Nerd Alert

ColdFusion RegEx White List Example

2011-04-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

I needed to build a function that would strip out characters in event information because, otherwise it would break a JSON feed. Here is what I used:


<cffunction name="jsonSafe" access="private">
  <cfargument name="str" type="string" required="true">
  <cfset newStr = reReplace(arguments.str, '[^[:alnum:][:space:]$=;.?!\\/&"''`():,\[\]{}_\-]', '_','all')>
  <cfreturn newStr>
</cffunction>

Preserve epoch dates in Zimbra JSON via ColdFusion DeserializeJSON function

2011-04-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

The DeserializeJSON() function in ColdFusion converts an epoch date/time in JSON from something like: 1281364965000 to: 1.281364965E+012.

To prevent this from happening, you can use something like this:

<cfset jsonData = reReplace(jsonData, '([0-9]{13})', '"\1"', 'ALL')>

Alternatively, to convert any number, 10 digits or more into a string to preserve the proper formatting, use something like this:

<cfset jsonData = reReplace(jsonData, '([0-9]{10,})', '"\1"', 'ALL')>

Fixing bootloaders when dual booting OS X and Ubuntu

2010-09-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

I ran into a problem the last time Ubuntu upgraded either the kernel or grub (not sure which); Either way, it blew away my Chameleon bootloader and replaced it with Grub. Here's how to fix it:

Reboot from the iATKOS v7 CD
Deselect all checkboxes except the one for Install Chameleon
Install

Now you should be able to boot into OS X but, Ubuntu will be unavailable.

Boot from the Ubuntu Live CD
Open the Terminal from Applications >> Accessories

sudo -s
mkdir /mnt/r
mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/r
mount --bind /dev /mnt/r/dev
mount --bind /proc /mnt/r/proc
chroot /mnt/r
update-grub
grub-install --force /dev/sda4

Adding CFWheels Applications as "Custom Script" elements in the CommonSpot CMS

2010-09-15T13:43:00.001-07:00

It appears that CommonSpot (version 5, at least) ignores Application.cfc files when using a custom script in the same directory. In CF Wheels, Application.cfc is used to setup the entire framework.

Here is what I did to get it working:

Put your CF Wheels application in the customcf/ subdirectory
Rename Application.cfc to application.cfc (This is done to prevent the application from being initialized twice if accessed outside the CMS.)
Edit the index.cfm at the root of the application directory:

<!--- Manually instantiate the application.cfc --->
<cfset server.railo = structNew()>
<cfset server.railo.version = "fake version">

<!--- If this is the first time the application has run, call the onApplicationStart method --->
<cfset app = CreateObject("component","application")>

<!--- Call the onRequestStart method and pass the current page as a parameter --->
<cfif not structKeyExists(application, "wheels")>
<cfset app.onApplicationStart()>
</cfif>

<!--- Call the onRequestStart method and pass the current page as a parameter --->
<cfset app.onRequestStart(cgi.script_name)>


<!--- This is the only original line in the file --->
<cfinclude template="wheels/index.cfm">

Gnome Screensaver Missing Lock Screen Prompt in Ubuntu Lucid 10.04

2010-07-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

For some reason, the unlock dialog box for Gnome Screensaver suddenly stopped appearing. Screensaver works fine but, move the mouse and no unlock prompt, just back to the screen saver. The only work-around was to press Ctrl-Alt-F1, login, and type the command:

killall gnome-screensaver

Although, after a while this gets annoying so, I looked for a better long term solution. Here it is:

sudo chmod a+r /etc/pam.d/*

That's it. I assume that the permissions may have been messed up during an update. Posted here for posterity.

CFEclipse Dictionary for CF on Wheels

2010-01-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

As far as I could tell, there was no CFEclipse dictionary available for CF on Wheels so I created one.

To get it, download the XML at: http://su.pr/6s1VUi

To use it:

Open your Eclipse plugins/ directory
Open the directory: org.cfeclipse.cfml_X/ (where X is your CFEclipse version number)
Open the directory: dictionary
Copy cfwheels.xml to this location
Close Eclipse if it is running
Open up: dictionaryconfig.xml

Change:

<version key="cf8" label="Coldfusion 8">
 <grammar location="cf8.xml" />
 <grammar location="user.xml" />
</version>

To:

<version key="cf8" label="Coldfusion 8">
 <grammar location="cf8.xml" />
 <grammar location="user.xml" />
 <grammar location="cfwheels.xml" />
</version>

I am not sure if it is an Ubuntu bug but, any thing that is not in the first grammar file is not loaded in Eclipse. If you run into problems, just copy and paste the functions listed in cfwheels.xml to cf8.xml or whatever dialect you use. The other option is to create a separate CFWheels dictionary entry but, it doesn't work very well switching back and forth between dictionary sets.

In the likely event that I am struck by a bus, a very confused sperm whale, or bowl of petunias, I created a script that scrapes the CF on Wheels documentation and creates the dictionary XML. If more functions are added and the structure of the docs pages don't change immensely, rerun the script to refresh the dictionary XML.

Here's the code:

<cfparam name="url.page" default="0">
<cfparam name="url.start" default="0">
<cfparam name="url.end" default="0">

<!---
 Strips all table and table content tags and extra whitespace from a string.

 @param string      String to format. (Required)
 @return Returns a string.
 @author Jared Rypka-Hauer (jared@web-relevant.com)
 @version 1, August 25, 2005
--->
<cffunction name="detableize">
 <cfargument name="string" type="string" required="true" />
 <cfset var outputString = arguments["string"]>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "</*table>", "", "all")>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "</*td>", "ø", "all")>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "</*t[rhd](\s*\w*=*""*\w*""*)*>", "", "all")>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "(?m)^\s*", "", "all")>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "\n{2,}", "#chr(10)#", "all")>
 <cfreturn outputString />
</cffunction>

<!--- based on function above; removes garbage from api page --->
<cffunction name="detagify">
 <cfargument name="string" type="string" required="true" />
 <cfset var outputString = arguments["string"]>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "</*li>", "", "all")>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "<code>[a-z\(\)]*</code>", "", "all")>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "<a href=""", "", "all")>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , """></a>", ",", "all")>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "(?m)^\s*", "", "all")>
 <cfset outputString = reReplaceNoCase(outputString , "\n{2,}", "#chr(10)#", "all")>
 <cfreturn outputString />
</cffunction>

<cfscript>
     /**
     * Returns the content enclosed in a tag pair.
     *
     * @param tag      The tag to look for. Should be passed without < or > and without attributes. (Required)
     * @param string      The string to search. (Required)
     * @return Returns a string.
     * @author Johan Steenkamp (johan@orbital.co.nz)
     * @version 1, September 16, 2002
     */
     function getTagContent(tag,str) {
         var matchStruct = structNew();
         var startTag = "<#tag#[^>]*>";
         var endTag = "</#tag#>";
         var endTagStart = 0;
         matchStruct = REFindNoCase(startTag,str,1,"true");
         if(matchStruct.len[1] eq 0 ) return "";
         endTagStart = REFindNoCase(endTag,str,matchStruct.pos[1],"false");
         return Mid(str,matchStruct.pos[1]+matchStruct.len[1],endTagStart-matchStruct.pos[1]-matchStruct.len[1]);
     }
 </cfscript>

 <!--- get urls --->
 <cfhttp url="http://cfwheels.org/docs/function/"></cfhttp>
 <cfscript>
     urlsFilecontent = cfhttp.filecontent;
     urlsStartPoint = find("<h1>Wheels <abbr title=""Application Programming Interface"">API</abbr></h1>", urlsFilecontent);
     urlsEndPoint = len(urlsFilecontent) - urlsStartPoint;
     urlsChopped = mid(urlsFilecontent, urlsStartPoint, urlsEndPoint);
     urlsChopped = getTagContent("ul", urlsChopped);
     urlsChopped = detagify(urlsChopped);
     urlsChopped = listToArray(urlsChopped);
     dictionary = "";
     itemsPerPage = 25;
     urlsPages = ceiling(arrayLen(urlsChopped) / itemsPerPage);
 </cfscript>

 <cfoutput>
     <h1>CFWheels API to CFEclipse Dictionary Conversion</h1>
     <p>#arrayLen(urlsChopped)# functions listed in documentation. Function conversions are broken up into batches to prevent timeouts.
     Click below to convert a batch.</p>
     <ul>
     <cfloop from="1" to="#urlsPages#" index="i">
         <cfscript>
             if (i neq 1) {
                 start = (i - 1) * itemsPerPage;
                 end = start + itemsPerPage - 1;
             } else {
                 start = 1;
                 end = itemsPerPage - 1;
             }
          
             if (end gt arrayLen(urlsChopped)) {
                 end = arrayLen(urlsChopped);
             }
         </cfscript>
         <li><a href="?page=#i#&start=#start#&end=#end#">#i#: #start# - #end#</a></li>
     </cfloop>
     </ul>
 </cfoutput>

<cfif url.page>
<cfloop from="#url.start#" to="#url.end#" index="i">

 <!--- convert html to cfeclipse dictionary xml --->
 <cfhttp url="http://cfwheels.org#urlsChopped[i]#"></cfhttp>
 <cfset functionFilecontent = cfhttp.filecontent>

 <cfscript>
     functionStartPoint = findnocase("contentWrapper", functionFilecontent);
     functionEndPoint = len(functionFilecontent) - functionStartPoint;
     functionChopped = mid(functionFilecontent, functionStartPoint, functionEndPoint);
     functionName = getTagContent("code", functionChopped);
     functionChopped = replacenocase(functionChopped, "<code>", "", "all");
     functionChopped = replacenocase(functionChopped, "</code>", "", "all");
     functionDescription = getTagContent("p", functionChopped);
     functionParameters = getTagContent("tbody", functionChopped);
     functionParameters = detableize(functionParameters);
     functionParameters = listToArray(functionParameters, "ø", true);
 </cfscript>

 <cfoutput>
<cfsavecontent variable="functionOutput">
 <function xmlns="http://www.cfeclipse.org/version1/dictionary" name="#xmlFormat(functionName)#" returns="">

     <help><![CDATA[
         #xmlFormat(trim(functionDescription))#
     ]]></help>
     <cfloop from="1" to="#arrayLen(functionParameters)-1#" index="i" step="5"><cfif functionParameters[i+2] eq "No"><cfset required="false"><cfelse><cfset required="true"></cfif>
     <parameter name="#xmlFormat(trim(functionParameters[i]))#" type="#xmlFormat(trim(functionParameters[i+1]))#" required="#xmlFormat(trim(required))#">
         <help><![CDATA[
             #xmlFormat(trim(functionParameters[i+4]))#
         ]]></help>
     </parameter>
     </cfloop>
 </function>
</cfsavecontent>
 </cfoutput>

 <cfset dictionary = dictionary & functionOutput>

</cfloop>
<cfoutput>
<textarea cols="150" rows="50">
#dictionary#
</textarea>
</cfoutput>
</cfif>

Hopes this helps some other CFEclipse & CF on Wheels developers out there.

Zimbra ZmAppt Object Properties

2009-07-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

As of this writing in July of 2009, the only documentation of the Zimbra ZmAppt object is a preliminary draft of a white paper released by Zimbra in 2006. The documentation is out of date so, I am putting up an example of a current ZmAppt object (as of release 5.0.18) here, in case anyone is googling for updated documentation like I was.

ALARM	undefined
ALLDAYEVENT	false
ATTENDEES	[empty string]
ENDDATE	Tue Jul 28 2009 16:00:00 GMT-0500 (CST)
EXCEPTION	undefined
ID	f6ec6325-5dd9-452c-aec5-c60561900b79:560
ISRECURRING	false
LOCATION	Test Location 254
NOTES	Test Notes 254
OTHERATTENDEES	undefined
RESOURCES	[empty string]
SRCOBJ	ZmAppt
STARTDATE	Tue Jul 28 2009 11:00:00 GMT-0500 (CST)
SUBJECT	Test Event 254
TIMEZONE	(GMT-06.00) Central Time (US & Canada)
TYPE	ZmAppt
UID	02b205bf-72cc-48c7-a0ec-0862ae321124

Here is an example of the srcObj above:

ADDCHANGELISTENER	undefined
ADJUSTMS	undefined
ALARM	undefined
ALARMDATA	undefined
ALLDAYEVENT	false
ATTACHMENTS	undefined
CACHE	undefined
CANCEL	undefined
CLEAR	undefined
COMPNUM	undefined
CONSTRUCTOR	function Object() { [native code] }
CREATE	undefined
DELETELOCAL	undefined
ENDDATE	Tue Jul 28 2009 16:00:00 GMT-0500 (CST)
ENDSINUTC	undefined
FBA	undefined
FLAGLOCAL	undefined
FOLDERID	undefined
FRAGMENT	undefined
FREEBUSY	undefined
GETATTACHLISTHTML	undefined
GETATTACHMENTS	undefined
GETATTENDEES	undefined
GETATTENDEESTEXT	undefined
GETATTENDEETOOLTIPDATA	undefined
GETATTENDEETOOLTIPSTRING	undefined
GETBYID	undefined
GETCOMPNUM	undefined
GETDATERANGE	undefined
GETDEFAULTDNDACTION	undefined
GETDETAILS	undefined
GETDURATION	undefined
GETDURATIONTEXT	undefined
GETENDTIME	undefined
GETFOLDER	undefined
GETFOLDERID	undefined
GETHTMLSUMMARY	undefined
GETLOCALFOLDERID	undefined
GETLOCATION	undefined
GETMAILNOTIFICATIONOPTION	undefined
GETNAME	undefined
GETNOTESPART	undefined
GETORGANIZER	undefined
GETORIGSTARTDATE	undefined
GETORIGSTARTTIME	undefined
GETORIGTIMEZONE	undefined
GETPARTICIPANTSTATUSSTR	undefined
GETPRINTHTML	undefined
GETRECURBLURB	undefined
GETRECURTYPE	undefined
GETREMINDERLOCATION	undefined
GETREMINDERNAME	undefined
GETREMOTEFOLDEROWNER	undefined
GETRESTURL	undefined
GETSENTBY	undefined
GETSHORTSTARTHOUR	undefined
GETSTARTTIME	undefined
GETSUMMARY	undefined
GETTAGIMAGEINFO	undefined
GETTEXTSUMMARY	undefined
GETTIMEZONE	undefined
GETTOOLTIP	undefined
GETUNIQUEENDDATE	undefined
GETUNIQUEID	undefined
GETUNIQUESTARTDATE	undefined
GETURL	undefined
HASALARMDATA	undefined
HASATTACHMENTS	undefined
HASATTENDEEFORTYPE	undefined
HASATTENDEES	undefined
HASPERSONATTENDEES	undefined
HASTAG	undefined
ID	f6ec6325-5dd9-452c-aec5-c60561900b79:560
INVID	undefined
ISALARMINRANGE	undefined
ISALARMINSTANCE	undefined
ISALLDAYEVENT	undefined
ISCUSTOMRECURRENCE	undefined
ISENDINRANGE	undefined
ISEXCEPTION	undefined
ISINRANGE	undefined
ISMULTIDAY	undefined
ISORG	undefined
ISORGANIZER	undefined
ISOVERLAPPING	undefined
ISPRIVATE	undefined
ISREADONLY	undefined
ISRECURRING	false
ISSHARED	undefined
ISSTARTINRANGE	undefined
LIST	undefined
LOCATION	location 254
MESSAGE	undefined
MODIFY	undefined
MOVE	undefined
MOVELOCAL	undefined
NAME	undefined
NOTESTOPPART	undefined
NOTIFYDELETE	undefined
NOTIFYMODIFY	undefined
ORGANIZER	undefined
ORIGATTENDEES	undefined
ORIGEQUIPMENT	undefined
ORIGLOCATIONS	undefined
OTHERATTENDEES	undefined
PARSEALARM	undefined
PARSEALARMDATA	undefined
PRIORITY	undefined
PRIVACY	undefined
PTST	undefined
RECURRING	undefined
REMOVEALLCHANGELISTENERS	undefined
REMOVEALLTAGSLOCAL	undefined
REMOVEATTACHMENT	undefined
REMOVECHANGELISTENER	undefined
RESETREPEATCUSTOMDAYOFWEEK	undefined
RESETREPEATMONTHLYDAYLIST	undefined
RESETREPEATWEEKLYDAYS	undefined
RESETREPEATYEARLYMONTHSLIST	undefined
RIDZ	undefined
RSVP	undefined
SAVE	undefined
SENTBY	undefined
SERIESINVID	undefined
SETALLDAYEVENT	undefined
SETATTACHMENTS	undefined
SETATTENDEES	undefined
SETATTENDEETOOLTIPDATA	undefined
SETDATERANGE	undefined
SETENDDATE	undefined
SETFOLDERID	undefined
SETFROMMAILMESSAGE	undefined
SETFROMMESSAGE	undefined
SETINCLUDEEDITREPLY	undefined
SETMAILNOTIFICATIONOPTION	undefined
SETNAME	undefined
SETNOBUSYOVERLAY	undefined
SETORGANIZER	undefined
SETRECURTYPE	undefined
SETREMINDERMINUTES	undefined
SETRSVP	undefined
SETSTARTDATE	undefined
SETTEXTNOTES	undefined
SETTIMEZONE	undefined
SETTYPE	undefined
SETVIEWMODE	undefined
SHOULDRSVP	undefined
SHOWBLOBMISSINGDLG	undefined
STARTDATE	Tue Jul 28 2009 11:00:00 GMT-0500 (CST)
STARTSINUTC	undefined
STATUS	undefined
TAGHASH	undefined
TAGLOCAL	undefined
TAGS	undefined
TIMEZONE	undefined
TOOLTIP	undefined
TOSTRING	function toString() { [native code] }
TRANSPARENCY	undefined
TYPE	undefined
TZO	undefined
UID	02b205bf-72cc-48c7-a0ec-0862ae321124
UNIQSTARTTIME	undefined
VIEWMODE	undefined
_ADDATTENDEESTOSOAP	undefined
_ADDATTENDEETOSOAP	undefined
_ADDDATETIMETOSOAP	undefined
_ADDEXTRASTOSOAP	undefined
_ADDINVITEANDCOMPNUM	undefined
_ADDLOCATIONTOSOAP	undefined
_ADDNOTESTOSOAP	undefined
_ADDXPARAMTOSOAP	undefined
_ADDXPROPSTOALARM	undefined
_ADDXPROPSTOSOAP	undefined
_ATTENDEES	undefined
_CURRENTLYLOADED	undefined
_DOCANCEL	undefined
_EVT	undefined
_EVTMGR	undefined
_FANOUTFIRST	undefined
_FANOUTLAST	undefined
_FANOUTNUM	undefined
_GETATTR	undefined
_GETCLEANHTML2TEXT	undefined
_GETDEFAULTBLURB	undefined
_GETDEFAULTFOLDERID	undefined
_GETFLAGS	undefined
_GETINVITEFROMERROR	undefined
_GETSOAPFORMODE	undefined
_GETTEXTSUMMARYTIME	undefined
_GETTTDAY	undefined
_HANDLECANCELERROR	undefined
_HANDLEERRORGETDETAILS	undefined
_HANDLEERRORGETDETAILS2	undefined
_HANDLERESPONSEGETDETAILS	undefined
_HANDLERESPONSESEND	undefined
_LAYOUT	undefined
_LOADFROMDOM	undefined
_NOBUSYOVERLAY	undefined
_NOTIFY	undefined
_ORIG	undefined
_ORIGSTARTDATE	undefined
_ORIGTIMEZONE	undefined
_PARSEFLAGS	undefined
_PARSETAGS	undefined
_PTSTLOCATIONMAP	undefined
_RECURRENCE	undefined
_REMINDERMINUTES	undefined
_REPLIES	undefined
_RESETCACHED	undefined
_SENDNOTIFICATIONMAIL	undefined
_SENDREQUEST	undefined
_SETALARMDATA	undefined
_SETALARMFROMMESSAGE	undefined
_SETALARMXPROPS	undefined
_SETEXTRASFROMMESSAGE	undefined
_SETNOTES	undefined
_SETRECURRENCE	undefined
_SETSIMPLESOAPATTRIBUTES	undefined
_SETTIMEFROMMESSAGE	undefined
_STARTTIMEUNIQID	undefined
_TOOLTIP	undefined
_TRIMNOTESSUMMARY	undefined
_UNIQID	undefined
_UPDATEPARTICIPANTSTATUS	undefined
_VALIDATTACHMENTS	undefined

Upgrading MySQL 3.23.58 to 5 [WIP]

2009-02-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

Had to upgrade mass amounts of data from outdated MySQL 3.23 to 5. Couldn't find any good guides so I am attempting to make one. This is currently a work in progress. I will add more as I get farther.

Backup existing data:
mysqldump --all-databases --quote-names -u root -p > backup.sql

I built a virtual Redhat Enterprise Linux server using VirtualBox to test out the upgrade path before I did it on the production server. This process is pretty easy and well documented. Install the RPM for MySQL server and client.

While trying to re-import the SQL, it failed several times. As I was migrating a little more than 100 databases, I found it handy to have a script that removes all the databases when the import failed. Here's what i did:
grep 'CREATE DATABASE' backup.sql > bobby_droptables.sql
vi bobby_droptables.sql
:% s/CREATE/DROP/g
** Remove the line: DROP DATABASE mysql; **

If the import fails, you can run:
cat bobby_droptables.sql | mysql -u root -p

Found out there is a bug in "--quote-names". It does not quote database names, only tables. This is fixed in version 4 which does me no good. I need to escape all my database names in quotes because Ensim created database names as SITENAME_-_PROJECTNAME.

Did this instead:
vi backup.sql
:% s/CREATE\sDATABASE\s\/\*\!32312\sIF\sNOT\sEXISTS\*\/\s$[a-zA-z0-9\_\-]*$;/CREATE DATABASE `\1\`;/g
The above RegEx puts back ticks around all database names.

My backup.sql had create statements such as this:
CREATE DATABASE /*!32312 IF NOT EXISTS*/ some_database_name_here;
If your statement is different you may need to tweak the RegEx above.

Also, I added:
DROP DATABASE mysql;
... immediately before the CREATE DATABASE mysql; statement. As of now, I don't know if this will work or not. I hope that removing the mysql database momentarily will not cause any catastrophes. I'm hoping that replacing the database will restore all the existing usernames and passwords for the databases. It worked!

Now after all this, I was finally able to import the sql:
cat backup.sql | mysql -u root -p --verbose
--verbose is nice because while importing about 300mb of SQL, I kept thinking that the thing was gonna stall out and then would manually run:
mysql -u root -p
show databases;
but with --verbose you get to see all the SQL whiz past your screen.

SQL Developer + tnsnames.ora for UWM

2008-12-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

After completing the steps below for your platform, TNS aliases will be available in Oracle SQL Developer in the "New/Select Database Connection" dialog by selecting "TNS" for the "Connection Type" combo box. These steps are only necessary if you can't or don't want to install the Oracle Client for your platform.

For Linux machines:
-get tnsnames.ora from: https://mumbles.imt.uwm.edu/dbdoc/tnsnames-noworld.php
-copy the file to: /etc

For Windows XP machines:
-get tnsnames.ora from: https://mumbles.imt.uwm.edu/dbdoc/tnsnames-world.php
-copy to c:\tnsnames\ (or some other directory where it will never be moved)
-right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties"
-click "Advanced" tab
-click "Environment Variables"
-under "System variables" click "New"
-"Variable name:" TNS_ADMIN (must be caps)
-"Variable value:" c:\tnsnames\ (or whatever directory you used above)
-Click "OK"
-Click "OK"
-Click "OK"

Ref:
http://wiki.oracle.com/page/SQL+Developer+FAQ?t=anon

* How does SQL Developer find my TNSNames file?
o SQL Developer checks the following:
1) $HOME/tnsnames.ora
2) $TNS_ADMIN/tnsnames.ora
3) /etc/tnsnames.ora ( non-windows )
4) $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/tnsnames.ora
5) Registry Key

Wicked Juju

2008-11-02T23:05:00.001-08:00

Spent a few hours migrating from an old media server to a new one. For the most part everything went great except the MediaMVP running MVPMC would not load the dongle.bin.config. I assumed my TFTP server was mis-configured, the mvpmc commandline switches were wrong, etc.

No dice!

Found this wicked juju from: http://mlblog.osdir.com/multimedia.mvpmc.user/2006-05/msg00020.shtml
Reposting it here for posterity:

Guys,

See my post in the user group. I've posted an incantation that allows the MVP to boot. The problem with this H1 appears identical to the same problem I have with my H2. I'm posting an update later on more findings I've had with long vs short power cycles and using MVP relay. Here's the reader's digest procedure to get a successful boot (from an H2):

After trying several experiments, the following sequence got me back to reliable time and time again booting (until you boot from flash again):

  * Unplug the MVP for (I got it to work with a 90 second to 120 second cycle).
  * After the 120 seconds have elapsed, unplug the ethernet cable (I think leaving it plugged in may help bleed off any capacitors)
  * Apply the power again and wait for the MVP to get to the point where it complains about not finding a server and asks you to press OK to re-scan. You'll also notice that your "favorite server" has disappeared from the list.
  * Power it down
  * Plug in the ethernet cable
  * Power it up (no waiting)
  * You should get past the hanging last square
  * When you get to the screen that states to press OK within 3 seconds to configure press OK
  * You should notice that the MVP is re-scanning and your available server should appear on the list.
  * Press OK to save the configuration (this takes a while and I suspect clears out any "bad" data that may be causing the problem)
  * The MVP restarts
  * You get to the screen with the 10 squares and dongle.bin.ver is requested and served at about the 3rd square. Then dongle.bin gets requested and served and now the text LOADING APPLICATION appears above the 10 squares and they all fill completely and stop once all full (NOTE: only one cycle and the LOADING APPLICATION seem to indicate that its working)
  * There is a delay as the mvpmc application loads and screen flashes as it boots up perfectly.

Please let me know if this works for you as well...

Cheers...

Sergio

It works ... as goofy as it seems ... it works.

CAS + ColdFusion

2008-10-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

The example available from JA-SIG is some of the ugliest code I've seen lately. This is what I came up with (based on their example code):
Application.cfm

<cfapplication name="my_awesome_app_name_here"
clientmanagement="yes" sessionmanagement="yes"
setclientcookies="yes" setdomaincookies="no"
loginstorage="session">

index.cfm

<!--- globals --->
<cfparam name="url.ticket" default="">
<cfparam name="username" default="">
<cfparam name="url.action" default="">
<cfscript>
 cas_path = "https://cas-server.example.edu/cas/";
 app_path = "https://coldfusion-server.example.edu/path/to/this/app/";
 cas_url = cas_path & "login?" & "service=" & app_path;
</cfscript>

<!--- session init --->
<cflock timeout="10" scope="session" type="readonly">
 <cfparam name="session.username" default="">
 <cfparam name="session.authorized" default="0">
</cflock>

<!--- logout action --->
<cfif url.action eq "logout">
 <!--- session reset --->
 <cflock scope="session" timeout="30" type="exclusive">
     <cfset session.username = "">
     <cfset session.authorized = "0">
 </cflock>

 <cfset cas_url = cas_path & "logout">
 <cflocation url="#cas_url#" addtoken="false">

<cfelse>
 <!--- auth check --->
 <cfif not len(trim(session.username))>
     <cfif not len(trim(ticket))>
        <cflocation url="#cas_url#" addtoken="no">
     <cfelse>
         <cfset cas_url = #cas_path# & "serviceValidate?ticket=" & url.ticket & "&" & "service=" & app_path & "/">
         <cfhttp url="#cas_url#" method="get"/>
         <cfset objXML = xmlParse(cfhttp.filecontent)>
         <cfset SearchResults = XmlSearch(objXML,"cas:serviceResponse/cas:authenticationSuccess/cas:user")>
      
         <cfif arraylen(SearchResults)>
             Raw XML:<cfdump var="#cfhttp.filecontent#">
             <cfdump var="#objXML#" label="CAS Results">
             <cfdump var="#SearchResults#" label="Parsed CAS Results">
             <cfset username = SearchResults[1].XmlText>
             <cflock scope="session" timeout="30" type="exclusive">
                 <cfset session.username = username>
                 <cfset session.authorized = "1">
             </cflock>
         <cfelse>
                <cflocation url="#cas_url#" addtoken="no">
         </cfif>
     </cfif>
 </cfif>



 <cfif structKeyExists(url, "accessdenied")>
     Access Error
 <cfelse>
     Authenticated.<br/>
     <cfdump var="#session#" label="ColdFusion Session Object">
     <a href="?action=logout">Logout</a><br/>
 </cfif>
</cfif>

Honestly, it's a pretty simple process:

Check for a ColdFusion session
If one doesn't exist, redirect to CAS and provide a call back URL
When CAS redirects back to your application you grab the ticket and verify it server to server via cfhttp.
If the ticket checks out, you create a ColdFusion session and use it within your application.

The point of this example is to keep it simple. The code is commented to clue you into where the different components would plug into the framework of your choice.

Zimbra URLs

2008-10-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

Zimbra has a bunch of built in functionality for rendering HTML versions of calendars as well as feeds such as RSS. This keeps coming up with Zimbra users inside and outside of our organization. I'm posting it here for future reference.

For an HTML representation of a public calendar we use a URL like this:

https://pantherlink.uwm.edu/zimbra/home/qkmadson/calendar.html?view=week

The view=week is optional; I just wanted to show an example. The view defaults to a month view and can be changed by the user. If the calendar is not set to public, you'll get a permission error. If you want to show a private calendar, you can use something like:

https://pantherlink.uwm.edu/home/bmaas/?fmt=freebusy&view=week

This will show the free and busy information but, no meeting details. For your purposes, you will need to change "pantherlink.uwm.edu" to your Zimbra server and change "qkmadson" or "bmaas" to one of your usernames. You may want to take a look at this blog entry:

http://www.zimbrablog.com/blog/archives/2006/01/rest-update.html

The show examples of how to use various feed options in Zimbra. For example, if you wanted to use RSS:

https://pantherlink.uwm.edu/zimbra/home/qkmadson/calendar.rss

RapidSVN currently broken in Ubuntu Repository

2008-10-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

The current package for RapidSVN segfaults constantly with the current version (as of today's date) in the Hardy Heron repos. To fix this:

Grab the Intrepid Ibex package by editing: /etc/apt/sources.list
Do a search and replace: "hardy" for "intrepid".
Update your packages and reinstall RapidSVN.

You can do this from the GUI side with gedit and synaptic. From the command line:

sudo -s
vim /etc/apt/sources.list

in vi:

:%s/hardy/intrepid/gi
:wq!

command line:

apt-get update
apt-get install rapidsvn

At this point, you should switch back to the hardy repos by editing sources.list and re-replacing intrepid for hardy.

Network Debugging w/ MVPMC

2008-10-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

While running the MVPMC software on MVC devices, sometimes I will receive an error that the streaming server cannot be found.

Check /var/log/messages for:

 dhcpd: DHCPACK on 192.168.0.51 to 00:0d:fe:39:21:06 via eth0

if that's the last message, make sure you run:

/usr/sbin/in.tftpd -l -a :16869 -s /tftpboot -v
/usr/bin/mvprelay 16881 5906 6337 192.168.0.1 &

Extending the Zimbra Canvas

2008-08-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

The Zimbra Canvas is pretty cool but, somewhat limited from the Zimlet XML definition file. For example, you cannot modify the buttons of the container if it's called from the XML. You can get around it by using the Zimbra JavaScript implementation.

It's pretty easy to get a canvas going from the JS side but, I was having issues getting the iframe style <actionUrl> functionality from the XML side. I had to reverse engineer this based on the source of ZmZimletBase();.

Here is the XML:

<zimlet name="edu_myschool_myzimlet" version="1.0" description="Some Zimlet">

<include>http://www.myschool.edu/LOCATION/TO/ZIMLET/zimlet.js</include>
<includeCSS>http://www.myschool.edu/LOCATION/TO/ZIMLET/zimlet.css</includeCSS>
<handlerObject>Edu_myschool_myzimlet</handlerObject>

<zimletPanelItem label="Some Zimlet" icon="My-panelIcon">
   <toolTipText>This is a super awesome zimlet that does something.</toolTipText>
   <contextMenu>
       <menuItem label="Do something" id="doSomething" icon="My-panelIcon">
           <canvas type="dialog" width="700" height="500" />
           <actionUrl target="http://www.myschool.edu/LOCATION/TO/MASHUP/AWESOMENESS/" />
       </menuItem>
   </contextMenu>
 </zimletPanelItem>
</zimlet>

This sets a right-click menu using the <zimletPanelItem> directive. More importantly, (for us, right now) is that it calls out to our JavaScript. Here is what the JavaScript should look like:

function Edu_myschool_myzimlet() {
}

Edu_myschool_myzimlet.prototype = new ZmZimletBase();
Edu_myschool_myzimlet.prototype.constructor = Edu_myschool_myzimlet;

Edu_myschool_myzimlet.prototype.init =
function() {
};

// Called by the Zimbra framework when the panel item was double clicked
Edu_myschool_myzimlet.prototype.doubleClicked = function() {
 this.singleClicked();
};

// Called by the Zimbra framework when the panel item was clicked
Edu_myschool_myzimlet.prototype.singleClicked = function() {

 var view = new DwtComposite(this.getShell());
 view.setSize("500px", "500px");
 var el = view.getHtmlElement();
 var myBox = document.createElement("div");
 el.appendChild(myBox);

 var html = new Array();
 var i = 0;
 html[i++] = "First line of HTML <br/>";
 html[i++] = "More lines of HTML";

 // package up html and display it
 myBox.innerHTML = html.join('');
 this._dialog = this._createDialog({title:"My Dialog Title", view:view});
 this._dialog.setButtonListener(DwtDialog.OK_BUTTON, new AjxListener(this, this.myHandler));
 this._dialog.setButtonTitle(DwtDialog.OK_BUTTON, "Go go gadget Zimlet!");
 this._dialog.popup();
};

Edu_myschool_myzimlet.prototype.myHandler =
function(ev) {
 //do come more stuff: web services, api calls, etc
 this._dialog.popdown();
}

This will show some HTML within the Zimbra Canvas. You can create a form and allow it to call web services, the Zimbra API, etc based on what the user did. This is pretty handy. Also, if you look at the code, you can add handler functions to the buttons, change the button text, etc.

In some cases, you may just want to call out to some other code: PHP, JSP, ASP, (or in my case) ColdFusion, etc. To do an iframe the exact same way that <actionUrl> does, change the click action functions:

Edu_myschool_myzimlet.prototype.singleClicked =
function() {
   var view = new DwtComposite(this.getShell());
   view.setSize("700px", "500px");
   var el = document.createElement("iframe");
   el.src = "http://www.myschool.edu/PATH/TO/MY/CODE/mashup.cfm";
   var sz = view.getSize();
   if (!AjxEnv.isIE) {
       // substract default frame borders
       sz.x -= 4;
       sz.y -= 4;
   }
   el.style.width = sz.x + "px";
   el.style.height = sz.y + "px";
   view.getHtmlElement().appendChild(el);

   //TITLE OF THE DIALOG BOX
   var dialog_args = {
       title : "Example",
       view  : view
   };
   var dlg = this._createDialog(dialog_args);
   dlg.popup();
};

From here you could add code to modify the buttons, pass a query string from JavaScript via the URL, etc.

Dual Network Booting (Mythbuntu, MediaMVP, and random crappy laptops)

2008-07-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

Background
I built a Mythbuntu machine out of a Dell PowerEdge 1600SC dual Xeon box with a Hauppauge PVR-500 dual TV tuner. Because I'm cheap *and* wanted to run a gigabit network, this machine also serves as the router for a gigabit switch (which was 1/3 the cost of a gigabit router).

I ended up getting 2 Hauppauge MediaMVPs. It's basically a small (1.5 x 6.5 x 5.5-inches), cheap 300MHz PowerPC that boots off the network and plays music, video, and pictures off your network. A group of developers released their own software available at: http://mvpmc.org that runs a small linux distro and can connect to: MythTV, ReplayTV, Hauppauge, VLC, SqueezeCenter (aka SlimServer) with various other bells and/or whistles.

I also have a few busted up laptops with no hard drives. I wanted to be able to netboot the MediaMVPs and use Mythbuntu's diskless server for the laptops. (I let the kids use one for flash based games and I use one in our home theater.)

There wasn't great documentation on how to do this so, hopefully this helps people out somewhat in the future. There are some decent guides to get MVPMC working with Mythbuntu but, they use the aTFTP server which conflicts with Mythbuntu's diskless server.

HOW-TO:
DHCP:
On the Mythbuntu media server, go to:

Applications >> System >> Mythbuntu Control Centre >> System Roles.
Check "Diskless Server" and "Add DHCP server"
Click "Apply"

A progress bar will whir away and eventually the "Mythbuntu Control Centre" dialog will come back. The "Diskless Server" option on the left side menu should now be available. When you go to it, there is a drop-down menu for "CPU architecture of your clients". Select "i386". Click "Build Image" and "Apply". This process can take a long time and sometimes fails.

To check, go to: Applications >> Accessories >> Terminal.

At the prompt type:

ls /opt/ltsp

If you see:

i386 images

... you should be all set. If the "images" directory is missing, the build failed. If the build failed, at the command prompt type:

sudo rm -rf i386
sudo ltsp-build-client --mythbuntu --mythbuntu-copy-user-credentials

If the first command fails, you can try going back to the Myth Control Centre. Diskless Server >> CPU architecture of your clients: >> i386 >> Delete Image >> Apply. DO NOT run the second command from a root shell (only run it through sudo) or it will take a long time and eventually fail.

Moving along, commandline:

sudo -s
vim /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf

[or if you don't like the vi editor (wha?) use something else]
make the file look like this:


authoritative;

log-facility local7;

option domain-name              "madsonclan.net";
option subnet-mask              255.255.255.0;
option domain-name-servers 65.24.7.10, 65.24.7.11;

allow bootp;
allow booting;

#option ip-forwarding    false;  # No IP forwarding
#option mask-supplier    false;  # Don't respond to ICMP Mask req

subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
option routers        192.168.0.1;
range 192.168.0.100 192.168.0.250;
option broadcast-address 192.168.0.255;
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
option root-path "/opt/ltsp/i386";
if substring( option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9 ) = "PXEClient" {
filename "/ltsp/i386/pxelinux.0";
} else {
filename "/ltsp/i386/nbi.img";
}

}

group {
next-server 192.168.0.1;          # IP address of your TFTP server

host mvp { # NOTE: Change the hardware ethernet to the MAC address of your actual MVP
hardware ethernet 00:0d:fe:39:21:04;
fixed-address 192.168.0.50;
filename "dongle.bin.mvpmc";
option root-path "/home/mvp,rsize=4096,wsize=4096,nolock";
}
host mvp2 {
hardware ethernet 00:0d:fe:39:21:06;
fixed-address 192.168.0.51;
filename "dongle.bin.mvpmc";
option root-path "/home/mvp,rsize=4096,wsize=4096,nolock";
}
}

[substitutions]
madsonclan.net = yourdomain.com or make something up
65.24.7.10, 65.24.7.11 = your ISP dns servers
192.168.0.XXX = your internal IP addresses
00:0d:fe:39:21:04/06 = the MAC address of you MediaMVP (sticker on the bottom)

MVPMC:
Go get the latest dongle.bin from: mvpmc.org
and then:

mkdir /tftpboot
cp [DOWNLOADED_FILE] /tftpboot/dongle.bin
dd if=/tftpboot/dongle.bin of=/tftpboot/dongle.bin.ver bs=1 count=40 skip=52
vim /tftpboot/dongle.bin.config

file should like:

# set up host environment variable
HNAME='mvp_uno'
export HNAME

# time stuff
TZ='US, Central: CST+6CDT,M3.2.0/2,M11.1.0/2'
export TZ
echo "TZ='US, Central: CST+6CDT,M3.2.0/2,M11.1.0/2'" >; /etc/shell.config
echo "export TZ" >> /etc/shell.config
NTP=time-a.nist.gov

# create an /etc/hosts file
echo "127.0.0.1 localhost localhost" >> /etc/hosts
echo "192.168.0.1 media-server media-server" >> /etc/hosts
echo "192.168.0.1 eteo eteo" >> /etc/hosts #important! or mythtv won't play. replace eteo w/ myth server hostname

# load settings
. /etc/udhcpc.config
SETTINGSDIR=/tmp/settings
mkdir -p ${SETTINGSDIR}
SETTINGS=${SETTINGSDIR}/settings
RSETTINGS=settings.${HNAME:-$IP}
LASTSAVED=${SETTINGSDIR}/.lastsaved
touch $LASTSAVED
tftp -g -r $RSETTINGS -l $SETTINGS $SERVER;

# mounts (change for your network)
# i use nfs for linux and cifs for xp
mkdir /media
mkdir /media/sde1
mkdir /media/sda1
mkdir /media/sdb1
mkdir /media/quinn
mount -t nfs -o nolock,rsize=4096,wsize=4096,nfsvers=3 192.168.0.1:/media/sde1 /media/sde1
mount -t nfs -o nolock,rsize=4096,wsize=4096,nfsvers=3 192.168.0.1:/media/sda1 /media/sda1
mount -t nfs -o nolock,rsize=4096,wsize=4096,nfsvers=3 192.168.0.1:/media/sdb1 /media/sdb1
#mount -t nfs -o nolock,rsize=4096,wsize=4096,nfsvers=3 192.168.0.1:/media/quinn /media/quinn
mount.cifs //192.168.0.23/quinn /media/quinn/ -o user=someuser,pass=somepass,rsize=34000

# save settings
(
while true; do
if [ $SETTINGS -nt $LASTSAVED ] ; then
  tftp -p -l $SETTINGS -r $RSETTINGS $SERVER;
  touch $LASTSAVED;
fi;
sleep 300;
done
)&

# mvpmc settings

#known working
#mvpmc -f /etc/helvB14.pcf -o composite -S 0 -D 192.168.0.1:0 -R 192.168.0.1 -s 192.168.0.1 --vlc 192.168.0.1 --vlc-vopts svcd -y 192.168.0.1 -T mythconverg -u mythtv -p 8DelSgNw -b /eteo/livetv --weather-location USWI0164 &

#real-world
mvpmc -f /etc/helvB14.pcf -o svideo -a 16:9 -S 0 -R 192.168.0.1 -s 192.168.0.1 -y 192.168.0.1 -T mythconverg -u mythtv -p myMythTvPassowrd-b /eteo/livetv --weather-location USWI0164 --vlc 192.168.0.1 --vlc-vopts svcd &

Change IPs, hostnames, drive mappings, weather code, etc for your needs.

TFTP/NBD:

vim /etc/inetd.conf

tftp  dgram  udp  wait  root  /usr/sbin/in.tftpd /usr/sbin/in.tftpd -s /tftpboot
9571           stream  tcp     nowait  nobody /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/ldminfod
9572                    stream  tcp     nowait  nobody /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/nbdswapd
2000               stream  tcp            nowait  nobody /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/nbdrootd /opt/ltsp/images/i386.img

vim /etc/nbd-server/config

[generic]
# If you want to run everything as root rather than the nbd user, you
# may either say "root" in the two following lines, or remove them
# altogether. Do not remove the [generic] section, however.
   user = nbd
   group = nbd

# What follows are export definitions. You may create as much of them as
# you want, but the section header has to be unique.
[export]
   exportname = /opt/ltsp/images/i386.img
   port = 2000

If you are running a firewall, poke holes in it for tftp(:69), nbd(:2000), mythtv, etc. I recommend you make all ports open for the internal network.

/etc/init.d/dhcdbd restart
/etc/init.d/dhcp3-server restart
/etc/init.d/nbd-server restart
/etc/init.d/xinetd restart

If you are running a firewall, you need to disable when the MediaMVP first boots. I can't explain why but, I'm pretty sure it's an issue at the hardware level. When you power off the system via the remote and turn it back on, you don't need to mess with the firewall. However, if you lose power and you see the big blue MediaMVP initial boot screen, you need to disable the firewall until you see "Application Loading". If you don't the MediaMVP will not be able to get an IP address or find the Mythbuntu server.

Oh yea:
I may be missing a few things in this HOW-TO. If you are running the H3 wireless or have some other goofy setups, you may want to refer to this HOW-TO: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MythTV/MediaMVP_Frontend

Otherwise, you should be pretty much good to go at this point. Any laptop or other i386 arch machine you plug-in and netboot off of should get Mythbuntu via squashfs read-only. The cool thing is that the server assigns a AUFS share via NFS based on the MAC address of the machine. If you save anything to the desktop, make settings changes, install software, etc and reboot, those changes will remain intact. If any methyl-ethel-bad-stuff happens, take a look in: /var/cache/mythbuntu-diskless/overlay and nuke the directory that corresponds to MAC address and it will rebuild itself on the next boot.

Still have problems:
This forum thread is pretty invaluable and if all else fails, ask them: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=711079

HOW-TO: HTC 6800/Mogul/Titan as USB Modem in Ubuntu

2008-06-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

sudo -s
apt-get install subversion
svn co http://synce.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroo … rndis-lite
cd usb-rndis-lite/
make
./clean.sh
make install
vim /etc/network/interfaces

add:

auto rndis0
iface rndis0 inet dhcp

reboot

Plug in the phone via USB. On the phone go to programs/applications and select "Internet Sharing"

PC Connection:USB
Network Connection: Phone as Modem

Click "Connect"

Fire up a web browser, should be all set.

PHP4 & XML Generation

2008-05-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

<?php
// generate xml mime type
header ("content-type: text/xml");

// create xml document
$doc = domxml_new_doc('1.0');

// create xml root
$root = $doc->create_element("xml_root");
$root = $doc->append_child($root);

// create xml node
$item = $doc->create_element("xml_item");
$item = $root->append_child($item);

// add some text to the node
$item_text = $doc->create_text_node("yo yo");
$item = $item->append_child($item_text);

// generate xml output
$xml_string = $doc->dump_mem(true);
echo $xml_string;
?>

would generate:


<?xml version="1.0"?>
 <xml_root>
   <xml_item>yo yo</xml_item>
 </xml_root>

PHP & LDAP

2008-05-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

// get username and password via form scope
$user = $_POST["username"];
$pass = $_POST["password"];

// format username for uwm ldap auth
$basedn = "ou=people,o=somewhere.edu";
$ldap_user = "uid=" . $user . "," . $basedn;

// connect to uwm ldap server
$ds=ldap_connect("ldap://ldap.uwm.edu");

if ($ds) {
// bind to uwm ldap server
$r=ldap_bind($ds, $ldap_user, $pass);
}

// close out ldap connection
ldap_close($ds);

Your basedn may vary. Also, the protocol, ldaps://. supposedly works but so far, I have had no luck. I have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with self-signed certificates.

HOW TO: Install Flex Builder 3 Alpha on Hardy Heron 64-bit

2008-05-15T12:56:00.001-07:00

32-bit Java Runtime Environment needs to be installed (which can be done through synpatic/apt-get).

Run the following at the command line:

export PATH=/usr/lib/jvm/ia32-java-6-sun/bin/:$PATH

Install the firefox-2 package from synaptic/apt-get.

Start the Flex installer:

chmod a+x flexbuilder_linux_install_a3_033108.bin
./flexbuilder_linux_install_a3_033108.bin

At the end of the install process, it may explain that you need to manually copy a file to the Firefox 2 plugins directory:

sudo cp Adobe_Flex_Builder_Linux/Player/linux/install_flash_player_9_linux/libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/firefox/plugins/

Start Eclipse and the Flex Builder 3 Plugin should be available.

HOW TO: Run 32-bit Eclipse on a 64-bit Hardy Heron platform

2008-05-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

At a command prompt run:

sudo apt-get install ia32-sun-java6-bin

... or get it from Synaptic.

Download a 32-bit version of Eclipse from: eclipse.org. Extract the package to your home directory.

Right click on the Gnome panel and select "Add to Panel..."

Select "Custom Application Launcher" and click "Add"
Name: Eclipse IDE
Command: /home/qk/eclipse/eclipse -vm /usr/lib/jvm/ia32-java-6-sun/bin/java
Comment:qk is the coolest :)
(You can also set the icon by clicking on the default icon and navigating to your eclipse install directory. Replace qk with your username and/or eclipse with where you put eclipse.)
Click "OK"

Click the Eclipse launcher and you should be all set.

HOW TO: Dual Monitors Hardy Heron 64-bit nVidia NV44 [Quadro NVS 285]

2008-05-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

System>>Administration>>Hardware Drivers

Check "Enabled" for: NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver

After you hit "OK" a bunch of times a few drivers will be installed and you will be told to reboot.

After reboot, I still only had one screen come up. Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf (back it up first) to look like this:

# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier     "Default Layout"
  Screen         "Default Screen" 0 0
  InputDevice    "Generic Keyboard" "CoreKeyboard"
  InputDevice    "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "Module"
  Load           "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Identifier     "Generic Keyboard"
  Driver         "kbd"
  Option         "XkbRules" "xorg"
  Option         "XkbModel" "pc105"
  Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Identifier     "Configured Mouse"
  Driver         "mouse"
  Option         "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
  Identifier     "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Device"
  Identifier     "Configured Video Device"
  Driver         "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
  Identifier     "Default Screen"
  Device         "Configured Video Device"
  Monitor        "Configured Monitor"
  DefaultDepth    24
  Option         "NoLogo" "False"
  Option         "RenderAccel" "True"
  Option         "TwinView"
  Option         "MetaModes" "1280x1024 1280x1024"
  SubSection     "Display"
      Depth       24
      Modes      "nvidia-auto-select"
  EndSubSection
EndSection

new machine; new os; new architecture;

2008-05-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

I've been looking forward to getting the latest Ubuntu release 8.04 - Hardy Heron and at first glance, I'm a little disappointed.

Right out the gate, I wanted to connect to a secure webdav server (UWM PantherFile/Xythos) to get some back-up files. In Ubuntu 7.10 this was pretty easy: Places>>Connect to Server>>Secure WebDAV (HTTPS). This option was removed in 8.04 for some reason. It looks like I need to get some third party software like: cadaver to get it to work or wait for an update. Oddly enough, I heard that Mac's Leopard OS is also having network mounting issues.

The other thing I do on a fresh install at work is to bind the machine to my Synergy environment. Synergy client/server software allows me to use both Windows and Linux machines and use a single keyboard and mouse to use all the machines like a giant virtual desktop. According to the Ubuntu Forums and from my own experience, Synergy client pauses and dies 3 - 10 seconds into switching to the Ubuntu 8.04 machine unless the Synergy client is run as root. When it's run as root, everything works fine but, running an app like this as root does not seem like a good idea. Synergy is inherently insecure because all traffic is transmitted plain-text. For this reason, I run everything through SSH tunnels but even still running an app like this as root makes me feel a little exposed.

In all, it's worth the trouble as this machine is ridiculously over powered:
That's right -- the machine has 8 processors (dual quad-core Xeons) and 6 gigabytes of memory.

...which is where the next problem comes in. The machine has 64-bit architecture which I've never used before. I installed the Eclipse IDE 3.3.2, the CFEclipse plugin, and Sun Java 6.0 JDK with no issues. When I tried to install the Adobe Flex Builder 3 Alpha plugin, I got an error explaining that Flex 3 requires 32-bit architecture and Java JRE compiled for 32-bit. The error also states that this is possible but, I remain skeptical -- yet I will give it a shot tomorrow.

HOW TO: Set Flex MenuBar Currently Selected Item Text Color

2008-05-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

Seems like it should be fairly easy to let a user visually know which top level option they are currently under. ...like should be an option or options in Flex CSS.

Here's the best way I found to do it:

 <mx:Script>
<![CDATA[
   private function menuHandler(event:MenuEvent):void  {

         var mb:MenuBar=event.target as MenuBar;
         var selectedIndex:int=mb.selectedIndex;

         for (var i:int=0;i<mb.menuBarItems.length;i++){
           if(i==selectedIndex){
               (mb.menuBarItems[i] as MenuBarItem).setStyle("color", "0xff7009");
           }
           else{
               (mb.menuBarItems[i] as MenuBarItem).setStyle("color", "0xffffff");
           }
       }

       if (event.item.@data != "top") {
            logicHandler(event.item.@label, event.item.@data);
       }
   }
]]>
</mx:Script>
<mx:MenuBar id="appMenu"
x="0" y="114" width="100%" height="31"
labelField="@label"
dataProvider="{menuBarCollection}"
itemClick="menuHandler(event);" />

On the currently selected item, the text is set to orange. Everything else is reset to white. Example application.