Tuesday, June 27, 2006 What is the SciFi Channel thinking by air ECW? ECW is some ridiculous wrestling show and has zero to do with sci-fi. Guess I will have to watch something else tonight to get my sci-fi fix. I hope this show is pulled soon. posted by Kirby | June 27 10:05 PM | comments (1)
One of the items on my never ending to-do list is to install a wiki for internal use at White Peak Software. It's been on my list for over a year to do but it seems I never have the time. Last week I saw the internal wiki of another small software company and thought to myself, "I need to do the same." So today I decided to take a break from my normal work to install a wiki.
There are a lot of different wiki software options available so I started by reviewing the popular ones at WikiMatrix. This site even has a Wiki Choice Wizard that helps find a wiki software package based on requirement needs.
The selection criteria was simple. I need something that will run on a Windows server under IIS and does not require a database. The content should be stored in the file system in case a need arises that requires access to the data outside of the wiki software. The software I settled on is DokuWiki.
DokuWiki is written in PHP so my first step was to download the latest version of PHP. A Windows installer is provided that will not only install PHP but configure IIS to use PHP. The installer ran without a problem, which made me very happy.
Next I downloaded the DokuWiki software and un-archived the tar file. I setup a wiki folder and copied the DokuWiki to the new folder. I created a new web site using the IIS management console and pointed the web site to the wiki folder. Within a few minutes, from installing PHP to copying the DokuWiki files to setting up the web site, the wiki site was up and running.
The more time consuming part has been adding content to the wiki site. I started by creating a new start page with links to various White Peak Software resources. I also setup a "Clients" wiki page. From there I started adding content about each client and client project. Even after 3 hours I haven't made it very far. There's too much information to add. I imagine I will be adding content off and on for the next few weeks.
The great thing about having the wiki is that White Peak Software now has single point of reference for accessing WPS information. When a new sub-contractor comes on board, or even if I am looking for information about a particular project, the wiki site provides easy access to the needed information. I'm glad I finally took the time to get this started. posted by Kirby | June 27 07:06 PM | comments (0)
I received a DVD containing a database backup from a customer yesterday. This morning I go to restore the database backup and I quickly realized I can't. My DVD drive is still packed away, which means it has been over 5 months since I have had to use it. I didn't realize until now how little I use physical media these days. Downloads regardless of size are simply better for me. posted by Kirby | June 27 09:23 AM | comments (0)
Nice step by step guide for installing Lazarus on Ubuntu. posted by Kirby | June 27 09:07 AM | comments (2)
Saturday, June 24, 2006 Here is a good read about the eSellerate and DR deal straight from the horse's mouth. posted by Kirby | June 24 09:29 AM | comments (0)
Wednesday, June 21, 2006 I often rave about BDS2006 but not today. Today this fine IDE is really annoying me. I'm editing some ASP.NET User Controls (.ascx) using the markup editor. Every time I save the changes the editor reformats the HTML to unformatted HTML. Not only that it is inserting new HTML into the file such as empty tags! It's annoying me so much I'm considering re-installing Visual Studio 2003.
I don't recall having this problem with BDS2005 and admittedly this is the first time I have done any major ASP.NET work in BDS2006. Anyone know of a way to turn OFF HTML formatting in BDS2006? posted by Kirby | June 21 03:03 PM | comments (0)
I'm one of those rare developers who have moved from .NET managed code to native Windows code over the last year. After living in the managed code world for years, I've returned to native windows coding and I find I am doing more and more native Win32 work each month for customers. Sure the products White Peak Software is writing are native Windows applications but recently customers have been asking White Peak Software to develop native Win32 custom software. The most common reason? The desire to eliminate the dependency on the .NET Framework.
I often hear, "We don't know if the server hosting your program will have the .NET Framework installed," or "The end users do not have .NET installed on their desktops so we need something that will run without .NET."
Now don't get me wrong. I love .NET. It's a great framework, but there is something to be said for native Windows applications. And there are still many cases where a native Windows application should be written instead of a .NET equivalent. For instance, I feel .NET applications are ideal for in-house development typically found in corporations, and I feel commercial applications are typically better served as a native Windows application. Of course there are always exceptions to my general thinking, hence the recent resurgence seen at White Peak Software in customer requests for custom native Windows applications.
Don't believe me? Think everything running on the Windows platform should be managed code? Well, individuals at Microsoft know that native Windows applications are staying around for a while. When the IE Lead Project Manager Christopher Vaughan was recently asked if components of the new IE7 would be implemented in managed code his response was, "No, IE7 remains purely native code throughout. I think as we develop future versions of IE you'll see a larger focus on managed code, most likely to enable great plug-ins of that type for our platform. One thing people shouldn't expect is that IE8 be re-written in managed code. For a variety of reasons, native code is where we'll stay for a while." posted by Kirby | June 21 01:45 PM | comments (1)
Sunday, June 18, 2006 I biggest compliant, and possibly our only compliant, since moving to the Boston area is driving in the Boston area. I some times think the area has the worse drivers in the Nation, but it's not the fault of the drivers. Poor signage...actually the lack of street signs in many places...construction, construction, construction, poor markings on the roads, and more have probably contributed to creating bad drivers. Just the other day I saw two slow speed accidents. Yes, cars travelling at about walking speed collided. I didn't see this happen once, but twice within a 30 minutes time period.
It's no surprise to me that the Boston area doesn't even have a safety ranking in the AllState best driver report for 2006. Okay, to be fair AllState does not issue car insurance here which is why the Boston area is not on the report. But still.
So what's the point of this blog entry? Simple. I cracked up this morning when I read Erik Sink's entry on Notes from TechEd in Boston. Further proof that driving in the Boston area is a real pain. posted by Kirby | June 18 10:44 AM | comments (1)
Microsoft has created a new web site called Project Glidepath. As I understand it, the goal of the site is to help small software companies to get up to speed on the flurry of new technologies coming from Microsoft such as Windows Vista and WPF.
From the web site's home page:
"The release of Windows Vista will create a new wave of demand for applications that MicroISVs supply. We at Microsoft know how many new features and APIs we have added to Windows Vista as well as we understand how challenging it is to start and keep a MicroISV business running. Project Glidepath is designed to provide the knowledge you, as a MicroISV, need to be successful by providing step-by-step instructions for everything from how to get started with Windows Presentation Foundation to how to write and publish a press release."
Bob Walsh, author of the book Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality is involved in this project, which says to me it is worth some time to check out what is being offered at Project Glidepath if you are running a small software company. posted by Kirby | June 18 10:27 AM | comments (0)
Thursday, June 15, 2006 I received an email today from eSellerate saying that they are now part of the Digital River team. I'm not sure how I feel about this news. I have been using eSellerate for a year now and I'm a very happy eSellerate customer. Their services are great, and I haven't even tapped into everything they offer yet.
My concern with today's announcement is that I decided last year not to go with Digitial River or any of its other companies as the e-commerce provider for White Peak Software. I don't remember the details of why I didn't chose them, but I do remember thinking eSellerate was the better choice for my company. Had this acquisition happened a year ago would I have still chosen eSellerate? I don't know.
The announcement from eSellerate did say, "Be assured that we plan to provide the same personal level of service you have come to expect from all of us here at eSellerate. Your eSellerate technical support, sales, development, and management teams will continue supporting you from our Lincoln, Nebraska headquarters." This is good to know, but only time will tell if the acquisition is a good thing for eSellerate and their customers. posted by Kirby | June 15 06:04 PM | comments (0)
Nick Hodges of TeamB fame, and a huge voice for the Delphi community, has joined the DevCo team as the new Delphi Product Manager. Congratulations Nick! I can't think of a better person for the role.
Some additional links about the DevCo new hire:
Something about "DevCo"
Nick-alodean
borland.public.delphi.non-technical posted by Kirby | June 15 03:59 AM | comments (0)
I have been doing more QuickBase work lately. I really like QuickBase but the HTTP API can be a bit hairy. Intuit provides various language specific SDKs for the QuickBase API but Delphi is not included. So I'm writing my own. [I'll post the code to the White Peak Software site as soon as it is done.]
A challenge I encounter today was determining an appropriate data structure for a QuickBase record set. The QuickBase API includes a DoQuery call that returns an XML document containing the results of the query. A goal of my Delphi QuickBase SDK is to simplify API calls such as DoQuery, which means I do not want to return XML to calling Delphi code. A Delphi friendly data structure for the QuickBase record set is needed.
After bouncing different ideas around a buddy, I started "seeing" the data structure. I started hacking up code keeping in mind 3 primary goals:
1) The data structure must be easy to use.
2) The data structure must make the code readable.
3) The data structure must be Delphi friendly.
The end result is a set of classes which is really nothing more than a TObjectList containing TObjectList containing a field value class. In other words, the final data structure consists of the following classes:
TQuickBaseDataset = class(TObjectList);
TQuickBaseRecordset = class(TObjectList);
TQuickBaseValue = class(TObject);
A dataset contains one or more record sets which contains one of more values. The value class is implemented to provide strong type access to the value returned from QuickBase.
So does the new data structure meet the 3 goals above? I think so but I will leave it up to you to decide. Here is a code snippet that queries the database and returns a record set containing 3 fields in each record.
Qdb := TQuickBaseClient.Create(username, password);
if Qdb.Authenticate then
begin
Dataset := Qdb.DoQuery(dbid, query, clist);
for Recordset in Dataset do
begin
s := Recordset.Items[0].ValueAsString;
b := Recordset.Items[1].ValueAsBoolean;
i := Recordset.Items[2].ValueAsInteger;
end;
end;
Qdb.SignOut;
Qdb.Free;
I will be adding the ability to retrieve field values by name very soon. This will make the code even more readable. posted by Kirby | June 15 03:40 AM | comments (2)
Ever wish you could contribute to the Visual Studio and .NET Framework documentation? Now you can through the MSDN Wiki. The Wiki is already growing with a number of community contributed edits. posted by Kirby | June 15 02:17 AM | comments (0)
Monday, June 12, 2006 Nothing exciting to say here. Just adding the link Technorati Profile so I can complete my Technorati setup.
Speaking of, those readers still using http://www.thecave.com/rss.xml will notice you are now redirected to http://www.thecave.com/rss.aspx. Use of rss.xml was stopped back in November. posted by Kirby | June 12 01:55 PM | comments (0)
Is Network Solutions down again for a third time this year? It appears so. Their web site is unreachable and the domain names I have stored in Network Solution's DNS do not resolve. I know my servers are up because I can reach them by IP address.
I've been happy with Network Solutions over the years, and I haven't minded paying the premium price for their service. But if this trend continues then I may have no choice but to move my domain names to another registrar.
Update: After what appeared to be approximately a 30-minute outage, Network Solutions and its services are back online.
Another Update: Well, DNS is at least back. Access to the www.networksolutions.com web site still appears to be a problem. At least this confirms to me that the outage I saw a little while ago is related to problems at Network Solutions.
Update: www.networksolutions.com is back online as well. posted by Kirby | June 12 09:47 AM | comments (0)
Saturday, June 10, 2006 Sounds like the new Hot Fix 5 for BSD 2006 is a good one for those looking to improve IDE performance.
Update: I installed hot fix 5, and now switching between design mode and code is lighting fast! Thanks DevCo. posted by Kirby | June 10 03:59 PM | comments (0)
Wow, a write up about a family member in a Memphis paper that doesn't involve guns or the police. Nice work, Jay. posted by Kirby | June 10 03:24 PM | comments (0)
Thursday, June 08, 2006 Did David I read my posting hoping for a webcast of the Delphi Road Show? I doubt it but at least great minds think alike. A webcast date for the Delphi tour has been added. Thanks DevCo! posted by Kirby | June 8 07:40 PM | comments (0)
I planned to attend the Delphi Road Show today hosted in NYC, but it seems other forces had other plans for me. I'm bummed not to be in attendance. For one, I want to show my support for Delphi and the new DevCo. I also wanted to hear David I talk about the future. And lastly, I was hoping to network with other Delphi developers. But it didn't happen for me. I can only now hope that they add another NYC date, or better yet a Boston date. Or even provide a webcast of the road show once the tour as ended.
Update: A web cast date has been added. posted by Kirby | June 8 09:07 AM | comments (0)
Tuesday, June 06, 2006 Work on Swirl has started up again. For those readers who have forgotten, Swirl is the code name for White Peak Software's soon to be released Web service debugger and testing program. I missed the planned milestone of having the first beta release out by the end of May due to other customer demands. Can't blame a guy for needing to make money from time to time, right?
As I'm working through preparing Swirl for the first beta release, something occurred to me. I really don't like the WSDL parser I wrote. It works mostly. I say mostly because there is still a bug or two left in the parser. But the reason I don't like it is not because there are a few bugs but because the code is nasty and hard to maintain. I think it is time to take a step back and refactor the WSDL parser into something better. This of course will delay the beta release even more but it's worth the delay in the long run. posted by Kirby | June 6 06:07 PM | comments (2)
