Nice tool for tracking log files. http://www.baremetalsoft.com/baretail/

Free CMS

I was searching for a nice and simple CMS system for my work found following listing. But DotnetNuke is not listed there :)

http://spyrestudios.com/free-content-management-systems/

ThreadAbortException in IIS 7 TransferRequest

IIS Integrated Mode

In some web applications we have to transfer the web request, but with IIS 7.0 HttpServerUtility.TransferRequest trows ThreadAbortException whis is really annoying. We have to manually handle the exception.

The reason for this is

On the Integration mode for Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0, the HttpServerUtility.TransferRequest method incorrectly uses the HTTPResponse.End method to stop the parent request. This results in throwing a ThreadAbortException, which can impact performance for terminating execution of a response. In the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, the TransferRequest method now ends the parent request by using the HttpApplication.CompleteRequest method. This also terminates the current request gracefully by transferring control to the HttpApplication.EndRequestevent handler without throwing an exception.

Suggested modifications with when you install .NET framework SP1: If you have error-handling code that uses the TransferRequest method to determine whether the ThreadAbortException was thrown, you can remove that code from the catch block.

SDK design considerations

SDK Design Considerations

API design principles

Following list summarizes some of the rules and laws which should be adhered to build a complete API for a SDK

1. Easy to learn

2. Make interfaces easy to use correctly and hard to use incorrectly.

Interface should not be misleading to use it incorrectly. You should define contracts preciously to avoid mistakes by the person who is using it.

3. Consistent API design

An interface that is predictable serves better than one which is locally optimal but inconsistent across the whole set.

4. It should be sufficiently powerful to satisfy the requirements, but should not be over complex.

5. Don’t try to please everyone by making the API generic.

6. Do not return resources that the caller is responsible for releasing.

Always try to encapsulate the resource releasing, cleaning and destructing logic.

7. Namespaces, Type names and function names should reflect the intended use.

8. Consider the API evolvement and extend over time.

Need to facilitate to effectively evolve an API to keep it relevant and useful over time, without having to throw it away and start over every 18 months.

Consider the coexistence with other versions when evolving

Other SDK requirements

1. SDK should be able to easily setup and configure(installation pack)

2. SDK should clearly define the development platforms which supported.

3. It should be able to maintain different versions and their coexistence.

4. SDK should contains following artifacts

a. Libraries

b. Documentation and tools utilizing the APIs

c. Samples

d. Licensing agreements

e. Source code(if open-source)

Development best practice

1. Code consistency using coding best practices, coding standards and basic frameworks

2. Unexpected behaviors need to be avoided.

3. Ensure graceful termination of unavoidable situations while providing proper information to the client.

4. SDK should be well tested before release.

5. Modularization should be done for reuse.

6. Access modifiers should be properly defined.

Localizing Sharepoint web sites and web parts

Localizing Websites and webparts in SharePoint

Internationalization is not a topic which is widely discussed by sharepoint communalities. Recently when I was researching this topic I came across with several interesting strategies of accomplishing the localization of sharepoint websites and webparts, which I think worth to discuss here. I will discuss these two areas separately and first let's discuss about internationalizing websites.

Localizing Sharepoint sites

Internationalization of web sites provided by sharepoint can be done only by installing relevant language packs which can be download from Microsoft web site. Once relevant language packs are installed site collections and sites are available with specific language options with a dropdown list to select.

So before you create the site you have to select the desired language of the web site or collection. Once you create by specifying the language, site is created using the specified language's template files.

Following languages packs and service packs need to be installed. After installing each pack, setup will ask to run the SharePoint configuration wizard. Run configuration wizard for successful completion.

1. Install Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Language Pack
   

   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=36EE1BF0-652C-4E38-B247-F29B3EEFA048&displaylang=en
   

2. Install Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Language Pack Service Pack
   

   http://www.microsoft.com/DownLoads/details.aspx?familyid=05046B1D-DD7B-456A-8838-8D978C5F3579&displaylang=en
   

3. Install 2007 Office System Language Pack. When downloading select the correct language at the language drop down to get the service pack of specific language.
   

   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2447426b-8689-4768-bff0-cbb511599a45&displaylang=en
   

 

1. Install the 2007 Microsoft Office Servers Language Pack Service Pack 1. When downloading select the correct language at the language drop down to get the service pack of specific language.
   

   http://www.microsoft.com/DownLoads/details.aspx?familyid=3A6C26FD-0BEB-40D5-8CBA-15164FAAB150&displaylang=en
   

 

That's it. SharePoint language specific configurations and templates are installed into your Sharepoint front end server and now it's ready create new sites using new language.

Localizing sharepoint custom web parts

The default web parts provided by Sharepoint installation are automatically localized according to the language you select once you install the language pack. But when you develop custom web parts for your business needs, those web parts need to be localized using different language resource files.

Normally sharepoint sites are not localized according to user's browser language, but according to the language you use to create the site. So all the web parts inside the site should also behave in the same manner. Let's see how we can accomplish this.

1. Create a library project in Visual studio (VS). I name it "langwebpart".
   
2. Add a Reference to Microsoft.SharePoint.dll
   
3. Update assembly version and and allow partially trusted callers
   
   1. In Solution Explorer, double-click the AssemblyInfo file
      

   [assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.0")]
   

   1. Add the following line to the top of the file:
      

    using System.Security;

1. Add the following line to the bottom of the file
   

    [assembly: AllowPartiallyTrustedCallers]

 

1. Add a new class. I name it as "userinfowebpart"
   
2. Inherit userinfowebpart from Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages
   
3. Override the render method of WebpartPages
   

   protected
   override
   void Render(HtmlTextWriter output){};
   

   
    

4. Create two resource files for English and Norwegian named userinfo.resx and userinfo.nb-NO.resx and add relevant language strings values with their key names.
   
5. These localized strings can be used inside your programming code as follows.
   

   nameLbl.Text = langwebpart.userinfo.name;
   

   
   langwebpart is the namespace
   

   
   userinfo is the language file name
   

   name is the key.
   

Below is our code of the simple web part class.

namespace langwebpart{

public
class
userinfowebpart:Microsoft.SharePoint.WebPartPages.WebPart

{

Label nameLbl;

 

protected
override
void Render(HtmlTextWriter output)

{

try

{

RenderChildren(output);

}

catch (Exception e)

{

 

output.Write(e.StackTrace); ;

}

 

 

}

protected
override
void CreateChildControls()

{

nameLbl = new
Label();

nameLbl.Text = langwebpart.userinfo.name;

Controls.Add(nameLbl);

}

 

 

}

}

 

Developing localized web part is simple as mentioned above. Next step is to deploy the web part to the SharePoint server instance.

Deploying localized web part

There are several ways to deploy a web part to SharePoint. One of the easiest and simple way is to copy the relevant assemblies to bin directory of the SharePoint web application instance.

1. Deploying to bin directory
   

• Copy assembly DLL to either
  - /bin directory for a given IIS virtual server (e.g., c:\inetpub\wwwroot\bin) for globally available or to specific web application /bin folder to available only that web application.
  
• Copy DWP file to C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wpcatalog
  
• Copy resources to C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\wpresources
  
• Adjust web.config
  - Register as SafeControl
  - Select Code Access Security settings
  

  
   

1. Deploying to as a Webpart package
   

A Web Part package is a cabinet (.cab) file that contains the following items:

1. Manifest.xml (mandatory)
   
2. Web Part assemblies (optional)
   
3. Class resource files (optional)
   
4. .dwp files (optional)
   

Creating a Manifest File for a .cab File

The Manifest file, a configuration file that describes the structure and contents of the .cab file, is the only required component for the .cab file. The Stsadm.exe tool uses this file to deploy the remaining content of the .cab file.

The following example shows a manifest file for a package that deploys two assemblies and their resources:

<?xml
version="1.0"
encoding="utf-8" ?>

<WebPartManifest
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebPart/v2/Manifest">

<Assemblies>

<Assembly
FileName="langwebpart.dll">

<ClassResources>

</ClassResources>

<SafeControls>

<SafeControl
Namespace="langwebpart"
TypeName="*"/>

</SafeControls>

</Assembly>

</Assemblies>

<DwpFiles>

<DwpFile
FileName="webpart.dwp"/>

<DwpFile
FileName="nb-NO\webpart.dwp"/>

</DwpFiles>

</WebPartManifest>

 

Creating a .cab File

Developers can use either of the following methods to create a .cab file:

• Use Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET Professional to create a CAB Project.
  
• Use MakeCAB.exe, a command-line tool included with Microsoft Windows 2000 and later.
  

Using Visual Studio

To use Visual Studio.NET Professional to create a CAB project, follow these steps:

• Start Visual Studio .NET.
  
• Create a new solution.
  
  • On the File menu, point to New, and then click Blank Solution.
    
  • Type a name for the solution, and then click OK.
    
• Open the Web Part project within this solution.
  
  • In Solution Explorer, right-click the new solution, point to Add, and then click Existing Project.
    
  • Browse to the location of Web Part project that you want to add, click the project, and then click Open.
    
• Create a new CAB project
  
  • In Solution Explorer, right-click the new solution, point to Add, and then click New Project.
    
• Under Project Types, click Setup and Deployment Projects, and then under Templates, click Cab Project.
  
  • Type a name for the CAB project, and then click OK.
    
• Add the Web Part project output to the CAB project.
  
  • In Solution Explorer, right-click the CAB project, point to Add, and then click Project Output.
    
  • In the Project box, click the Web Part project that you added to the solution in step 3.
    
  • Select all the appropriate file categories that appear in the list, and then click OK.
    

  Make sure that you select Primary output and Content Files. These categories add the Manifest.xml file, the .dwp files, and the Web Part assembly to the .cab file. Verify that the Manifest.xml file and the .dwp files are marked as content for build action in their respective properties sheets.
  

• Build the solution to create the .cab file.
  

Using MakeCAB.exe

MakeCAB.exe is a tool included with Windows 2000 or later. To use MakeCAB.exe to create a .cab file, follow these steps:

1. Create a directive file for makecab.exe, and save the file with a .ddf extension. The following sample directive file (named langwebpart.ddf) creates a .cab file for a simple Web Part library project:
   

;*** Sample Source Code MakeCAB Directive file example

 

.OPTION EXPLICIT ; Generate errors

.Set CabinetNameTemplate=langwebpart.cab

.set DiskDirectoryTemplate=CDROM

.Set CompressionType=MSZIP

.Set UniqueFiles="OFF"

.Set Cabinet=on

.Set DiskDirectory1=langwebpart.CAB

Manifest.xml

webpart.dwp

langwebpart.dll

.Set DestinationDir=nb-NO

nb-NO\webpart.dwp

;*** <the end>

1. Copy all the files that you want to include in the .cab file into the directory where you created the .ddf file. In this example, these files are the Manifest.xml file, the WebPart.dwp file, and the langwebpart.dll file.
   
2. Open a command prompt, change to the directory that contains the .ddf file and the files that you want to include in the .cab file, and then run the following command:
   

   Makecab.exe /F langwebpart.ddf
   

MakeCAB.exe creates a directory named langwebpart.cab, and in this directory MakeCAB.exe creates a .cab file named langwebpart.cab that contains the all the files listed in the langwebpart.ddf directive file.

Creating a CAB File with Localized Resources

Visual Studio does not support creating .cab files with internal directories. However, localized Web Parts may require a .cab file with internal directories. Because of this you must use a tool like MakeCAB.exe or another, third-party CAB utility to deploy localized Web Parts.

Deploying a Web Part Package

Administrators can use the Stsadm.exe tool to deploy .cab files created by developers. Stsadm.exe is a command-line tool that you can use to manage a Windows SharePoint Services computer. Three Stsadm.exe options apply to Web Part package deployment:

• AddWPPack
  
• DeleteWPPack
  
• EnumWPPacks
  

For more information about a specific Stsadm.exe command-line option, type the following line at a command prompt:

stsadm –help option
     

Adding a Web Part Package

To use the Stsadm.exe command to deploy a Web Part package on a server computer running Windows SharePoint Services, open a command prompt, and then type the following command:

stsadm.exe -o addwppack 

-filename Web_Part_Pack_name
     

[-url URL]

[-globalinstall]

[-force]

If you want to install a Web Part package on a virtual server when the Web Part package is already installed on another virtual server on the same computer, use the following command:

stsadm.exe -o addwppack

-name Web_Part_Pack_name
     

[-url URL]

[-globalinstall]

[-force]

Deleting a Web Part Package

To delete a Web Part package from specified virtual servers on a computer running Windows SharePoint Services, open a command prompt, and then type the following command:

stsadm.exe -o deletewppack

           -name Web_Part_Pack_name
     

           [-url URL]

To decide whether to install a Web Part package in the GAC or in the Bin directory, ask the following questions:

• Do you want to make this package available to all virtual servers on your computer?
  
• Do you trust the assemblies and resources of the package completely?
  

If you answer "yes" to both of these questions, install the Web Part package to the GAC. Assemblies in the GAC are fully trusted and are available to all virtual servers.

For more info http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd583149.aspx

ORganization culture Change ...A Nightmare???

Organizational culture is the identity and personality of the organization which makes the uniqueness. This personality is glued with collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with people outside the organization and comprised of the shared assumptions, values, shared priorities and norms, tangible artifacts of organization and behavioral patterns of organizational members. Once the members are incepted, they soon come to sense the particular culture of an organization and become part and parcel of it. Relationship diagram of cultural entities are very complex and very difficulty explain and distinguish, because they are interconnected, randomly changing and very volatile.

Due to this nature, today organizations attention towards the culture management has dramatically increased, because it is the engine of the organization which drives it towards achieving organizational goals and objectives. So the interested parties of the organization always try to keep the engine running while executing minimum or no changes. This concept of minimum changes concept implies that culture change is difficult and it should be carefully advocated.

Normally people are attached and frozen with current comfortable culture. They resist changing the situation and show strong reactions. Following are some of the key issues found.
1. Comfort with current situation. When people work in a culture for a long time a social environment is built around them and they are trapped within it.
2. Fear of collapse. Not all the organizational changes are going to be successful. There are thousands of user stories of failure.
3. Unpredictability of new system.
4. Unwillingness to learn and experience new things. Different types of personalities can be found in an organization. Some are self motivated and willing to experience new things. But most of the people do not want to do so.
5. Difficulty in defining the complete change model. It is evident that modeling a change for all the organizational requirements is hard and even harder to define a flexible model which caters for changing requirements.
6. Feeling of the participants that their autonomy and their security are threatened.

Careful handling of these situations while building safety nets and preventing frustration from developing into resistance helped to a successful culture change.

Thread Safe Dictionary in C#

I have been working with a project where concurrent requests are accessing a Dictionary. If you check from msdn the Dictionary class http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/library/xfhwa508(vs.80).aspx is not Thread safe.

Thread Safety

Public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

To overcome this one can use Hashtable.http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.collections.hashtable.aspx
Hashtable is thread safe for use by multiple reader threads and a single writing thread. It is thread safe for multi-thread use when only one of the threads perform write (update) operations, which allows for lock-free reads provided that the writers are serialized to the Hashtable. To support multiple writers all operations on the Hashtable must be done through the wrapper returned by the Synchronized method, provided that there are no threads reading the Hashtable object.

But for multiple writes you need to get the Synchronized Hashtable as follows.
Hashtable myHT = new Hashtable();
Hashtable mySyncdHT = Hashtable.Synchronized( myHT );

But to make the dictionary you have three things to do.
1) Create a sub-class of System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary
2) Create a utility class for modifying the collection safely
3) Creating your own thread-safe dictionary from scratch.


I have written written a utility class which keeps a instance of Dictionary and modify it in a thread safe manner with ReaderWriterLockSlim. Check the advantage of ReaderWriterLockSlim over ReaderWriterLock here.http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.threading.readerwriterlockslim.aspx.

Following is my code sample.

public class SerializableDictionary : IXmlSerializable
{

//This is the internal dictionary that we are wrapping
IDictionary dict = new Dictionary();

#region IDictionary members
[NonSerialized]
ReaderWriterLockSlim dictionaryLock = new ReaderWriterLockSlim(LockRecursionPolicy.NoRecursion);


public virtual bool Remove(TKey key)
{
dictionaryLock.EnterWriteLock();
try
{
return this.dict.Remove(key);
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
}


public virtual bool ContainsKey(TKey key)
{
dictionaryLock.EnterReadLock();
try
{
return this.dict.ContainsKey(key);
} finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitReadLock();
}
}


public virtual bool TryGetValue(TKey key, out TValue value)
{
dictionaryLock.EnterReadLock();
try
{
return this.dict.TryGetValue(key, out value);
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitReadLock();
}
}


public virtual TValue this[TKey key]
{
get
{
dictionaryLock.EnterReadLock();
try
{
return this.dict[key];
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitReadLock();
}
}
set
{
dictionaryLock.EnterWriteLock();
try
{
this.dict[key] = value;
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
}
}


public virtual ICollection Keys
{
get
{
dictionaryLock.EnterReadLock();
try
{
return new List(this.dict.Keys);
}finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitReadLock();
}
}
}


public virtual ICollection Values
{
get
{
dictionaryLock.EnterReadLock();
try
{
return new List(this.dict.Values);
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitReadLock();
}
}
}


public virtual void Clear()
{
dictionaryLock.EnterWriteLock();
try
{
this.dict.Clear();
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
}


public virtual int Count
{
get
{
dictionaryLock.EnterReadLock();
try
{
return this.dict.Count;
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitReadLock();
}
}
}


public virtual bool Contains(KeyValuePair item)
{
dictionaryLock.EnterReadLock();
try
{
return this.dict.Contains(item);
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitReadLock();
}

}


public virtual void Add(KeyValuePair item)
{
dictionaryLock.EnterWriteLock();
try
{
this.dict.Add(item);
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
}


public virtual void Add(TKey key, TValue value)
{
dictionaryLock.EnterWriteLock();
try
{
this.dict.Add(key, value);
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
}


public virtual bool Remove(KeyValuePair item)
{
dictionaryLock.EnterWriteLock();
try
{
return this.dict.Remove(item);
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitWriteLock();
}
}


public virtual void CopyTo(KeyValuePair[] array, int arrayIndex)
{
dictionaryLock.EnterReadLock();
try
{
this.dict.CopyTo(array, arrayIndex);
}
finally
{
dictionaryLock.ExitReadLock();
}
}


public virtual bool IsReadOnly
{
get
{
return this.dict.IsReadOnly;
}
}


public virtual IEnumerator> GetEnumerator()
{
throw new NotSupportedException("Cannot enumerate a threadsafe dictionary. Instead, enumerate the keys or values collection");
}
#endregion
}

Flex Error

TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
    at mx.charts::AxisRenderer/calcStaggeredSpacing()[C:\Work\flex\dmv_automation\projects\datavisualisation\src\mx\charts\AxisRenderer.as:2195]
    at mx.charts::AxisRenderer/calcRotationAndSpacing()[C:\Work\flex\dmv_automation\projects\datavisualisation\src\mx\charts\AxisRenderer.as:1586]
    at mx.charts::AxisRenderer/adjustGutters()[C:\Work\flex\dmv_automation\projects\datavisualisation\src\mx\charts\AxisRenderer.as:1326]
    at mx.charts::AxisRenderer/set gutters()[C:\Work\flex\dmv_automation\projects\datavisualisation\src\mx\charts\AxisRenderer.as:798]
    at mx.charts.chartClasses::CartesianChart/updateAxisLayout()[C:\Work\flex\dmv_automation\projects\datavisualisation\src\mx\charts\chartClasses\CartesianChart.as:2028]
    at mx.charts.chartClasses::CartesianChart/updateDisplayList()[C:\Work\flex\dmv_automation\projects\datavisualisation\src\mx\charts\chartClasses\CartesianChart.as:1355]
    at mx.core::UIComponent/validateDisplayList()[E:\dev\3.0.x\frameworks\projects\framework\src\mx\core\UIComponent.as:6214]
    at mx.managers::LayoutManager/validateDisplayList()[E:\dev\3.0.x\frameworks\projects\framework\src\mx\managers\LayoutManager.as:602]
    at mx.managers::LayoutManager/doPhasedInstantiation()[E:\dev\3.0.x\frameworks\projects\framework\src\mx\managers\LayoutManager.as:675]
    at Function/http://adobe.com/AS3/2006/builtin::apply()


this error occurs when you have only 1 dataset and your dataset name is wider than the chart..

this is a bug of Flex and you can make a workaround for this. visit this http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/FLEXDMV-1821

xml data encoding issue in sql server 2005

Today I found one of my friend is struggling with saving xml to sql server 2005 database with Norwegian characters. When he try to insert xml data error is throwing saying "invalid characters found in line number ....". According to the definitions sql server keeps xml data using utf-16 encoding. so this should support Norwegian characters. The xml document which we are trying to save contains the declarations as

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>

If we remove the above xml declaration from the xml document before sending it to sql server, it will be automatically handled by the server using utf-16. you can use .Net to remove the declaration before sending it to server and insert declaration while you retrieve xml from database.

Cairngorm with Flex

Cairngorm is a framework which facilitates to write well structured flex code with MVC architecture. Its Front controller, Model Locator, command and delegate patterns are the main components of the framework. I will try to explain how it works with a simple example application of user search.

1. App boots up, shows first state
2. user types in some keywords, clicks the Search button
3. this fires the doSearch event handler
4. the doSearch handler creates a CairngormEvent, and dispatches it
5. the Controller has mapped that type of event to a Command, and thus it runs the command, passing it the event
6. the Command looks at the event type in the execute function and
   decides what to run, in this case, searchBooks, passing the event’s
   data to the function
7. search books creates the Business Delegate, and calls its method
8. the Delegate gets the WebService from the ServiceLocator, fires off the WebService, and waits for a response
9. if the response is successful, it parses the E4X XML via a Factory to a list of Book ValueObjects
10. finally, it calls the responder’s onResult function
11. Since the Command is the Responder, he gets the data, and sets it to the ModelLocator and updates the applications state
12. The View’s are bound to the state variable and book list in the ModelLocator, so they immediately have their bindings fire
13. This causes the main app to change state, and show the results DataGrid
14. The results DataGrid is bound to the books list in the ModelLocator, and shows the results.

Lucene Free text search Engine

When I was working with the Lucene  search engine, I faced with some problems of "Too many clauses" in the search criteria. To avoid above problem always use PrefixFilters

Term term = new Term(_facetName, axisValue.FromValue);
PrefixFilter filter = new PrefixFilter(term);

instead of

Term term = new Term(_facetName, axisValue.FromValue);
Filter p = new QueryWrapperFilter(new TermQuery(term));


You can avoid words which are very short when indexing. This will improve the performance of the searching. Following is a sample of implementing custom analyzer with the Token filter.


   public class CustomAnalyzer : Analyzer {

      private Set stopSet;
      private int _minTokenLength = 3;


      public static  string[] STOP_WORDS = StopAnalyzer.ENGLISH_STOP_WORDS;

      /** Builds an analyzer. */
      public CustomAnalyzer(int minTokenLength)
          : this(STOP_WORDS, minTokenLength)
      {
      }

      /** Builds an analyzer with the given stop words. */
      public CustomAnalyzer(String[] stopWords,int minTokenLength)
      {
        stopSet = StopFilter.makeStopSet(stopWords);
        _minTokenLength = minTokenLength;
      }

      /** Constructs a {@link StandardTokenizer} filtered by a {@link
      StandardFilter}, a {@link LowerCaseFilter} and a {@link StopFilter}. */
      public override TokenStream tokenStream(String fieldName, Reader reader) {
        TokenStream result = new StandardTokenizer(reader);
        result = new StandardFilter(result);
        result = new LengthTokenFilter(result, _minTokenLength);
        result = new LowerCaseFilter(result);
        result = new StopFilter(result, stopSet);
        return result;
      }
}


ToenFilter to remove tokens with short lengths

public class LengthTokenFilter: TokenFilter {
    private int minLength;

    public int MinLength
    {
        get { return minLength; }
        set { minLength = value; }
    }

    internal LengthTokenFilter(TokenStream input, int minLength)
        : base(input)
    {
        this.minLength = minLength;
    }

    public override Token next(Token result){

        while ((result = input.next(result)) != null) {
            if (result.termLength() >= minLength) {
                return result;
            }
        }

        return null;
    }
}

Flex PopupButton

While I am working with Flex PopupButton, I faced with some issues of Event dispatching and propagation. All the events dispatched inside the PopupButton control will not propagate to the parent container components.I couldn't find a way to catch the events from the controls inside the popup button from the main application.

Flex component explorer

This is really helpful to visualize the flex components and its behavior. http://examples.adobe.com/flex3/componentexplorer/explorer.html

Adobe Flex

Adobe Flex is one of the best RIA application generation platform and for the current project we have decided to use flex.Flex is a highly productive, free open source framework for building and maintaining expressive web applications that deploy consistently on all major browsers, desktops, and operating systems.You can get more information and resources from
http://www.adobe.com/products/flex/

University of Mortuwa has become the no 1 in google summer code

This Week's Top 10's: Universities for Google Summer of Code 2008. University of moratuwa has become number 1. this is a great news for all the sri lankans.


http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2008/05/this-weeks-top-10s-universities-for.html

SSIS error in merge joins

we have developed a application called File converter which uses SSIS to convert different input file formats(flat files, hierarchical files, xml) different output file formats.

File converter is a web application and these SSIS packages are executed via .NET APIs. The crazy error was when we deploy a SSIS package which contains xml sources and merge joins SSIS package execution hangs. But the funny thing is it executes successfully in windows ZP. But it hands on windows 2000.

Customers production environment is windows 2000. We have installed only SSIS service on this machine where File Converter web application is running. After days of trouble shooting we found the cause for the problem. Hurraayyyyy.....

ITS SQL server service pack 2. If you install service pack 2 to SSIS service it does the work.

for more details see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938049

If you still have the issue install hot fixes for service pack 2 as well.

Once again in Norway

I am with Anura, dileepa and pathi once again in Norway. This time we work with SPN development team to enhance the current Preator system(Predator is a debt collection system) towards next generation CMS system. Predator's core is written in borland c++ and we are re-engineering its data access layer and business layer to migrate Faircom ISAM to Faircom SQL.

SQL Server Management Studio Reports and Dashboard

Good article to read to check the statistics of MSSQL server using reports and dashboards.

http://www.databasejournal.com/features/mssql/article.php/3743596

Understanding the Metabolism

Understand the Metabolism

If you're trying to lose weight and think your metabolism might be the culprit, there are changes you can make to improve it. But with the commercialism surrounding "metabolism-enhancing" products, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction (or advertising) and pin down techniques that are scientifically proven to change one's metabolism.

1. Understand what metabolism is. In the simplest terms, metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. The rate differs significantly from person to person. You and your friend can have the same activity level, diet, and weight but still gain or lose weight at different rates based on differences in metabolism.
2. Determine what is influencing your metabolism. There are some factors that you can change, and some factors that you can't.

* Age - metabolism slows 5% per decade after age 40
* Sex - men generally burn calories faster than women
* Heredity - you can inherit your metabolic rate from previous generations
* Thyroid disorder - problems in the thyroid gland can slow metabolism but this is rare
* Proportion of lean body mass - metabolism increases with muscle mass
3. Calculate your resting metabolic rate (RMR). RMR is often used interchangeably with basal metabolic rate (BMR); although they are slightly different, estimating either is sufficient for the purpose of losing weight. To calculate your RMR, use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (which is more reliable than the Harris-Benedict equation). There are also calculators online that can do this for you:

* RMR = (9.99w + 6.25s) - 4.92a + 166g
* w = weight in kilograms; if you know your weight in pounds, divide by 2.2 to get your weight in kilograms
* s = height in centimeters; if you know your height in inches, multiply by 2.54 to get your height in centimeters
* a = age in years
* g = gender = 1 for males, 0 for females
4. Adjust your diet accordingly. Your RMR will tell you how many calories you need to maintain your body at rest. Your daily consumption to maintain your weight should be:

* RMR x 1.15
* E.g. RMR = 2000, so the maintenance intake is 2000 x 1.15 = 2300
* To lose weight safely, consume no more than your maintenance intake but no less than your RMR.
* Count calories by recording what you eat and looking up how many calories each food item contains (either on the food packaging or in tables provided in books or online).

more : http://www.wikihow.com/Increase-Your-Metabolism

sweden trip

We traveled to Sweden from sandefijord by Ferry. This trip was not interesting as we have expected. We spend around 8 hours at Stormstad, Sweden and visited around the city. It was not a big city.

Strömstad is a town (pop. 5,800) in Bohuslän in western Sweden and the seat of Strömstad Municipality, Västra Götaland County.

Strömstad is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city. Statistics Sweden, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities.

some links

http://www.vastsverige.com/templates/default____2349.aspx

Photos

Ferry to sweden




Stormstad city