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  • Problem simulating HTTP POST using HttpClient

    - by user560904
    I am trying to programatically send a HTTP Post request using HttpClient to http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/planjourney/query but it is not liking the request I send it. I copied the headers and body from what Chrome browser sends so it is identical but it doesn't like what I send as the HTML mentions there's an error. <div class="padding"> <h1 class="sifr"><strong>Sorry</strong>, something went wrong</h1> <div class="error-message"> <div class="error-message-padding"> <h2>There is a problem with the page you are trying to access.</h2> <p>It is possible that it was either moved, it doesn't exist or we are experiencing some technical difficulties.</p> <p>We are sorry for the inconvenience.</p> </div> </div> </div> Here is my Java program which uses HttpClient: package com.tixsnif; import org.apache.http.*; import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient; import org.apache.http.client.entity.UrlEncodedFormEntity; import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost; import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient; import org.apache.http.message.BasicNameValuePair; import org.apache.http.protocol.HTTP; import java.io.*; import java.util.*; import java.util.zip.GZIPInputStream; public class WebScrapingTesting { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { String target = "http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/planjourney/query"; HttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient(); HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost(target); BasicNameValuePair[] params = { new BasicNameValuePair("jpState", "single"), new BasicNameValuePair("commandName", "journeyPlannerCommand"), new BasicNameValuePair("from.searchTerm", "Basingstoke"), new BasicNameValuePair("to.searchTerm", "Reading"), new BasicNameValuePair("timeOfOutwardJourney.arrivalOrDeparture", "DEPART"), new BasicNameValuePair("timeOfOutwardJourney.monthDay", "Today"), new BasicNameValuePair("timeOfOutwardJourney.hour", "10"), new BasicNameValuePair("timeOfOutwardJourney.minute", "15"), new BasicNameValuePair("timeOfReturnJourney.arrivalOrDeparture", "DEPART"), new BasicNameValuePair("timeOfReturnJourney.monthDay", "Today"), new BasicNameValuePair("timeOfReturnJourney.hour", "18"), new BasicNameValuePair("timeOfReturnJourney.minute", "15"), new BasicNameValuePair("_includeOvertakenTrains", "on"), new BasicNameValuePair("viaMode", "VIA"), new BasicNameValuePair("via.searchTerm", "Station name / code"), new BasicNameValuePair("offSetOption", "0"), new BasicNameValuePair("_reduceTransfers", "on"), new BasicNameValuePair("operatorMode", "SHOW"), new BasicNameValuePair("operator.code", ""), new BasicNameValuePair("_lookForSleeper", "on"), new BasicNameValuePair("_directTrains", "on")}; httpPost.setHeader("Host", "ojp.nationalrail.co.uk"); httpPost.setHeader("User-Agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_4; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/8.0.552.231 Safari/534.10"); httpPost.setHeader("Accept-Encoding", "gzip,deflate,sdch"); httpPost.setHeader("Accept", "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,**/*//*;q=0.8"); httpPost.setHeader("Accept-Language", "en-us,en;q=0.8"); httpPost.setHeader("Accept-Charset", "ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7"); httpPost.setHeader("Origin", "http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/"); httpPost.setHeader("Referer", "http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/"); httpPost.setHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"); httpPost.setHeader("Cookie", "JSESSIONID=B2A3419B79C5D999CA4806B459675CCD.app201; Path=/"); UrlEncodedFormEntity urlEncodedFormEntity = new UrlEncodedFormEntity(Arrays.asList(params)); urlEncodedFormEntity.setContentEncoding(HTTP.UTF_8); httpPost.setEntity(urlEncodedFormEntity); HttpResponse response = client.execute(httpPost); InputStream input = response.getEntity().getContent(); GZIPInputStream gzip = new GZIPInputStream(input); InputStreamReader isr = new InputStreamReader(gzip); BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(isr); String line = null; while((line = br.readLine()) != null) { System.out.printf("\n%s", line); } client.getConnectionManager().shutdown(); } } I keep the JSESSION ID updated if it expires but there seems to be another problem that I cannot see. Am I missing something rather obvious? He

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  • Python Mechanize unable to avoid redirect when Post

    - by Enric Geijo
    I am trying to crawl a site using mechanize. The site provides search results in different pages. When posting to get the next set of results, something is wrong and the server redirects me to the first page, asking mechanize to update the SearchSession Cookie. I have been debugging the requests using Firefox and they look quite the same, and I am unable to find the problem. Any suggestion? Below the requests: ----------- FIRST THE RIGHT SEQUENCE, USING TAMPER IN FIREFOX ------------------------- POST XXX/JobSearch/Results.aspx?Keywords=Python&LTxt=London%2c+South+East&Radius=0&LIds2=ZV&clid=1621&cltypeid=2&clName=London Load Flags[LOAD_DOCUMENT_URI LOAD_INITIAL_DOCUMENT_URI ] Content Size[-1] Mime Type[text/html] Request Headers: Host[www.cwjobs.co.uk] User-Agent[Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.9) Gecko/20100401 Ubuntu/9.10 (karmic) Firefox/3.5.9] Accept[text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,/;q=0.8] Accept-Language[en-us,en;q=0.5] Accept-Encoding[gzip,deflate] Accept-Charset[ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7] Keep-Alive[300] Connection[keep-alive] Referer[XXX/JobSearch/Results.aspx?Keywords=Python&LTxt=London%2c+South+East&Radius=0&LIds2=ZV&clid=1621&cltypeid=2&clName=London] Cookie[ecos=774803468-0; AnonymousUser=MemberId=acc079dd-66b6-4081-9b07-60d6955ee8bf&IsAnonymous=True; PJBIPPOPUP=; WT_FPC=id=86.181.183.106-2262469600.30073025:lv=1272812851736:ss=1272812789362; SearchSession=SessionGuid=71de63de-3bd0-4787-895d-b6b9e7c93801&LogSource=NAT] Post Data: __EVENTTARGET[srpPager%24btnForward] __EVENTARGUMENT[] hdnSearchResults[BV%2CA%2CC0P5x%2COou-%2CB4S-%2CBuC-%2CDzx-%2CHwn-%2CKPP-%2CIVA-%2CC9D-%2CH6X-%2CH7x-%2CJ0x-%2CCvX-%2CCra-%2COHa-%2CHhP-%2CCoj-%2CBlM-%2CE9W-%2CIm8-%2CBqG-%2CPFy-%2CN%2Fm-%2Ceaa%2CCvj-%2CCtJ-%2CCr7-%2CBpu-%2Cmh%2CMb6-%2CJ%2Fk-%2CHY8-%2COJ7-%2CNtF-%2CEya-%2CErT-%2CEo4-%2CEKU-%2CDnL-%2CC5M-%2CCyB-%2CBsD-%2CBrc-%2CBpU-%2Col%2C30%2CC1%2Cd4N%2COo8-%2COi0-%2CLz%2F-%2CLxP-%2CFyp-%2CFVR-%2CEHL-%2CPrP-%2CLmE-%2CK3H-%2CKXJ-%2CFyn%2CIcq-%2CIco-%2CIK4-%2CIIg-%2CH2k-%2CH0N-%2CHwp-%2CHvF-%2CFij-%2CFhl-%2CCwj-%2CCb5-%2CCQj-%2CCQh-%2CB%2B2-%2CBc6-%2ChFo%2CNLq-%2CNI%2F-%2CFzM-%2Cdu-%2CHg2-%2CBug-%2CBse-%2CB9Q-] __VIEWSTATE[%2FwEPDwUKLTkyMzI2ODA4Ng9kFgYCBA8WBB4EaHJlZgWJAWh0dHA6Ly93d3cuY3dqb2JzLmNvLnVrL0pvYlNlYXJjaC9SU1MuYXNweD9LZXl3b3Jkcz1QeXRob24mTFR4dD1Mb25kb24lMmMrU291dGgrRWFzdCZSYWRpdXM9MCZMSWRzMj1aViZjbGlkPTE2MjEmY2x0eXBlaWQ9MiZjbE5hbWU9TG9uZG9uHgV0aXRsZQUkTGF0ZXN0IFB5dGhvbiBqb2JzIGZyb20gQ1dKb2JzLmNvLnVrZAIGDxYCHgRUZXh0BV48bGluayByZWw9ImNhbm9uaWNhbCIgaHJlZj0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy5jd2pvYnMuY28udWsvSm9iU2Vla2luZy9QeXRob25fTG9uZG9uX2wxNjIxX3QyLmh0bWwiIC8%2BZAIIEGRkFg4CBw8WAh8CBV9Zb3VyIHNlYXJjaCBvbiA8Yj5LZXl3b3JkczogUHl0aG9uOyBMb2NhdGlvbjogTG9uZG9uLCBTb3V0aCBFYXN0OyA8L2I%2BIHJldHVybmVkIDxiPjg1PC9iPiBqb2JzLmQCCQ8WAh4HVmlzaWJsZWhkAgsPFgIfAgUoVGhlIG1vc3QgcmVsZXZhbnQgam9icyBhcmUgbGlzdGVkIGZpcnN0LmQCEw8PFgIeC05hdmlnYXRlVXJsBQF%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%3D] Refinesearch%24txtKeywords[Python] Refinesearch%24txtLocation[London%2C+South+East] Refinesearch%24ddlRadius[0] ddlCompanyType[0] ddlSort[1] Response Headers: Cache-Control[private] Date[Sun, 02 May 2010 16:09:27 GMT] Content-Type[text/html; charset=utf-8] Expires[Sat, 02 May 2009 16:09:27 GMT] Server[Microsoft-IIS/6.0] X-SiteConHost[P310] X-Powered-By[ASP.NET] X-AspNet-Version[2.0.50727] Set-Cookie[SearchSession=SessionGuid=71de63de-3bd0-4787-895d-b6b9e7c93801&LogSource=NAT; path=/] Content-Encoding[gzip] Vary[Accept-Encoding] Transfer-Encoding[chunked] -------- NOW WHAT I'AM SENDING USING MECHANIZE, SOME HEADERS ADDED, ETC ----------- POST /JobSearch/Results.aspx?Keywords=Python&LTxt=London%2c+South+East&Radius=0&LIds2=ZV&clid=1621&cltypeid=2&clName=London HTTP/1.1\r\nContent-Length: 2424\r\n Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5\r\n Accept-Encoding: gzip\r\n Host: www.cwjobs.co.uk\r\n Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,/;q=0.8\r\n Accept-Charset: ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7\r\n Connection: keep-alive\r\n Cookie: AnonymousUser=MemberId=8fa5ddd7-17ed-425e-b189-82693bfbaa0c&IsAnonymous=True; SearchSession=SessionGuid=33e4e439-c2d6-423f-900f-574099310d5a&LogSource=NAT\r\n Referer: XXX/JobSearch/Results.aspx?Keywords=Python&LTxt=London%2c+South+East&Radius=0&LIds2=ZV&clid=1621&cltypeid=2&clName=London\r\n Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n\r\n' '__EVENTTARGET=srpPager%24btnForward& __EVENTARGUMENT=& hdnSearchResults=BV%2CA%2CC0eif%2CMwc%2CM6s%2COou%2CK09%2CG4H%2CEZf%2CGTu%2CLrr%2CGuX%2CGs9%2CEz9%2CL5X%2CL9U%2ChU%2CHHf%2CMAL%2CNDi%2CJrY%2CGBy%2CM%2Bo%2CdE-%2CpI%2CtDI%2CL5L%2CL7l%2CL8z%2CM%2FA%2CPPP%2CCM0%2CEpK%2CHPy%2Cez%2C7p%2CJ2U%2CJ9b%2CJ%2F2%2CKea%2CLBj%2CLvi%2CL2t%2CM8r%2CM9S%2CM%2Fa%2CPRT%2CPgi%2Csg7%2CF6%2CI2F%2CJTd%2CO-%2CC0v%2CC3f%2CDCq%2CDxn%2CERl%2CUbV%2CGME%2CGMG%2CGd2%2CGgO%2CGyK%2CG0h%2CG4F%2CG5p%2CJGL%2CJHJ%2CKhj%2CL4L%2CMM1%2CMYL%2CMYN%2CMp4%2CNL0%2COrj%2CvuW%2CBdE%2CBfv%2CI1i%2CBCh-%2COLA%2CHH4%2CM6O%2CM8Q%2CMre& __VIEWSTATE=%2FwEPDwUKLTkyMzI2ODA4Ng9kFgYCBA8WBB4EaHJlZgWJAWh0dHA6Ly93d3cuY3dqb2JzLmNvLnVrL0pvYlNlYXJjaC9SU1MuYXNweD9LZXl3b3Jkcz1QeXRob24mTFR4dD1Mb25kb24lMmMrU291dGgrRWFzdCZSYWRpdXM9MCZMSWRzMj1aViZjbGlkPTE2MjEmY2x0eXBlaWQ9MiZjbE5hbWU9TG9uZG9uHgV0aXRsZQUkTGF0ZXN0IFB5dGhvbiBqb2JzIGZyb20gQ1dKb2JzLmNvLnVrZAIGDxYCHgRUZXh0BV48bGluayByZWw9ImNhbm9uaWNhbCIgaHJlZj0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy5jd2pvYnMuY28udWsvSm9iU2Vla2luZy9QeXRob25fTG9uZG9uX2wxNjIxX3QyLmh0bWwiIC8%2BZAIIEGRkFg4CBw8WAh8CBV9Zb3VyIHNlYXJjaCBvbiA8Yj5LZXl3b3JkczogUHl0aG9uOyBMb2NhdGlvbjogTG9uZG9uLCBTb3V0aCBFYXN0OyA8L2I%2BIHJldHVybmVkIDxiPjg1PC9iPiBqb2JzLmQCCQ8WAh4HVmlzaWJsZWhkAgsPFgIfAgUoVGhlIG1vc3QgcmVsZXZhbnQgam9icyBhcmUgbGlzdGVkIGZpcnN0LmQCEw8PFgIeC05hdmlnYXRlVXJsBQF%2BZGQCFQ9kFgYCBQ8PFgYfAgUGUHl0aG9uHgtEZWZhdWx0VGV4dAUMZS5nLiBhbmFseXN0HhNEZWZhdWx0VGV4dENzc0NsYXNzZWRkAgsPDxYGHwIFEkxvbmRvbiwgU291dGggRWFzdB8FBQllLmcuIEJhdGgfBmVkZAIRDxAPFgYeDURhdGFUZXh0RmllbGQFClJhZGl1c05hbWUeDkRhdGFWYWx1ZUZpZWxkBQZSYWRpdXMeC18hRGF0YUJvdW5kZ2QQFREHMCBtaWxlcwcyIG1pbGVzBzUgbWlsZXMIMTAgbWlsZXMIMTUgbWlsZXMIMjAgbWlsZXMIMjUgbWlsZXMIMzAgbWlsZXMIMzUgbWlsZXMINDAgbWlsZXMINDUgbWlsZXMINTAgbWlsZXMINjAgbWlsZXMINzAgbWlsZXMIODAgbWlsZXMIOTAgbWlsZXMJMTAwIG1pbGVzFREBMAEyATUCMTACMTUCMjACMjUCMzACMzUCNDACNDUCNTACNjACNzACODACOTADMTAwFCsDEWdnZ2dnZ2dnZ2dnZ2dnZ2dnZGQCFw9kFgQCAQ9kFgQCBA8QZA8WA2YCAQICFgMQBQhBbGwgam9icwUBMGcQBRlEaXJlY3QgZW1wbG95ZXIgam9icyBvbmx5BQEyZxAFEEFnZW5jeSBqb2JzIG9ubHkFATFnZGQCBg8QZA8WA2YCAQICFgMQBQlSZWxldmFuY2UFATFnEAUERGF0ZQUBMmcQBQZTYWxhcnkFATNnZGQCBQ8PFgYeClBhZ2VOdW1iZXICAR4PTnVtYmVyT2ZSZXN1bHRzAlUeDlJlc3VsdHNQZXJQYWdlAhRkZAIZDxYCHwNoZGQ%3D& Refinesearch%24txtKeywords=Python& Refinesearch%24txtLocation=London%2CSouth+East& Refinesearch%24ddlRadius=0& Refinesearch%24btnSearch=Search& ddlCompanyType=0& ddlSort=1'

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  • SSL and mod_rewrite error

    - by wnoveno
    Hi, I have https on my site. Pages with rewritten URL in my site are inaccessible while direct urls (folders). here's the htaccess ## 2009-12-17 16:52 JGC [START] ## Enable http compression for this site <IfModule mod_deflate.c> SetOutputFilter DEFLATE ## Directive "DeflateCompressionLevel" not allowed in .htaccess, only valid in server config and virtual hosts # DeflateCompressionLevel 9 # file-types indicated will not be compressed SetEnvIfNoCase Request_URI \.(?:gif|jpe?g|png)$ no-gzip dont-vary SetEnvIfNoCase Request_URI \.(?:swf|flv|pdf)$ no-gzip dont-vary SetEnvIfNoCase Request_URI \.(?:exe|t?gz|zip|gz2|sit|rar)$ no-gzip dont-vary <IfModule mod_headers.c> Header append Vary User-Agent </IfModule> </IfModule> ## 2009-12-17 16:52 JGC [END] ## 2010-03-05 16:05 JGC [START] #<IfModule mod_alias.c> #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/)$ /online-casino-poker-register.html #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/en)$ /en/online-casino-poker-register.html #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/en/)$ /en/online-casino-poker-register.html #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/en\.html)$ /en/online-casino-poker-register.html #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/sc)$ /sc/online-casino-poker-register.html #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/sc/)$ /sc/online-casino-poker-register.html #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/sc\.html)$ /sc/online-casino-poker-register.html #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/ch)$ /ch/online-casino-poker-register.html #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/ch/)$ /ch/online-casino-poker-register.html #RedirectMatch 301 ^(/ch\.html)$ /ch/online-casino-poker-register.html #</IfModule> ## 2010-03-05 16:05 JGC [END] ## # @version $Id: htaccess.txt 10492 2008-07-02 06:38:28Z ircmaxell $ # @package Joomla # @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2008 Open Source Matters. All rights reserved. # @license http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU/GPL # Joomla! is Free Software ## ##################################################### # READ THIS COMPLETELY IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE THIS FILE # # The line just below this section: 'Options +FollowSymLinks' may cause problems # with some server configurations. It is required for use of mod_rewrite, but may already # be set by your server administrator in a way that dissallows changing it in # your .htaccess file. If using it causes your server to error out, comment it out (add # to # beginning of line), reload your site in your browser and test your sef url's. If they work, # it has been set by your server administrator and you do not need it set here. # ##################################################### ## Can be commented out if causes errors, see notes above. Options +FollowSymLinks # # mod_rewrite in use RewriteEngine On #RewriteLog "/var/www/html/dafa888/rewrite.log" #RewriteLogLevel 3 RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !jfcookie\[lang\] [NC] RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-Language} ^zh-cn [NC] RewriteRule ^$ /sc/ [L,R=301] RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !jfcookie\[lang\] [NC] RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-Language} ^zh-tw [NC] RewriteRule ^$ /ch/ [L,R=301] #RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !jfcookie[lang] [NC] #RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} jfcookie\[lang\] [NC] #RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} jfcookie\[lang\]=([^;]+) [NC] #RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /%1/$1 [NC,QSA] ########## Begin - Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits ## If you experience problems on your site block out the operations listed below ## This attempts to block the most common type of exploit `attempts` to Joomla! # # Block out any script trying to set a mosConfig value through the URL RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} mosConfig_[a-zA-Z_]{1,21}(=|\%3D) [OR] # Block out any script trying to base64_encode crap to send via URL RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*\(.*\) [OR] # Block out any script that includes a <script> tag in URL RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\<|%3C).*script.*(\>|%3E) [NC,OR] # Block out any script trying to set a PHP GLOBALS variable via URL RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR] # Block out any script trying to modify a _REQUEST variable via URL RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) # Send all blocked request to homepage with 403 Forbidden error! RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [F,L] # ########## End - Rewrite rules to block out some common exploits # Uncomment following line if your webserver's URL # is not directly related to physical file paths. # Update Your Joomla! Directory (just / for root) RewriteBase / #RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(.*)$ [NC] #RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.%1/$1 [R=301] ########## Begin - Joomla! core SEF Section # RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/index.php RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (/|\.php|\.html|\.htm|\.feed|\.pdf|\.raw|/[^.]*)$ [NC] RewriteRule (.*) index.php RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization},L] # ########## End - Joomla! core SEF Section

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  • JAVA: POST data via HTTPS does not seem to get sent?

    - by ostollmann
    Hi guys (and girls), I have a problem POSTing data via HTTPS in Java. The server response is the same whether or not I send 'query'. Maybe someone can point out what the problem is... Thanks! Main class: package bind; public class Main { public static final String urlString = "https://www.sms.ethz.ch/cgi-bin/sms/send.pl"; public static void main(String[] args) { Message msg = new Message("Alles klar?"); URL url = new URL(urlString); String[][] values = new String[3][2]; values[0][0] = "action"; values[0][1] = "listoriginators"; values[1][0] = "username"; values[1][1] = "xxxxxx"; values[2][0] = "password"; values[2][1] = "xxxxxx"; Query query = new Query(values); System.out.println("Query: " + query.getQuery()); Request request = new Request(url.getURL(), query.getQuery()); } } Request class: package bind; public class Request { static private int ic = 0; private URL url; protected Request(java.net.URL URL, String query){ ic++; if(CONSTANTS.SHOW_LOGS) { System.out.println("log: new instance of 'Message'"); } // connect try { System.setProperty("java.protocol.handler.pkgs", "com.sun.net.ssl.internal.www.protocol"); java.security.Security.addProvider(new com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Provider()); javax.net.ssl.HttpsURLConnection connection = (javax.net.ssl.HttpsURLConnection) URL.openConnection(); connection.setDoInput(true); connection.setDoOutput(true); connection.setRequestMethod("POST"); connection.setFollowRedirects(true); connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Length", String.valueOf(query.length())); connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/x-www- form-urlencoded"); connection.setRequestProperty("User-Agent", "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1)"); java.io.DataOutputStream output = new java.io.DataOutputStream(connection.getOutputStream()); output.writeBytes(query); // <<-- NOTHING CHANGES IF I COMMENT THIS OUT OR NOT !!??!?! System.out.println("log: response code: " + connection.getResponseCode()); System.out.println("log: response message: " + connection.getResponseMessage()); java.io.DataInputStream input = new java.io.DataInputStream(connection.getInputStream()); for(int i = input.read(); i != -1; i = input.read()) { System.out.print((char)i); } System.out.print("\n"); input.close(); } catch(java.io.IOException e) { if(CONSTANTS.SHOW_LOGS) { System.out.println("error: unable to connect"); System.out.println(e); e.printStackTrace(); } } } } URL Class: public class URL { static private int ic = 0; private String URLString; private java.net.URL url; protected URL(String a_url){ ic++; if(CONSTANTS.SHOW_LOGS) { System.out.println("log: new instance of 'URL'"); } setURLString(a_url); createURL(); } private void setURLString(String a_url) { URLString = a_url; } private void createURL() { try { url = new java.net.URL(URLString); } catch(java.net.MalformedURLException e) { System.out.println("error: invalid URL"); System.out.println(e); e.printStackTrace(); } } private void showURL() { System.out.println("URL: " + url.getHost() + url.getPath()); } public java.net.URL getURL() { return url; } } PS: mostly from here: http://www.java-samples.com/java/POST-toHTTPS-url-free-java-sample-program.htm

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  • Servlet Filter: Socket need to be referenced in doFilter()

    - by Craig m
    Right now I have a filter that has the sockets opened in the init and for some reason when I open them in doFilter() it doesn't work with the server app right so I have no choice but to put it in the init I need to be able to reference the outSide.println("test"); in doFilter() so I can send that to my server app every time the if statement it in is is tripped. Heres my code: import java.net.*; import java.io.*; import java.util.*; import javax.servlet.*; import javax.servlet.http.*; public final class IEFilter implements Filter { public void doFilter(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response, FilterChain chain) throws IOException, ServletException { String browser = ""; String blockInfo; String address = request.getRemoteAddr(); if(((HttpServletRequest)request).getHeader ("User-Agent").indexOf("MSIE") >= 0) { browser = "Internet Explorer"; } if(browser.equals("Internet Explorer")) { BufferedWriter fW = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("C://logs//IElog.rtf")); blockInfo = "Blocked IE user from:" + address; response.setContentType("text/html"); PrintWriter out = response.getWriter(); out.println("<HTML>"); out.println("<HEAD>"); out.println("<TITLE>"); out.println("This page is not available - JNetProtect"); out.println("</TITLE>"); out.println("</HEAD>"); out.println("<BODY>"); out.println("<center><H1>Error 403</H1>"); out.println("<br>"); out.println("<br>"); out.println("<H1>Access Denied</H1>"); out.println("<br>"); out.println("Sorry, that resource may not be accessed now."); out.println("<br>"); out.println("<br>"); out.println("<hr />"); out.println("<i>Page Filtered By JNetProtect</i>"); out.println("</BODY>"); out.println("</HTML>"); //init.outSide.println("Blocked and Internet Explorer user"); fW.write(blockInfo); fW.newLine(); fW.close(); } else { chain.doFilter(request, response); } } public void destroy() { outsocket.close(); outSide.close(); } public void init(FilterConfig filterConfig) { try { ServerSocket fs; Socket outsocket; PrintWriter outSide ; outsocket = new Socket("Localhost", 1337); outSide = new PrintWriter(outsocket.getOutputStream(), true); }catch (Exception e){ System.out.println("error with this connection"); e.printStackTrace();} } }

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  • Implement OAuth in Java

    - by phineas
    I made an an attempt to implement OAuth for my programming idea in Java, but I failed miserably. I don't know why, but my code doesn't work. Every time I run my program, an IOException is thrown with the reason "java.io.IOException: Server returned HTTP response code: 401" (401 means Unauthorized). I had a close look at the docs, but I really don't understand why it doesn't work. My OAuth provider I wanted to use is twitter, where I've registered my app, too. Thanks in advance phineas OAuth docs Twitter API wiki Class Base64Coder import java.io.InputStreamReader; import java.io.BufferedReader; import java.io.OutputStream; import java.io.IOException; import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException; import java.net.URL; import java.net.URLEncoder; import java.net.URLConnection; import java.net.MalformedURLException; import javax.crypto.Mac; import javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec; import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException; import java.security.InvalidKeyException; public class Request { public static String read(String url) { StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer(); try { /** * get the time - note: value below zero * the millisecond value is used for oauth_nonce later on */ int millis = (int) System.currentTimeMillis() * -1; int time = (int) millis / 1000; /** * Listing of all parameters necessary to retrieve a token * (sorted lexicographically as demanded) */ String[][] data = { {"oauth_callback", "SOME_URL"}, {"oauth_consumer_key", "MY_CONSUMER_KEY"}, {"oauth_nonce", String.valueOf(millis)}, {"oauth_signature", ""}, {"oauth_signature_method", "HMAC-SHA1"}, {"oauth_timestamp", String.valueOf(time)}, {"oauth_version", "1.0"} }; /** * Generation of the signature base string */ String signature_base_string = "POST&"+URLEncoder.encode(url, "UTF-8")+"&"; for(int i = 0; i < data.length; i++) { // ignore the empty oauth_signature field if(i != 3) { signature_base_string += URLEncoder.encode(data[i][0], "UTF-8") + "%3D" + URLEncoder.encode(data[i][1], "UTF-8") + "%26"; } } // cut the last appended %26 signature_base_string = signature_base_string.substring(0, signature_base_string.length()-3); /** * Sign the request */ Mac m = Mac.getInstance("HmacSHA1"); m.init(new SecretKeySpec("CONSUMER_SECRET".getBytes(), "HmacSHA1")); m.update(signature_base_string.getBytes()); byte[] res = m.doFinal(); String sig = String.valueOf(Base64Coder.encode(res)); data[3][1] = sig; /** * Create the header for the request */ String header = "OAuth "; for(String[] item : data) { header += item[0]+"=\""+item[1]+"\", "; } // cut off last appended comma header = header.substring(0, header.length()-2); System.out.println("Signature Base String: "+signature_base_string); System.out.println("Authorization Header: "+header); System.out.println("Signature: "+sig); String charset = "UTF-8"; URLConnection connection = new URL(url).openConnection(); connection.setDoInput(true); connection.setDoOutput(true); connection.setRequestProperty("Accept-Charset", charset); connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=" + charset); connection.setRequestProperty("Authorization", header); connection.setRequestProperty("User-Agent", "XXXX"); OutputStream output = connection.getOutputStream(); output.write(header.getBytes(charset)); BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(connection.getInputStream())); String read; while((read = reader.readLine()) != null) { buffer.append(read); } } catch(Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } return buffer.toString(); } public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println(Request.read("http://api.twitter.com/oauth/request_token")); } }

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  • Google Drive Update keeps throwing an error when I try to save a thumbnail

    - by Dano64
    The Base64 string checks out fine. I was able to export it to another website and download it again as my image. When I try to do an update using the Drive Javascript api, it just keeps returning this error: Invalidvaluefor:Notavalidbase64bytestring I also true making the string URL safe. Per this page https://google-api-client-libraries.appspot.com/documentation/drive/v2/python/latest/drive_v2.files.html Am I doing something wrong here, the documentation says send Base64, the string is valid and, the string is intact throughout the process, but Google will not accept it? I am using the javascript api, I think there is maybe a bug sending the thumbnail using the javascript api. This is the request Request URL:https://www.googleapis.com/upload/drive/v2/files/?uploadType=multipart Request Method:POST Status Code:400 Bad Request **Request Headers** :host:www.googleapis.com :method:POST :path:/upload/drive/v2/files/?uploadType=multipart :scheme:https :version:HTTP/1.1 accept:*/* accept-encoding:gzip,deflate,sdch accept-language:en-US,en;q=0.8 authorization:Bearer ya29.AHES6ZQr...YXDacdY4 content-length:14313 content-type:multipart/mixed; boundary="--mpart_delim" origin:https://www.googleapis.com x-javascript-user-agent:google-api-javascript-client/1.1.0-beta x-origin:https://app.pinteract.com x-referer:https://app.pinteract.com **Query String Parameters** uploadType:multipart **Request Payload** ----mpart_delim Content-Type: application/json {"id":null,"title":"Test Pinup.pint","mimeType":"application/vnd.pinteract.pint","thumbnail":{"mimeType":"image/png","image":"iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUh...UVORK5CYII%3D"}} ----mpart_delim Content-Type: application/vnd.pinteract.pint Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary { "header" : {"id":"215A660A"} "members" : [ {"id":"100523752012631912873"} ], "manifest" : [ {"id":"0000","ele":[],"own":"100523752012631912873","dtc":1371679680000,"txt":"&Delta; Created","typ":0} ], "elements" : [ {"id":"0F54","x":560,"y":264,"bak":"#44ff44","own":"100523752012631912873","srt":"544","sta":0,"wid":120,"hgt":120,"dtc":0,"rec":"","txt":"This is Note"} ] } ----mpart_delim-- **Response Headers** content-length:10848 content-type:application/json date:Mon, 01 Jul 2013 14:41:33 GMT server:HTTP Upload Server Built on Jun 25 2013 11:32:14 (1372185134) status:400 Bad Request version:HTTP/1.1 This is the Response { "error": { "errors": [ { "domain": "global", "reason": "invalid", "message": "Invalid value for: Not a valid base64 byte string: iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUg...AASUVORK5CYII%3D" } ], "code": 400, "message": "Invalid value for: Not a valid base64 byte string: iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSU...lRtkAAAAASUVORK5CYII%3D" } } Raw Base64 String iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAGAAAABgCAYAAADimHc4AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAADjVJREFUeNrsXX2MHVUVP3fevH27SxfKhyBCsIqoKOhCBBISY5Hyj2JSGuXLP6SJwYAYICgxsUBr1AhqbE2I8Q9jjYE/CLFbP4IxVbaIYjAmS0wUC6ELRGy7tPt2t9vd997MPd6Z+3Xunfsq1r7tvNe56TAfO2/ezO93zu/ce+6ZB0DVqla1qlWtalWrWtWqVrWqVa1qJ1Nj/XCTm5+bHeUcz9+3f25tmvLVSYePIyLIBRhX24yxKXH63Kljw5Ni97UfbVhzpCLgGNs3/jp//r9en72l3UnWCsCvSjrpmQA54Nkq28q3FQn5mucL5OuIsUPi6f5Si6KJVasaT26/+T1vVgS8hfbl3+27br65dE+r1VknrH6IIfkjolmh/A8hwYJv1lySInYXhXc8W49r235++yVPVQQE2lee3n/d3OzS5tZS+2oWurlMYgj4qI45HsApCZYAzgFSsU7FfhSx5+txtHnnHR9+qiJAtPsnD1y4MLf09aXF9q3ZzTAmb8ohQaKtHEDLkGv9qIBHBbgmICXrlKyjKHoirkWbfn3X+EsnLQH37dr3mebs4o8x4WMSfGbAtyQoDSLga8BBeQJqqXE8QQIt12D2syVR2+LcxVpcu/23d1/++ElFwPdeXB555eWZ7x453LozEvuRtvqMgCyAhm7QyI7Sf7BEcI4mCNP9lBKhrD9R2zkJqVwLWfpOYyje8tSXLlsceAIy8Pf8Y98vOq1kXQZ8JG5By06kLZ/5+m8DcEiCMt3XXpCTwN0YkKrYkFu/0CfpCSC3M1IEEeILJ0ca9et/c/fliwNLQAb+SxR8JTkRJUAdy4DOtxCdQGyDb6ALyq0HuEHYyo+OAYlaUkVI7hkAk8ON+Ppd935kceAIMOC3BfjiayUB1gO0FAG4QTjfN9pTjAO0/0+9ICeDBmGyJDQoEzIyjxCr3YKET/7+vitWhIRopQh4+Z/7fyAtX4PPQG/X1JLt19Rit8XfIjDb7uftdWqa0Ox8sNfIF/CvK4mPFAB6yf4uaPzYYit5dKVwWREC7vrV619sLXU+L8Gg4AEBlXgFBdN8JgQ6M+fUHJDJNWiQD1yHkXOlDLLMcz53xTf/dNtASNBXn5l598y++b+L3k2j5gFdU1KkA2/kdEOR9IDsOpSCQBN4M/3nJuCaOEC03pEhJTuJJ0XtbEHsxBG75PmvXb2nrz3gzZnD2wVCjQgYsUAgVm2lRwdiR6LA9w4lS2YNnlcRq/avB653MfrdnueJf/XllP+kryXozl++toF30o9GnoVrvZU9HtINNaD44BFgHSmx4DP/swRkKz9F3WcGCOt9NQ0MwtWXbnn2xr4loL2cbNYDLAdcQgTz9FpbtAaUERANsJEFklHvIOMISiBzrqlJD4w/yKJJEL2lh/qSgDt2vrohTdJL/QdzBlvMtUQ6Io6cXgwBngZWD/xIeZVeM49o5g30KEGh+1Td4g+8f/Mfbuw7Atotbf0EVOchmQuGts5APsh4UNCbSBoDPE/oYt3B48zekzEIVF7Ae+cFPSHgCxOvXpwm/FLHslQ6GZgLfNfFk54iuMwhyAf2aJLTfcHg8cwLLnzwmQ/2DQFCem4pgOR4gzviLQDD3gIRzE1h+PshyaEB3wPYORccImVyUHR1P9s3BCSd9CZ/sOFPsjCV4ymkHViYCJOmYEV5co8xF1DnHrDwfe6cg1wzdZCRE8WY4tN9QYAY9Z4rBj7vzZNpiMWRHqJ5yKMCQcBg3cgJkpFPzjtkRw7x+ruwqxQBkUxNnGgXXbBp8rzSE3BksT3uZDDJUJahD7hKsGFACug+Cx8vegQWRtEsOOzHwO1h8WEQncOiSzpeegLaneQqB2wMEKHWGHhgigUzs2FYsHyAcNzonmfBgneZBfDoORk03nlF6QkQffCL3WdFM4uFSLUWHcuzTqPrTtCdkvSMlwb5ozZVPQHo3g8L+qgjOZ7t5HvHvScUH/ceUMrPrmkTzW+agbRrZswIkXmGKHUbPWCQWDH6shUK8n4g9aVQGQFT3+kYguGdGAoWHOas0nsAqowlnbUyD+BPpoNX56M/R7wAzHkItjLCDaQO1gZXBOcQ3Tego4dzYAsBMBw5yukB8o6ZARiVZSs7l8e8NSOKr60euwRM39J1bZBZG/KsRTuxhRoE+Q6T3gZqNPk0pWUXsfwEaA/IHyQHX1sZM/CiY9OWLH0GJ66ZSwYJuoYgDxMj9QiFeiFbzIWGA3oOBKrvdIWF9j9Z8NUPHoBoQUVq7RJsbnpCTIFNgEeZUANFghmZogWeYVG6bAmirYqgJSwFItC3eNdwqIdwpN7SBx7A0YZdRCo1ECQiMlYvk3WcDJAi7QGBYAzepDyqSXlTpKXWEPAI7sQk7RmWJFPeqGXInNcHHtBKUhiJa/KBsoq0CBSwQJIENg2RP7AqyNIdpYhYnfYI9KYo/SlJWxdKSSHgBTyAQzfZcqc9OfGG0veC4ijaTcsEgdZskqo1W7/jVrbpEhL6N7kPzpwu99dqHljPDaNXqGuvby0cQyQpY+EK8BSsV4i2u/QecLjdmR4biq2Gc5WCZmgSXJwzKeYkqqKyfDqyjZT12VEtFrqZ6FTC0bJ0S7AGMD8PSB2R8RjrOUhK3FPQniIlSpAxXXoCFlrJ1Kp6rLScmVElU2gzf5TFbJIMzawYM8GWBXI4tEoaObrvB5A6UBMLPI8qWj6aLmdeyqjApx6QSqKmjjdePSlL+dQPX5gdjqPVea2OKqqyBVFuXZCukgOg9TvZMVuamGc3/RJFJAMsXqyOowW53CtF0UW6VtK4qpgGaIvtlrhOS6yz8hS5na2xefDha0/vg4FYrsUT4v5vy1PD3JUfSjnKMZvt66PNxWA+k8VtahjdHhCQFzVoebpTC0S2uV+2SOOCkSFl/WitPy9hlN4x0TcTMjOLrZ1GRwMFsno77yVxWjzlWqUTfNH/u1to637GBT8/jxbr6uCOhBR1TqplCKTscNDygzt7gVXPKuM+8ejUbKOWyRCt61TlHqYQihVKSY7+loy0eqZAgkCRrl8d7b8Zk5rXlVSlnC5bF8dasiJOV8Zp6RHb0DzUA/npmQfkwXi5s80CwF2rRbdc0PEQ9eJEwdqJ9yQFj+HBc5MA+Nx5m9LuJ0R+8hhhJCgnd1uvcOoZAS/sn9sqBmVNCnoIzAJwafdj+uUKnvKuwCeBgCutHozM+DEhUYDbNSgScu1vit2tfUfA/CPrmgvtRHqBM4gCByBOQKTAUPAl8FwAb4tpE97dS5JuZFNZUtadKsATQ4RYAIhHwLameJa+IyBrfzswv3WxI7yASIEPjvumilpS1xMK3UjHe3xC1DXQexmDyhEJwh2OLviuJwjgcWsvMep5efr4t55b//ZThnbk4wBw+/6F2n3wS0v8EnUyIYM0tex1Q8l26qUkUjViThT4HZSLDLyQB9+ODLzZuTcI65/oawKyduW3/7zj9OH6+ihEgDcA82t3GEBxMkQBqntFvPC+MDjdS5qm0IGWgt/RwKveT7Yvjk8I8G/oNTbxShDw4qHDGz901tia0bg2jirvo9fcIQC7lJ+gk6RHPdEPUMhcOj9ZAMW353O5kgAroNU2pxKUpxw2rgQ2K/aS3jsf3D1+/qrhp0fE2MCkIzwJ6lYy6Fu/JcCf8QqMB8Baf6JAT8i2lp9EyY441hSfuWbukXVTA0VATsIDu8fPO6Xx9HBGAi1NJ2XkAMUKtcKcJ523JeBz5ycLbMo5VUDbtZYgua/BF72fpvjMNc0VAn/FCcjaBQ9Mjr9jtJF7An1zhQZiO0VvM6VQSEdbDwCPACpDKenVpMbybW9Hb2ejXfHpFQX/hBCQk7Bpcvzs4aEdo3G0hr4fHEGoiNdNRdOUhEuElSOdTEvABt2EkNFx+v3CCwCmUfZ4plYaixP2Yx2n3r9r9QWnNHasrsdrQ68KwX8hAOiEjJ421H18oGkFRQSXg6+O7gUZr4BJcYUbejnYKiUBuq3ZNHnPGY36Q42IrWYBL2B+4Szt/2vZAfJDTd6kigZeSw7J82R6v2X2kXVbT+Tzl+IHm4Q3rDlnuP6Q6KbeVjfxAPWbis7NojcdqSfWubJ8riUIrAfo1ENiPAS2i2NbRE9n+kQ/e6l+suw0QcSZwhtEL8kQQUvbTb0aLec0lk9Gv2AHYwkhQvzbLpYthx6+drosz1zKH+3LPGIsrq2PDu79/vA5F8p3igMEAFjZQV+CrCxNicM/FdY/UQaL7wsCdBsZGcH6GefB2EVXwsi574Pa294FSeM0aNVPpeMyFYQRhtrzEC0dgnTmFWi9sQcW9k5NLr2x5+PQm7ra/klF/F8WcngG4r1/hLG5F+HsQ+fA6OgoDDUaEMdx9rtv0vLTFNqdDrSWl2FhYQEOHNgPyeysCLOzzAsfpWsRDH5jZfb2gSQA3fQFKzMJJ4sHlJaEeFA9QHlB6G1YLFNMGGAPQPqMrKyeEMNgN5pg5V08AU6kNwwsASQQUy/nXdzkhElSPODgs4DMhkioPKA3RJgfvwoFCN6FkIqA4xwDQgTo90eSKgj3oHGe0q5oHBgVZwR0ql5Qz2MAhjwg+2O7Goj1VvtpD6jugb8AJUrMDagEcToSjgn48yCrzkvTBjYZx7khoK6e82AZgu5JQ4Bqi+oZ/10m3e8bAgSQE8dOQE7CJMh3e5fL+oylJiCKom3HSoBYDqdp+pjYLfX/Ta/UBBw5cmSSMbb1WAhgLNqYJMnLZZfL0seAZrN5rwDzfyGhWa/XNx48+OaT/RCv+iIIT0/vvbfRaFwjvOFoMSErLdxeq9Uu27v3le390mFg0IftpptvXetURXDefPyxn01B1apWtapVrWpVq1rVqla1t9L+I8AAvydNUrElRtkAAAAASUVORK5CYII="}],"code":400,"message":"Invalidvaluefor:Notavalidbase64bytestring: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 Url Encoded Base64 String iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAGAAAABgCAYAAADimHc4AAAAGXRFWHRTb2Z0d2FyZQBBZG9iZSBJbWFnZVJlYWR5ccllPAAADjVJREFUeNrsXX2MHVUVP3fevH27SxfKhyBCsIqoKOhCBBISY5Hyj2JSGuXLP6SJwYAYICgxsUBr1AhqbE2I8Q9jjYE%2FCLFbP4IxVbaIYjAmS0wUC6ELRGy7tPt2t9vd997MPd6Z%2B3Xunfsq1r7tvNe56TAfO2%2FezO93zu%2Fce%2B6ZB0DVqla1qlWtalWrWtWqVrWqVa1qJ1Nj%2FXCTm5%2BbHeUcz9%2B3f25tmvLVSYePIyLIBRhX24yxKXH63Kljw5Ni97UfbVhzpCLgGNs3%2Fjp%2F%2Fr9en72l3UnWCsCvSjrpmQA54Nkq28q3FQn5mucL5OuIsUPi6f5Si6KJVasaT26%2F%2BT1vVgS8hfbl3%2B27br65dE%2Br1VknrH6IIfkjolmh%2FA8hwYJv1lySInYXhXc8W49r235%2B%2ByVPVQQE2lee3n%2Fd3OzS5tZS%2B2oWurlMYgj4qI45HsApCZYAzgFSsU7FfhSx5%2BtxtHnnHR9%2BqiJAtPsnD1y4MLf09aXF9q3ZzTAmb8ohQaKtHEDLkGv9qIBHBbgmICXrlKyjKHoirkWbfn3X%2BEsnLQH37dr3mebs4o8x4WMSfGbAtyQoDSLga8BBeQJqqXE8QQIt12D2syVR2%2BLcxVpcu%2F23d1%2F%2B%2BElFwPdeXB555eWZ7x453LozEvuRtvqMgCyAhm7QyI7Sf7BEcI4mCNP9lBKhrD9R2zkJqVwLWfpOYyje8tSXLlsceAIy8Pf8Y98vOq1kXQZ8JG5By06kLZ%2F5%2Bm8DcEiCMt3XXpCTwN0YkKrYkFu%2F0CfpCSC3M1IEEeILJ0ca9et%2Fc%2FfliwNLQAb%2BSxR8JTkRJUAdy4DOtxCdQGyDb6ALyq0HuEHYyo%2BOAYlaUkVI7hkAk8ON%2BPpd935kceAIMOC3BfjiayUB1gO0FAG4QTjfN9pTjAO0%2F0%2B9ICeDBmGyJDQoEzIyjxCr3YKET%2F7%2BvitWhIRopQh4%2BZ%2F7fyAtX4PPQG%2FX1JLt19Rit8XfIjDb7uftdWqa0Ox8sNfIF%2FCvK4mPFAB6yf4uaPzYYit5dKVwWREC7vrV619sLXU%2BL8Gg4AEBlXgFBdN8JgQ6M%2BfUHJDJNWiQD1yHkXOlDLLMcz53xTf%2FdNtASNBXn5l598y%2B%2Bb%2BL3k2j5gFdU1KkA2%2FkdEOR9IDsOpSCQBN4M%2F3nJuCaOEC03pEhJTuJJ0XtbEHsxBG75PmvXb2nrz3gzZnD2wVCjQgYsUAgVm2lRwdiR6LA9w4lS2YNnlcRq%2FavB653MfrdnueJf%2FXllP%2BkryXozl%2B%2BtoF30o9GnoVrvZU9HtINNaD44BFgHSmx4DP%2FswRkKz9F3WcGCOt9NQ0MwtWXbnn2xr4loL2cbNYDLAdcQgTz9FpbtAaUERANsJEFklHvIOMISiBzrqlJD4w%2FyKJJEL2lh%2FqSgDt2vrohTdJL%2FQdzBlvMtUQ6Io6cXgwBngZWD%2FxIeZVeM49o5g30KEGh%2B1Td4g%2B8f%2FMfbuw7Atotbf0EVOchmQuGts5APsh4UNCbSBoDPE%2FoYt3B48zekzEIVF7Ae%2BcFPSHgCxOvXpwm%2FFLHslQ6GZgLfNfFk54iuMwhyAf2aJLTfcHg8cwLLnzwmQ%2F2DQFCem4pgOR4gzviLQDD3gIRzE1h%2BPshyaEB3wPYORccImVyUHR1P9s3BCSd9CZ%2FsOFPsjCV4ymkHViYCJOmYEV5co8xF1DnHrDwfe6cg1wzdZCRE8WY4tN9QYAY9Z4rBj7vzZNpiMWRHqJ5yKMCQcBg3cgJkpFPzjtkRw7x%2BruwqxQBkUxNnGgXXbBp8rzSE3BksT3uZDDJUJahD7hKsGFACug%2BCx8vegQWRtEsOOzHwO1h8WEQncOiSzpeegLaneQqB2wMEKHWGHhgigUzs2FYsHyAcNzonmfBgneZBfDoORk03nlF6QkQffCL3WdFM4uFSLUWHcuzTqPrTtCdkvSMlwb5ozZVPQHo3g8L%2BqgjOZ7t5HvHvScUH%2FceUMrPrmkTzW%2BagbRrZswIkXmGKHUbPWCQWDH6shUK8n4g9aVQGQFT3%2BkYguGdGAoWHOas0nsAqowlnbUyD%2BBPpoNX56M%2FR7wAzHkItjLCDaQO1gZXBOcQ3Tego4dzYAsBMBw5yukB8o6ZARiVZSs7l8e8NSOKr60euwRM39J1bZBZG%2FKsRTuxhRoE%2BQ6T3gZqNPk0pWUXsfwEaA%2FIHyQHX1sZM%2FCiY9OWLH0GJ66ZSwYJuoYgDxMj9QiFeiFbzIWGA3oOBKrvdIWF9j9Z8NUPHoBoQUVq7RJsbnpCTIFNgEeZUANFghmZogWeYVG6bAmirYqgJSwFItC3eNdwqIdwpN7SBx7A0YZdRCo1ECQiMlYvk3WcDJAi7QGBYAzepDyqSXlTpKXWEPAI7sQk7RmWJFPeqGXInNcHHtBKUhiJa%2FKBsoq0CBSwQJIENg2RP7AqyNIdpYhYnfYI9KYo%2FSlJWxdKSSHgBTyAQzfZcqc9OfGG0veC4ijaTcsEgdZskqo1W7%2FjVrbpEhL6N7kPzpwu99dqHljPDaNXqGuvby0cQyQpY%2BEK8BSsV4i2u%2FQecLjdmR4biq2Gc5WCZmgSXJwzKeYkqqKyfDqyjZT12VEtFrqZ6FTC0bJ0S7AGMD8PSB2R8RjrOUhK3FPQniIlSpAxXXoCFlrJ1Kp6rLScmVElU2gzf5TFbJIMzawYM8GWBXI4tEoaObrvB5A6UBMLPI8qWj6aLmdeyqjApx6QSqKmjjdePSlL%2BdQPX5gdjqPVea2OKqqyBVFuXZCukgOg9TvZMVuamGc3%2FRJFJAMsXqyOowW53CtF0UW6VtK4qpgGaIvtlrhOS6yz8hS5na2xefDha0%2Fvg4FYrsUT4v5vy1PD3JUfSjnKMZvt66PNxWA%2Bk8VtahjdHhCQFzVoebpTC0S2uV%2B2SOOCkSFl%2FWitPy9hlN4x0TcTMjOLrZ1GRwMFsno77yVxWjzlWqUTfNH%2Fu1to637GBT8%2Fjxbr6uCOhBR1TqplCKTscNDygzt7gVXPKuM%2B8ejUbKOWyRCt61TlHqYQihVKSY7%2Bloy0eqZAgkCRrl8d7b8Zk5rXlVSlnC5bF8dasiJOV8Zp6RHb0DzUA%2FnpmQfkwXi5s80CwF2rRbdc0PEQ9eJEwdqJ9yQFj%2BHBc5MA%2BNx5m9LuJ0R%2B8hhhJCgnd1uvcOoZAS%2Fsn9sqBmVNCnoIzAJwafdj%2BuUKnvKuwCeBgCutHozM%2BDEhUYDbNSgScu1vit2tfUfA%2FCPrmgvtRHqBM4gCByBOQKTAUPAl8FwAb4tpE97dS5JuZFNZUtadKsATQ4RYAIhHwLameJa%2BIyBrfzswv3WxI7yASIEPjvumilpS1xMK3UjHe3xC1DXQexmDyhEJwh2OLviuJwjgcWsvMep5efr4t55b%2F%2FZThnbk4wBw%2B%2F6F2n3wS0v8EnUyIYM0tex1Q8l26qUkUjViThT4HZSLDLyQB9%2BODLzZuTcI65%2FoawKyduW3%2F7zj9OH6%2BihEgDcA82t3GEBxMkQBqntFvPC%2BMDjdS5qm0IGWgt%2FRwKveT7Yvjk8I8G%2FoNTbxShDw4qHDGz901tia0bg2jirvo9fcIQC7lJ%2Bgk6RHPdEPUMhcOj9ZAMW353O5kgAroNU2pxKUpxw2rgQ2K%2FaS3jsf3D1%2B%2Fqrhp0fE2MCkIzwJ6lYy6Fu%2FJcCf8QqMB8Baf6JAT8i2lp9EyY441hSfuWbukXVTA0VATsIDu8fPO6Xx9HBGAi1NJ2XkAMUKtcKcJ523JeBz5ycLbMo5VUDbtZYgua%2FBF72fpvjMNc0VAn%2FFCcjaBQ9Mjr9jtJF7An1zhQZiO0VvM6VQSEdbDwCPACpDKenVpMbybW9Hb2ejXfHpFQX%2FhBCQk7Bpcvzs4aEdo3G0hr4fHEGoiNdNRdOUhEuElSOdTEvABt2EkNFx%2Bv3CCwCmUfZ4plYaixP2Yx2n3r9r9QWnNHasrsdrQ68KwX8hAOiEjJ421H18oGkFRQSXg6%2BO7gUZr4BJcYUbejnYKiUBuq3ZNHnPGY36Q42IrWYBL2B%2B4Szt%2F2vZAfJDTd6kigZeSw7J82R6v2X2kXVbT%2BTzl%2BIHm4Q3rDlnuP6Q6KbeVjfxAPWbis7NojcdqSfWubJ8riUIrAfo1ENiPAS2i2NbRE9n%2BkQ%2Fe6l%2Bsuw0QcSZwhtEL8kQQUvbTb0aLec0lk9Gv2AHYwkhQvzbLpYthx6%2Bdrosz1zKH%2B3LPGIsrq2PDu79%2FvA5F8p3igMEAFjZQV%2BCrCxNicM%2FFdY%2FUQaL7wsCdBsZGcH6GefB2EVXwsi574Pa294FSeM0aNVPpeMyFYQRhtrzEC0dgnTmFWi9sQcW9k5NLr2x5%2BPQm7ra%2FklF%2FF8WcngG4r1%2FhLG5F%2BHsQ%2BfA6OgoDDUaEMdx9rtv0vLTFNqdDrSWl2FhYQEOHNgPyeysCLOzzAsfpWsRDH5jZfb2gSQA3fQFKzMJJ4sHlJaEeFA9QHlB6G1YLFNMGGAPQPqMrKyeEMNgN5pg5V08AU6kNwwsASQQUy%2FnXdzkhElSPODgs4DMhkioPKA3RJgfvwoFCN6FkIqA4xwDQgTo90eSKgj3oHGe0q5oHBgVZwR0ql5Qz2MAhjwg%2B2O7Goj1VvtpD6jugb8AJUrMDagEcToSjgn48yCrzkvTBjYZx7khoK6e82AZgu5JQ4Bqi%2BoZ%2F10m3e8bAgSQE8dOQE7CJMh3e5fL%2BoylJiCKom3HSoBYDqdp%2BpjYLfX%2FTa%2FUBBw5cmSSMbb1WAhgLNqYJMnLZZfL0seAZrN5rwDzfyGhWa%2FXNx48%2BOaT%2FRCv%2BiIIT0%2FvvbfRaFwjvOFoMSErLdxeq9Uu27v3le390mFg0IftpptvXetURXDefPyxn01B1apWtapVrWpVq1rVqla1t9L%2BI8AAvydNUrElRtkAAAAASUVORK5CYII%3D

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  • trying to grab data from a page after post via curl

    - by Ben
    i am trying to grab data from here : http://mediaforest.biz/mobile/nowplaying.aspx in the page you select a station and post it then you get new page with data. but i cant grab it, i get the same page again. i used this code: <?php header ('Content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8'); $url = "http://mediaforest.biz/mobile/nowplaying.aspx"; $referer = ""; // headers $header[] = "Host: ".parse_url($url, PHP_URL_HOST); $header[] = "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; he; rv:1.9.2.3) Gecko/20100401 Firefox/3.6.3"; $header[] = "Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8"; $header[] = "Accept-Language: he,en-us;q=0.7,en;q=0.3"; $header[] = "Accept-Encoding: gzip,deflate"; $header[] = "Accept-Charset: windows-1255,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7"; $header[] = "Keep-Alive: 115"; $header[] = "Connection: keep-alive"; $cookie="cookie.txt"; $fp=fopen($cookie,"w+"); $ch = curl_init(); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url); curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_REFERER,$referer); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 900); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FAILONERROR, false); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 0); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, false); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $header); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER,true); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE,$cookie); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR,$cookie); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, 0); $content=curl_exec($ch); echo $content; if(stristr($content,"__EVENTTARGET")){ $array1=explode('__EVENTTARGET" value="',$content); $content1=$array1[1]; $array2=explode('"> <input type="hidden" name="__EVENTARGUMENT"',$content1); $content2=$array2[0]; $EVENTTARGET=urlencode($content2); } if(stristr($content,"__EVENTARGUMENT")){ $array1=explode('__EVENTARGUMENT" value="',$content); $content1=$array1[1]; $array2=explode('"> <script language',$content1); $content2=$array2[0]; $EVENTARGUMENT=urlencode($content2); } if(stristr($content,"formNowPlaying")){ $array1=explode('method="post" action="',$content); $content1=$array1[1]; $array2=explode('"> <input type="hidden" name="__EVENTTARGET"',$content1); $content2=$array2[0]; $nexturl=$content2; } //echo $EVENTTARGET." ".$EVENTARGUMENT." ".$nexturl; $url = "http://mediaforest.biz/mobile/".$nexturl; $fields = "EVENTTARGET=".$EVENTTARGET."&__EVENTARGUMENT=".$EVENTARGUMENT."&MyChannels=0&ViewChannel_Button=Show"; curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $fields); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url); curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_REFERER,$referer); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 900); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FAILONERROR, false); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 0); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, false); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $header); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER,true); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE,$cookie); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR,$cookie); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, 1); $content_stage2=curl_exec($ch); echo $content_stage2; ?>

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  • How to copy this portion of a text file out and put into a hash using rails? (VATsim datafile)

    - by Rusty Broderick
    Hi I'm trying to work out how i can cut out the section between !CLIENTS and the '; ;' and then to parse it into a hash in order to make an xml file. Honestly have no idea how to do it. The file is as follows: vatsim-data.txt original file here ; Created at 30/12/2010 01:29:14 UTC by Data Server V4.0 ; ; Data is the property of VATSIM.net and is not to be used for commercial purposes without the express written permission of the VATSIM.net Founders or their designated agent(s ). ; ; Sections are: ; !GENERAL contains general settings ; !CLIENTS contains informations about all connected clients ; !PREFILE contains informations about all prefiled flight plans ; !SERVERS contains a list of all FSD running servers to which clients can connect ; !VOICE SERVERS contains a list of all running voice servers that clients can use ; ; Data formats of various sections are: ; !GENERAL section - VERSION is this data format version ; RELOAD is time in minutes this file will be updated ; UPDATE is the last date and time this file has been updated. Format is yyyymmddhhnnss ; ATIS ALLOW MIN is time in minutes to wait before allowing manual Atis refresh by way of web page interface ; CONNECTED CLIENTS is the number of clients currently connected ; !CLIENTS section - callsign:cid:realname:clienttype:frequency:latitude:longitude:altitude:groundspeed:planned_aircraft:planned_tascruise:planned_depairport:planned_altitude:planned_destairport:server:protrevision:rating:transponder:facilitytype:visualrange:planned_revision:planned_flighttype:planned_deptime:planned_actdeptime:planned_hrsenroute:planned_minenroute:planned_hrsfuel:planned_minfuel:planned_altairport:planned_remarks:planned_route:planned_depairport_lat:planned_depairport_lon:planned_destairport_lat:planned_destairport_lon:atis_message:time_last_atis_received:time_logon:heading:QNH_iHg:QNH_Mb: ; !PREFILE section - callsign:cid:realname:clienttype:frequency:latitude:longitude:altitude:groundspeed:planned_aircraft:planned_tascruise:planned_depairport:planned_altitude:planned_destairport:server:protrevision:rating:transponder:facilitytype:visualrange:planned_revision:planned_flighttype:planned_deptime:planned_actdeptime:planned_hrsenroute:planned_minenroute:planned_hrsfuel:planned_minfuel:planned_altairport:planned_remarks:planned_route:planned_depairport_lat:planned_depairport_lon:planned_destairport_lat:planned_destairport_lon:atis_message:time_last_atis_received:time_logon:heading:QNH_iHg:QNH_Mb: ; !SERVERS section - ident:hostname_or_IP:location:name:clients_connection_allowed: ; !VOICE SERVERS section - hostname_or_IP:location:name:clients_connection_allowed:type_of_voice_server: ; ; Field separator is : character ; ; !GENERAL: VERSION = 8 RELOAD = 2 UPDATE = 20101230012914 ATIS ALLOW MIN = 5 CONNECTED CLIENTS = 515 ; ; !VOICE SERVERS: voice2.vacc-sag.org:Nurnberg:Europe-CW:1:R: voice.vatsim.fi:Finland - Sponsored by Verkkokauppa.com and NBL Solutions:Finland:1:R: rw.liveatc.net:USA, California:Liveatc:1:R: rw1.vatpac.org:Melbourne, Australia:Oceania:1:R: spain.vatsim.net:Spain:Vatsim Spain Server:1:R: voice.nyartcc.org:Sponsored by NY ARTCC:NY-ARTCC:1:R: voice.zhuartcc.net:Sponsored by Houston ARTCC:ZHU-ARTCC:1:R: ; ; !CLIENTS: 01PD:1090811:prentis gibbs KJFK:PILOT::40.64841:-73.81030:15:0::0::::USA-E:100:1:1200::::::::::::::::::::20101230010851:28:30.1:1019: 4X-BRH:1074589:george sandoval LLJR:PILOT::50.05618:-125.84429:10819:206:C337/G:150:CYAL:FL120:CCI9:EUROPE-C2:100:1:6043:::2:I:110:110:1:26:2:59:: /T/:DCT:0:0:0:0:::20101230005323:129:29.76:1007: 50125:1109107:Dave Frew KEDU:PILOT::46.52736:-121.95317:23877:471:B/B744/F:530:KTCM:30000:KLSV:USA-E:100:1:7723:::1:I:0:116:0:0:0:0:::GPS DIRECT.:0:0:0:0:::20101230012346:164:29.769:1008: 85013:1126003:Dmitry Abramov UWWW:PILOT::76.53819:71.54782:33444:423:T/ZZZZ/G:500:UUDD:FL330:ULAA:EUROPE-C2:100:1:2200:::2:I:0:2139:0:0:0:0:ULLI::BITSA DCT WM/N0485S1010 DCT KS DCT NE R22 ULWW B153 LAPEK B210 SU G476 OLATA:0:0:0:0:::20101229215815:62:53.264:1803: ; ; !SERVERS: EUROPE-C2:88.198.19.202:Europe:Center Europe Server Two:1: ; ; END I want to format the html with the tags with client being the parent and the nested tags as follows: callsign:cid:realname:clienttype:frequency:latitude:longitude:altitude:groundspeed:planned_aircraft:planned_tascruise:planned_depairport:planned_altitude:planned_destairport:server:protrevision:rating:transponder:facilitytype:visualrange:planned_revision:planned_flighttype:planned_deptime:planned_actdeptime:planned_hrsenroute:planned_minenroute:planned_hrsfuel:planned_minfuel:planned_altairport:planned_remarks:planned_route:planned_depairport_lat:planned_depairport_lon:planned_destairport_lat:planned_destairport_lon:atis_message:time_last_atis_received:time_logon:heading:QNH_iHg:QNH_Mb: Any help in solving this would be much appreciated!

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  • jQuery hide/show with select tag

    - by Ozzy
    I'm relative new to jQuery and I've been asked to create a hide/show function with a select tag. The function pretty much would be when you click on one of the options in the select tag it will open a div associate with the div of course. To be honest I have no idea how approach this function. I need help urgently, I have already tried many online but none have seem to work. Find below the html code. Thanks. <div class="adwizard"> <select id="selectdrop" name="selectdrop" class="adwizard-bullet"> <option value="adwizard">AdWizard</option> <option value="collateral">Collateral Ordering Tool</option> <option value="ebrochure">eBrochures</option> <option value="brand">Brand Center</option> <option value="funtees">FunTees</option> </select> </div> <div class="panels"> <div id="adwizard" class="sub-box showhide"> <img src="../images/bookccl/img-adwizard.gif" width="95" height="24" alt="AdWizard" /> <p>Let Carnival help you grow your business with our great tools! Lor ipsum dolor sit amet. <a href="https://www.carnivaladwizard.com/home.asp">Learn More</a></p> </div> <div id="collateral" class="sub-box showhide"> <p>The Collateral Ordering Tool makes it easy for you to order destination brochures and the sales DVD for that upcoming event. <a href="http://carnival.litorders.com/workplace.asp">Learn More</a></p> </div> <div id="ebrochure" class="sub-box showhide"> <img src="../images/bookccl/img-ebrochure.gif" width="164" height="39" alt="Brochures" /> <p>Show your clients that you're listening to their specific vacation needs by delivering relevant planning info quickly. <a href="http://productiontrade.carnivalbrochures.com/start.aspx">Learn More</a></p> </div> <div id="brand" class="sub-box showhide"> <p>Carnival Brand Center is where you'll find information on our strategy, guidlines, templates and artwork. <a href="https://carnival.monigle2.net/user_info.asp?login_type=agent">Learn More</a></p> </div> <div id="funtees" class="sub-box showhide"> <img src="../images/bookccl/img-funtees.gif" width="164" height="39" alt="Funtees" /> <p>Create your very own Fun Design shirts to commemorate that special occasion aboard a Carnival "Fun Ship!" <a href="http://carnival.victorydyo.com/">Learn More</a></p> </div> </div><!-- ends .panel --> <a class="view" href="#">See All Marketing Tools</a> </div>

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  • change value upon select

    - by Link
    what i'm aiming is to show the other div when it selects one of the two options Full time and Part Time and if possible compute a different value for each When the user selects Part time the value of PrcA will change to PrcB this is the code i used <!====================================================================================> <script language="javascript"> <!--// function dm(amount) { string = "" + amount; dec = string.length - string.indexOf('.'); if (string.indexOf('.') == -1) return string + '.00'; if (dec == 1) return string + '00'; if (dec == 2) return string + '0'; if (dec > 3) return string.substring(0,string.length-dec+3); return string; } function calculate() { QtyA = 0; TotA = 0; PrcA = 1280; PrcB = 640; if (document.form1.qtyA.value > "") { QtyA = document.form1.qtyA.value }; document.form1.qtyA.value = eval(QtyA); TotA = QtyA * PrcA; document.form1.totalA.value = dm(eval(TotA)); Totamt = eval(TotA) ; document.form1.GrandTotal.value = dm(eval(Totamt)); } //--> </script> <!====================================================================================> <p> <label for="acct" style="margin-right:90px;"><strong>Account Type<strong><font color=red size=3> * </font></strong></label> <select name="acct" style="background-color:white;" class="validate[custom[serv]] select-input" id="acct" value=""> <option value="Full Time">Full-Time</option> <option value="Part Time">Part-Time</option> <option selected="selected" value=""></option> </select></p> <!====================================================================================> <script> $(document).ready(function() { $("input[name$='acct']").select(function() { var test = $(this).val(); $("div.desc").hide(); $("#acct" + test).show(); }); }); </script> <!====================================================================================> <p> <table><tr><td> <lable style="margin-right:91px;"># of Agent(s)<font color=red size=3> * </font></lable> </td><td> <input style="width:25px; margin-left:5px;" type="text" class="validate[custom[agnt]] text-input" name="qtyA" id="qtyA" onchange="calculate()" /> </td><td> <div id="acctFull Time" class="desc"> x 1280 = </div> <div id="acctPart Time" class="desc" style="display:none"> x 640 = </div> </td><td> $<input style="width:80px; margin-left:5px;" type="text" readonly="readonly" name="totalA" id="totalA" onchange="calculate()" /> </p> </td></tr></table> is there any way for me to achieve this?

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  • SQLAuthority News – TechEd India – April 12-14, 2010 Bangalore – An Unforgettable Experience – An Op

    - by pinaldave
    TechEd India was one of the largest Technology events in India led by Microsoft. This event was attended by more than 3,000 technology enthusiasts, making it one of the most well-organized events of the year. Though I attempted to attend almost all the technology events here, I have not seen any bigger or better event in Indian subcontinents other than this. There are 21 Technical Tracks at Tech·Ed India 2010 that span more than 745 learning opportunities. I was fortunate enough to be a part of this whole event as a speaker and a delegate, as well. TechEd India Speaker Badge and A Token of Lifetime Hotel Selection I presented three different sessions at TechEd India and was also a part of panel discussion. (The details of the sessions are given at the end of this blog post.) Due to extensive traveling, I stay away from my family occasionally. For this reason, I took my wife – Nupur and daughter Shaivi (8 months old) to the event along with me. We stayed at the same hotel where the event was organized so as to maximize my time bonding with my family and to have more time in networking with technology community, at the same time. The hotel Lalit Ashok is the largest and most luxurious venue one can find in Bangalore, located in the middle of the city. The cost of the hotel was a bit pricey, but looking at all the advantages, I had decided to ask for a booking there. Hotel Lalit Ashok Nupur Dave and Shaivi Dave Arrival Day – DAY 0 – April 11, 2010 I reached the event a day earlier, and that was one wise decision for I was able to relax a bit and go over my presentation for the next day’s course. I am a kind of person who likes to get everything ready ahead of time. I was also able to enjoy a pleasant evening with several Microsoft employees and my family friends. I even checked out the location where I would be doing presentations the next day. I was fortunate enough to meet Bijoy Singhal from Microsoft who helped me out with a few of the logistics issues that occured the day before. I was not aware of the fact that the very next day he was going to be “The Man” of the TechEd 2010 event. Vinod Kumar from Microsoft was really very kind as he talked to me regarding my subsequent session. He gave me some suggestions which were really helpful that I was able to incorporate them during my presentation. Finally, I was able to meet Abhishek Kant from Microsoft; his valuable suggestions and unlimited passion have inspired many people like me to work with the Community. Pradipta from Microsoft was also around, being extremely busy with logistics; however, in those busy times, he did find some good spare time to have a chat with me and the other Community leaders. I also met Harish Ranganathan and Sachin Rathi, both from Microsoft. It was so interesting to listen to both of them talking about SharePoint. I just have no words to express my overwhelmed spirit because of all these passionate young guys - Pradipta,Vinod, Bijoy, Harish, Sachin and Ahishek (of course!). Map of TechEd India 2010 Event Day 1 – April 12, 2010 From morning until night time, today was truly a very busy day for me. I had two presentations and one panel discussion for the day. Needless to say, I had a few meetings to attend as well. The day started with a keynote from S. Somaseger where he announced the launch of Visual Studio 2010. The keynote area was really eye-catching because of the very large, bigger-than- life uniform screen. This was truly one to show. The title music of the keynote was very interesting and it featured Bijoy Singhal as the model. It was interesting to talk to him afterwards, when we laughed at jokes together about his modeling assignment. TechEd India Keynote Opening Featuring Bijoy TechEd India 2010 Keynote – S. Somasegar Time: 11:15pm – 11:45pm Session 1: True Lies of SQL Server – SQL Myth Buster Following the excellent keynote, I had my very first session on the subject of SQL Server Myth Buster. At first, I was a bit nervous as right after the keynote, for this was my very first session and during my presentation I saw lots of Microsoft Product Team members. Well, it really went well and I had a really good discussion with attendees of the session. I felt that a well begin was half-done and my confidence was regained. Right after the session, I met a few of my Community friends and had meaningful discussions with them on many subjects. The abstract of the session is as follows: In this 30-minute demo session, I am going to briefly demonstrate few SQL Server Myths and their resolutions as I back them up with some demo. This demo presentation is a must-attend for all developers and administrators who would come to the event. This is going to be a very quick yet fun session. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Lunch with Somasegar After the session I went to see my daughter, and then I headed right away to the lunch with S. Somasegar – the keynote speaker and senior vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. I really thank to Abhishek who made it possible for us. Because of his efforts, all the MVPs had the opportunity to meet such a legendary person and had to talk with them on Microsoft Technology. Though Somasegar is currently holding such a high position in Microsoft, he is very polite and a real gentleman, and how I wish that everybody in industry is like him. Believe me, if you spread love and kindness, then that is what you will receive back. As soon as lunch time was over, I ran to the session hall as my second presentation was about to start. Time: 2:30pm – 3:30pm Session 2: Master Data Services in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Business Intelligence is a subject which was widely talked about at TechEd. Everybody was interested in this subject, and I did not excuse myself from this great concept as well. I consider myself fortunate as I was presenting on the subject of Master Data Services at TechEd. When I had initially learned this subject, I had a bit of confusion about the usage of this tool. Later on, I decided that I would tackle about how we all developers and DBAs are not able to understand something so simple such as this, and even worst, creating confusion about the technology. During system designing, it is very important to have a reference material or master lookup tables. Well, I talked about the same subject and presented the session keeping that as my center talk. The session went very well and I received lots of interesting questions. I got many compliments for talking about this subject on the real-life scenario. I really thank Rushabh Mehta (CEO, Solid Quality Mentors India) for his supportive suggestions that helped me prepare the slide deck, as well as the subject. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 The abstract of the session is as follows: SQL Server Master Data Services will ship with SQL Server 2008 R2 and will improve Microsoft’s platform appeal. This session provides an in-depth demonstration of MDS features and highlights important usage scenarios. Master Data Services enables consistent decision-making process by allowing you to create, manage and propagate changes from a single master view of your business entities. Also, MDS – Master Data-hub which is a vital component, helps ensure the consistency of reporting across systems and deliver faster and more accurate results across the enterprise. We will talk about establishing the basis for a centralized approach to defining, deploying, and managing master data in the enterprise. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 The day was still not over for me. I had ran into several friends but we were not able keep our enthusiasm under control about all the rumors saying that SQL Server 2008 R2 was about to be launched tomorrow in the keynote. I then ran to my third and final technical event for the day- a panel discussion with the top technologies of India. Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm Panel Discussion: Harness the power of Web – SEO and Technical Blogging As I have delivered two technical sessions by this time, I was a bit tired but  not less enthusiastic when I had to talk about Blog and Technology. We discussed many different topics there. I told them that the most important aspect for any blog is its content. We discussed in depth the issues with plagiarism and how to avoid it. Another topic of discussion was how we technology bloggers can create awareness in the Community about what the right kind of blogging is and what morally and technically wrong acts are. A couple of questions were raised about what type of liberty a person can have in terms of writing blogs. Well, it was generically agreed that a blog is mainly a representation of our ideas and thoughts; it should not be governed by external entities. As long as one is writing what they really want to say, but not providing incorrect information or not practicing plagiarism, a blogger should be allowed to express himself. This panel discussion was supposed to be over in an hour, but the interest of the participants was remarkable and so it was extended for 30 minutes more. Finally, we decided to bring to a close the discussion and agreed that we will continue the topic next year. TechEd India Panel Discussion on Web, Technology and SEO Surprisingly, the day was just beginning after doing all of these. By this time, I have almost met all the MVP who arrived at the event, as well as many Microsoft employees. There were lots of Community folks present, too. I decided that I would go to meet several friends from the Community and continue to communicate with me on SQLAuthority.com. I also met Abhishek Baxi and had a good talk with him regarding Win Mobile and Twitter. He also took a very quick video of me wherein I spoke in my mother’s tongue, Gujarati. It was funny that I talked in Gujarati almost all the day, but when I was talking in the interview I could not find the right Gujarati words to speak. I think we all think in English when we think about Technology, so as to address universality. After meeting them, I headed towards the Speakers’ Dinner. Time: 8:00 PM – onwards Speakers Dinner The Speakers’ dinner was indeed a wonderful opportunity for all the speakers to get together and relax. We talked so many different things, from XBOX to Hindi Movies, and from SQL to Samosas. I just could not express how much fun I had. After a long evening, when I returned tmy room and met Shaivi, I just felt instantly relaxed. Kids are really gifts from God. Today was a really long but exciting day. So many things happened in just one day: Visual Studio Lanch, lunch with Somasegar, 2 technical sessions, 1 panel discussion, community leaders meeting, speakers dinner and, last but not leas,t playing with my child! A perfect day! Day 2 – April 13, 2010 Today started with a bang with the excellent keynote by Kamal Hathi who launched SQL Server 2008 R2 in India and demonstrated the power of PowerPivot to all of us. 101 Million Rows in Excel brought lots of applause from the audience. Kamal Hathi Presenting Keynote at TechEd India 2010 The day was a bit easier one for me. I had no sessions today and no events planned. I had a few meetings planned for the second day of the event. I sat in the speaker’s lounge for half a day and met many people there. I attended nearly 9 different meetings today. The subjects of the meetings were very different. Here is a list of the topics of the Community-related meetings: SQL PASS and its involvement in India and subcontinents How to start community blogging Forums and developing aptitude towards technology Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar User Groups and their developments SharePoint and SQL Business Meeting – a client meeting Business Meeting – a potential performance tuning project Business Meeting – Solid Quality Mentors (SolidQ) And family friends Pinal Dave at TechEd India The day passed by so quickly during this meeting. In the evening, I headed to Partners Expo with friends and checked out few of the booths. I really wanted to talk about some of the products, but due to the freebies there was so much crowd that I finally decided to just take the contact details of the partner. I will now start sending them with my queries and, hopefully, I will have my questions answered. Nupur and Shaivi had also one meeting to attend; it was with our family friend Vijay Raj. Vijay is also a person who loves Technology and loves it more than anybody. I see him growing and learning every day, but still remaining as a ‘human’. I believe that if someone acquires as much knowledge as him, that person will become either a computer or cyborg. Here, Vijay is still a kind gentleman and is able to stay as our close family friend. Shaivi was really happy to play with Uncle Vijay. Pinal Dave and Vijay Raj Renuka Prasad, a Microsoft MVP, impressed me with his passion and knowledge of SQL. Every time he gives me credit for his success, I believe that he is very humble. He has way more certifications than me and has worked many more years with SQL compared to me. He is an excellent photographer as well. Most of the photos in this blog post have been taken by him. I told him if ever he wants to do a part time job, he can do the photography very well. Pinal Dave and Renuka Prasad I also met L Srividya from Microsoft, whom I was looking forward to meet. She is a bundle of knowledge that everyone would surely learn a lot from her. I was able to get a few minutes from her and well, I felt confident. She enlightened me with SQL Server BI concepts, domain management and SQL Server security and few other interesting details. I also had a wonderful time talking about SharePoint with fellow Solid Quality Mentor Joy Rathnayake. He is very passionate about SharePoint but when you talk .NET and SQL with him, he is still overwhelmingly knowledgeable. In fact, while talking to him, I figured out that the recent training he delivered was on SQL Server 2008 R2. I told him a joke that it hurts my ego as he is more popular now in SQL training and consulting than me. I am sure all of you agree that working with good people is a gift from God. I am fortunate enough to work with the best of the best Industry experts. It was a great pleasure to hang out with my Community friends – Ahswin Kini, HimaBindu Vejella, Vasudev G, Suprotim Agrawal, Dhananjay, Vikram Pendse, Mahesh Dhola, Mahesh Mitkari,  Manu Zacharia, Shobhan, Hardik Shah, Ashish Mohta, Manan, Subodh Sohani and Sanjay Shetty (of course!) .  (Please let me know if I have met you at the event and forgot your name to list here). Time: 8:00 PM – onwards Community Leaders Dinner After lots of meetings, I headed towards the Community Leaders dinner meeting and met almost all the folks I met in morning. The discussion was almost the same but the real good thing was that we were enjoying it. The food was really good. Nupur was invited in the event, but Shaivi could not come. When Nupur tried to enter the event, she was stopped as Shaivi did not have the pass to enter the dinner. Nupur expressed that Shaivi is only 8 months old and does not eat outside food as well and could not stay by herself at this age, but the door keeper did not agree and asked that without the entry details Shaivi could not go in, but Nupur could. Nupur called me on phone and asked me to help her out. By the time, I was outside; the organizer of the event reached to the door and happily approved Shaivi to join the party. Once in the party, Shaivi had lots of fun meeting so many people. Shaivi Dave and Abhishek Kant Dean Guida (Infragistics President and CEO) and Pinal Dave (SQLAuthority.com) Day 3 – April 14, 2010 Though, it was last day, I was very much excited today as I was about to present my very favorite session. Query Optimization and Performance Tuning is my domain expertise and I make my leaving by consulting and training the same. Today’s session was on the same subject and as an additional twist, another subject about Spatial Database was presented. I was always intrigued with Spatial Database and I have enjoyed learning about it; however, I have never thought about Spatial Indexing before it was decided that I will do this session. I really thank Solid Quality Mentor Dr. Greg Low for his assistance in helping me prepare the slide deck and also review the content. Furthermore, today was really what I call my ‘learning day’ . So far I had not attended any session in TechEd and I felt a bit down for that. Everybody spends their valuable time & money to learn something new and exciting in TechEd and I had not attended a single session at the moment thinking that it was already last day of the event. I did have a plan for the day and I attended two technical sessions before my session of spatial database. I attended 2 sessions of Vinod Kumar. Vinod is a natural storyteller and there was no doubt that his sessions would be jam-packed. People attended his sessions simply because Vinod is syhe speaker. He did not have a single time disappointed audience; he is truly a good speaker. He knows his stuff very well. I personally do not think that in India he can be compared to anyone for SQL. Time: 12:30pm-1:30pm SQL Server Query Optimization, Execution and Debugging Query Performance I really had a fun time attending this session. Vinod made this session very interactive. The entire audience really got into the presentation and started participating in the event. Vinod was presenting a small problem with Query Tuning, which any developer would have encountered and solved with their help in such a fashion that a developer feels he or she have already resolved it. In one question, I was the only one who was ready to answer and Vinod told me in a light tone that I am now allowed to answer it! The audience really found it very amusing. There was a huge crowd around Vinod after the session. Vinod – A master storyteller! Time: 3:45pm-4:45pm Data Recovery / consistency with CheckDB This session was much heavier than the earlier one, and I must say this is my most favorite session I EVER attended in India. In this TechEd I have only attended two sessions, but in my career, I have attended numerous technical sessions not only in India, but all over the world. This session had taken my breath away. One by one, Vinod took the different databases, and started to corrupt them in different ways. Each database has some unique ways to get corrupted. Once that was done, Vinod started to show the DBCC CEHCKDB and demonstrated how it can solve your problem. He finally fixed all the databases with this single tool. I do have a good knowledge of this subject, but let me honestly admit that I have learned a lot from this session. I enjoyed and cheered during this session along with other attendees. I had total satisfaction that, just like everyone, I took advantage of the event and learned something. I am now TECHnically EDucated. Pinal Dave and Vinod Kumar After two very interactive and informative SQL Sessions from Vinod Kumar, the next turn me presenting on Spatial Database and Indexing. I got once again nervous but Vinod told me to stay natural and do my presentation. Well, once I got a huge stage with a total of four projectors and a large crowd, I felt better. Time: 5:00pm-6:00pm Session 3: Developing with SQL Server Spatial and Deep Dive into Spatial Indexing Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 I kicked off this session with Michael J Swart‘s beautiful spatial image. This session was the last one for the day but, to my surprise, I had more than 200+ attendees. Slowly, the rain was starting outside and I was worried that the hall would not be full; despite this, there was not a single seat available in the first five minutes of the session. Thanks to all of you for attending my presentation. I had demonstrated the map of world (and India) and quickly explained what  Geographic and Geometry data types in Spatial Database are. This session had interesting story of Indexing and Comparison, as well as how different traditional indexes are from spatial indexing. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 Due to the heavy rain during this event, the power went off for about 22 minutes (just an accident – nobodies fault). During these minutes, there were no audio, no video and no light. I continued to address the mass of 200+ people without any audio device and PowerPoint. I must thank the audience because not a single person left from the session. They all stayed in their place, some moved closure to listen to me properly. I noticed that the curiosity and eagerness to learn new things was at the peak even though it was the very last session of the TechEd. Everybody wanted get the maximum knowledge out of this whole event. I was touched by the support from audience. They listened and participated in my session even without any kinds of technology (no ppt, no mike, no AC, nothing). During these 22 minutes, I had completed my theory verbally. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 After a while, we got the projector back online and we continued with some exciting demos. Many thanks to Microsoft people who worked energetically in background to get the backup power for project up. I had a very interesting demo wherein I overlaid Bangalore and Hyderabad on the India Map and find their aerial distance between them. After finding the aerial distance, we browsed online and found that SQL Server estimates the exact aerial distance between these two cities, as compared to the factual distance. There was a huge applause from the crowd on the subject that SQL Server takes into the count of the curvature of the earth and finds the precise distances based on details. During the process of finding the distance, I demonstrated a few examples of the indexes where I expressed how one can use those indexes to find these distances and how they can improve the performance of similar query. I also demonstrated few examples wherein we were able to see in which data type the Index is most useful. We finished the demos with a few more internal stuff. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 Despite all issues, I was mostly satisfied with my presentation. I think it was the best session I have ever presented at any conference. There was no help from Technology for a while, but I still got lots of appreciation at the end. When we ended the session, the applause from the audience was so loud that for a moment, the rain was not audible. I was truly moved by the dedication of the Technology enthusiasts. Pinal Dave After Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 The abstract of the session is as follows: The Microsoft SQL Server 2008 delivers new spatial data types that enable you to consume, use, and extend location-based data through spatial-enabled applications. Attend this session to learn how to use spatial functionality in next version of SQL Server to build and optimize spatial queries. This session outlines the new geography data type to store geodetic spatial data and perform operations on it, use the new geometry data type to store planar spatial data and perform operations on it, take advantage of new spatial indexes for high performance queries, use the new spatial results tab to quickly and easily view spatial query results directly from within Management Studio, extend spatial data capabilities by building or integrating location-enabled applications through support for spatial standards and specifications and much more. Time: 8:00 PM – onwards Dinner by Sponsors After the lively session during the day, there was another dinner party courtesy of one of the sponsors of TechEd. All the MVPs and several Community leaders were present at the dinner. I would like to express my gratitude to Abhishek Kant for organizing this wonderful event for us. It was a blast and really relaxing in all angles. We all stayed there for a long time and talked about our sweet and unforgettable memories of the event. Pinal Dave and Bijoy Singhal It was really one wonderful event. After writing this much, I say that I have no words to express about how much I enjoyed TechEd. However, it is true that I shared with you only 1% of the total activities I have done at the event. There were so many people I have met, yet were not mentioned here although I wanted to write their names here, too . Anyway, I have learned so many things and up until now, I am not able to get over all the fun I had in this event. Pinal Dave at TechEd India 2010 The Next Days – April 15, 2010 – till today I am still not able to get my mind out of the whole experience I had at TechEd India 2010. It was like a whole Microsoft Family working together to celebrate a happy occasion. TechEd India – Truly An Unforgettable Experience! Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: About Me, MVP, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Author Visit, SQLAuthority News, SQLServer, T SQL, Technology Tagged: TechEd, TechEdIn

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  • SQLAuthority News – TechEd India – April 12-14, 2010 Bangalore – An Unforgettable Experience – An Op

    - by pinaldave
    TechEd India was one of the largest Technology events in India led by Microsoft. This event was attended by more than 3,000 technology enthusiasts, making it one of the most well-organized events of the year. Though I attempted to attend almost all the technology events here, I have not seen any bigger or better event in Indian subcontinents other than this. There are 21 Technical Tracks at Tech·Ed India 2010 that span more than 745 learning opportunities. I was fortunate enough to be a part of this whole event as a speaker and a delegate, as well. TechEd India Speaker Badge and A Token of Lifetime Hotel Selection I presented three different sessions at TechEd India and was also a part of panel discussion. (The details of the sessions are given at the end of this blog post.) Due to extensive traveling, I stay away from my family occasionally. For this reason, I took my wife – Nupur and daughter Shaivi (8 months old) to the event along with me. We stayed at the same hotel where the event was organized so as to maximize my time bonding with my family and to have more time in networking with technology community, at the same time. The hotel Lalit Ashok is the largest and most luxurious venue one can find in Bangalore, located in the middle of the city. The cost of the hotel was a bit pricey, but looking at all the advantages, I had decided to ask for a booking there. Hotel Lalit Ashok Nupur Dave and Shaivi Dave Arrival Day – DAY 0 – April 11, 2010 I reached the event a day earlier, and that was one wise decision for I was able to relax a bit and go over my presentation for the next day’s course. I am a kind of person who likes to get everything ready ahead of time. I was also able to enjoy a pleasant evening with several Microsoft employees and my family friends. I even checked out the location where I would be doing presentations the next day. I was fortunate enough to meet Bijoy Singhal from Microsoft who helped me out with a few of the logistics issues that occured the day before. I was not aware of the fact that the very next day he was going to be “The Man” of the TechEd 2010 event. Vinod Kumar from Microsoft was really very kind as he talked to me regarding my subsequent session. He gave me some suggestions which were really helpful that I was able to incorporate them during my presentation. Finally, I was able to meet Abhishek Kant from Microsoft; his valuable suggestions and unlimited passion have inspired many people like me to work with the Community. Pradipta from Microsoft was also around, being extremely busy with logistics; however, in those busy times, he did find some good spare time to have a chat with me and the other Community leaders. I also met Harish Ranganathan and Sachin Rathi, both from Microsoft. It was so interesting to listen to both of them talking about SharePoint. I just have no words to express my overwhelmed spirit because of all these passionate young guys - Pradipta,Vinod, Bijoy, Harish, Sachin and Ahishek (of course!). Map of TechEd India 2010 Event Day 1 – April 12, 2010 From morning until night time, today was truly a very busy day for me. I had two presentations and one panel discussion for the day. Needless to say, I had a few meetings to attend as well. The day started with a keynote from S. Somaseger where he announced the launch of Visual Studio 2010. The keynote area was really eye-catching because of the very large, bigger-than- life uniform screen. This was truly one to show. The title music of the keynote was very interesting and it featured Bijoy Singhal as the model. It was interesting to talk to him afterwards, when we laughed at jokes together about his modeling assignment. TechEd India Keynote Opening Featuring Bijoy TechEd India 2010 Keynote – S. Somasegar Time: 11:15pm – 11:45pm Session 1: True Lies of SQL Server – SQL Myth Buster Following the excellent keynote, I had my very first session on the subject of SQL Server Myth Buster. At first, I was a bit nervous as right after the keynote, for this was my very first session and during my presentation I saw lots of Microsoft Product Team members. Well, it really went well and I had a really good discussion with attendees of the session. I felt that a well begin was half-done and my confidence was regained. Right after the session, I met a few of my Community friends and had meaningful discussions with them on many subjects. The abstract of the session is as follows: In this 30-minute demo session, I am going to briefly demonstrate few SQL Server Myths and their resolutions as I back them up with some demo. This demo presentation is a must-attend for all developers and administrators who would come to the event. This is going to be a very quick yet fun session. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Lunch with Somasegar After the session I went to see my daughter, and then I headed right away to the lunch with S. Somasegar – the keynote speaker and senior vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft. I really thank to Abhishek who made it possible for us. Because of his efforts, all the MVPs had the opportunity to meet such a legendary person and had to talk with them on Microsoft Technology. Though Somasegar is currently holding such a high position in Microsoft, he is very polite and a real gentleman, and how I wish that everybody in industry is like him. Believe me, if you spread love and kindness, then that is what you will receive back. As soon as lunch time was over, I ran to the session hall as my second presentation was about to start. Time: 2:30pm – 3:30pm Session 2: Master Data Services in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Business Intelligence is a subject which was widely talked about at TechEd. Everybody was interested in this subject, and I did not excuse myself from this great concept as well. I consider myself fortunate as I was presenting on the subject of Master Data Services at TechEd. When I had initially learned this subject, I had a bit of confusion about the usage of this tool. Later on, I decided that I would tackle about how we all developers and DBAs are not able to understand something so simple such as this, and even worst, creating confusion about the technology. During system designing, it is very important to have a reference material or master lookup tables. Well, I talked about the same subject and presented the session keeping that as my center talk. The session went very well and I received lots of interesting questions. I got many compliments for talking about this subject on the real-life scenario. I really thank Rushabh Mehta (CEO, Solid Quality Mentors India) for his supportive suggestions that helped me prepare the slide deck, as well as the subject. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 The abstract of the session is as follows: SQL Server Master Data Services will ship with SQL Server 2008 R2 and will improve Microsoft’s platform appeal. This session provides an in-depth demonstration of MDS features and highlights important usage scenarios. Master Data Services enables consistent decision-making process by allowing you to create, manage and propagate changes from a single master view of your business entities. Also, MDS – Master Data-hub which is a vital component, helps ensure the consistency of reporting across systems and deliver faster and more accurate results across the enterprise. We will talk about establishing the basis for a centralized approach to defining, deploying, and managing master data in the enterprise. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 The day was still not over for me. I had ran into several friends but we were not able keep our enthusiasm under control about all the rumors saying that SQL Server 2008 R2 was about to be launched tomorrow in the keynote. I then ran to my third and final technical event for the day- a panel discussion with the top technologies of India. Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm Panel Discussion: Harness the power of Web – SEO and Technical Blogging As I have delivered two technical sessions by this time, I was a bit tired but  not less enthusiastic when I had to talk about Blog and Technology. We discussed many different topics there. I told them that the most important aspect for any blog is its content. We discussed in depth the issues with plagiarism and how to avoid it. Another topic of discussion was how we technology bloggers can create awareness in the Community about what the right kind of blogging is and what morally and technically wrong acts are. A couple of questions were raised about what type of liberty a person can have in terms of writing blogs. Well, it was generically agreed that a blog is mainly a representation of our ideas and thoughts; it should not be governed by external entities. As long as one is writing what they really want to say, but not providing incorrect information or not practicing plagiarism, a blogger should be allowed to express himself. This panel discussion was supposed to be over in an hour, but the interest of the participants was remarkable and so it was extended for 30 minutes more. Finally, we decided to bring to a close the discussion and agreed that we will continue the topic next year. TechEd India Panel Discussion on Web, Technology and SEO Surprisingly, the day was just beginning after doing all of these. By this time, I have almost met all the MVP who arrived at the event, as well as many Microsoft employees. There were lots of Community folks present, too. I decided that I would go to meet several friends from the Community and continue to communicate with me on SQLAuthority.com. I also met Abhishek Baxi and had a good talk with him regarding Win Mobile and Twitter. He also took a very quick video of me wherein I spoke in my mother’s tongue, Gujarati. It was funny that I talked in Gujarati almost all the day, but when I was talking in the interview I could not find the right Gujarati words to speak. I think we all think in English when we think about Technology, so as to address universality. After meeting them, I headed towards the Speakers’ Dinner. Time: 8:00 PM – onwards Speakers Dinner The Speakers’ dinner was indeed a wonderful opportunity for all the speakers to get together and relax. We talked so many different things, from XBOX to Hindi Movies, and from SQL to Samosas. I just could not express how much fun I had. After a long evening, when I returned tmy room and met Shaivi, I just felt instantly relaxed. Kids are really gifts from God. Today was a really long but exciting day. So many things happened in just one day: Visual Studio Lanch, lunch with Somasegar, 2 technical sessions, 1 panel discussion, community leaders meeting, speakers dinner and, last but not leas,t playing with my child! A perfect day! Day 2 – April 13, 2010 Today started with a bang with the excellent keynote by Kamal Hathi who launched SQL Server 2008 R2 in India and demonstrated the power of PowerPivot to all of us. 101 Million Rows in Excel brought lots of applause from the audience. Kamal Hathi Presenting Keynote at TechEd India 2010 The day was a bit easier one for me. I had no sessions today and no events planned. I had a few meetings planned for the second day of the event. I sat in the speaker’s lounge for half a day and met many people there. I attended nearly 9 different meetings today. The subjects of the meetings were very different. Here is a list of the topics of the Community-related meetings: SQL PASS and its involvement in India and subcontinents How to start community blogging Forums and developing aptitude towards technology Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar User Groups and their developments SharePoint and SQL Business Meeting – a client meeting Business Meeting – a potential performance tuning project Business Meeting – Solid Quality Mentors (SolidQ) And family friends Pinal Dave at TechEd India The day passed by so quickly during this meeting. In the evening, I headed to Partners Expo with friends and checked out few of the booths. I really wanted to talk about some of the products, but due to the freebies there was so much crowd that I finally decided to just take the contact details of the partner. I will now start sending them with my queries and, hopefully, I will have my questions answered. Nupur and Shaivi had also one meeting to attend; it was with our family friend Vijay Raj. Vijay is also a person who loves Technology and loves it more than anybody. I see him growing and learning every day, but still remaining as a ‘human’. I believe that if someone acquires as much knowledge as him, that person will become either a computer or cyborg. Here, Vijay is still a kind gentleman and is able to stay as our close family friend. Shaivi was really happy to play with Uncle Vijay. Pinal Dave and Vijay Raj Renuka Prasad, a Microsoft MVP, impressed me with his passion and knowledge of SQL. Every time he gives me credit for his success, I believe that he is very humble. He has way more certifications than me and has worked many more years with SQL compared to me. He is an excellent photographer as well. Most of the photos in this blog post have been taken by him. I told him if ever he wants to do a part time job, he can do the photography very well. Pinal Dave and Renuka Prasad I also met L Srividya from Microsoft, whom I was looking forward to meet. She is a bundle of knowledge that everyone would surely learn a lot from her. I was able to get a few minutes from her and well, I felt confident. She enlightened me with SQL Server BI concepts, domain management and SQL Server security and few other interesting details. I also had a wonderful time talking about SharePoint with fellow Solid Quality Mentor Joy Rathnayake. He is very passionate about SharePoint but when you talk .NET and SQL with him, he is still overwhelmingly knowledgeable. In fact, while talking to him, I figured out that the recent training he delivered was on SQL Server 2008 R2. I told him a joke that it hurts my ego as he is more popular now in SQL training and consulting than me. I am sure all of you agree that working with good people is a gift from God. I am fortunate enough to work with the best of the best Industry experts. It was a great pleasure to hang out with my Community friends – Ahswin Kini, HimaBindu Vejella, Vasudev G, Suprotim Agrawal, Dhananjay, Vikram Pendse, Mahesh Dhola, Mahesh Mitkari,  Manu Zacharia, Shobhan, Hardik Shah, Ashish Mohta, Manan, Subodh Sohani and Sanjay Shetty (of course!) .  (Please let me know if I have met you at the event and forgot your name to list here). Time: 8:00 PM – onwards Community Leaders Dinner After lots of meetings, I headed towards the Community Leaders dinner meeting and met almost all the folks I met in morning. The discussion was almost the same but the real good thing was that we were enjoying it. The food was really good. Nupur was invited in the event, but Shaivi could not come. When Nupur tried to enter the event, she was stopped as Shaivi did not have the pass to enter the dinner. Nupur expressed that Shaivi is only 8 months old and does not eat outside food as well and could not stay by herself at this age, but the door keeper did not agree and asked that without the entry details Shaivi could not go in, but Nupur could. Nupur called me on phone and asked me to help her out. By the time, I was outside; the organizer of the event reached to the door and happily approved Shaivi to join the party. Once in the party, Shaivi had lots of fun meeting so many people. Shaivi Dave and Abhishek Kant Dean Guida (Infragistics President and CEO) and Pinal Dave (SQLAuthority.com) Day 3 – April 14, 2010 Though, it was last day, I was very much excited today as I was about to present my very favorite session. Query Optimization and Performance Tuning is my domain expertise and I make my leaving by consulting and training the same. Today’s session was on the same subject and as an additional twist, another subject about Spatial Database was presented. I was always intrigued with Spatial Database and I have enjoyed learning about it; however, I have never thought about Spatial Indexing before it was decided that I will do this session. I really thank Solid Quality Mentor Dr. Greg Low for his assistance in helping me prepare the slide deck and also review the content. Furthermore, today was really what I call my ‘learning day’ . So far I had not attended any session in TechEd and I felt a bit down for that. Everybody spends their valuable time & money to learn something new and exciting in TechEd and I had not attended a single session at the moment thinking that it was already last day of the event. I did have a plan for the day and I attended two technical sessions before my session of spatial database. I attended 2 sessions of Vinod Kumar. Vinod is a natural storyteller and there was no doubt that his sessions would be jam-packed. People attended his sessions simply because Vinod is syhe speaker. He did not have a single time disappointed audience; he is truly a good speaker. He knows his stuff very well. I personally do not think that in India he can be compared to anyone for SQL. Time: 12:30pm-1:30pm SQL Server Query Optimization, Execution and Debugging Query Performance I really had a fun time attending this session. Vinod made this session very interactive. The entire audience really got into the presentation and started participating in the event. Vinod was presenting a small problem with Query Tuning, which any developer would have encountered and solved with their help in such a fashion that a developer feels he or she have already resolved it. In one question, I was the only one who was ready to answer and Vinod told me in a light tone that I am now allowed to answer it! The audience really found it very amusing. There was a huge crowd around Vinod after the session. Vinod – A master storyteller! Time: 3:45pm-4:45pm Data Recovery / consistency with CheckDB This session was much heavier than the earlier one, and I must say this is my most favorite session I EVER attended in India. In this TechEd I have only attended two sessions, but in my career, I have attended numerous technical sessions not only in India, but all over the world. This session had taken my breath away. One by one, Vinod took the different databases, and started to corrupt them in different ways. Each database has some unique ways to get corrupted. Once that was done, Vinod started to show the DBCC CEHCKDB and demonstrated how it can solve your problem. He finally fixed all the databases with this single tool. I do have a good knowledge of this subject, but let me honestly admit that I have learned a lot from this session. I enjoyed and cheered during this session along with other attendees. I had total satisfaction that, just like everyone, I took advantage of the event and learned something. I am now TECHnically EDucated. Pinal Dave and Vinod Kumar After two very interactive and informative SQL Sessions from Vinod Kumar, the next turn me presenting on Spatial Database and Indexing. I got once again nervous but Vinod told me to stay natural and do my presentation. Well, once I got a huge stage with a total of four projectors and a large crowd, I felt better. Time: 5:00pm-6:00pm Session 3: Developing with SQL Server Spatial and Deep Dive into Spatial Indexing Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 I kicked off this session with Michael J Swart‘s beautiful spatial image. This session was the last one for the day but, to my surprise, I had more than 200+ attendees. Slowly, the rain was starting outside and I was worried that the hall would not be full; despite this, there was not a single seat available in the first five minutes of the session. Thanks to all of you for attending my presentation. I had demonstrated the map of world (and India) and quickly explained what  Geographic and Geometry data types in Spatial Database are. This session had interesting story of Indexing and Comparison, as well as how different traditional indexes are from spatial indexing. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 Due to the heavy rain during this event, the power went off for about 22 minutes (just an accident – nobodies fault). During these minutes, there were no audio, no video and no light. I continued to address the mass of 200+ people without any audio device and PowerPoint. I must thank the audience because not a single person left from the session. They all stayed in their place, some moved closure to listen to me properly. I noticed that the curiosity and eagerness to learn new things was at the peak even though it was the very last session of the TechEd. Everybody wanted get the maximum knowledge out of this whole event. I was touched by the support from audience. They listened and participated in my session even without any kinds of technology (no ppt, no mike, no AC, nothing). During these 22 minutes, I had completed my theory verbally. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 After a while, we got the projector back online and we continued with some exciting demos. Many thanks to Microsoft people who worked energetically in background to get the backup power for project up. I had a very interesting demo wherein I overlaid Bangalore and Hyderabad on the India Map and find their aerial distance between them. After finding the aerial distance, we browsed online and found that SQL Server estimates the exact aerial distance between these two cities, as compared to the factual distance. There was a huge applause from the crowd on the subject that SQL Server takes into the count of the curvature of the earth and finds the precise distances based on details. During the process of finding the distance, I demonstrated a few examples of the indexes where I expressed how one can use those indexes to find these distances and how they can improve the performance of similar query. I also demonstrated few examples wherein we were able to see in which data type the Index is most useful. We finished the demos with a few more internal stuff. Pinal Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 Despite all issues, I was mostly satisfied with my presentation. I think it was the best session I have ever presented at any conference. There was no help from Technology for a while, but I still got lots of appreciation at the end. When we ended the session, the applause from the audience was so loud that for a moment, the rain was not audible. I was truly moved by the dedication of the Technology enthusiasts. Pinal Dave After Presenting session at TechEd India 2010 The abstract of the session is as follows: The Microsoft SQL Server 2008 delivers new spatial data types that enable you to consume, use, and extend location-based data through spatial-enabled applications. Attend this session to learn how to use spatial functionality in next version of SQL Server to build and optimize spatial queries. This session outlines the new geography data type to store geodetic spatial data and perform operations on it, use the new geometry data type to store planar spatial data and perform operations on it, take advantage of new spatial indexes for high performance queries, use the new spatial results tab to quickly and easily view spatial query results directly from within Management Studio, extend spatial data capabilities by building or integrating location-enabled applications through support for spatial standards and specifications and much more. Time: 8:00 PM – onwards Dinner by Sponsors After the lively session during the day, there was another dinner party courtesy of one of the sponsors of TechEd. All the MVPs and several Community leaders were present at the dinner. I would like to express my gratitude to Abhishek Kant for organizing this wonderful event for us. It was a blast and really relaxing in all angles. We all stayed there for a long time and talked about our sweet and unforgettable memories of the event. Pinal Dave and Bijoy Singhal It was really one wonderful event. After writing this much, I say that I have no words to express about how much I enjoyed TechEd. However, it is true that I shared with you only 1% of the total activities I have done at the event. There were so many people I have met, yet were not mentioned here although I wanted to write their names here, too . Anyway, I have learned so many things and up until now, I am not able to get over all the fun I had in this event. Pinal Dave at TechEd India 2010 The Next Days – April 15, 2010 – till today I am still not able to get my mind out of the whole experience I had at TechEd India 2010. It was like a whole Microsoft Family working together to celebrate a happy occasion. TechEd India – Truly An Unforgettable Experience! Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: About Me, MVP, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Author Visit, SQLAuthority News, SQLServer, T SQL, Technology Tagged: TechEd, TechEdIn

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  • New features of C# 4.0

    This article covers New features of C# 4.0. Article has been divided into below sections. Introduction. Dynamic Lookup. Named and Optional Arguments. Features for COM interop. Variance. Relationship with Visual Basic. Resources. Other interested readings… 22 New Features of Visual Studio 2008 for .NET Professionals 50 New Features of SQL Server 2008 IIS 7.0 New features Introduction It is now close to a year since Microsoft Visual C# 3.0 shipped as part of Visual Studio 2008. In the VS Managed Languages team we are hard at work on creating the next version of the language (with the unsurprising working title of C# 4.0), and this document is a first public description of the planned language features as we currently see them. Please be advised that all this is in early stages of production and is subject to change. Part of the reason for sharing our plans in public so early is precisely to get the kind of feedback that will cause us to improve the final product before it rolls out. Simultaneously with the publication of this whitepaper, a first public CTP (community technology preview) of Visual Studio 2010 is going out as a Virtual PC image for everyone to try. Please use it to play and experiment with the features, and let us know of any thoughts you have. We ask for your understanding and patience working with very early bits, where especially new or newly implemented features do not have the quality or stability of a final product. The aim of the CTP is not to give you a productive work environment but to give you the best possible impression of what we are working on for the next release. The CTP contains a number of walkthroughs, some of which highlight the new language features of C# 4.0. Those are excellent for getting a hands-on guided tour through the details of some common scenarios for the features. You may consider this whitepaper a companion document to these walkthroughs, complementing them with a focus on the overall language features and how they work, as opposed to the specifics of the concrete scenarios. C# 4.0 The major theme for C# 4.0 is dynamic programming. Increasingly, objects are “dynamic” in the sense that their structure and behavior is not captured by a static type, or at least not one that the compiler knows about when compiling your program. Some examples include a. objects from dynamic programming languages, such as Python or Ruby b. COM objects accessed through IDispatch c. ordinary .NET types accessed through reflection d. objects with changing structure, such as HTML DOM objects While C# remains a statically typed language, we aim to vastly improve the interaction with such objects. A secondary theme is co-evolution with Visual Basic. Going forward we will aim to maintain the individual character of each language, but at the same time important new features should be introduced in both languages at the same time. They should be differentiated more by style and feel than by feature set. The new features in C# 4.0 fall into four groups: Dynamic lookup Dynamic lookup allows you to write method, operator and indexer calls, property and field accesses, and even object invocations which bypass the C# static type checking and instead gets resolved at runtime. Named and optional parameters Parameters in C# can now be specified as optional by providing a default value for them in a member declaration. When the member is invoked, optional arguments can be omitted. Furthermore, any argument can be passed by parameter name instead of position. COM specific interop features Dynamic lookup as well as named and optional parameters both help making programming against COM less painful than today. On top of that, however, we are adding a number of other small features that further improve the interop experience. Variance It used to be that an IEnumerable<string> wasn’t an IEnumerable<object>. Now it is – C# embraces type safe “co-and contravariance” and common BCL types are updated to take advantage of that. Dynamic Lookup Dynamic lookup allows you a unified approach to invoking things dynamically. With dynamic lookup, when you have an object in your hand you do not need to worry about whether it comes from COM, IronPython, the HTML DOM or reflection; you just apply operations to it and leave it to the runtime to figure out what exactly those operations mean for that particular object. This affords you enormous flexibility, and can greatly simplify your code, but it does come with a significant drawback: Static typing is not maintained for these operations. A dynamic object is assumed at compile time to support any operation, and only at runtime will you get an error if it wasn’t so. Oftentimes this will be no loss, because the object wouldn’t have a static type anyway, in other cases it is a tradeoff between brevity and safety. In order to facilitate this tradeoff, it is a design goal of C# to allow you to opt in or opt out of dynamic behavior on every single call. The dynamic type C# 4.0 introduces a new static type called dynamic. When you have an object of type dynamic you can “do things to it” that are resolved only at runtime: dynamic d = GetDynamicObject(…); d.M(7); The C# compiler allows you to call a method with any name and any arguments on d because it is of type dynamic. At runtime the actual object that d refers to will be examined to determine what it means to “call M with an int” on it. The type dynamic can be thought of as a special version of the type object, which signals that the object can be used dynamically. It is easy to opt in or out of dynamic behavior: any object can be implicitly converted to dynamic, “suspending belief” until runtime. Conversely, there is an “assignment conversion” from dynamic to any other type, which allows implicit conversion in assignment-like constructs: dynamic d = 7; // implicit conversion int i = d; // assignment conversion Dynamic operations Not only method calls, but also field and property accesses, indexer and operator calls and even delegate invocations can be dispatched dynamically: dynamic d = GetDynamicObject(…); d.M(7); // calling methods d.f = d.P; // getting and settings fields and properties d[“one”] = d[“two”]; // getting and setting thorugh indexers int i = d + 3; // calling operators string s = d(5,7); // invoking as a delegate The role of the C# compiler here is simply to package up the necessary information about “what is being done to d”, so that the runtime can pick it up and determine what the exact meaning of it is given an actual object d. Think of it as deferring part of the compiler’s job to runtime. The result of any dynamic operation is itself of type dynamic. Runtime lookup At runtime a dynamic operation is dispatched according to the nature of its target object d: COM objects If d is a COM object, the operation is dispatched dynamically through COM IDispatch. This allows calling to COM types that don’t have a Primary Interop Assembly (PIA), and relying on COM features that don’t have a counterpart in C#, such as indexed properties and default properties. Dynamic objects If d implements the interface IDynamicObject d itself is asked to perform the operation. Thus by implementing IDynamicObject a type can completely redefine the meaning of dynamic operations. This is used intensively by dynamic languages such as IronPython and IronRuby to implement their own dynamic object models. It will also be used by APIs, e.g. by the HTML DOM to allow direct access to the object’s properties using property syntax. Plain objects Otherwise d is a standard .NET object, and the operation will be dispatched using reflection on its type and a C# “runtime binder” which implements C#’s lookup and overload resolution semantics at runtime. This is essentially a part of the C# compiler running as a runtime component to “finish the work” on dynamic operations that was deferred by the static compiler. Example Assume the following code: dynamic d1 = new Foo(); dynamic d2 = new Bar(); string s; d1.M(s, d2, 3, null); Because the receiver of the call to M is dynamic, the C# compiler does not try to resolve the meaning of the call. Instead it stashes away information for the runtime about the call. This information (often referred to as the “payload”) is essentially equivalent to: “Perform an instance method call of M with the following arguments: 1. a string 2. a dynamic 3. a literal int 3 4. a literal object null” At runtime, assume that the actual type Foo of d1 is not a COM type and does not implement IDynamicObject. In this case the C# runtime binder picks up to finish the overload resolution job based on runtime type information, proceeding as follows: 1. Reflection is used to obtain the actual runtime types of the two objects, d1 and d2, that did not have a static type (or rather had the static type dynamic). The result is Foo for d1 and Bar for d2. 2. Method lookup and overload resolution is performed on the type Foo with the call M(string,Bar,3,null) using ordinary C# semantics. 3. If the method is found it is invoked; otherwise a runtime exception is thrown. Overload resolution with dynamic arguments Even if the receiver of a method call is of a static type, overload resolution can still happen at runtime. This can happen if one or more of the arguments have the type dynamic: Foo foo = new Foo(); dynamic d = new Bar(); var result = foo.M(d); The C# runtime binder will choose between the statically known overloads of M on Foo, based on the runtime type of d, namely Bar. The result is again of type dynamic. The Dynamic Language Runtime An important component in the underlying implementation of dynamic lookup is the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR), which is a new API in .NET 4.0. The DLR provides most of the infrastructure behind not only C# dynamic lookup but also the implementation of several dynamic programming languages on .NET, such as IronPython and IronRuby. Through this common infrastructure a high degree of interoperability is ensured, but just as importantly the DLR provides excellent caching mechanisms which serve to greatly enhance the efficiency of runtime dispatch. To the user of dynamic lookup in C#, the DLR is invisible except for the improved efficiency. However, if you want to implement your own dynamically dispatched objects, the IDynamicObject interface allows you to interoperate with the DLR and plug in your own behavior. This is a rather advanced task, which requires you to understand a good deal more about the inner workings of the DLR. For API writers, however, it can definitely be worth the trouble in order to vastly improve the usability of e.g. a library representing an inherently dynamic domain. Open issues There are a few limitations and things that might work differently than you would expect. · The DLR allows objects to be created from objects that represent classes. However, the current implementation of C# doesn’t have syntax to support this. · Dynamic lookup will not be able to find extension methods. Whether extension methods apply or not depends on the static context of the call (i.e. which using clauses occur), and this context information is not currently kept as part of the payload. · Anonymous functions (i.e. lambda expressions) cannot appear as arguments to a dynamic method call. The compiler cannot bind (i.e. “understand”) an anonymous function without knowing what type it is converted to. One consequence of these limitations is that you cannot easily use LINQ queries over dynamic objects: dynamic collection = …; var result = collection.Select(e => e + 5); If the Select method is an extension method, dynamic lookup will not find it. Even if it is an instance method, the above does not compile, because a lambda expression cannot be passed as an argument to a dynamic operation. There are no plans to address these limitations in C# 4.0. Named and Optional Arguments Named and optional parameters are really two distinct features, but are often useful together. Optional parameters allow you to omit arguments to member invocations, whereas named arguments is a way to provide an argument using the name of the corresponding parameter instead of relying on its position in the parameter list. Some APIs, most notably COM interfaces such as the Office automation APIs, are written specifically with named and optional parameters in mind. Up until now it has been very painful to call into these APIs from C#, with sometimes as many as thirty arguments having to be explicitly passed, most of which have reasonable default values and could be omitted. Even in APIs for .NET however you sometimes find yourself compelled to write many overloads of a method with different combinations of parameters, in order to provide maximum usability to the callers. Optional parameters are a useful alternative for these situations. Optional parameters A parameter is declared optional simply by providing a default value for it: public void M(int x, int y = 5, int z = 7); Here y and z are optional parameters and can be omitted in calls: M(1, 2, 3); // ordinary call of M M(1, 2); // omitting z – equivalent to M(1, 2, 7) M(1); // omitting both y and z – equivalent to M(1, 5, 7) Named and optional arguments C# 4.0 does not permit you to omit arguments between commas as in M(1,,3). This could lead to highly unreadable comma-counting code. Instead any argument can be passed by name. Thus if you want to omit only y from a call of M you can write: M(1, z: 3); // passing z by name or M(x: 1, z: 3); // passing both x and z by name or even M(z: 3, x: 1); // reversing the order of arguments All forms are equivalent, except that arguments are always evaluated in the order they appear, so in the last example the 3 is evaluated before the 1. Optional and named arguments can be used not only with methods but also with indexers and constructors. Overload resolution Named and optional arguments affect overload resolution, but the changes are relatively simple: A signature is applicable if all its parameters are either optional or have exactly one corresponding argument (by name or position) in the call which is convertible to the parameter type. Betterness rules on conversions are only applied for arguments that are explicitly given – omitted optional arguments are ignored for betterness purposes. If two signatures are equally good, one that does not omit optional parameters is preferred. M(string s, int i = 1); M(object o); M(int i, string s = “Hello”); M(int i); M(5); Given these overloads, we can see the working of the rules above. M(string,int) is not applicable because 5 doesn’t convert to string. M(int,string) is applicable because its second parameter is optional, and so, obviously are M(object) and M(int). M(int,string) and M(int) are both better than M(object) because the conversion from 5 to int is better than the conversion from 5 to object. Finally M(int) is better than M(int,string) because no optional arguments are omitted. Thus the method that gets called is M(int). Features for COM interop Dynamic lookup as well as named and optional parameters greatly improve the experience of interoperating with COM APIs such as the Office Automation APIs. In order to remove even more of the speed bumps, a couple of small COM-specific features are also added to C# 4.0. Dynamic import Many COM methods accept and return variant types, which are represented in the PIAs as object. In the vast majority of cases, a programmer calling these methods already knows the static type of a returned object from context, but explicitly has to perform a cast on the returned value to make use of that knowledge. These casts are so common that they constitute a major nuisance. In order to facilitate a smoother experience, you can now choose to import these COM APIs in such a way that variants are instead represented using the type dynamic. In other words, from your point of view, COM signatures now have occurrences of dynamic instead of object in them. This means that you can easily access members directly off a returned object, or you can assign it to a strongly typed local variable without having to cast. To illustrate, you can now say excel.Cells[1, 1].Value = "Hello"; instead of ((Excel.Range)excel.Cells[1, 1]).Value2 = "Hello"; and Excel.Range range = excel.Cells[1, 1]; instead of Excel.Range range = (Excel.Range)excel.Cells[1, 1]; Compiling without PIAs Primary Interop Assemblies are large .NET assemblies generated from COM interfaces to facilitate strongly typed interoperability. They provide great support at design time, where your experience of the interop is as good as if the types where really defined in .NET. However, at runtime these large assemblies can easily bloat your program, and also cause versioning issues because they are distributed independently of your application. The no-PIA feature allows you to continue to use PIAs at design time without having them around at runtime. Instead, the C# compiler will bake the small part of the PIA that a program actually uses directly into its assembly. At runtime the PIA does not have to be loaded. Omitting ref Because of a different programming model, many COM APIs contain a lot of reference parameters. Contrary to refs in C#, these are typically not meant to mutate a passed-in argument for the subsequent benefit of the caller, but are simply another way of passing value parameters. It therefore seems unreasonable that a C# programmer should have to create temporary variables for all such ref parameters and pass these by reference. Instead, specifically for COM methods, the C# compiler will allow you to pass arguments by value to such a method, and will automatically generate temporary variables to hold the passed-in values, subsequently discarding these when the call returns. In this way the caller sees value semantics, and will not experience any side effects, but the called method still gets a reference. Open issues A few COM interface features still are not surfaced in C#. Most notably these include indexed properties and default properties. As mentioned above these will be respected if you access COM dynamically, but statically typed C# code will still not recognize them. There are currently no plans to address these remaining speed bumps in C# 4.0. Variance An aspect of generics that often comes across as surprising is that the following is illegal: IList<string> strings = new List<string>(); IList<object> objects = strings; The second assignment is disallowed because strings does not have the same element type as objects. There is a perfectly good reason for this. If it were allowed you could write: objects[0] = 5; string s = strings[0]; Allowing an int to be inserted into a list of strings and subsequently extracted as a string. This would be a breach of type safety. However, there are certain interfaces where the above cannot occur, notably where there is no way to insert an object into the collection. Such an interface is IEnumerable<T>. If instead you say: IEnumerable<object> objects = strings; There is no way we can put the wrong kind of thing into strings through objects, because objects doesn’t have a method that takes an element in. Variance is about allowing assignments such as this in cases where it is safe. The result is that a lot of situations that were previously surprising now just work. Covariance In .NET 4.0 the IEnumerable<T> interface will be declared in the following way: public interface IEnumerable<out T> : IEnumerable { IEnumerator<T> GetEnumerator(); } public interface IEnumerator<out T> : IEnumerator { bool MoveNext(); T Current { get; } } The “out” in these declarations signifies that the T can only occur in output position in the interface – the compiler will complain otherwise. In return for this restriction, the interface becomes “covariant” in T, which means that an IEnumerable<A> is considered an IEnumerable<B> if A has a reference conversion to B. As a result, any sequence of strings is also e.g. a sequence of objects. This is useful e.g. in many LINQ methods. Using the declarations above: var result = strings.Union(objects); // succeeds with an IEnumerable<object> This would previously have been disallowed, and you would have had to to some cumbersome wrapping to get the two sequences to have the same element type. Contravariance Type parameters can also have an “in” modifier, restricting them to occur only in input positions. An example is IComparer<T>: public interface IComparer<in T> { public int Compare(T left, T right); } The somewhat baffling result is that an IComparer<object> can in fact be considered an IComparer<string>! It makes sense when you think about it: If a comparer can compare any two objects, it can certainly also compare two strings. This property is referred to as contravariance. A generic type can have both in and out modifiers on its type parameters, as is the case with the Func<…> delegate types: public delegate TResult Func<in TArg, out TResult>(TArg arg); Obviously the argument only ever comes in, and the result only ever comes out. Therefore a Func<object,string> can in fact be used as a Func<string,object>. Limitations Variant type parameters can only be declared on interfaces and delegate types, due to a restriction in the CLR. Variance only applies when there is a reference conversion between the type arguments. For instance, an IEnumerable<int> is not an IEnumerable<object> because the conversion from int to object is a boxing conversion, not a reference conversion. Also please note that the CTP does not contain the new versions of the .NET types mentioned above. In order to experiment with variance you have to declare your own variant interfaces and delegate types. COM Example Here is a larger Office automation example that shows many of the new C# features in action. using System; using System.Diagnostics; using System.Linq; using Excel = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel; using Word = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word; class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { var excel = new Excel.Application(); excel.Visible = true; excel.Workbooks.Add(); // optional arguments omitted excel.Cells[1, 1].Value = "Process Name"; // no casts; Value dynamically excel.Cells[1, 2].Value = "Memory Usage"; // accessed var processes = Process.GetProcesses() .OrderByDescending(p =&gt; p.WorkingSet) .Take(10); int i = 2; foreach (var p in processes) { excel.Cells[i, 1].Value = p.ProcessName; // no casts excel.Cells[i, 2].Value = p.WorkingSet; // no casts i++; } Excel.Range range = excel.Cells[1, 1]; // no casts Excel.Chart chart = excel.ActiveWorkbook.Charts. Add(After: excel.ActiveSheet); // named and optional arguments chart.ChartWizard( Source: range.CurrentRegion, Title: "Memory Usage in " + Environment.MachineName); //named+optional chart.ChartStyle = 45; chart.CopyPicture(Excel.XlPictureAppearance.xlScreen, Excel.XlCopyPictureFormat.xlBitmap, Excel.XlPictureAppearance.xlScreen); var word = new Word.Application(); word.Visible = true; word.Documents.Add(); // optional arguments word.Selection.Paste(); } } The code is much more terse and readable than the C# 3.0 counterpart. Note especially how the Value property is accessed dynamically. This is actually an indexed property, i.e. a property that takes an argument; something which C# does not understand. However the argument is optional. Since the access is dynamic, it goes through the runtime COM binder which knows to substitute the default value and call the indexed property. Thus, dynamic COM allows you to avoid accesses to the puzzling Value2 property of Excel ranges. Relationship with Visual Basic A number of the features introduced to C# 4.0 already exist or will be introduced in some form or other in Visual Basic: · Late binding in VB is similar in many ways to dynamic lookup in C#, and can be expected to make more use of the DLR in the future, leading to further parity with C#. · Named and optional arguments have been part of Visual Basic for a long time, and the C# version of the feature is explicitly engineered with maximal VB interoperability in mind. · NoPIA and variance are both being introduced to VB and C# at the same time. VB in turn is adding a number of features that have hitherto been a mainstay of C#. As a result future versions of C# and VB will have much better feature parity, for the benefit of everyone. Resources All available resources concerning C# 4.0 can be accessed through the C# Dev Center. Specifically, this white paper and other resources can be found at the Code Gallery site. Enjoy! span.fullpost {display:none;}

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  • Red Gate Coder interviews: Alex Davies

    - by Michael Williamson
    Alex Davies has been a software engineer at Red Gate since graduating from university, and is currently busy working on .NET Demon. We talked about tackling parallel programming with his actors framework, a scientific approach to debugging, and how JavaScript is going to affect the programming languages we use in years to come. So, if we start at the start, how did you get started in programming? When I was seven or eight, I was given a BBC Micro for Christmas. I had asked for a Game Boy, but my dad thought it would be better to give me a proper computer. For a year or so, I only played games on it, but then I found the user guide for writing programs in it. I gradually started doing more stuff on it and found it fun. I liked creating. As I went into senior school I continued to write stuff on there, trying to write games that weren’t very good. I got a real computer when I was fourteen and found ways to write BASIC on it. Visual Basic to start with, and then something more interesting than that. How did you learn to program? Was there someone helping you out? Absolutely not! I learnt out of a book, or by experimenting. I remember the first time I found a loop, I was like “Oh my God! I don’t have to write out the same line over and over and over again any more. It’s amazing!” When did you think this might be something that you actually wanted to do as a career? For a long time, I thought it wasn’t something that you would do as a career, because it was too much fun to be a career. I thought I’d do chemistry at university and some kind of career based on chemical engineering. And then I went to a careers fair at school when I was seventeen or eighteen, and it just didn’t interest me whatsoever. I thought “I could be a programmer, and there’s loads of money there, and I’m good at it, and it’s fun”, but also that I shouldn’t spoil my hobby. Now I don’t really program in my spare time any more, which is a bit of a shame, but I program all the rest of the time, so I can live with it. Do you think you learnt much about programming at university? Yes, definitely! I went into university knowing how to make computers do anything I wanted them to do. However, I didn’t have the language to talk about algorithms, so the algorithms course in my first year was massively important. Learning other language paradigms like functional programming was really good for breadth of understanding. Functional programming influences normal programming through design rather than actually using it all the time. I draw inspiration from it to write imperative programs which I think is actually becoming really fashionable now, but I’ve been doing it for ages. I did it first! There were also some courses on really odd programming languages, a bit of Prolog, a little bit of C. Having a little bit of each of those is something that I would have never done on my own, so it was important. And then there are knowledge-based courses which are about not programming itself but things that have been programmed like TCP. Those are really important for examples for how to approach things. Did you do any internships while you were at university? Yeah, I spent both of my summers at the same company. I thought I could code well before I went there. Looking back at the crap that I produced, it was only surpassed in its crappiness by all of the other code already in that company. I’m so much better at writing nice code now than I used to be back then. Was there just not a culture of looking after your code? There was, they just didn’t hire people for their abilities in that area. They hired people for raw IQ. The first indicator of it going wrong was that they didn’t have any computer scientists, which is a bit odd in a programming company. But even beyond that they didn’t have people who learnt architecture from anyone else. Most of them had started straight out of university, so never really had experience or mentors to learn from. There wasn’t the experience to draw from to teach each other. In the second half of my second internship, I was being given tasks like looking at new technologies and teaching people stuff. Interns shouldn’t be teaching people how to do their jobs! All interns are going to have little nuggets of things that you don’t know about, but they shouldn’t consistently be the ones who know the most. It’s not a good environment to learn. I was going to ask how you found working with people who were more experienced than you… When I reached Red Gate, I found some people who were more experienced programmers than me, and that was difficult. I’ve been coding since I was tiny. At university there were people who were cleverer than me, but there weren’t very many who were more experienced programmers than me. During my internship, I didn’t find anyone who I classed as being a noticeably more experienced programmer than me. So, it was a shock to the system to have valid criticisms rather than just formatting criticisms. However, Red Gate’s not so big on the actual code review, at least it wasn’t when I started. We did an entire product release and then somebody looked over all of the UI of that product which I’d written and say what they didn’t like. By that point, it was way too late and I’d disagree with them. Do you think the lack of code reviews was a bad thing? I think if there’s going to be any oversight of new people, then it should be continuous rather than chunky. For me I don’t mind too much, I could go out and get oversight if I wanted it, and in those situations I felt comfortable without it. If I was managing the new person, then maybe I’d be keener on oversight and then the right way to do it is continuously and in very, very small chunks. Have you had any significant projects you’ve worked on outside of a job? When I was a teenager I wrote all sorts of stuff. I used to write games, I derived how to do isomorphic projections myself once. I didn’t know what the word was so I couldn’t Google for it, so I worked it out myself. It was horrifically complicated. But it sort of tailed off when I started at university, and is now basically zero. If I do side-projects now, they tend to be work-related side projects like my actors framework, NAct, which I started in a down tools week. Could you explain a little more about NAct? It is a little C# framework for writing parallel code more easily. Parallel programming is difficult when you need to write to shared data. Sometimes parallel programming is easy because you don’t need to write to shared data. When you do need to access shared data, you could just have your threads pile in and do their work, but then you would screw up the data because the threads would trample on each other’s toes. You could lock, but locks are really dangerous if you’re using more than one of them. You get interactions like deadlocks, and that’s just nasty. Actors instead allows you to say this piece of data belongs to this thread of execution, and nobody else can read it. If you want to read it, then ask that thread of execution for a piece of it by sending a message, and it will send the data back by a message. And that avoids deadlocks as long as you follow some obvious rules about not making your actors sit around waiting for other actors to do something. There are lots of ways to write actors, NAct allows you to do it as if it was method calls on other objects, which means you get all the strong type-safety that C# programmers like. Do you think that this is suitable for the majority of parallel programming, or do you think it’s only suitable for specific cases? It’s suitable for most difficult parallel programming. If you’ve just got a hundred web requests which are all independent of each other, then I wouldn’t bother because it’s easier to just spin them up in separate threads and they can proceed independently of each other. But where you’ve got difficult parallel programming, where you’ve got multiple threads accessing multiple bits of data in multiple ways at different times, then actors is at least as good as all other ways, and is, I reckon, easier to think about. When you’re using actors, you presumably still have to write your code in a different way from you would otherwise using single-threaded code. You can’t use actors with any methods that have return types, because you’re not allowed to call into another actor and wait for it. If you want to get a piece of data out of another actor, then you’ve got to use tasks so that you can use “async” and “await” to await asynchronously for it. But other than that, you can still stick things in classes so it’s not too different really. Rather than having thousands of objects with mutable state, you can use component-orientated design, where there are only a few mutable classes which each have a small number of instances. Then there can be thousands of immutable objects. If you tend to do that anyway, then actors isn’t much of a jump. If I’ve already built my system without any parallelism, how hard is it to add actors to exploit all eight cores on my desktop? Usually pretty easy. If you can identify even one boundary where things look like messages and you have components where some objects live on one side and these other objects live on the other side, then you can have a granddaddy object on one side be an actor and it will parallelise as it goes across that boundary. Not too difficult. If we do get 1000-core desktop PCs, do you think actors will scale up? It’s hard. There are always in the order of twenty to fifty actors in my whole program because I tend to write each component as actors, and I tend to have one instance of each component. So this won’t scale to a thousand cores. What you can do is write data structures out of actors. I use dictionaries all over the place, and if you need a dictionary that is going to be accessed concurrently, then you could build one of those out of actors in no time. You can use queuing to marshal requests between different slices of the dictionary which are living on different threads. So it’s like a distributed hash table but all of the chunks of it are on the same machine. That means that each of these thousand processors has cached one small piece of the dictionary. I reckon it wouldn’t be too big a leap to start doing proper parallelism. Do you think it helps if actors get baked into the language, similarly to Erlang? Erlang is excellent in that it has thread-local garbage collection. C# doesn’t, so there’s a limit to how well C# actors can possibly scale because there’s a single garbage collected heap shared between all of them. When you do a global garbage collection, you’ve got to stop all of the actors, which is seriously expensive, whereas in Erlang garbage collections happen per-actor, so they’re insanely cheap. However, Erlang deviated from all the sensible language design that people have used recently and has just come up with crazy stuff. You can definitely retrofit thread-local garbage collection to .NET, and then it’s quite well-suited to support actors, even if it’s not baked into the language. Speaking of language design, do you have a favourite programming language? I’ll choose a language which I’ve never written before. I like the idea of Scala. It sounds like C#, only with some of the niggles gone. I enjoy writing static types. It means you don’t have to writing tests so much. When you say it doesn’t have some of the niggles? C# doesn’t allow the use of a property as a method group. It doesn’t have Scala case classes, or sum types, where you can do a switch statement and the compiler checks that you’ve checked all the cases, which is really useful in functional-style programming. Pattern-matching, in other words. That’s actually the major niggle. C# is pretty good, and I’m quite happy with C#. And what about going even further with the type system to remove the need for tests to something like Haskell? Or is that a step too far? I’m quite a pragmatist, I don’t think I could deal with trying to write big systems in languages with too few other users, especially when learning how to structure things. I just don’t know anyone who can teach me, and the Internet won’t teach me. That’s the main reason I wouldn’t use it. If I turned up at a company that writes big systems in Haskell, I would have no objection to that, but I wouldn’t instigate it. What about things in C#? For instance, there’s contracts in C#, so you can try to statically verify a bit more about your code. Do you think that’s useful, or just not worthwhile? I’ve not really tried it. My hunch is that it needs to be built into the language and be quite mathematical for it to work in real life, and that doesn’t seem to have ended up true for C# contracts. I don’t think anyone who’s tried them thinks they’re any good. I might be wrong. On a slightly different note, how do you like to debug code? I think I’m quite an odd debugger. I use guesswork extremely rarely, especially if something seems quite difficult to debug. I’ve been bitten spending hours and hours on guesswork and not being scientific about debugging in the past, so now I’m scientific to a fault. What I want is to see the bug happening in the debugger, to step through the bug happening. To watch the program going from a valid state to an invalid state. When there’s a bug and I can’t work out why it’s happening, I try to find some piece of evidence which places the bug in one section of the code. From that experiment, I binary chop on the possible causes of the bug. I suppose that means binary chopping on places in the code, or binary chopping on a stage through a processing cycle. Basically, I’m very stupid about how I debug. I won’t make any guesses, I won’t use any intuition, I will only identify the experiment that’s going to binary chop most effectively and repeat rather than trying to guess anything. I suppose it’s quite top-down. Is most of the time then spent in the debugger? Absolutely, if at all possible I will never debug using print statements or logs. I don’t really hold much stock in outputting logs. If there’s any bug which can be reproduced locally, I’d rather do it in the debugger than outputting logs. And with SmartAssembly error reporting, there’s not a lot that can’t be either observed in an error report and just fixed, or reproduced locally. And in those other situations, maybe I’ll use logs. But I hate using logs. You stare at the log, trying to guess what’s going on, and that’s exactly what I don’t like doing. You have to just look at it and see does this look right or wrong. We’ve covered how you get to grip with bugs. How do you get to grips with an entire codebase? I watch it in the debugger. I find little bugs and then try to fix them, and mostly do it by watching them in the debugger and gradually getting an understanding of how the code works using my process of binary chopping. I have to do a lot of reading and watching code to choose where my slicing-in-half experiment is going to be. The last time I did it was SmartAssembly. The old code was a complete mess, but at least it did things top to bottom. There wasn’t too much of some of the big abstractions where flow of control goes all over the place, into a base class and back again. Code’s really hard to understand when that happens. So I like to choose a little bug and try to fix it, and choose a bigger bug and try to fix it. Definitely learn by doing. I want to always have an aim so that I get a little achievement after every few hours of debugging. Once I’ve learnt the codebase I might be able to fix all the bugs in an hour, but I’d rather be using them as an aim while I’m learning the codebase. If I was a maintainer of a codebase, what should I do to make it as easy as possible for you to understand? Keep distinct concepts in different places. And name your stuff so that it’s obvious which concepts live there. You shouldn’t have some variable that gets set miles up the top of somewhere, and then is read miles down to choose some later behaviour. I’m talking from a very much SmartAssembly point of view because the old SmartAssembly codebase had tons and tons of these things, where it would read some property of the code and then deal with it later. Just thousands of variables in scope. Loads of things to think about. If you can keep concepts separate, then it aids me in my process of fixing bugs one at a time, because each bug is going to more or less be understandable in the one place where it is. And what about tests? Do you think they help at all? I’ve never had the opportunity to learn a codebase which has had tests, I don’t know what it’s like! What about when you’re actually developing? How useful do you find tests in finding bugs or regressions? Finding regressions, absolutely. Running bits of code that would be quite hard to run otherwise, definitely. It doesn’t happen very often that a test finds a bug in the first place. I don’t really buy nebulous promises like tests being a good way to think about the spec of the code. My thinking goes something like “This code works at the moment, great, ship it! Ah, there’s a way that this code doesn’t work. Okay, write a test, demonstrate that it doesn’t work, fix it, use the test to demonstrate that it’s now fixed, and keep the test for future regressions.” The most valuable tests are for bugs that have actually happened at some point, because bugs that have actually happened at some point, despite the fact that you think you’ve fixed them, are way more likely to appear again than new bugs are. Does that mean that when you write your code the first time, there are no tests? Often. The chance of there being a bug in a new feature is relatively unaffected by whether I’ve written a test for that new feature because I’m not good enough at writing tests to think of bugs that I would have written into the code. So not writing regression tests for all of your code hasn’t affected you too badly? There are different kinds of features. Some of them just always work, and are just not flaky, they just continue working whatever you throw at them. Maybe because the type-checker is particularly effective around them. Writing tests for those features which just tend to always work is a waste of time. And because it’s a waste of time I’ll tend to wait until a feature has demonstrated its flakiness by having bugs in it before I start trying to test it. You can get a feel for whether it’s going to be flaky code as you’re writing it. I try to write it to make it not flaky, but there are some things that are just inherently flaky. And very occasionally, I’ll think “this is going to be flaky” as I’m writing, and then maybe do a test, but not most of the time. How do you think your programming style has changed over time? I’ve got clearer about what the right way of doing things is. I used to flip-flop a lot between different ideas. Five years ago I came up with some really good ideas and some really terrible ideas. All of them seemed great when I thought of them, but they were quite diverse ideas, whereas now I have a smaller set of reliable ideas that are actually good for structuring code. So my code is probably more similar to itself than it used to be back in the day, when I was trying stuff out. I’ve got more disciplined about encapsulation, I think. There are operational things like I use actors more now than I used to, and that forces me to use immutability more than I used to. The first code that I wrote in Red Gate was the memory profiler UI, and that was an actor, I just didn’t know the name of it at the time. I don’t really use object-orientation. By object-orientation, I mean having n objects of the same type which are mutable. I want a constant number of objects that are mutable, and they should be different types. I stick stuff in dictionaries and then have one thing that owns the dictionary and puts stuff in and out of it. That’s definitely a pattern that I’ve seen recently. I think maybe I’m doing functional programming. Possibly. It’s plausible. If you had to summarise the essence of programming in a pithy sentence, how would you do it? Programming is the form of art that, without losing any of the beauty of architecture or fine art, allows you to produce things that people love and you make money from. So you think it’s an art rather than a science? It’s a little bit of engineering, a smidgeon of maths, but it’s not science. Like architecture, programming is on that boundary between art and engineering. If you want to do it really nicely, it’s mostly art. You can get away with doing architecture and programming entirely by having a good engineering mind, but you’re not going to produce anything nice. You’re not going to have joy doing it if you’re an engineering mind. Architects who are just engineering minds are not going to enjoy their job. I suppose engineering is the foundation on which you build the art. Exactly. How do you think programming is going to change over the next ten years? There will be an unfortunate shift towards dynamically-typed languages, because of JavaScript. JavaScript has an unfair advantage. JavaScript’s unfair advantage will cause more people to be exposed to dynamically-typed languages, which means other dynamically-typed languages crop up and the best features go into dynamically-typed languages. Then people conflate the good features with the fact that it’s dynamically-typed, and more investment goes into dynamically-typed languages. They end up better, so people use them. What about the idea of compiling other languages, possibly statically-typed, to JavaScript? It’s a reasonable idea. I would like to do it, but I don’t think enough people in the world are going to do it to make it pick up. The hordes of beginners are the lifeblood of a language community. They are what makes there be good tools and what makes there be vibrant community websites. And any particular thing which is the same as JavaScript only with extra stuff added to it, although it might be technically great, is not going to have the hordes of beginners. JavaScript is always to be quickest and easiest way for a beginner to start programming in the browser. And dynamically-typed languages are great for beginners. Compilers are pretty scary and beginners don’t write big code. And having your errors come up in the same place, whether they’re statically checkable errors or not, is quite nice for a beginner. If someone asked me to teach them some programming, I’d teach them JavaScript. If dynamically-typed languages are great for beginners, when do you think the benefits of static typing start to kick in? The value of having a statically typed program is in the tools that rely on the static types to produce a smooth IDE experience rather than actually telling me my compile errors. And only once you’re experienced enough a programmer that having a really smooth IDE experience makes a blind bit of difference, does static typing make a blind bit of difference. So it’s not really about size of codebase. If I go and write up a tiny program, I’m still going to get value out of writing it in C# using ReSharper because I’m experienced with C# and ReSharper enough to be able to write code five times faster if I have that help. Any other visions of the future? Nobody’s going to use actors. Because everyone’s going to be running on single-core VMs connected over network-ready protocols like JSON over HTTP. So, parallelism within one operating system is going to die. But until then, you should use actors. More Red Gater Coder interviews

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  • Passing multiple simple POST Values to ASP.NET Web API

    - by Rick Strahl
    A few weeks backs I posted a blog post  about what does and doesn't work with ASP.NET Web API when it comes to POSTing data to a Web API controller. One of the features that doesn't work out of the box - somewhat unexpectedly -  is the ability to map POST form variables to simple parameters of a Web API method. For example imagine you have this form and you want to post this data to a Web API end point like this via AJAX: <form> Name: <input type="name" name="name" value="Rick" /> Value: <input type="value" name="value" value="12" /> Entered: <input type="entered" name="entered" value="12/01/2011" /> <input type="button" id="btnSend" value="Send" /> </form> <script type="text/javascript"> $("#btnSend").click( function() { $.post("samples/PostMultipleSimpleValues?action=kazam", $("form").serialize(), function (result) { alert(result); }); }); </script> or you might do this more explicitly by creating a simple client map and specifying the POST values directly by hand:$.post("samples/PostMultipleSimpleValues?action=kazam", { name: "Rick", value: 1, entered: "12/01/2012" }, $("form").serialize(), function (result) { alert(result); }); On the wire this generates a simple POST request with Url Encoded values in the content:POST /AspNetWebApi/samples/PostMultipleSimpleValues?action=kazam HTTP/1.1 Host: localhost User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; WOW64; rv:15.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/15.0.1 Accept: application/json Connection: keep-alive Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8 X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest Referer: http://localhost/AspNetWebApi/FormPostTest.html Content-Length: 41 Pragma: no-cache Cache-Control: no-cachename=Rick&value=12&entered=12%2F10%2F2011 Seems simple enough, right? We are basically posting 3 form variables and 1 query string value to the server. Unfortunately Web API can't handle request out of the box. If I create a method like this:[HttpPost] public string PostMultipleSimpleValues(string name, int value, DateTime entered, string action = null) { return string.Format("Name: {0}, Value: {1}, Date: {2}, Action: {3}", name, value, entered, action); }You'll find that you get an HTTP 404 error and { "Message": "No HTTP resource was found that matches the request URI…"} Yes, it's possible to pass multiple POST parameters of course, but Web API expects you to use Model Binding for this - mapping the post parameters to a strongly typed .NET object, not to single parameters. Alternately you can also accept a FormDataCollection parameter on your API method to get a name value collection of all POSTed values. If you're using JSON only, using the dynamic JObject/JValue objects might also work. ModelBinding is fine in many use cases, but can quickly become overkill if you only need to pass a couple of simple parameters to many methods. Especially in applications with many, many AJAX callbacks the 'parameter mapping type' per method signature can lead to serious class pollution in a project very quickly. Simple POST variables are also commonly used in AJAX applications to pass data to the server, even in many complex public APIs. So this is not an uncommon use case, and - maybe more so a behavior that I would have expected Web API to support natively. The question "Why aren't my POST parameters mapping to Web API method parameters" is already a frequent one… So this is something that I think is fairly important, but unfortunately missing in the base Web API installation. Creating a Custom Parameter Binder Luckily Web API is greatly extensible and there's a way to create a custom Parameter Binding to provide this functionality! Although this solution took me a long while to find and then only with the help of some folks Microsoft (thanks Hong Mei!!!), it's not difficult to hook up in your own projects. It requires one small class and a GlobalConfiguration hookup. Web API parameter bindings allow you to intercept processing of individual parameters - they deal with mapping parameters to the signature as well as converting the parameters to the actual values that are returned. Here's the implementation of the SimplePostVariableParameterBinding class:public class SimplePostVariableParameterBinding : HttpParameterBinding { private const string MultipleBodyParameters = "MultipleBodyParameters"; public SimplePostVariableParameterBinding(HttpParameterDescriptor descriptor) : base(descriptor) { } /// <summary> /// Check for simple binding parameters in POST data. Bind POST /// data as well as query string data /// </summary> public override Task ExecuteBindingAsync(ModelMetadataProvider metadataProvider, HttpActionContext actionContext, CancellationToken cancellationToken) { // Body can only be read once, so read and cache it NameValueCollection col = TryReadBody(actionContext.Request); string stringValue = null; if (col != null) stringValue = col[Descriptor.ParameterName]; // try reading query string if we have no POST/PUT match if (stringValue == null) { var query = actionContext.Request.GetQueryNameValuePairs(); if (query != null) { var matches = query.Where(kv => kv.Key.ToLower() == Descriptor.ParameterName.ToLower()); if (matches.Count() > 0) stringValue = matches.First().Value; } } object value = StringToType(stringValue); // Set the binding result here SetValue(actionContext, value); // now, we can return a completed task with no result TaskCompletionSource<AsyncVoid> tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<AsyncVoid>(); tcs.SetResult(default(AsyncVoid)); return tcs.Task; } private object StringToType(string stringValue) { object value = null; if (stringValue == null) value = null; else if (Descriptor.ParameterType == typeof(string)) value = stringValue; else if (Descriptor.ParameterType == typeof(int)) value = int.Parse(stringValue, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture); else if (Descriptor.ParameterType == typeof(Int32)) value = Int32.Parse(stringValue, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture); else if (Descriptor.ParameterType == typeof(Int64)) value = Int64.Parse(stringValue, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture); else if (Descriptor.ParameterType == typeof(decimal)) value = decimal.Parse(stringValue, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture); else if (Descriptor.ParameterType == typeof(double)) value = double.Parse(stringValue, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture); else if (Descriptor.ParameterType == typeof(DateTime)) value = DateTime.Parse(stringValue, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture); else if (Descriptor.ParameterType == typeof(bool)) { value = false; if (stringValue == "true" || stringValue == "on" || stringValue == "1") value = true; } else value = stringValue; return value; } /// <summary> /// Read and cache the request body /// </summary> /// <param name="request"></param> /// <returns></returns> private NameValueCollection TryReadBody(HttpRequestMessage request) { object result = null; // try to read out of cache first if (!request.Properties.TryGetValue(MultipleBodyParameters, out result)) { // parsing the string like firstname=Hongmei&lastname=Ge result = request.Content.ReadAsFormDataAsync().Result; request.Properties.Add(MultipleBodyParameters, result); } return result as NameValueCollection; } private struct AsyncVoid { } }   The ExecuteBindingAsync method is fired for each parameter that is mapped and sent for conversion. This custom binding is fired only if the incoming parameter is a simple type (that gets defined later when I hook up the binding), so this binding never fires on complex types or if the first type is not a simple type. For the first parameter of a request the Binding first reads the request body into a NameValueCollection and caches that in the request.Properties collection. The request body can only be read once, so the first parameter request reads it and then caches it. Subsequent parameters then use the cached POST value collection. Once the form collection is available the value of the parameter is read, and the value is translated into the target type requested by the Descriptor. SetValue writes out the value to be mapped. Once you have the ParameterBinding in place, the binding has to be assigned. This is done along with all other Web API configuration tasks at application startup in global.asax's Application_Start:GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.ParameterBindingRules .Insert(0, (HttpParameterDescriptor descriptor) => { var supportedMethods = descriptor.ActionDescriptor.SupportedHttpMethods; // Only apply this binder on POST and PUT operations if (supportedMethods.Contains(HttpMethod.Post) || supportedMethods.Contains(HttpMethod.Put)) { var supportedTypes = new Type[] { typeof(string), typeof(int), typeof(decimal), typeof(double), typeof(bool), typeof(DateTime) }; if (supportedTypes.Where(typ => typ == descriptor.ParameterType).Count() > 0) return new SimplePostVariableParameterBinding(descriptor); } // let the default bindings do their work return null; });   The ParameterBindingRules.Insert method takes a delegate that checks which type of requests it should handle. The logic here checks whether the request is POST or PUT and whether the parameter type is a simple type that is supported. Web API calls this delegate once for each method signature it tries to map and the delegate returns null to indicate it's not handling this parameter, or it returns a new parameter binding instance - in this case the SimplePostVariableParameterBinding. Once the parameter binding and this hook up code is in place, you can now pass simple POST values to methods with simple parameters. The examples I showed above should now work in addition to the standard bindings. Summary Clearly this is not easy to discover. I spent quite a bit of time digging through the Web API source trying to figure this out on my own without much luck. It took Hong Mei at Micrsoft to provide a base example as I asked around so I can't take credit for this solution :-). But once you know where to look, Web API is brilliantly extensible to make it relatively easy to customize the parameter behavior. I'm very stoked that this got resolved  - in the last two months I've had two customers with projects that decided not to use Web API in AJAX heavy SPA applications because this POST variable mapping wasn't available. This might actually change their mind to still switch back and take advantage of the many great features in Web API. I too frequently use plain POST variables for communicating with server AJAX handlers and while I could have worked around this (with untyped JObject or the Form collection mostly), having proper POST to parameter mapping makes things much easier. I said this in my last post on POST data and say it again here: I think POST to method parameter mapping should have been shipped in the box with Web API, because without knowing about this limitation the expectation is that simple POST variables map to parameters just like query string values do. I hope Microsoft considers including this type of functionality natively in the next version of Web API natively or at least as a built-in HttpParameterBinding that can be just added. This is especially true, since this binding doesn't affect existing bindings. Resources SimplePostVariableParameterBinding Source on GitHub Global.asax hookup source Mapping URL Encoded Post Values in  ASP.NET Web API© Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2012Posted in Web Api  AJAX   Tweet !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();

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  • Advantages of SQL Backup Pro

    - by Grant Fritchey
    Getting backups of your databases in place is a fundamental issue for protection of the business. Yes, I said business, not data, not databases, but business. Because of a lack of good, tested, backups, companies have gone completely out of business or suffered traumatic financial loss. That’s just a simple fact (outlined with a few examples here). So you want to get backups right. That’s a big part of why we make Red Gate SQL Backup Pro work the way it does. Yes, you could just use native backups, but you’ll be missing a few advantages that we provide over and above what you get out of the box from Microsoft. Let’s talk about them. Guidance If you’re a hard-core DBA with 20+ years of experience on every version of SQL Server and several other data platforms besides, you may already know what you need in order to get a set of tested backups in place. But, if you’re not, maybe a little help would be a good thing. To set up backups for your servers, we supply a wizard that will step you through the entire process. It will also act to guide you down good paths. For example, if your databases are in Full Recovery, you should set up transaction log backups to run on a regular basis. When you choose a transaction log backup from the Backup Type you’ll see that only those databases that are in Full Recovery will be listed: This makes it very easy to be sure you have a log backup set up for all the databases you should and none of the databases where you won’t be able to. There are other examples of guidance throughout the product. If you have the responsibility of managing backups but very little knowledge or time, we can help you out. Throughout the software you’ll notice little green question marks. You can see two in the screen above and more in each of the screens in other topics below this one. Clicking on these will open a window with additional information about the topic in question which should help to guide you through some of the tougher decisions you may have to make while setting up your backup jobs. Here’s an example: Backup Copies As a part of the wizard you can choose to make a copy of your backup on your network. This process runs as part of the Red Gate SQL Backup engine. It will copy your backup, after completing the backup so it doesn’t cause any additional blocking or resource use within the backup process, to the network location you define. Creating a copy acts as a mechanism of protection for your backups. You can then backup that copy or do other things with it, all without affecting the original backup file. This requires either an additional backup or additional scripting to get it done within the native Microsoft backup engine. Offsite Storage Red Gate offers you the ability to immediately copy your backup to the cloud as a further, off-site, protection of your backups. It’s a service we provide and expose through the Backup wizard. Your backup will complete first, just like with the network backup copy, then an asynchronous process will copy that backup to cloud storage. Again, this is built right into the wizard or even the command line calls to SQL Backup, so it’s part a single process within your system. With native backup you would need to write additional scripts, possibly outside of T-SQL, to make this happen. Before you can use this with your backups you’ll need to do a little setup, but it’s built right into the product to get this done. You’ll be directed to the web site for our hosted storage where you can set up an account. Compression If you have SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, or you’re on SQL Server 2008R2 or greater and you have a Standard or Enterprise license, then you have backup compression. It’s built right in and works well. But, if you need even more compression then you might want to consider Red Gate SQL Backup Pro. We offer four levels of compression within the product. This means you can get a little compression faster, or you can just sacrifice some CPU time and get even more compression. You decide. For just a simple example I backed up AdventureWorks2012 using both methods of compression. The resulting file from native was 53mb. Our file was 33mb. That’s a file that is smaller by 38%, not a small number when we start talking gigabytes. We even provide guidance here to help you determine which level of compression would be right for you and your system: So for this test, if you wanted maximum compression with minimum CPU use you’d probably want to go with Level 2 which gets you almost as much compression as Level 3 but will use fewer resources. And that compression is still better than the native one by 10%. Restore Testing Backups are vital. But, a backup is just a file until you restore it. How do you know that you can restore that backup? Of course, you’ll use CHECKSUM to validate that what was read from disk during the backup process is what gets written to the backup file. You’ll also use VERIFYONLY to check that the backup header and the checksums on the backup file are valid. But, this doesn’t do a complete test of the backup. The only complete test is a restore. So, what you really need is a process that tests your backups. This is something you’ll have to schedule separately from your backups, but we provide a couple of mechanisms to help you out here. First, when you create a backup schedule, all done through our wizard which gives you as much guidance as you get when running backups, you get the option of creating a reminder to create a job to test your restores. You can enable this or disable it as you choose when creating your scheduled backups. Once you’re ready to schedule test restores for your databases, we have a wizard for this as well. After you choose the databases and restores you want to test, all configurable for automation, you get to decide if you’re going to restore to a specified copy or to the original database: If you’re doing your tests on a new server (probably the best choice) you can just overwrite the original database if it’s there. If not, you may want to create a new database each time you test your restores. Another part of validating your backups is ensuring that they can pass consistency checks. So we have DBCC built right into the process. You can even decide how you want DBCC run, which error messages to include, limit or add to the checks being run. With this you could offload some DBCC checks from your production system so that you only run the physical checks on your production box, but run the full check on this backup. That makes backup testing not just a general safety process, but a performance enhancer as well: Finally, assuming the tests pass, you can delete the database, leave it in place, or delete it regardless of the tests passing. All this is automated and scheduled through the SQL Agent job on your servers. Running your databases through this process will ensure that you don’t just have backups, but that you have tested backups. Single Point of Management If you have more than one server to maintain, getting backups setup could be a tedious process. But, with Red Gate SQL Backup Pro you can connect to multiple servers and then manage all your databases and all your servers backups from a single location. You’ll be able to see what is scheduled, what has run successfully and what has failed, all from a single interface without having to connect to different servers. Log Shipping Wizard If you want to set up log shipping as part of a disaster recovery process, it can frequently be a pain to get configured correctly. We supply a wizard that will walk you through every step of the process including setting up alerts so you’ll know should your log shipping fail. Summary You want to get your backups right. As outlined above, Red Gate SQL Backup Pro will absolutely help you there. We supply a number of processes and functionalities above and beyond what you get with SQL Server native. Plus, with our guidance, hints and reminders, you will get your backups set up in a way that protects your business.

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  • Recreating OMS instances in a HA environment when instances on all nodes are lost

    - by rnigam
    Oracle highly recommends deploying EM in a HA environment. The best practices for HA deployments, backup and housekeeping of your Enterprise Manager environment are documented in the Oracle Enterprise Manager Advanced Configuration Guide. It is imperative that there is a good disaster recovery plan in place for your EM deployment. In this post I want to talk about a customer who failed to do the correct planning and housekeeping for EM and landed in a situation where we the all the OMSes were nearly blown away had we not jumped to help. We recently hit an issue at a customer site where we had a two node OMS setup of the Enterprise Manager and a RAC Database being used as the EM repository. An accidental delete of the OMS oracle home left us with a single node deployment. While we were trying to figure out a possible path to recover the first node, the second node was rebooted under a maintenance window. What followed was a complete site outage as the Admin and managed servers would not start on either of the nodes. In my situation there were - No backups of the Oracle Homes from any node - No OMS Configuration snapshots (created using the “emctl exportconfig oms” command) and the instance home was completely lost on node 1 which also had the Admin Server  We did however have: - A copy of the emkey.ora that I found under the OMS_ORACLE_HOME/ of the second node (NOTE: it is a bad practice to have your emkey present under the OMS Oracle home directory on the same server as the OMS. The backup of the emkey should be maintained on some other server. In this case however it was a savior in my situation since there were no backups - The oms oracle home on the second node but missing a number of files and had a number of changes done to the files in the home. There were a number of attempts to start the server by modifying various files based on the Weblogic server logs to have atleast node up and running but all of them failed. Here is how you can recover from this scenario: Follow these steps: STEP 1: Check status of emkey.ora Check whether the emkey exists is present in the EM repository or not. Run the following command: $OMS_ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl status emkey If the output is something like this below then you are good to go and the key is present in the repository ./emctl status emkey Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g Release 1 Grid Control Copyright (c) 1996, 2010 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved. Enter Enterprise Manager Root (SYSMAN) Password : The EMKey is configured properly. Here are the messages that you might see as the emctl status emkey output depending upon whether the EM Admin Server is up and if the key is configured properly: Case1:  AdminServer is up, emkey is proper in CredStore & not in repos. This is same as the output of the command shown above:The EMKey is configured properly Case 2: AdminServer is up, emkey is proper in CredStore & exists in repos:The EMKey is configured properly, but is not secure. Secure the EMKey by running "emctl config emkey -remove_from_repos".Case 3: AdminServer is down or emkey is corrupted in CredStore) & (emkey exists in repos): The EMKey exists in the Management Repository, but is not configured properly or is corrupted in the credential store.Configure the EMKey by running "emctl config emkey -copy_to_credstore".Case 4: (AdminServer is down or emkey is corrupted in CredStore) & (emkey does not exist in repos): The EMKey is not configured properly or is corrupted in the credential store and does not exist in the Management Repository. To correct the problem:1) Get the backed up emkey.ora file.2) Configure the emkey by running "emctl config emkey -copy_to_credstore_from_file". If not the key was not secured properly, we will have to be put in the repository before proceeding. Look at the next step 2 for doing this There may be cases (like mine) where running emctl may give errors like the following: $OMS_ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl status emkey Exception in thread “Main Thread” java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: oracle/security/pki/OracleWallet At oracle.sysman.emctl.config.oms.EMKeyCmds.main (EMKeyCmds.java:658) Just move to the next step to put the key back in the repository STEP 2: Put emkey.ora back in the repository Skip this step if your emkey.ora is present in the repository. If not, you need to put the key back in the repository See if you can run the following command (with sample output): $OMS_ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl config emkey –copy_to_repos Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g Release 1 Grid Control Copyright (c) 1996, 2010 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved. The EMKey has been copied to the Management Repository. This operation will cause the EMKey to become unsecure. After the required operation has been completed, secure the EMKey by running "emctl config emkey -remove_from_repos". Typically the key is present under $OMS_ORACLE_HOME/sysman/config directory before being removed after the install as a best practice. If you hit any errors while running emctl commands like the one mentioned in step 1, jump to step 3 and we will take care of the emkey.ora in Step 5 STEP 3: Get the port information Check for the existing port information in the emd.properties file under EM_INSTANCE_DIRECTORY (typically gc_inst directory right above the Middleware home where you have deployed em. For eg. /u01/app/oracle/product/gc_inst in case your oms home is /u01/app/oracle/product/Middleware/oms11g) In my case I got the information from the emgc.properties present in the gc_inst on the second node. If you can run emctl you may want to try the following command as well $OMS_ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl status oms –details Note this information as this will be used in the next step STEP 4: Perform cleanup on Node 1 Note the oracle home of the Weblogic and OMS, get the list of applied patches in the homes (using opatch lsinventory command), take a backup copy of the home just in case we need it and then de-install/remove oracle homes, update inventory and cleanup processes on the first node STEP 5: Perform Software Only Installation of OMS on Node 1 Perform Weblogic 10.3.2 installation exactly under the same location as present in the earlier installation. Perform software only installation of the OMS using the following command. This will not run any configuration assistants and bypass all user interface validations runInstaller –noconfig -validationaswarnings Select the “Additional OMS” option while performing the installation. Provide the same path for OMS and Instance directories like the previous installation Use the port information collected in Step 3 while performing the installation. Once the installation is complete run the allroot.sh script to complete the binary deployment STEP 6: Apply one-off patches At this point you can apply any patches to the OMS Oracle Home previously. You only need to run opatch to install the patch in the home and not required to run the SQLs STEP 7: Copy EM key This step is only required if you were not able to use emctl command to put the emkey back into the EM repository in STEP 2 Copy the emkey.ora file of the old installation you have under $OMS_ORACLE_HOME/sysman/config directory of the newly installed OMS STEP 8: Configure Grid Control Domain Run the following command to configure the EM domain and OMS. Note that you need to use a different GC Domain name than what you used earlier. For example I have used GCDOMAIN11 as the new domain name when my previous domain name was GCDOMAIN $OMS_ORACLE_HOME/bin/omsca new –AS_USERNAME weblogic –EM_DOMAIN_NAME GCDOMAIN11 –NM_USER nodemanager -nostart This command as shown below will prompt for a number of inputs like Admin Server hostname, port, password, etc. Verify if the defaults shown are correct by pressing enter or provide a new value STEP 9: Run Add-ON Configuration Assistant After this step run the following add-on configuration assistant. This was used in my case to configure the virtualization add-on $OMS_ORACLE_HOME/addonca -oui -omsonly -name vt -install gc STEP 10: Start the OMS Now start the OMS using $OMS_ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl start oms In a multi-node setup like mine you would either have a software load balancer or DNS round robin (using a virtual host name that resolves to one of multiple OMS hostnames) being used for load balancing. Secure the OMS against the SLB or DNS virtual hostname using the following $ OMS_HOME/bin/emctl secure oms -host slb.example.com -secure_port 1159 -slb_port 1159 -slb_console_port 443 STEP 11: Configure the Agent From the $AGENT_ORACLE_HOME/bin run the ./agentca –f At this point you should have your OMS on node 1 fully re-covered. Clean up node 2 and use the normal Additional OMS installation process documented in the official installation guide to add the additional OMS on node 2 Summary It took us nearly a little over two days to completely recover the environment with some other non-EM related issues that hit us along the way as well. In the end a situation like this could have been completely avoided had the proper housekeeping and backup of the Enterprise Manager Deployment been done in the first place. This is going to a topic that we cover in the next post. In the meantime please do refer to the Oracle Enterprise Manager Advanced Configuration Guide for planning your EM installation, backup and housekeeping procedures. This can be found here: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E11857_01/index.htm Thanks This post would not have been possible without Raj Aggarwal, Prasad Chebrolu and Ravikumar Basa who helped to recover the environment and provided all the support we needed

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  • Problem rendering VBO

    - by Onno
    I'm developing a game engine using OpenTK. I'm trying to get to grips with the use of VBO's. I've run into some trouble because somehow it doesn't render correctly. Thus far I've used immediate mode to render a test object, a test cube with a texture. namespace SharpEngine.Utility.Mesh { using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using OpenTK; using OpenTK.Graphics; using OpenTK.Graphics.OpenGL; using SharpEngine.Utility; using System.Drawing; public class ImmediateFaceBasedCube : IMesh { private IList<Face> faces = new List<Face>(); public ImmediateFaceBasedCube() { IList<Vector3> allVertices = new List<Vector3>(); //rechtsbovenvoor allVertices.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f)); //0 //rechtsbovenachter allVertices.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, 1.0f, -1.0f)); //1 //linksbovenachter allVertices.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, 1.0f, -1.0f)); //2 //linksbovenvoor allVertices.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f)); //3 //rechtsondervoor allVertices.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, -1.0f, 1.0f)); //4 //rechtsonderachter allVertices.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, -1.0f, -1.0f)); //5 //linksonderachter allVertices.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, -1.0f, -1.0f)); //6 //linksondervoor allVertices.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, -1.0f, 1.0f)); //7 IList<Vector2> textureCoordinates = new List<Vector2>(); textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0, 0)); //AA - 0 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0, 0.3333333f)); //AB - 1 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0, 0.6666666f)); //AC - 2 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0, 1)); //AD - 3 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.3333333f, 0)); //BA - 4 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.3333333f, 0.3333333f)); //BB - 5 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.3333333f, 0.6666666f)); //BC - 6 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.3333333f, 1)); //BD - 7 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.6666666f, 0)); //CA - 8 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.6666666f, 0.3333333f)); //CB - 9 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.6666666f, 0.6666666f)); //CC -10 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.6666666f, 1)); //CD -11 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(1, 0)); //DA -12 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(1, 0.3333333f)); //DB -13 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(1, 0.6666666f)); //DC -14 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(1, 1)); //DD -15 Vector3 copy1 = new Vector3(-2.0f, -2.5f, -3.5f); IList<Vector3> normals = new List<Vector3>(); normals.Add(new Vector3(0, 1.0f, 0)); //0 normals.Add(new Vector3(0, 0, 1.0f)); //1 normals.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, 0, 0)); //2 normals.Add(new Vector3(0, 0, -1.0f)); //3 normals.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, 0, 0)); //4 normals.Add(new Vector3(0, -1.0f, 0)); //5 //todo: move vertex normal and texture data to datastructure //todo: VBO based rendering //top face //1 IList<VertexData> verticesT1 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T1a = new VertexData(); T1a.Normal = normals[0]; T1a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[5]; T1a.Position = allVertices[3]; verticesT1.Add(T1a); VertexData T1b = new VertexData(); T1b.Normal = normals[0]; T1b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[9]; T1b.Position = allVertices[0]; verticesT1.Add(T1b); VertexData T1c = new VertexData(); T1c.Normal = normals[0]; T1c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[10]; T1c.Position = allVertices[1]; verticesT1.Add(T1c); Face F1 = new Face(verticesT1); faces.Add(F1); //2 IList<VertexData> verticesT2 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T2a = new VertexData(); T2a.Normal = normals[0]; T2a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[10]; T2a.Position = allVertices[1]; verticesT2.Add(T2a); VertexData T2b = new VertexData(); T2b.Normal = normals[0]; T2b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[6]; T2b.Position = allVertices[2]; verticesT2.Add(T2b); VertexData T2c = new VertexData(); T2c.Normal = normals[0]; T2c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[5]; T2c.Position = allVertices[3]; verticesT2.Add(T2c); Face F2 = new Face(verticesT2); faces.Add(F2); //front face //3 IList<VertexData> verticesT3 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T3a = new VertexData(); T3a.Normal = normals[1]; T3a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[1]; T3a.Position = allVertices[3]; verticesT3.Add(T3a); VertexData T3b = new VertexData(); T3b.Normal = normals[1]; T3b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[0]; T3b.Position = allVertices[7]; verticesT3.Add(T3b); VertexData T3c = new VertexData(); T3c.Normal = normals[1]; T3c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[5]; T3c.Position = allVertices[0]; verticesT3.Add(T3c); Face F3 = new Face(verticesT3); faces.Add(F3); //4 IList<VertexData> verticesT4 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T4a = new VertexData(); T4a.Normal = normals[1]; T4a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[5]; T4a.Position = allVertices[0]; verticesT4.Add(T4a); VertexData T4b = new VertexData(); T4b.Normal = normals[1]; T4b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[0]; T4b.Position = allVertices[7]; verticesT4.Add(T4b); VertexData T4c = new VertexData(); T4c.Normal = normals[1]; T4c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[4]; T4c.Position = allVertices[4]; verticesT4.Add(T4c); Face F4 = new Face(verticesT4); faces.Add(F4); //right face //5 IList<VertexData> verticesT5 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T5a = new VertexData(); T5a.Normal = normals[2]; T5a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[2]; T5a.Position = allVertices[0]; verticesT5.Add(T5a); VertexData T5b = new VertexData(); T5b.Normal = normals[2]; T5b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[1]; T5b.Position = allVertices[4]; verticesT5.Add(T5b); VertexData T5c = new VertexData(); T5c.Normal = normals[2]; T5c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[6]; T5c.Position = allVertices[1]; verticesT5.Add(T5c); Face F5 = new Face(verticesT5); faces.Add(F5); //6 IList<VertexData> verticesT6 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T6a = new VertexData(); T6a.Normal = normals[2]; T6a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[1]; T6a.Position = allVertices[4]; verticesT6.Add(T6a); VertexData T6b = new VertexData(); T6b.Normal = normals[2]; T6b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[5]; T6b.Position = allVertices[5]; verticesT6.Add(T6b); VertexData T6c = new VertexData(); T6c.Normal = normals[2]; T6c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[6]; T6c.Position = allVertices[1]; verticesT6.Add(T6c); Face F6 = new Face(verticesT6); faces.Add(F6); //back face //7 IList<VertexData> verticesT7 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T7a = new VertexData(); T7a.Normal = normals[3]; T7a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[4]; T7a.Position = allVertices[5]; verticesT7.Add(T7a); VertexData T7b = new VertexData(); T7b.Normal = normals[3]; T7b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[9]; T7b.Position = allVertices[2]; verticesT7.Add(T7b); VertexData T7c = new VertexData(); T7c.Normal = normals[3]; T7c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[5]; T7c.Position = allVertices[1]; verticesT7.Add(T7c); Face F7 = new Face(verticesT7); faces.Add(F7); //8 IList<VertexData> verticesT8 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T8a = new VertexData(); T8a.Normal = normals[3]; T8a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[9]; T8a.Position = allVertices[2]; verticesT8.Add(T8a); VertexData T8b = new VertexData(); T8b.Normal = normals[3]; T8b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[4]; T8b.Position = allVertices[5]; verticesT8.Add(T8b); VertexData T8c = new VertexData(); T8c.Normal = normals[3]; T8c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[8]; T8c.Position = allVertices[6]; verticesT8.Add(T8c); Face F8 = new Face(verticesT8); faces.Add(F8); //left face //9 IList<VertexData> verticesT9 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T9a = new VertexData(); T9a.Normal = normals[4]; T9a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[8]; T9a.Position = allVertices[6]; verticesT9.Add(T9a); VertexData T9b = new VertexData(); T9b.Normal = normals[4]; T9b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[13]; T9b.Position = allVertices[3]; verticesT9.Add(T9b); VertexData T9c = new VertexData(); T9c.Normal = normals[4]; T9c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[9]; T9c.Position = allVertices[2]; verticesT9.Add(T9c); Face F9 = new Face(verticesT9); faces.Add(F9); //10 IList<VertexData> verticesT10 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T10a = new VertexData(); T10a.Normal = normals[4]; T10a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[8]; T10a.Position = allVertices[6]; verticesT10.Add(T10a); VertexData T10b = new VertexData(); T10b.Normal = normals[4]; T10b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[12]; T10b.Position = allVertices[7]; verticesT10.Add(T10b); VertexData T10c = new VertexData(); T10c.Normal = normals[4]; T10c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[13]; T10c.Position = allVertices[3]; verticesT10.Add(T10c); Face F10 = new Face(verticesT10); faces.Add(F10); //bottom face //11 IList<VertexData> verticesT11 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T11a = new VertexData(); T11a.Normal = normals[5]; T11a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[10]; T11a.Position = allVertices[7]; verticesT11.Add(T11a); VertexData T11b = new VertexData(); T11b.Normal = normals[5]; T11b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[9]; T11b.Position = allVertices[6]; verticesT11.Add(T11b); VertexData T11c = new VertexData(); T11c.Normal = normals[5]; T11c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[14]; T11c.Position = allVertices[4]; verticesT11.Add(T11c); Face F11 = new Face(verticesT11); faces.Add(F11); //12 IList<VertexData> verticesT12 = new List<VertexData>(); VertexData T12a = new VertexData(); T12a.Normal = normals[5]; T12a.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[13]; T12a.Position = allVertices[5]; verticesT12.Add(T12a); VertexData T12b = new VertexData(); T12b.Normal = normals[5]; T12b.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[14]; T12b.Position = allVertices[4]; verticesT12.Add(T12b); VertexData T12c = new VertexData(); T12c.Normal = normals[5]; T12c.TexCoord = textureCoordinates[9]; T12c.Position = allVertices[6]; verticesT12.Add(T12c); Face F12 = new Face(verticesT12); faces.Add(F12); } public void draw() { GL.Begin(BeginMode.Triangles); foreach (Face face in faces) { foreach (VertexData datapoint in face.verticesWithTexCoords) { GL.Normal3(datapoint.Normal); GL.TexCoord2(datapoint.TexCoord); GL.Vertex3(datapoint.Position); } } GL.End(); } } } Gets me this very nice picture: The immediate mode cube renders nicely and taught me a bit on how to use OpenGL, but VBO's are the way to go. Since I read on the OpenTK forums that OpenTK has problems doing VA's or DL's, I decided to skip using those. Now, I've tried to change this cube to a VBO by using the same vertex, normal and tc collections, and making float arrays from them by using the coordinates in combination with uint arrays which contain the index numbers from the immediate cube. (see the private functions at end of the code sample) Somehow this only renders two triangles namespace SharpEngine.Utility.Mesh { using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using OpenTK; using OpenTK.Graphics; using OpenTK.Graphics.OpenGL; using SharpEngine.Utility; using System.Drawing; public class VBOFaceBasedCube : IMesh { private int VerticesVBOID; private int VerticesVBOStride; private int VertexCount; private int ELementBufferObjectID; private int textureCoordinateVBOID; private int textureCoordinateVBOStride; //private int textureCoordinateArraySize; private int normalVBOID; private int normalVBOStride; public VBOFaceBasedCube() { IList<Vector3> allVertices = new List<Vector3>(); //rechtsbovenvoor allVertices.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f)); //0 //rechtsbovenachter allVertices.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, 1.0f, -1.0f)); //1 //linksbovenachter allVertices.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, 1.0f, -1.0f)); //2 //linksbovenvoor allVertices.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f)); //3 //rechtsondervoor allVertices.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, -1.0f, 1.0f)); //4 //rechtsonderachter allVertices.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, -1.0f, -1.0f)); //5 //linksonderachter allVertices.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, -1.0f, -1.0f)); //6 //linksondervoor allVertices.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, -1.0f, 1.0f)); //7 IList<Vector2> textureCoordinates = new List<Vector2>(); textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0, 0)); //AA - 0 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0, 0.3333333f)); //AB - 1 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0, 0.6666666f)); //AC - 2 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0, 1)); //AD - 3 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.3333333f, 0)); //BA - 4 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.3333333f, 0.3333333f)); //BB - 5 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.3333333f, 0.6666666f)); //BC - 6 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.3333333f, 1)); //BD - 7 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.6666666f, 0)); //CA - 8 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.6666666f, 0.3333333f)); //CB - 9 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.6666666f, 0.6666666f)); //CC -10 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(0.6666666f, 1)); //CD -11 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(1, 0)); //DA -12 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(1, 0.3333333f)); //DB -13 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(1, 0.6666666f)); //DC -14 textureCoordinates.Add(new Vector2(1, 1)); //DD -15 Vector3 copy1 = new Vector3(-2.0f, -2.5f, -3.5f); IList<Vector3> normals = new List<Vector3>(); normals.Add(new Vector3(0, 1.0f, 0)); //0 normals.Add(new Vector3(0, 0, 1.0f)); //1 normals.Add(new Vector3(1.0f, 0, 0)); //2 normals.Add(new Vector3(0, 0, -1.0f)); //3 normals.Add(new Vector3(-1.0f, 0, 0)); //4 normals.Add(new Vector3(0, -1.0f, 0)); //5 //todo: VBO based rendering uint[] vertexElements = { 3,0,1, //01 1,2,3, //02 3,7,0, //03 0,7,4, //04 0,4,1, //05 4,5,1, //06 5,2,1, //07 2,5,6, //08 6,3,2, //09 6,7,5, //10 7,6,4, //11 5,4,6 //12 }; VertexCount = vertexElements.Length; IList<uint> vertexElementList = new List<uint>(vertexElements); uint[] normalElements = { 0,0,0, 0,0,0, 1,1,1, 1,1,1, 2,2,2, 2,2,2, 3,3,3, 3,3,3, 4,4,4, 4,4,4, 5,5,5, 5,5,5 }; IList<uint> normalElementList = new List<uint>(normalElements); uint[] textureIndexArray = { 5,9,10, 10,6,5, 1,0,5, 5,0,4, 2,1,6, 1,5,6, 4,9,5, 9,4,8, 8,13,9, 8,12,13, 10,9,14, 13,14,9 }; //textureCoordinateArraySize = textureIndexArray.Length; IList<uint> textureIndexList = new List<uint>(textureIndexArray); LoadVBO(allVertices, normals, textureCoordinates, vertexElements, normalElementList, textureIndexList); } public void draw() { //bind vertices //bind elements //bind normals //bind texture coordinates GL.EnableClientState(ArrayCap.VertexArray); GL.EnableClientState(ArrayCap.NormalArray); GL.EnableClientState(ArrayCap.TextureCoordArray); GL.BindBuffer(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, VerticesVBOID); GL.VertexPointer(3, VertexPointerType.Float, VerticesVBOStride, 0); GL.BindBuffer(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, normalVBOID); GL.NormalPointer(NormalPointerType.Float, normalVBOStride, 0); GL.BindBuffer(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, textureCoordinateVBOID); GL.TexCoordPointer(2, TexCoordPointerType.Float, textureCoordinateVBOStride, 0); GL.BindBuffer(BufferTarget.ElementArrayBuffer, ELementBufferObjectID); GL.DrawElements(BeginMode.Polygon, VertexCount, DrawElementsType.UnsignedShort, 0); } //loads a static VBO void LoadVBO(IList<Vector3> vertices, IList<Vector3> normals, IList<Vector2> texcoords, uint[] elements, IList<uint> normalIndices, IList<uint> texCoordIndices) { int size; //todo // To create a VBO: // 1) Generate the buffer handles for the vertex and element buffers. // 2) Bind the vertex buffer handle and upload your vertex data. Check that the buffer was uploaded correctly. // 3) Bind the element buffer handle and upload your element data. Check that the buffer was uploaded correctly. float[] verticesArray = convertVector3fListToFloatArray(vertices); float[] normalsArray = createFloatArrayFromListOfVector3ElementsAndIndices(normals, normalIndices); float[] textureCoordinateArray = createFloatArrayFromListOfVector2ElementsAndIndices(texcoords, texCoordIndices); GL.GenBuffers(1, out VerticesVBOID); GL.BindBuffer(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, VerticesVBOID); Console.WriteLine("load 1 - vertices"); VerticesVBOStride = BlittableValueType.StrideOf(verticesArray); GL.BufferData(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, (IntPtr)(verticesArray.Length * sizeof(float)), verticesArray, BufferUsageHint.StaticDraw); GL.GetBufferParameter(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, BufferParameterName.BufferSize, out size); if (verticesArray.Length * BlittableValueType.StrideOf(verticesArray) != size) { throw new ApplicationException("Vertex data not uploaded correctly"); } else { Console.WriteLine("load 1 finished ok"); size = 0; } Console.WriteLine("load 2 - elements"); GL.GenBuffers(1, out ELementBufferObjectID); GL.BindBuffer(BufferTarget.ElementArrayBuffer, ELementBufferObjectID); GL.BufferData(BufferTarget.ElementArrayBuffer, (IntPtr)(elements.Length * sizeof(uint)), elements, BufferUsageHint.StaticDraw); GL.GetBufferParameter(BufferTarget.ElementArrayBuffer, BufferParameterName.BufferSize, out size); if (elements.Length * sizeof(uint) != size) { throw new ApplicationException("Element data not uploaded correctly"); } else { size = 0; Console.WriteLine("load 2 finished ok"); } GL.GenBuffers(1, out normalVBOID); GL.BindBuffer(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, normalVBOID); Console.WriteLine("load 3 - normals"); normalVBOStride = BlittableValueType.StrideOf(normalsArray); GL.BufferData(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, (IntPtr)(normalsArray.Length * sizeof(float)), normalsArray, BufferUsageHint.StaticDraw); GL.GetBufferParameter(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, BufferParameterName.BufferSize, out size); Console.WriteLine("load 3 - pre check"); if (normalsArray.Length * BlittableValueType.StrideOf(normalsArray) != size) { throw new ApplicationException("Normal data not uploaded correctly"); } else { Console.WriteLine("load 3 finished ok"); size = 0; } GL.GenBuffers(1, out textureCoordinateVBOID); GL.BindBuffer(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, textureCoordinateVBOID); Console.WriteLine("load 4- texture coordinates"); textureCoordinateVBOStride = BlittableValueType.StrideOf(textureCoordinateArray); GL.BufferData(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, (IntPtr)(textureCoordinateArray.Length * textureCoordinateVBOStride), textureCoordinateArray, BufferUsageHint.StaticDraw); GL.GetBufferParameter(BufferTarget.ArrayBuffer, BufferParameterName.BufferSize, out size); if (textureCoordinateArray.Length * BlittableValueType.StrideOf(textureCoordinateArray) != size) { throw new ApplicationException("texture coordinate data not uploaded correctly"); } else { Console.WriteLine("load 3 finished ok"); size = 0; } } //used to convert vertex arrayss for use with VBO's private float[] convertVector3fListToFloatArray(IList<Vector3> input) { int arrayElementCount = input.Count * 3; float[] output = new float[arrayElementCount]; int fillCount = 0; foreach (Vector3 v in input) { output[fillCount] = v.X; output[fillCount + 1] = v.Y; output[fillCount + 2] = v.Z; fillCount += 3; } return output; } //used for converting texture coordinate arrays for use with VBO's private float[] convertVector2List_to_floatArray(IList<Vector2> input) { int arrayElementCount = input.Count * 2; float[] output = new float[arrayElementCount]; int fillCount = 0; foreach (Vector2 v in input) { output[fillCount] = v.X; output[fillCount + 1] = v.Y; fillCount += 2; } return output; } //used to create an array of floats from private float[] createFloatArrayFromListOfVector3ElementsAndIndices(IList<Vector3> inputVectors, IList<uint> indices) { int arrayElementCount = inputVectors.Count * indices.Count * 3; float[] output = new float[arrayElementCount]; int fillCount = 0; foreach (int i in indices) { output[fillCount] = inputVectors[i].X; output[fillCount + 1] = inputVectors[i].Y; output[fillCount + 2] = inputVectors[i].Z; fillCount += 3; } return output; } private float[] createFloatArrayFromListOfVector2ElementsAndIndices(IList<Vector2> inputVectors, IList<uint> indices) { int arrayElementCount = inputVectors.Count * indices.Count * 2; float[] output = new float[arrayElementCount]; int fillCount = 0; foreach (int i in indices) { output[fillCount] = inputVectors[i].X; output[fillCount + 1] = inputVectors[i].Y; fillCount += 2; } return output; } } } This code will only render two triangles and they're nothing like I had in mind: I've done some searching. In some other questions I read that, if I did something wrong, I'd get no rendering at all. Clearly, something gets sent to the GFX card, but it might be that I'm not sending the right data. I've tried altering the sequence in which the triangles are rendered by swapping some of the index numbers in the vert, tc and normal index arrays, but this doesn't seem to be of any effect. I'm slightly lost here. What am I doing wrong here?

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  • OFM 11g: Implementing OAM SSO with Forms

    - by olaf.heimburger
    There is some confusion about the integration of OFM 11g Forms with Oracle Access Manager 11g (OAM). Some say this does not work, some say it works, but.... Actually, having implemented it many times I belong to the later group. Here is how. Caveat Before you start installing anything, take a step back and consider your current implementation and what you really need and want to achieve. The current integration of Forms 11g with OAM 11g does not support self-service account creation and password resets from the Forms application. If you really need this, you must use the existing Oracle AS 10.1.4.3 infrastructure. On the other hand, if your user population is pretty stable, you can enjoy the latest Forms 11g with OAM 11g. Assumptions The whole process should be done in one day. I assume that all domains and instances are started during setup, if you need to restart them on demand or purpose, be sure to have proper start/stop scripts, I don't mention them. Preparation It goes without saying, that you always should do a proper backup before you change anything on your production environment. With proper backup, I also mean a tested and verified restore process. If you dared to test it before, do it now. It pays off. Requirements For OAM 11g to work properly you need a LDAP repository. For the integration of Forms 11g you need an Oracle Internet Directory (OID) configured with the Oracle AS SSO LDAP extensions. For better support I usually give the latest version a try, in this case OID 11g is a good choice.During the Installation and Integration steps we use an upgrade wizard that needs the old OID configuration on the same host but in a different ORACLE_HOME. Installation vs Configuration With OFM 11g Oracle introduced a clear separation between Installation of the binaries (the software) and the Configuration of the instances (the runtime). This is really great as you can install all the software and create new instances when needed. In the following we adhere to this scheme and install the software first and then configure the instances later. Installation Steps The Oracle documentation contains all the necessary steps for the installation of all pieces of software. But some hints help to avoid traps and pitfalls. Step 1 The Database Start the installation with the database. It is quite obvious but we need an Oracle database for all the other steps. If you have one at hand, fine. If not, just install at least a Oracle 10.2.0.4 version. This database can be on a different host. Step 2 The Repository Creation Utility The next step should be to run the Repository Creation Utility (RCU). This is a client application that just needs to connect to your database. It can be run on any host that can reach the database and is a Windows or Linux 32-bit machine. When you run it, be sure to install the OID schema and the OAM schema. If you miss one of these, you can run the RCU again to install the missing schema. Step 3 The Foundation With OFM 11g Oracle started to use WebLogic Server 11g (WLS) as its foundation for all OFM 11g installation. We therefore install it first. Depending on your operating system, it might be possible, that no native installer is available. My approach to this dilemma is to use the WLS Generic Installer for all my installations. It does not include a JDK either but if you have both for your platform you are ready to go. Step 3a The JDK To make things interesting, Oracle currently has two JDKs in its portfolio. The Sun JDK and the JRockit JDK. Both are available for a number of platforms. If you are lucky and both are available for your platform, install both in a separate directory (and not one of your ORACLE_HOMEs) each, You can use the later as you like. Step 3b Install WLS for OID and OAM With the JDK installed, we start the generic installer with java -jar wls_generic.jar.STOP! Before you do this, check the version first. It should be 1.6.0_18 or later and not the GCC one (Some Linux distros have it installed by default). To verify the version, issue a java -version command and make sure that the output does not contain the text gcj and the version matches. If this does not work, use an absolute path like /opt/java/jdk1.6.0_23/bin/java to start the installer. The installer allows you to specify a path to install the software into, say /opt/oracle/iam/11.1.1.3 for the OID and OAM installation. We will call this IAM_HOME. Step 4 Install OID Now we are ready to install OID. Start the OID installer (in the Disk1 directory) and just select the installation only step. This will install the software only and does not configure the instance. Use the IAM_HOME as the target directory. Step 5 Install SOA Suite The IAM 11g Suite uses the BPEL component of the SOA Suite 11g for its workflows. This is a pretty closed environment and not to be used for SCA Composites. We install the SOA Suite in $IAM_HOME/soa. The installer only installs the binaries. Configuration will be done later. Step 6 Install OAM Once the installation of OID and SOA is done, we are ready to install the OAM software in the same IAM_HOME. Make sure to install the OAM binaries in a directory different from the one you used during the OID and SOA installation. As before, we only install the software, the instance will be created later. Step 7 Backup the Installation At this point, I normally do a backup (or snapshot in a virtual image) of the installation. Good when you need to go back to this point. Step 8 Configure OID The software is installed and now we need instances to run it. This process is called configuration. For OID use the config.sh found in $IAM_HOME/oid/bin to start the configuration wizard. Normally this runs smoothly. If you encounter some issues check the Oracle Support site for help. This configuration will also start the OID instance. Step 9 Install the Oracle AS SSO Schema Before we install the Forms software we need to install the Oracle AS SSO Schema into the database and OID. This is a rather dangerous procedure, but fully documented in the IAM Installation Guide, Chapter 10. You should finish this in one go, do not reboot your host during the whole procedure. As a precaution, you should make a backup of the OID instance before you start the procedure. Once the backup is ready, read the chapter, including every note, carefully. You can avoid a number of issues by following all the steps and will succeed with a working solution. Step 10 Configure OAM Reached this step? Great. You are ready to create an OAM instance. Use the $IAM_HOME/iam/common/binconfig.sh for this. This will open the WLS Domain Creation Wizard and asks for the libraries to be installed. You should at least select the OAM with Database repository item. The configuration will also start the OAM instance. Step 11 Install WLS for Forms 11g It is quite tempting to install everything in one ORACLE_HOME. Unfortunately this does not work for all OFM packages. Therefore we do another WLS installation in another ORACLE_HOME. The same considerations as in step 3b apply. We call this one FORMS_HOME. Step 12 Install Forms In the FORMS_HOME we now install the binaries for the Forms 11g software. Again, this is a install only step. Configuration starts with the next step. Step 13 Configure Forms To configure Forms 11g we start the Configuration Wizard (config.sh) in FORMS_HOME/bin. This wizard should create a new WebLogic Domain and an OHS instance! Do not extend existing domains or instances! Forms should run in its own instances! When all information is supplied, the wizard will create the domain and instance and starts them automatically.Step 14 Setup your Forms SSO EnvironmentOnce you have implemented and tested your Forms 11g instance, you can configured it for SSO. Yes, this requires the old Oracle AS SSO solution, OIDDAS for creating and assigning users and SSO to setup your partner applications. In this step you should consider to create every user necessary for use within the environment. When done, do not forget to test it. Step 15 Migrate the SSO Repository Since the final goal is to get rid of the old SSO implementation we need to migrate the old SSO repository into the new OID structure. Additionally, this step will also migrate all partner application configurations into OAM 11g. Quite convenient. To do this step, you have to start the upgrade agent (ua or ua.bat or ua.cmd) on the operating system level in $IAM_HOME/bin. Once finished, this wizard will create new osso.conf files for each partner application in $IAM_HOME/upgrade/temp/oam/.Note: At the time of this writing, this step only works if everything is on the same host (ie. OID, OAM, etc.). This restriction might be lifted in later releases. Step 16 Change your OHS sso.conf and shut down OC4J_SECURITY In Step 14 we verified that SSO for our Forms environment works fine. Now, we are shutting the old system done and reconfigure the OHS that acts as the Forms entry point. First we go to the OHS configuration directory and rename the old osso.conf  to osso.conf.10g. Now we change the moduleconf/mod_osso.conf  to point to the new osso.conf file. Copy the new osso.conf  file from $IAM_HOME/upgrade/temp/oam/ to the OHS configuration directory. Restart OHS, test forms by using the same forms links. OAM should now kick in and show the login dialog to ask for your user credentials.Done. Now your Forms environment is successfully integrated with OAM 11g.Enjoy. What's Next? This rather lengthy setup is just the foundation for your growing environment of OAM 11g protections. In the next entry we will show that Forms 11g and ADF Faces 11g can use the same OAM installation and provide real single sign-on. References Nearly everything is documented. Use the documentation! Oracle® Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle Identity Management 11gR1 Oracle® Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle Identity Management 11gR1, Chapter 11-14 Oracle® Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle Access Manager 11gR1, Appendix B Oracle® Fusion Middleware Upgrade Guide for Oracle Identity Management 11gR1, Chapter 10   

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  • Web API, JavaScript, Chrome &amp; Cross-Origin Resource Sharing

    - by Brian Lanham
    The team spent much of the week working through this issues related to Chrome running on Windows 8 consuming cross-origin resources using Web API.  We thought it was resolved on day 2 but it resurfaced the next day.  We definitely resolved it today though.  I believe I do not fully understand the situation but I am going to explain what I know in an effort to help you avoid and/or resolve a similar issue. References We referenced many sources during our trial-and-error troubleshooting.  These are the links we reference in order of applicability to the solution: Zoiner Tejada JavaScript and other material from -> http://www.devproconnections.com/content1/topic/microsoft-azure-cors-141869/catpath/windows-azure-platform2/page/3 WebDAV Where I learned about “Accept” –>  http://www-jo.se/f.pfleger/cors-and-iis? IT Hit Tells about NOT using ‘*’ –> http://www.webdavsystem.com/ajax/programming/cross_origin_requests Carlos Figueira Sample back-end code (newer) –> http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsdesktop/Implementing-CORS-support-a677ab5d (older version) –> http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/CORS-support-in-ASPNET-Web-01e9980a   Background As a measure of protection, Web designers (W3C) and implementers (Google, Microsoft, Mozilla) made it so that a request, especially a JSON request (but really any URL), sent from one domain to another will only work if the requestee “knows” about the requester and allows requests from it. So, for example, if you write a ASP.NET MVC Web API service and try to consume it from multiple apps, the browsers used may (will?) indicate that you are not allowed by showing an “Access-Control-Allow-Origin” error indicating the requester is not allowed to make requests. Internet Explorer (big surprise) is the odd-hair-colored step-child in this mix. It seems that running locally at least IE allows this for development purposes.  Chrome and Firefox do not.  In fact, Chrome is quite restrictive.  Notice the images below. IE shows data (a tabular view with one row for each day of a week) while Chrome does not (trust me, neither does Firefox).  Further, the Chrome developer console shows an XmlHttpRequest (XHR) error. Screen captures from IE (left) and Chrome (right). Note that Chrome does not display data and the console shows an XHR error. Why does this happen? The Web browser submits these requests and processes the responses and each browser is different. Okay, so, IE is probably the only one that’s truly different.  However, Chrome has a specific process of performing a “pre-flight” check to make sure the service can respond to an “Access-Control-Allow-Origin” or Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) request.  So basically, the sequence is, if I understand correctly:  1)Page Loads –> 2)JavaScript Request Processed by Browser –> 3)Browsers Prepares to Submit Request –> 4)[Chrome] Browser Submits Pre-Flight Request –> 5)Server Responds with HTTP 200 –> 6)Browser Submits Request –> 7)Server Responds with Data –> 8)Page Shows Data This situation occurs for both GET and POST methods.  Typically, GET methods are called with query string parameters so there is no data posted.  Instead, the requesting domain needs to be permitted to request data but generally nothing more is required.  POSTs on the other hand send form data.  Therefore, more configuration is required (you’ll see the configuration below).  AJAX requests are not friendly with this (POSTs) either because they don’t post in a form. How to fix it. The team went through many iterations of self-hair removal and we think we finally have a working solution.  The trial-and-error approach eventually worked and we referenced many sources for the information.  I indicate those references above.  There are basically three (3) tasks needed to make this work. Assumptions: You are using Visual Studio, Web API, JavaScript, and have Cross-Origin Resource Sharing, and several browsers. 1. Configure the client Joel Cochran centralized our “cors-oriented” JavaScript (from here). There are two calls including one for GET and one for POST function(url, data, callback) {             console.log(data);             $.support.cors = true;             var jqxhr = $.post(url, data, callback, "json")                 .error(function(jqXhHR, status, errorThrown) {                     if ($.browser.msie && window.XDomainRequest) {                         var xdr = new XDomainRequest();                         xdr.open("post", url);                         xdr.onload = function () {                             if (callback) {                                 callback(JSON.parse(this.responseText), 'success');                             }                         };                         xdr.send(data);                     } else {                         console.log(">" + jqXhHR.status);                         alert("corsAjax.post error: " + status + ", " + errorThrown);                     }                 });         }; The GET CORS JavaScript function (credit to Zoiner Tejada) function(url, callback) {             $.support.cors = true;             var jqxhr = $.get(url, null, callback, "json")                 .error(function(jqXhHR, status, errorThrown) {                     if ($.browser.msie && window.XDomainRequest) {                         var xdr = new XDomainRequest();                         xdr.open("get", url);                         xdr.onload = function () {                             if (callback) {                                 callback(JSON.parse(this.responseText), 'success');                             }                         };                         xdr.send();                     } else {                         alert("CORS is not supported in this browser or from this origin.");                     }                 });         }; The POST CORS JavaScript function (credit to Zoiner Tejada) Now you need to call these functions to get and post your data (instead of, say, using $.Ajax). Here is a GET example: corsAjax.get(url, function(data) { if (data !== null && data.length !== undefined) { // do something with data } }); And here is a POST example: corsAjax.post(url, item); Simple…except…you’re not done yet. 2. Change Web API Controllers to Allow CORS There are actually two steps here.  Do you remember above when we mentioned the “pre-flight” check?  Chrome actually asks the server if it is allowed to ask it for cross-origin resource sharing access.  So you need to let the server know it’s okay.  This is a two-part activity.  a) Add the appropriate response header Access-Control-Allow-Origin, and b) permit the API functions to respond to various methods including GET, POST, and OPTIONS.  OPTIONS is the method that Chrome and other browsers use to ask the server if it can ask about permissions.  Here is an example of a Web API controller thus decorated: NOTE: You’ll see a lot of references to using “*” in the header value.  For security reasons, Chrome does NOT recognize this is valid. [HttpHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "http://localhost:51234")] [HttpHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Credentials", "true")] [HttpHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "ACCEPT, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, COPY, MOVE, DELETE, MKCOL, LOCK, UNLOCK, PUT, GETLIB, VERSION-CONTROL, CHECKIN, CHECKOUT, UNCHECKOUT, REPORT, UPDATE, CANCELUPLOAD, HEAD, OPTIONS, GET, POST")] [HttpHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Accept, Overwrite, Destination, Content-Type, Depth, User-Agent, X-File-Size, X-Requested-With, If-Modified-Since, X-File-Name, Cache-Control")] [HttpHeader("Access-Control-Max-Age", "3600")] public abstract class BaseApiController : ApiController {     [HttpGet]     [HttpOptions]     public IEnumerable<foo> GetFooItems(int id)     {         return foo.AsEnumerable();     }     [HttpPost]     [HttpOptions]     public void UpdateFooItem(FooItem fooItem)     {         // NOTE: The fooItem object may or may not         // (probably NOT) be set with actual data.         // If not, you need to extract the data from         // the posted form manually.         if (fooItem.Id == 0) // However you check for default...         {             // We use NewtonSoft.Json.             string jsonString = context.Request.Form.GetValues(0)[0].ToString();             Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer js = new Newtonsoft.Json.JsonSerializer();             fooItem = js.Deserialize<FooItem>(new Newtonsoft.Json.JsonTextReader(new System.IO.StringReader(jsonString)));         }         // Update the set fooItem object.     } } Please note a few specific additions here: * The header attributes at the class level are required.  Note all of those methods and headers need to be specified but we find it works this way so we aren’t touching it. * Web API will actually deserialize the posted data into the object parameter of the called method on occasion but so far we don’t know why it does and doesn’t. * [HttpOptions] is, again, required for the pre-flight check. * The “Access-Control-Allow-Origin” response header should NOT NOT NOT contain an ‘*’. 3. Headers and Methods and Such We had most of this code in place but found that Chrome and Firefox still did not render the data.  Interestingly enough, Fiddler showed that the GET calls succeeded and the JSON data is returned properly.  We learned that among the headers set at the class level, we needed to add “ACCEPT”.  Note that I accidentally added it to methods and to headers.  Adding it to methods worked but I don’t know why.  We added it to headers also for good measure. [HttpHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "ACCEPT, PROPFIND, PROPPA... [HttpHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Accept, Overwrite, Destin... Next Steps That should do it.  If it doesn’t let us know.  What to do next?  * Don’t hardcode the allowed domains.  Note that port numbers and other domain name specifics will cause problems and must be specified.  If this changes do you really want to deploy updated software?  Consider Miguel Figueira’s approach in the following link to writing a custom HttpHeaderAttribute class that allows you to specify the domain names and then you can do it dynamically.  There are, of course, other ways to do it dynamically but this is a clean approach. http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsdesktop/Implementing-CORS-support-a677ab5d

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Wednesday, August 06, 2014

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Wednesday, August 06, 2014Popular ReleasesRecaptcha for .NET: Recaptcha for .NET v1.6.0: What's New?Bug fixes Optimized codeMath.NET Numerics: Math.NET Numerics v3.2.0: Linear Algebra: Vector.Map2 (map2 in F#), storage-optimized Linear Algebra: fix RemoveColumn/Row early index bound check (was not strict enough) Statistics: Entropy ~Jeff Mastry Interpolation: use Array.BinarySearch instead of local implementation ~Candy Chiu Resources: fix a corrupted exception message string Portable Build: support .Net 4.0 as well by using profile 328 instead of 344. .Net 3.5: F# extensions now support .Net 3.5 as well .Net 3.5: NuGet package now contains pro...Lib.Web.Mvc & Yet another developer blog: Lib.Web.Mvc 6.4.2: Lib.Web.Mvc is a library which contains some helper classes for ASP.NET MVC such as strongly typed jqGrid helper, XSL transformation HtmlHelper/ActionResult, FileResult with range request support, custom attributes and more. Release contains: Lib.Web.Mvc.dll with xml documentation file Standalone documentation in chm file and change log Library source code Sample application for strongly typed jqGrid helper is available here. Sample application for XSL transformation HtmlHelper/ActionRe...Virto Commerce Enterprise Open Source eCommerce Platform (asp.net mvc): Virto Commerce 1.11: Virto Commerce Community Edition version 1.11. To install the SDK package, please refer to SDK getting started documentation To configure source code package, please refer to Source code getting started documentation This release includes many bug fixes and minor improvements. More details about this release can be found on our blog at http://blog.virtocommerce.com.Json.NET: Json.NET 6.0 Release 4: New feature - Added Merge to LINQ to JSON New feature - Added JValue.CreateNull and JValue.CreateUndefined New feature - Added Windows Phone 8.1 support to .NET 4.0 portable assembly New feature - Added OverrideCreator to JsonObjectContract New feature - Added support for overriding the creation of interfaces and abstract types New feature - Added support for reading UUID BSON binary values as a Guid New feature - Added MetadataPropertyHandling.Ignore New feature - Improv...VidCoder: 1.5.24 Beta: Added NL-Means denoiser. Updated HandBrake core to SVN 6254. Added extra error handling to DVD player code to avoid a crash when the player was moved.PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit: PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit v3.1.5: *Added Send-Keys function to send a sequence of keys to an application window (Thanks to mmashwani) *Added 3 optimization/stability improvements to Execute-Process following MS best practice (Thanks to mmashwani) *Fixed issue where Execute-MSI did not use value from XML file for uninstall but instead ran all uninstalls silently by default *Fixed error on 1641 exit code (should be a success like 3010) *Fixed issue with error handling in Invoke-SCCMTask *Fixed issue with deferral dates where th...AutoUpdater.NET : Auto update library for VB.NET and C# Developer: AutoUpdater.NET 1.3: Fixed problem in DownloadUpdateDialog where download continues even if you close the dialog. Added support for new url field for 64 bit application setup. AutoUpdater.NET will decide which download url to use by looking at the value of IntPtr.Size. Added German translation provided by Rene Kannegiesser. Now developer can handle update logic herself using event suggested by ricorx7. Added italian translation provided by Gianluca Mariani. Fixed bug that prevents Application from exiti...SEToolbox: SEToolbox 01.041.012 Release 1: Added voxel material textures to read in with mods. Fixed missing texture replacements for mods. Fixed rounding issue in raytrace code. Fixed repair issue with corrupt checkpoint file. Fixed issue with updated SE binaries 01.041.012 using new container configuration.Magick.NET: Magick.NET 6.8.9.601: Magick.NET linked with ImageMagick 6.8.9.6 Breaking changes: - Changed arguments for the Map method of MagickImage. - QuantizeSettings uses Riemersma by default.Version Control Guide (ex-Branching & Merging): v3.0 - Visual Studio 2013 (Spanish): Important: This download has been created using ALM Ranger bits by the community, for the community. Although ALM Rangers were involved in the process, the content has not been through their quality review. Please post your candid feedback and improvement suggestions to the Community tab of this Codeplex project. Translated by: Juan María Laó Ramos See ¿Habla Español? … Testing Unitario con Microsoft® Fakes http://blogs.msdn.com/b/willy-peter_schaub/archive/2013/08/22/191-habla-espa-241-ol...Windows forms generator: Windows forms generator beta 2: Second beta release of windows forms generator. Have some basic configuration and can handle basic types. Supported types: int string double float long decimal short bool List<E> Vector2 (Microsoft.Xna.Framework, new in beta 2) Fixed bugs in beta 2: Problem with nested classes and list Known bugs: Form height sometimes get weird (fix it by using form attribute on class) Can't create a form with just a listSharePoint Real Time Log Viewer: SharePoint Real Time Log Viewer - Source: Source codeModern Audio Tagger: Modern Audio Tagger 1.0.0.0: Modern Audio Tagger is bornQuickMon: Version 3.20: Added a 'Directory Services Query' collector agent. This collector allows for querying Active Directory using simple DirectorySearcher queries. Note: The current implementation only supports 'LDAP://' related path queries. In a future release support for other 'Providers' will be added as well.Grunndatakvalitet: Initial working: Show Altinn metadata in Excel. To get a live list you need to run the sql script on a server and update the connection string in ExcelMultiple Threads TCP Server: Project: this Project is based on VS 2013, .net freamwork 4.0, you can open it by vs 2010 or laterAricie Shared: Aricie.Shared Version 1.8.00: Version 1.8.0 - Release Notes New: Expression Builder to design Flee Expressions New: Cryptographic helpers and configuration classes Improvement: Many fixes and improvements with property editor Improvement: Token Replace Property explorer now has a restricted mode for additional security Improvement: Better variables, types and object manipulation Fixed: smart file and flee bugs Fixed: Removed Exception while trying to read unsuported files Improvement: several performance twe...DbEntry.Net (Leafing Framework): DbEntry.Net 4.2: DbEntry.Net is a lightweight Object Relational Mapping (ORM) database access compnent for .Net 4.0+. It has clearly and easily programing interface for ORM and sql directly, and supoorted Access, Sql Server, MySql, SQLite, Firebird, PostgreSQL and Oracle. It also provide a Ruby On Rails style MVC framework. Asp.Net DataSource and a simple IoC. DbEntry.Net.v4.2.Setup.zip include the setup package. DbEntry.Net.v4.2.Src.zip include source files and unit tests. DbEntry.Net.v4.2.Samples.zip ...Drop and Create indexes SSIS Task: Assembly and Setup files: This zip contains the task assembly and setup executable's. Click here for the Installation GuideNew ProjectsDestiny of an Emperor: game cocos2d-x sanguoGameCastleVania: Game th?y dungOrchard Application Host: The Orchard Application Host is a portable environment that lets you run your application (not just web apps) inside Orchard (http://orchardproject.net).Orchard Application Host Sample: Sample project for the Orchard Application Host (https://orchardapphost.codeplex.com/).Orchard SSEO Module: Orchard Social & Search Engine Optimization ModulePhoenix Office 365 User Group Website: The Phoenix Office 365 User Group meets once per month in the Phoenix area and facilitates networking and learning around the Office 365 platform. Thingtory ( Inventory of Things ): The Thingtory Framework allows to collect data (inventory) from all kind of "things" (can be a Computer, a Phone or your Fridge ).xRM CI Framework: The xRM Continuous Integration (CI) Framework is a set of tools that makes it easy and quick to automate the builds and deployment of your CRM components.

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, August 02, 2014

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, August 02, 2014Popular ReleasesRecaptcha for .NET: Recaptcha for .NET v1.5.1: Added support for HTTPS. Signed the assemblies.PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit: PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit v3.1.5: *Added Send-Keys function to send a sequence of keys to an application window (Thanks to mmashwani) *Added 3 optimization/stability improvements to Execute-Process following MS best practice (Thanks to mmashwani) *Fixed issue where Execute-MSI did not use value from XML file for uninstall but instead ran all uninstalls silently by default *Fixed error on 1641 exit code (should be a success like 3010) *Fixed issue with error handling in Invoke-SCCMTask *Fixed issue with deferral dates where th...AutoUpdater.NET : Auto update library for VB.NET and C# Developer: AutoUpdater.NET 1.3: Fixed problem in DownloadUpdateDialog where download continues even if you close the dialog. Added support for new url field for 64 bit application setup. AutoUpdater.NET will decide which download url to use by looking at the value of IntPtr.Size. Added German translation provided by Rene Kannegiesser. Now developer can handle update logic herself using event suggested by ricorx7. Added italian translation provided by Gianluca Mariani. Fixed bug that prevents Application from exiti...SEToolbox: SEToolbox 01.041.012 Release 1: Added voxel material textures to read in with mods. Fixed missing texture replacements for mods. Fixed rounding issue in raytrace code. Fixed repair issue with corrupt checkpoint file. Fixed issue with updated SE binaries 01.041.012 using new container configuration.Magick.NET: Magick.NET 6.8.9.601: Magick.NET linked with ImageMagick 6.8.9.6 Breaking changes: - Changed arguments for the Map method of MagickImage. - QuantizeSettings uses Riemersma by default.SharePoint Real Time Log Viewer: SharePoint Real Time Log Viewer - Source: Source codeModern Audio Tagger: Modern Audio Tagger 1.0.0.0: Modern Audio Tagger is bornQuickMon: Version 3.20: Added a 'Directory Services Query' collector agent. This collector allows for querying Active Directory using simple DirectorySearcher queries.Grunndatakvalitet: Initial working: Show Altinn metadata in Excel. To get a live list you need to run the sql script on a server and update the connection string in ExcelMultiple Threads TCP Server: Project: this Project is based on VS 2013, .net freamwork 4.0, you can open it by vs 2010 or laterAccesorios de sitios Torrent en Español para Synology Download Station: Pack de Torrents en Español 6.0.0: Agregado los módulos de DivXTotal, el módulo de búsqueda depende del de alojamiento para bajar las series Utiliza el rss: http://www.divxtotal.com/rss.php DbEntry.Net (Leafing Framework): DbEntry.Net 4.2: DbEntry.Net is a lightweight Object Relational Mapping (ORM) database access compnent for .Net 4.0+. It has clearly and easily programing interface for ORM and sql directly, and supoorted Access, Sql Server, MySql, SQLite, Firebird, PostgreSQL and Oracle. It also provide a Ruby On Rails style MVC framework. Asp.Net DataSource and a simple IoC. DbEntry.Net.v4.2.Setup.zip include the setup package. DbEntry.Net.v4.2.Src.zip include source files and unit tests. DbEntry.Net.v4.2.Samples.zip ...Azure Storage Explorer: Azure Storage Explorer 6 Preview 1: Welcome to Azure Storage Explorer 6 Preview 1 This is the first release of the latest Azure Storage Explorer, code-named Phoenix. What's New?Here are some important things to know about version 6: Open Source Now being run as a full open source project. Full source code on CodePlex. Collaboration encouraged! Updated Code Base Brand-new code base (WPF/C#/.NET 4.5) Visual Studio 2013 solution (previously VS2010) Uses the Task Parallel Library (TPL) for asynchronous background operat...Wsus Package Publisher: release v1.3.1407.29: Updated WPP to recognize the very latest console version. Some files was missing into the latest release of WPP which lead to crash when trying to make a custom update. Add a workaround to avoid clipboard modification when double-clicking on a label when creating a custom update. Add the ability to publish detectoids. (This feature is still in a BETA phase. Packages relying on these detectoids to determine which computers need to be updated, may apply to all computers).VG-Ripper & PG-Ripper: PG-Ripper 1.4.32: changes NEW: Added Support for 'ImgMega.com' links NEW: Added Support for 'ImgCandy.net' links NEW: Added Support for 'ImgPit.com' links NEW: Added Support for 'Img.yt' links FIXED: 'Radikal.ru' links FIXED: 'ImageTeam.org' links FIXED: 'ImgSee.com' links FIXED: 'Img.yt' linksAsp.Net MVC-4,Entity Framework and JQGrid Demo with Todo List WebApplication: Asp.Net MVC-4,Entity Framework and JQGrid Demo: Asp.Net MVC-4,Entity Framework and JQGrid Demo with simple Todo List WebApplication, Overview TodoList is a simple web application to create, store and modify Todo tasks to be maintained by the users, which comprises of following fields to the user (Task Name, Task Description, Severity, Target Date, Task Status). TodoList web application is created using MVC - 4 architecture, code-first Entity Framework (ORM) and Jqgrid for displaying the data.Waterfox: Waterfox 31.0 Portable: New features in Waterfox 31.0: Added support for Unicode 7.0 Experimental support for WebCL New features in Firefox 31.0:New Add the search field to the new tab page Support of Prefer:Safe http header for parental control mozilla::pkix as default certificate verifier Block malware from downloaded files Block malware from downloaded files audio/video .ogg and .pdf files handled by Firefox if no application specified Changed Removal of the CAPS infrastructure for specifying site-sp...SuperSocket, an extensible socket server framework: SuperSocket 1.6.3: The changes below are included in this release: fixed an exception when collect a server's status but it has been stopped fixed a bug that can cause an exception in case of sending data when the connection dropped already fixed the log4net missing issue for a QuickStart project fixed a warning in a QuickStart projectYnote Classic: Ynote Classic 2.8.5 Beta: Several Changes - Multiple Carets and Multiple Selections - Improved Startup Time - Improved Syntax Highlighting - Search Improvements - Shell Command - Improved StabilityTEBookConverter: 1.2: Fixed: Could not start convertion in some cases Fixed: Progress show during convertion was truncated Fixed: Stopping convertion didn't reset program titleNew ProjectsCoder Camps Troop 64 7-28: Place for group projectsEasyMR: ????EasyMR???????????????????????????????,?????,????,????,????????,??????????????????????,????????????。??????Hadoop?????????,EasyMR???????,??????????????????。FlexGraph: A simple chart control for Windows delivered in form of a function DLL. Tested in C++ (MFC, QT), C# and VB.Net.Grunndatakvalitet: Project is meant to open up the Altinn national data hub for Access from other systems and eg self-service like ExcelKinect Avateering V2 SDK migration: Kinect V2 (new version with XBOX1) SDK Avatar Avateering sample migration from version 1.8SDK. lqwe: just devlzsoft-cdn: this is a projectMin Heap: MinHeap project provides a MinHeap implementation in C# for use in Dijkstra's algorithm for computing shortest path distances for non-negative edge lengths.Modern Audio Tagger: Modern Audio Tagger is a powerful, easy and extreme fast tool to reorganize your music libraryMultiple Threads TCP Server: A multi-threaded tcp server. Using a queue with multiple threads to handle large numbers of client requests.newTeamProject1: Game Minesweeper on Console ApplicationO(1): Scale-able partitioned pure .NET Property Graph Database intended to handle large complex graphs and provide high performance OLTP property graph capabilities.Orchard Single Page Application Theme: Orchard Single Page Application ( SPA ) ThemePersonal Assistance Suite (PAS): This C# project aims to set up a modular platform for private use. Microsoft Prism Library 5.0 for WPF is used to implement this modularity.PokitDok Platform API Client for C#: The PokitDok API allows you to perform X12 transactions, find healthcare providers, and get information on health care procedure pricing. REST, JSON, Oauth2.Powershell DSC Resource - cXML: Powershell DSC Resource Module for managing XML element in a text file.Powershell Uninstall Java: Identifies and uninstalls Java software from the local machine using WMI. The query to locate the installed software interogates the WIN32_Products claSharePoint Real Time Log Viewer: SharePoint Real Time Log Viewer is a winform application that allows you to view the logs generated by SharePoint.sqldataexporter: this is a projectVAK: we are trying to create an application that will be a place people can discuss IT related topics and also try to integrate lync 2013Windows Phone 8 DropBox API: Windows Phone REST API for DropBoxYet Another Steam Mover (YASM): Yet Another Steam Mover (YASM) is a Microsoft.NET Windows Forms application for moving large digital games across different volumes.

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  • CodePlex Daily Summary for Monday, May 14, 2012

    CodePlex Daily Summary for Monday, May 14, 2012Popular ReleasesActipro WPF Controls Contrib: v2012.1: Updated to target WPF Studio 2012.1 Changes target framework to .NET 4.0, uses native WPF 4.0 DataGrid, and Prism 4.1.FileZilla Server Config File Editor: FileZillaConfig 1.0.0.1: Sorry for not including the config file with the previous release. It was a "lost in translation" when I was moving my local repository to CodePlex repository. Sorry for the rookie mistake.LINQ to Twitter: LINQ to Twitter Beta v2.0.25: Supports .NET 3.5, .NET 4.0, Silverlight 4.0, Windows Phone 7.1, Client Profile, and Windows 8. 100% Twitter API coverage. Also available via NuGet! Follow @JoeMayo.GAC Explorer: GACExplorer_x86_Setup: Version 1.0BlogEngine.NET: BlogEngine.NET 2.6: Get DotNetBlogEngine for 3 Months Free! Click Here for More Info BlogEngine.NET Hosting - 3 months free! Cheap ASP.NET Hosting - $4.95/Month - Click Here!! Click Here for More Info Cheap ASP.NET Hosting - $4.95/Month - Click Here! If you want to set up and start using BlogEngine.NET right away, you should download the Web project. If you want to extend or modify BlogEngine.NET, you should download the source code. If you are upgrading from a previous version of BlogEngine.NET, please take...BlackJumboDog: Ver5.6.2: 2012.05.07 Ver5.6.2 (1) Web???????、????????·????????? (2) Web???????、?????????? COMSPEC PATHEXT WINDIR SERVERADDR SERVERPORT DOCUMENTROOT SERVERADMIN REMOTE_PORT HTTPACCEPTCHRSET HTTPACCEPTLANGUAGE HTTPACCEPTEXCODINGGardens Point Parser Generator: Gardens Point Parser Generator version 1.5.0: ChangesVersion 1.5.0 contains a number of changes. Error messages are now MSBuild and VS-friendly. The default encoding of the *.y file is Unicode, with an automatic fallback to the previous raw-byte interpretation. The /report option has been improved, as has the automaton tracing facility. New facilities are included that allow multiple parsers to share a common token type. A complete change-log is available as a separate documentation file. The source project has been upgraded to Visual...Gardens Point LEX: Gardens Point LEX version 1.2.0: The main distribution is a zip file. This contains the binary executable, documentation, source code and the examples. ChangesVersion 1.2.0 contains a small number of changes. Error messages are now MSBuild and VS-friendly by default. The default encoding for lex input files is Unicode, with an automatic fallback to the previous raw-byte interpretation. The distribution also contains helper code for symbol pushback by GPPG parsers. 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XCode????: 1,Insert/Update/Delete???????????????,???SQL???? 2,IEntityOperate?????? 3,????????IEntityTree 4,????????????????? 5,?????????? 6,??????????????Google Book Downloader: Google Books Downloader Lite 1.0: Google Books Downloader Lite 1.0Python Tools for Visual Studio: 1.5 Alpha: We’re pleased to announce the release of Python Tools for Visual Studio 1.5 Alpha. Python Tools for Visual Studio (PTVS) is an open-source plug-in for Visual Studio which supports programming with the Python language. 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The IsFirstTime method of the RedirectModule will now return the same value when called multiple times for the same request. This was prevent...Mugen Injection: Mugen Injection ver 2.2 (WinRT supported): Added NamedParameterAttribute, OptionalParameterAttribute. Added behaviors ICycleDependencyBehavior, IResolveUnregisteredTypeBehavior. Added WinRT support. Added support for NET 4.5. Added support for MVC 4.NShape - .Net Diagramming Framework for Industrial Applications: NShape 2.0.1: Changes in 2.0.1:Bugfixes: IRepository.Insert(Shape shape) and IRepository.Insert(IEnumerable<Shape> shapes) no longer insert shape connections. Several context menu items did display although the required permission was not granted Display did not reset the visible and active layers when changing the diagram NullReferenceException when pressing Del key and no shape was selected Changed Behavior: LayerCollection.Find("") no longer throws an exception. 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Windows XP/Vista/7/8 ????????????? ??:????????Windows XP???,?????????.NET Framework 2.0???(x86),?????"?????????"??? ??????????????,??????????: ??"AcDo...sb0t: sb0t 4.64: New commands added: #scribble <url> #adminscribble on #adminscribble offJson.NET: Json.NET 4.5 Release 5: New feature - Added ItemIsReference, ItemReferenceLoopHandling, ItemTypeNameHandling, ItemConverterType to JsonPropertyAttribute New feature - Added ItemRequired to JsonObjectAttribute New feature - Added Path to JsonWriterException Change - Improved deserializer call stack memory usage Change - Moved the PDB files out of the NuGet package into a symbols package Fix - Fixed infinite loop from an input error when reading an array and error handling is enabled Fix - Fixed base objec...New Projects[ACID]IMVU Cache Cleaner: A IMVU Cache cleaner simple as that just with some major tweaks to the code is all giving it more power then most[ACID]IMVU Modder: IMVU Software Modder for adding and removing features from IMVUs official ClientAmarok Framework Library: This framework library is an attempt to take advantage of the actor/agent programming model for standalone desktop applications. 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  • Building a better mouse-trap &ndash; Improving the creation of XML Message Requests using Reflection, XML &amp; XSLT

    - by paulschapman
    Introduction The way I previously created messages to send to the GovTalk service I used the XMLDocument to create the request. While this worked it left a number of problems; not least that for every message a special function would need to created. This is OK for the short term but the biggest cost in any software project is maintenance and this would be a headache to maintain. So the following is a somewhat better way of achieving the same thing. For the purposes of this article I am going to be using the CompanyNumberSearch request of the GovTalk service – although this technique would work for any service that accepted XML. The C# functions which send and receive the messages remain the same. The magic sauce in this is the XSLT which defines the structure of the request, and the use of objects in conjunction with reflection to provide the content. It is a bit like Sweet Chilli Sauce added to Chicken on a bed of rice. So on to the Sweet Chilli Sauce The Sweet Chilli Sauce The request to search for a company based on it’s number is as follows; <GovTalkMessage xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/CM/envelope http://xmlgw.companieshouse.gov.uk/v1-0/schema/Egov_ch-v2-0.xsd" xmlns="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/CM/envelope" xmlns:dsig="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:gt="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/schemas/govtalk/core" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" > <EnvelopeVersion>1.0</EnvelopeVersion> <Header> <MessageDetails> <Class>NumberSearch</Class> <Qualifier>request</Qualifier> <TransactionID>1</TransactionID> </MessageDetails> <SenderDetails> <IDAuthentication> <SenderID>????????????????????????????????</SenderID> <Authentication> <Method>CHMD5</Method> <Value>????????????????????????????????</Value> </Authentication> </IDAuthentication> </SenderDetails> </Header> <GovTalkDetails> <Keys/> </GovTalkDetails> <Body> <NumberSearchRequest xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://xmlgw.companieshouse.gov.uk/v1-0/schema/NumberSearch.xsd"> <PartialCompanyNumber>99999999</PartialCompanyNumber> <DataSet>LIVE</DataSet> <SearchRows>1</SearchRows> </NumberSearchRequest> </Body> </GovTalkMessage> This is the XML that we send to the GovTalk Service and we get back a list of companies that match the criteria passed A message is structured in two parts; The envelope which identifies the person sending the request, with the name of the request, and the body which gives the detail of the company we are looking for. The Chilli What makes it possible is the use of XSLT to define the message – and serialization to convert each request object into XML. To start we need to create an object which will represent the contents of the message we are sending. However there is a common properties in all the messages that we send to Companies House. These properties are as follows SenderId – the id of the person sending the message SenderPassword – the password associated with Id TransactionId – Unique identifier for the message AuthenticationValue – authenticates the request Because these properties are unique to the Companies House message, and because they are shared with all messages they are perfect candidates for a base class. The class is as follows; using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Web; using System.Security.Cryptography; using System.Text; using System.Text.RegularExpressions; using Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ServiceRuntime; namespace CompanyHub.Services { public class GovTalkRequest { public GovTalkRequest() { try { SenderID = RoleEnvironment.GetConfigurationSettingValue("SenderId"); SenderPassword = RoleEnvironment.GetConfigurationSettingValue("SenderPassword"); TransactionId = DateTime.Now.Ticks.ToString(); AuthenticationValue = EncodePassword(String.Format("{0}{1}{2}", SenderID, SenderPassword, TransactionId)); } catch (System.Exception ex) { throw ex; } } /// <summary> /// returns the Sender ID to be used when communicating with the GovTalk Service /// </summary> public String SenderID { get; set; } /// <summary> /// return the password to be used when communicating with the GovTalk Service /// </summary> public String SenderPassword { get; set; } // end SenderPassword /// <summary> /// Transaction Id - uses the Time and Date converted to Ticks /// </summary> public String TransactionId { get; set; } // end TransactionId /// <summary> /// calculate the authentication value that will be used when /// communicating with /// </summary> public String AuthenticationValue { get; set; } // end AuthenticationValue property /// <summary> /// encodes password(s) using MD5 /// </summary> /// <param name="clearPassword"></param> /// <returns></returns> public static String EncodePassword(String clearPassword) { MD5CryptoServiceProvider md5Hasher = new MD5CryptoServiceProvider(); byte[] hashedBytes; UTF32Encoding encoder = new UTF32Encoding(); hashedBytes = md5Hasher.ComputeHash(ASCIIEncoding.Default.GetBytes(clearPassword)); String result = Regex.Replace(BitConverter.ToString(hashedBytes), "-", "").ToLower(); return result; } } } There is nothing particularly clever here, except for the EncodePassword method which hashes the value made up of the SenderId, Password and Transaction id. Each message inherits from this object. So for the Company Number Search in addition to the properties above we need a partial number, which dataset to search – for the purposes of the project we only need to search the LIVE set so this can be set in the constructor and the SearchRows. Again all are set as properties. With the SearchRows and DataSet initialized in the constructor. public class CompanyNumberSearchRequest : GovTalkRequest, IDisposable { /// <summary> /// /// </summary> public CompanyNumberSearchRequest() : base() { DataSet = "LIVE"; SearchRows = 1; } /// <summary> /// Company Number to search against /// </summary> public String PartialCompanyNumber { get; set; } /// <summary> /// What DataSet should be searched for the company /// </summary> public String DataSet { get; set; } /// <summary> /// How many rows should be returned /// </summary> public int SearchRows { get; set; } public void Dispose() { DataSet = String.Empty; PartialCompanyNumber = String.Empty; DataSet = "LIVE"; SearchRows = 1; } } As well as inheriting from our base class, I have also inherited from IDisposable – not just because it is just plain good practice to dispose of objects when coding, but it gives also gives us more versatility when using the object. There are four stages in making a request and this is reflected in the four methods we execute in making a call to the Companies House service; Create a request Send a request Check the status If OK then get the results of the request I’ve implemented each of these stages within a static class called Toolbox – which also means I don’t need to create an instance of the class to use it. When making a request there are three stages; Get the template for the message Serialize the object representing the message Transform the serialized object using a predefined XSLT file. Each of my templates I have defined as an embedded resource. When retrieving a resource of this kind we have to include the full namespace to the resource. In making the code re-usable as much as possible I defined the full ‘path’ within the GetRequest method. requestFile = String.Format("CompanyHub.Services.Schemas.{0}", RequestFile); So we now have the full path of the file within the assembly. Now all we need do is retrieve the assembly and get the resource. asm = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly(); sr = asm.GetManifestResourceStream(requestFile); Once retrieved  So this can be returned to the calling function and we now have a stream of XSLT to define the message. Time now to serialize the request to create the other side of this message. // Serialize object containing Request, Load into XML Document t = Obj.GetType(); ms = new MemoryStream(); serializer = new XmlSerializer(t); xmlTextWriter = new XmlTextWriter(ms, Encoding.ASCII); serializer.Serialize(xmlTextWriter, Obj); ms = (MemoryStream)xmlTextWriter.BaseStream; GovTalkRequest = Toolbox.ConvertByteArrayToString(ms.ToArray()); First off we need the type of the object so we make a call to the GetType method of the object containing the Message properties. Next we need a MemoryStream, XmlSerializer and an XMLTextWriter so these can be initialized. The object is serialized by making the call to the Serialize method of the serializer object. The result of that is then converted into a MemoryStream. That MemoryStream is then converted into a string. ConvertByteArrayToString This is a fairly simple function which uses an ASCIIEncoding object found within the System.Text namespace to convert an array of bytes into a string. public static String ConvertByteArrayToString(byte[] bytes) { System.Text.ASCIIEncoding enc = new System.Text.ASCIIEncoding(); return enc.GetString(bytes); } I only put it into a function because I will be using this in various places. The Sauce When adding support for other messages outside of creating a new object to store the properties of the message, the C# components do not need to change. It is in the XSLT file that the versatility of the technique lies. The XSLT file determines the format of the message. For the CompanyNumberSearch the XSLT file is as follows; <?xml version="1.0"?> <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"> <xsl:template match="/"> <GovTalkMessage xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/CM/envelope http://xmlgw.companieshouse.gov.uk/v1-0/schema/Egov_ch-v2-0.xsd" xmlns="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/CM/envelope" xmlns:dsig="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:gt="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/schemas/govtalk/core" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" > <EnvelopeVersion>1.0</EnvelopeVersion> <Header> <MessageDetails> <Class>NumberSearch</Class> <Qualifier>request</Qualifier> <TransactionID> <xsl:value-of select="CompanyNumberSearchRequest/TransactionId"/> </TransactionID> </MessageDetails> <SenderDetails> <IDAuthentication> <SenderID><xsl:value-of select="CompanyNumberSearchRequest/SenderID"/></SenderID> <Authentication> <Method>CHMD5</Method> <Value> <xsl:value-of select="CompanyNumberSearchRequest/AuthenticationValue"/> </Value> </Authentication> </IDAuthentication> </SenderDetails> </Header> <GovTalkDetails> <Keys/> </GovTalkDetails> <Body> <NumberSearchRequest xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://xmlgw.companieshouse.gov.uk/v1-0/schema/NumberSearch.xsd"> <PartialCompanyNumber> <xsl:value-of select="CompanyNumberSearchRequest/PartialCompanyNumber"/> </PartialCompanyNumber> <DataSet> <xsl:value-of select="CompanyNumberSearchRequest/DataSet"/> </DataSet> <SearchRows> <xsl:value-of select="CompanyNumberSearchRequest/SearchRows"/> </SearchRows> </NumberSearchRequest> </Body> </GovTalkMessage> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet> The outer two tags define that this is a XSLT stylesheet and the root tag from which the nodes are searched for. The GovTalkMessage is the format of the message that will be sent to Companies House. We first set up the XslCompiledTransform object which will transform the XSLT template and the serialized object into the request to Companies House. xslt = new XslCompiledTransform(); resultStream = new MemoryStream(); writer = new XmlTextWriter(resultStream, Encoding.ASCII); doc = new XmlDocument(); The Serialize method require XmlTextWriter to write the XML (writer) and a stream to place the transferred object into (writer). The XML will be loaded into an XMLDocument object (doc) prior to the transformation. // create XSLT Template xslTemplate = Toolbox.GetRequest(Template); xslTemplate.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin); templateReader = XmlReader.Create(xslTemplate); xslt.Load(templateReader); I have stored all the templates as a series of Embedded Resources and the GetRequestCall takes the name of the template and extracts the relevent XSLT file. /// <summary> /// Gets the framwork XML which makes the request /// </summary> /// <param name="RequestFile"></param> /// <returns></returns> public static Stream GetRequest(String RequestFile) { String requestFile = String.Empty; Stream sr = null; Assembly asm = null; try { requestFile = String.Format("CompanyHub.Services.Schemas.{0}", RequestFile); asm = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly(); sr = asm.GetManifestResourceStream(requestFile); } catch (Exception) { throw; } finally { asm = null; } return sr; } // end private static stream GetRequest We first take the template name and expand it to include the full namespace to the Embedded Resource I like to keep all my schemas in the same directory and so the namespace reflects this. The rest is the default namespace for the project. Then we get the currently executing assembly (which will contain the resources with the call to GetExecutingAssembly() ) Finally we get a stream which contains the XSLT file. We use this stream and then load an XmlReader with the contents of the template, and that is in turn loaded into the XslCompiledTransform object. We convert the object containing the message properties into Xml by serializing it; calling the Serialize() method of the XmlSerializer object. To set up the object we do the following; t = Obj.GetType(); ms = new MemoryStream(); serializer = new XmlSerializer(t); xmlTextWriter = new XmlTextWriter(ms, Encoding.ASCII); We first determine the type of the object being transferred by calling GetType() We create an XmlSerializer object by passing the type of the object being serialized. The serializer writes to a memory stream and that is linked to an XmlTextWriter. Next job is to serialize the object and load it into an XmlDocument. serializer.Serialize(xmlTextWriter, Obj); ms = (MemoryStream)xmlTextWriter.BaseStream; xmlRequest = new XmlTextReader(ms); GovTalkRequest = Toolbox.ConvertByteArrayToString(ms.ToArray()); doc.LoadXml(GovTalkRequest); Time to transform the XML to construct the full request. xslt.Transform(doc, writer); resultStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin); request = Toolbox.ConvertByteArrayToString(resultStream.ToArray()); So that creates the full request to be sent  to Companies House. Sending the request So far we have a string with a request for the Companies House service. Now we need to send the request to the Companies House Service. Configuration within an Azure project There are entire blog entries written about configuration within an Azure project – most of this is out of scope for this article but the following is a summary. Configuration is defined in two files within the parent project *.csdef which contains the definition of configuration setting. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <ServiceDefinition name="OnlineCompanyHub" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition"> <WebRole name="CompanyHub.Host"> <InputEndpoints> <InputEndpoint name="HttpIn" protocol="http" port="80" /> </InputEndpoints> <ConfigurationSettings> <Setting name="DiagnosticsConnectionString" /> <Setting name="DataConnectionString" /> </ConfigurationSettings> </WebRole> <WebRole name="CompanyHub.Services"> <InputEndpoints> <InputEndpoint name="HttpIn" protocol="http" port="8080" /> </InputEndpoints> <ConfigurationSettings> <Setting name="DiagnosticsConnectionString" /> <Setting name="SenderId"/> <Setting name="SenderPassword" /> <Setting name="GovTalkUrl"/> </ConfigurationSettings> </WebRole> <WorkerRole name="CompanyHub.Worker"> <ConfigurationSettings> <Setting name="DiagnosticsConnectionString" /> </ConfigurationSettings> </WorkerRole> </ServiceDefinition>   Above is the configuration definition from the project. What we are interested in however is the ConfigurationSettings tag of the CompanyHub.Services WebRole. There are four configuration settings here, but at the moment we are interested in the second to forth settings; SenderId, SenderPassword and GovTalkUrl The value of these settings are defined in the ServiceDefinition.cscfg file; <?xml version="1.0"?> <ServiceConfiguration serviceName="OnlineCompanyHub" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceConfiguration"> <Role name="CompanyHub.Host"> <Instances count="2" /> <ConfigurationSettings> <Setting name="DiagnosticsConnectionString" value="UseDevelopmentStorage=true" /> <Setting name="DataConnectionString" value="UseDevelopmentStorage=true" /> </ConfigurationSettings> </Role> <Role name="CompanyHub.Services"> <Instances count="2" /> <ConfigurationSettings> <Setting name="DiagnosticsConnectionString" value="UseDevelopmentStorage=true" /> <Setting name="SenderId" value="UserID"/> <Setting name="SenderPassword" value="Password"/> <Setting name="GovTalkUrl" value="http://xmlgw.companieshouse.gov.uk/v1-0/xmlgw/Gateway"/> </ConfigurationSettings> </Role> <Role name="CompanyHub.Worker"> <Instances count="2" /> <ConfigurationSettings> <Setting name="DiagnosticsConnectionString" value="UseDevelopmentStorage=true" /> </ConfigurationSettings> </Role> </ServiceConfiguration>   Look for the Role tag that contains our project name (CompanyHub.Services). Having configured the parameters we can now transmit the request. This is done by ‘POST’ing a stream of XML to the Companies House servers. govTalkUrl = RoleEnvironment.GetConfigurationSettingValue("GovTalkUrl"); request = WebRequest.Create(govTalkUrl); request.Method = "POST"; request.ContentType = "text/xml"; writer = new StreamWriter(request.GetRequestStream()); writer.WriteLine(RequestMessage); writer.Close(); We use the WebRequest object to send the object. Set the method of sending to ‘POST’ and the type of data as text/xml. Once set up all we do is write the request to the writer – this sends the request to Companies House. Did the Request Work Part I – Getting the response Having sent a request – we now need the result of that request. response = request.GetResponse(); reader = response.GetResponseStream(); result = Toolbox.ConvertByteArrayToString(Toolbox.ReadFully(reader));   The WebRequest object has a GetResponse() method which allows us to get the response sent back. Like many of these calls the results come in the form of a stream which we convert into a string. Did the Request Work Part II – Translating the Response Much like XSLT and XML were used to create the original request, so it can be used to extract the response and by deserializing the result we create an object that contains the response. Did it work? It would be really great if everything worked all the time. Of course if it did then I don’t suppose people would pay me and others the big bucks so that our programmes do not a) Collapse in a heap (this is an area of memory) b) Blow every fuse in the place in a shower of sparks (this will probably not happen this being real life and not a Hollywood movie, but it was possible to blow the sound system of a BBC Model B with a poorly coded setting) c) Go nuts and trap everyone outside the airlock (this was from a movie, and unless NASA get a manned moon/mars mission set up unlikely to happen) d) Go nuts and take over the world (this was also from a movie, but please note life has a habit of being of exceeding the wildest imaginations of Hollywood writers (note writers – Hollywood executives have no imagination and judging by recent output of that town have turned plagiarism into an art form). e) Freeze in total confusion because the cleaner pulled the plug to the internet router (this has happened) So anyway – we need to check to see if our request actually worked. Within the GovTalk response there is a section that details the status of the message and a description of what went wrong (if anything did). I have defined an XSLT template which will extract these into an XML document. <?xml version="1.0"?> <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:ev="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/CM/envelope" xmlns:gt="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/schemas/govtalk/core" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <xsl:template match="/"> <GovTalkStatus xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"> <Status> <xsl:value-of select="ev:GovTalkMessage/ev:Header/ev:MessageDetails/ev:Qualifier"/> </Status> <Text> <xsl:value-of select="ev:GovTalkMessage/ev:GovTalkDetails/ev:GovTalkErrors/ev:Error/ev:Text"/> </Text> <Location> <xsl:value-of select="ev:GovTalkMessage/ev:GovTalkDetails/ev:GovTalkErrors/ev:Error/ev:Location"/> </Location> <Number> <xsl:value-of select="ev:GovTalkMessage/ev:GovTalkDetails/ev:GovTalkErrors/ev:Error/ev:Number"/> </Number> <Type> <xsl:value-of select="ev:GovTalkMessage/ev:GovTalkDetails/ev:GovTalkErrors/ev:Error/ev:Type"/> </Type> </GovTalkStatus> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet>   Only thing different about previous XSL files is the references to two namespaces ev & gt. These are defined in the GovTalk response at the top of the response; xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/CM/envelope http://xmlgw.companieshouse.gov.uk/v1-0/schema/Egov_ch-v2-0.xsd" xmlns="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/CM/envelope" xmlns:dsig="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:gt="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/schemas/govtalk/core" If we do not put these references into the XSLT template then  the XslCompiledTransform object will not be able to find the relevant tags. Deserialization is a fairly simple activity. encoder = new ASCIIEncoding(); ms = new MemoryStream(encoder.GetBytes(statusXML)); serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(GovTalkStatus)); xmlTextWriter = new XmlTextWriter(ms, Encoding.ASCII); messageStatus = (GovTalkStatus)serializer.Deserialize(ms);   We set up a serialization object using the object type containing the error state and pass to it the results of a transformation between the XSLT above and the GovTalk response. Now we have an object containing any error state, and the error message. All we need to do is check the status. If there is an error then we can flag an error. If not then  we extract the results and pass that as an object back to the calling function. We go this by guess what – defining an XSLT template for the result and using that to create an Xml Stream which can be deserialized into a .Net object. In this instance the XSLT to create the result of a Company Number Search is; <?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:ev="http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/CM/envelope" xmlns:sch="http://xmlgw.companieshouse.gov.uk/v1-0/schema" exclude-result-prefixes="ev"> <xsl:template match="/"> <CompanySearchResult xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"> <CompanyNumber> <xsl:value-of select="ev:GovTalkMessage/ev:Body/sch:NumberSearch/sch:CoSearchItem/sch:CompanyNumber"/> </CompanyNumber> <CompanyName> <xsl:value-of select="ev:GovTalkMessage/ev:Body/sch:NumberSearch/sch:CoSearchItem/sch:CompanyName"/> </CompanyName> </CompanySearchResult> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet> and the object definition is; using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Web; namespace CompanyHub.Services { public class CompanySearchResult { public CompanySearchResult() { CompanyNumber = String.Empty; CompanyName = String.Empty; } public String CompanyNumber { get; set; } public String CompanyName { get; set; } } } Our entire code to make calls to send a request, and interpret the results are; String request = String.Empty; String response = String.Empty; GovTalkStatus status = null; fault = null; try { using (CompanyNumberSearchRequest requestObj = new CompanyNumberSearchRequest()) { requestObj.PartialCompanyNumber = CompanyNumber; request = Toolbox.CreateRequest(requestObj, "CompanyNumberSearch.xsl"); response = Toolbox.SendGovTalkRequest(request); status = Toolbox.GetMessageStatus(response); if (status.Status.ToLower() == "error") { fault = new HubFault() { Message = status.Text }; } else { Object obj = Toolbox.GetGovTalkResponse(response, "CompanyNumberSearchResult.xsl", typeof(CompanySearchResult)); } } } catch (FaultException<ArgumentException> ex) { fault = new HubFault() { FaultType = ex.Detail.GetType().FullName, Message = ex.Detail.Message }; } catch (System.Exception ex) { fault = new HubFault() { FaultType = ex.GetType().FullName, Message = ex.Message }; } finally { } Wrap up So there we have it – a reusable set of functions to send and interpret XML results from an internet based service. The code is reusable with a little change with any service which uses XML as a transport mechanism – and as for the Companies House GovTalk service all I need to do is create various objects for the result and message sent and the relevent XSLT files. I might need minor changes for other services but something like 70-90% will be exactly the same.

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