On SQL Server and romance

Summary: Quick comment on SQL Server and PostgreSQL.

Quote of the day comes from Rob Sullivan:

"The SQL Server install is born from a truck stop romance between TFS and Sharepoint that someone found in a garbage bag in a dumpster and burned to a DVD."

Ha-ha... so true.

On a separate note, Rob's post raised my interest in PostgreSQL. I wonder, what challenges PostgreSQL presents to user, admins and developers (especially to those coming from the SQL Server camp).

Windows batch scripting simplified

Summary: A few tips for Windows batch script developers.

One of my recent projects called me to write a couple of batch scripts (something I haven't done in a while). This post is mostly a reference for myself, but I hope it helps some unfortunate soul stuck in the last century's technology.

If you find yourself working on a batch script, chances are you will need to implement command-line parsing. You can obviously use simple position-based parameters (e.g. %1, %2, etc), but if you need anything more sophisticated, you may find the _mtplib.bat library more rewarding.

"What is the the _mtplib.bat library?" you may ask. It's a batch file implementing a few general-purpose functions (such as command-line parsing), which you can call from your batch script. [In case you wonder: yes, your batch script can call code from another batch script.] The _mtplib.bat library [mtp stands for MacMillan Technical Publishing] was originally released by Tim Hill, the author of Windows NT® Shell Scripting, a book I cannot overpraise.
Unfortunately, the link to the source code in the book does not work. After extensive search, I managed to find a version of _mtplib.bat at CodeProject, but some of the characters in the source code appear to be corrupted (I tried them in different browsers and using different character sets to no avail).

I cleaned up the file and made a couple of minor changes (e.g. added a helper function to imitate a delay). I also, cleaned up another sample published by Tim Hill: skeleton.bat (an outline that can be used to create a batch script). I made one change to the skeleton file: all of the calls to the procedures implemented in _mtplib.bat from skeleton.bat invoke them via full path (instead of just the name of the file). This change assumes that the library is located in the same folder (this way you do not need to put _mtplib.bat in your path or working directory when you execute your scripts). And I extended skeleton.bat to a more illustrative sample.bat which shows how to parse command line, call procedures, handle errors, etc. You can download the source code from:

• _mtplib.bat
• skeleton.bat
• sample.bat

You will find the listings of the source code at the end of this post, but before, let me recommend a few excellent resources for Windows batch script developers:

• DosTips - The DOS Batch Guide
  Lots of resources including function library, script snippets, function tutorial, support forum (available at the bottom of every page), and much more.
• Top 10 DOS Batch tips (Yes, DOS Batch...)
  Some helpful tips for beginners (but not only) from Jon Galloway.
• Batch files for DOS, OS/2, Windows 95/98, NT 4, 2000 and XP
  Rob Vanderwoude offers a few hints.
• Dos Patterns
  Not a comprehensive list, but a couple of ideas are worth noting.

And now, the source code (if you encounter any issues, please let me know):

_mtplib.bat

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@echo OFF   @if not "%ECHO%"=="" echo %ECHO% @if not "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" goto DOSEXIT   rem $Workfile: _mtplib.bat $ rem $Revision: 2 $ rem $Date: 12/04/97 9:51a $ rem $Archive: .../_mtplib.bat $ rem UPDATED BY ALEK DAVIS on 11/02/2011   rem If no arguments, show version information and exit if "%1"=="" (  (echo Script MTP Script Library [%0] $Revision: 2 $)  (goto :EOF) )   rem At least one argument, so dispatch to procedure set _PROC=%1 shift /1 goto %_PROC%   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem INIT procedure rem Must be called in local state before other procs are used rem :INIT if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]   goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem VARDEL procedure rem Delete multiple variables by prefix rem rem Arguments: rem %1=variable name prefix rem :VARDEL if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  for /f "tokens=1 delims==" %%I in ('set %1 2^>nul') do set %%I= goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem PARSECMDLINE procedure rem Parse a command line into switches and args rem rem Arguments: rem CMDLINE=command text to parse rem %1=0 for new parse (def) or 1 to append to existing rem rem Returns: rem CMDARG_n=arguments, CMDSW_n=switches rem CMDARGCOUNT=arg count, CMDSWCOUNT=switch count rem RET=total number of args processed rem :PARSECMDLINE if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  if not {%1}=={1} (   (call :VARDEL CMDARG_)   (call :VARDEL CMDSW_)   (set /a CMDARGCOUNT=0)   (set /a CMDSWCOUNT=0)  )  set /a RET=0  call :PARSECMDLINE1 %CMDLINE%  set _MTPLIB_T1= goto :EOF   :PARSECMDLINE1 if {%1}=={} goto :EOF set _MTPLIB_T1=%1 set _MTPLIB_T1=%_MTPLIB_T1:"=% set /a RET+=1 shift /1 if "%_MTPLIB_T1:~0,1%"=="/" goto :PARSECMDLINESW if "%_MTPLIB_T1:~0,1%"=="-" goto :PARSECMDLINESW set /a CMDARGCOUNT+=1 set CMDARG_%CMDARGCOUNT%=%_MTPLIB_T1% goto :PARSECMDLINE1   :PARSECMDLINESW set /a CMDSWCOUNT+=1 set CMDSW_%CMDSWCOUNT%=%_MTPLIB_T1% goto :PARSECMDLINE1 goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem GETARG procedure rem Get a parsed argument by index rem rem Arguments: rem %1=argument index (1st arg has index 1) rem rem Returns: rem RET=argument text or empty if no argument rem :GETARG if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  set RET=  if %1 GTR %CMDARGCOUNT% goto :EOF  if %1 EQU 0 goto :EOF  if not defined CMDARG_%1 goto :EOF  set RET=%%CMDARG_%1%%  call :RESOLVE goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem GETSWITCH procedure rem Get a switch argument by index rem rem Arguments: rem %1=switch index (1st switch has index 1) rem rem Returns: rem RET=switch text or empty if none rem RETV=switch value (after colon char) or empty rem :GETSWITCH if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  (set RET=) & (set RETV=)  if %1 GTR %CMDSWCOUNT% goto :EOF  if %1 EQU 0 goto :EOF  if not defined CMDSW_%1 goto :EOF  set RET=%%CMDSW_%1%%  call :RESOLVE  for /f "tokens=1* delims=:" %%I in ("%RET%") do (set RET=%%I) & (set RETV=%%J) goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem FINDSWITCH procedure rem Finds the index of the named switch rem rem Arguments: rem %1=switch name rem %2=search start index (def: 1) rem rem Returns: rem RET=index (0 if not found) rem RETV=switch value (text after colon) rem :FINDSWITCH if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  if {%2}=={} (set /a _MTPLIB_T4=1) else (set /a _MTPLIB_T4=%2)    :FINDSWITCHLOOP  call :GETSWITCH %_MTPLIB_T4%  if "%RET%"=="" (set RET=0) & (goto :FINDSWITCHEND)  if /i "%RET%"=="%1" (set RET=%_MTPLIB_T4%) & (goto :FINDSWITCHEND)  set /a _MTPLIB_T4+=1  goto :FINDSWITCHLOOP    :FINDSWITCHEND  set _MTPLIB_T4= goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem REGSETM and REGSETU procedures rem Set registry values from variables rem rem Arguments: rem %1=reg context (usually script name) rem %2=variable to save (or prefix to save set of vars) rem :REGSETM if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  for /f "tokens=1* delims==" %%I in ("set %2 2^>nul") do call :REGSET1 HKLM %1 %%I "%%J" goto :EOF   :REGSETU if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  for /f "tokens=1* delims==" %%I in ("set %2 2^>nul") do call :REGSET1 HKCU %1 %%I "%%J" goto :EOF   :REGSET1 set _MTPLIB_T10=%4 set _MTPLIB_T10=%_MTPLIB_T10:\=\\% reg add %1\Software\MTPScriptContexts\%2\%3=%_MTPLIB_T10% >nul reg update %1\Software\MTPScriptContexts\%2\%3=%_MTPLIB_T10% >nul goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem REGGETM and REGGETU procedures rem Get registry value or values to variables rem rem Arguments: rem %1=reg context (usually script name) rem %2=variable to restore (def: restore entire context) rem rem Returns: rem RET=value of last variable loaded rem rem WARNING: rem The "delims" value in the FOR commands below is a TAB  rem character, followed by a space. If this file is edited by rem an editor which converts tabs to spaces, this procedure rem will break!!! rem :REGGETM if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  for /f "delims=     tokens=2*" %%I in ("reg query HKLM\Software\MTPScriptContexts\%1\%2 ^|find "REG_SZ"") do call :REGGETM1 %%I "%%J" goto :EOF   :REGGETU if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  for /f "delims=     tokens=2*" %%I in ("reg query HKCU\Software\MTPScriptContexts\%1\%2 ^|find "REG_SZ"") do call :REGGETM1 %%I "%%J" goto :EOF   :REGGETM1 set _MTPLIB_T10=%2 set _MTPLIB_T10=%_MTPLIB_T10:\\=\% set _MTPLIB_T10=%_MTPLIB_T10:"=% set %1=%_MTPLIB_T10% set RET=%_MTPLIB_T10% goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem REGDELM and REGDELU procedures rem Delete registry values rem rem Arguments: rem %1=reg context (usually script name) rem %2=variable to delete (def: delete entire context) rem :REGDELM if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  call :GETTEMPNAME  echo y >%RET%  reg delete HKLM\Software\MTPScriptContexts\%1\%2 <%RET% >nul  del %RET% goto :EOF   :REGDELU if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  call :GETTEMPNAME  echo y >%RET%  reg delete HKCU\Software\MTPScriptContexts\%1\%2 <%RET% >nul  del %RET% goto :EOF     rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem SRAND procedure rem Seed the random number generator rem rem Arguments: rem %1=new seed value rem :SRAND if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  set /a _MTPLIB_NEXTRAND=%1 goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem RAND procedure rem Get next random number (0 to 32767) rem rem Returns: rem RET=next random number rem :RAND if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  if not defined _MTPLIB_NEXTRAND set /a _MTPLIB_NEXTRAND=1  set /a _MTPLIB_NEXTRAND=_MTPLIB_NEXTRAND * 214013 + 2531011  set /a RET=_MTPLIB_NEXTRAND ^>^> 16 ^& 0x7FFF goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem RESOLVE procedure rem Fully resolve all indirect variable references in RET variable rem rem Arguments: rem RET=value to resolve rem rem Returns: rem RET=as passed in, with references resolved rem :RESOLVE if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  :RESOLVELOOP  if "%RET%"=="" goto :EOF  set RET1=%RET%  for /f "tokens=*" %%I in ('echo %RET%') do set RET=%%I  if not "%RET%"=="%RET1%" goto :RESOLVELOOP goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem GETINPUTLINE procedure rem Get a single line of keyboard input rem rem Returns: rem RET=Entered line rem :GETINPUTLINE if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  call :GETTEMPNAME  set _MTPLIB_T1=%RET%  copy con "%_MTPLIB_T1%" >nul  for /f "tokens=*" %%I in ("type '%_MTPLIB_T1%'") do set RET=%%I  if exist "%_MTPLIB_T1%" del "%_MTPLIB_T1%"  set _MTPLIB_T1= goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem GETSYNCFILE procedure rem Get a sync file name (file will not exist) rem rem Returns: rem RET=Name of sync file to use rem :GETSYNCFILE if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  call :GETTEMPNAME goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem SETSYNCFILE procedure rem Flag sync event (creates the file) rem rem Arguments: rem %1=sync filename to flag rem :SETSYNCFILE if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  echo . >%1 goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem DELSYNCFILE procedure rem Delete sync file rem rem Arguments: rem %1=sync filename rem :DELSYNCFILE if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  if exist %1 del %1 goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem WAITSYNCFILE procedure rem Wait for sync file to flag rem rem Arguments: rem %1=sync filename rem %2=timeout in seconds (def: 60) rem rem Returns:    rem RET=Timeout remaining, or 0 if timeout rem :WAITSYNCFILE if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  if {%2}=={} (set /a RET=60) else (set /a RET=%2)  if exist %1 goto :EOF     :WAITSYNCFILELOOP  sleep 1  set /a RET-=1  if %RET% GTR 0 if not exist %1 goto :WAITSYNCFILELOOP goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem GETTEMPNAME procedure rem Create a temporary file name rem rem Returns: rem RET=Temporary file name rem :GETTEMPNAME if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  if not defined _MTPLIB_NEXTTEMP set /a _MTPLIB_NEXTTEMP=1  if defined TEMP (   (set RET=%TEMP%)  ) else if defined TMP (   (set RET=%TMP%)  ) else (set RET=%SystemRoot%)     :GETTEMPNAMELOOP  set /a _MTPLIB_NEXTTEMP=_MTPLIB_NEXTTEMP * 214013 + 2531011  set /a _MTPLIB_T1=_MTPLIB_NEXTTEMP ^>^> 16 ^& 0x7FFF  set RET=%RET%\~SH%_MTPLIB_T1%.tmp  if exist "%RET%" goto :GETTEMPNAMELOOP  set _MTPLIB_T1= goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem DELAY procedure rem Sleep for the specified number of seconds rem rem PARAMETERS rem %1=Number of seconds to sleep :DELAY if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  if {%1}=={} goto :EOF  @ping 127.0.0.1 -n 2 -w 1000 >nul  @ping 127.0.0.1 -n %1% -w 1000 >nul goto :EOF   rem These must be the FINAL LINES in the script :DOSEXIT echo This script requires Windows NT rem ------------------------------------------------------------------

skeleton.bat

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@echo OFF   @if not "%ECHO%"=="" echo %ECHO% @if not "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" goto DOSEXIT   rem $Workfile: skeleton.bat $ rem $Revision: 2 $ rem $Date: 12/04/97 9:51a $ rem $Archive: .../skeleton.bat $ rem UPDATED BY ALEK DAVIS   rem Set local scope and call MAIN procedure setlocal & pushd & set RET= set SCRIPTNAME=%~n0 set SCRIPTPATH=%~f0 set SCRIPTDIR=%~dp0   if "%DEBUG%=="1" (set TRACE=echo) else (set TRACE=rem) call %SCRIPTDIR%_mtplib :INIT %SCRIPTPATH% if /i {%1}=={/help} (call :HELP %2) & (goto :HELPEXIT) if /i {%1}=={/?} (call :HELP %2) & (goto :HELPEXIT) if /i {%1}=={/h} (call :HELP %2) & (goto :HELPEXIT) call :MAIN %*   :HELPEXIT popd & endlocal & set RET=%RET% goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem HELP procedure rem Display usage information rem :HELP if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*] rem Put help message here goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem MAIN procedure rem :MAIN if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*] rem Put main script code here goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem Additional procedure go here   rem These must be the FINAL LINES in the script :DOSEXIT echo This script requires Windows NT rem ------------------------------------------------------------------

sample.bat

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@echo OFF   rem Sample batch script rem Requires _mtplib.bat to be in the same folder.   @if not "%ECHO%"=="" echo %ECHO% @if not "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" goto DOSEXIT   rem Set local scope and call MAIN procedure setlocal & pushd & set RET= set SCRIPTNAME=%~n0 set SCRIPTPATH=%~f0 set SCRIPTDIR=%~dp0 set SCRIPTEXT=%~x0   if "%DEBUG%"=="1" (set TRACE=echo) else (set TRACE=rem) call %SCRIPTDIR%_mtplib :INIT %SCRIPTPATH% if /i {%1}=={/help} (call :HELP %2) & (goto :HELPEXIT) if /i {%1}=={/?} (call :HELP %2) & (goto :HELPEXIT) if /i {%1}=={/h} (call :HELP %2) & (goto :HELPEXIT) call :MAIN %*   :HELPEXIT popd & endlocal & set RET=%RET% goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem HELP procedure rem Display usage information rem rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem HELP procedure rem Display usage information rem :HELP if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*] echo DESCRIPTION echo. echo Does this or that on the specified server. echo. echo SYNTAX echo. echo %ScriptName% [this^|that] [switches] echo. echo ARGUMENTS echo. echo this echo    Does this. echo. echo that echo    Does that. echo. echo /s:server echo. echo    Name of server affected by this or that. echo    If not specified, local server will be used. echo. echo /u:user echo. echo    Name of the user performing this or that. echo    If not specified, active Windows user will be used. echo. echo /p:password echo. echo    Password of the the user identified by switch /u. echo. echo EXAMPLES echo. echo    %ScriptName% this /s:XYZ /u:BillieJean /p:IsNotMyLover echo. echo        Does this on server XYZ as user BillieJean. echo. echo    %ScriptName% that /s:XYZ echo. echo        Does that on server XYZ as active Windows user. goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem MAIN procedure rem :MAIN if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*] rem If no arguments, display help if /i {%1}=={/h} (call :HELP %2) & (goto :HELPEXIT) if /i {%1}=={} (call :HELP %2) & (goto :HELPEXIT)   rem Initialize variables set SERVER= set USER= set PASSWORD=   rem Process command line and set up variables set CMDLINE=%* call %SCRIPTDIR%_mtplib :PARSECMDLINE 0   rem Process positional arguments if %CMDARGCOUNT% LSS 1 (call :HELP) & (goto :EOF) call %SCRIPTDIR%_mtplib :GETARG 1 set OPERATION=%RET% if /i "%OPERATION%"=="this" set OPERATION=this if /i "%OPERATION%"=="that" set OPERATION=that   rem Process command-line switches set /a IX=1 :GETSWITCHLOOP  call %SCRIPTDIR%_mtplib :GETSWITCH %IX%  if "%RET%"=="" goto :GETSWITCHLOOPEND  set /a IX+=1  if /i "%RET%"=="/s" set SERVER=%RETV%  if /i "%RET%"=="/u" set USER=%RETV%  if /i "%RET%"=="/p" set PASSWORD=%RETV% goto :GETSWITCHLOOP :GETSWITCHLOOPEND   rem Use defaults for non-specified variables if "%SERVER%"=="" set SERVER=%COMPUTERNAME% if "%USER%"=="" set USER=%USERDOMAIN%\%USERNAME%   rem Check the operation type and perform this or that if /i "%OPERATION%"=="this" (  call :DOTHIS ) else if "%OPERATION%"=="that" (     call :DOTHAT ) else (     goto :HELP ) goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem DOTHIS procedure rem Print parameter values and sleep for 5 seconds. rem :DOTHIS if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  echo Started this on %DATE% at %TIME%    call :PRINTPARAMS    echo Please wait 5 seconds...  call %SCRIPTDIR%_mtplib :DELAY 5  if %ERRORLEVEL% neq 0 goto :EOF    echo Ended this on %DATE% at %TIME% goto :EOF   rem ------------------------------------------------------------------ rem DOTHAT procedure rem Print parameter values and sleep for 10 seconds. rem :DOTHAT if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  echo Started that on %DATE% at %TIME%    call :PRINTPARAMS     echo Please wait 10 seconds...  call %SCRIPTDIR%_mtplib :DELAY 10  if %ERRORLEVEL% neq 0 goto :EOF    echo Ended that on %DATE% at %TIME% goto :EOF   :PRINTPARAMS if defined TRACE %TRACE% [proc %0 %*]  echo Server  =%SERVER%  echo User    =%USER%  echo Password=%PASSWORD% goto :EOF   rem These must be the FINAL LINES in the script :DOSEXIT echo This script requires Windows NT rem ------------------------------------------------------------------

See also:
DOS - Script Snippets (library of various DOS snippets)
Using parameter qualifiers in Windows shell scripts

Technobrief #13

Summary: Recent findings of software, articles, and more.

CSS

• 100 Exceedingly Useful CSS Tips and Tricks
  Showcase of useful CSS tips and tricks.
• Better Semantics with CSS Combinators & Selectors
  Chris Sealey explains when and how to use complex CSS combinators.
• CSS Positioning 101
  Noah Stokes looks at the CSS position property to see how we can use it to create standards-compliant, table-free CSS layouts.
• Should You Start Using CSSLint?
  Discusses CSSLint, a recently released code analysis tool for CSS.

Graphics

• 10 Things You Need to Know About Compositing in Photoshop
  Adapted from Photoshop Compositing Secrets: Unlocking the Key to Perfect Selections and Amazing Photoshop Effects for Totally Realistic Composites by Matt Kloskowski
• FAMFAMFAM icons
  Several sets of 16x16 icons in PNG and GIF format.

Hardware

• How To Buy a NAS - The Short(er) Version - Updated 2011
  If you don't want (or care) to get into the details behind what makes a NAS tick and just want a short list of candidates to consider, then this article is for you.

JavaScript

• Create Bookmarklets – The Right Way
  This tutorial looks into creating bookmarklets from scratch and lists some best practices to follow.
• Superexpert JavaScript Reference
  Great reference with examples and browser support indicators.
• Namespacing in JavaScript
  Angus Croll offers several approaches of implementing namespaces in JavaScript.
• Ten Oddities And Secrets About JavaScript
  This article is aimed at intermediate developers who are curious about more advanced JavaScript. It is a collection of JavaScript’s oddities and well-kept secrets. Some sections will hopefully give you insight into how these curiosities can be useful to your code, while other sections are pure WTF material.

jQuery

• A Watermarked Auto-complete jQuery Plugin
  This article presents a watermarked auto-complete jQuery plugin built upon the jQuery UI autocomplete control.
• An Introduction to jQuery Templates
  In this blog entry, Stephen Walther you with enough information to start working with jQuery Templates.
• jQuery Templates, composite rendering, and remote loading
  Dave Ward explains how to to build a jQuery template out of simple sub-templates stored in external files.

Libraries

• Simple Data
  A light-weight, dynamic data access component for C# 4.0.
• .NET Logging Framework
  The logging framework provides you with an easy means to log information to any destination. It comes complete with loggers that support writing to the system console, a file on disk, a TCP/IP socket, and more.

Office

• How to make awesome diagrams for your slides
  Good tips for building PowerPoint presentations.

Opinions

• And Then Along Comes Larry….
  Robert Cringely describes Oracle's Larry Ellison. Quote: "This level of honesty doesn’t make Larry what most of us would think of as a nice person. I once heard him refer to having “nailed” a dinner companion, if you know what I mean and I think you do. But with Larry at least you know where you stand, with most of us standing, frankly, nowhere."
• A Simple Example That's Incredibly Complex
  Great discussion about Domain-Driven Design (DDD), simplicity, patterns, and other coding aspects. Quote: "If you find yourself writing a sentence with the words “banking, simple, not real-world” you might want to rethinking what it is you’re doing." Great, great article.
• MacOS X is an Unsuitable Platform for Web Development
  Ted Dziuba describes his experience with MacOS.
• The State of Video on the Web
  The history behind the <video> tag and its support in various browsers.

Podcasts

• Hanselminutes (Show #262): The Rise of the Micro-ORM with Sam Saffron and Rob Conery/
  Scott sits down with Sam Saffron and Rob Conery to talk about their Micro-ORMs. What have they done in less than 400 lines of code, that the rest of the planet needs a dozen assemblies for? Should you abandon your ORM and start writing inline SQL? All this and more.

Programming

• A Coder’s Guide to Writing API Documentation
  Peter Gruenbaum offers a guide on how to write API documentation.
• C# In Depth – Optional Parameters and Named Arguments
  Extract from Jon Skeet's book, in which he describes these new features of C# 4.0.
• Command line reference: Database and Operating Systems
  Covers Windows command shell (Windows Script Host), VBScript, PowerShell, Oracle, SQL Server, and more.
• Customizing ELMAH’s Error Emails
  Scott Mitchell explains.
• Efficiently Paging Through Large Amounts of Data
  This tutorial explains how to use custom paging when retrieving data from a SQL Server database.
• The Ins and Outs of WebMatrix: .NET Programming Using the Razor Syntax
  This tutorial gives you an overview of programming with ASP.NET Web Pages using the Razor syntax.
• To make a Metro Appx Package from scratch, you must first…
  Peter Nelson explains how to deploy a Metro app on Windows 8.

Security

• Keep it secret, keep it safe
  Eric Lippert explains why "the hard part of a secure design that uses crypto is not the math."

Software

• AVS Cover Editor
  Create covers for various disc types: CD, DVD, Blu-ray discs, VCD, etc.
• Contact Sync
  Synchronize contacts between Outlook and Gmail.
• Dolphin Text Editor Menu
  Adds options to standard text editors (Notepad, OpenOffice.org, Visual Studio, etc) allowing you to sort text alphabetically, reverse line order, remove blank or duplicate lines, change text case, align text, remove HTML tags, remove text formatting, count words and characters, and do more.
• Dropbox Shell Tools
  A Windows Explorer shell extension to speed up copy or move files to your Dropbox folder (must install as Administrator).
• Eusing Free MP3 Cutter
  Allows you to cut out pieces of an audio file (MP3, WAV, WMA), keeping ID3 tag info.
• ExamDiff
  Visual file comparison tool.
• Lifehacker Pack for Windows: Our List of the Best Windows Downloads
  A yearly snapshot of Lifehacker's favorite applications.
• KastorSoft: Free Multimedia Software
  Several free applications including video converter, audio extractor and more.
• PixBuilder Studio
  Yet another free image editing software program for digital photo editing, images processing, and resizing.
• Sweet Home 3D
  A free interior design application that helps you place your furniture on a house 2D plan, with a 3D preview.
• UltraSearch
  Searches files and folders on local NTFS drives without using file indexing.

Training

• INETA Live
  Offers a number of videos on programming and non-programming topics presented at different user groups.

Visual Studio

• StyleCop Compliant Visual Studio Code Snippets
  Within this project the code snippetst that come with Visual Studio 2010 have been refactored to provide StyleCo-compliant versions of the original code snippets while also adding many new code snippets.
• Visual Studio Tools and Extensions
  Good collection of various tools and extensions for Visual Studio 2010.

Web design

• A Basic HTML5 Template
  Explains how to build an HTML5-based to build page template from scratch.
• Responsive Web Design: What It Is and How To Use It
  Responsive Web design is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation. The practice consists of a mix of flexible grids and layouts, images and an intelligent use of CSS media queries. As the user switches from their laptop to iPad, the website should automatically switch to accommodate for resolution, image size and scripting abilities. In other words, the website should have the technology to automatically respond to the user’s preferences. This would eliminate the need for a different design and development phase for each new gadget on the market. This article explains the approach to Responsive Web Design.

Webtools

• IDPhoto4You
  Easy to use tool to create passport, visa and ID photos (for U.S. and other countries).
• Mejuba
  Free, unlimited photo and video storage and sharing site.
• One Page Apps I Actually Use
  Lists a collection of useful one-page web-based tools including: CSS3Please.com, Border-Radius.com, HTML-Ipsum.com, ScriptSrc.net, CopyPasteCharacter.com, Button Maker.
• SignNow
  Allows you to put add a signature to a digital document (such as PDF file).

Learning Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Summary: Resources for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom newbies.

Recently, I spent $120 on a copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 hoping that it would help me improve my post-processing workflow. I'm not a professional photographer, I do not carry expensive digital photo equipment, but I hate low quality (under/over-exposed, grainy, etc) photos, so I mostly rely on photo editing, which -- with more photos in my collection -- was becoming more cumbersome. After reading a number of rave reviews and user comments (e.g. PCMag, ARS Technica, Amazon), I decided to give Lightroom a try.


I had some reservations about using Lightroom on my 3+ year-old laptop with 3 GB RAM and a weak integrated graphics card running 64-bit Windows 7, but it installed and launched fine. My first impression was:

How the heck do I use this program?

I'm not a pro in digital graphics, but I can find my way around most photo editors, including Adobe products. However, my initial attempts to do something useful in Lightroom left me in the state of... what do I call it... frustration... bewilderment. I really had no idea where or how to start, so I finally decided to spend a few hours looking for short introductory tutorials. I will include references to the helpful resources below, but here is my second impression (after I grasped the basics and tried Ligthroom on a couple of hundred photos):

I LOVE IT!

I'm still at the very early stage of learning the basics, but the more I learn about Lightroom, the more I like it.

Here are the features I enjoy (or plan to enjoy) most:

• Non-destructive editing: When you edit an image, Lightroom does not actually modify the original file; it simply saves your editing steps (which can be quite complex) as instructions (metadata) in a catalog (a catalog contains information, or metadata, about a selected collection of your photos, but it does not include the actual image files). The problem here is that if you lose a catalog file, you will lose all edits of the photos referenced in the catalog (this is why it's important to back up your catalog files regularly). The benefit is that you do not need to keep duplicate files. You can also create multiple virtual copies of the files (pointing to the same physical file) and use them to apply different effects, such as black and white or vignette effects. Lightroom will apply your edits to a new physical copy of the file whenever you export or publish them to a hard drive, your web site, or a photo hosting site, such as Flickr of Picasa.
• Batch processing: Lightroom allows you to apply the same changes to multiple files in a single step. Why is this important? Because many times you will have similar photos shot under similar conditions. Instead of adjusting them one at a time, you can select a group and apply the same changes once.
• Before/after shots/previews: Lightroom offers several ways to compare the effects of your editing steps to the original photos, so you can go back and make adjustments. Presets allow you to apply multiple adjustments in a single step. When you roll the mouse over a specific preset, you can see a preview of the preset applied to your photo before you actually make a change.
• Photo editing: After watching a number of tutorials, I was blown away with the types of adjustments Lightroom supports (and if these are still not enough, it lets you edit your photos in an even more advanced editor like Photoshop CS or Photoshop Elements). I'm using the basic tools (auto toning, exposure correction, clarity improvement, noise reduction, sharpening), and even these produce good results. And since all of the edits are non-destructive, you can always go back to the original.
• File handling: I always had problems keeping track of my photos. I would copy a new set of shots from a flash card to a dedicated folder, make adjustments, and save the modified files to another folder. Then I may crop the modified files (to 4x6) for printing and save the cropped copies in yet another folder. Messy. With Lightroom, you can easily move photos between different directories without leaving the program. It allows you to rename the files and apply adjustments on import and export.
• Metadata: I'm yet to start using meta tags (such as keywords) on my images, but when I do, I suspect they would make it easier to handle (search, select, group) photos.

Now, here are some links that I found helpful (if you have additional recommendations, please post them in a comment):

Videos

• Lightroom Tutorials For Beginners
• AdobeTV offers quality episodes. Check the Getting Started with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 series (see also: Lightroom 4 - Create Stunning Images).
• If you like the Getting Started... series, watch other videos by Julieanne Kost.
• Kelby TV publishes regular Lightroom Killer Tips.
• George Jardine's collection of free videos.
• Michael Tapes' tutorials cover older version (Lightroom v1), but most of the info is still relevant.
• Learn Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 by Video (Learn by Video) by Tim Grey, et al (this a DVD-ROM)

Blogs

• Lightroom Killer Tips by Matt Kloskowski
• George Jardine on Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Digital Photography
• Julieanne Kost's Blog
• The Lightroom Queen by Victoria Bampton
• Lightroom Secrets
• TheLightroomLab.com

Books

I haven't read any of these, but they seem to be getting the most positive reviews:

• Adobe Lightroom 3 - The Missing FAQ - Real Answers to Real Questions asked by Lightroom Users by Victoria Bampton
• The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby
• Lightroom 3: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process by Nat Coalson
• The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers by Martin Evening
• Vision & Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom by David duChemin

Cheat sheets

• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.0 Shortcuts, Tips and Quick Reference (PDF)
• Keyboard shortcuts

Presets and plugins

• Google Nik Collection
(professional grade plugins)
• onOne Software offers several collections of awesome free presets
• Presets Heaven offers free presets and plugins
• Wedding Fairytale Glow by Matt Kloskowski
• Focal Point Background Effects by Matt Kloskowski
• Focal Point with Blurry Backgrounds by Matt Kloskowski
• Sharpening for Portrait Photos by Matt Kloskowski
• More presets by Matt Kloskowski

How-tos

• How to organize pictures in Lightroom
• How to migrate Lightroom to another computer
• How to use my Lightroom catalog on multiple computers (and presets, too)
• How to move presets between computers
• How to use external hard drives with Lightroom
• How to use adjustment brushes: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• How to apply changes to multiple photos in Lightroom

Tips and tricks

• The Top 10 Ways to Automate Lightroom
• 10 Quick and Easy Lightroom Tricks Every User Should Know
• Previous, Sync, Copy and Paste and Auto Sync
• Optimize your hardware and OS
• Should you have one catalog or multiple catalogs?
• What kind of keywords should I assign to my photos?
• Lightroom Tips – Best Practices for a New Year – New Catalog, Archive and More

P.S. I must mention that the help file that comes with Ligthroom is quite helpful, so you may want to start there.

See also:

#CreativeFriday – An introduction to #Lightroom

Build 32- and 64-bit installers using WiX

Summary: Code samples illustrating how to build deployment packages for both x86 and x64 platforms from the same Windows Installer XML (WiX) project.

This is post #6 of the six-part Learning WiX series. For other topics, see:

Table of contents

1. Background (why WiX?)
2. Introduction (answers to common questions)
3. Getting started (references and tutorials)
4. How-to's and missing links
5. Slides and demo projects
6. Improved demo projects (32- and 64-bit installers)

My recent post offers code samples illustrating a life cycle and core features of a WiX deployment project. The samples miss one important aspect: target platforms (i.e. x86 vs x64). While the samples get installed and run fine on both 64-bit and 32-bit platforms, the deployed applications always appear as 32-bit programs, even though they run as 64-bit processes on 64-bit machines (all assemblies are compiled to run on Any CPU).

I tried to add 64-bit support to the existing projects, but ran into several issues (e.g. folder selection wizard always showed the wrong Program Files folder on 64-bit systems). It took me a few weeks to resolve the problems, so here are the updated projects (all projects use Visual Studio 2010):

• Download WiX demo projects (64-bit and 32-bit)

These samples do everything the original samples do, plus:

• Solutions include build targets for 64-bit platforms: Debug (x64) and Release (x64).
• WiX projects can build 64-bit MSI files (via 64-bit build targets).
• Build process renames MSI files to indicate target platforms and copies them to a separate MSI folder under the WiX project (in a post-build event).
• Detect and use the original application folder during upgrades.

Here is what you need to do to build installers for 32- and 64-bit platforms:

• Understand the differences between 32- and 64-bit installers.
  At the very least, you need to understand that a setup package (MSI file) file can be marked as either a 32- or 64-bit installer (64-bit installer cannot run on 32-bit systems, but it can install 32-bit components on 64-bit systems). The following article can give you a basic idea of intricacies related to 64-bit platform deployment: How Windows Installer Processes Packages on 64-bit Windows (see also other relevant articles).
  
  
• Add the x64 build target to your WiX setup project.
  Assuming that all application assemblies (and support files) are not platform-specific, keep their build configuration marked as Any CPU, but add new configurations to the WiX setup project and associate it with the x64 platform; make sure configuration names identify the 64-bit platform, e.g. Debug (x64) and Release (x64).
  
  
  Tip: I often run into problems adding a new configuration via Visual Studio IDE. E.g. sometimes, I cannot add the x64 platform to some projects, or I would add it, but when I close the Configuration Manager dialog box, my settings would disappear. If you run into such issues, I suggest making changes directly to the project (.wixproj) and solution (.sln) files (their structure should be obvious). [Notice that you can edit a project file directly in the Visual Studio IDE by unloading and reloading the project.] Then open the Configuration Manager dialog box (via the Build - Configuration Manager menu), and make sure your project build mappings looks right.
  Your configuration settings should look similar to this:
  
  
  
  The idea here is that you always build your platform-independent assemblies for Any CPU and only use x86 and x64 targets for the setup projects (or any platform-specific project).
  
  
• Define and use platform-specific properties in the WiX source (.wxs) file.
  It's a good idea to have platform-specific GUIDs for product ID and upgrade code, as well as product name. You should always use a variable to store platform-specific Win64 flag and folder names (such as Program Files folder). Here is the code that illustrates how to achieve this:
  
  ?

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

  <?define ProductName = "WiX Demo" ?> <?define ProductVersion = "1.0" ?> <?define ProductFullVersion = "1.0.0.0" ?> <?define ProductAuthor = "Alek Davis" ?> <?define ProductAppFolder = "InstallLocation" ?>   <?if $(var.Platform) = x64 ?>   <?define ProductDisplayName = "$(var.ProductName) 64-bit" ?>   <?define ProductId = "47861F89-765F-4D6D-BEDE-139F0BCD74ED" ?>   <?define ProductUpgradeCode = "EE2511C1-75A7-4954-8AB6-0E405C9481B4" ?>   <?define Win64 = "yes" ?>   <?define PlatformProgramFilesFolder = "ProgramFiles64Folder" ?> <?else ?>   <?define ProductDisplayName = "$(var.ProductName)" ?>   <?define ProductId = "490CCCF1-54C3-4AC2-8C88-A8903556EEB3" ?>   <?define ProductUpgradeCode = "E7E6A7CB-1D12-486D-9E53-DBC56B0EDDCB" ?>   <?define Win64 = "no" ?>   <?define PlatformProgramFilesFolder = "ProgramFilesFolder" ?> <?endif ?>

  The code above tells the WiX compiler to check the value of the build platform property $(var.Platform). If the compiler detects the x64 build platform target, it will set platform-dependent variables to 64-bit specific values; otherwise, it'll use 32-bit values.
  
  
• Use platform-specific properties to set element attributes.
  Now you can use platform-specific properties set by WiX compiler instead of hard-coded values:
  
  ?

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

  <Product   Id="$(var.ProductId)"   Name="$(var.ProductDisplayName) (v$(var.ProductVersion))"   Language="1033"   Version="$(var.ProductFullVersion)"   Manufacturer="$(var.ProductAuthor)"   UpgradeCode="$(var.ProductUpgradeCode)">     <Package     InstallerVersion="300"     Compressed="yes"     InstallScope="perMachine"     Manufacturer="$(var.ProductAuthor)"     Platform="$(var.Platform)" />   ...   <Directory Id="TARGETDIR" Name="SourceDir">     <Directory Id="$(var.PlatformProgramFilesFolder)" >       <Directory Id="APPLICATIONFOLDER" Name="$(var.ProductName)"/>     </Directory>   ...   </Directory>   ... </Product>

• Set platform flag on components.
  Make sure that all of your product components are marked with the appropriate Win64 flag. Use a variable (like $(var.Win64) defined in the code sample above) to change the value dynamically based on the build platform, such as:
  
  ?

  1 2 3 4 5

  <Component   ...   Win64="$(var.Win64)">   ... </Component>

  If you have components which must be deployed only on 32- or 64-bit platform, you can hard-code their Win64 attribute values and conditionally include or exclude them based on the build target:
  
  ?

  1 2 3 4 5

  <?if $(var.Platform) = x64 ?>   <!-- 64-bit components go here --> <?else ?>   <!-- 32-bit components go here --> <?endif ?>

• Rename MSI files to indicate target platform.
  You can define a post-build step to rename your MSI files, so that they reflect the intended platform. Select the Project - Properties menu; in the Build Events tab, set the Post-build Event Command Line to something like this:
  
  ?

  1 2	if not exist "$(ProjectDir)msi" mkdir  "$(ProjectDir)msi" copy "!(TargetPath)" "$(ProjectDir)msi\$(TargetName)($(PlatformName))$(TargetExt)" /Y /V

  These commands rename and copy the output MSI file to the MSI folder (in the project directory). They will create the folder if it does not exist. The file name will contain the (x86) or (x64) suffix depending in the target platform (e.g. WixDemo1.0(x64).msi).
  

That's about it. Oh, almost forgot: test, test, test...

See also:
Walking through the creation of a complex installer package by Gabriel Schenker

I don't want to wear the ribbon!

Summary: I'm no Cosmo Kramer, but I also do not like the ribbon.

I keep hearing and reading articles from people announcing how (often after a short struggle) they fell in love with Microsoft's ribbon interface, but after using it for quite a while (mostly in the Microsoft Office products), I still feel more like Kramer:


Is there something wrong with me?

Beginner’s guide to Windows Installer XML (WiX) 3.5

Summary: Slides and demo projects.

This is post #5 of the six-part Learning WiX series. For other topics, see:

Table of contents

1. Background (why WiX?)
2. Introduction (answers to common questions)
3. Getting started (references and tutorials)
4. How-to's and missing links
5. Slides and demo projects
6. Improved demo projects (32- and 64-bit installers)

I just updated and uploaded the slides from the presentation I gave to my work group yesterday (you can download the PowerPoint [PPTX] presentation from the SlideShare site):

You can also download the demo projects.

There are three demo solutions, each containing four projects, all implemented in Visual Studio 2010 (you also need WiX 3.5 Toolset/Votive):

• A client (Windows Forms) application.
• A server (Windows service) application.
• A class library (DLL used by both client and server).
• A WiX 3.5 setup project handling deployment of the client, server, and class library.

The demo apps (client, server, library) don't do much (they are there only for the WiX project). The WiX setup project illustrates how to accomplish the following:

• Install and configure a Windows service.
• Install a client application.
• Install a class library in Global Assembly Cache (GAC).
• Install a text (readme.txt) file.
• Create shortcuts under the Start menu for the client app and text file.
• Create a shortcut under the Start menu for the application uninstaller.
• Display the advanced setup dialog sequence (wizards) allowing the user to select the installation scope (per user or per machine), specify product destination folder, chose which features to install (client, server, or both).
• Perform major upgrades (upgrades will retain Windows service definition for the already installed server component).
• Include application files in the setup package via project references (instead of hard coding the file names).

The three solutions illustrate a typical life cycle of a project. First, you build and deploy version 1.0. Then you can build and deploy version 1.5. The version 1.5 installer will upgrade the already installed version (you don't need to uninstall version 1.0 before installing version 1.5). Then you can do the same for version 2.0. Notice that installers preserve Windows service configuration during upgrades (if you redefine the service to run as a specific user instead of a local system account, the service configuration will remain intact).

UPDATE: See new and improved samples, which explain how to implement installers for 32- and 64-bit targets and do other things.

I'd also like to recommend two books which I found extremely helpful: WiX: A Developer's Guide to Windows Installer XML by Nick Ramirez covers WiX; The Definitive Guide to Windows Installer (Expert's Voice in Net) by Phil Wilson - general Windows Installer (MSI) concept:
And one more thank you to Jeffrey Sharp for his excellent WiX presentation (you can get the slides and watch Jeff's talk online).

See also:
My three-part introduction to WiX series