Category Archives: IT

Query and Update Sparx EA Repository with SQL

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Sample Script to do it (using the Execute undocumented op)

 

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option explicit
 
!INC Local Scripts.EAConstants-VBScript
!INC EAScriptLib.VBScript-Logging
 
'
' Script Name: SQL
' Author: Philippe Back
' Purpose: Demo SQL Invocation
' Date: 25/1/2011
'

Function SQLQuery(sql)
Dim sRes
LOGInfo("Query: " & sql)
sRes = Repository.SQLQuery(sql)
LOGInfo("Res: " & sRes)
End Function
 
Function SQLExec(sql)
Dim sRes
LOGInfo("Statement: " & sql)
sRes = Repository.Execute(sql)
LOGInfo("Res: " & sRes)
End Function
 
Sub Main
SQLQuery("SELECT * FROM T_OBJECT WHERE OBJECT_ID=1")
SQLExec("UPDATE T_OBJECT SET NAME='STUFF' WHERE OBJECT_ID=1")
End Sub
 
Main
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Apple brings an effective value upload pipe to the world

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Apple released iBooks2 and a new textbook creation app for the Mac (You’ll need Lion for that, and even if these things are free, they’ll end up pocketing money from that new tide of upgrades – I know they will from me).

Keynote already made a huge difference to helping me communicate to an audience (people seeing the presentations tell me regularly: hey, this is definitely *not* a PowerPoint, it looks waay better, and is more effective!).

So, I was using it on my iPad to convey ideas in meetings, where it brings a sense of closeness and bonding that helps in securing business.

But with the textbooks that do come to life, we enter a new dimension. Think about all Seth Godin PDFs in the form of animated Textbooks, think about curated content with comments on a given subject put together and released to the world!

Mmh, in a sense, it is weird that this is announced aroud the time SOPA gets protested and MegaVideo got busted by the FBI. But I may digress.

Anyway, this is a super gift for all of us who have value to share. And sharing this way is really making it all exciting. That’s what Apple products have succeeded in doing: getting people involved in getting excited again. It is not happening with Linux, it is not happening with Windows. It is happening with Apple products, and a bit less with Android phones.

I’ve bet a lot of the farm on Apple. Not because I am any kind of fanboi, but because it is the logical thing to do when a cash-laden company uses it to roll out such innovative and stimulating stuff ot the world.

That’s what Apple is strong with: cash-loaded, innovative, master of their supply chain, and controlling the delivery channel. Walled garden? Sure! But generating money and recognition for the players: very very true indeed! Love, money, recognition: they made it so that you get the three assembled with Apple.

That’s what leadership is about: instilling the motivation to follow and make your best.

So, Apple may lead to people challenging jumping off buildings at Foxconn (and doing something about it, as was reported) but they also deliver us these.

I started with an Apple II eons ago, moved off when they were out of fancy, and am back to them 20+ years later. Yet another proof that you can turn things over given the right decisions. Quite different from Kodak. But quite alike to Fujitsu.

Some more info: http://mashable.com/2012/01/19/this-is-how-apple-changes-education-forever/

 

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Test of Logitech iPad 2 Keyboard by Zagg

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I am now test driving the Logitech keyboard for iPad 2 by Zagg. I had read a rave review about it and wanted to test drive it first hand.

Well, first thing is that the borders are annoying when typing. But even if they are a hassle, typing on the keyboard is fine and much faster than typing on the iPad’s on-screen keyboard.

The space to type is cramped. I don’t know if I’ll be able to type long stuff on that either. But for reporting on trade shows, making a quick letter and so on, it is a good thing to have. It coples as a protection for the device and as such it is great.

It is pretty cool to have access to the media control keys while working. I like to listen to music while working and this is a plus indeed.

Of course, the keyboard is a national keyboard, so do not expect accelerators like on the virtual keyboard. But you are then able to use all keys and accented characters directly.

The positioning of the iPad 2 on the keyboard feels solid. As I type this, I am adapting my position and it goes faster.

While typing on my lap, I had to switch the device to landscape mode and the it is easier and making more sense. Compared to a laptop, this runs cool. Some think that using a hot PC on one’s lap is bad for fertility. One problem solved then.

And while we are on that, the iPad can be placed on either side, no problem at all.My power cable is on the left of my desk and if this wasn’t possible, I would have to do a convoluted setup to be able to continue working as the device is about depleted (hey, it’s been several days since I made the last charge).

Using the keyboard arrows and shift key helps when selecting text and generally moving it around. All usual OSX shortcuts (Cmd-C, Cmd-X, Cmd-V, Cmd-Arrows) do work and help in restructuring the content.

Adding pictures right away is a big plus, it makes a lot of sense if one is attending a presentation and wants to make a report of it.

When there is a small space available, using a mouse or a trackpad is awkward and here, just reaching for the screen with one’s finger is really helpful.

I’ve been writing this on Pages and there has been no issue with all possibilities.

Switching to full screen to type would be great but is apparently not possible. Too bad. But that is a general limitation of Pages.

While we are on the subject of screen, there is a key on the top left of the keyboard which is equivalent to the home button. So, double type to get the multitask bar, triple type for (in my case) reverse display (comes handy in a dark room).

The keyboard has no backlight, so you’d have to learn key locations before being able to type without errors. I am trying this out in a dark place and it is working nicely after two lines of text.

I am very pleased with this acquisition and highly recommend it to reduce your backpack burden when on the move.

20111208-142418.jpg

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Sparx Systems releases Enterprise Architect 9.2

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Breathing new Life into your Models

Enterprise Architect 9.2 is a major upgrade which significantly extends simulation, adds new modeling languages, new debugging capabilities and new tools to manage your models. Here are some of the great things built into this new release:

  • Bring your state machines and business processes to life with advanced simulation support for triggers, signals and events. Model messages, button presses, switches and similar events, then watch as your scenarios come to life. Verify your solutions. Explore multiple pathways and outcomes. Build reusable event sets to automate simulations.*
  • Business modelers can simulate their BPMN based models, including support for Parallel and Exclusive Gateways, Loops and basic activities. Animate and validate your business processes.**
  • Software developers can now attach Enterprise Architect to the GNU debugger (GDB) and inspect, debug and visualize a wide range of supported platforms. Local and remote debugging are both supported. Ada, Java, C, C++ and Objective-C supported.***
  • Modelers can now build and share concepts, taxonomies and detailed ontologies using the new MDG Technology for the Ontology Definition Metamodel with support for the Web Ontology Language (OWL) and the Resource Description Framework (RDF).
  • Systems Engineers can take advantage of the enhanced support for SysML 1.2 including Block Elements drawn with parts, references, values, flow part and standard port compartments. SysML FlowSpecification elements with the flowProperties compartment.
  • You can now generate visual diff/comparisons between current diagrams and baselines using the new visual comparison tools built into the model baseline facility. Highlight additions, deletions, moves, and resizes. Selectively roll back changes to a previous baseline state.

Enterprise Architect 9.2 supports UML® Version 2.4.1 – the latest specification from the Object Management Group® (OMG®).

Links and Downloads:

 

Release Notes: www.sparxsystems.com/products/ea/history.html
Free 30 Day Trial: www.sparxsystems.com/products/ea/trial.html
Registered Users: www.sparxsystems.com/registered/index.html
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/SparxSystems

 

* Corporate Edition and above
** Business and Software Engineering Edition and above
*** Professional Edition and above
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Windows Live Writer: useful to blog without a connection

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Sometimes, you just can’t write directly to your blog. Maybe you are at a conference and the Wifi is overcrowded and service is patchy. Maybe you have not enough battery to last through the session if you leave Wifi on. Whatever the cause, you’d like to blog off line and put the information on line after the fact.

A text processor would be fine of course. But a dedicated tool is better because it avoids a lot of issues with formats, copy/paste and the like. Especially since it handles images locally as well.

That’s where Windows Live Writer comes into play. As a blog editor, you just have to configure the URL of the blog (self hosted WordPress works!), a login and a password.

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Then, just type and save as a local draft. When ready, upload to the site.

A little tool that can come in handy!

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Upgrading to SSD on a Dell D430: What to Expect?

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I spend a good chunk of my day upgrading my Dell D430 to SSD.

What was the expected outcome that led me to do this?

Basically, I was fed up with the general slowness of the HDD, a 80GB 4800 RPM disk. Also, I suspect that since I have got this laptop for more than 4 years, the HDD would fail sooner or later and I didn’t wanted that to happen to me, even if I do take backups regularly.

The key factor was to be able to get rid of those pauses when looking deep inside my start menu program, speed up my Find and Run Robot (FARR) launcher, and all application launches.

Just swapping the HDD for the SDD and be done with that.

Not so fast!

Indeed, not so fast. It all went okay at the end but it took longer than expected and there were several bumps on the road, namely:

  • The SDD wasn’t recognized when I hooked it up to the system with the USB connector: this one was easily fixed, I hadn’t pushed the ZIF cable far enough into the disk. But this was easy to fix.
  • I used the Acronis disk clone feature to get the HDD cloned to the SDD. Looks like easy enough to do it but… nothing was cloned at the end of the process. I had to redo the moves and then, bam, magic! And it took a hell of a lot of time to clone everything.
  • The HDD inside the machine was enclosed into a rubberized enclosure to protect it from shocks. I had to remove the enclosure of the HDD to disconnect it from the ZIF connector. Then the SDD wasn’t fitting the space. So, SDD back into the rubberized enclosure and quite a while to get the whole thing to fit tightly into the space available. So, time to boot.

Getting to boot

Booting the system was easy. Everything turned out working fine. But some things took longer than I tought. So, the SSD is no magic. The whole system feels a lot fasters. And is. But web browsing give me some hiccups. Pauses. I found a great utility to help, named Flashfire. This solved some issues.

I am running XP SP3. This wasn’t too great for SSD disks. So, I had to disable prefetching, boot time optimization and other funny registry settings. Well, this is done now and brought several good things with it. I got to know the fsutil command for disabling features of NTFS.

Now, pauses are gone. I saw that Windows 7 would be better to SSDs. But not much more than what I do have now. HDTune gives me the speced speed. Which is around 90MB/sec. Which isn’t what SSD should give on SATA machines, but this is a PATA UDMA Mode 5 chipset here and there is no way it is going any faster.

I have rebooted quite a number of times to get everything in good shape and the battery wasn’t drained as it was usual with the HDD. So, a good point here.

How does it feels now?

Well, pretty good actually. This SSD isn’t delivering its full performance, being somewhat limited by the chipset of the Dell D430 but there are really great benefits that were worth the upgrade.

Here is my list:

  • no more HDD noise: a great feeling, no more grinning of platters
  • more space since this is a 128GB SSD and I was moving off a 80GB HDD
  • much much snappier menus

I declare this to be a success. It is extending the life span of this little solid machine (even if it is not a superspeedy and superpowerful box, I can in fact achieve a lot with it. And that because the keyboard is very well built and has a decent size without a numeric pad shifting my typing to the left. And a 12” form factor is just what I need when moving around. It is just a bit larger than my iPad2.

Any special things to mention?

Yep, sure. First of all, my Nusphere’s PHPEd editor is starting amazingly fast now.

As a contrast, Sparx System’s Enterprise Architect is only marginally faster. Go figure.

So, an SSD isn’t going to cut all times in 10 on this box. But the advantages are good enough to justify my investment in the RunCore SSD 128GB 1.8” ZIF PATA. Which was about $219. You can almost get a new laptop for that price but not as sturdy as this little Dell Latitude D430.

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