the destination folder. When you let go of the mouse button at the destination folder, a menu pops up: Select Create shortcuts here. Note that when shortcuts are created, they are often named something like Shortcut to Budget Detail.doc (windows XP) or Budget Detail – Shortcut.doc (Windows 7). If you don’t like those extra words, you can easily rename the shortcuts after they’re created, or you can configure Windows to never insert the extra words in the first place (see our article on how to do this). And of course, you can create shortcuts to folders too, not just to files! Bottom line: Whenever you have a file that you’d like to access from somewhere else (whether it’s convenience you’re after, or because the file simply belongs in two places), create a shortcut to the original file in the new location. Tip #10. Separate Application Files from Data Files Any digital organization guru will drum this rule into you. Application files are the components of the software you’ve installed (e.g. Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop or Internet Explorer). Data files are the files that you’ve created for yourself using that software (e.g. Word Documents, digital photos, emails or playlists). Software gets installed, uninstalled and upgraded all the time. Hopefully you always have the original installation media (or downloaded set-up file) kept somewhere safe, and can thus reinstall your software at any time. This means that the software component files are of little importance. Whereas the files you have created with that software is, by definition, important. It’s a good rule to always separate unimportant files from important files. So when your software prompts you to save a file you’ve just created, take a moment and check out where it’s suggesting that you save the file. If it’s suggesting that you save the file into the same folder as the software itself, then definitely don’t follow that suggestion. File it in your own folder! In fact, see if you can find the program’s configuration option that determines where files are saved by default (if it has one), and change it. Tip #11. Organize Files Based on Purpose, Not on File Type If you have, for example a folder called Work\Clients\Johnson, and within that folder you have two sub-folders, Word Documents and Spreadsheets (in other words, you’re separating “.doc” files from “.xls” files), then chances are that you’re not optimally organized. It makes little sense to organize your files based on the program that created them. Instead, create your sub-folders based on the purpose of the file. For example, it would make more sense to create sub-folders called Correspondence and Financials. It may well be that all the files in a given sub-folder are of the same file-type, but this should be more of a coincidence and less of a design feature of your organization system. Tip #12. Maintain the Same Folder Structure on All Your Computers In other words, whatever organizational system you create, apply it to every computer that you can. There are several benefits to this: There’s less to remember. No matter where you are, you always know where to look for your files If you copy or synchronize files from one computer to another, then setting up the synchronization job becomes very simple Shortcuts can be copied or moved from one computer to another with ease (assuming the original files are also copied/moved). There’s no need to find the target of the shortcut all over again on the second computer Ditto for linked files (e.g Word documents that link to data in a separate Excel file), playlists, and any files that reference the exact file locations of other files. This applies even to the drive that your files are stored on. If your files are stored on C: on one computer, make sure they’re stored on C: on all your computers. Otherwise all your shortcuts, playlists and linked files will stop working! Tip #13. Create an “Inbox” Folder Create yourself a folder where you store all files that you’re currently working on, or that you haven’t gotten around to filing yet. You can think of this folder as your “to-do” list. You can call it “Inbox” (making it the same metaphor as your email system), or “Work”, or “To-Do”, or “Scratch”, or whatever name makes sense to you. It doesn’t matter what you call it – just make sure you have one! Once you have finished working on a file, you then move it from the “Inbox” to its correct location within your organizational structure. You may want to use your Desktop as this “Inbox” folder. Rightly or wrongly, most people do. It’s not a bad place to put such files, but be careful: If you do decide that your Desktop represents your “to-do” list, then make sure that no other files find their way there. In other words, make sure that your “Inbox”, wherever it is, Desktop or otherwise, is kept free of junk – stray files that don’t belong there. So where should you put this folder, which, almost by definition, lives outside the structure of the rest of your filing system? Well, first and foremost, it has to be somewhere handy. This will be one of your most-visited folders, so convenience is key. Putting it on the Desktop is a great option – especially if you don’t have any other folders on your Desktop: the folder then becomes supremely easy to find in Windows Explorer: You would then create shortcuts to this folder in convenient spots all over your computer (“Favorite Links”, “Quick Launch”, etc). Tip #14. Ensure You have Only One “Inbox” Folder Once you’ve created your “Inbox” folder, don’t use any other folder location as your “to-do list”. Throw every incoming or created file into the Inbox folder as you create/receive it. This keeps the rest of your computer pristine and free of randomly created or downloaded junk. The last thing you want to be doing is checking multiple folders to see all your current tasks and projects. Gather them all together into one folder. Here are some tips to help ensure you only have one Inbox: Set the default “save” location of all your programs to this folder. Set the default “download” location for your browser to this folder. If this folder is not your desktop (recommended) then also see if you can make a point of not putting “to-do” files on your desktop. This keeps your desktop uncluttered and Zen-like: (the Inbox folder is in the bottom-right corner) Tip #15. Be Vigilant about Clearing Your “Inbox” Folder This is one of the keys to staying organized. If you let your “Inbox” overflow (i.e. allow there to be more than, say, 30 files or folders in there), then you’re probably going to start feeling like you’re overwhelmed: You’re not keeping up with your to-do list. Once your Inbox gets beyond a certain point (around 30 files, studies have shown), then you’ll simply start to avoid it. You may continue to put files in there, but you’ll be scared to look at it, fearing the “out of control” feeling that all overworked, chaotic or just plain disorganized people regularly feel. So, here’s what you can do: Visit your Inbox/to-do folder regularly (at least five times per day). Scan the folder regularly for files that you have completed working on and are ready for filing. File them immediately. Make it a source of pride to keep the number of files in this folder as small as possible. If you value peace of mind, then make the emptiness of this folder one of your highest (computer) priorities If you know that a particular file has been in the folder for more than, say, six weeks, then admit that you’re not actually going to get around to processing it, and move it to its final resting place. Tip #16. File Everything Immediately, and Use Shortcuts for Your Active Projects As soon as you create, receive or download a new file, store it away in its “correct” folder immediately. Then, whenever you need to work on it (possibly straight away), create a shortcut to it in your “Inbox” (“to-do”) folder or your desktop. That way, all your files are always in their “correct” locations, yet you still have immediate, convenient access to your current, active files. When you finish working on a file, simply delete the shortcut. Ideally, your “Inbox” folder – and your Desktop – should contain no actual files or folders. They should simply contain shortcuts. Tip #17. Use Directory Symbolic Links (or Junctions) to Maintain One Unified Folder Structure Using this tip, we can get around a potential hiccup that we can run into when creating our organizational structure – the issue of having more than one drive on our computer (C:, D:, etc). We might have files we need to store on the D: drive for space reasons, and yet want to base our organized folder structure on the C: drive (or vice-versa). Your chosen organizational structure may dictate that all your files must be accessed from the C: drive (for example, the root folder of all your files may be something like C:\Files). And yet you may still have a D: drive and wish to take advantage of the hundreds of spare Gigabytes that it offers. Did you know that it’s actually possible to store your files on the D: drive and yet access them as if they were on the C: drive? And no, we’re not talking about shortcuts here (although the concept is very similar). By using the shell command mklink, you can essentially take a folder that lives on one drive and create an alias for it on a different drive (you can do lots more than that with mklink – for a full rundown on this programs capabilities, see our dedicated article). These aliases are called directory symbolic links (and used to be known as junctions). You can think of them as “virtual” folders. They function exactly like regular folders, except they’re physically located somewhere else. For example, you may decide that your entire D: drive contains your complete organizational file structure, but that you need to reference all those files as if they were on the C: drive, under C:\Files. If that was the case you could create C:\Files as a directory symbolic link – a link to D:, as follows: mklink /d c:\files d:\ Or it may be that the only files you wish to store on the D: drive are your movie collection. You could locate all your movie files in the root of your D: drive, and then link it to C:\Files\Media\Movies, as follows: mklink /d c:\files\media\movies d:\ (Needless to say, you must run these commands from a command prompt – click the Start button, type cmd and press Enter) Tip #18. Customize Your Folder Icons This is not strictly speaking an organizational tip, but having unique icons for each folder does allow you to more quickly visually identify which folder is which, and thus saves you time when you’re finding files. An example is below (from my folder that contains all files downloaded from the Internet): To learn how to change your folder icons, please refer to our dedicated article on the subject. Tip #19. Tidy Your Start Menu The Windows Start Menu is usually one of the messiest parts of any Windows computer. Every program you install seems to adopt a completely different approach to placing icons in this menu. Some simply put a single program icon. Others create a folder based on the name of the software. And others create a folder based on the name of the software manufacturer. It’s chaos, and can make it hard to find the software you want to run. Thankfully we can avoid this chaos with useful operating system features like Quick Launch, the Superbar or pinned start menu items. Even so, it would make a lot of sense to get into the guts of the Start Menu itself and give it a good once-over. All you really need to decide is how you’re going to organize your applications. A structure based on the purpose of the application is an obvious candidate. Below is an example of one such structure: In this structure, Utilities means software whose job it is to keep the computer itself running smoothly (configuration tools, backup software, Zip programs, etc). Applications refers to any productivity software that doesn’t fit under the headings Multimedia, Graphics, Internet, etc. In case you’re not aware, every icon in your Start Menu is a shortcut and can be manipulated like any other shortcut (copied, moved, deleted, etc). With the Windows Start Menu (all version of Windows), Microsoft has decided that there be two parallel folder structures to store your Start Menu shortcuts. One for you (the logged-in user of the computer) and one for all users of the computer. Having two parallel structures can often be redundant: If you are the only user of the computer, then having two parallel structures is totally redundant. Even if you have several users that regularly log into the computer, most of your installed software will need to be made available to all users, and should thus be moved out of the “just you” version of the Start Menu and into the “all users” area. To take control of your Start Menu, so you can start organizing it, you’ll need to know how to access the actual folders and shortcut files that make up the Start Menu (both versions of it). To find these folders and files, click the Start button and then right-click on the All Programs text (Windows XP users should right-click on the Start button itself): The Open option refers to the “just you” version of the Start Menu, while the Open All Users option refers to the “all users” version. Click on the one you want to organize. A Windows Explorer window then opens with your chosen version of the Start Menu selected. From there it’s easy. Double-click on the Programs folder and you’ll see all your folders and shortcuts. Now you can delete/rename/move until it’s just the way you want it. Note: When you’re reorganizing your Start Menu, you may want to have two Explorer windows open at the same time – one showing the “just you” version and one showing the “all users” version. You can drag-and-drop between the windows. Tip #20. Keep Your Start Menu Tidy Once you have a perfectly organized Start Menu, try to be a little vigilant about keeping it that way. Every time you install a new piece of software, the icons that get created will almost certainly violate your organizational structure. So to keep your Start Menu pristine and organized, make sure you do the following whenever you install a new piece of software: Check whether the software was installed into the “just you” area of the Start Menu, or the “all users” area, and then move it to the correct area. Remove all the unnecessary icons (like the “Read me” icon, the “Help” icon (you can always open the help from within the software itself when it’s running), the “Uninstall” icon, the link(s)to the manufacturer’s website, etc) Rename the main icon(s) of the software to something brief that makes sense to you. For example, you might like to rename Microsoft Office Word 2010 to simply Word Move the icon(s) into the correct folder based on your Start Menu organizational structure And don’t forget: when you uninstall a piece of software, the software’s uninstall routine is no longer going to be able to remove the software’s icon from the Start Menu (because you moved and/or renamed it), so you’ll need to remove that icon manually. Tip #21. Tidy C:\ The root of your C: drive (C:\) is a common dumping ground for files and folders – both by the users of your computer and by the software that you install on your computer. It can become a mess. There’s almost no software these days that requires itself to be installed in C:\. 99% of the time it can and should be installed into C:\Program Files. And as for your own files, well, it’s clear that they can (and almost always should) be stored somewhere else. In an ideal world, your C:\ folder should look like this (on Windows 7): Note that there are some system files and folders in C:\ that are usually and deliberately “hidden” (such as the Windows virtual memory file pagefile.sys, the boot loader file bootmgr, and the System Volume Information folder). Hiding these files and folders is a good idea, as they need to stay where they are and are almost never needed to be opened or even seen by you, the user. Hiding them prevents you from accidentally messing with them, and enhances your sense of order and well-being when you look at your C: drive folder. Tip #22. Tidy Your Desktop The Desktop is probably the most abused part of a Windows computer (from an organization point of view). It usually serves as a dumping ground for all incoming files, as well as holding icons to oft-used applications, plus some regularly opened files and folders. It often ends up becoming an uncontrolled mess. See if you can avoid this. Here’s why… Application icons (Word, Internet Explorer, etc) are often found on the Desktop, but it’s unlikely that this is the optimum place for them. The “Quick Launch” bar (or the Superbar in Windows 7) is always visible and so represents a perfect location to put your icons. You’ll only be able to see the icons on your Desktop when all your programs are minimized. It might be time to get your application icons off your desktop… You may have decided that the Inbox/To-do folder on your computer (see tip #13, above) should be your Desktop. If so, then enough said. Simply be vigilant about clearing it and preventing it from being polluted by junk files (see tip #15, above). On the other hand, if your Desktop is not acting as your “Inbox” folder, then there’s no reason for it to have any data files or folders on it at all, except perhaps a couple of shortcuts to often-opened files and folders (either ongoing or current projects). Everything else should be moved to your “Inbox” folder. In an ideal world, it might look like this: Tip #23. Move Permanent Items on Your Desktop Away from the Top-Left Corner When files/folders are dragged onto your desktop in a Windows Explorer window, or when shortcuts are created on your Desktop from Internet Explorer, those icons are always placed in the top-left corner – or as close as they can get. If you have other files, folders or shortcuts that you keep on the Desktop permanently, then it’s a good idea to separate these permanent icons from the transient ones, so that you can quickly identify which ones the transients are. An easy way to do this is to move all your permanent icons to the right-hand side of your Desktop. That should keep them separated from incoming items. Tip #24. Synchronize If you have more than one computer, you’ll almost certainly want to share files between them. If the computers are permanently attached to the same local network, then there’s no need to store multiple copies of any one file or folder – shortcuts will suffice. However, if the computers are not always on the same network, then you will at some point need to copy files between them. For files that need to permanently live on both computers, the ideal way to do this is to synchronize the files, as opposed to simply copying them. We only have room here to write a brief summary of synchronization, not a full article. In short, there are several different types of synchronization: Where the contents of one folder are accessible anywhere, such as with Dropbox Where the contents of any number of folders are accessible anywhere, such as with Windows Live Mesh Where any files or folders from anywhere on your computer are synchronized with exactly one other computer, such as with the Windows “Briefcase”, Microsoft SyncToy, or (much more powerful, yet still free) SyncBack from 2BrightSparks. This only works when both computers are on the same local network, at least temporarily. A great advantage of synchronization solutions is that once you’ve got it configured the way you want it, then the sync process happens automatically, every time. Click a button (or schedule it to happen automatically) and all your files are automagically put where they’re supposed to be. If you maintain the same file and folder structure on both computers, then you can also sync files depend upon the correct location of other files, like shortcuts, playlists and office documents that link to other office documents, and the synchronized files still work on the other computer! Tip #25. Hide Files You Never Need to See If you have your files well organized, you will often be able to tell if a file is out of place just by glancing at the contents of a folder (for example, it should be pretty obvious if you look in a folder that contains all the MP3s from one music CD and see a Word document in there). This is a good thing – it allows you to determine if there are files out of place with a quick glance. Yet sometimes there are files in a folder that seem out of place but actually need to be there, such as the “folder art” JPEGs in music folders, and various files in the root of the C: drive. If such files never need to be opened by you, then a good idea is to simply hide them. Then, the next time you glance at the folder, you won’t have to remember whether that file was supposed to be there or not, because you won’t see it at all! To hide a file, simply right-click on it and choose Properties: Then simply tick the Hidden tick-box: Tip #26. Keep Every Setup File These days most software is downloaded from the Internet. Whenever you download a piece of software, keep it. You’ll never know when you need to reinstall the software. Further, keep with it an Internet shortcut that links back to the website where you originally downloaded it, in case you ever need to check for updates. See tip #33 below for a full description of the excellence of organizing your setup files. Tip #27. Try to Minimize the Number of Folders that Contain Both Files and Sub-folders Some of the folders in your organizational structure will contain only files. Others will contain only sub-folders. And you will also have some folders that contain both files and sub-folders. You will notice slight improvements in how long it takes you to locate a file if you try to avoid this third type of folder. It’s not always possible, of course – you’ll always have some of these folders, but see if you can avoid it. One way of doing this is to take all the leftover files that didn’t end up getting stored in a sub-folder and create a special “Miscellaneous” or “Other” folder for them. Tip #28. Starting a Filename with an Underscore Brings it to the Top of a List Further to the previous tip, if you name that “Miscellaneous” or “Other” folder in such a way that its name begins with an underscore “_”, then it will appear at the top of the list of files/folders. The screenshot below is an example of this. Each folder in the list contains a set of digital photos. The folder at the top of the list, _Misc, contains random photos that didn’t deserve their own dedicated folder: Tip #29. Clean Up those CD-ROMs and (shudder!) Floppy Disks Have you got a pile of CD-ROMs stacked on a shelf of your office? Old photos, or files you archived off onto CD-ROM (or even worse, floppy disks!) because you didn’t have enough disk space at the time? In the meantime have you upgraded your computer and now have 500 Gigabytes of space you don’t know what to do with? If so, isn’t it time you tidied up that stack of disks and filed them into your gorgeous new folder structure? So what are you waiting for? Bite the bullet, copy them all back onto your computer, file them in their appropriate folders, and then back the whole lot up onto a shiny new 1000Gig external hard drive! Useful Folders to Create This next section suggests some useful folders that you might want to create within your folder structure. I’ve personally found them to be indispensable. The first three are all about convenience – handy folders to create and then put somewhere that you can always access instantly. For each one, it’s not so important where the actual folder is located, but it’s very important where you put the shortcut(s) to the folder. You might want to locate the shortcuts: On your Desktop In your “Quick Launch” area (or pinned to your Windows 7 Superbar) In your Windows Explorer “Favorite Links” area Tip #30. Create an “Inbox” (“To-Do”) Folder This has already been mentioned in depth (see tip #13), but we wanted to reiterate its importance here. This folder contains all the recently created, received or downloaded files that you have not yet had a chance to file away properly, and it also may contain files that you have yet to process. In effect, it becomes a sort of “to-do list”. It doesn’t have to be called “Inbox” – you can call it whatever you want. Tip #31. Create a Folder where Your Current Projects are Collected Rather than going hunting for them all the time, or dumping them all on your desktop, create a special folder where you put links (or work folders) for each of the projects you’re currently working on. You can locate this folder in your “Inbox” folder, on your desktop, or anywhere at all – just so long as there’s a way of getting to it quickly, such as putting a link to it in Windows Explorer’s “Favorite Links” area: Tip #32. Create a Folder for Files and Folders that You Regularly Open You will always have a few files that you open regularly, whether it be a spreadsheet of your current accounts, or a favorite playlist. These are not necessarily “current projects”, rather they’re simply files that you always find yourself opening. Typically such files would be located on your desktop (or even better, shortcuts to those files). Why not collect all such shortcuts together and put them in their own special folder? As with the “Current Projects” folder (above), you would want to locate that folder somewhere convenient. Below is an example of a folder called “Quick links”, with about seven files (shortcuts) in it, that is accessible through the Windows Quick Launch bar: See tip #37 below for a full explanation of the power of the Quick Launch bar. Tip #33. Create a “Set-ups” Folder A typical computer has dozens of applications installed on it. For each piece of software, there are often many different pieces of information you need to keep track of, including: The original installation setup file(s). This can be anything from a simple 100Kb setup.exe file you downloaded from a website, all the way up to a 4Gig ISO file that you copied from a DVD-ROM that you purchased. The home page of the software manufacturer (in case you need to look up something on their support pages, their forum or their online help) The page containing the download link for your actual file (in case you need to re-download it, or download an upgraded version) The serial number Your proof-of-purchase documentation Any other template files, plug-ins, themes, etc that also need to get installed For each piece of software, it’s a great idea to gather all of these files together and put them in a single folder. The folder can be the name of the software (plus possibly a very brief description of what it’s for – in case you can’t remember what the software does based in its name). Then you would gather all of these folders together into one place, and call it something like “Software” or “Setups”. If you have enough of these folders (I have several hundred, being a geek, collected over 20 years), then you may want to further categorize them. My own categorization structure is based on “platform” (operating system): The last seven folders each represents one platform/operating system, while _Operating Systems contains set-up files for installing the operating systems themselves. _Hardware contains ROMs for hardware I own, such as routers. Within the Windows folder (above), you can see the beginnings of the vast library of software I’ve compiled over the years: An example of a typical application folder looks like this: Tip #34. Have a “Settings” Folder We all know that our documents are important. So are our photos and music files. We save all of these files into folders, and then locate them afterwards and double-click on them to open them. But there are many files that are important to us that can’t be saved into folders, and then searched for and double-clicked later on. These files certainly contain important information that we need, but are often created internally by an application, and saved wherever that application feels is appropriate. A good example of this is the “PST” file that Outlook creates for us and uses to store all our emails, contacts, appointments and so forth. Another example would be the collection of Bookmarks that Firefox stores on your behalf. And yet another example would be the customized settings and configuration files of our all our software. Granted, most Windows programs store their configuration in the Registry, but there are still many programs that use configuration files to store their settings. Imagine if you lost all of the above files! And yet, when people are backing up their computers, they typically only back up the files they know about – those that are stored in the “My Documents” folder, etc. If they had a hard disk failure or their computer was lost or stolen, their backup files would not include some of the most vital files they owned. Also, when migrating to a new computer, it’s vital to ensure that these files make the journey. It can be a very useful idea to create yourself a folder to store all your “settings” – files that are important to you but which you never actually search for by name and double-click on to open them. Otherwise, next time you go to set up a new computer just the way you want it, you’ll need to spend hours recreating the configuration of your previous computer! So how to we get our important files into this folder? Well, we have a few options: Some programs (such as Outlook and its PST files) allow you to place these files wherever you want. If you delve into the program’s options, you will find a setting somewhere that controls the location of the important settings files (or “personal storage” – PST – when it comes to Outlook) Some programs do not allow you to change such locations in any easy way, but if you get into the Registry, you can sometimes find a registry key that refers to the location of the file(s). Simply move the file into your Settings folder and adjust the registry key to refer to the new location. Some programs stubbornly refuse to allow their settings files to be placed anywhere other then where they stipulate. When faced with programs like these, you have three choices: (1) You can ignore those files, (2) You can copy the files into your Settings folder (let’s face it – settings don’t change very often), or (3) you can use synchronization software, such as the Windows Briefcase, to make synchronized copies of all your files in your Settings folder. All you then have to do is to remember to run your sync software periodically (perhaps just before you run your backup software!). There are some other things you may decide to locate inside this new “Settings” folder: Exports of registry keys (from the many applications that store their configurations in the Registry). This is useful for backup purposes or for migrating to a new computer Notes you’ve made about all the specific customizations you have made to a particular piece of software (so that you’ll know how to do it all again on your next computer) Shortcuts to webpages that detail how to tweak certain aspects of your operating system or applications so they are just the way you like them (such as how to remove the words “Shortcut to” from the beginning of newly created shortcuts). In other words, you’d want to create shortcuts to half the pages on the How-To Geek website! Here’s an example of a “Settings” folder: Windows Features that Help with Organization This section details some of the features of Microsoft Windows that are a boon to anyone hoping to stay optimally organized. Tip #35. Use the “Favorite Links” Area to Access Oft-Used Folders Once you’ve created your great new filing system, work out which folders you access most regularly, or which serve as great starting points for locating the rest of the files in your folder structure, and then put links to those folders in your “Favorite Links” area of the left-hand side of the Windows Explorer window (simply called “Favorites” in Windows 7): Some ideas for folders you might want to add there include: Your “Inbox” folder (or whatever you’ve called it) – most important! The base of your filing structure (e.g. C:\Files) A folder containing shortcuts to often-accessed folders on other computers around the network (shown above as Network Folders) A folder containing shortcuts to your current projects (unless that folder is in your “Inbox” folder) Getting folders into this area is very simple – just locate the folder you’re interested in and drag it there! Tip #36. Customize the Places Bar in the File/Open and File/Save Boxes Consider the screenshot below: The highlighted icons (collectively known as the “Places Bar”) can be customized to refer to any folder location you want, allowing instant access to any part of your organizational structure. Note: These File/Open and File/Save boxes have been superseded by new versions that use the Windows Vista/Windows 7 “Favorite Links”, but the older versions (shown above) are still used by a surprisingly large number of applications. The easiest way to customize these icons is to use the Group Policy Editor, but not everyone has access to this program. If you do, open it up and navigate to: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Explorer > Common Open File Dialog If you don’t have access to the Group Policy Editor, then you’ll need to get into the Registry. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ comdlg32 \ Placesbar It should then be easy to make the desired changes. Log off and log on again to allow the changes to take effect. Tip #37. Use the Quick Launch Bar as a Application and File Launcher That Quick Launch bar (to the right of the Start button) is a lot more useful than people give it credit for. Most people simply have half a dozen icons in it, and use it to start just those programs. But it can actually be used to instantly access just about anything in your filing system: For complete instructions on how to set this up, visit our dedicated article on this topic. Tip #38. Put a Shortcut to Windows Explorer into Your Quick Launch Bar This is only necessary in Windows Vista and Windows XP. The Microsoft boffins finally got wise and added it to the Windows 7 Superbar by default. Windows Explorer – the program used for managing your files and folders – is one of the most useful programs in Windows. Anyone who considers themselves serious about being organized needs instant access to this program at any time. A great place to create a shortcut to this program is in the Windows XP and Windows Vista “Quick Launch” bar: To get it there, locate it in your Start Menu (usually under “Accessories”) and then right-drag it down into your Quick Launch bar (and create a copy). Tip #39. Customize the Starting Folder for Your Windows 7 Explorer Superbar Icon If you’re on Windows 7, your Superbar will include a Windows Explorer icon. Clicking on the icon will launch Windows Explorer (of course), and will start you off in your “Libraries” folder. Libraries may be fine as a starting point, but if you have created yourself an “Inbox” folder, then it would probably make more sense to start off in this folder every time you launch Windows Explorer. To change this default/starting folder location, then first right-click the Explorer icon in the Superbar, and then right-click Properties:Then, in Target field of the Windows Explorer Properties box that appears, type %windir%\explorer.exe followed by the path of the folder you wish to start in. For example: %windir%\explorer.exe C:\Files If that folder happened to be on the Desktop (and called, say, “Inbox”), then you would use the following cleverness: %windir%\explorer.exe shell:desktop\Inbox Then click OK and test it out. Tip #40. Ummmmm…. No, that’s it. I can’t think of another one. That’s all of the tips I can come up with. I only created this one because 40 is such a nice round number… Case Study – An Organized PC To finish off the article, I have included a few screenshots of my (main) computer (running Vista). The aim here is twofold: To give you a sense of what it looks like when the above, sometimes abstract, tips are applied to a real-life computer, and To offer some ideas about folders and structure that you may want to steal to use on your own PC. Let’s start with the C: drive itself. Very minimal. All my files are contained within C:\Files. I’ll confine the rest of the case study to this folder: That folder contains the following: Mark: My personal files VC: My business (Virtual Creations, Australia) Others contains files created by friends and family Data contains files from the rest of the world (can be thought of as “public” files, usually downloaded from the Net) Settings is described above in tip #34 The Data folder contains the following sub-folders: Audio: Radio plays, audio books, podcasts, etc Development: Programmer and developer resources, sample source code, etc (see below) Humour: Jokes, funnies (those emails that we all receive) Movies: Downloaded and ripped movies (all legal, of course!), their scripts, DVD covers, etc. Music: (see below) Setups: Installation files for software (explained in full in tip #33) System: (see below) TV: Downloaded TV shows Writings: Books, instruction manuals, etc (see below) The Music folder contains the following sub-folders: Album covers: JPEG scans Guitar tabs: Text files of guitar sheet music Lists: e.g. “Top 1000 songs of all time” Lyrics: Text files MIDI: Electronic music files MP3 (representing 99% of the Music folder): MP3s, either ripped from CDs or downloaded, sorted by artist/album name Music Video: Video clips Sheet Music: usually PDFs The Data\Writings folder contains the following sub-folders: (all pretty self-explanatory) The Data\Development folder contains the following sub-folders: Again, all pretty self-explanatory (if you’re a geek) The Data\System folder contains the following sub-folders: These are usually themes, plug-ins and other downloadable program-specific resources. The Mark folder contains the following sub-folders: From Others: Usually letters that other people (friends, family, etc) have written to me For Others: Letters and other things I have created for other people Green Book: None of your business Playlists: M3U files that I have compiled of my favorite songs (plus one M3U playlist file for every album I own) Writing: Fiction, philosophy and other musings of mine Mark Docs: Shortcut to C:\Users\Mark Settings: Shortcut to C:\Files\Settings\Mark The Others folder contains the following sub-folders: The VC (Virtual Creations, my business – I develop websites) folder contains the following sub-folders: And again, all of those are pretty self-explanatory. Conclusion These tips have saved my sanity and helped keep me a productive geek, but what about you? What tips and tricks do you have to keep your files organized? Please share them with us in the comments. Come on, don’t be shy… Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Fix For When Windows Explorer in Vista Stops Showing File NamesWhy Did Windows Vista’s Music Folder Icon Turn Yellow?Print or Create a Text File List of the Contents in a Directory the Easy WayCustomize the Windows 7 or Vista Send To MenuAdd Copy To / Move To on Windows 7 or Vista Right-Click Menu TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Acronis Online Backup DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows Track Daily Goals With 42Goals Video Toolbox is a Superb Online Video Editor Fun with 47 charts and graphs Tomorrow is Mother’s Day Check the Average Speed of YouTube Videos You’ve Watched OutlookStatView Scans and Displays General Usage Statistics

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Is there a Telecommunications Reference Architecture?

- by raul.goycoolea

@font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Courier New"; }@font-face { font-family: "Wingdings"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; } Abstract Reference architecture provides needed architectural information that can be provided in advance to an enterprise to enable consistent architectural best practices. Enterprise Reference Architecture helps business owners to actualize their strategies, vision, objectives, and principles. It evaluates the IT systems, based on Reference Architecture goals, principles, and standards. It helps to reduce IT costs by increasing functionality, availability, scalability, etc. Telecom Reference Architecture provides customers with the flexibility to view bundled service bills online with the provision of multiple services. It provides real-time, flexible billing and charging systems, to handle complex promotions, discounts, and settlements with multiple parties. This paper attempts to describe the Reference Architecture for the Telecom Enterprises. It lays the foundation for a Telecom Reference Architecture by articulating the requirements, drivers, and pitfalls for telecom service providers. It describes generic reference architecture for telecom enterprises and moves on to explain how to achieve Enterprise Reference Architecture by using SOA. Introduction A Reference Architecture provides a methodology, set of practices, template, and standards based on a set of successful solutions implemented earlier. These solutions have been generalized and structured for the depiction of both a logical and a physical architecture, based on the harvesting of a set of patterns that describe observations in a number of successful implementations. It helps as a reference for the various architectures that an enterprise can implement to solve various problems. It can be used as the starting point or the point of comparisons for various departments/business entities of a company, or for the various companies for an enterprise. It provides multiple views for multiple stakeholders. Major artifacts of the Enterprise Reference Architecture are methodologies, standards, metadata, documents, design patterns, etc. Purpose of Reference Architecture In most cases, architects spend a lot of time researching, investigating, defining, and re-arguing architectural decisions. It is like reinventing the wheel as their peers in other organizations or even the same organization have already spent a lot of time and effort defining their own architectural practices. This prevents an organization from learning from its own experiences and applying that knowledge for increased effectiveness. Reference architecture provides missing architectural information that can be provided in advance to project team members to enable consistent architectural best practices. Enterprise Reference Architecture helps an enterprise to achieve the following at the abstract level: · Reference architecture is more of a communication channel to an enterprise · Helps the business owners to accommodate to their strategies, vision, objectives, and principles. · Evaluates the IT systems based on Reference Architecture Principles · Reduces IT spending through increasing functionality, availability, scalability, etc · A Real-time Integration Model helps to reduce the latency of the data updates Is used to define a single source of Information · Provides a clear view on how to manage information and security · Defines the policy around the data ownership, product boundaries, etc. · Helps with cost optimization across project and solution portfolios by eliminating unused or duplicate investments and assets · Has a shorter implementation time and cost Once the reference architecture is in place, the set of architectural principles, standards, reference models, and best practices ensure that the aligned investments have the greatest possible likelihood of success in both the near term and the long term (TCO). Common pitfalls for Telecom Service Providers Telecom Reference Architecture serves as the first step towards maturity for a telecom service provider. During the course of our assignments/experiences with telecom players, we have come across the following observations – Some of these indicate a lack of maturity of the telecom service provider: · In markets that are growing and not so mature, it has been observed that telcos have a significant amount of in-house or home-grown applications. In some of these markets, the growth has been so rapid that IT has been unable to cope with business demands. Telcos have shown a tendency to come up with workarounds in their IT applications so as to meet business needs. · Even for core functions like provisioning or mediation, some telcos have tried to manage with home-grown applications. · Most of the applications do not have the required scalability or maintainability to sustain growth in volumes or functionality. · Applications face interoperability issues with other applications in the operator's landscape. Integrating a new application or network element requires considerable effort on the part of the other applications. · Application boundaries are not clear, and functionality that is not in the initial scope of that application gets pushed onto it. This results in the development of the multiple, small applications without proper boundaries. · Usage of Legacy OSS/BSS systems, poor Integration across Multiple COTS Products and Internal Systems. Most of the Integrations are developed on ad-hoc basis and Point-to-Point Integration. · Redundancy of the business functions in different applications • Fragmented data across the different applications and no integrated view of the strategic data • Lot of performance Issues due to the usage of the complex integration across OSS and BSS systems However, this is where the maturity of the telecom industry as a whole can be of help. The collaborative efforts of telcos to overcome some of these problems have resulted in bodies like the TM Forum. They have come up with frameworks for business processes, data, applications, and technology for telecom service providers. These could be a good starting point for telcos to clean up their enterprise landscape. Industry Trends in Telecom Reference Architecture Telecom reference architectures are evolving rapidly because telcos are facing business and IT challenges. “The reality is that there probably is no killer application, no silver bullet that the telcos can latch onto to carry them into a 21st Century.... Instead, there are probably hundreds – perhaps thousands – of niche applications.... And the only way to find which of these works for you is to try out lots of them, ramp up the ones that work, and discontinue the ones that fail.” – Martin Creaner President & CTO TM Forum. The following trends have been observed in telecom reference architecture: · Transformation of business structures to align with customer requirements · Adoption of more Internet-like technical architectures. The Web 2.0 concept is increasingly being used. · Virtualization of the traditional operations support system (OSS) · Adoption of SOA to support development of IP-based services · Adoption of frameworks like Service Delivery Platforms (SDPs) and IP Multimedia Subsystem · (IMS) to enable seamless deployment of various services over fixed and mobile networks · Replacement of in-house, customized, and stove-piped OSS/BSS with standards-based COTS products · Compliance with industry standards and frameworks like eTOM, SID, and TAM to enable seamless integration with other standards-based products Drivers of Reference Architecture The drivers of the Reference Architecture are Reference Architecture Goals, Principles, and Enterprise Vision and Telecom Transformation. The details are depicted below diagram. @font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoCaption, li.MsoCaption, div.MsoCaption { margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; color: rgb(79, 129, 189); font-weight: bold; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Figure 1. Drivers for Reference Architecture @font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Courier New"; }@font-face { font-family: "Wingdings"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; } Today’s telecom reference architectures should seamlessly integrate traditional legacy-based applications and transition to next-generation network technologies (e.g., IP multimedia subsystems). This has resulted in new requirements for flexible, real-time billing and OSS/BSS systems and implications on the service provider’s organizational requirements and structure. Telecom reference architectures are today expected to: · Integrate voice, messaging, email and other VAS over fixed and mobile networks, back end systems · Be able to provision multiple services and service bundles • Deliver converged voice, video and data services · Leverage the existing Network Infrastructure · Provide real-time, flexible billing and charging systems to handle complex promotions, discounts, and settlements with multiple parties. · Support charging of advanced data services such as VoIP, On-Demand, Services (e.g. Video), IMS/SIP Services, Mobile Money, Content Services and IPTV. · Help in faster deployment of new services • Serve as an effective platform for collaboration between network IT and business organizations · Harness the potential of converging technology, networks, devices and content to develop multimedia services and solutions of ever-increasing sophistication on a single Internet Protocol (IP) · Ensure better service delivery and zero revenue leakage through real-time balance and credit management · Lower operating costs to drive profitability Enterprise Reference Architecture The Enterprise Reference Architecture (RA) fills the gap between the concepts and vocabulary defined by the reference model and the implementation. Reference architecture provides detailed architectural information in a common format such that solutions can be repeatedly designed and deployed in a consistent, high-quality, supportable fashion. This paper attempts to describe the Reference Architecture for the Telecom Application Usage and how to achieve the Enterprise Level Reference Architecture using SOA. • Telecom Reference Architecture • Enterprise SOA based Reference Architecture Telecom Reference Architecture Tele Management Forum’s New Generation Operations Systems and Software (NGOSS) is an architectural framework for organizing, integrating, and implementing telecom systems. NGOSS is a component-based framework consisting of the following elements: · The enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) is a business process framework. · The Shared Information Data (SID) model provides a comprehensive information framework that may be specialized for the needs of a particular organization. · The Telecom Application Map (TAM) is an application framework to depict the functional footprint of applications, relative to the horizontal processes within eTOM. · The Technology Neutral Architecture (TNA) is an integrated framework. TNA is an architecture that is sustainable through technology changes. NGOSS Architecture Standards are: · Centralized data · Loosely coupled distributed systems · Application components/re-use · A technology-neutral system framework with technology specific implementations · Interoperability to service provider data/processes · Allows more re-use of business components across multiple business scenarios · Workflow automation The traditional operator systems architecture consists of four layers, · Business Support System (BSS) layer, with focus toward customers and business partners. Manages order, subscriber, pricing, rating, and billing information. · Operations Support System (OSS) layer, built around product, service, and resource inventories. · Networks layer – consists of Network elements and 3rd Party Systems. · Integration Layer – to maximize application communication and overall solution flexibility. Reference architecture for telecom enterprises is depicted below. @font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Courier New"; }@font-face { font-family: "Wingdings"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoCaption, li.MsoCaption, div.MsoCaption { margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; color: rgb(79, 129, 189); font-weight: bold; }p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; } Figure 2. Telecom Reference Architecture The major building blocks of any Telecom Service Provider architecture are as follows: 1. Customer Relationship Management CRM encompasses the end-to-end lifecycle of the customer: customer initiation/acquisition, sales, ordering, and service activation, customer care and support, proactive campaigns, cross sell/up sell, and retention/loyalty. CRM also includes the collection of customer information and its application to personalize, customize, and integrate delivery of service to a customer, as well as to identify opportunities for increasing the value of the customer to the enterprise. The key functionalities related to Customer Relationship Management are · Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of a customer request for products. · Create and manage customer profiles. · Manage all interactions with customers – inquiries, requests, and responses. · Provide updates to Billing and other south bound systems on customer/account related updates such as customer/ account creation, deletion, modification, request bills, final bill, duplicate bills, credit limits through Middleware. · Work with Order Management System, Product, and Service Management components within CRM. · Manage customer preferences – Involve all the touch points and channels to the customer, including contact center, retail stores, dealers, self service, and field service, as well as via any media (phone, face to face, web, mobile device, chat, email, SMS, mail, the customer's bill, etc.). · Support single interface for customer contact details, preferences, account details, offers, customer premise equipment, bill details, bill cycle details, and customer interactions. CRM applications interact with customers through customer touch points like portals, point-of-sale terminals, interactive voice response systems, etc. The requests by customers are sent via fulfillment/provisioning to billing system for ordering processing. 2. Billing and Revenue Management Billing and Revenue Management handles the collection of appropriate usage records and production of timely and accurate bills – for providing pre-bill usage information and billing to customers; for processing their payments; and for performing payment collections. In addition, it handles customer inquiries about bills, provides billing inquiry status, and is responsible for resolving billing problems to the customer's satisfaction in a timely manner. This process grouping also supports prepayment for services. The key functionalities provided by these applications are · To ensure that enterprise revenue is billed and invoices delivered appropriately to customers. · To manage customers’ billing accounts, process their payments, perform payment collections, and monitor the status of the account balance. · To ensure the timely and effective fulfillment of all customer bill inquiries and complaints. · Collect the usage records from mediation and ensure appropriate rating and discounting of all usage and pricing. · Support revenue sharing; split charging where usage is guided to an account different from the service consumer. · Support prepaid and post-paid rating. · Send notification on approach / exceeding the usage thresholds as enforced by the subscribed offer, and / or as setup by the customer. · Support prepaid, post paid, and hybrid (where some services are prepaid and the rest of the services post paid) customers and conversion from post paid to prepaid, and vice versa. · Support different billing function requirements like charge prorating, promotion, discount, adjustment, waiver, write-off, account receivable, GL Interface, late payment fee, credit control, dunning, account or service suspension, re-activation, expiry, termination, contract violation penalty, etc. · Initiate direct debit to collect payment against an invoice outstanding. · Send notification to Middleware on different events; for example, payment receipt, pre-suspension, threshold exceed, etc. Billing systems typically get usage data from mediation systems for rating and billing. They get provisioning requests from order management systems and inquiries from CRM systems. Convergent and real-time billing systems can directly get usage details from network elements. 3. Mediation Mediation systems transform/translate the Raw or Native Usage Data Records into a general format that is acceptable to billing for their rating purposes. The following lists the high-level roles and responsibilities executed by the Mediation system in the end-to-end solution. · Collect Usage Data Records from different data sources – like network elements, routers, servers – via different protocol and interfaces. · Process Usage Data Records – Mediation will process Usage Data Records as per the source format. · Validate Usage Data Records from each source. · Segregates Usage Data Records coming from each source to multiple, based on the segregation requirement of end Application. · Aggregates Usage Data Records based on the aggregation rule if any from different sources. · Consolidates multiple Usage Data Records from each source. · Delivers formatted Usage Data Records to different end application like Billing, Interconnect, Fraud Management, etc. · Generates audit trail for incoming Usage Data Records and keeps track of all the Usage Data Records at various stages of mediation process. · Checks duplicate Usage Data Records across files for a given time window. 4. Fulfillment This area is responsible for providing customers with their requested products in a timely and correct manner. It translates the customer's business or personal need into a solution that can be delivered using the specific products in the enterprise's portfolio. This process informs the customers of the status of their purchase order, and ensures completion on time, as well as ensuring a delighted customer. These processes are responsible for accepting and issuing orders. They deal with pre-order feasibility determination, credit authorization, order issuance, order status and tracking, customer update on customer order activities, and customer notification on order completion. Order management and provisioning applications fall into this category. The key functionalities provided by these applications are · Issuing new customer orders, modifying open customer orders, or canceling open customer orders; · Verifying whether specific non-standard offerings sought by customers are feasible and supportable; · Checking the credit worthiness of customers as part of the customer order process; · Testing the completed offering to ensure it is working correctly; · Updating of the Customer Inventory Database to reflect that the specific product offering has been allocated, modified, or cancelled; · Assigning and tracking customer provisioning activities; · Managing customer provisioning jeopardy conditions; and · Reporting progress on customer orders and other processes to customer. These applications typically get orders from CRM systems. They interact with network elements and billing systems for fulfillment of orders. 5. Enterprise Management This process area includes those processes that manage enterprise-wide activities and needs, or have application within the enterprise as a whole. They encompass all business management processes that · Are necessary to support the whole of the enterprise, including processes for financial management, legal management, regulatory management, process, cost, and quality management, etc.; · Are responsible for setting corporate policies, strategies, and directions, and for providing guidelines and targets for the whole of the business, including strategy development and planning for areas, such as Enterprise Architecture, that are integral to the direction and development of the business; · Occur throughout the enterprise, including processes for project management, performance assessments, cost assessments, etc. (i) Enterprise Risk Management: Enterprise Risk Management focuses on assuring that risks and threats to the enterprise value and/or reputation are identified, and appropriate controls are in place to minimize or eliminate the identified risks. The identified risks may be physical or logical/virtual. Successful risk management ensures that the enterprise can support its mission critical operations, processes, applications, and communications in the face of serious incidents such as security threats/violations and fraud attempts. Two key areas covered in Risk Management by telecom operators are: · Revenue Assurance: Revenue assurance system will be responsible for identifying revenue loss scenarios across components/systems, and will help in rectifying the problems. The following lists the high-level roles and responsibilities executed by the Revenue Assurance system in the end-to-end solution. o Identify all usage information dropped when networks are being upgraded. o Interconnect bill verification. o Identify where services are routinely provisioned but never billed. o Identify poor sales policies that are intensifying collections problems. o Find leakage where usage is sent to error bucket and never billed for. o Find leakage where field service, CRM, and network build-out are not optimized. · Fraud Management: Involves collecting data from different systems to identify abnormalities in traffic patterns, usage patterns, and subscription patterns to report suspicious activity that might suggest fraudulent usage of resources, resulting in revenue losses to the operator. The key roles and responsibilities of the system component are as follows: o Fraud management system will capture and monitor high usage (over a certain threshold) in terms of duration, value, and number of calls for each subscriber. The threshold for each subscriber is decided by the system and fixed automatically. o Fraud management will be able to detect the unauthorized access to services for certain subscribers. These subscribers may have been provided unauthorized services by employees. The component will raise the alert to the operator the very first time of such illegal calls or calls which are not billed. o The solution will be to have an alarm management system that will deliver alarms to the operator/provider whenever it detects a fraud, thus minimizing fraud by catching it the first time it occurs. o The Fraud Management system will be capable of interfacing with switches, mediation systems, and billing systems (ii) Knowledge Management This process focuses on knowledge management, technology research within the enterprise, and the evaluation of potential technology acquisitions. Key responsibilities of knowledge base management are to · Maintain knowledge base – Creation and updating of knowledge base on ongoing basis. · Search knowledge base – Search of knowledge base on keywords or category browse · Maintain metadata – Management of metadata on knowledge base to ensure effective management and search. · Run report generator. · Provide content – Add content to the knowledge base, e.g., user guides, operational manual, etc. (iii) Document Management It focuses on maintaining a repository of all electronic documents or images of paper documents relevant to the enterprise using a system. (iv) Data Management It manages data as a valuable resource for any enterprise. For telecom enterprises, the typical areas covered are Master Data Management, Data Warehousing, and Business Intelligence. It is also responsible for data governance, security, quality, and database management. Key responsibilities of Data Management are · Using ETL, extract the data from CRM, Billing, web content, ERP, campaign management, financial, network operations, asset management info, customer contact data, customer measures, benchmarks, process data, e.g., process inputs, outputs, and measures, into Enterprise Data Warehouse. · Management of data traceability with source, data related business rules/decisions, data quality, data cleansing data reconciliation, competitors data – storage for all the enterprise data (customer profiles, products, offers, revenues, etc.) · Get online update through night time replication or physical backup process at regular frequency. · Provide the data access to business intelligence and other systems for their analysis, report generation, and use. (v) Business Intelligence It uses the Enterprise Data to provide the various analysis and reports that contain prospects and analytics for customer retention, acquisition of new customers due to the offers, and SLAs. It will generate right and optimized plans – bolt-ons for the customers. The following lists the high-level roles and responsibilities executed by the Business Intelligence system at the Enterprise Level: · It will do Pattern analysis and reports problem. · It will do Data Analysis – Statistical analysis, data profiling, affinity analysis of data, customer segment wise usage patterns on offers, products, service and revenue generation against services and customer segments. · It will do Performance (business, system, and forecast) analysis, churn propensity, response time, and SLAs analysis. · It will support for online and offline analysis, and report drill down capability. · It will collect, store, and report various SLA data. · It will provide the necessary intelligence for marketing and working on campaigns, etc., with cost benefit analysis and predictions. It will advise on customer promotions with additional services based on loyalty and credit history of customer · It will Interface with Enterprise Data Management system for data to run reports and analysis tasks. It will interface with the campaign schedules, based on historical success evidence. (vi) Stakeholder and External Relations Management It manages the enterprise's relationship with stakeholders and outside entities. Stakeholders include shareholders, employee organizations, etc. Outside entities include regulators, local community, and unions. Some of the processes within this grouping are Shareholder Relations, External Affairs, Labor Relations, and Public Relations. (vii) Enterprise Resource Planning It is used to manage internal and external resources, including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resources. Its purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the enterprise and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. ERP systems consolidate all business operations into a uniform and enterprise wide system environment. The key roles and responsibilities for Enterprise System are given below: · It will handle responsibilities such as core accounting, financial, and management reporting. · It will interface with CRM for capturing customer account and details. · It will interface with billing to capture the billing revenue and other financial data. · It will be responsible for executing the dunning process. Billing will send the required feed to ERP for execution of dunning. · It will interface with the CRM and Billing through batch interfaces. Enterprise management systems are like horizontals in the enterprise and typically interact with all major telecom systems. E.g., an ERP system interacts with CRM, Fulfillment, and Billing systems for different kinds of data exchanges. 6. External Interfaces/Touch Points The typical external parties are customers, suppliers/partners, employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders. External interactions from/to a Service Provider to other parties can be achieved by a variety of mechanisms, including: · Exchange of emails or faxes · Call Centers · Web Portals · Business-to-Business (B2B) automated transactions These applications provide an Internet technology driven interface to external parties to undertake a variety of business functions directly for themselves. These can provide fully or partially automated service to external parties through various touch points. Typical characteristics of these touch points are · Pre-integrated self-service system, including stand-alone web framework or integration front end with a portal engine · Self services layer exposing atomic web services/APIs for reuse by multiple systems across the architectural environment · Portlets driven connectivity exposing data and services interoperability through a portal engine or web application These touch points mostly interact with the CRM systems for requests, inquiries, and responses. 7. Middleware The component will be primarily responsible for integrating the different systems components under a common platform. It should provide a Standards-Based Platform for building Service Oriented Architecture and Composite Applications. The following lists the high-level roles and responsibilities executed by the Middleware component in the end-to-end solution. · As an integration framework, covering to and fro interfaces · Provide a web service framework with service registry. · Support SOA framework with SOA service registry. · Each of the interfaces from / to Middleware to other components would handle data transformation, translation, and mapping of data points. · Receive data from the caller / activate and/or forward the data to the recipient system in XML format. · Use standard XML for data exchange. · Provide the response back to the service/call initiator. · Provide a tracking until the response completion. · Keep a store transitional data against each call/transaction. · Interface through Middleware to get any information that is possible and allowed from the existing systems to enterprise systems; e.g., customer profile and customer history, etc. · Provide the data in a common unified format to the SOA calls across systems, and follow the Enterprise Architecture directive. · Provide an audit trail for all transactions being handled by the component. 8. Network Elements The term Network Element means a facility or equipment used in the provision of a telecommunications service. Such terms also includes features, functions, and capabilities that are provided by means of such facility or equipment, including subscriber numbers, databases, signaling systems, and information sufficient for billing and collection or used in the transmission, routing, or other provision of a telecommunications service. Typical network elements in a GSM network are Home Location Register (HLR), Intelligent Network (IN), Mobile Switching Center (MSC), SMS Center (SMSC), and network elements for other value added services like Push-to-talk (PTT), Ring Back Tone (RBT), etc. Network elements are invoked when subscribers use their telecom devices for any kind of usage. These elements generate usage data and pass it on to downstream systems like mediation and billing system for rating and billing. They also integrate with provisioning systems for order/service fulfillment. 9. 3rd Party Applications 3rd Party systems are applications like content providers, payment gateways, point of sale terminals, and databases/applications maintained by the Government. Depending on applicability and the type of functionality provided by 3rd party applications, the integration with different telecom systems like CRM, provisioning, and billing will be done. 10. Service Delivery Platform A service delivery platform (SDP) provides the architecture for the rapid deployment, provisioning, execution, management, and billing of value added telecom services. SDPs are based on the concept of SOA and layered architecture. They support the delivery of voice, data services, and content in network and device-independent fashion. They allow application developers to aggregate network capabilities, services, and sources of content. SDPs typically contain layers for web services exposure, service application development, and network abstraction. SOA Reference Architecture SOA concept is based on the principle of developing reusable business service and building applications by composing those services, instead of building monolithic applications in silos. It’s about bridging the gap between business and IT through a set of business-aligned IT services, using a set of design principles, patterns, and techniques. In an SOA, resources are made available to participants in a value net, enterprise, line of business (typically spanning multiple applications within an enterprise or across multiple enterprises). It consists of a set of business-aligned IT services that collectively fulfill an organization’s business processes and goals. We can choreograph these services into composite applications and invoke them through standard protocols. SOA, apart from agility and reusability, enables: · The business to specify processes as orchestrations of reusable services · Technology agnostic business design, with technology hidden behind service interface · A contractual-like interaction between business and IT, based on service SLAs · Accountability and governance, better aligned to business services · Applications interconnections untangling by allowing access only through service interfaces, reducing the daunting side effects of change · Reduced pressure to replace legacy and extended lifetime for legacy applications, through encapsulation in services · A Cloud Computing paradigm, using web services technologies, that makes possible service outsourcing on an on-demand, utility-like, pay-per-usage basis The following section represents the Reference Architecture of logical view for the Telecom Solution. The new custom built application needs to align with this logical architecture in the long run to achieve EA benefits. Packaged implementation applications, such as ERP billing applications, need to expose their functions as service providers (as other applications consume) and interact with other applications as service consumers. COT applications need to expose services through wrappers such as adapters to utilize existing resources and at the same time achieve Enterprise Architecture goal and objectives. The following are the various layers for Enterprise level deployment of SOA. This diagram captures the abstract view of Enterprise SOA layers and important components of each layer. Layered architecture means decomposition of services such that most interactions occur between adjacent layers. However, there is no strict rule that top layers should not directly communicate with bottom layers. The diagram below represents the important logical pieces that would result from overall SOA transformation. @font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Courier New"; }@font-face { font-family: "Wingdings"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoCaption, li.MsoCaption, div.MsoCaption { margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; color: rgb(79, 129, 189); font-weight: bold; }p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; } Figure 3. Enterprise SOA Reference Architecture 1. Operational System Layer: This layer consists of all packaged applications like CRM, ERP, custom built applications, COTS based applications like Billing, Revenue Management, Fulfilment, and the Enterprise databases that are essential and contribute directly or indirectly to the Enterprise OSS/BSS Transformation. ERP holds the data of Asset Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain, and Advanced Procurement and Human Capital Management, etc. CRM holds the data related to Order, Sales, and Marketing, Customer Care, Partner Relationship Management, Loyalty, etc. Content Management handles Enterprise Search and Query. Billing application consists of the following components: · Collections Management, Customer Billing Management, Invoices, Real-Time Rating, Discounting, and Applying of Charges · Enterprise databases will hold both the application and service data, whether structured or unstructured. MDM - Master data majorly consists of Customer, Order, Product, and Service Data. 2. Enterprise Component Layer: This layer consists of the Application Services and Common Services that are responsible for realizing the functionality and maintaining the QoS of the exposed services. This layer uses container-based technologies such as application servers to implement the components, workload management, high availability, and load balancing. Application Services: This Service Layer enables application, technology, and database abstraction so that the complex accessing logic is hidden from the other service layers. This is a basic service layer, which exposes application functionalities and data as reusable services. The three types of the Application access services are: · Application Access Service: This Service Layer exposes application level functionalities as a reusable service between BSS to BSS and BSS to OSS integration. This layer is enabled using disparate technology such as Web Service, Integration Servers, and Adaptors, etc. · Data Access Service: This Service Layer exposes application data services as a reusable reference data service. This is done via direct interaction with application data. and provides the federated query. · Network Access Service: This Service Layer exposes provisioning layer as a reusable service from OSS to OSS integration. This integration service emphasizes the need for high performance, stateless process flows, and distributed design. Common Services encompasses management of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data such as information services, portal services, interaction services, infrastructure services, and security services, etc. 3. Integration Layer: This consists of service infrastructure components like service bus, service gateway for partner integration, service registry, service repository, and BPEL processor. Service bus will carry the service invocation payloads/messages between consumers and providers. The other important functions expected from it are itinerary based routing, distributed caching of routing information, transformations, and all qualities of service for messaging-like reliability, scalability, and availability, etc. Service registry will hold all contracts (wsdl) of services, and it helps developers to locate or discover service during design time or runtime. • BPEL processor would be useful in orchestrating the services to compose a complex business scenario or process. • Workflow and business rules management are also required to support manual triggering of certain activities within business process. based on the rules setup and also the state machine information. Application, data, and service mediation layer typically forms the overall composite application development framework or SOA Framework. 4. Business Process Layer: These are typically the intermediate services layer and represent Shared Business Process Services. At Enterprise Level, these services are from Customer Management, Order Management, Billing, Finance, and Asset Management application domains. 5. Access Layer: This layer consists of portals for Enterprise and provides a single view of Enterprise information management and dashboard services. 6. Channel Layer: This consists of various devices; applications that form part of extended enterprise; browsers through which users access the applications. 7. Client Layer: This designates the different types of users accessing the enterprise applications. The type of user typically would be an important factor in determining the level of access to applications. 8. Vertical pieces like management, monitoring, security, and development cut across all horizontal layers Management and monitoring involves all aspects of SOA-like services, SLAs, and other QoS lifecycle processes for both applications and services surrounding SOA governance. 9. EA Governance, Reference Architecture, Roadmap, Principles, and Best Practices: EA Governance is important in terms of providing the overall direction to SOA implementation within the enterprise. This involves board-level involvement, in addition to business and IT executives. At a high level, this involves managing the SOA projects implementation, managing SOA infrastructure, and controlling the entire effort through all fine-tuned IT processes in accordance with COBIT (Control Objectives for Information Technology). Devising tools and techniques to promote reuse culture, and the SOA way of doing things needs competency centers to be established in addition to training the workforce to take up new roles that are suited to SOA journey. Conclusions Reference Architectures can serve as the basis for disparate architecture efforts throughout the organization, even if they use different tools and technologies. Reference architectures provide best practices and approaches in the independent way a vendor deals with technology and standards. Reference Architectures model the abstract architectural elements for an enterprise independent of the technologies, protocols, and products that are used to implement an SOA. Telecom enterprises today are facing significant business and technology challenges due to growing competition, a multitude of services, and convergence. Adopting architectural best practices could go a long way in meeting these challenges. The use of SOA-based architecture for communication to each of the external systems like Billing, CRM, etc., in OSS/BSS system has made the architecture very loosely coupled, with greater flexibility. Any change in the external systems would be absorbed at the Integration Layer without affecting the rest of the ecosystem. The use of a Business Process Management (BPM) tool makes the management and maintenance of the business processes easy, with better performance in terms of lead time, quality, and cost. Since the Architecture is based on standards, it will lower the cost of deploying and managing OSS/BSS applications over their lifecycles.

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Tip/Trick: Fix Common SEO Problems Using the URL Rewrite Extension

- by ScottGu

Search engine optimization (SEO) is important for any publically facing web-site. A large % of traffic to sites now comes directly from search engines, and improving your site’s search relevancy will lead to more users visiting your site from search engine queries. This can directly or indirectly increase the money you make through your site. This blog post covers how you can use the free Microsoft URL Rewrite Extension to fix a bunch of common SEO problems that your site might have. It takes less than 15 minutes (and no code changes) to apply 4 simple URL Rewrite rules to your site, and in doing so cause search engines to drive more visitors and traffic to your site. The techniques below work equally well with both ASP.NET Web Forms and ASP.NET MVC based sites. They also works with all versions of ASP.NET (and even work with non-ASP.NET content). [In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu] Measuring the SEO of your website with the Microsoft SEO Toolkit A few months ago I blogged about the free SEO Toolkit that we’ve shipped. This useful tool enables you to automatically crawl/scan your site for SEO correctness, and it then flags any SEO issues it finds. I highly recommend downloading and using the tool against any public site you work on. It makes it easy to spot SEO issues you might have in your site, and pinpoint ways to optimize it further. Below is a simple example of a report I ran against one of my sites (www.scottgu.com) prior to applying the URL Rewrite rules I’ll cover later in this blog post: Search Relevancy and URL Splitting Two of the important things that search engines evaluate when assessing your site’s “search relevancy” are: How many other sites link to your content. Search engines assume that if a lot of people around the web are linking to your content, then it is likely useful and so weight it higher in relevancy. The uniqueness of the content it finds on your site. If search engines find that the content is duplicated in multiple places around the Internet (or on multiple URLs on your site) then it is likely to drop the relevancy of the content. One of the things you want to be very careful to avoid when building public facing sites is to not allow different URLs to retrieve the same content within your site. Doing so will hurt with both of the situations above. In particular, allowing external sites to link to the same content with multiple URLs will cause your link-count and page-ranking to be split up across those different URLs (and so give you a smaller page rank than what it would otherwise be if it was just one URL). Not allowing external sites to link to you in different ways sounds easy in theory – but you might wonder what exactly this means in practice and how you avoid it. 4 Really Common SEO Problems Your Sites Might Have Below are 4 really common scenarios that can cause your site to inadvertently expose multiple URLs for the same content. When this happens external sites linking to yours will end up splitting their page links across multiple URLs - and as a result cause you to have a lower page ranking with search engines than you deserve. SEO Problem #1: Default Document IIS (and other web servers) supports the concept of a “default document”. This allows you to avoid having to explicitly specify the page you want to serve at either the root of the web-site/application, or within a sub-directory. This is convenient – but means that by default this content is available via two different publically exposed URLs (which is bad). For example: http://scottgu.com/ http://scottgu.com/default.aspx SEO Problem #2: Different URL Casings Web developers often don’t realize URLs are case sensitive to search engines on the web. This means that search engines will treat the following links as two completely different URLs: http://scottgu.com/Albums.aspx http://scottgu.com/albums.aspx SEO Problem #3: Trailing Slashes Consider the below two URLs – they might look the same at first, but they are subtly different. The trailing slash creates yet another situation that causes search engines to treat the URLs as different and so split search rankings: http://scottgu.com http://scottgu.com/ SEO Problem #4: Canonical Host Names Sometimes sites support scenarios where they support a web-site with both a leading “www” hostname prefix as well as just the hostname itself. This causes search engines to treat the URLs as different and split search rankling: http://scottgu.com/albums.aspx/ http://www.scottgu.com/albums.aspx/ How to Easily Fix these SEO Problems in 10 minutes (or less) using IIS Rewrite If you haven’t been careful when coding your sites, chances are you are suffering from one (or more) of the above SEO problems. Addressing these issues will improve your search engine relevancy ranking and drive more traffic to your site. The “good news” is that fixing the above 4 issues is really easy using the URL Rewrite Extension. This is a completely free Microsoft extension available for IIS 7.x (on Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 and Windows Vista). The great thing about using the IIS Rewrite extension is that it allows you to fix the above problems *without* having to change any code within your applications. You can easily install the URL Rewrite Extension in under 3 minutes using the Microsoft Web Platform Installer (a free tool we ship that automates setting up web servers and development machines). Just click the green “Install Now” button on the URL Rewrite Spotlight page to install it on your Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 or Windows Vista machine: Once installed you’ll find that a new “URL Rewrite” icon is available within the IIS 7 Admin Tool: Double-clicking the icon will open up the URL Rewrite admin panel – which will display the list of URL Rewrite rules configured for a particular application or site: Notice that our rewrite rule list above is currently empty (which is the default when you first install the extension). We can click the “Add Rule…” link button in the top-right of the panel to add and enable new URL Rewriting logic for our site. Scenario 1: Handling Default Document Scenarios One of the SEO problems I discussed earlier in this post was the scenario where the “default document” feature of IIS causes you to inadvertently expose two URLs for the same content on your site. For example: http://scottgu.com/ http://scottgu.com/default.aspx We can fix this by adding a new IIS Rewrite rule that automatically redirects anyone who navigates to the second URL to instead go to the first one. We will setup the HTTP redirect to be a “permanent redirect” – which will indicate to search engines that they should follow the redirect and use the new URL they are redirected to as the identifier of the content they retrieve. Let’s look at how we can create such a rule. We’ll begin by clicking the “Add Rule” link in the screenshot above. This will cause the below dialog to display: We’ll select the “Blank Rule” template within the “Inbound rules” section to create a new custom URL Rewriting rule. This will display an empty pane like below: Don’t worry – setting up the above rule is easy. The following 4 steps explain how to do so: Step 1: Name the Rule Our first step will be to name the rule we are creating. Naming it with a descriptive name will make it easier to find and understand later. Let’s name this rule our “Default Document URL Rewrite” rule: Step 2: Setup the Regular Expression that Matches this Rule Our second step will be to specify a regular expression filter that will cause this rule to execute when an incoming URL matches the regex pattern. Don’t worry if you aren’t good with regular expressions - I suck at them too. The trick is to know someone who is good at them or copy/paste them from a web-site. Below we are going to specify the following regular expression as our pattern rule: (.*?)/?Default\.aspx$ This pattern will match any URL string that ends with Default.aspx. The "(.*?)" matches any preceding character zero or more times. The "/?" part says to match the slash symbol zero or one times. The "$" symbol at the end will ensure that the pattern will only match strings that end with Default.aspx. Combining all these regex elements allows this rule to work not only for the root of your web site (e.g. http://scottgu.com/default.aspx) but also for any application or subdirectory within the site (e.g. http://scottgu.com/photos/default.aspx. Because the “ignore case” checkbox is selected it will match both “Default.aspx” as well as “default.aspx” within the URL. One nice feature built-into the rule editor is a “Test pattern” button that you can click to bring up a dialog that allows you to test out a few URLs with the rule you are configuring: Above I've added a “products/default.aspx” URL and clicked the “Test” button. This will give me immediate feedback on whether the rule will execute for it. Step 3: Setup a Permanent Redirect Action We’ll then setup an action to occur when our regular expression pattern matches the incoming URL: In the dialog above I’ve changed the “Action Type” drop down to be a “Redirect” action. The “Redirect Type” will be a HTTP 301 Permanent redirect – which means search engines will follow it. I’ve also set the “Redirect URL” property to be: {R:1}/ This indicates that we want to redirect the web client requesting the original URL to a new URL that has the originally requested URL path - minus the "Default.aspx" in it. For example, requests for http://scottgu.com/default.aspx will be redirected to http://scottgu.com/, and requests for http://scottgu.com/photos/default.aspx will be redirected to http://scottgu.com/photos/ The "{R:N}" regex construct, where N >= 0, is called a back-reference and N is the back-reference index. In the case of our pattern "(.*?)/?Default\.aspx$", if the input URL is "products/Default.aspx" then {R:0} will contain "products/Default.aspx" and {R:1} will contain "products". We are going to use this {R:1}/ value to be the URL we redirect users to. Step 4: Apply and Save the Rule Our final step is to click the “Apply” button in the top right hand of the IIS admin tool – which will cause the tool to persist the URL Rewrite rule into our application’s root web.config file (under a <system.webServer/rewrite> configuration section): <configuration> <system.webServer> <rewrite> <rules> <rule name="Default Document" stopProcessing="true"> <match url="(.*?)/?Default\.aspx$" /> <action type="Redirect" url="{R:1}/" /> </rule> </rules> </rewrite> </system.webServer> </configuration> Because IIS 7.x and ASP.NET share the same web.config files, you can actually just copy/paste the above code into your web.config files using Visual Studio and skip the need to run the admin tool entirely. This also makes adding/deploying URL Rewrite rules with your ASP.NET applications really easy. Step 5: Try the Rule Out Now that we’ve saved the rule, let’s try it out on our site. Try the following two URLs on my site: http://scottgu.com/ http://scottgu.com/default.aspx Notice that the second URL automatically redirects to the first one. Because it is a permanent redirect, search engines will follow the URL and should update the page ranking of http://scottgu.com to include links to http://scottgu.com/default.aspx as well. Scenario 2: Different URL Casing Another common SEO problem I discussed earlier in this post is that URLs are case sensitive to search engines on the web. This means that search engines will treat the following links as two completely different URLs: http://scottgu.com/Albums.aspx http://scottgu.com/albums.aspx We can fix this by adding a new IIS Rewrite rule that automatically redirects anyone who navigates to the first URL to instead go to the second (all lower-case) one. Like before, we will setup the HTTP redirect to be a “permanent redirect” – which will indicate to search engines that they should follow the redirect and use the new URL they are redirected to as the identifier of the content they retrieve. To create such a rule we’ll click the “Add Rule” link in the URL Rewrite admin tool again. This will cause the “Add Rule” dialog to appear again: Unlike the previous scenario (where we created a “Blank Rule”), with this scenario we can take advantage of a built-in “Enforce lowercase URLs” rule template. When we click the “ok” button we’ll see the following dialog which asks us if we want to create a rule that enforces the use of lowercase letters in URLs: When we click the “Yes” button we’ll get a pre-written rule that automatically performs a permanent redirect if an incoming URL has upper-case characters in it – and automatically send users to a lower-case version of the URL: We can click the “Apply” button to use this rule “as-is” and have it apply to all incoming URLs to our site. Because my www.scottgu.com site uses ASP.NET Web Forms, I’m going to make one small change to the rule we generated above – which is to add a condition that will ensure that URLs to ASP.NET’s built-in “WebResource.axd” handler are excluded from our case-sensitivity URL Rewrite logic. URLs to the WebResource.axd handler will only come from server-controls emitted from my pages – and will never be linked to from external sites. While my site will continue to function fine if we redirect these URLs to automatically be lower-case – doing so isn’t necessary and will add an extra HTTP redirect to many of my pages. The good news is that adding a condition that prevents my URL Rewriting rule from happening with certain URLs is easy. We simply need to expand the “Conditions” section of the form above We can then click the “Add” button to add a condition clause. This will bring up the “Add Condition” dialog: Above I’ve entered {URL} as the Condition input – and said that this rule should only execute if the URL does not match a regex pattern which contains the string “WebResource.axd”. This will ensure that WebResource.axd URLs to my site will be allowed to execute just fine without having the URL be re-written to be all lower-case. Note: If you have static resources (like references to .jpg, .css, and .js files) within your site that currently use upper-case characters you’ll probably want to add additional condition filter clauses so that URLs to them also don’t get redirected to be lower-case (just add rules for patterns like .jpg, .gif, .js, etc). Your site will continue to work fine if these URLs get redirected to be lower case (meaning the site won’t break) – but it will cause an extra HTTP redirect to happen on your site for URLs that don’t need to be redirected for SEO reasons. So setting up a condition clause makes sense to add. When I click the “ok” button above and apply our lower-case rewriting rule the admin tool will save the following additional rule to our web.config file: <configuration> <system.webServer> <rewrite> <rules> <rule name="Default Document" stopProcessing="true"> <match url="(.*?)/?Default\.aspx$" /> <action type="Redirect" url="{R:1}/" /> </rule> <rule name="Lower Case URLs" stopProcessing="true"> <match url="[A-Z]" ignoreCase="false" /> <conditions logicalGrouping="MatchAll" trackAllCaptures="false"> <add input="{URL}" pattern="WebResource.axd" negate="true" /> </conditions> <action type="Redirect" url="{ToLower:{URL}}" /> </rule> </rules> </rewrite> </system.webServer> </configuration> Try the Rule Out Now that we’ve saved the rule, let’s try it out on our site. Try the following two URLs on my site: http://scottgu.com/Albums.aspx http://scottgu.com/albums.aspx Notice that the first URL (which has a capital “A”) automatically does a redirect to a lower-case version of the URL. Scenario 3: Trailing Slashes Another common SEO problem I discussed earlier in this post is the scenario of trailing slashes within URLs. The trailing slash creates yet another situation that causes search engines to treat the URLs as different and so split search rankings: http://scottgu.com http://scottgu.com/ We can fix this by adding a new IIS Rewrite rule that automatically redirects anyone who navigates to the first URL (that does not have a trailing slash) to instead go to the second one that does. Like before, we will setup the HTTP redirect to be a “permanent redirect” – which will indicate to search engines that they should follow the redirect and use the new URL they are redirected to as the identifier of the content they retrieve. To create such a rule we’ll click the “Add Rule” link in the URL Rewrite admin tool again. This will cause the “Add Rule” dialog to appear again: The URL Rewrite admin tool has a built-in “Append or remove the trailing slash symbol” rule template. When we select it and click the “ok” button we’ll see the following dialog which asks us if we want to create a rule that automatically redirects users to a URL with a trailing slash if one isn’t present: Like within our previous lower-casing rewrite rule we’ll add one additional condition clause that will exclude WebResource.axd URLs from being processed by this rule. This will avoid an unnecessary redirect for happening for those URLs. When we click the “OK” button we’ll get a pre-written rule that automatically performs a permanent redirect if the URL doesn’t have a trailing slash – and if the URL is not processed by either a directory or a file. This will save the following additional rule to our web.config file: <configuration> <system.webServer> <rewrite> <rules> <rule name="Default Document" stopProcessing="true"> <match url="(.*?)/?Default\.aspx$" /> <action type="Redirect" url="{R:1}/" /> </rule> <rule name="Lower Case URLs" stopProcessing="true"> <match url="[A-Z]" ignoreCase="false" /> <conditions logicalGrouping="MatchAll" trackAllCaptures="false"> <add input="{URL}" pattern="WebResource.axd" negate="true" /> </conditions> <action type="Redirect" url="{ToLower:{URL}}" /> </rule> <rule name="Trailing Slash" stopProcessing="true"> <match url="(.*[^/])$" /> <conditions logicalGrouping="MatchAll" trackAllCaptures="false"> <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}" matchType="IsDirectory" negate="true" /> <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}" matchType="IsFile" negate="true" /> <add input="{URL}" pattern="WebResource.axd" negate="true" /> </conditions> <action type="Redirect" url="{R:1}/" /> </rule> </rules> </rewrite> </system.webServer> </configuration> Try the Rule Out Now that we’ve saved the rule, let’s try it out on our site. Try the following two URLs on my site: http://scottgu.com http://scottgu.com/ Notice that the first URL (which has no trailing slash) automatically does a redirect to a URL with the trailing slash. Because it is a permanent redirect, search engines will follow the URL and update the page ranking. Scenario 4: Canonical Host Names The final SEO problem I discussed earlier are scenarios where a site works with both a leading “www” hostname prefix as well as just the hostname itself. This causes search engines to treat the URLs as different and split search rankling: http://www.scottgu.com/albums.aspx http://scottgu.com/albums.aspx We can fix this by adding a new IIS Rewrite rule that automatically redirects anyone who navigates to the first URL (that has a www prefix) to instead go to the second URL. Like before, we will setup the HTTP redirect to be a “permanent redirect” – which will indicate to search engines that they should follow the redirect and use the new URL they are redirected to as the identifier of the content they retrieve. To create such a rule we’ll click the “Add Rule” link in the URL Rewrite admin tool again. This will cause the “Add Rule” dialog to appear again: The URL Rewrite admin tool has a built-in “Canonical domain name” rule template. When we select it and click the “ok” button we’ll see the following dialog which asks us if we want to create a redirect rule that automatically redirects users to a primary host name URL: Above I’m entering the primary URL address I want to expose to the web: scottgu.com. When we click the “OK” button we’ll get a pre-written rule that automatically performs a permanent redirect if the URL has another leading domain name prefix. This will save the following additional rule to our web.config file: <configuration> <system.webServer> <rewrite> <rules> <rule name="Cannonical Hostname"> <match url="(.*)" /> <conditions logicalGrouping="MatchAll" trackAllCaptures="false"> <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^scottgu\.com$" negate="true" /> </conditions> <action type="Redirect" url="http://scottgu.com/{R:1}" /> </rule> <rule name="Default Document" stopProcessing="true"> <match url="(.*?)/?Default\.aspx$" /> <action type="Redirect" url="{R:1}/" /> </rule> <rule name="Lower Case URLs" stopProcessing="true"> <match url="[A-Z]" ignoreCase="false" /> <conditions logicalGrouping="MatchAll" trackAllCaptures="false"> <add input="{URL}" pattern="WebResource.axd" negate="true" /> </conditions> <action type="Redirect" url="{ToLower:{URL}}" /> </rule> <rule name="Trailing Slash" stopProcessing="true"> <match url="(.*[^/])$" /> <conditions logicalGrouping="MatchAll" trackAllCaptures="false"> <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}" matchType="IsDirectory" negate="true" /> <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}" matchType="IsFile" negate="true" /> <add input="{URL}" pattern="WebResource.axd" negate="true" /> </conditions> <action type="Redirect" url="{R:1}/" /> </rule> </rules> </rewrite> </system.webServer> </configuration> Try the Rule Out Now that we’ve saved the rule, let’s try it out on our site. Try the following two URLs on my site: http://www.scottgu.com/albums.aspx http://scottgu.com/albums.aspx Notice that the first URL (which has the “www” prefix) now automatically does a redirect to the second URL which does not have the www prefix. Because it is a permanent redirect, search engines will follow the URL and update the page ranking. 4 Simple Rules for Improved SEO The above 4 rules are pretty easy to setup and should take less than 15 minutes to configure on existing sites you already have. The beauty of using a solution like the URL Rewrite Extension is that you can take advantage of it without having to change code within your web-site – and without having to break any existing links already pointing at your site. Users who follow existing links will be automatically redirected to the new URLs you wish to publish. And search engines will start to give your site a higher search relevancy ranking – which will list your site higher in search results and drive more traffic to it. Customizing your URL Rewriting rules further is easy to-do either by editing the web.config file directly, or alternatively, just double click the URL Rewrite icon within the IIS 7.x admin tool and it will list all the active rules for your web-site or application: Clicking any of the rules above will open the rules editor back up and allow you to tweak/customize/save them further. Summary Measuring and improving SEO is something every developer building a public-facing web-site needs to think about and focus on. If you haven’t already, download and use the SEO Toolkit to analyze the SEO of your sites today. New URL Routing features in ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Web Forms 4 make it much easier to build applications that have more control over the URLs that are published. Tools like the URL Rewrite Extension that I’ve talked about in this blog post make it much easier to improve the URLs that are published from sites you already have built today – without requiring you to change a lot of code. The URL Rewrite Extension provides a bunch of additional great capabilities – far beyond just SEO - as well. I’ll be covering these additional capabilities more in future blog posts. Hope this helps, Scott

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Capturing and Transforming ASP.NET Output with Response.Filter

- by Rick Strahl

During one of my Handlers and Modules session at DevConnections this week one of the attendees asked a question that I didn’t have an immediate answer for. Basically he wanted to capture response output completely and then apply some filtering to the output – effectively injecting some additional content into the page AFTER the page had completely rendered. Specifically the output should be captured from anywhere – not just a page and have this code injected into the page. Some time ago I posted some code that allows you to capture ASP.NET Page output by overriding the Render() method, capturing the HtmlTextWriter() and reading its content, modifying the rendered data as text then writing it back out. I’ve actually used this approach on a few occasions and it works fine for ASP.NET pages. But this obviously won’t work outside of the Page class environment and it’s not really generic – you have to create a custom page class in order to handle the output capture. [updated 11/16/2009 – updated ResponseFilterStream implementation and a few additional notes based on comments] Enter Response.Filter However, ASP.NET includes a Response.Filter which can be used – well to filter output. Basically Response.Filter is a stream through which the OutputStream is piped back to the Web Server (indirectly). As content is written into the Response object, the filter stream receives the appropriate Stream commands like Write, Flush and Close as well as read operations although for a Response.Filter that’s uncommon to be hit. The Response.Filter can be programmatically replaced at runtime which allows you to effectively intercept all output generation that runs through ASP.NET. A common Example: Dynamic GZip Encoding A rather common use of Response.Filter hooking up code based, dynamic GZip compression for requests which is dead simple by applying a GZipStream (or DeflateStream) to Response.Filter. The following generic routines can be used very easily to detect GZip capability of the client and compress response output with a single line of code and a couple of library helper routines: WebUtils.GZipEncodePage(); which is handled with a few lines of reusable code and a couple of static helper methods: /// <summary> ///Sets up the current page or handler to use GZip through a Response.Filter ///IMPORTANT: ///You have to call this method before any output is generated! /// </summary> public static void GZipEncodePage() { HttpResponse Response = HttpContext.Current.Response; if(IsGZipSupported()) { stringAcceptEncoding = HttpContext.Current.Request.Headers["Accept-Encoding"]; if(AcceptEncoding.Contains("deflate")) { Response.Filter = newSystem.IO.Compression.DeflateStream(Response.Filter, System.IO.Compression.CompressionMode.Compress); Response.AppendHeader("Content-Encoding", "deflate"); } else { Response.Filter = newSystem.IO.Compression.GZipStream(Response.Filter, System.IO.Compression.CompressionMode.Compress); Response.AppendHeader("Content-Encoding", "gzip"); } } // Allow proxy servers to cache encoded and unencoded versions separately Response.AppendHeader("Vary", "Content-Encoding"); } /// <summary> /// Determines if GZip is supported /// </summary> /// <returns></returns> public static bool IsGZipSupported() { string AcceptEncoding = HttpContext.Current.Request.Headers["Accept-Encoding"]; if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(AcceptEncoding) && (AcceptEncoding.Contains("gzip") || AcceptEncoding.Contains("deflate"))) return true; return false; } GZipStream and DeflateStream are streams that are assigned to Response.Filter and by doing so apply the appropriate compression on the active Response. Response.Filter content is chunked So to implement a Response.Filter effectively requires only that you implement a custom stream and handle the Write() method to capture Response output as it’s written. At first blush this seems very simple – you capture the output in Write, transform it and write out the transformed content in one pass. And that indeed works for small amounts of content. But you see, the problem is that output is written in small buffer chunks (a little less than 16k it appears) rather than just a single Write() statement into the stream, which makes perfect sense for ASP.NET to stream data back to IIS in smaller chunks to minimize memory usage en route. Unfortunately this also makes it a more difficult to implement any filtering routines since you don’t directly get access to all of the response content which is problematic especially if those filtering routines require you to look at the ENTIRE response in order to transform or capture the output as is needed for the solution the gentleman in my session asked for. So in order to address this a slightly different approach is required that basically captures all the Write() buffers passed into a cached stream and then making the stream available only when it’s complete and ready to be flushed. As I was thinking about the implementation I also started thinking about the few instances when I’ve used Response.Filter implementations. Each time I had to create a new Stream subclass and create my custom functionality but in the end each implementation did the same thing – capturing output and transforming it. I thought there should be an easier way to do this by creating a re-usable Stream class that can handle stream transformations that are common to Response.Filter implementations. Creating a semi-generic Response Filter Stream Class What I ended up with is a ResponseFilterStream class that provides a handful of Events that allow you to capture and/or transform Response content. The class implements a subclass of Stream and then overrides Write() and Flush() to handle capturing and transformation operations. By exposing events it’s easy to hook up capture or transformation operations via single focused methods. ResponseFilterStream exposes the following events: CaptureStream, CaptureString Captures the output only and provides either a MemoryStream or String with the final page output. Capture is hooked to the Flush() operation of the stream. TransformStream, TransformString Allows you to transform the complete response output with events that receive a MemoryStream or String respectively and can you modify the output then return it back as a return value. The transformed output is then written back out in a single chunk to the response output stream. These events capture all output internally first then write the entire buffer into the response. TransformWrite, TransformWriteString Allows you to transform the Response data as it is written in its original chunk size in the Stream’s Write() method. Unlike TransformStream/TransformString which operate on the complete output, these events only see the current chunk of data written. This is more efficient as there’s no caching involved, but can cause problems due to searched content splitting over multiple chunks. Using this implementation, creating a custom Response.Filter transformation becomes as simple as the following code. To hook up the Response.Filter using the MemoryStream version event: ResponseFilterStream filter = new ResponseFilterStream(Response.Filter); filter.TransformStream += filter_TransformStream; Response.Filter = filter; and the event handler to do the transformation: MemoryStream filter_TransformStream(MemoryStream ms) { Encoding encoding = HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentEncoding; string output = encoding.GetString(ms.ToArray()); output = FixPaths(output); ms = new MemoryStream(output.Length); byte[] buffer = encoding.GetBytes(output); ms.Write(buffer,0,buffer.Length); return ms; } private string FixPaths(string output) { string path = HttpContext.Current.Request.ApplicationPath; // override root path wonkiness if (path == "/") path = ""; output = output.Replace("\"~/", "\"" + path + "/").Replace("'~/", "'" + path + "/"); return output; } The idea of the event handler is that you can do whatever you want to the stream and return back a stream – either the same one that’s been modified or a brand new one – which is then sent back to as the final response. The above code can be simplified even more by using the string version events which handle the stream to string conversions for you: ResponseFilterStream filter = new ResponseFilterStream(Response.Filter); filter.TransformString += filter_TransformString; Response.Filter = filter; and the event handler to do the transformation calling the same FixPaths method shown above: string filter_TransformString(string output) { return FixPaths(output); } The events for capturing output and capturing and transforming chunks work in a very similar way. By using events to handle the transformations ResponseFilterStream becomes a reusable component and we don’t have to create a new stream class or subclass an existing Stream based classed. By the way, the example used here is kind of a cool trick which transforms “~/” expressions inside of the final generated HTML output – even in plain HTML controls not HTML controls – and transforms them into the appropriate application relative path in the same way that ResolveUrl would do. So you can write plain old HTML like this: <a href=”~/default.aspx”>Home</a> and have it turned into: <a href=”/myVirtual/default.aspx”>Home</a> without having to use an ASP.NET control like Hyperlink or Image or having to constantly use: <img src=”<%= ResolveUrl(“~/images/home.gif”) %>” /> in MVC applications (which frankly is one of the most annoying things about MVC especially given the path hell that extension-less and endpoint-less URLs impose). I can’t take credit for this idea. While discussing the Response.Filter issues on Twitter a hint from Dylan Beattie who pointed me at one of his examples which does something similar. I thought the idea was cool enough to use an example for future demos of Response.Filter functionality in ASP.NET next I time I do the Modules and Handlers talk (which was great fun BTW). How practical this is is debatable however since there’s definitely some overhead to using a Response.Filter in general and especially on one that caches the output and the re-writes it later. Make sure to test for performance anytime you use Response.Filter hookup and make sure it' doesn’t end up killing perf on you. You’ve been warned :-}. How does ResponseFilterStream work? The big win of this implementation IMHO is that it’s a reusable component – so for implementation there’s no new class, no subclassing – you simply attach to an event to implement an event handler method with a straight forward signature to retrieve the stream or string you’re interested in. The implementation is based on a subclass of Stream as is required in order to handle the Response.Filter requirements. What’s different than other implementations I’ve seen in various places is that it supports capturing output as a whole to allow retrieving the full response output for capture or modification. The exception are the TransformWrite and TransformWrite events which operate only active chunk of data written by the Response. For captured output, the Write() method captures output into an internal MemoryStream that is cached until writing is complete. So Write() is called when ASP.NET writes to the Response stream, but the filter doesn’t pass on the Write immediately to the filter’s internal stream. The data is cached and only when the Flush() method is called to finalize the Stream’s output do we actually send the cached stream off for transformation (if the events are hooked up) and THEN finally write out the returned content in one big chunk. Here’s the implementation of ResponseFilterStream: /// <summary> /// A semi-generic Stream implementation for Response.Filter with /// an event interface for handling Content transformations via /// Stream or String. /// <remarks> /// Use with care for large output as this implementation copies /// the output into a memory stream and so increases memory usage. /// </remarks> /// </summary> public class ResponseFilterStream : Stream { /// <summary> /// The original stream /// </summary> Stream _stream; /// <summary> /// Current position in the original stream /// </summary> long _position; /// <summary> /// Stream that original content is read into /// and then passed to TransformStream function /// </summary> MemoryStream _cacheStream = new MemoryStream(5000); /// <summary> /// Internal pointer that that keeps track of the size /// of the cacheStream /// </summary> int _cachePointer = 0; /// <summary> /// /// </summary> /// <param name="responseStream"></param> public ResponseFilterStream(Stream responseStream) { _stream = responseStream; } /// <summary> /// Determines whether the stream is captured /// </summary> private bool IsCaptured { get { if (CaptureStream != null || CaptureString != null || TransformStream != null || TransformString != null) return true; return false; } } /// <summary> /// Determines whether the Write method is outputting data immediately /// or delaying output until Flush() is fired. /// </summary> private bool IsOutputDelayed { get { if (TransformStream != null || TransformString != null) return true; return false; } } /// <summary> /// Event that captures Response output and makes it available /// as a MemoryStream instance. Output is captured but won't /// affect Response output. /// </summary> public event Action<MemoryStream> CaptureStream; /// <summary> /// Event that captures Response output and makes it available /// as a string. Output is captured but won't affect Response output. /// </summary> public event Action<string> CaptureString; /// <summary> /// Event that allows you transform the stream as each chunk of /// the output is written in the Write() operation of the stream. /// This means that that it's possible/likely that the input /// buffer will not contain the full response output but only /// one of potentially many chunks. /// /// This event is called as part of the filter stream's Write() /// operation. /// </summary> public event Func<byte[], byte[]> TransformWrite; /// <summary> /// Event that allows you to transform the response stream as /// each chunk of bytep[] output is written during the stream's write /// operation. This means it's possibly/likely that the string /// passed to the handler only contains a portion of the full /// output. Typical buffer chunks are around 16k a piece. /// /// This event is called as part of the stream's Write operation. /// </summary> public event Func<string, string> TransformWriteString; /// <summary> /// This event allows capturing and transformation of the entire /// output stream by caching all write operations and delaying final /// response output until Flush() is called on the stream. /// </summary> public event Func<MemoryStream, MemoryStream> TransformStream; /// <summary> /// Event that can be hooked up to handle Response.Filter /// Transformation. Passed a string that you can modify and /// return back as a return value. The modified content /// will become the final output. /// </summary> public event Func<string, string> TransformString; protected virtual void OnCaptureStream(MemoryStream ms) { if (CaptureStream != null) CaptureStream(ms); } private void OnCaptureStringInternal(MemoryStream ms) { if (CaptureString != null) { string content = HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentEncoding.GetString(ms.ToArray()); OnCaptureString(content); } } protected virtual void OnCaptureString(string output) { if (CaptureString != null) CaptureString(output); } protected virtual byte[] OnTransformWrite(byte[] buffer) { if (TransformWrite != null) return TransformWrite(buffer); return buffer; } private byte[] OnTransformWriteStringInternal(byte[] buffer) { Encoding encoding = HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentEncoding; string output = OnTransformWriteString(encoding.GetString(buffer)); return encoding.GetBytes(output); } private string OnTransformWriteString(string value) { if (TransformWriteString != null) return TransformWriteString(value); return value; } protected virtual MemoryStream OnTransformCompleteStream(MemoryStream ms) { if (TransformStream != null) return TransformStream(ms); return ms; } /// <summary> /// Allows transforming of strings /// /// Note this handler is internal and not meant to be overridden /// as the TransformString Event has to be hooked up in order /// for this handler to even fire to avoid the overhead of string /// conversion on every pass through. /// </summary> /// <param name="responseText"></param> /// <returns></returns> private string OnTransformCompleteString(string responseText) { if (TransformString != null) TransformString(responseText); return responseText; } /// <summary> /// Wrapper method form OnTransformString that handles /// stream to string and vice versa conversions /// </summary> /// <param name="ms"></param> /// <returns></returns> internal MemoryStream OnTransformCompleteStringInternal(MemoryStream ms) { if (TransformString == null) return ms; //string content = ms.GetAsString(); string content = HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentEncoding.GetString(ms.ToArray()); content = TransformString(content); byte[] buffer = HttpContext.Current.Response.ContentEncoding.GetBytes(content); ms = new MemoryStream(); ms.Write(buffer, 0, buffer.Length); //ms.WriteString(content); return ms; } /// <summary> /// /// </summary> public override bool CanRead { get { return true; } } public override bool CanSeek { get { return true; } } /// <summary> /// /// </summary> public override bool CanWrite { get { return true; } } /// <summary> /// /// </summary> public override long Length { get { return 0; } } /// <summary> /// /// </summary> public override long Position { get { return _position; } set { _position = value; } } /// <summary> /// /// </summary> /// <param name="offset"></param> /// <param name="direction"></param> /// <returns></returns> public override long Seek(long offset, System.IO.SeekOrigin direction) { return _stream.Seek(offset, direction); } /// <summary> /// /// </summary> /// <param name="length"></param> public override void SetLength(long length) { _stream.SetLength(length); } /// <summary> /// /// </summary> public override void Close() { _stream.Close(); } /// <summary> /// Override flush by writing out the cached stream data /// </summary> public override void Flush() { if (IsCaptured && _cacheStream.Length > 0) { // Check for transform implementations _cacheStream = OnTransformCompleteStream(_cacheStream); _cacheStream = OnTransformCompleteStringInternal(_cacheStream); OnCaptureStream(_cacheStream); OnCaptureStringInternal(_cacheStream); // write the stream back out if output was delayed if (IsOutputDelayed) _stream.Write(_cacheStream.ToArray(), 0, (int)_cacheStream.Length); // Clear the cache once we've written it out _cacheStream.SetLength(0); } // default flush behavior _stream.Flush(); } /// <summary> /// /// </summary> /// <param name="buffer"></param> /// <param name="offset"></param> /// <param name="count"></param> /// <returns></returns> public override int Read(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count) { return _stream.Read(buffer, offset, count); } /// <summary> /// Overriden to capture output written by ASP.NET and captured /// into a cached stream that is written out later when Flush() /// is called. /// </summary> /// <param name="buffer"></param> /// <param name="offset"></param> /// <param name="count"></param> public override void Write(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count) { if ( IsCaptured ) { // copy to holding buffer only - we'll write out later _cacheStream.Write(buffer, 0, count); _cachePointer += count; } // just transform this buffer if (TransformWrite != null) buffer = OnTransformWrite(buffer); if (TransformWriteString != null) buffer = OnTransformWriteStringInternal(buffer); if (!IsOutputDelayed) _stream.Write(buffer, offset, buffer.Length); } } The key features are the events and corresponding OnXXX methods that handle the event hookups, and the Write() and Flush() methods of the stream implementation. All the rest of the members tend to be plain jane passthrough stream implementation code without much consequence. I do love the way Action<t> and Func<T> make it so easy to create the event signatures for the various events – sweet. A few Things to consider Performance Response.Filter is not great for performance in general as it adds another layer of indirection to the ASP.NET output pipeline, and this implementation in particular adds a memory hit as it basically duplicates the response output into the cached memory stream which is necessary since you may have to look at the entire response. If you have large pages in particular this can cause potentially serious memory pressure in your server application. So be careful of wholesale adoption of this (or other) Response.Filters. Make sure to do some performance testing to ensure it’s not killing your app’s performance. Response.Filter works everywhere A few questions came up in comments and discussion as to capturing ALL output hitting the site and – yes you can definitely do that by assigning a Response.Filter inside of a module. If you do this however you’ll want to be very careful and decide which content you actually want to capture especially in IIS 7 which passes ALL content – including static images/CSS etc. through the ASP.NET pipeline. So it is important to filter only on what you’re looking for – like the page extension or maybe more effectively the Response.ContentType. Response.Filter Chaining Originally I thought that filter chaining doesn’t work at all due to a bug in the stream implementation code. But it’s quite possible to assign multiple filters to the Response.Filter property. So the following actually works to both compress the output and apply the transformed content: WebUtils.GZipEncodePage(); ResponseFilterStream filter = new ResponseFilterStream(Response.Filter); filter.TransformString += filter_TransformString; Response.Filter = filter; However the following does not work resulting in invalid content encoding errors: ResponseFilterStream filter = new ResponseFilterStream(Response.Filter); filter.TransformString += filter_TransformString; Response.Filter = filter; WebUtils.GZipEncodePage(); In other words multiple Response filters can work together but it depends entirely on the implementation whether they can be chained or in which order they can be chained. In this case running the GZip/Deflate stream filters apparently relies on the original content length of the output and chokes when the content is modified. But if attaching the compression first it works fine as unintuitive as that may seem. Resources Download example code Capture Output from ASP.NET Pages © Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2010Posted in ASP.NET

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Agile Development

- by James Oloo Onyango

Alot of literature has and is being written about agile developement and its surrounding philosophies. In my quest to find the best way to express the importance of agile methodologies, i have found Robert C. Martin's "A Satire Of Two Companies" to be both the most concise and thorough! Enjoy the read! Rufus Inc Project Kick Off Your name is Bob. The date is January 3, 2001, and your head still aches from the recent millennial revelry. You are sitting in a conference room with several managers and a group of your peers. You are a project team leader. Your boss is there, and he has brought along all of his team leaders. His boss called the meeting. "We have a new project to develop," says your boss's boss. Call him BB. The points in his hair are so long that they scrape the ceiling. Your boss's points are just starting to grow, but he eagerly awaits the day when he can leave Brylcream stains on the acoustic tiles. BB describes the essence of the new market they have identified and the product they want to develop to exploit this market. "We must have this new project up and working by fourth quarter October 1," BB demands. "Nothing is of higher priority, so we are cancelling your current project." The reaction in the room is stunned silence. Months of work are simply going to be thrown away. Slowly, a murmur of objection begins to circulate around the conference table. His points give off an evil green glow as BB meets the eyes of everyone in the room. One by one, that insidious stare reduces each attendee to quivering lumps of protoplasm. It is clear that he will brook no discussion on this matter. Once silence has been restored, BB says, "We need to begin immediately. How long will it take you to do the analysis?" You raise your hand. Your boss tries to stop you, but his spitwad misses you and you are unaware of his efforts. "Sir, we can't tell you how long the analysis will take until we have some requirements." "The requirements document won't be ready for 3 or 4 weeks," BB says, his points vibrating with frustration. "So, pretend that you have the requirements in front of you now. How long will you require for analysis?" No one breathes. Everyone looks around to see whether anyone has some idea. "If analysis goes beyond April 1, we have a problem. Can you finish the analysis by then?" Your boss visibly gathers his courage: "We'll find a way, sir!" His points grow 3 mm, and your headache increases by two Tylenol. "Good." BB smiles. "Now, how long will it take to do the design?" "Sir," you say. Your boss visibly pales. He is clearly worried that his 3 mms are at risk. "Without an analysis, it will not be possible to tell you how long design will take." BB's expression shifts beyond austere. "PRETEND you have the analysis already!" he says, while fixing you with his vacant, beady little eyes. "How long will it take you to do the design?" Two Tylenol are not going to cut it. Your boss, in a desperate attempt to save his new growth, babbles: "Well, sir, with only six months left to complete the project, design had better take no longer than 3 months." "I'm glad you agree, Smithers!" BB says, beaming. Your boss relaxes. He knows his points are secure. After a while, he starts lightly humming the Brylcream jingle. BB continues, "So, analysis will be complete by April 1, design will be complete by July 1, and that gives you 3 months to implement the project. This meeting is an example of how well our new consensus and empowerment policies are working. Now, get out there and start working. I'll expect to see TQM plans and QIT assignments on my desk by next week. Oh, and don't forget that your crossfunctional team meetings and reports will be needed for next month's quality audit." "Forget the Tylenol," you think to yourself as you return to your cubicle. "I need bourbon." Visibly excited, your boss comes over to you and says, "Gosh, what a great meeting. I think we're really going to do some world shaking with this project." You nod in agreement, too disgusted to do anything else. "Oh," your boss continues, "I almost forgot." He hands you a 30-page document. "Remember that the SEI is coming to do an evaluation next week. This is the evaluation guide. You need to read through it, memorize it, and then shred it. It tells you how to answer any questions that the SEI auditors ask you. It also tells you what parts of the building you are allowed to take them to and what parts to avoid. We are determined to be a CMM level 3 organization by June!" You and your peers start working on the analysis of the new project. This is difficult because you have no requirements. But from the 10-minute introduction given by BB on that fateful morning, you have some idea of what the product is supposed to do. Corporate process demands that you begin by creating a use case document. You and your team begin enumerating use cases and drawing oval and stick diagrams. Philosophical debates break out among the team members. There is disagreement as to whether certain use cases should be connected with <<extends>> or <<includes>> relationships. Competing models are created, but nobody knows how to evaluate them. The debate continues, effectively paralyzing progress. After a week, somebody finds the iceberg.com Web site, which recommends disposing entirely of <<extends>> and <<includes>> and replacing them with <<precedes>> and <<uses>>. The documents on this Web site, authored by Don Sengroiux, describes a method known as stalwart-analysis, which claims to be a step-by-step method for translating use cases into design diagrams. More competing use case models are created using this new scheme, but again, people can't agree on how to evaluate them. The thrashing continues. More and more, the use case meetings are driven by emotion rather than by reason. If it weren't for the fact that you don't have requirements, you'd be pretty upset by the lack of progress you are making. The requirements document arrives on February 15. And then again on February 20, 25, and every week thereafter. Each new version contradicts the previous one. Clearly, the marketing folks who are writing the requirements, empowered though they might be, are not finding consensus. At the same time, several new competing use case templates have been proposed by the various team members. Each template presents its own particularly creative way of delaying progress. The debates rage on. On March 1, Prudence Putrigence, the process proctor, succeeds in integrating all the competing use case forms and templates into a single, all-encompassing form. Just the blank form is 15 pages long. She has managed to include every field that appeared on all the competing templates. She also presents a 159- page document describing how to fill out the use case form. All current use cases must be rewritten according to the new standard. You marvel to yourself that it now requires 15 pages of fill-in-the-blank and essay questions to answer the question: What should the system do when the user presses Return? The corporate process (authored by L. E. Ott, famed author of "Holistic Analysis: A Progressive Dialectic for Software Engineers") insists that you discover all primary use cases, 87 percent of all secondary use cases, and 36.274 percent of all tertiary use cases before you can complete analysis and enter the design phase. You have no idea what a tertiary use case is. So in an attempt to meet this requirement, you try to get your use case document reviewed by the marketing department, which you hope will know what a tertiary use case is. Unfortunately, the marketing folks are too busy with sales support to talk to you. Indeed, since the project started, you have not been able to get a single meeting with marketing, which has provided a never-ending stream of changing and contradictory requirements documents. While one team has been spinning endlessly on the use case document, another team has been working out the domain model. Endless variations of UML documents are pouring out of this team. Every week, the model is reworked. The team members can't decide whether to use <<interfaces>> or <<types>> in the model. A huge disagreement has been raging on the proper syntax and application of OCL. Others on the team just got back from a 5-day class on catabolism, and have been producing incredibly detailed and arcane diagrams that nobody else can fathom. On March 27, with one week to go before analysis is to be complete, you have produced a sea of documents and diagrams but are no closer to a cogent analysis of the problem than you were on January 3. **** And then, a miracle happens. **** On Saturday, April 1, you check your e-mail from home. You see a memo from your boss to BB. It states unequivocally that you are done with the analysis! You phone your boss and complain. "How could you have told BB that we were done with the analysis?" "Have you looked at a calendar lately?" he responds. "It's April 1!" The irony of that date does not escape you. "But we have so much more to think about. So much more to analyze! We haven't even decided whether to use <<extends>> or <<precedes>>!" "Where is your evidence that you are not done?" inquires your boss, impatiently. "Whaaa . . . ." But he cuts you off. "Analysis can go on forever; it has to be stopped at some point. And since this is the date it was scheduled to stop, it has been stopped. Now, on Monday, I want you to gather up all existing analysis materials and put them into a public folder. Release that folder to Prudence so that she can log it in the CM system by Monday afternoon. Then get busy and start designing." As you hang up the phone, you begin to consider the benefits of keeping a bottle of bourbon in your bottom desk drawer. They threw a party to celebrate the on-time completion of the analysis phase. BB gave a colon-stirring speech on empowerment. And your boss, another 3 mm taller, congratulated his team on the incredible show of unity and teamwork. Finally, the CIO takes the stage to tell everyone that the SEI audit went very well and to thank everyone for studying and shredding the evaluation guides that were passed out. Level 3 now seems assured and will be awarded by June. (Scuttlebutt has it that managers at the level of BB and above are to receive significant bonuses once the SEI awards level 3.) As the weeks flow by, you and your team work on the design of the system. Of course, you find that the analysis that the design is supposedly based on is flawedno, useless; no, worse than useless. But when you tell your boss that you need to go back and work some more on the analysis to shore up its weaker sections, he simply states, "The analysis phase is over. The only allowable activity is design. Now get back to it." So, you and your team hack the design as best you can, unsure of whether the requirements have been properly analyzed. Of course, it really doesn't matter much, since the requirements document is still thrashing with weekly revisions, and the marketing department still refuses to meet with you. The design is a nightmare. Your boss recently misread a book named The Finish Line in which the author, Mark DeThomaso, blithely suggested that design documents should be taken down to code-level detail. "If we are going to be working at that level of detail," you ask, "why don't we simply write the code instead?" "Because then you wouldn't be designing, of course. And the only allowable activity in the design phase is design!" "Besides," he continues, "we have just purchased a companywide license for Dandelion! This tool enables 'Round the Horn Engineering!' You are to transfer all design diagrams into this tool. It will automatically generate our code for us! It will also keep the design diagrams in sync with the code!" Your boss hands you a brightly colored shrinkwrapped box containing the Dandelion distribution. You accept it numbly and shuffle off to your cubicle. Twelve hours, eight crashes, one disk reformatting, and eight shots of 151 later, you finally have the tool installed on your server. You consider the week your team will lose while attending Dandelion training. Then you smile and think, "Any week I'm not here is a good week." Design diagram after design diagram is created by your team. Dandelion makes it very difficult to draw these diagrams. There are dozens and dozens of deeply nested dialog boxes with funny text fields and check boxes that must all be filled in correctly. And then there's the problem of moving classes between packages. At first, these diagram are driven from the use cases. But the requirements are changing so often that the use cases rapidly become meaningless. Debates rage about whether VISITOR or DECORATOR design patterns should be used. One developer refuses to use VISITOR in any form, claiming that it's not a properly object-oriented construct. Someone refuses to use multiple inheritance, since it is the spawn of the devil. Review meetings rapidly degenerate into debates about the meaning of object orientation, the definition of analysis versus design, or when to use aggregation versus association. Midway through the design cycle, the marketing folks announce that they have rethought the focus of the system. Their new requirements document is completely restructured. They have eliminated several major feature areas and replaced them with feature areas that they anticipate customer surveys will show to be more appropriate. You tell your boss that these changes mean that you need to reanalyze and redesign much of the system. But he says, "The analysis phase is system. But he says, "The analysis phase is over. The only allowable activity is design. Now get back to it." You suggest that it might be better to create a simple prototype to show to the marketing folks and even some potential customers. But your boss says, "The analysis phase is over. The only allowable activity is design. Now get back to it." Hack, hack, hack, hack. You try to create some kind of a design document that might reflect the new requirements documents. However, the revolution of the requirements has not caused them to stop thrashing. Indeed, if anything, the wild oscillations of the requirements document have only increased in frequency and amplitude. You slog your way through them. On June 15, the Dandelion database gets corrupted. Apparently, the corruption has been progressive. Small errors in the DB accumulated over the months into bigger and bigger errors. Eventually, the CASE tool just stopped working. Of course, the slowly encroaching corruption is present on all the backups. Calls to the Dandelion technical support line go unanswered for several days. Finally, you receive a brief e-mail from Dandelion, informing you that this is a known problem and that the solution is to purchase the new version, which they promise will be ready some time next quarter, and then reenter all the diagrams by hand. **** Then, on July 1 another miracle happens! You are done with the design! Rather than go to your boss and complain, you stock your middle desk drawer with some vodka. **** They threw a party to celebrate the on-time completion of the design phase and their graduation to CMM level 3. This time, you find BB's speech so stirring that you have to use the restroom before it begins. New banners and plaques are all over your workplace. They show pictures of eagles and mountain climbers, and they talk about teamwork and empowerment. They read better after a few scotches. That reminds you that you need to clear out your file cabinet to make room for the brandy. You and your team begin to code. But you rapidly discover that the design is lacking in some significant areas. Actually, it's lacking any significance at all. You convene a design session in one of the conference rooms to try to work through some of the nastier problems. But your boss catches you at it and disbands the meeting, saying, "The design phase is over. The only allowable activity is coding. Now get back to it." **** The code generated by Dandelion is really hideous. It turns out that you and your team were using association and aggregation the wrong way, after all. All the generated code has to be edited to correct these flaws. Editing this code is extremely difficult because it has been instrumented with ugly comment blocks that have special syntax that Dandelion needs in order to keep the diagrams in sync with the code. If you accidentally alter one of these comments, the diagrams will be regenerated incorrectly. It turns out that "Round the Horn Engineering" requires an awful lot of effort. The more you try to keep the code compatible with Dandelion, the more errors Dandelion generates. In the end, you give up and decide to keep the diagrams up to date manually. A second later, you decide that there's no point in keeping the diagrams up to date at all. Besides, who has time? Your boss hires a consultant to build tools to count the number of lines of code that are being produced. He puts a big thermometer graph on the wall with the number 1,000,000 on the top. Every day, he extends the red line to show how many lines have been added. Three days after the thermometer appears on the wall, your boss stops you in the hall. "That graph isn't growing quickly enough. We need to have a million lines done by October 1." "We aren't even sh-sh-sure that the proshect will require a m-million linezh," you blather. "We have to have a million lines done by October 1," your boss reiterates. His points have grown again, and the Grecian formula he uses on them creates an aura of authority and competence. "Are you sure your comment blocks are big enough?" Then, in a flash of managerial insight, he says, "I have it! I want you to institute a new policy among the engineers. No line of code is to be longer than 20 characters. Any such line must be split into two or more preferably more. All existing code needs to be reworked to this standard. That'll get our line count up!" You decide not to tell him that this will require two unscheduled work months. You decide not to tell him anything at all. You decide that intravenous injections of pure ethanol are the only solution. You make the appropriate arrangements. Hack, hack, hack, and hack. You and your team madly code away. By August 1, your boss, frowning at the thermometer on the wall, institutes a mandatory 50-hour workweek. Hack, hack, hack, and hack. By September 1st, the thermometer is at 1.2 million lines and your boss asks you to write a report describing why you exceeded the coding budget by 20 percent. He institutes mandatory Saturdays and demands that the project be brought back down to a million lines. You start a campaign of remerging lines. Hack, hack, hack, and hack. Tempers are flaring; people are quitting; QA is raining trouble reports down on you. Customers are demanding installation and user manuals; salespeople are demanding advance demonstrations for special customers; the requirements document is still thrashing, the marketing folks are complaining that the product isn't anything like they specified, and the liquor store won't accept your credit card anymore. Something has to give. On September 15, BB calls a meeting. As he enters the room, his points are emitting clouds of steam. When he speaks, the bass overtones of his carefully manicured voice cause the pit of your stomach to roll over. "The QA manager has told me that this project has less than 50 percent of the required features implemented. He has also informed me that the system crashes all the time, yields wrong results, and is hideously slow. He has also complained that he cannot keep up with the continuous train of daily releases, each more buggy than the last!" He stops for a few seconds, visibly trying to compose himself. "The QA manager estimates that, at this rate of development, we won't be able to ship the product until December!" Actually, you think it's more like March, but you don't say anything. "December!" BB roars with such derision that people duck their heads as though he were pointing an assault rifle at them. "December is absolutely out of the question. Team leaders, I want new estimates on my desk in the morning. I am hereby mandating 65-hour work weeks until this project is complete. And it better be complete by November 1." As he leaves the conference room, he is heard to mutter: "Empowermentbah!" * * * Your boss is bald; his points are mounted on BB's wall. The fluorescent lights reflecting off his pate momentarily dazzle you. "Do you have anything to drink?" he asks. Having just finished your last bottle of Boone's Farm, you pull a bottle of Thunderbird from your bookshelf and pour it into his coffee mug. "What's it going to take to get this project done? " he asks. "We need to freeze the requirements, analyze them, design them, and then implement them," you say callously. "By November 1?" your boss exclaims incredulously. "No way! Just get back to coding the damned thing." He storms out, scratching his vacant head. A few days later, you find that your boss has been transferred to the corporate research division. Turnover has skyrocketed. Customers, informed at the last minute that their orders cannot be fulfilled on time, have begun to cancel their orders. Marketing is re-evaluating whether this product aligns with the overall goals of the company. Memos fly, heads roll, policies change, and things are, overall, pretty grim. Finally, by March, after far too many sixty-five hour weeks, a very shaky version of the software is ready. In the field, bug-discovery rates are high, and the technical support staff are at their wits' end, trying to cope with the complaints and demands of the irate customers. Nobody is happy. In April, BB decides to buy his way out of the problem by licensing a product produced by Rupert Industries and redistributing it. The customers are mollified, the marketing folks are smug, and you are laid off. Rupert Industries: Project Alpha Your name is Robert. The date is January 3, 2001. The quiet hours spent with your family this holiday have left you refreshed and ready for work. You are sitting in a conference room with your team of professionals. The manager of the division called the meeting. "We have some ideas for a new project," says the division manager. Call him Russ. He is a high-strung British chap with more energy than a fusion reactor. He is ambitious and driven but understands the value of a team. Russ describes the essence of the new market opportunity the company has identified and introduces you to Jane, the marketing manager, who is responsible for defining the products that will address it. Addressing you, Jane says, "We'd like to start defining our first product offering as soon as possible. When can you and your team meet with me?" You reply, "We'll be done with the current iteration of our project this Friday. We can spare a few hours for you between now and then. After that, we'll take a few people from the team and dedicate them to you. We'll begin hiring their replacements and the new people for your team immediately." "Great," says Russ, "but I want you to understand that it is critical that we have something to exhibit at the trade show coming up this July. If we can't be there with something significant, we'll lose the opportunity." "I understand," you reply. "I don't yet know what it is that you have in mind, but I'm sure we can have something by July. I just can't tell you what that something will be right now. In any case, you and Jane are going to have complete control over what we developers do, so you can rest assured that by July, you'll have the most important things that can be accomplished in that time ready to exhibit." Russ nods in satisfaction. He knows how this works. Your team has always kept him advised and allowed him to steer their development. He has the utmost confidence that your team will work on the most important things first and will produce a high-quality product. * * * "So, Robert," says Jane at their first meeting, "How does your team feel about being split up?" "We'll miss working with each other," you answer, "but some of us were getting pretty tired of that last project and are looking forward to a change. So, what are you people cooking up?" Jane beams. "You know how much trouble our customers currently have . . ." And she spends a half hour or so describing the problem and possible solution. "OK, wait a second" you respond. "I need to be clear about this." And so you and Jane talk about how this system might work. Some of her ideas aren't fully formed. You suggest possible solutions. She likes some of them. You continue discussing. During the discussion, as each new topic is addressed, Jane writes user story cards. Each card represents something that the new system has to do. The cards accumulate on the table and are spread out in front of you. Both you and Jane point at them, pick them up, and make notes on them as you discuss the stories. The cards are powerful mnemonic devices that you can use to represent complex ideas that are barely formed. At the end of the meeting, you say, "OK, I've got a general idea of what you want. I'm going to talk to the team about it. I imagine they'll want to run some experiments with various database structures and presentation formats. Next time we meet, it'll be as a group, and we'll start identifying the most important features of the system." A week later, your nascent team meets with Jane. They spread the existing user story cards out on the table and begin to get into some of the details of the system. The meeting is very dynamic. Jane presents the stories in the order of their importance. There is much discussion about each one. The developers are concerned about keeping the stories small enough to estimate and test. So they continually ask Jane to split one story into several smaller stories. Jane is concerned that each story have a clear business value and priority, so as she splits them, she makes sure that this stays true. The stories accumulate on the table. Jane writes them, but the developers make notes on them as needed. Nobody tries to capture everything that is said; the cards are not meant to capture everything but are simply reminders of the conversation. As the developers become more comfortable with the stories, they begin writing estimates on them. These estimates are crude and budgetary, but they give Jane an idea of what the story will cost. At the end of the meeting, it is clear that many more stories could be discussed. It is also clear that the most important stories have been addressed and that they represent several months worth of work. Jane closes the meeting by taking the cards with her and promising to have a proposal for the first release in the morning. * * * The next morning, you reconvene the meeting. Jane chooses five cards and places them on the table. "According to your estimates, these cards represent about one perfect team-week's worth of work. The last iteration of the previous project managed to get one perfect team-week done in 3 real weeks. If we can get these five stories done in 3 weeks, we'll be able to demonstrate them to Russ. That will make him feel very comfortable about our progress." Jane is pushing it. The sheepish look on her face lets you know that she knows it too. You reply, "Jane, this is a new team, working on a new project. It's a bit presumptuous to expect that our velocity will be the same as the previous team's. However, I met with the team yesterday afternoon, and we all agreed that our initial velocity should, in fact, be set to one perfectweek for every 3 real-weeks. So you've lucked out on this one." "Just remember," you continue, "that the story estimates and the story velocity are very tentative at this point. We'll learn more when we plan the iteration and even more when we implement it." Jane looks over her glasses at you as if to say "Who's the boss around here, anyway?" and then smiles and says, "Yeah, don't worry. I know the drill by now."Jane then puts 15 more cards on the table. She says, "If we can get all these cards done by the end of March, we can turn the system over to our beta test customers. And we'll get good feedback from them." You reply, "OK, so we've got our first iteration defined, and we have the stories for the next three iterations after that. These four iterations will make our first release." "So," says Jane, can you really do these five stories in the next 3 weeks?" "I don't know for sure, Jane," you reply. "Let's break them down into tasks and see what we get." So Jane, you, and your team spend the next several hours taking each of the five stories that Jane chose for the first iteration and breaking them down into small tasks. The developers quickly realize that some of the tasks can be shared between stories and that other tasks have commonalities that can probably be taken advantage of. It is clear that potential designs are popping into the developers' heads. From time to time, they form little discussion knots and scribble UML diagrams on some cards. Soon, the whiteboard is filled with the tasks that, once completed, will implement the five stories for this iteration. You start the sign-up process by saying, "OK, let's sign up for these tasks." "I'll take the initial database generation." Says Pete. "That's what I did on the last project, and this doesn't look very different. I estimate it at two of my perfect workdays." "OK, well, then, I'll take the login screen," says Joe. "Aw, darn," says Elaine, the junior member of the team, "I've never done a GUI, and kinda wanted to try that one." "Ah, the impatience of youth," Joe says sagely, with a wink in your direction. "You can assist me with it, young Jedi." To Jane: "I think it'll take me about three of my perfect workdays." One by one, the developers sign up for tasks and estimate them in terms of their own perfect workdays. Both you and Jane know that it is best to let the developers volunteer for tasks than to assign the tasks to them. You also know full well that you daren't challenge any of the developers' estimates. You know these people, and you trust them. You know that they are going to do the very best they can. The developers know that they can't sign up for more perfect workdays than they finished in the last iteration they worked on. Once each developer has filled his or her schedule for the iteration, they stop signing up for tasks. Eventually, all the developers have stopped signing up for tasks. But, of course, tasks are still left on the board. "I was worried that that might happen," you say, "OK, there's only one thing to do, Jane. We've got too much to do in this iteration. What stories or tasks can we remove?" Jane sighs. She knows that this is the only option. Working overtime at the beginning of a project is insane, and projects where she's tried it have not fared well. So Jane starts to remove the least-important functionality. "Well, we really don't need the login screen just yet. We can simply start the system in the logged-in state." "Rats!" cries Elaine. "I really wanted to do that." "Patience, grasshopper." says Joe. "Those who wait for the bees to leave the hive will not have lips too swollen to relish the honey." Elaine looks confused. Everyone looks confused. "So . . .," Jane continues, "I think we can also do away with . . ." And so, bit by bit, the list of tasks shrinks. Developers who lose a task sign up for one of the remaining ones. The negotiation is not painless. Several times, Jane exhibits obvious frustration and impatience. Once, when tensions are especially high, Elaine volunteers, "I'll work extra hard to make up some of the missing time." You are about to correct her when, fortunately, Joe looks her in the eye and says, "When once you proceed down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny." In the end, an iteration acceptable to Jane is reached. It's not what Jane wanted. Indeed, it is significantly less. But it's something the team feels that can be achieved in the next 3 weeks. And, after all, it still addresses the most important things that Jane wanted in the iteration. "So, Jane," you say when things had quieted down a bit, "when can we expect acceptance tests from you?" Jane sighs. This is the other side of the coin. For every story the development team implements, Jane must supply a suite of acceptance tests that prove that it works. And the team needs these long before the end of the iteration, since they will certainly point out differences in the way Jane and the developers imagine the system's behaviour. "I'll get you some example test scripts today," Jane promises. "I'll add to them every day after that. You'll have the entire suite by the middle of the iteration." * * * The iteration begins on Monday morning with a flurry of Class, Responsibilities, Collaborators sessions. By midmorning, all the developers have assembled into pairs and are rapidly coding away. "And now, my young apprentice," Joe says to Elaine, "you shall learn the mysteries of test-first design!" "Wow, that sounds pretty rad," Elaine replies. "How do you do it?" Joe beams. It's clear that he has been anticipating this moment. "OK, what does the code do right now?" "Huh?" replied Elaine, "It doesn't do anything at all; there is no code." "So, consider our task; can you think of something the code should do?" "Sure," Elaine said with youthful assurance, "First, it should connect to the database." "And thereupon, what must needs be required to connecteth the database?" "You sure talk weird," laughed Elaine. "I think we'd have to get the database object from some registry and call the Connect() method. "Ah, astute young wizard. Thou perceives correctly that we requireth an object within which we can cacheth the database object." "Is 'cacheth' really a word?" "It is when I say it! So, what test can we write that we know the database registry should pass?" Elaine sighs. She knows she'll just have to play along. "We should be able to create a database object and pass it to the registry in a Store() method. And then we should be able to pull it out of the registry with a Get() method and make sure it's the same object." "Oh, well said, my prepubescent sprite!" "Hay!" "So, now, let's write a test function that proves your case." "But shouldn't we write the database object and registry object first?" "Ah, you've much to learn, my young impatient one. Just write the test first." "But it won't even compile!" "Are you sure? What if it did?" "Uh . . ." "Just write the test, Elaine. Trust me." And so Joe, Elaine, and all the other developers began to code their tasks, one test case at a time. The room in which they worked was abuzz with the conversations between the pairs. The murmur was punctuated by an occasional high five when a pair managed to finish a task or a difficult test case. As development proceeded, the developers changed partners once or twice a day. Each developer got to see what all the others were doing, and so knowledge of the code spread generally throughout the team. Whenever a pair finished something significant whether a whole task or simply an important part of a task they integrated what they had with the rest of the system. Thus, the code base grew daily, and integration difficulties were minimized. The developers communicated with Jane on a daily basis. They'd go to her whenever they had a question about the functionality of the system or the interpretation of an acceptance test case. Jane, good as her word, supplied the team with a steady stream of acceptance test scripts. The team read these carefully and thereby gained a much better understanding of what Jane expected the system to do. By the beginning of the second week, there was enough functionality to demonstrate to Jane. She watched eagerly as the demonstration passed test case after test case. "This is really cool," Jane said as the demonstration finally ended. "But this doesn't seem like one-third of the tasks. Is your velocity slower than anticipated?" You grimace. You'd been waiting for a good time to mention this to Jane but now she was forcing the issue. "Yes, unfortunately, we are going more slowly than we had expected. The new application server we are using is turning out to be a pain to configure. Also, it takes forever to reboot, and we have to reboot it whenever we make even the slightest change to its configuration." Jane eyes you with suspicion. The stress of last Monday's negotiations had still not entirely dissipated. She says, "And what does this mean to our schedule? We can't slip it again, we just can't. Russ will have a fit! He'll haul us all into the woodshed and ream us some new ones." You look Jane right in the eyes. There's no pleasant way to give someone news like this. So you just blurt out, "Look, if things keep going like they're going, we're not going to be done with everything by next Friday. Now it's possible that we'll figure out a way to go faster. But, frankly, I wouldn't depend on that. You should start thinking about one or two tasks that could be removed from the iteration without ruining the demonstration for Russ. Come hell or high water, we are going to give that demonstration on Friday, and I don't think you want us to choose which tasks to omit." "Aw forchrisakes!" Jane barely manages to stifle yelling that last word as she stalks away, shaking her head. Not for the first time, you say to yourself, "Nobody ever promised me project management would be easy." You are pretty sure it won't be the last time, either. Actually, things went a bit better than you had hoped. The team did, in fact, have to drop one task from the iteration, but Jane had chosen wisely, and the demonstration for Russ went without a hitch. Russ was not impressed with the progress, but neither was he dismayed. He simply said, "This is pretty good. But remember, we have to be able to demonstrate this system at the trade show in July, and at this rate, it doesn't look like you'll have all that much to show." Jane, whose attitude had improved dramatically with the completion of the iteration, responded to Russ by saying, "Russ, this team is working hard, and well. When July comes around, I am confident that we'll have something significant to demonstrate. It won't be everything, and some of it may be smoke and mirrors, but we'll have something." Painful though the last iteration was, it had calibrated your velocity numbers. The next iteration went much better. Not because your team got more done than in the last iteration but simply because the team didn't have to remove any tasks or stories in the middle of the iteration. By the start of the fourth iteration, a natural rhythm has been established. Jane, you, and the team know exactly what to expect from one another. The team is running hard, but the pace is sustainable. You are confident that the team can keep up this pace for a year or more. The number of surprises in the schedule diminishes to near zero; however, the number of surprises in the requirements does not. Jane and Russ frequently look over the growing system and make recommendations or changes to the existing functionality. But all parties realize that these changes take time and must be scheduled. So the changes do not cause anyone's expectations to be violated. In March, there is a major demonstration of the system to the board of directors. The system is very limited and is not yet in a form good enough to take to the trade show, but progress is steady, and the board is reasonably impressed. The second release goes even more smoothly than the first. By now, the team has figured out a way to automate Jane's acceptance test scripts. The team has also refactored the design of the system to the point that it is really easy to add new features and change old ones. The second release was done by the end of June and was taken to the trade show. It had less in it than Jane and Russ would have liked, but it did demonstrate the most important features of the system. Although customers at the trade show noticed that certain features were missing, they were very impressed overall. You, Russ, and Jane all returned from the trade show with smiles on your faces. You all felt as though this project was a winner. Indeed, many months later, you are contacted by Rufus Inc. That company had been working on a system like this for its internal operations. Rufus has canceled the development of that system after a death-march project and is negotiating to license your technology for its environment. Indeed, things are looking up!

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