[{"_id":"stencil-check-for-use-of-named-slot","title":"StencilJS - Check for Use of Named Slot","subtitle":"","description":"How to determine if a named slot is being used with code in a Stencil web component. ","body":"

\n Within a Stencil web component, you may sometimes need to determine, with code, whether or not a named slot is being used. \n I had this need recently, for example, in a layout component that had to render a unique DOM and use unique CSS class names \n depending on the named slots that were being used. In this post, I'm sharing how to do it. \n

\n\n

You need, first of all, to import the Element decorator within the @stencil/core imports as shown below:

\n\nimport { Component, Element, Host, h} from '@stencil/core';\n\n

Now, you can use the Element decorator within your code to gain access to the host element, like this:

\n\n@Element() host: HTMLElement;\n\n

Declare the slots that you want to check for using private variables:

\n\n\nprivate panelLeftSlot: HTMLElement;\nprivate panelRightSlot: HTMLElement;\n\n\n\n

\n Now, in the componentLoad() lifecycle method, you can attempt to populate the representative slot variables. \n If the user does not inject the named slots when they use your component, the respective variables will simply remain undefined, which you \n can test for.\n

\n\n

componentWillLoad() {\n    this.panelLeftSlot =  this.host.querySelector("[slot='panel-left']")\n    this.panelRightSlot =  this.host.querySelector("[slot='panel-right']")\n}

\n\n

\n To illustrate this in full, let's look at the code for a component that uses the Bootstrap grid system to render a layout. \n The DOM structure and CSS classes are to be rendered differently, depending on the given slots.\n

\n\n

import { Component, Element, Host, h} from '@stencil/core';\n\n@Component({\n    tag: 'glass-layout',\n    shadow: false,\n})\nexport class GlassLayout {\n\n    @Element() host: HTMLElement;\n\n    private panelLeftSlot: HTMLElement;\n    private panelRightSlot: HTMLElement;\n\n    private panelLeftCSS: string;\n    private panelCenterCSS: string;\n    private panelRightCSS: string;\n\n    componentWillLoad() {\n\n        this.panelLeftSlot =  this.host.querySelector("[slot='panel-left']")\n        this.panelRightSlot =  this.host.querySelector("[slot='panel-right']")\n\n        if(this.panelLeftSlot && this.panelRightSlot) {\n            this.panelLeftCSS = 'col-md-3'\n            this.panelCenterCSS = 'col-md-6'\n            this.panelRightCSS = 'col-md-3'\n        } else {\n            this.panelLeftCSS = 'col-md-4'\n            this.panelCenterCSS = 'col-md-8'\n            this.panelRightCSS = 'col-md-4'\n        }\n\n    }\n\n    render() {\n\n        return (\n            <Host>\n                <slot name="header" />\n                <main class="flex-shrink-0">\n                    <div class="container">\n                        {this.panelLeftSlot || this.panelRightSlot\n                        ? \n                            <div class="row">\n                                {this.panelLeftSlot ? <div class={this.panelLeftCSS}><slot name="panel-left" /></div> : []}\n                                <div class={this.panelCenterCSS}><slot/></div>\n                                {this.panelRightSlot ? <div class={this.panelRightCSS}><slot name="panel-right" /></div> : []}\n                            </div>\n                        :\n                            <slot/>\n                        }\n                    </div>\n                </main>\n                <slot name="footer" />\n            </Host>\n        )\n\n    }\n}\n

\n\n

Now, here's an example that uses all of the named slots available...

\n\n

<glass-layout>\n    <div slot="header" style="background-color: red">HEADER</div>\n    <!--\n        START: MAIN CONTENT\n        Main panel is not actually a named slot. Any elements without a named slot will just go in the \n        default, unnamed slot...\n    -->\n    <h1 class="mt-5 display-4">HELLO WORLD!</h1>\n    <p>Paragraph One</p>\n    <p>Paragraph Two</p>\n    <!--\n        END: MAIN CONTENT\n    -->\n    <div slot="panel-left" style="background-color: purple; height:100%">PANEL LEFT</div>\n    <div slot="panel-right" style="background-color: blue; height:100%">PANEL RIGHT</div>\n    <div slot="footer" style="background-color: green">FOOTER</div>\n</glass-layout>\n

\n\n

$\"Stencil$

\n\n

Here's an example that uses only the default unnamed slot and the slot named panel-right. Notice the difference in the rendered result that follows.

\n\n

$\"Stencil$

\n\n

That's it. I hope I saved you some time. Happy coding!

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"],"thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-stencil.svg","ogImage":"","menus":["blog"],"created":"2021-10-09T16:29:02.230Z","features":["syntax highlighter"],"topics":["software-dev"],"modified":"2021-10-11T17:00:48.634Z"},{"_id":"node-script-replace-text-using-counter","title":"Node Script - Replace Text Using Counter","subtitle":"","description":"Node.js script that replaces all instances of a given substring found in a text file with an incrementing number.","body":"

Here's a Node.js script that replaces all instances of a given substring found in a text file with an incrementing number. You can use the node script itself or just steal the technique for use in your own JavaScript code.

\n\n

This script reads a source text file and replaces all instances of a given substring found in the file with a number that is incremented for each instance of the substring replaced. So, take the following string, for example, and suppose that the substring, 000, is what we wish to replace:

\n\n

Hello 000 world 000 nodejs 000 is 000 really 000 useful 000!

\n\n

Given an INCREMENT of 5, the string could become:

\n\n

Hello 5 world 10 nodejs 15 is 20 really 25 useful 30!

\n\n

With a PREFIX value of \"A_\" and suffix value of \"_B\", it could become:

\n\n

Hello A_5_B world A_10_B nodejs A_15_B is A_20_B really A_25_B useful A_30_B !

\n\n

// replaceTextUsingCounter.js\nconst fs = require('fs')\n\nconst SOURCE_FILE = '../my-app/input.json'\nconst DEST_FILE = '../my-app/output.json'\nconst REPLACE_REGEX = /replace-me/g // This defines, in REGEX, the substring to find.\nconst PREFIX = '' // Value will be prefixed to the counter when substring is replaced; use '' for no prefix\nconst SUFFIX = '' // Value will be appended to the counter when substring is replaced; use '' for no suffix\nconst START_COUNT = 0 // The number to start your counter on\nconst INCREMENT = 5; // How much to increment for each substring found\n\n// Read text file for content to perform search and replace operation on...\nconst fileContents = fs.readFileSync(SOURCE_FILE).toString()\n\n// Initialize a counter with a given starting count...\nlet counter = START_COUNT;\n\n// Call string replace function on the content.\n// For each instance of the given search substring found,\n// fire a function that returns what to replace the string segment with...\nconst modifiedContent = fileContents.replace(REPLACE_REGEX, function() {\n    let replacementString = PREFIX + counter + SUFFIX; // the first substring replaced should have starting count\n    counter = counter + INCREMENT; // successive substrings replaced will be incremented\n    return replacementString\n});\n\nfs.writeFile(DEST_FILE, modifiedContent, function (err) {\n    if (err) { return console.log(err); }\n    console.log('COMPLETE! Check destination file: ' + DEST_FILE);\n});

\n\nTo use this script, place it in your project, install the fs dependency with npm install fs --save-dev, update variables in the file as per your need, and then run with node replaceTextUsingCounter.js.","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"],"thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-javascript.svg","ogImage":"","menus":["blog"],"created":"2021-10-02T15:24:49.730Z","features":["syntax highlighter"],"modified":"2022-08-27T16:21:04.101Z","topics":["software-dev"]},{"_id":"hcl-dxp-renew-ssl-cert","title":"HCL DX - Renew Your Docker Dev SSL Certificate","subtitle":"","description":"The SSL certificate in your HCL Digital Experience platform on Docker can expire, prohibiting you from completing certain development tasks. Here's how to renew the certificate so you can get back to business.","body":"

When using the official Docker images for developing on the HCL Digital Experience platform (formerly IBM WebSphere Portal), you may encounter issues related to certificate expiration. \n You might notice these errors when attempting to execute a ConfigEngine task, for example. In this post, I'll demonstate the kind of error you're likely to see on the command line and \n then the steps to fix the issue by renewing your SSL certificate in the WebSphere Admin Console.

\n\n

Console Errors

\n\n

Following are two example error stack traces that I produced when trying to execute a ConfigEngine task while the certificate was expired in my local development instance of HCL DXP on Docker.

\n\n

[wplc-discard-wsadmin-session] [2021-09-25 16:18:40.134] CWPKI0312E: The certificate with subject DN CN=localhost, OU=dockerCell, OU=dockerNode, O=IBM, C=US has an end date 4/26/21 11:37 PM which is no longer valid.\n    com.ibm.websphere.management.exception.ConnectorException: ADMC0016E: The system cannot create a SOAP connector to connect to host localhost at port 10033.\n            at com.ibm.websphere.management.AdminClientFactory.createAdminClientPrivileged(AdminClientFactory.java:635)\n            at com.ibm.websphere.management.AdminClientFactory.access$000(AdminClientFactory.java:127)\n            at com.ibm.websphere.management.AdminClientFactory$1.run(AdminClientFactory.java:210)\n            at com.ibm.ws.security.util.AccessController.doPrivileged(AccessController.java:63)\n            at com.ibm.websphere.management.AdminClientFactory.createAdminClient(AdminClientFactory.java:206)\n            at com.ibm.wplc.deploy.tasks.AbstractBaseAdminTask.executeTask(AbstractBaseAdminTask.java:492)\n            at com.ibm.wplc.deploy.tasks.AbstractBaseWsAdminWrapperTask.executeTask(AbstractBaseWsAdminWrapperTask.java:395)\n            at com.ibm.wplc.deploy.tasks.AbstractBaseAdminTask.execute(AbstractBaseAdminTask.java:177)

\n\n

Here's another part of the stack trace. I post these so that web search engines will index these errors so that you might find this solution when searching.

\n\n

Caused by: com.ibm.websphere.management.exception.ConnectorNotAvailableException: [SOAPException: faultCode=SOAP-ENV:Client; msg=Error opening socket: java.io.IOException: Exception during sslSocket.startHandshake: com.ibm.jsse2.util.h: PKIX path validation failed: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: validity check failed; targetException=java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Error opening socket: java.io.IOException: Exception during sslSocket.startHandshake: com.ibm.jsse2.util.h: PKIX path validation failed: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: validity check failed]\n    at com.ibm.ws.management.connector.soap.SOAPConnectorClient.reconnect(SOAPConnectorClient.java:439)\n    at com.ibm.ws.management.connector.soap.SOAPConnectorClient.(SOAPConnectorClient.java:238)\n    ... 74 more\nCaused by: [SOAPException: faultCode=SOAP-ENV:Client; msg=Error opening socket: java.io.IOException: Exception during sslSocket.startHandshake: com.ibm.jsse2.util.h: PKIX path validation failed: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: validity check failed; targetException=java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Error opening socket: java.io.IOException: Exception during sslSocket.startHandshake: com.ibm.jsse2.util.h: PKIX path validation failed: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: validity check failed]\n    at org.apache.soap.transport.http.SOAPHTTPConnection.send(SOAPHTTPConnection.java:475)\n    at org.apache.soap.rpc.Call.WASinvoke(Call.java:510)\n    at com.ibm.ws.management.connector.soap.SOAPConnectorClient$4.run(SOAPConnectorClient.java:397)\n    at com.ibm.ws.security.util.AccessController.doPrivileged(AccessController.java:118)\n    at com.ibm.ws.management.connector.soap.SOAPConnectorClient.reconnect(SOAPConnectorClient.java:382)\n    ... 75 more\n/opt/HCL/ConfigEngine/config/includes/default_cfg.xml:143: Unable to create remote administration client:  ADMC0016E: The system cannot create a SOAP connector to connect to host localhost at port 10033.\n    com.ibm.wplc.deploy.tasks.AbstractBaseAdminTask.executeTask(AbstractBaseAdminTask.java:496)\n    com.ibm.wplc.deploy.tasks.AbstractBaseWsAdminWrapperTask.executeTask(AbstractBaseWsAdminWrapperTask.java:395)\n    com.ibm.wplc.deploy.tasks.AbstractBaseAdminTask.execute(AbstractBaseAdminTask.java:177)\n    org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:275)

\n\n

Renewing the SSL Certificate in the WebSphere Application Server

\n\n

The solution is quick and simple. First, I summarize it for you below and then I illustrate the steps with screenshots.

\n\n

Fix Procedure Summary

\n\n

Access the WAS console in your web browser and login (typically at: https://localhost:10041/ibm/console/login.do?action=secure)
Click Security > SSL certificate and key management.
Under Related Items, click Key stores and certificates.
Click the appropriate
to which you want to add the new certificate.\n\t\t
- Note: Only self-signed certificates and chained certificates signed with root certificates from the root keystore can be renewed. This is how the official images from HCL are setup for demos and development, though.
Under Additional Properties, click Personal certificates to list the personal certificates.
Select a personal certificate from the list.
Click the Renew button.
Click Apply then OK.

\n\n

Fix Procedure Illustrated

\n\n

Click Security (1), and SSL certificate and key management (2). Then, under Related Items, click Key stores and certificates(3).

\n\n $\"\"/$ \n\n

Click the appropriate to which you want to add the new certificate (4).

\n\n $\"\"/$ \n\n

Under Additional Properties, click Personal certificates to list the personal certificates (5).

\n\n $\"\"/$ \n\n

Select a personal certificate from the list (6), then click the Renew button (7).

\n\n $\"\"/$ \n\n

Click Apply then OK. Notice that the expiration date on the certificate now shows renewed expiration date. Save the changes directly to the master configuration (8).

\n\n $\"\"/$ \n\n","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"],"thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","ogImage":"","menus":["blog"],"created":"2021-09-26T06:00:00.000Z","modified":"2022-02-05T00:55:35.041Z","features":["syntax highlighter"],"topics":["software-dev"]},{"_id":"ultimate-list-of-creative-and-stock-media-sources","title":"The Ultimate List of Creative and Stock Media Sources on the Web","subtitle":"","description":"An ever-evolving list of sites to find media for creative projects - stock and royalty-free photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, music, sound-effects, brushes, 3D models, and more.","body":"

My ever-evolving list of sites to find media for creative projects - stock and royalty-free photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, music, sound-effects, brushes, 3D models, and more. Let me know in the comments or contact me if you know of something I should edit or add.

\n\n

None of the links in this curated list are affiliate links, sponsored links, or advertisements, although advertisements may appear on this page.

\n\n

Adobe Stock: Photos, Illustrations, Vectors, Videos, Audio, Templates, 3D, Free, Premium, Editorial. By subscription or with pre-paid credits.
Brusheezy: Free Photoshop brushes & PSDs.
Clipstill: Offers "Cinemagraphs" (still photos with animated elements). Some free, others availble with fee for commercial use without attribution, price depending on resolution. Pricing is shown on the download page for each Cinemagraph. Alternatively, you can purchase Lifetime Access to the site for a one-time fee.
ClipStock^®: Exclusive stock video, music & SFX (content not found on any other platform). Content available in all formats from HD – 6K, with no licensing restrictions. One Price. No Up-Charges. Unlimited Downloads. Requires monthly or annual subscription. Features free trial.
Coverr: Beautiful Free Stock Video Footage. Originally designed for video bacxkgrounds for use on websites, thus a lot of the videos are blurred for better contrast when text is on top.
Dareful: 100% free 4K video clips, categorized (Aerial, Autumn, Beach, Bokeh, Christmas, City, Cloud, Drone, Fireworks, Lake, Mountains, Nature, Ocean, Snow, Summer, Sunrise, Sunset, Time Lapse, Travel, Winter)
Envato Elements: Subscription based service for: Stock Video, Video Templates, Music, Sound Effects, Graphic Templates, Graphics, Presentation Templates, Photos, Fonts, Add-ons, Web Templates, CMS Templates, WordPress, 3D, eBooks & Courses
Filmsupply: "The global leader in cinematic footage licensing, representing filmmakers from Stink, PrettyBird, Anonymous Content, and more." Features per-clip pricing with rates that vary per purpose of use (internal, industrial, web/digital, extended).
Getty Images: High quality stock media (Creative, Editorial, Video and Music)
iStock by Getty Images^™: Videos, photos, and illustrations. Requires one of multiple paid subscripton tiers or a paid credit pack.
Life of pix: Free high resolution photography
Life of vids: Free videos, clips & loops.
Mazwai: Free, high quality, cinematic style stock footage, that can be used in a wide-range of creative projects. Featured categories (Skyline, Timelapse, Drone, Beach, Nature, Slow Motion, Landscape, Clouds, Smoke, River, Water, Urban, City, Road, Sky, Sunset, People, Stars, Ocean, Dusk, Traffic, Lake)
MixKit: Free assets for your next video project. Awesome Stock Video Clips, Stock Music, Sound Effects & Video Templates (Premeire Pro, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve). All available for free!
Pexels: Free stock photos and videos, all free to use. Attribution not required. Giving credit to photographer or Pexels not necessary, but appreciated. You can modify the photos and videos.
Pixabay: Photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, and music. A vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images, videos and music. All contents aresafe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist - even for commercial purposes.
Pond5: Incredible stock footage. Music for every project. Sound Effects that make an impact. After Effects templates. Images for every project. 3D Models to unlock creative possibilities. Requires paid subscription.
rawpixel: Free, premium, and public domain creative resources (royalty free images, mockups, vectors, templates, icons, illustrations, and more).
Reshot: Free Icons, Illustrations & Photos. "Design freely with instant downloads and commercial licenses. No cost. No attribution. No worries."
Restored Traditions: High Resolution, Royalty Free Catholic Art Pictures. Features per-image pricing.
Shutterstock: Images, photos, vectors, video, music, and current editorial (news, sports, entertainment) images. Requires one of multiple paid subscripton tiers or a paid "on-demand" credit pack.
SourceShire: "Online resources for creatives that are designed to help you design, create, and grow your online business." This appears to be a database of sources for creative resources (stock photos, premium stock photos, inspiration, prototyping, UI-UX, mockups, illustrations, icons, fonts, website builders).
SplitShire: Free stock videos.
Vecteezy: Free vector art, stock photos & stock videos.
Videezy: Free HD Stock Footage & 4K videos.
Videvo: Thousands of free stock videos, motion graphics, music tracks and sound effects all in one place. Some videos require attribution.
Vidsplay: "All footage is completely FREE"

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"],"thumbnail":"","ogImage":"","menus":["blog"],"created":"2021-08-23T22:53:31.515Z","features":[],"modified":"2021-10-09T18:02:12.926Z"},{"_id":"resources-for-writers-on-the-web","title":"Resources for Writers on the Web","description":"An ever-growing compendium of valuable tools and resources for writers gathered from around the Web.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2021-06-17T00:00:00.000Z","menus":["blog"],"path":["blog"],"topics":["storycraft-and-writing"],"body":"

In my travels through the Web, I'm often stumbling across valuable tools and resources for writers, so I thought I\n would start collecting, organizing, and sharing them. I've only just begun, so the list is not yet exhaustive, but\n please do check back often and let me know in the comments or contact me if you know of\n something I should add.

\n\n

ACX: ACX is a marketplace where authors, literary agents, publishers, and other Rights Holders can connect with narrators, engineers, recording studios, and other Producers capable of producing a finished audiobook. \n If you’re a Rights Holder, you choose how you produce your audiobook—whether on your own or by engaging a Producer on ACX—and you choose among two royalty models. If you’re a Producer, ACX allows you to post a profile and be seen. \n Plus, you can be proactive and audition on ACX for posted titles. If you already created an audiobook and just want to sell it, ACX can help you.
AI-Writer: AI-Writer is an article generator that uses state-of-the-art AI writing models to generate content from just a headline.
Alliance of Independent Authors: A professional business membership organization for self-publishing authors. A non-profit that provides trusted advice, supportive guidance, and a range of resources, within a welcoming community of authors and advisors.
Alliance of Independent Authors Self-Publishing Advice Centre: A Self-publishing Advice Center, run as an author outreach service by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing: Self-publish eBooks and paperbacks for free with Kindle Direct Publishing, and reach millions of readers on Amazon.
BookBaby: Provides a variety of online services to help authors self-publish: book printing, eBook services, editing, book design, marketing services, educational resources for writers, templates, and more.
BookSweeps - Join a Promotion: \"The Smart & Easy Way to Grow an Audience for Your Books.\" BookSweeps runs genre-oriented contests featuring multiple authors, helping them grow their BookBub followers, newsletter subscribers, or \n followers on specific social media sites. Readers then choose which authors they are interested in.
Campfire: At the moment, there is not a very succinct description published about this tool other than, \"Develop characters, build worlds, weave plotlines, and write your stories.\" I haven't tried it yet, so I can't say anything about it, good or bad.
Capitalize My Title: A tool that makes title capitalization easy. Automatically capitalize and case convert to Title Case (in AP, APA, Chicago, MLA, BB, AMA), sentence case, UPPERCASE, lowercase, and more.
Chicago Manual of Style Online, The: The venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. An indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, \n informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice. Trial subscription available. Paid subscription required for regular use.
CitationGenerator: This online editor allows you to write or paste text, select portions of the text, and then generate a citation in the APA, MLA, and Chicago citation formats. The tool supports creating citations for a book, webpage, magazine, newspaper, video, journal, blog post, image, audio, encyclopedia/dictionary, television, government publication, lecture notes, film/dvd, conference, or report.
Duotrope: Duotrope is a subscription-based service for writers and artists that offers an extensive, searchable database of current fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and visual art markets, a calendar of upcoming deadlines, a personal submission tracker, and useful statistics compiled from the millions of data points they've gathered on the publishers and agents they list. Subscriptions cost USD $5 per month or $50 per year, and all new subscribers get a free trial.
Findaway Voices: Audiobook distributor offering "40+ options to make your title available for sale across retail and libraries". Soon to be releasing Findaway Voices Marketplace, an audiobook creation platform to help you create for distribution.
Grammarly: AI-powered writing assistant provided as a free web browser extension. From grammar and spelling to style and tone, Grammarly helps you eliminate writing errors and find the perfect words to express yourself.
Headline Studio: \"Write better headlines that will boost your traffic.\"
Hemingway Editor: In order to make your writing a lot more expressive and interesting you should try to vary the words you use as often as you can. It's just like Google Search for synonyms. Simply input a word to find unique variations (synonyms) of the word.
IngramSpark: "If you're looking to publish quality print books and ebooks, you've come to the right place! We also offer global book distribution and free resources to help you self-publish successfully. Once you write and format your book, we make it possible to share it with the world."
International Association of Professional Writers & Editors (IAPWE): An organization dedicated to providing helpful resources to writers and editors and disseminating helpful ideas and resources across the greater professional community in the form of outreach, blogging, networking and thought leadership. In addition to providing free resources for members, \n IAPWE is always seeking talented writers and editors to help create engaging, locally relevant, educational and inspirational content to help support its outreach efforts. IAPWE believes in paying its writers and editors a competitive wage, unlike many of the "content mills" and \n comparable low-paying clients and/or companies. The IAPWE is also dedicated to bringing the most updated, legitimate and vetted writing and editing job opportunities to its members.
just the punctuation: Paste in some text, then hit 'submit' to strip out everything but the punctuation! Why? See: What I Learned About My Writing By Seeing Only The Punctuation.
LitReactor: A community for writers & book lovers featuring online writing classes, writers' workshops, and columns, articles, reviews and more. LitReactor is a destination for writers to improve their craft; a haven for readers to geek out about books; and a platform to kickstart your writing goals.
Master Writer: A powerful suite of writing tools and reference libraries: Word Families (Adjectives, Adverbs, Nouns, Verbs), Synonyms, Phrases, Definitions, Rhymes, Speech Types, and more.
Medium: A social journalism/blogging platform that pays writers to write about whatever they choose. To read most content on Medium, readers pay for a subscription fee.
OneLook Thesaurus and Reverse Dictionary: This tool lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be anything at all: a single word, a few words, or even a whole sentence. Type in your description and hit Enter (or select a word that shows up in the autocomplete preview) to see the related words.\n Personally, I think this is the best thesaurus on the Web; I use it all the time.
Plottr: Visual book planning software for writers featuring visual timelines. Use Plottr to track your characters and places. Brainstorm with notes and stay organized with tags. Comes with starter templates based on proven storytelling structures to help you kickstart your writing project. \n Export to Word & Scrivener.
ProWritingAid: A grammar checker, style editor, and writing mentor in one package. Integrates with MS Word/Outlook, Google Docs, Scrivener, Open Office, and Final Draft. Available with subscription or one-time "lifetime" payment.
Quillbot: \"QuillBot's paraphrasing tool helps millions of people rewrite and enhance any sentence, paragraph, or article using state-of-the-art AI.\"
Reedsy: Reedsy is hard to describe because it has so much stuff: searchable and sortable lists of Book Promotion Sites, Book Review Blogs, Booktube Channels, Independent Publishers, Literary Agents, Literary Magazines. It features a Character Name Generator, a Pen Name Generator, a Plot Generator, Short Story Ideas, Writing contests, Writing Exercises, and Writing Scholarships. There is the ReedsyBookeditor, Free EPUB & PDF typesetting tool, ReedsyDiscoivery, to "Launch your book in style, " and ReedsyPrompts, a weekly short story contest. There is a marketplace for finding professionals to help with your book and more.
Scrivener: A powerful writing application for desktop and devices. "Scrivener is the go-to app for writers of all kinds, used every day by best-selling novelists, screenwriters, non-fiction writers, students, academics, lawyers, journalists, translators and more. Scrivener won't tell you how to write—it simply provides everything you need to start writing and keep writing."\n
Simily: "At Simily, our goal is to help writers reach new readers and get paid in the process."
Speechnotes: Speech to text online notepad (dictation through your web browser). Also features a Chrome Extension that allows you to voice type on any web page. Automatic transcription of recordings, YouTubes, & more.
Substack: \n "Substack is the simplest way to start a subscription publication, and the best place to grow it." \n If you want to build a newsletter and get paid by your subscribers, this is an increasingly popular option.\n
Synonym Finder: Like a spellchecker, but for style. It makes sure that your reader will focus on your message, not your prose.\n Features include: Readability Grade Levels, Dangerously Weak Adverb Hilighting, Highlighting of Words That Can\n Be Simpler, Highlighting of Passive Voice, Toggle Between Write and Edit Modes, Use Text Formatting and Keyboard Shortcuts. Available to test for free on the Web and, for a one-time purchase (not a subscription), is available as a desktop app for Mac OSX or Windows.\n
Unbound: \n A crowdfunding publisher that works for readers and authors. Readers back projects, choose rewards, and help\n spread the word. Authors pitch ideas and rally an audience. Unbound takes the best ideas and makes them\n real. Stated on the website, June 2021:\n
"Our community of 289,914 people from 206 countries have pledged £10,413,896 to fund 597\n projects — and counting — from bestsellers to award-winners."
\n
Vocal: A social journalism/blogging platform that pays writers to write about whatever they choose. Sort of like Medium, but newer to the scene.
Wet Ink: Create and teach classes around writing. Build deeply engaging workshops and classrooms centered on written assignments. Wet Ink supports various types of learning environments such as Classes, Workshops, Self-Paced Courses and Mentorship. Whether you run in-person, online or hybrid classes, they'll find a happy home at Wet Ink!
Writesonic: AI writing assistant that helps you generate high-quality, human-level blog posts, landing pages, emails, product descriptions, digital ads and more in seconds.

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","modified":"2022-01-26T19:41:29.635Z","ogImage":"","subtitle":"","features":[]},{"_id":"finding-vietnam-war-on-google-maps","title":"Finding the Vietnam War on Google Maps","description":"How to pinpoint locations on a map using coordinates found in declassified after-action reports and command chronologies.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/cage/i-corps-map_thumb.jpg","created":"2021-06-12T00:00:00.000Z","menus":["blog"],"path":["blog"],"ogImage":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2021/06/finding-vietnam-google-maps-ogImage.jpg","body":"

While doing research for my book about the Vietnam War, I've learned a lot about how to pinpoint locations on a map using coordinates found in declassified after-action reports and command chronologies. Coordinates from these old documents use the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), so there's no way to just pull them straight up on a Google map. Here, I will share my procedure for converting an MGRS coordinate to a longitude and latitude coordinate that you can more easily find on Google Maps. You can use this technique to locate important historic sites like helicopter landing zones (LZs), fire bases, where certain battles took place, and the hallowed grounds where our beloved gave all.

Sources for Vietnam War Map Coordinates

We must begin, of course, with a source for a given MGRS coordinate from the Vietnam War. Following are a few of the better sources I've found:

The Coffelt Database of Vietnam casualties - an impressively comprehensive databse of servicemen and women who died as a result of service in Vietnam. Often, records are accompanied by one or two scanned casualty reports that often also specify a vicinity in MGRS.
Texas Tech University's Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive - collects and preserves the documentary record of the Vietnam War and has an enourmous collection of historical documents like after-action reports and command chronologies. Here is an index of documents from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, for example.
Fire Support Base Locations - a table of locations culled already from various historical documents

Convert MGRS to Latitude and Longitude

Let us use the table of Fire Support Base Locations as our primary example.

Let us say that we'd like to map out Leatherneck Square, which is demarkated by the four corners of Con Thien, Gio Lihn, Dong Ha, and Cam Lo.

The table of Fire Support Base Loactions lists Con Thien at the following loaction using the MGRS: YD 113703

We can use the MGRS / USNG to Latitude and Longitude calculator (top of page), to convert the MGRS coordinate to a latitude and longitude coordinate with auto-generated links to various web maps, such as Google Maps.

The problem is that the MGRS coordinate, as written in the table, is not complete. If we enter it as-is and then press Calc, we get the following error:

parsemgrs():'YD113703' : Missing Zone Number. Found 'Y' instead. Error in input.

Notice that is says, "Missing Zone Number." So, we need to find out the higher level zone that YD is within and add it to the beginning of the coordinate. To do that, we can use the GISsurfer Map.

Here, we find that YD is located within the higher level zone, 48Q

$\"\"$

For Con Thien, therefore, we need to add 48Q to the beginning. That will then give use the full MGRS coordinate: 48Q YD 113703

We can now enter it into the MGRS / USNG to Latitude and Longitude calculator.

$\"\"$

After pressing the Calc button, we get a page like this...

$\"\"$

Here, we have links to maps, and all sorts of other useful data!

So, using this technique, we could lookup the MGRS coordinates for all three remaining points of Leatherneck Square:

Gio Lihn: 48Q YD 214738
Dong Ha: 48Q YD 245599
Cam Lo: 48Q YD 130593

Create Your Own Online Map

Did you know that you can create your own Google Map online to share? Go to Google My Maps, enter the LAT/LONG given by the calculation, and Google will drop a pin! You can change the color, icon, and description of the pin and even add photos. Then you can name, save, and share the map! For example, here's a map I created that features Leatherneck Square as described in this article:

Cody Burleson's Vietnam War Locations Map

Checkout this community curated map on Google My Maps called Vietnam WAR - FOR THE ONES WHO FOUGHT IT

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","modified":"2021-08-22T16:48:57.252Z","subtitle":""},{"_id":"pulpit-rock","title":"Pulpit Rock","description":"A fun and easy hike in Colorado Springs with a rewarding view of Pike's Peak and the Front Range.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2020/11/pulpit-rock_thumb.jpg","created":"2020-11-10T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["natural-landscape-photographs"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

When traveling on Highway 24 through Colorado Springs, this iconic rock can be seen to the east. Don't just look at it from the highway, though. It's a short and fun hike that leads up to a rewarding westerly view of Pike's Peak and the Front Range. You can walk all the way up to the top of the rock with no hard climbing required.

\n $\"A$ \n

View / download high resolution image, 1174x880 (309.2 KB).

\n","modified":"2021-05-10T18:24:03.884Z","subtitle":"","layoutName":"SidebarRight","features":[],"path":["blog"]},{"_id":"book-review-fearless-writing","title":"Book Review - Fearless Writing by William Kenower","description":"A unique book for writers that belongs in the pantheon of great books about the craft.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/books/book_feareless-writing_200x200_thumb.jpg","created":"2020-08-13T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["book-reviews"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$ I discovered William Kenower by stumbling upon his podcast, Author2Author, where he talks to writers of all genres about the books writers write and the lives they lead, and how these two are one in the same. I was initially intrigued by this line or motto that he delivers at the beginning of each episode:

\n
"What it takes to write the book you want to write is what it takes to lead the life you want to lead."
\n

\n \n\n\n

I wasn't quite sure how to interpret that statement, but something about it intrigued me - especially since I had just recently "retired" from twenty-two years in software to persue my life-long dream of being a writer. I had just made a big, scary, audacious, and possibly stupid change in my life because I'd finally gotten to the point where I could no longer stand NOT living the creative life of an artist. I had decided that I was willing to do whatever it takes to lead the life I wanted to lead, no matter what. Damn the world, because I'd be no good for it anyway if I were dead and the status quo was sure as hell killing me. But how do you write the book you want to write, exactly? I'd risked everything to find out and yet, one year into my new life as "a writer" my results were pitiful. I had gotten nowhere near the consistent daily output that I knew was necessary to finish my first book and become a published author in reasonable time. I knew in my gut that my problems were primarily psychological and probably had a lot, if not everything, to do with fear. So, when I saw that Kenower had published the book called Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write with Confidence, I figured it could help me.

\n\n

Just fourteen pages into the book, I felt compelled to dig an old yellow highlighter out of my junk drawer so that I could start spotlighting sentences. I could already tell that I would be keeping the book for life - referring back to it when I needed reminders and inspiration. Only halfway through the book, my first highlighter had been exhausted and I had to find another.

\n\n

As far as I am concerned, this book belongs in the pantheon of great books about writing. It belongs right up there with Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, and On Writing: A Memoire of the Craft by Steven King. It is deeply meaningful like those books, but unique in its own way. It's much more philosophical and a lot less technical than I expected, which was refreshing. In fact, as far as where I had been in my journey when I read it, I would go so far as to say that it was even spiritual.

\n\n\n

Kenower begins with the problem and the solution: fear and love. He begins by discussing love in terms of "the flow" - that hallowed state of effortless productivity that creative people always want to return to. It's a blissful place to be, not just because it's where time disappears and writing actually gets done, but because it is the experience of love - made of a very personal and profound curiosity. In simple, but eloquent words, Kenower suggests that love is what draws us toward a thing while fear is what propels us away from it. With its early start exploring the yin/yang duality of fear and love, I was very quickly impressed with a sense the book was not just about the craft of writing, but also life itself. And yet, then again, that it could only be true about writing precisely because it was about life itself. Suddenly, the motto from his podcast started to make sense.

\n\n

Oh, and you know how they say that when the student is ready, the teacher(s) will appear? Well, wouldn't you know if I didn't just then hear the best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love, echo the sentiment. She said:

\n\n

\n
"Creative living is any life that you live where your decisions are based more strongly on your curiosity than your fear."
\n

\n \n\n\n\n

Anyway, after providing some concrete tips on how to get into the state of flow, Kenower then goes on to talk about feelings and how, as writers, they are ultimately what we're delivering when we are doing our job well. "This is what I'm selling in my stories,\" he writes. \"I am a feelings merchant." He teaches us how to "feel first and write second" because "art is about sharing feelings, and you cannot share what you don't have." This was helpful in reminding me to get in tune with my feelings about a topic as a prerequisite to the writing or to reconsider the angle or the topic when I can't quite find "the feeling".

\n\n

Kenower goes on to discuss a great variety of topics with relevant examples from his own experience as a writer, from what he's learned from the many writers he has interviewed, and even from what he has learned from an autistic son who becomes a sort of charming little hero in the book with his own lessons to teach about life, the inner world of the imagination, fear, and love.

\n\n

The book is full of great advise, inspiration, and quotable quotes. It's totally worth the price of a paperback (and a couple of yellow highlighters). While Kenower touches on many of the things you've heard before about the craft, things like "Show, Don't Tell," the way he does it brings a deeper meaning: deeper feelings about the craft, and really good ones at that. Overall, for me, it is the feeling of empowerment for having learned some secrets that are beyond the technical surface of things; secrets closer to the heart of life itself, of creativity and curiosity. Thus, I have troubled to share my own feelings about this book with you because I think you might feel it too - you know, that feeling you have felt for only a few other writing books? The ones you love?

Shop now: Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write with Confidence | Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["books"],"modified":"2021-06-01T14:00:22.778Z","subtitle":""},{"_id":"hide-gizmos-in-unity","title":"How to Hide Gizmos in the Unity Editor Scene View","description":"A short demonstration of how to quickly hide gizmos in the Scene View of the Unity Editor.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2020-05-21T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

A short demonstration of how to quickly hide gizmos in the Scene View of the Unity Editor.

\n\t\t\n

\n\n

","modified":"2021-05-29T04:21:05.778Z","subtitle":"","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"fuzzy-flower","title":"A Fuzzy Flower","description":"A fuzzy little flower in the San Isabel National Forest.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2020/05/fuzzy-flower_thumb.jpg","created":"2020-05-01T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["natural-landscape-photographs"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

While boondocking alone in the San Isabel National Forest, somewhere near Eleven Mile Canyon, this fuzzy little flower caught my eye. I'm not sure what kind of flower it is, but it sure was a perfect little thing. There are so many wonderful things to see in the forest!

\n $\"A$ \n

View / download high resolution image, 1174x880 (290 KB).

\n","layoutName":"SidebarRight","modified":"2021-06-15T01:27:25.629Z","subtitle":"","path":["blog"],"ogImage":""},{"_id":"book-review-the-goldfinch","title":"Book Review - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt","description":"A unique story with amazing prose, but a little too much fat.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2020/01/the-goldfinch-thumb.jpg","created":"2020-01-30T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["book-reviews"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$ I have a kind of love-hate relationship with this book. It won the Pulitzer Prize. It’s a national bestseller. The Washington Post called it "a soaring masterpiece" and Steven King said it was "a triump." Now, as a wanna-be writer myself, I can say that any book of eight-hundred-plus pages is a triumph. But Steven King also advises writers that you must be willing to "kill your darlings". This book has such poetic, eloquent, and visceral writing within it that I found myself compelled to complete it, but it was a little like an archeological dig. Sometimes, it felt like work and I found myself skimming a lot.

I am of the school that says that every single little thing in the story needs to serve a purpose to the plot. To me, the level of detail and the amount of scenes in this book are questionable to that end. Too much, at times, I felt. So much, in fact, that I could honestly often ask, "what is the central promise of this story? What’s it really about?" I expect the high-stakes and high-conflict that makes for good drama. This story has that in it’s bones, but it also has a lot of fat.

Now, all that being said, I just know this is the kind of book that others will love as a lifetime favorite. I purposely took the reading as an exercise in the healthy practice of immersion (something better and more attentive to do other than social media). But I kept asking myself, "Am I just spoiled by instant gratification now? Do I lack patience?" Maybe. Or maybe 25% of this book could have been removed with nothing essential lost.

Shop now: The Goldfinch | Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

\n","modified":"2021-06-01T14:00:09.700Z","subtitle":"","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["books"]},{"_id":"delete-node-modules-folder-on-windows","title":"How to Delete the node_modules Folder on Windows","description":"Using RimRaf for Node.js, which mimics the UNIX/LINUX command, rm -rf.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-npm.svg","created":"2019-12-31T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

If you attempt to delete the node_modules folder on Windows, you may have trouble for a variety of reasons.\n\t\t In some cases, for example, the folder nesting within the directory creates folder names that are too long.\n\t\t You might also get the annoying Folder Access Denied message stating, "You'll need to provide administrator permission to delete this folder" (shown below).

\n\t\t\n\t\t

The solution I use is to install RimRaf globally with npm and then use it to delete the folder. RimRaf is an implementation of the UNIX/LINUX command rm -rf for Node, which removes directories and their contents recursively. First, enter this command to install RimRaf from npm:

\n\t\t\n\t\tnpm install rimraf -g\n\t\t\n\t\t

Once it is installed, you can use the following command from within the project directory that contains the node_modules folder...

\n\t\t\n\t\trimraf node_modules\n\t\t\n\t\t

That's it! It works and it's easy to remember and execute.

\n","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"gog-rock","title":"Gog Rock","description":"Photograph of Gog Rock in Manitou Springs, Colorado.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2019/11/gog-rock_thumb.jpg","created":"2019-11-24T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["natural-landscape-photographs"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

One of my favorite spots in all of Manitou Springs, Colorado, Gog Rock (actually more of a formation than a single rock).

\n \n $\"Gog$ \n \n

View high resolution image, 4032x3024 (2.2 MB).

\n","layoutName":"SidebarRight","modified":"2021-05-29T04:21:37.273Z","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"mt-muscoco-snow","title":"Mt. Muscoco Trail","description":"Photograph taken on the Mt. Muscoco Trail in Colorado Springs, after a heavy snow.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2019/10/mt-muscoco-snow_thumb.jpg","created":"2019-10-30T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["natural-landscape-photographs"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Photograph taken from the Mt. Muscoco Trail in Colorado Springs after a heavy snow. The Mt. Muscoco Trail is one of several awesome trails in the North Cheyenne Cañon Park, not far from where I live.

\n \n $\"From$ \n \n

View high resolution image, 4032x3024 (2.7 MB).

\n","modified":"2021-05-29T04:21:54.198Z","layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"11-mile-canyon","title":"Eleven Mile Canyon","description":"Photograph taken at 11 Mile Canyon in Lake George, Colorado.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2019/10/2019-10-23_11-mile-canyon_thumb.jpg","created":"2019-10-23T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["natural-landscape-photographs"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Photograph taken at 11 Mile Canyon in Lake George, Colorado. It's not much more than an hour's drive from Manitou Springs and it's one of my favorite places to play in the whole state. A river runs 11 miles through a beautiful rocky canyon and a dirt road runs aside it the whole way. It's about as quintessentially \"Colorado\" as it gets - extraordinary views like this throughout the entire canyon. I'm not any good at catching trout, but you can always see them in the water. There's a couple of great hiking spots that summit to rewarding views. Tent camping in the canyon is great if you can get a good spot, but there is also a lot of nearby places for boondocking in the National Forest.

\n \n $\"11$ \n \n

View high resolution image, 1249x937 (418.4 KB).

","modified":"2021-07-17T01:26:00.205Z","layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","path":["blog"],"ogImage":""},{"_id":"memories-of-momma-1","title":"Memories of Momma","description":"First in a six-part Mother's Day tribute to my mom.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2019/05/memories-of-momma-thumbnail.jpg","created":"2019-05-11T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["memoir"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"Photos$

\n\n

It’s been 23 years since my mom died. Seems like a lifetime ago. A whole different life. It seems like a whole different life in a whole different world.

\n\n

It was so long ago, in fact, I can hardly picture exactly what she looked like without referencing a photograph. And I only have a few of those. When I was just a boy, she was beautiful - I do remember that. She was the kind of beautiful that made men look. She had long, silky blonde hair, which caught the indoor light in shiny streaks. In sunlight, it lit up with a golden glow like the aura of an angel.

\n\n

She was thin in those younger years. Not sickly thin like a supermodel. Not bony and starved like those girls in the Victoria Secrets catalogs. At the time, I was far too young to know why all the men smiled and looked at her the way they did. I had to ask her once, why the men were whistling at "us".

\n\n

Once, when she had no babysitter, she took me to work to spend the day with her in the office. I sat on a sofa and watched as she put on her makeup. She painted her lips with a red stick and then dabbed off the excess with a napkin. When she brushed the shadow on her eyelids, her eyes seemed to turn blue, like magic. She blushed her cheeks with a little color and paused to smile when she saw me watching - when she saw that I was mezmerized at how she could make her beautiful even more.

\n\n

Nowadays, when parents want to occupy children through a number of confined hours they give them a smart phone or a tablet. I had blank stationary, a handful of blunt Crayons, and a comic book. In the back of the comic book was a mail order catalog full of the coolest things a kid could ever want.

\n\n

For just a dollar, plus twenty-five cents in shipping and handling, you could have amazing x-ray sight! You could, “apparently” see through cloth, bones, skin, etc. The ad had a picture of a woman in black panties under a see-through dress. “Is that really her body you ‘see’ under her clothes?” Imagine that - looking right through some lady’s dress to see what’s underneath! I did wonder. I had tried to find out once, but Momma, embarrassed, had jerked me out from underneath the mannequin before I got a good look.

\n\n

Another ad promised the secrets of oriental fighting. Kung Few, it was called.

\n\n

"Foo," Momma said. "It's kung foo."

\n\n

"Your hands and feet become more powerful than clubs, knives, or brute strength," I read. "Wow."

\n\n

Enter the wonderful world of amazing live sea monkeys. You could own a bowlful of happiness - instant pets. Just add water! There was a whole family of them - a mother, father, and two kids. They had big happy smiles on their little sea-monkey faces. “So eager to please they can even be trained.” Wow. Wow. Wow!

\n\n

X-ray vision, Kung Fu, Sea-Monkeys, automatic hypnotizer, pocket spy telescope. Oh, the choices! They even had 12 Ivory Elephants in a Bean. How’s that possible?

\n\n

Mom was smart. She promised that I could pick any one thing under five dollars, so I had to think long and hard about what was best. That kept me busy for most of the day and then all that joy was licked and stamped and put aside. Now what?

\n\n

"You wanna do more?" Momma asked.

\n\n

"Yes!"

\n\n

Next thing you know, I was licking and stamping envelopes for the rest of the day and thoroughly convinced that it was fun. I went home with paper cuts all over my tongue and a mouth full of glue.

\n\n

So, yeah - Momma was pretty, but also pretty smart.

\n \n

Next: Part 2 >>

","modified":"2021-05-30T15:46:16.703Z","layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"killing-kittens","title":"Killing Kittens","subtitle":"A Memory of Mom, a .35 Pistol, and Litter of Kittens","description":"A Memory of Mom, a .35 Pistol, and Litter of Kittens","body":"

\nPhoto by Aleksandr Nadyojin from Pexels\n

Think back as far as you can — all the way back to your very first memory. I bet it’s somewhat unusual, at least for a child.

According to science, our brains don’t keep what’s mundane. It keeps the stuff that’s peculiar and surprising. We tend to forget all the normal days and we remember what’s out of the ordinary.

So, I guess my life had been pretty mundane until the day Momma came out of the bedroom with a thirty-five caliber revolver in her hand.

The memory is in black and white, and a bit fuzzy. Kind of like the Saturday morning cartoons my sister and I were watching on a piece-of-shit TV. You know, the kind with a cathode ray tube and a UHF dial. Rabbit ear antenna with a flag of tin foil hanging off the bent side.

My legs are so small that my untied sneakers barely reach the edge of the couch cushion. I have to crawl over to plant them on the white linoleum floor. This must be the me with the bleach-blonde hair. The one that wore a plastic cap gun on his hip in the old photo. No shirt. Barely out of diapers.

“Momma,” my bigger sister exclaims. “What are you doing?”

Momma turns the cylinder on the revolver — checking the brass in each chamber.

“Nothing,” she says. “Stay inside.”

And then she walks out into the back yard. The screen door slams behind her. My sister looks at me quizzically — her eyes wide and blinking like Wile E. Coyote after an ACME TNT blast.

She jumps off the couch and darts after Momma into the back yard. I can hear the Road Runner BEEP BEEP as I crawl over the edge of the couch to follow.

Just outside in the dirt and the shade in the corner where the concrete of the back porch meets the house lies our momma cat. There’s a sticky wet mess of material hanging out of her tail end. It reminds me of the liver we used for catching catfish — the same stuff Momma batters like chicken and fries with onions. All slimy and bloody.

“What is that?” my sister asks.

“That’s her placenta,” Momma says. “It’s the sack that her babies were inside of. Inside of her tummy.”

“She’s eating it,” my sister says. “Is she alright?”

“I think so,” Momma says. “But the babies are premature. They won’t survive.”

I’d been so preoccupied by the momma-cat licking and chewing on the mess beneath her tail that I hadn’t yet noticed the tiny little creatures squirming around in it. They didn’t look like the kittens I’d hoped for. No furry hair. Not even wet hair. No hair at all. Big skin-coated bulbs on their tiny little heads where their eyes were forming.

“Momma,” my sister whispers, eyeing the pistol in her hand. “What are you going to do?”

“They’re dying,” she says. “I’ve got to put them out of their misery.”

“Are you going to shoot ’em, Momma?”

She looked at both of us and we could see the sorrow in her eyes. Then she just stared out a across the yard for a while. And then down at the pistol in her hand.

“Kids,” she said firmly. “Go back inside.”

***

I’d like to say that I sat on the couch and listened to that gun fire. Hands pressed against my ears — my tiny little shoulders jumping with each thundering crack. That would be a nice dramatic touch to the story, but it wouldn’t be true.

Truth is, I don’t remember hearing her shooting that gun and I can’t be sure she ever did. Perhaps she drowned those kittens. Maybe she buried them alive. But knowing Momma, she probably just sat there and shared the cruel silence with momma-cat as nature took its course.

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"],"thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","ogImage":"https://miro.medium.com/max/1200/1*o6bPmQIVG4Q5R2YaSK-NHQ.jpeg","menus":["blog"],"created":"2019-03-09T16:56:17.385Z","modified":"2021-07-26T07:00:00.000Z"},{"_id":"collect-ui-ui-screenshots-to-inspire-design","title":"Collect UI - Screenshots to Inspire Your Next Design","description":"By providing example UI's in a variety of categories, this site can help inspire your website designs.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2019/02/collectui.com-thumbnail.png","created":"2019-02-18T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$

Here’s a really cool site that provides user interface screenshots (some animated) from which you can draw inspiration (imitate and improve). The site classifies and organizes example UI’s in a variety of helpful categories.

http://collectui.com

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","modified":"2021-05-31T09:35:33.144Z","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"copy-assets-from-node-modules-in-stencil-js","title":"How to Copy Assets From node_modules in Stencil.js","description":"How to copy assets from the node_modules directory using the copy config in the stencil.config.ts file for Stencil.js.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-stencil.svg","created":"2018-12-13T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-31T09:36:19.655Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

In this post I describe how to copy assets from the node_modules directory using the copy config in the stencil.config.ts file for Stencil.js.

My Stencil project has a dependency on Bootstrap, so in the pages that use my components, I needed to include the following files:

bootstrap.min.css
bootstrap.min.js
jquery.slim.min.js
popper.min.js

First, I added these as dev dependencies using npm. For one example:

npm install boostrap --save-dev

The next goal was to make sure that these assets were copied to the www/assets directory during the build process. Copying resources from one location to another can be achieved with the copy config specified with src and dest in the stencil.config.ts file as shown below.

\n\n

copy: [\n    { src: '../node_modules/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css', dest: 'assets/css/bootstrap.min.css'},\n    { src: '../node_modules/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.min.js', dest: 'assets/js/bootstrap.min.js'},\n    { src: '../node_modules/jquery/dist/jquery.slim.min.js', dest: 'assets/js/jquery.slim.min.js'},\n    { src: '../node_modules/popper.js/dist/popper.min.js', dest: 'assets/js/popper.min.js'}\n]

\n \n

With that configuration, Stencil.js copies the resources to the specified locations within www/assets whenever the build is executed (such as when running npm start.

For more information see: Stencil Config – copy

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"curated-list-of-ibm-digital-experience-resources","title":"Curated List of IBM Digital Experience Resources","description":"A curated list of resources related to the IBM Digital Experience platform","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2018-12-04T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$ Here’s a curated list of resources related to the IBM Digital Experience platform that I’ve started managing with markdown pages in a GitHub repo. If you want to see an expanded view of the product documentation tree or other resources for IBM WebSphere Portal, IBM Web Content Manager, etc., check it out.

https://github.com/codyburleson/ibm-dx-resources

","modified":"2021-05-31T10:48:26.366Z","layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"show-both-sides-of-a-plane-in-zbrush","title":"How to Show Both Sides of a Plane in Zbrush","description":"By default, only one side of a plane in ZBrush will display. Here's how to show both sides.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-10-13T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

By default, only one side of a plane in ZBrush will display because the surface normals are facing in only one direction. If you rotate the plane in the workspace, the plane will become invisible when turned to the other side.

To see both sides, go to Tool > Display Properties and click the Double button.

","modified":"2021-05-31T10:49:27.541Z","layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"a-look-at-sparql-sql-for-semantic-web","title":"A Look at SPARQL - SQL for the Semantic Web","description":"Learn about SPARQL, the query language for Linked Data and the Semantic Web, with example queries for the DBPedia SPARQL endpoint.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2018-10-13T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"\"$ SPARQL is the query language for Linked Data and the Semantic Web. It provides new capabilities\n that you simply cannot get out of traditional SQL and its power to unearth knowledge is amazing. With it,\n you can perform a distributed or federated query across multiple databases with a single query\n statement. Because SPARQL endpoints may exist on the World Wide Web as well as within your corporate\n enterprise, your own data can be augmented and extended by graphs upon graphs of information where as little\n as one single link was made. You can find and explore relationships in your company data, as well as world\n data, that you didn’t even know existed – all without the need for schema knowledge or some brain-numbing\n entity-relationship diagram postered on your wall. SPARQL is just one of a handful of tools that are\n transforming the current Web of documents into tomorrow’s "semantic" Web of linked data. In this\n post, I provide a very light introduction to SPARQL with a few simple queries you can cut your teeth on.

\n\n

RDF and the surprisingly simple, but infinitely powerful triple

\n\n

Linked Data is based on the RDF data model – a model in which simple assertions are made with statements\n called "triples". A triple has a structure like a simple sentence we might have learned about in\n grade-school (e.g. “Jack is a friend of Jill.”). It is comprised of a subject, predicate,\n and object.

\n\n

$\"Subject$

\n\n

Believe it or not, that’s really all we need to describe anything and everything known to man; the known\n universe can be described with triples. OK, if you want to get philosophical about it, we’d need a few\n axiomatic concepts to begin with, but let’s not get philosophical. A triple is all we need to say something\n meaningful…

\n\n

$\"Jack$

\n\n

That’s it. Unless Jill’s pissed-off at Jack, that’s a fact; that’s knowledge. Only, in RDF, it doesn’t really\n look like that. In RDF, triples are expressed with Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), which can be\n globally unique on the Web, so it looks more like this…

\n\n

$\"Subject$

\n\n

To make things easier, in RDF we can also use prefixed names for URIs as long as we pre-define the prefix.\n

\n\n

@prefix social: <http://example.org/models/social#>.

\n\n

$\"Subject$

\n\n

The object of a triple may be a URI that refers to a resource, but it can also be a literal\n value – a string, integer, boolean, etc.

\n\n

$\"Subject$ \n

\n\n

Schema-less RDF storage

\n\n

RDF triples are stored in what’s commonly referred to as a triple-store. A triple-store is to SPARQL\n what a relational-database is to SQL. But since all we need to express a triple are three URIs, or two URI’s\n and a literal value, we have no need for a pre-defined schema in order to put new data in. Pause for a\n second and let the gravity of that statement sink in, please. And because we don’t need a pre-defined\n schema, we can store new relationships and new kinds of information about things even though we were unable\n to predict all the possible needs of our application when we first developed it. An application that uses a\n triple-store can therefore be continuously enhanced and extended with absolutely no need for database\n changes and significantly less code changes and deployments.

\n\n

\n
Linked Data applications can significantly reduce application design, development, and integration costs.\n
\n

\n\n

Wikipedia has a pretty good list of vendor\n implementations for triple-store support. Among them, for example, are AlegroGraph, Mulgara, OpenLink Virtuoso, Sesame, Oracle, and IBM\n DB2 (NoSQL Graph).

\n\n

So, if you’re familiar with SQL databases, you might think of all the triples in a triple-store as a flat\n list of three-column records. However, because a triple links one concept with another, and because all the\n triples can be linked to one another, what we really end up with is a graph, which we can enter at\n any point, and bounce around like a cockroach on a hot griddle.

\n\n

$\"A$

\n\n

It is important to note that just because a triple-store does not require a schema, it doesn’t mean that we\n shouldn’t have a general model for the information we’re storing. We’re still storing information about\n certain kinds of things, which have common properties and relationships. We don’t have to standardize on\n those classes and attributes, but if we do, our data is much easier to query and to integrate with data\n conforming to other standard models. The model for a particular domain of knowledge is called\n a vocabulary or an ontology. An ontology defines the classes of things you’re going to be\n storing information about as well as the properties they have and the relationships that can hold among\n them. You can create your own or you can use other, well defined vocabularies available online. It’s always\n a best-practice to use existing vocabularies when they suit your needs, rather than invent your own. You can\n also leverage existing vocabularies, but extend them to better suit the specific needs of your organization.\n

\n\n

SPARQL endpoints

\n\n

The RDF graph within a triple-store is then exposed with a standard interface made accessible on the web,\n called a SPARQL endpoint. A SPARQL endpoint accepts queries and returns results via HTTP. This is a\n machine-friendly interface to a knowledge base; although there is typically also a user interface for\n querying the data. Generic endpoints can query any Web-accessible RDF data\n and specific endpoints are wired to query against particular datasets. So, let’s take a look at a\n specific SPARQL endpoint now that’s very popular.

\n\n

$\"DBPedia$ DBpedia is a crowd-sourced community effort to extract structured\n information from Wikipedia. Because it is exposed as a SPARQL endpoint, we can use it to ask interesting\n questions about the information in Wikipedia. So, let’s get our feet wet, shall we?

\n\n

Point your web browser here: http://dbpedia.org/snorql/, and submit the following query:

\n\n SELECT ?p ?o WHERE {\n <http://dbpedia.org/resource/IBM> ?p ?o .\n} LIMIT 200\n\n

Enter this query for me

\n\n

In this query, we are saying, “Give me all the predicates (?p) and all of the objects (?o) where the URI in the subject is http://dbpedia.org/resource/IBM. Or, in other words, “show me all the properties and values of your resource, IBM.” The results, should look something like this when you select ‘Browse’ for the results format; lots of properties and values…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

An interesting property, to me is dbpedia:ontology/numberOfEmployees. At the time of this writing, the value was 434,246 employees. That seems like a big number, but I’m not entirely sure. Before I say, “wow,” I want to compare with some other companies that I think of as being ‘big’. I can easily just replace the subject in the query with another company, such as the shipping, freight, logistics and supply chain management company, UPS.

\n\nSELECT ?p ?o WHERE {\n <http://dbpedia.org/resource/United_Parcel_Service> ?p ?o .\n} LIMIT 100\n\n

Enter this query for me.

\n\n

How did I know that the subject URI should be /United_Parcel_Service and not /UPS? I performed a quick look at Wikipedia. The URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS leads to an informational page about a variety of uses of the acronym, not the company page. From that informational page, however, I found the link to the company and there, I could see how the topic, United_Parcel_Service, was identified in the URL ( i.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Parcel_Service). You can usually take the topic name from a Wikipedia URL and add it to the end of http://dbpedia.org/resource/ to create the DBpedia URI. ¹

\n\n

Of course, I can look at the results and see that UPS has fewer employees than IBM – 398,300 total at the time of this blog post. I could also use a slightly different kind of query to ask the question, “Is IBM bigger than UPS in terms of the total number of employees?” For the next query, you must first switch the results format from ‘Browse’ to ‘as XML’ or ‘as XML + XSLT’.

\n\n

PREFIX ont: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>\n\nASK {\n    <http://dbpedia.org/resource/IBM> ont:numberOfEmployees ?ibm .\n    <http://dbpedia.org/resource/United_Parcel_Service> ont:numberOfEmployees ?ups .\n    FILTER(?ibm > ?ups) .\n}

\n\n

Enter this query for me.

\n\n

Here’s a more sophisticated query for all companies that have more than 398300 employees, filtered for English labels only, and ordered by number of employees descending.

\n\n

PREFIX ont: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>\n\nSELECT ?company_name ?num_employees\nWHERE {\n    ? company a ont:Company;\n    rdfs:label ?company_name ;\n    ont:numberOfEmployees ?num_employees .\n    FILTER (?num_employees > 398300 && lang(?company_name) = \"en\") .\n} ORDER BY DESC(?num_employees) LIMIT 250

\n\n

Enter this query for me.

\n\n

As you can see, not all of the data is clean because Wikipedia editors have sometimes included the source date in the field where the number of employees was recorded. That’s an issue to be sorted out either with the DBpedia parsing engine or Wikipedia editors. It’s also something to keep in mind about the World Wide Web of linked open data; while it affords us broad access to a lot of valuable information, there are still issues with accuracy, proof, and trust – not too much different than those we’re familiar with in the current “Web of documents”. There is something fundamentally different about linking data than linking documents, however, and I hope that I have at least helped you get a sense of it.

\n\n

SPARQL is one of the key technologies of the "next" Web and though it’s not as popular and well-understood as traditional SQL, it is mature and well-ready to deliver new value to the the modern corporate enterprise.

\n\n

Is that your enterprise? Maybe, it should be.

\n\n

Footnotes:

Bob DuCharme has made this point with very similar words in his excellent O’REILLY®book, Learning SPARQL, Second Ed. He wrote, “If Wikipedia has a page for ‘Some_Topic’ at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Some_Topic, the DBpedia URI to represent that resource is usually http://dbpedia.org/resource/Some_Topic.

","modified":"2021-05-31T10:50:32.196Z","layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"use-zbrush-bend-curve-modifier","title":"How to Use the ZBrush Bend Curve Modifier","description":"Here’s how to bend things in ZBrush using the Bend Curve modifier.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-10-07T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-31T10:51:06.453Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Here’s how to bend things in ZBrush using the Bend Curve modifier. It's an essential technique that you will likely use a lot in your sculpting.

Take the following cylinder for example…

$\"\"$

Let’s bend it!

Press either W, E, or R for Move, Scale, or Rotate. You can also press the Move, Scale, or Rotate icons in the top toolbar. This brings up the transform gizmo as shown below.

$\"\"$

Press the gear icon, which brings up the Transform Type modal…

$\"\"$

In the Transform Type modal, click the Bend Curve modifier button indicated by the red arrow above. At this point, you may get a message that the mesh is a 3D-Primitive. If so, you’ll need to click the Make PolyMesh3D button in the Tool palette to convert it.

$\"\"$

Drag on the indicated axis cone to change the axis that you wish to bend on. We’ll pull it out one stop to position 2, which is the Y axis. You will see the yellow bend points change.

$\"\"$

Drag the indicated cone to change the number of bend points if you want. Then just drag on the bend points to bend the PolyMesh as desired.

$\"\"$

Notice that you can also drag on the indicated scale or twist cones to scale and/or twist at the selected bend point.

When you’re done bending the PolyMesh to your liking, click the gear icon again and then the Accept button to apply the changes.

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"change-canvas-background-color-in-zbrush","title":"How to Change Canvas Background Color in ZBrush","description":"Here's how to change the canvas background color in ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-10-07T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T15:52:06.173Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Here’s how to change the canvas background color in ZBrush.

\n\n

In the Document palette, click on the Back button (as shown below). Continue to hold the left mouse button down and drag over any color within the app to select that color. You can drag over the variety of colors in the color picker that is to the left of the canvas, for example. If using a pen, continue to apply pressure while dragging out of the Back button region and onto a color anywhere on the screen.

\n\n

$\"\"$

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"fix-for-git-after-macos-mojave-upgrade","title":"Fix for Git After Mac OS Mojave Upgrade","description":"How to fix Git when getting an xcrun error after Mac OS Mojave upgrade.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-apple.svg","created":"2018-10-02T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-31T10:52:02.367Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Recently, I upgraded my macOS to Mojave and ran into the following error after running the git init command.

\n\n

xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools), \nmissing xcrun at: /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/xcrun

\n\n\t\t

I was able to fix this by running the following command in a terminal…

\n\nxcode-select --install\n\n\t\t

Accept the license and install xcode-select when the associated install prompt window appears. You should then be back in business (at least, I was).

\n","layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"how-to-apply-texture-in-zbrush","title":"How to Apply Texture in ZBrush","description":"A quick tutorial on how to apply texture to an object in ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-09-03T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$

\n\t\t\n\t\t

A quick tutorial of how to apply a texture to an object in ZBrush.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

For this tutorial, we’ll work with a simple sphere object.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

Start by drawing a Sphere3D onto the canvas and press the T key to go immediately into edit mode.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

$\"\"$

\n\t\t\n\t\t

In the Tool palette, click Make PolyMesh3D.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

In the Tool palette > Texture Map, click the empty texture box (slot).

\n\t\t\n\t\t

$\"\"$

\n\t\t\n\t\t

In the resulting dialog, click Import to find your texture map image, which I’m told must be either PhotoShop PSD, JPEG, or TIFF. You should then see your texture map loaded into the slot and the Texture On button should be selected (on), as shown below.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

$\"\"$

\n\t\t\n\t\t

If you had a dark matcap on the object you will see the texture projected onto that base color, as shown below, which is not really what we want.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

$\"\"$

\n\t\t\n\t\t

To fix this, click the matcap slot…

\n\t\t\n\t\t

$\"\"$

\n\t\t\n\t\t

Pick something whiter; I find that SkinShade4 works well.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

$\"\"$

\n\t\t\n\t\t

Now, the only problem is that the texture is distorted on the object because of the UV mapping. We can adjust this in the Tool palette > UV Map section. In this case, we need only click the Uvb button to apply Uv Box.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

$\"\"$

\n\t\t\n\t\t

You could do various other UV adjustments here depending on your need. Try clicking the Morph UV button to unwrap the selected SubTool into the UV layout; this is a very cool way to see how the UV is actaully laid out on the mesh.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

As you can see below, simply applying the Uv Box was sufficient for this case.

\n\t\t\n\t\t

$\"\"$

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:44:09.659Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"unity-recipes-head-bob-or-breathe","title":"Unity Recipes - Head Bob or Breathe","description":"A C# script to give an object a repetitive, but smooth upward and downward movement.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2018-09-03T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Here’s a handy Unity script that, when applied to a game object, will give the object a repetitive, but\n smooth upward and downward movement. This effect is often used to make a “head bob” or to make a player\n object look like it’s breathing; especially when it’s in idle state. This kind of effect can be achieved by\n animating the object before importing it (in a program like Blender, for example), but it can also be\n achieved with a sine wave function as provided by this script. The same or a similar script can also be used\n to make a main menu camera bob or to make lights breathe. Here it is:

\n\n \n

\nusing System.Collections;\nusing System.Collections.Generic;\nusing UnityEngine;\n\npublic class Breathe : MonoBehaviour {\n    \n    Vector3 startPos;\n    public float amplitude = 10f;\n    public float period = 5f;\n    \n    protected void Start() {\n        startPos = transform.position;\n    }\n    \n    protected void Update() {\n        float theta = Time.timeSinceLevelLoad / period;\n        float distance = amplitude * Mathf.Sin(theta);\n        transform.position = startPos + Vector3.up * distance;\n    }\n\n}\n

\n \n\n

After applying the script, you will need to adjust the float values for the amplitude and period to your\n liking.

References

How to\n Lerp like a pro by Robert Utter

","modified":"2021-10-10T02:01:33.170Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"unity-recipes-look-toward-direction-of-movement","title":"Unity Recipes - Look Toward Direction of Movement","description":"A C# script for Unity can be used to make an object look (turn smoothly) toward the direction it is being moved.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2018-08-29T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"p>The following C# script for Unity can be used to make an object look (turn smoothly) toward the direction it is being moved.

\n\n\n

\nusing System.Collections;\nusing System.Collections.Generic;\nusing UnityEngine;\n\npublic class MyController : MonoBehaviour\n{\n     private void Update()\n     {\n          smoothLookTowardDirectionOfMovement();\n     }\n\n     void smoothLookTowardDirectionOfMovement()\n     {\n          float moveHorizontal = moveHorizontal = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");\n          float moveVertical = moveVertical = Input.GetAxis("Vertical");\n          Vector3 movement = new Vector3(moveHorizontal, 0.0f, moveVertical);\n          if (moveHorizontal != 0 || moveVertical != 0)\n          {\n              transform.rotation = Quaternion.Slerp(transform.rotation, Quaternion.LookRotation(movement), 0.15F);\n          }\n     }\n}\n

\n\n\n

In line 19, Quaternion.Slerp takes three arguments: two quaternions and a float. It interpolates the rotation between the two quaternions with the speed of the given float value (0.0 is no movement while 1.0 is instant movement). The code interpolates the rotation between the current rotation (transform.rotation) and the movement rotation(Quaternion.LookRotation) with a speed of 0.15F. This gives the object a smooth turn instead of an instant turn. The if statement that wraps the code at line 17 keeps the object from instantly flipping or reverting direction when no inputs are being applied.

\n\n

For instant (non-smooth) rotation, line 19 can be replaced with the following:

\n\n

transform.rotation = Quaternion.LookRotation(movement);

","modified":"2021-05-07T16:11:35.555Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"unity-recipes-look-toward-direction-of-velocity","title":"Unity Recipes - Look Toward Direction of Velocity","description":"A C# script for Unity can be used to make an object look toward the direction of its current velocity.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2018-08-29T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

The following C# script for Unity can be used to make an object look toward the direction of its current velocity.

\n\n

using System.Collections;\nusing System.Collections.Generic;\nusing UnityEngine;\n\npublic class MyController : MonoBehaviour {\n     \n    private void Update() {\n        lookTowardDirectionOfVelocity();\n    }\n    \n    void lookTowardDirectionOfVelocity() {\n        transform.rotation = Quaternion.LookRotation(player.GetComponent().velocity);\n    }\n}

","modified":"2021-05-07T16:10:18.358Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"unity-recipes-follow-object","title":"Unity Recipes - Follow Object","description":"A C# script for Unity to make an object follow another.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2018-08-29T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

The following C# script for Unity can be used to make an object follow another. It can be used, for example, to make a camera follow the player.

\n\n

using System.Collections;\nusing System.Collections.Generic;\nusing UnityEngine;\n\npublic class CameraController : MonoBehaviour {\n\n    public GameObject player;\n    private Vector3 offset;\n\n    void Start () {\n        offset = transform.position - player.transform.position;\n    }\n\n    void LateUpdate () {\n        transform.position = player.transform.position + offset;\n    }\n\n}

\n\n\t\t

In the case of a camera follow, this script should be attached to the camera. A reference to the object to follow (player) should then be dragged into the Player slot in the Unity editor.

\n\n\t\t

LateUpdate is used because it is guaranteed to run after all items have been processed in Update and we know absolutely the player has moved for the given frame. The offset is used to maintain whatever distance is set between the objects.

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:48:23.617Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"use-spotlight-to-display-reference-images-in-zbrush","title":"How to Use Spotlight to Display Reference Images in ZBrush","description":"A procedure for using Spotlight to display reference images in ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-08-20T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T16:13:12.539Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Here is a procedure for using Spotlight to display reference images in ZBrush.

\n\n

Import a reference image using Texture > Import.
Once you’ve imported the image, you should see a thumbnail for the image in the Texture palette. Click the image thumbnail to select it.
In the Texture palette, now click the plus/minus icon to add the selected image to Spotlight. The icon looks like this:
\n $\"\"$
Press the comma key (,) to get rid of Lightbox if that pops up. You will see the image imported into the ZBrush workspace. You will also see the Lightbox Dial or wheel with all sorts of options and tools such as scale and opacity.
You can click and drag the image to place it where you want and you can use the Spotlight dial’s tools to set things like scale and opacity.\n
- Tip: ZBrush treats all totally black areas of your image as transparent. You can use this to your advantage to isolate your reference image so that the background (if pure black) falls away.
\n
Go into the Brush palette > Samples and click the button to turn off Spotlight Projection.
Tip: Use SHIFT + Z to show and hide Spotlight. Once Spotlight is shown, press Z to display/hide the Spotlight wheel. Display the spotlight wheel, for example, to move or scale the image, then press Z again to hide the Spotlight dial and drop the image on the canvas, so you can go back to sculpting.

Save and Load Spotlight configuration

If you close your project and reopen it, you will not find all the reference images that you formerly setup in spotlight. In other words, saving a ZBrush project file does not also save the Spotlight configuration.

To save the Spotlight configuration, choose Save Spotlight in the Texture menu / palette.
To load the Spotlight configuration, choose Load Spotlight in the Texture menu / palette.

\n\n

References:

\n\n

Working with Reference images in ZBrush – YouTube

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"weld-multiple-subtools-in-zbrush","title":"How to Weld Multiple Subtools Together to Make One Tool in ZBrush","description":"How to weld multiple subtools together to create one seamless mesh.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-08-04T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T16:14:26.765Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

If you want to weld multiple subtools together to create one seamless mesh, here’s how…

Supposing that you have two subtools in the Subtool palette.

Turn on Live Boolean (click the Live Boolean button to activate Live Boolean).

Then navigate to Subtool > Boolean and click Make Boolean Mesh.

This will scan through all the subtools in the Subtool pallet, weld them together, and create a new Tool that can now be found in the Tool palette.

This is different than merging subtools in the Subtool palette (using Subtool > Merge > MergeDown, for example). That technique combines the subtools, but does not literally weld the geometry together. If you’ve already got the subtools merged together in this way and you want to weld the geometry together, you can try this approach:

Duplicate detailed subtool
Dynamesh the duplicate to combine meshes into one seamless mesh
Zremesh the new merged mesh to get a clean, lower poly flow
Subdivide the new mesh a few times so it can “hold” the details
Project the initial detailed mesh onto the new clean mesh

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"female-anatomy-out-of-the-box-in-zbrush","title":"Female Anatomy Out-Of-The-Box in ZBrush","description":"Hidden in ZBrush, there’s a fabulously detailed female anatomy model that comes out-of-the-box.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-08-03T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T16:15:02.559Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

I just learned that there’s a fabulously detailed female anatomy model that comes out-of-the-box with ZBrush. I never took much notice of the tool because it’s thumbnail in the tool palette is just a skeleton, but as it turns out, it’s really much more.

In ZBrush, press , to open the Lightbox and then click on the Tool link.

$\"\"$

Find and open the Ryan_Kingslien_Anatomy_Model.ZTL file with the thumbnail preview of a skeleton. Draw the tool on the canvas and you will see there’s more to it than just a skeleton!

$\"\"$

If you examine the subtool palette, you will also note that the tool is comprised of several subtools with anatomical names for each. This is great for helping you learn the anatomical names of various body parts.

$\"\"$

\n \n

The tool was developed by Ryan Kingslien. \n To learn from this master, check out his YouTube channel or the variety of \n courses offered by his company online, Vertex School.

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"vs-code-cheat-sheet","title":"VS Code Cheat Sheet","description":"My personal cheat sheet for Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code).","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-vs-code.svg","created":"2018-08-03T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-11-02T16:50:36.530Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

\n $\"VS$ \n This is my personal cheat sheet for Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code).

\n\n

Contents

\n\n

Keyboard shortcuts for Windows

\n\n

General

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Show Command Palette	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `P`, `F1`
Quick Open, Go to File…	`CTRL` + `P`
New window/instance	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `N`
Close window/instance	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `W`
User Settings	`CTRL` + `,`
Keyboard Shortcuts	`CTRL` + `K` `CTRL` + `S`

\n\n

Basic editing

Action	Key(s)
Cut line (empty selection)	`Ctrl` + `X`
Copy line (empty selection)	`Ctrl` + `C`
Move line up/down	`Alt` + `↑` / `↓`
Copy line up/down	`Shift` + `Alt` + `↓` / `↑`
Delete line	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `K`
Insert line below	`Ctrl` + `Enter`
Insert line above	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Enter`
Jump to matching bracket	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `\\`
Indent/outdent line	`Ctrl` + `]` / `[`
Go to beginning/end of line	`Home` / `End`
Go to beginning of file	`Ctrl` + `Home`
Go to end of file	`Ctrl` + `End`
Scroll line up/down	`Ctrl` + `↑` /
Scroll page up/down	`Alt` + `PgUp` / `PgDn`
Fold (collapse) region	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `[`
Unfold (uncollapse) region	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `]`
Fold (collapse) all subregions	`Ctrl` + `K` `Ctrl` + `[`
Unfold (uncollapse) all subregions	`Ctrl` + `K` `Ctrl` + `]`
Fold (collapse) all regions	`Ctrl` + `K` `Ctrl` + `0`
Unfold (uncollapse) all regions	`Ctrl` + `K` `Ctrl` + `J`
Add line comment	`Ctrl` + `K` `Ctrl` + `C`
Remove line comment	`Ctrl` + `K` `Ctrl` + `U`
Toggle line comment	`Ctrl` + `/`
Toggle block comment	`Shift` + `Alt` + `A`
Toggle word wrap	`Alt` + `Z`

\n\n

Navigation

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Show all Symbols	`CTRL` + `T`
Go to Line...	`CTRL` + `G`
Go to File...	`CTRL` + `P`
Go to Symbol...	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `O`
Show Problems panel	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `M`
Go to next error or warning	`F8`
Go to previous error or warning	`SHIFT` + `F8`
Navigate editor group history	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `TAB`
Go back / forward	`ALT` + `←` / `→`
Toggle Tab moves focus	`CTRL` + `M`

\n\n

Search and replace

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Find	`CTRL` + `F`
Replace	`CTRL` + `H`
Find next/previous	`F3` / `SHIFT` + `F3`
Select all occurences of Find match	`ALT` + `ENTER`
Add selection to next Find match	`CTRL` + `D`
Move last selection to next Find match	`CTRL` + K `CTRL` + `D`
Toggle case-sensitive / regex / whole word	`ALT` + `C` / `R` / `W`

\n\n

Multi-cursor and selection

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Insert cursor	`ALT` + Click
Insert cursor above / below	`CTRL` + `ALT` + `↑` / `↓`
Undo last cursor operation	`CTRL` + `U`
Insert cursor at end of each line selected	`SHIFT` + `ALT` + `I`
Select current line	`CTRL` + `L`
Select all occurrences of current selection	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `L`
Select all occurrences of current word	`CTRL` + `F2`
Expand selection	`SHIFT` + `ALT` + `→`
Shrink selection	`SHIFT` + `ALT` + `←`
Column (box) selection	`SHIFT` + `ALT` + (drag mouse)
Column (box) selection	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `ALT` + (arrow key)
Column (box) selection page up/down	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `ALT` + `PgUp` / `PgDn`

\n\n

Rich languages editing

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Trigger suggestion	`CTRL` + `SPACE`
Trigger parameter hints	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `SPACE`
Format document	`SHIFT` + `ALT` + `F`
Format selection	`CTRL` + K `CTRL` + `F`
Go to Definition	`F12`
Peek Definition	`ALT` + `F12`
Open Definition to the side	`CTRL` + `K` `F12`
Quick Fix	`CTRL` + `.`
Show References	`SHIFT` + `F12`
Rename Symbol	`F2`
Trim trailing whitespace	`CTRL` + `K` `CTRL` + `X`
Change file language	`CTRL` + `K` `M`

\n\n

Editor management

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Close editor	`CTRL` + `F4`, `CTRL` +
Close folder	`CTRL` + `K` `F`
Split editor	`CTRL` +
Focus into 1st, 2nd or 3rd editor group	`CTRL` + `1` / `2` / `3`
Focus into previous/next editor group	`CTRL` + K `CTRL` + `←` / `→`
Move editor left/right	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `PgUp` / `PgDn`
Move active editor group	`CTRL` + `K` `←` / `→`

\n\n

File management

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
New File	`CTRL` + N
Open File...	`CTRL` + O
Save	`CTRL` + S
Save As...	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + S
Save All	`CTRL` + K S
Close	`CTRL` + F4
Close All	`CTRL` + `K` `CTRL` + `W`
Reopen closed editor	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + T
Enter Keep preview mode editor open	`CTRL` + K
Open next	`CTRL` + Tab
Open previous	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + Tab
Copy path of active file	`CTRL` + K P
Reveal active file in Explorer	`CTRL` + K R
Show active file in new window/instance	`CTRL` + K O

\n\n

Display

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Toggle full screen	F11
Toggle editor layout (horizontal/vertical)	`SHIFT` + `ALT` + 0
Zoom in/out	`CTRL` + = / -
Toggle Sidebar visibility	`CTRL` + B
Show Explorer / Toggle focus	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + E
Show Search	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + F
Show Source Control	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + G
Show Debug	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + D
Show Extensions	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + X
Replace in files	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + H
Toggle Search details	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + J
Show Output panel	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + U
Open Markdown preview	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + V
Open Markdown preview to the side	`CTRL` + K V
Zen Mode (Esc Esc to exit)	`CTRL` + K Z

\n\n

Debug

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Toggle breakpoint	F9
Start/Continue	F5
Stop	`SHIFT` + F5
Step into/out	F11 / `SHIFT` + F11
Step over	F10
Show hover	`CTRL` + K `CTRL` + I

\n\n

Integrated terminal

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Show integrated terminal	`CTRL` + `
Create new terminal	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + ` \\
Copy selection	`CTRL` + C
Paste into active terminal	`CTRL` + V
Scroll up/down	`CTRL` + ↑ / ↓
Scroll page up/down	`SHIFT` + PgUp / PgDn
Scroll to top/bottom	`CTRL` + Home / End

\n\n

For other operating systems’ keyboard shortcuts and additional information, see Key Bindings for Visual Studio Code.

\n\n\n

Preference settings

\n\n

Following is NOT an exhaustive list of all preference settings that are available. There are more, but these are just the ones I have so\n far found useful.

To access settings, go to File > Preferences > Settings, or press CTRL + ,

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Setting	Description
editor.minimap.enabled	Controls whether the minimap is shown.
editor.renderControlCharacters	Controls whether the editor should render control characters.
editor.renderWhitespace	Controls whether the editor should render whitespace characters.
explorer.compactFolders	Controls whether the explorer should render folders in a compact form. In such a form, single child folders will be compressed in a combined tree element. Useful for Java package structures, for example.
html.autoClosingTags	Enable/disable autoclosing of HTML tags.
javascript.updateImportsOnFileMove.enabled	Enable/disable automatic updating of import paths when you rename or move a file in VS Code. Requires using TypeScript 2.9 or newer in the workspace.
window.zoomLevel	Adjust the zoom level of the window. The original size is 0 and each increment above (e.g. 1) or below (e.g. -1) represents zooming 20% larger or smaller. You can also enter decimals to adjust the zoom level with a finer granularity.
workbench.tree.indent	Controls tree indentation in pixels.
workbench.tree.renderIndentGuides	Controls whether the tree should render indent guides.

\n\n

Extensions

\n\n

Git History - View git log, file history, compare branches or commits.
HTML Tag Wrap - Wraps selected code with HTML tags. Select one or more blocks of text or strings of text that you wish to wrap with an HTML tag. Press Alt + W or Option + W for Mac and type the name of the tag.
MongoDB For VS Code - Connect to MongoDB and Atlas directly from your VS Code environment, navigate your databases and collections, inspect your schema and use playgrounds to prototype queries and aggregations.

\n\n

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":"","features":["exclude ads","exclude comments","jquery","flip","syntax highlighter"]},{"_id":"setup-carbon-ldp-with-stardog-container-from-scratch","title":"Setup Carbon Ldp With Stardog Container From Scratch","description":"A procedure for setting up Carbon LDP with Stardog as the database.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/carbonldp-logo.png","created":"2018-07-17T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

In this post, I provide a procedure for setting up Carbon LDP with Stardog as the database, from scratch. Further documentation can be found on the product documentation page, Enterprise-class repositories. This procedure will detail how to run both Carbon LDP and Stardog together as two linked Docker containers.

\n\n

Obtain Stardog and license key file

\n\n

To create the Stardog container, you will need the Stardog binary and a license key. Head over to stardog.com and fetch yourself the 30-day Enterprise trial or Community Edition.

\n\n

Setup the Stardog docker container

\n\n

First, we’ll setup the Stardog container. For this, we’ll use Jon Tutcher’s Stardog dockerfile. Use the following command to get Jon’s repo. In my case, I am providing a new name for the local repo (stardog-docker-jontutcher).

\n\n

git clone https://github.com/jontutcher/stardog-docker.git stardog-docker-jontutcher

\n\n

Navigate into the directory and create a resources directory inside of it…

\n\ncd stardog-docker-jontutcher/\nmkdir resources\n\n

Put the Stardog license key file into the resources directory. The file must be named stardog-license-key.bin. You can obtain a license key for the 30 day enterprise trial or community edition at stardog.com. The license key will be picked up from the resources directory and built into the image when we build from the dockerfile.

\n\n

Back out of the resources directory and run the docker build command.

\n\ncd ..\ndocker build --tag stardog:latest .\n\n

Now use the following command to run the container.

\n\n

docker run \\\\\n    -d -p 5820:5820 \\\\\n    --name stardog-instance \\\\\n    -v /Users/cburleson/data/stardog:/stardog \\\\\n    stardog:latest

\n\n

Note that the -v parameter should point to your Stardog data directory on your host machine. If you do not have an existing Stardog data directory, you should create an empty one and refer to that.

\n\n

You can use the following command to verify the container exists and is running:

\n\n

docker ps -a

\n\n

In your web browser, navigate to http://localhost:5820/ to access the Stardog administrative interface. You can login with the default username and password: admin | admin. Alternatively, you can access Stardog through Stardog Studio, a separate download.

\n\n

Create a database in Stardog for Carbon LDP

\n\n

Next, we’ll create a database in the Stardog server for the Carbon platform to use. Through the web interface, you can do this through Databases > New DB. Create a new database with all the default options except for “Database online”, which you should switch to OFF. This will allow us to edit the database configuration directly after creating it. Name the database whatever you want, such as “carbonldp”. In my case, I’m using the name “carbonldp-industrial” for the industrial PoC I’m building.

\n\n

After creating the database, edit it and set Query all graphs to ON, which is necessary for Carbon to function properly.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Now Save the database configuration and turn the database ON.

\n\n

Configure and run the Carbon LDP platform container

\n\n

Spinning up a Carbon LDP platform container requires only one docker command. But first, you need to…

\n\n

Create a persistent volume for Carbon LDP

\n\n

Create a directory on your local machine that can be used as a persistent volume for the Carbon platform container. In my case, I created the following directory, for example:

\n\n

/Users/cburleson/data/carbonldp-industrial

\n\n

Run the Carbon LDP container

\n\n

The prerequisites are set. So, now we can spin up a Carbon server with the following Docker command. Be sure to replace the -v parameter with the path you created for your persistent Carbon directory. Leave everything after the colon in tact (don’t touch the part, :/opt/carbonldp/shared). At the time of this writing, the latest version of Carbon is 1.0.x-alpha. If there is a later version by the time you read this, you can use that. Also be sure to change the name of the carbonldp.repository.id parameter to the name of the database you created for Carbon in the Stardog server. You can name the container whatever you want. It’s typical to call it “carbonldp”, but in my case, I’m running it with the container named “carbonldp-industrial” This allows me to have multiple carbon containers for different purposes. As per my own settings, the full command is as follows:

\n\n

docker run -d --name carbonldp-industrial -p 8083:8083 \\\\\n    -v /Users/cburleson/data/carbonldp-industrial:/opt/carbonldp/shared \\\\\n    --link stardog-instance:stardog-instance carbonldp/carbonldp-platform:1.0.x-alpha \\\\\n    --carbonldp.repository.type=\"stardog\" \\\\\n    --carbonldp.repository.url=\"http://stardog-instance:5820/\" \\\\\n    --carbonldp.repository.username=\"admin\" \\\\\n    --carbonldp.repository.password=\"admin\" \\\\\n    --carbonldp.repository.id=\"carbonldp-industrial\"

\n\n

In order for the two containers to communicate with one another, they are linked with Docker link parameter. The value of that parameter is the container (<name or id>:alias or <name or id>). In my case, stardog-instance:stardog-instance, where stardog-instance is the name of the Stardog container and also referred to in the carbonldp.repository.url value.

\n\n

If the Carbon image is not yet present on your machine, it will be fetched by the command from Docker Hub. You can execute the following Docker command to verify that the container is up and running.

\n\n

docker ps -a

\n\n

Is the STATUS is Exited, there was a problem in the startup. If you see such a problem, you can run the following command to examine the logs for troubleshooting:

\n\n

docker logs <container-name>

\n\n

Or, in my case…

\n\n

docker logs carbonldp-industrial

\n\n

If Carbon started up successfully, its logs should resemble the following:

\n\n

├┬---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┤\n ¦ Platform: v1.0.0-alpha.13 (Build: 2018-04-12T16:39:27+0000)\n ¦\n ¦ https://carbonldp.com\n└┴---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------┘\n\nINFO  [                         c.c.Application] -- Starting Application v1.0.0-alpha.13 on 6a8195e0e2e2 with PID 7 (/opt/carbonldp/carbonldp-platform.jar started by root in /)\nDEBUG [                         c.c.Application] -- Running with Spring Boot v2.0.1.RELEASE, Spring v5.0.5.RELEASE\nINFO  [                         c.c.Application] -- The following profiles are active: default\nDEBUG [c.c.r.t.TxnConfig$$EnhancerBySpringCGLIB$$5dca10a3] -- Connecting with configured Stardog repository...\nDEBUG [c.c.r.t.TxnConfig$$EnhancerBySpringCGLIB$$5dca10a3] -- Connecting with configured Stardog repository...DONE\nDEBUG [                     c.c.l.LockingConfig] -- Starting embedded ZooKeeper server...\nDEBUG [                     c.c.l.LockingConfig] -- Starting embedded ZooKeeper server...COMPLETE\nDEBUG [   c.c.s.a.t.JWTokenAuthenticationFilter] -- Initializing filter 'jwTokenAuthenticationFilter'\nDEBUG [   c.c.s.a.t.JWTokenAuthenticationFilter] -- Filter 'jwTokenAuthenticationFilter' configured successfully\nDEBUG [ c.c.s.a.a.AnonymousAuthenticationFilter] -- Initializing filter 'anonymousAuthenticationFilter'\nDEBUG [ c.c.s.a.a.AnonymousAuthenticationFilter] -- Filter 'anonymousAuthenticationFilter' configured successfully\nINFO  [                         c.c.Application] -- Started Application in 11.816 seconds (JVM running for 13.061)

\n\n

Verify Carbon data in the Stardog server

\n\n

For an additional validation, you can verify that the database in Stardog has some preliminary Carbon-specific data in it. In the Stardog web console at http://localhost:5820/, navigate to the database you created for Carbon, click on >_ Query and run the following SPARQL query for Types:

\n\nselect distinct ?type ?label \nwhere { \n ?s a ?type . \n OPTIONAL { ?type rdfs:label ?label } \n}\n\n\t\t

You should see Carbon-specific types in the results as shown below…

\n\t\t\n\t\t

$\"\"$

\n\t\t\n\t\t

Verify Carbon response in web browser

\n\t\t\n\t\t

You can also do a check for a response from the Carbon server by hitting the following URL in your web browser:

\n\t\t\n\t\t

http://localhost:8083/.system/platform/

\n\t\t\n\t\t

The browser should return an RDF response similar to the following (the platform meta, which includes the build date and version):

\n\n

<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">\n  <rdf:Description rdf:about="http://localhost:8083/.system/platform/">\n    <rdf:type rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/ns/ldp#Container"/>\n    <rdf:type rdf:resource="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#RequiredSystemDocument"/>\n    <rdf:type rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/ns/ldp#RDFSource"/>\n    <rdf:type rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/ns/ldp#BasicContainer"/>\n    <rdf:type rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/ns/ldp#Resource"/>\n    <rdf:type rdf:resource="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#Document"/>\n    <rdf:type rdf:resource="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#Platform"/>\n    <membershipResource xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/ldp#" rdf:resource="http://localhost:8083/.system/platform/"/>\n    <modified xmlns="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#" rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2018-07-17T20:06:25.656Z</modified>\n    <created xmlns="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#" rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2018-07-17T20:06:25.656Z</created>\n  </rdf:Description>\n  <rdf:Description rdf:nodeID="node1ciktjenqx53">\n    <rdf:type rdf:resource="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#PlatformInstance"/>\n    <rdf:type rdf:resource="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#VolatileResource"/>\n    <buildDate xmlns="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#" rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2018-04-12T16:39:27.000Z</buildDate>\n    <version xmlns="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#">1.0.0-alpha.13</version>\n  </rdf:Description>\n    <rdf:Description rdf:about="http://localhost:8083/.system/platform/">\n    <instance xmlns="https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#" rdf:nodeID="node1ciktjenqx53"/>\n  </rdf:Description>\n</rdf:RDF>

\n\n

You’re good to go! You may, however, wish to use the Carbon LDP Workbench as well.

\n\n

Run the Carbon LDP Workbench

\n\n

The Carbon LDP Workbench provides a visual interface to your Carbon instance data. You can spin up the workbench with the following command:

\n\n

docker run -d --name carbonldp-workbench -p 8000:80 \\\\\n    -e \"CARBON_HOST=localhost:8083\" \\\\\n    -e \"CARBON_PROTOCOL=http\" \\\\\n    carbonldp/carbonldp-workbench:1.0.x-alpha

\n\n

You can then access the Workbench at the following URL:

\n\n

http://localhost:8000/

\n\n

If you see any errors in the Workbench when first accessing it, try a hard refresh in your browser.

\n\n

Accessing the Stardog container’s shell

\n\n

If you want to get into the Stardog container to execute stardog-admin commands, use the following Docker command:

\n\n

docker exec -it <stardog-container-name> bash

\n\n

In my case:

\n\n

docker exec -it stardog-instance bash

\n\n

Then you can change into the stardog/bin directory…

\n\n

cd /stardog/bin

\n\n

And execute stardog-admin commands, such as…

\n\n

./stardog-admin help

\n\n

You can type exit to exit out of the container and back to your host shell.

\n\n

Accessing the Carbon LDP container’s shell

\n\n

If you want to get into the Carbon LDP container, you can use a similar command. However, the Carbon container does not include bash, so you can use sh instead…

\n\n

docker exec -it <carbon-container-name> sh

\n\n

You can type exit to exit out of the container and back to your host shell.

\n\n

Conclusion

\n\n

This post described the procedure for setting up a Carbon LDP container configured to run with a Stardog database in a Stardog container. Additionally, we setup the Carbon LDP Workbench. And finally, I showed how you can get inside the Stardog container to execute stardog-admin commands. The procedure results in three Docker containers providing everything you need for Carbon LDP with Stardog development environment.

\n","modified":"2021-06-01T04:45:25.890Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"zbrush-keyboard-shortcuts","title":"ZBrush Keyboard Shortcuts","description":"My notes on ZBrush keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys) and control.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-07-04T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-10-15T15:12:34.307Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

My notes on ZBrush keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys) and control. \n This page is derived largely from the ZBrush Online Documentation, by Pixologic, Inc. I have reproduced much of the Keyboard Shortcut documentation here for the purpose of personal study and for adding additional notes that may be helpful to others who are new to the software. Press CTRL + F in your browser to find by keyword or click a link in the table of contents below to jump to a given section.

\n\n

Contents (Jump Navigation)

\n\n

1. General Shortcuts
2. Lightbox and Spotlight
3. Edit mode Navigation\n
- 3.1. Right-Click Navigation
\n
4. Transpose\n
- 4.1. Inner (red/white) ring actions
\n
5. Sculpting and Painting\n
- 5.1. Sculpting Brushes\n
  - 5.1.1. InsertMultiMesh brushes
  - 5.1.2. Changing the Brush hotkeys (pop-up palette)
  \n
- 5.2. Color
- 5.3. Stroke\n
  - 5.3.1. Curves
  \n
- 6. 3D Models\n
  - 6.1. SubTools
  - 6.2. Geometry
  - 6.3. Dynamesh
  - 6.4. HD Geometry
  - 6.5. Masking
  - 6.6. Topological Masking
  - 6.7. Polygroups
  - 6.8. Partial Mesh Visibility & Clip Brushes
  - 6.9. Stencil
  \n
\n

7. ZSpheres\n
- 7.1. Draw mode
- 7.2. Move mode
- 7.3. Scale mode
- 7.4. Rotate mode
\n
8. ZSketch
9. Canvas and 2.5D\n
- 9.1. Document Layers
- 9.2. Markers
- 9.3. Canvas Zoom
\n
10. Timeline\n
- 10.1. Movie
\n
11. Render
12. Custom UI and Configuration
13. ZScripts

\n\n

General shortcuts

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Open Project	`CTRL` + `O`
Save Project	`CTRL` + `S`
Undo	`CTRL` + `Z`
Redo	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + `Z`
Popup selection (on PC only)	\n \n Tools – `F1` \n Brushes – `F2` \n Strokes – `F3` \n Alphas – `F4` \n Textures – `F5` \n Materials – `F6` (with cursor off canvas area) \n \n
Show QuickMenu	`SPACE` or right-click
Show/hide floating palettes	`TAB`
Show item description (when Popup Info is switched on)	`CTRL` + cursor over item; When Popup Info is switched on.
Show alternative item description	`CTRL` + `ALT` + cursor over item
Assign custom hotkey	`CTRL`+ `ALT` + click on item; Stores hotkeys in Preferences > Hotkeys submenu
Projection Master	`G`

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\n\n

Lightbox and Spotlight

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Show/hide Lightbox	`,` (comma key)
load selected item	double-click on Lightbox thumbnail; Texture / Alphas will be loaded into Spotlight if it is active.
Turn on/off Spotlight	\n `SHIFT` + `Z` \n \n If the Spotlight dial does not appear, you may have to first open a previously saved Spotlight (using Texture > Load Spotlight) or add a texture to Spotlight. To add a texture, use the Texture palette to import and/or select a texture, then click the Add To Spotlight button.\n \n
Show/hide Spotlight Dial	\n `Z` \n \n See note above.\n \n

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\n\n

Edit Mode Navigation

\n\n

$\"Edit$ With a 3D mesh in Edit mode...

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Free Rotate $\"ZBrush$	Click & drag background
Move $\"ZBrush$	`Alt` + Click & drag background
Constrain to 90-degree rotation	Click + drag, press `SHIFT`
Scale (a.k.a. Zoom3D) $\"ZBrush$	`ALT` + Click, release `ALT`, drag background
Rotate around Z-axis	`SHIFT` + Click, release `SHIFT`, drag

\n\n(For best results turn off RightClick Navigation in the Preferences > Interface menu.)\n\n

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\n\n

Right-Click Navigation

\n\n

Turn on RightClick Navigation in the Preferences > Interface menu.

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Move	`ALT` + right-click & drag (can be over the model)
Scale	`CTRL` + right-click & drag (can be over the model)
Rotate	right-click & drag (can be over the model)

\n\n

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\n\n

Transpose

\n\n

Note: Since ZBrush 4R8, the default transpose line has been replaced with the new Gizmo 3D. To toggle between Gizmo 3D and the transpose line, press Y or click the Gizmo 3D button in the topbar to turn off the 3D Gizmo.

\n\n

With a 3D mesh in Edit mode, press W (Move), E (Scale), or R (Rotate), then\nclick and drag to draw the orange action line.
Click on the mesh to reposition the action line aligned to the surface normal.
To align to an axis, click the end of the red, green or blue axis line.

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Move action line while drawing	Hold `SPACE`
Move action line after drawing	click + drag orange line or center orange ring
Change action line end point position	click + drag orange end ring
Toggle between the Transpose line and Gizmo 3D	`Y`; while in Move, Scale, or Rotate mode

\n\n

Quick tip: in Move/Scale mode, ALT + click + drag on the mesh (not on action line) to move or scale mesh

\n\n

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\n\n

Inner (red/white) ring actions

\n\n

These actions apply to the inner red or white rings of the action\nline. The terms center or end refer to the position on the\nline.

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Move mode – `W`
Move	click + drag center
Duplicate mesh	`CTRL` + click + drag center
Bend mesh	`ALT` + click + drag center or end point
Stretch mesh	drag end point furthest from mesh
Flatten mesh	drag end point next to mesh
Inflate	right-click + drag end ring furthest from mesh
Create Edgeloop & extrude	with partially masked mesh, hold `CTRL` and click + drag center point
Scale – `E`
Scale	click + drag end point in line direction
Scale along axis	click + drag center point
Create Edgeloop and deflate / inflate	with partially masked mesh, hold `CTRL` and click + drag center point
Rotate – `R`
Rotate around end point	click + drag other end point
Rotate around action line	click + drag center
Joint bend	`ALT` + click + drag end point (rotation around same point)

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\n\n

Sculpting and Painting

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Draw Size \n $\"\"$ \n	`S`
Focal Shift \n $\"\"$ \n	`O`
RGB Intensity $\"\"$	`I`; note that the Rgb Channel button in the topbar should also be selected for this to have any true effect.
Z Intensity $\"\"$	`U`
Increase Draw Size by set units	`]`; set increment in the Zplugin > Misc Utilities > Brush Increment slider
Decrease Draw Size by set units	`[`; set increment in the Zplugin > Misc Utilities >Brush Increment slider
Edit mode on/off \n $\"Edit$ \n $\"Edit$ \n	`T`
Draw $\"\"$	`Q`
Move $\"\"$	`W`
Scale $\"\"$	`E`
Rotate $\"\"$	`R`
Toggle ZAdd and ZSub $\"\"$	While brushing on a model, hold down `ALT` to toggle from ZAdd to ZSub. \n \n This does not change the state of the ZAdd and ZSub buttons on the toolbar, it changes the behavior of the brush, while sculpting. If ZAdd is selected on the toolbar, then the default behavior when sculpting is additive (adds clay) and then pressing `ALT`, while sculpting, toggles that behavior and makes it substractive (removes clay).\n If ZAdd is selected on the toolbar, then the default behavior when sculpting is substractive and pressing `ALT`, while sculpting, toggles that behavior and makes it additive.\n \n

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\n\n

Sculpting Brushes

\n\n

Each brush has its own keyboard shortcut combo. You can learn them by pressing B to bring up the brush\npalette, then a letter like C (to filter by all brushes starting with C), and then the letter\nindicated in the top left of the brush icon in to brush palette. Following are some key combos for some common, but not all, brushes...

Action	Key Sequence
Show Brush pop-up	`B`
Clay \n $\"\"$ \n	`B` - `C` - `L`
Clay Buildup	`B` - `C` - `B`
ClayLine	`B` - `C` - `L`
ClipCurve	`B` - `C` - `C`
Damien Standard (dam std) \n $\"\"$ \n	`B` - `D` - `S`
Inflate	`B` - `I` - `N`
Move \n $\"\"$ \n	`B` - `M` - `V`
Move Elastic	`B` - `M` - `E`
MPolish	`B` - `M` - `P`
Smooth \n $\"\"$ \n	`B` - `S` - `M`
Spiral	`B` - `S` - `A` to select the brush. \n Hold down `ALT` to spiral in the opposite direction.
Standard Brush \n $\"\"$	`B` - `S` - `T`
TrimDynamic \n $\"\"$ \n	`B` - `T` - `D`
ZModeler	\n `B` - `Z` - `M` to select the brush. \n When using this brush, hover over a point, edge, or face on a PolyMesh3D object and then press `SPACE` to display the ZModeler context menu. \n

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\n\n

InsertMultiMesh brushes

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Show all meshes in brush	`M`

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\n\n

Changing the Brush hotkeys (pop-up palette)

\n\n

Here is what you have to do:

\n\n

Press B to bring up the brush palette.
Then click or press the letter that you want to narrow down to, in this example press C.
With C selected all you will see is the brushes that start with C. You will see the next letter that selects\nthe brush.
At this point you can hold CTRL + ALT to change the shortcut to whatever you want by\njust clicking on the brush and then click your new shortcut.

\n\n

NOTE: Keep in mind that when you do this ZBrush automatically replaces the shortcut of another brush if you\nselect a shortcut that is already assigned.

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\n\n

Color

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Select Color under cursor	`C`
Switch Color	`V`

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\n\n

Stroke

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Lazy mouse	`L`; Toggles the lazy mouse mode.
Replay Last Stroke	`1`; This is very handy to use after pressing `CTRL`, and moving a subtool to duplicate it.\n Pressing 1 will create yet another duplicate, moving it the same distance on the same axis as\nbefore. So, this is a great way to create an array of equally spaced duplicates.
Record Stroke	`3`
Replay All Recorded Strokes	`2`

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\n\n

Curves

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Smooth curve	`6`
Snapshot curve	`5`
Delete a curve	`ALT` + draw across curve

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\n\n

3D Models

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Save Tool	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + `T`
Frame (Fit Mesh To view)	`F` (You may need to press it twice.)
Dynamic Persp (Perspective Distortion)	`P`
Floor Grid	`SHIFT` + `P`
Activate Symmetry	`X`
Show/hide Polyframe & polygroups	`SHIFT` + `F`
Point Selection Mode	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + `P`
Set Pivot Point	`CTRL` + `P`
Clear Pivot Point	`SHIFT` + `P`
Snapshot a version to canvas	\n `SHIFT` + `S` \n \n This takes a kind of screenshot of the active tool or subtool and lays it on the canvas. You can then \n move the tool and continue sculpting on it, leaving the snapshot in place. It's handy, for example, in \n comparing changes to the active tool with the snapshot on the canvas. As long as you're in edit mode (not Canvas 2.5D), \n the canvas can be cleared with `CTRL` + `N`, leaving your tool active for continued sculpting.\n \n

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\n\n

SubTools

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
List all subtools	`N`
Select SubTool	`ALT` + click on SubTool
Frame SubTool	`SHIFT` + `ALT` + click on selected SubTool; Note this option can be set in the Preferences > Edit > Enable Auto\n Center* slider; 0 = off; 1 = Alt + click; 2 = `SHIFT` + `Alt`\n + click*
Toggle Polypaint Colorize	Click on paintbrush icon
Toggle Polypaint Colorize for all SubTools	`SHIFT` + click on paintbrush icon

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\n\n

Geometry

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Divide	`CTRL` + `D`
Lower Res	\n `SHIFT` + `D` \n \n If the geometry has subdivision levels, this action steps down one subdivision level lower. \n If the geometry has no subdivision levels and Dynamic Subdiv has been enabled, this action turns it off. You can then use `D` to turn Dynamic Subdiv back on.\n \n
Higher Res	\n `D` \n \n If the geometry has subdivision levels, this action steps up one subdivision level higher. \n This action does not create a new, higher subdivision level. it only cycles up through the higher levels that you've already created using \n Tool > Geometry > Divide. If the geometry has no subdivision levels, this action will give you the option to auto-activate Dynamic Subdiv. \n Enabling Dynamic Subdiv is great when box modeling with the ZModeler brush because you can press `D` to preview (and even work with) the \n divided model. Pressing `SHIFT` + `D` then toggles back to the original state. \n \n
Edge Loop	`CTRL` + `E` (partially hidden mesh)

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\n\n

Dynamesh

\n\n

Remesh Dynamesh sculpt – in Edit > Draw mode CTRL + drag Background

\n\n

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\n\n

HD Geometry

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Toggle in/out of HD Sculpting mode	`A` (cursor over mesh)
Render all HD Geometry	`A` (cursor over background)

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\n\n

Masking

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
View mask	`CTRL` + `H`
Invert mask	`CTRL` + `I`
Mask all	`CTRL` + `A`
Select masking Brush	hold `CTRL` while selecting brush from popup
Paint mask on object (alphas/strokes can be used)	`CTRL` (hold down)
Delete or paint reverse mask	`CTRL` + `ALT` (hold down)
Reverse mask (a.k.a. Flip Mask, Invert Mask)	`CTRL` + click background
Clear mask	`CTRL` + click + drag background
Constant-intensity mask	`CTRL` + click, release `CTRL`, drag (starting off mesh)
Alpha-intensity mask (using MaskPen or MaskRect brush)	`CTRL` + click & drag (select alpha while holding `CTRL`)
Blur mask	`CTRL` + click on mesh; When a mask has been drawn on a mesh, this action blurs (softens) the edges of the mask.
Sharpen mask	`CTRL` + `ALT` + click on mesh

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\n\n

Topological Masking

\n\n

in Move, Scale or Rotate mode – CTRL + click + drag the action line on the model

\n\n

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\n\n

Polygroups

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Group Masked and Clear Mask	`CTRL` + `W` (This is super handy! Basically, it turns anything you have masked into a polygroup and then clears the mask. In other words, if you want to turn the currently masked area into a polygroup, press `CTRL` + `W`.)
Make all polygroups into one	`CTRL` + `W` (Applies a single polygroup to the active subtool; if a subtool has several polygroups and you want only one, for example)

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\n\n

Partial Mesh Visibility & Clip Brushes

Action	Key(s)
Select Selection or Clip Brush	hold `SHIFT` + `CTRL` while selecting brush from popup
Show mesh portion	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click, release keys & drag (green selection area)
Hide mesh portion	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click, release keys & drag – press Alt (red selection area)
Grow mesh portion	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `X`
Shrink mesh portion	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `S`
Grow all mesh portion	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `A`
Outer Ring visibility	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + `O`
Move selection or clip area	press `SPACE` without releasing mouse/pen
Show entire mesh	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click background
Show only selected Polygroup (on fully visible mesh)	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click
Hide selected Polygroup (on fully visible mesh)	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click twice
Hide selected Polygroup (on partially visible mesh)	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click
Reverse visibility	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click & drag background
Hide edge loop	with Lasso option selected, `SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click on edge that crosses loop
ClipCurve add soft direction change	press `ALT` once
ClipCurve add sharp direction change	press `ALT` twice
reverse clip area	`ALT` (hold down)

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\n\n

Stencil

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Stencil On	`ALT` + `H`
Hide/Show Stencil	`CTRL` + `H`
Coin Controller	`SPACE`

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\n\n

ZSpheres

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Preview Adaptive Skin	`A`

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\n\n

ZSpheres – Draw mode

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Add a child ZSphere	drag ZSphere
Delete ZSphere	`ALT` + click ZSphere
Add a child ZSphere at same size	click + drag, press `SHIFT`
Add a child ZSphere and scale Link Spheres	click + drag to size new ZSphere, press `CTRL` + drag
Insert ZSphere	click Link-Sphere
Sphere Define magnet/ break meshio	`ALT` + click Link-Sphere (with Tool > Adaptive Skin > Use ClassicSkinning on)

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\n\n

ZSpheres – Move mode

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Move ZSphere	drag ZSphere
Pose (Natural-linked move)	drag Link-Sphere
Move Chain	`Alt` + drag Link-Sphere

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

ZSpheres – Scale mode

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Scale Zsphere	drag ZSphere
Inflate/deflate chain	`ALT` + drag Link-Sphere
Scale chain	drag Link-Sphere

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

ZSpheres – Rotate mode

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Spin chain	drag ZSphere
Control twist	`ALT` + drag Link-Sphere
Rotate chain	drag Link-Sphere

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

ZSketch

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Activate ZSketch Edit mode	`SHIFT` + `A` (with a ZSphere armature in Edit mode)
Preview Unified Skin	`A`

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

Canvas and 2.5D

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Reverse 2.5D brush effect	`ALT` (hold down)
Crop And Fill	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + `F`
Grab Texture From Document	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + `G`

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

Document Layers

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Clear Layer	`CTRL` + `N`
Fill Layer	`CTRL` + `F`
Bake Layer	`CTRL` + `B`
On Layer thumbnail, toggle all layers on/off	`SHIFT` + CLICK
Select layer on which clicked pixol resides	`~` + click canvas (US) `@` + click canvas (UK)
Move layer contents up/down/sideways (X & Y)	`~` + drag (US) `@` + drag (UK)

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

Markers

\n\n

Markers will only show when Edit is turned off

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Remove Marker	`CTRL` + `M`

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

Canvas Zoom

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Actual Size	`0`
Antialiased Half Size	`CTRL` + `0`
Zoom In	`+` (plus sign)
Zoom Out	`-` (minus sign)

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

Timeline

Action	Key(s)
Place a new key frame	click on the Timeline
Select an existing key frame	click on the key frame dot
Zoom Timeline in/out	click on selected key frame dot
Move selected key frame	click + drag dot to new position (dragging off end will delete)
Store new data in existing key frame	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click on the key frame dot
Delete a key frame	click + drag dot off the Timeline
Copy selected key frame	`SHIFT` + click on the Timeline at the point where you want the copy
Copy multiple key frames	`SHIFT` + click on all the key frames dots to be copied, then `SHIFT` + click the\nTimeline (at the point where you want the copies)
Create Transition key frame	`CTRL` + click on an existing key frame dot
Create Rigid key frame	`ALT` + click on an existing key frame dot
Go to Previous Camera key frame	LEFT ARROW
Go to Next Camera key frame	RIGHT ARROW
Play the Timeline	`SHIFT`+click on the Timeline cursor (will play as a loop)
Stop the Timeline playing	`ESC`
Record Timeline as a Movie	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + click on the Timeline cursor (set the cursor to the start first using the LEFT ARROW)

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

Movie

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Snapshot to Movie	`CTRL` + `SHIFT` + ! (US) `SHIFT` + `CTRL` + PageUp (UK)

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

Render

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Best Preview Render (BPR)	`SHIFT` + `R`
Render All	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + `R`
Cursor Selective Render	`CTRL` + `R`

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

Custom UI and Configuration

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Key(s)
Move item to custom interface position	`CTRL` + `ALT` + drag (when Enable Customize is on)
Remove item from custom interface position	`CTRL` + `ALT` + drag to Canvas (when Enable Customize is on)
Store Configuration File	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + `I`
Load User Interface Configuration File	`CTRL` + `L`
Save User Interface Configuration File	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + `ALT` + `I`

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

ZScripts

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Action	Keys
Load ZScript	`SHIFT` + `CTRL` + `L`
Reload ZScript	`CTRL` + `U`
Show/Hide ZScript window	`H`

\n\n

^ Back to top

\n\n

Reference Resources

\n\n

Shortcuts by Category, ZBrush Online Documentation

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"],"features":[],"ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"use-micromesh-in-zbrush","title":"How to Use MicroMesh in ZBrush","description":"A quick procedure for using MicroMesh in ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-06-03T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

A quick procedure for using MicroMesh in ZBrush. I’m sorry for the sloppiness of these notes, but this procedure is just intended to be a quick and simple reminder on how to use the feature.

You have to watch the video first. But I want to turn this into a recipe.

Create a PolyMesh 3D plane: In the Tool palette, select PolyMesh3D > Plane 3D
Tool palette > Initialize > Set both HDivide and VDivide to 5
Tool palette > Click Make PolyMesh 3D
Press CTRL + SHIFT and drag to create a square in the center across the 4 center quads, then hold ALT to turn the selection area red and release. This hides the center, leaving only the outer quads.
Tool palette > Geometry > Modify Topology > Delete Hidden
Transform palette > Activate Symmetry; make sure both X and Y are both turned on
B + M + V to select Move Brush
Move the inner top verts up a bit, and the inner side verts out a bit (making a circular shape with the inside)
File > Save As "Micromesh1.zpr"

$\"\"$

Now clear the canvas and draw a sphere and make into into a PolyMesh3D object

Tool > Geometry > Modify Topology > Click Micro Mesh and select the micro mesh object you previously made.

Render > Render Properties > Turn on Draw MicroMesh (You’ll only get a bunch of dots for the preview)

SHIFT + R to render BPR; you should see the micromesh

If you want, you can divide the mesh if you want more deatil (shrinking the size of each of the Micro Mesh instances that get patterned out on the object)

If you want to turn the BPR into actual geometry, duplicate the subtool (for a backup) and then go Geometry > Convert BPR to Geo.

Now suppose you want to add some thickness.

If we click Divide now, you’ll get little holes because when we converted BPR to Geo the process doesn’t actually weld the micromeshes. So to do an extrude, we need to weld the surface.

Export the subtool as an OBJ; Tool > Export (as .obj)

Now, with the subtool still selected in the subtool palette, go down to the Import tab (not the Import button)

Under Import, change Weld to .001

Click import and select the OBJ file you created. This imports it back into the subtool that you are on, but applies the weld.

Now if you go to geometry and click Divide, you won’t see the little holes that were being made because the mesh is welded now. Undo the Divide operation; this was only to verify.

Subtool > Extract (Set Smooth to 0, and turn off TBorder); Turn thickness to say .01 and click Extract.

This will give you a preview. If you like it, click Accept.

\n\n

References

http://pixologic.com/zclassroom/lesson/micromesh-hood-part-2

","modified":"2021-05-07T16:49:58.004Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"create-new-subtool-from-masked-area-in-zbrush","title":"How to Create a New Subtool From a Masked Area in ZBrush","description":"Here's how to extract the mask painted on a subtool to create a whole new subtool from the mask.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-30T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-20T03:55:15.594Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Mask an area on the model…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

In the subtool palette, under Extract, set the thickness and options. Note that the Subtool palette is found within the Tool palette (or under the Tool menu), but it may not be displayed or may not have active buttons unless you have a valid PolyMesh3D in the modelling space.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Click Extract button, then Accept.

\n\n

A new subtool is generated from the extracted mask…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

It’s usually a good idea to use ZRemesher on the new subtool afterwards.

\n","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"Default","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"create-polygroup-from-mask-in-zbrush","title":"Create Polygroup From Mask in ZBrush","description":"How to create a new polygroup of a masked area in ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-22T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-01T04:44:35.363Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

To create a new polygroup of any masked area, press CTRL + W. Any masked area will be turned into a new polygroup.

Take the following masked object, for example.

$\"\"$

Pressing SHIFT + F puts us in polyframe mode and we can see only one color (one polygroup) with the darker masked area still represented as shown below...

$\"\"$

After pressing CTRL + W, we can see in the image below that what was formerly a masked area has now become a new polygroup. This is evidenced by the fact that the new polygroup is now its own new color in the polyframe mode...

$\"\"$

Note: Pressing CTRL + W is the same as using Tool > Polygroups > Group Masked Clear Mask

There is another technique I’ve witnessed, which is to mask an area and then select Geometry > EdgeLoop > Edgeloop Masked Border, or press CTRL + SHIFT + E. I think this method attempts to create an edge around the mask perimeter based on the EdgeLoop setting.

\n","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"notes-on-zbrush-slicecurve-brush","title":"Notes on the ZBrush Slicecurve Brush","description":"My study notes on use of the ZBrush SliceCurve brush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-16T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

My study notes on use of the ZBrush SliceCurve brush…

\n\n

The SliceCurve brush allows you to slice to define new polygroups by drawing a line with bezier curves.

\n\n

The SliceCurve brush, once selected, is enabled as the active selection tool when you press CTRL + SHIFT.

\n\n

$\"ZBrush$

\n\n

When working with this brush, we’re creating polygroups. So, to be able to see the polygroups, it’s best to be to turn on polygroups before using the brush (SHIFT + F).

\n\n

You probably also want to ensure that Perspective is turned off.

\n\n

If your mesh is a 3D-Primitive, you’ll need to convert it to a PolyMesh3D by pressing the ‘Make PolyMesh3D’ button in the Tool palette.

\n\n

Press the sequence B, S, I to quickly select the SliceCurve brush.

\n\n

As you’re drawing, tap the ALT key to lay a bezier point, which allows you to curve the slice.

\n\n

If you double-tap the ALT key, it will lay down a sharp point, which allows you to put a hard angle on the slice.

\n\n

You can press and hold the SPACE bar to move the entire slice line as a whole.

\n\n

This brush doesn’t use standard symmetry and can’t be used on a mesh with multiple subdivision levels. If you wish to maintain your subdivisions, first use the Freeze Subdivision Levels option located in the Tool > Geometry menu. When you’re done doing your slicing, you can then click Freeze SubDivision Levels again to turn it back off and get your subdivisions back with the new polygroups still on the model. You can establish symmetry by using Mirror and Weld in that same menu.

\n\n

Polygroup Tips:

\n\n

Press CTRL + SHIFT and click on a polygroup to isolate the polygroup, hiding all the others.
CTRL + SHIFT click on an empty area in the canvas to make all the polygroups visible again.

\n\n

References

Slice brushes, ZBrush Docs
POLISH BY FEATURES, ZClassroom

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:47:09.027Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"convert-zbrush-polygroups-into-subtools","title":"How to Convert ZBrush Polygroups Into Subtools","description":"Normally, polygroups display sections of a single mesh. Here's how to convert polygroups into SubTools (multiple different meshes).","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-05T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Normally, polygroups display sections of a single mesh. If you want to convert polygroups into SubTools you\n\t\t\tcan do the following.

\n\t\t

If your model has different elements go to Tool > Polygroups and select Auto Groups. You can then go to\n\t\t\tSubTools > Split and click Groups Split. Groups Split will be disabled unless all polygroups are visible\n\t\t\ton the canvas (press CTRL + SHIFT and click an empty area of the canvas to display\n\t\t\t\tall polygroups).

\n\t\t

When you want to merge all the stuff again just make each SubTool visible and pick SubTool > Merge\n\t\t\t> Merge Visible. ZBrush will create a new tool with all the former SubTools together\n\t\t\tagain. Note that in merge visible you have an option for weld verts.

\n\t\t

Warning: When you merge visible SubTools you will lose sublevels and the merged new tool is created with\n\t\t\t\tevery SubTool at the current level.

\n","modified":"2021-05-07T17:37:56.408Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"how-to-sketch-with-zspheres-in-zbrush","title":"How to Sketch With Zspheres in ZBrush","description":"In sketch mode, you can draw ZSpheres directly on a model. Here's how.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-05T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":" \n

To start a ZSphere model, select the zsphere tool from the Tool palette (the two-toned red ball) – and draw it on the canvas.

\n\n

$\"\"$

Enter Edit mode by pressing T on the keyboard.

$\"\"$

Press SHIFT + A to enter sketch mode. You’ll then see the two tones of the ZSphere turn to a solid color…

$\"\"$

When sketching with ZSpheres, you can use any material. But notice that there are a few sketch materials in the materials palette.

$\"\"$

I’ll choose the SketchGummyShine.

$\"\"$

Because we’re in sketch mode, all we need to do is click and draw on the model to add more ZSpheres. We can hold the SHIFT key and draw to smooth things back. Remember that you can hit the X key to toggle symmetry mode.

$\"\"$

You can always move ZSphere around by pressing W to activate Move (or press the Move button in the top bar).

$\"\"$

Once you’re done moving ZSpheres, you can click back on Draw.

You can hold down the ALT key and click on ZSpheres to delete them.

Press A to generate an adaptive preview. If you like it, you can go to Subtools palette > Remesh and click ReMesh All.

You might also want to go to Geometry ZRemesher and click the ZRemesher button to lay down a cleaner topology.

\n\n

References

ZSPHERES INTRO

","modified":"2021-05-07T17:53:10.654Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"isolate-a-polygroup-in-zbrush","title":"How to Isolate a Polygroup in ZBrush","description":"When you isolate a polygroup in ZBrush, you can then work with it independently. Here's how.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-05T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-02T20:25:17.293Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

When you isolate a polygroup in ZBrush, you can then work with it independently. After isolating one or\n more polygroups, for example, you might want to delete those that are hidden, which you could then do with\n Tool > Geometry > Modify Topology > Del Hidden.

\n\n

First, you’ll want to be in Draw Polyframe mode, so that you can see all all the polygroups. You can\n toggle this mode with SHIFT + F as shown below.

\n\n

$\"Toggle$

\n\n

Hold CTRL + SHIFT and click on a given polygroup to isolate it, hiding all\n the others.

\n\n

\n\n

Hold CTRL + SHIFT and click on an empty place in the canvas to return all\n polygroups to view.

\n\n

If the Select Rect brush is your active brush, you can SHIFT + CLICK and drag\n on the background to reverse the visible polygroups.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Selecting more than one polygroup

\n\n

Here’s the procedure for selecting more than one polygroup as described in the ZBrush documentation for polygroups:

\n\n

Press CTRL + SHIFT and click on the mesh where one group is
Invert that selection: press CTRL + SHIFT then click and drag outside of the mesh\n
Press CTRL + SHIFT and click on the other groups you want to select
Invert this selection: press CTRL + SHIFT then drag background

\n","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"mirror-polygroup-on-subtool-in-zbrush","title":"How to Mirror a Polygroup on a Subtool in ZBrush","description":"If you want to mirror a polygroup onto the other side of a subtool, follow this procedure.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-05T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T17:37:10.826Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Suppose you have made a polygroup on one side of your subtool (using the SliceCurve brush, for example)…

$\"\"$

If you want to mirror that polygroup onto the other side of the subtool, follow this procedure.

In the Deformation palette, on the Mirror button, select the axis on which to mirror (usually x).

Click the Mirror button. You’ll see the polygroup flip to the other side.

$\"\"$

Now go to the Geometry palette, expand the Modify Topology section, and click the Mirror and Weld button.

The polygroup is then mirrored to the other side as shown below.

$\"\"$

\n","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"about-polygroups-in-zbrush","title":"About Polygroups in ZBrush","description":"My study notes about polygroups in ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-05T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Polygroups allow you to organize a single mesh with visual grouping information. Press SHIFT + F or press the Draw Polyframe button as shown selected in orange below to see the polygroups. Notice that the example image has six different polygroups as depicted with different colors.

\n\t\t

$\"\"$

\n","modified":"2021-05-07T17:52:32.610Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"create-clothing-in-zbrush-extruding-masked-area","title":"How to Create Clothing in ZBrush by Extruding a Masked Area","description":"This tutorial demonstrates a quick and simple way to create clothing in ZBrush by extruding a polygroup out from a Subtool.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-05T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T17:36:24.366Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

This tutorial demonstrates a quick and simple way to create clothing in ZBrush by extruding a polygroup out from a Subtool.

\n\n

Mask an area on the SubTool by holding down CTRL and painting on the Subtool.

$\"\"$

In the Polygroups palette, click > Group Masked

Press CTRL + SHIFT and click the new polygroup to select it.

$\"\"$

Under Geometry, make sure you have no subdivisions; the panel loop feature will not work on models with subdivisions. Remove subdivisions if it has them.

In the Geometry palette, expand the EdgeLoop section.

Click the Append button, which is just to the right of the Panel Loops button. This will create a back-face for your mesh so that you can separate it off and your mesh can have thickness without cutting a hole into the body underneath.

Increase thickness slightly with the Thickness slider. Try 0.02 for thickness, for example.

Click the Panel Loops button to see what you get.

$\"\"$

CTRL + Z to undo an unwanted result and keep adjusting your thickness to what’s desired.

$\"\"$

Now, if you turn on Polyframe mode, you’ll notice that the clothing item is its own new group with another polygroup at the edge(s).

$\"\"$

If you want to get rid of the extra polygroup on the edge(s), you can go to Polygroups palette and click the Auto Groups button.

$\"\"$

You can now CTRL + SHIFT + click on the new polygroup in order to isolate it.

$\"\"$

Go to Subtools palette, expand the Split section, and click the Split Hidden button.

Now the item and the body from which you started are now two separate objects (two separate Subtools)

$\"\"$

\n","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"use-auto-masking-by-polygroups-in-zbrush","title":"Use Auto Masking by Polygroups in ZBrush","description":"Now, when you use the move brush, it will only move the polygroup because everything else is auto-masked.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-05-05T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

In the brush palette, you can go to Auto Masking and set Mask By Polygroups to 100. This will setup an automatic masking so that when you use a brush, it will only affect the polygroup.

To try this, press CTRL and paint a mask on an object.

Press CTRL + W to turn the masked area into a polygroup.

Select the Move brush ( B + M + V )

In the Brush palette, under Auto Masking, set Mask By Polygroups to 100

$\"\"$

Now, when you use the move brush, it will only move the polygroup because everything else is auto-masked.

\n","modified":"2021-06-01T04:49:04.744Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"zbrush-resources-online","title":"ZBrush Resources Online","description":"A list of online resources related to ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-28T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-26T17:24:04.894Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

A list of online resources related to ZBrush; updated from time-to-time, whenever I discover something new\n and useful.

\n\n

\n
30 Best Zbrush Tutorials\n and Training\n Videos for Beginners
\n An article that aggregates several good tutorials, the sum of which cover a very broad scope over\n ZBrush features, functionality, and techniques.\n
\n
BadKing
\n BadKing is a free ZBrush resource site specialising in tutorials, 3D modeling, insert multi mesh\n brushes, alpha maps, concept art and more.\n
\n
CREATING A CUSTOM INSERT BRUSH
\n Video, ZBrush Classroom\n
\n
Cubebrush
\n A digital marketplace where you can find several resources (tutorials, models, brushes) pertaining to ZBrush.\n
\n
Danny Mac on Gumroad
\n Stylised 3D character tutorials. Watch and learn. See also: Danny Mac on ArtStation and Danny Mac 3D on\n YouTube.\n
\n
FlippedNormals
\n "The Only Curated CG Marketplace. High-quality training & resources by the world's best\n artists."\n
\n
Gumroad
\n A marketplace where artists give away and sell resources and tutorials. You'll find tons of stuff for and aboutr ZBrush.\n
\n
Pixologic’s Alpha\n Library
\n Pixologic has created a library full of amazing Alpha materials from ZBrush artists who wish to share\n their work with the ZBrush community. This library gives you one unique location to view, download,\n and begin sculpting using any of the alphas found in this library. See what ZBrush can do with your\n alphas. Enjoy the search.\n
\n
Pixologic’s Grid\n Library
\n These images are meant for use with the Grid enhancements in ZBrush 4R4, where they can be applied\n for use as reference during sculpting. After downloading the files to your computer, simply click\n the Draw >> Open button in ZBrush 4R4. More information regarding this feature may be found in\n the ZBrush 4_R4_whats_new.pdf, found in your Documentation folder.\n
\n
Pixologic’s Matcap\n Library
\n Pixologic has created a library full of amazing MatCap materials from ZBrush artists who wish to\n share their work with the ZBrush community. This library gives you one unique location to view,\n download, and begin sculpting with that unique MatCap look that only ZBrush can give you. Enjoy the\n search.\n
\n
Pixologic’s Texture\n Library
\n Pixologic has created a library full of amazing Texture maps from ZBrush artists who wish to share\n their work with the ZBrush community. This library gives you one unique location to view, download,\n and add textures to your creations. See what ZBrush can do with your textures. Enjoy the search.\n
\n
Pixologic’s\n ZClassroom
\n Beginner, intermediate, and advanced video coureses on how to use ZBrush from the software's makers at\n Pixologic.\n
\n
Sculpting the Face with Ryan\n Kingslien –\n Faceware Webinar Series
\n Video, Vimeo\n
\n
Travis\n Davids, Educational Materials and Resources, YouTube
\n Good stuff on rigging and posing your 3D models.\n
\n
YanSculpts\n on YouTube
\n Character Tutorials + more\n
\n
ZBrushCentral
\n Community forum hosted by Pixologic.\n
\n
ZBrushGuides.com
\n Tutorials, guides, videos, and resources from Pablo Munoz, a digital artist based in Melbourne,\n Australia.\n
\n
zbrushtuts
\n Zbrush Tutorials, Art and Breakdowns\n

What am I missing?

If you know of a good ZBrush resource that's missing from my list, please let me know in the comments below.

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"Default","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"how-to-optimize-a-zsphere-sketch-in-zbrush","title":"How to Optimize a ZSphere Sketch in ZBrush","description":"As you sketch, you add more and more ZSpheres to your canvas. Here's how to remove the ZSpheres that can't be seen.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

As you sketch, you’re going to be adding more and more ZSpheres to your canvas. You can see just how many ZSpheres you’ve added so far by looking at the Active Points in the top right of the ZSphere interface.

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According to that, I’ve got 58 ZSpheres in my drawing.

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While you’re sketching, you’re actually hiding some of the ZSpheres with new strokes. The ones that are completely hidden can be removed to optimize your canvas. To do this, go to the Tool palette, click the ZSketch pull-down, and click the Optimize button.

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Then, take a look at the ActivePoints count in the top right of the interface again. If you had completely hidden ZSpheres, they should be removed and you should see a reduction in the count.

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References

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OPTIMIZE

","modified":"2021-05-07T17:56:20.987Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"make-a-zbrush-speed-sculpt-timelapse-video","title":"How to Make a ZBrush Speed Sculpt Timelapse Video","description":"Here’s a procedure to setup ZBrush and record your own speed-sculpt video.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T17:58:03.360Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

A timelapse video, also known as a “Speed Sculpt” video, can exhibit your entire sculpting session in a time-compressed format that’s fascinating to watch and very popular for sharing on video sites like YouTube. Here’s a procedure to setup ZBrush and record such videos. A ZScript, which automates the same procedure is also attached.

Note: You might also be interested in reviewing the video ZBrush – How to Record a Timelapse by Jared Michael, which demonstrates this procedure.

Procedure for Timelapse Recording in ZBrush

Document > New Document
Go to Document menu and turn off Pro, because that constrains the aspect ratio.
In the same spot, set width and height to 1920 x 1080 (a good resolution for sharing on YouTube)
In the same spot, click Resize. This will stretch pixols you may already have on the canvas, so…
Press CTRL + N to clear the document (if necessary).
Draw a new sphere by just clicking and dragging to get a new clay ball (or any SubTool) on the canvas that now has the new resolution.
Slide on the Zoom icon over at right to get the whole canvas in view; that’s the screen space that is going to be recorded.
Select Movie > Doc (if the selection is grayed out, you may have to Delete a movie that’s been started) This is going to record just the document space rather than the entire ZBrush app window.
Movie > Modifiers > Frame Size 1 (sets a 1 to 1 resolution)
Movie > Modifiers > On Mouse (should be selected) / 24 fps (Every time you click, you record 1 second)
Movie > Overlay Image > Opacity: 0
Movie > Title Image > Fade In Time : 0
Movie > Title Image > Fade Out Time: 0
Now, you can activate the Movie > Timelapse button to start recording.
You can click the Pause button to pause.
You can Play whatever you’ve got so far, export, share it with the web, etc.
Click T to go into Edit mode (or click on the Edit mode icon).
Now you can click B for the Brush palette, plus C (clay) and B (build-up) and start whippin’ shit out.

Download the ZScript

You can also download and use the attached ZScript, which automates the procedure above.

Download: cdb-InitSpeedSculptTimelapseRecording.TXT

Since the ZScript is in text format, you can edit the settings in any text editor. To use the script in ZBrush:
Click to open the ZScript menu (palette).
Click Load and browse to select the downloaded script.
Expand the drawer below the canvas at the very bottom of the ZBrush UI.
You should see a Play button, which you can click to execute the script.

Reference Resources

ZBrush – How to Record a Timelapse, Jared Michael

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"binding-to-a-zsphere-armature","title":"Binding to a ZSphere Armature","description":"How to bind a ZSphere sketch (outer form) to a poseable ZSphere armature (inner skeleton).","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

An armature is like the wire or metal skeleton that a clay sculptor would use to build form upon – or the posable skeleton used under the surface of stop-motion characters in film. With ZSPheres, we can quickly create such armatures. We can then go into ZSphere sketch mode (SHIFT + A) and build up form atop the armature.

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Here, for example, I’ve created a basic armature for a xenomorph (Alien species). Creating such an armature is just a matter of starting with a single ZSphere from the tools palette. You drag on the canvas to create the initial ZSphere. Click to go into Edit mode and then use a combination of Draw, Move, Scale, and Rotate to build out the armature.

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Once you’ve got an armature, you can press SHIFT + A to go into ZSphere sketch mode and paint additional ZSpheres onto the armature to build out form.

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Pressing SHIFT + A to toggle in and out of sketch mode is the equivalent of pressing Edit Sketch button under ZSketch in the Tools palette.

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When not in the sketch mode, we can still pose the armature. But notice that after we’ve painted some ZSpheres onto the armature in sketch mode, reposing the armature does not automatically carry the sketched form we added on top.

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Press SHIFT + A and CTRL + Z to undo this change. We’ll learn how to bind the sketched ZSpheres in a bit. But first, take a look at the ShowSketch button under Tools > ZSketch. Pressing this displays a ghosted view of the form surrounding the armature.

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Now, at this stage, we can also click the Bind button under Tools > ZSketch.

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Now, when we rotate the ZSphere on the shoulder to move the arm, we can see that the form is bound to the armature and moves with it.

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If you continue to sketch in more form with additional ZSpheres in sketch mode, you’ll have to click the Tools > ZSketch > Reset Binding button to get those new ZSpheres bound to the armature for posing.

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The SoftBind slider, beside the Bind button allows us to soften the bind to the underlying armature. The value 0 specifies the hardest bind, while higher values soften the bind, giving a looser transition of the sketched ZSpheres on the underlying armature.

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References

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BINDING

","modified":"2021-05-07T17:59:46.311Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"how-to-adjust-zsphere-sketch-depth-in-zbrush","title":"How to Adjust ZSphere Sketch Depth in ZBrush","description":"Learn how to adjust the depth that ZSphere will draw onto a surface.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

You can adjust the depth that ZSphere will draw onto a surface in the brushes palette under Depth. There, you can adjust the Imbed slider or click the sphere symbol just to the left of the slider and drag it up and down.

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References

SKETCH BRUSH

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:53:31.298Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"free-zbrush-asset-gamblers-hat","title":"Free ZBrush Asset - Gambler's Hat","description":"Download this free gambler's hat ZBrush tool that I made.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Here’s a gambler’s hat ZBrush tool that I made; free to download and use…

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Created April 22, 2018 by Cody Burleson using ZBrush 2018.

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Download: gamblers-hat-001.ZTL

","modified":"2021-05-07T17:56:49.340Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"about-zsphere-smoothing-brushes","title":"About ZSphere Smoothing Brushes","description":"Learn to use special ZSphere smoothing brushes when sketching with ZSpheres.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

When you press SHIFT in ZSketch mode to smooth out the sketch, the default brush is Smooth 1.

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When you get to the ends of a chain of ZSpheres, Smooth 1 will embed and resize the ends, conforming the ends to the underlying model. You can see this demonstrated in the image below.

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If we want to resize the ends of a ZSphere chain without also embedding and conforming them to the underlying form, we can use Smooth 2.

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With Smooth 2, the ends of the ZSphere chain are resized, but not embedded…

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Smooth 3 will simply smooth the chain, but it will not embed or resize the ends.

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Smooth 4 is really good for things like muscles.

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Smooth 4 embeds and resizes the ends of the ZSphere chain, but it also uses a stronger pitch along the length of the ZSphere chain so that you end up with a strong bow towards the center of the chain as shown below.

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In little time, you can flesh out an armature. It’s really fun!

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\n","modified":"2021-05-07T17:54:16.247Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"rig-a-mesh-with-zspheres-in-zbrush","title":"How to Rig a Mesh With ZSpheres in ZBrush","description":"You can rig an existing mesh with a ZSphere armature, allowing you to pose the mesh by manipulating the underlying armature.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-23T14:49:29.684Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

You can rig an existing mesh with a ZSphere armature, allowing you to pose the mesh by manipulated the underlying armature.

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To demonstrate, I’m starting with the Julie tool. You can find this model by pressing the comma key ,, selecting the Tools item in the file browser, and choosing Julie.ZTL.

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When you draw Julie onto the canvas, you can see that she has more than one SubTool. You must have more than one subtool to use this method because the Transpose Master plugin will only work when you have more than one subtool active. But, that’s what it’s good for; it enables you to have posing across all of your subtools.

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Go to Zplugin > Transpose Master.
Click the ZSphere Rig button.
Click TPoseMesh.

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This creates a single unified mesh out of all of the subtools. It creates it in x-ray view and it also adds a ZSPhere…

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Make sure that symmetry is on (press X). Use the draw, scale, move, and rotate functions (hotkeys Q, W, E, and R). You can create new ZSpheres by activating the draw function Q and you use these functions to draw out an armature inside the mesh.

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Once you have your armature built, you go to Tool > Rigging and click Bind Mesh…

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You can now click the rotate function R and rotate ZSpheres to bend the model. You can click on Bind Mesh to go back into the mode to continue editing the armature. You can toggle back and forth between editing the armature and binding the mesh to get it right. Use Move and Rotate on the ZSpheres to more and rotate portions of the armature when bound. Press X to toggle symmetry if you want to move only portions without affecting the mirrored side.

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When you’re done posing the model, you can go back to the ZPlugin palette and go to the Transpose Master subpalette and click TPose > SubT. Note that you may want to save your project first as a separate project that you could come back to for continued armature work if you don’t like the results.

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The mesh is transformed and you get back to all your subtools. Here, for example, I set Julie’s legs a little further apart…

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For more, watch the video, Posing Characters in Zbrush using a Zsphere Rig, by Andrew Klein, on YouTube.

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Reference

Posing Characters in Zbrush using a Zsphere Rig, Andrew Klein, YouTube

\n","subtitle":"","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":""},{"_id":"delete-hidden-geometry-in-zbrush","title":"Delete Hidden Geometry in ZBrush","description":"Procedure for deleting hidden geometry in ZBrush and optionally capping open holes.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:04:22.802Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

CTRL + SHIFT and drag out a selection to select geometry to hide. The selection area will appear green.
Before releasing the left mouse button, or before lifting the stylus pen, press ALT. The selection area will turn red. You can then release the left mouse button or lift the stylus pen.
In Tools > Geometry > Modify Topology, click Del Hidden.
Optionally, in the same panel, you may click Close Holes to cap open holes.

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Related Tips

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Show hidden geometry: Press CTRL + SHIFT and then click on empty area of the canvas.
Toggle between hidden/shown geometry (reverse visibility): Press SHIFT + CTRL + Click and drag background.
Show only one given polygroup: Press CTRL + SHIFT and click on the given polygroup.

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"use-fibermesh-in-zbrush","title":"How to Use FiberMesh in ZBrush","description":"A workflow for using FiberMesh to create fur, grass, fibers, weeds and hair in ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T17:55:54.472Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

FiberMesh™ is a specialized mesh generation tool in ZBrush that allows you the create fur, grass, fibers, weeds and hair. Unlike the Fiber material, FiberMesh is not a render process. Instead, FiberMesh creates real geometry which can be added to an existing model as a new SubTool. These are my notes taken from early experimentation, which can help beginners understand the basics of using FiberMesh™.

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Workflow

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Setup Phase

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PolyPaint the source model with the colors of your choice. When the fibers are generated, they will (depending on the Fibers settings) draw their coloration from that of the underlying surface.

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With Colorize on (so the polypaint shows) turn on Tool > FiberMesh > Preview…

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In the Tool > FiberMesh > Modifiers set the TColor (Tip Colorize) slider to 0 and the BColor (Base Colorize) slider to 1. The fibers should now take on the polypaint color.

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As the color in the Base Color selector (the icon to the left of the BColor slider) can affect the fibers color set this to black/white, although the BColor setting can be adjusted if you want to tint the fibers. Any BColor setting greater than zero should show the polypaint color.

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Note: if you change the settings, or turn off Colorize, sometimes you need to move the BColor slider to get the fibers color to update.

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Draw a Mask (hold down CTRL while painting) to define where you wish to have your fibers grow from on the model.

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The intensity of the Mask will modulate the density and the length of the fibers. It is advised to change the Mask intensity by modifying the RGB Intensity of the Mask brush and/or by blurring your Mask after it has been drawn. Lower intensity will create a less dense area of fibers with a short length. At full Mask intensity the fibers will take on the full attributes defined in the Tool > Fibers sub-palette. In the image above, I’ve masked the red area where I want the fibers. In the image below, I’ve turned on FiberMesh > Preview and you can see that the fibers now only grow from the masked area.

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Once the surface’s PolyPaint and Mask have been defined, modify the Fibers settings according to the style you are looking for. Now press the Preview button. Your fibers will appear as a non-editable preview. At this stage, if you move your point of view or orientation of the model, the fibers will disappear until you release your mouse cursor. While in Preview mode, changing any of the Fibers settings will instantaneously update the fibers on your model without the need to cancel your operation and start from scratch.

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To evaluate your Fiber with complete shading, press the BPR button at the top right of the interface or use the Shift+R hotkey. This will render your FiberMesh so that you can be sure you’re happy with the results before proceeding to the sculpting and styling phase. Picking the right Material is also a key factor in your FiberMesh render.

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Once you are satisfied with your results, press the Tool > FiberMesh > Accept button to generate your FiberMesh as a new SubTool. You should now be able to see the generated SubTool in the SubTool palette as shown below.

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You may now repeat the above steps with a different Masked area or different settings. In this way, a single surface can have many different types of Fibers effects.

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Here, I’ve inverted the mask so that previously masked area becomes unmasked and the previously unmasked area becomes masked…

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I pressed SHIFT + R for a Best Preview Render and adjusted the Tool > FiberMesh > Coverage until I got something I liked…

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I then clicked Accept to generate the second SubTool. Now, I have two FiberMesh subtools.

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Preview…

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Best Preview Render (BPR)…

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Once your fibers have been generated, select the resulting SubTool in the Tool > SubTool sub-palette. You may now start using the different sculpting brushes to alter the fibers, including their colors. That is to say, you can move on to the grooming phase of the workflow. But first, you may wish to save your FiberMesh settings to get the same look again at a later date.

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Save Your FiberMesh Presets

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By clicking the Save button located at the top of the FiberMesh sub-palette, you can save all the current settings for your FiberMesh Preview so that they can be reused later. Saved presets make an excellent starting point for any new model, saving you time by duplicating a specific “look” that you really liked on an earlier model.

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To save your current settings, simply click the Save button and select a location of your choice. It is advised to save them in the ZFibersPresets folder located at the root of the ZBrush folder. This allows you to browse through and select from them quickly using LightBox, which now has a FiberMesh section.

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Grooming Phase

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ZBrush includes a wide variety of predefined Groom brushes dedicated to FiberMesh sculpting. These allow you to style the FiberMesh to the exact form and aspect that you wish. New settings have also been added to the Brush Palette for these brushes.

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In addition, all traditional sculpting brushes like Inflate, Pinch, Soft Concrete, Nudge (with the Picker set to Once Origin) and Move can be used to produce interesting results. Be aware that as these brushes were not designed specifically for use with Fibers, they can affect the shape of the fibers and the deformation can become extreme.

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To restore your fibers to their default width or length (but not position) you can use the new Tool > Morph Target > Morph width slider and Tool > Morph Target > Morph length slider. Please refer to the ZBrush documentation’s Morph Target section for more information.

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As with a traditional PolyMesh 3D, you can use the Mask brushes to protect certain fibers. A unique feature when Masking fibers is that when the Mask is painted on any portion of a fiber, ZBrush will Mask off the fiber’s entire length.

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Groom Brushes

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To complement the FiberMesh feature, there is a series of Groom brushes. These brushes are dedicated to the sculpting of FiberMesh objects. These brushes are derived from traditional sculpting brushes and have their behavior optimized to avoid unexpected results when working with Fibers.

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FiberMesh Groomed (Preview)…

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FiberMesh Groomed (BPR)…

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Some of the groom brushes:

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Groom Hairtoss – A standard grooming brush that is Mmost useful when sculpting fibersfor moving long hair with a smooth sweeping. This brush is taking advantage of the new Brush>Modifiers>Strength Multiplier which is multiplying the brush strength by what is set in this slider. especially long fibers to create hair. The length of the fiber is preserved when using this brush.
Groomer Strong – Similar to the Groomer brush, but with a stronger effect on the fibersA standard groom brush with no forward or inverse propagation. This brush will influence most of the fiber to be implemented with only the root to be protected.
Groom Blower – Simulates a hair dryer on the fibers by separating the fibers as if they were being blown around by wind.
Groom Clumps – This brush will clump the tips of the fibers together or cause the tips to flare out, depending on the brush modifiers.
Groom Turbulence – Deforms the fibers to have a slight turmoil. This is great to put a little of bit mess to hair.
Groom Fast Lengthen – Deforms and moves your fibers in the direction of your stroke. This brush also changes the length of your fibers without increasing the number of segments.Similar to Groom Lengthen, but produces less accurate deformation. . Use this for “quick and dirty” shaping.
Groom Root Colorize – This brush will only Polypaint the roots of the selected fibers.
GroomerMagnet – Deforms the tip of fibers to assimilate together.
GroomerTwist – Rotates the fibers around the brush, exactly like twisting a lock of hair.
Groom Twist Slow – Similar to the Groomer Twist brush except that it operates more slowly. It is best with low speed strokes.
Groom Hair Ball – Creates a ball-like clump at the tips of the fibers.
Groom Spike – Squeezes the majority of the affected fibers’ lengths together to create spikes.
Groom Spin Knot – Similar to Groom Spike except that the Twist settings in the Brush palette are set to a low rate to create a smoother effect. Great for creating sweeps in the fibers.
Groom Spin Knot Strong – Similar to the Groom Spin Knot brush, but with a stronger effect.

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References

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FiberMesh Workflow, ZBrush 4R7 User Guide
FiberMesh Groom Brushes, ZBrush 4R7 User Guide

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"apply-different-materials-to-subtools-in-zbrush","title":"How to Apply Different Materials to Subtools in ZBrush","description":"Apply different materials to different SubTools in ZBrush with 5 simple steps.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Here's how can you apply different materials to different subtools in ZBrush.

Overview

You apply different materials to different SubTools in ZBrush with the following simple steps, which are demonstrated on this page.

Select a Given SubTool
Choose a Material
Select Mrgb to Ensure a Material and Color Fill
Select Color and FillObject
Repeat for Other SubTools

Select a Given SubTool

Select a given SubTool in the Tool > SubTool palette...

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Choose a Material

Click on the Material icon to open the material picker. The Material icon is on the left-hand side of the interface, just above the color picker...

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From the material picker, click to select a desired material from the options. In this example, as shown below, I am selecting the SkinShade4 material...

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Select Mrgb to Ensure a Material and Color Fill

In the next step, we're going to fill the SubTool. However, it is possible to fill the SubTool with only the color from the material (if only Rgb is selected). To ensure that the next operation will fill the Subtool with the material and the color, select Mrgb as shown below.

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Select Color and FillObject

1) Click the Color menu to open the Color palette, 2) choose a desired color in the color picker, then 3) click FillObject. The material and color should be applied to the active SubTool as shown below...

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Repeat for Other SubTools

You can now select another given SubTool under Tool > SubTool and repeat the process.

\n ","modified":"2021-05-07T17:55:21.280Z","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"notes-on-zbrush-sculptris-pro","title":"Notes on ZBrush Sculptris Pro","description":"My study notes on the Sculptris Pro features in ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

My study notes on the Sculptris Pro features in ZBrush…

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The main controls of Sculptris Pro can be found in the Stroke palette…

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When Sculptris Pro is on, the brush icon is purple.
When Sculptris Pro is off, the brush icon is red.
Most brushes within ZBrush can be used in Sculptris Pro mode, but not all. If Scluptris Pro cannot be turned on, you may have an incompatible brush selected.
Press SHIFT + F to toggle polyframe view; this can help you see how Sculptris Pro is working.
Sculptris Pro allows you to sculpt with more polygons (or tessellation) in a specific area on a mesh.
Changing the brush size to smaller, creates more density (detail of polygons) in the stroke. So, the tessellation that is being added is being controlled by the draw size.\n
- The Adaptive Size button controls this. If you turn Adaptive Size off, you will not get the same amount of tessellation detail in a brush stroke.
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The SubDivide Size controls how much tessellation happens.
The UnDivide Ratio controls how much decimation happens.
You can turn OFF Adaptive Size and then manually control the tessellation by adjusting SubDivide Size without changing the draw size.
When you smooth, you decimate (reduce polygons); that’s what the UnDivide Ratio controls.
If you turn off Combined and then smooth, you decimate without tessellating (you only remove polygons to smooth). So, combined allows tessellation and decimation together.
Sculptris Pro works with PolyPaint too! So… you can paint and tesselate at the same time in order to achieve sharper paint strokes.
You cannot use Sculptris Pro mode on a mesh that is partially hidden.

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Custom Brushes

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You will also find a Sculptris Pro menu in the Brush palette for every brush. In that menu, each brush that works with Sculptris Pro will have Enable and Use Global selected. Use Global means that it uses what’s defined in the Sculptris Pro Stroke palette, which is global settings. You can uncheck Use Global here (in the brush palette).

\n\n

This is useful for setting tessellation / decimation settings for Sculptris Pro and then Save As to save your brush as a custom brush.

\n\n

For the brush, if you turn off Enable, it will not add tessellation or decimation in Sculptris Pro mode; it will just be used as a normal sculpting brush.

\n\n

Decimation Master

\n\n

Reduce polygon count, while not losing detail, when using Sculpris Pro.

\n\n

ZPlugin > Decimation Master

\n\n

Click on the presets to decimate and change poly count. Decimation is the process of reducing polygon count and vertex points while trying not to lose sculptural detail.

\n\n

So, this is great for optimizing the model as you use Sculptris Pro – decimating (in general), then adding detail (tessellation) where you need it.

\n\n

References

\n\n

\n","modified":"2021-05-07T17:59:13.367Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"how-to-use-live-boolean-in-zbrush","title":"How to Use Live Boolean in ZBrush","description":"Learn to use the real-time boolean operations in ZBrush.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2018-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-02T20:26:10.120Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Live Boolean allows you to perform real-time boolean operations with subtools in ZBrush.

Click the button to enable “Live Boolean”.

The object you boolean needs to be a polymesh 3d.

In the subtools palette, click “Append” to add a new subtool and choose a primitive such as a sphere.

$\"\"$

At first, the new subtool will have the same bounding box, so, you may not be able to see it. You can click\n move and move the subtool (transform it), until you can see it…

$\"\"$

Now you can use the options for cutting into or intersection…

$\"\"$

Cut into…

$\"\"$

Intersect…

$\"\"$

You can “bake” the result by going to Boolean in the Subtools palette and click “Make Boolean Mesh”. This\n bakes the boolean operation and puts the baked tool into the Tools palette (which you could Append as a new\n subtool into the subtools palette if you want to).

References

Zbrush 4R8: Live Booleans, YouTube\n Video

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"javascript-ternary-operator-shortcut-to-the-if-statement","title":"JavaScript Ternary Operator - Shortcut to the If Statement","description":"This shortcut to the IF statement is something every JavaScript developer should know.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-javascript.svg","created":"2018-01-17T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

The conditional (ternary) operator is the only JavaScript operator that takes three operands and it is frequently used as a shortcut for the if statement.

\n\n

// If isMember (first argument) evaluates to true, return "$2:00" (first expression),\n// else return "$10.00" (second expression)\nfunction getFee(isMember) {\n  return (isMember ? "$2.00" : "$10.00");\n}\n\n// Another example\n// var foo = (a === b) ? 1 : 2;\nvar foo = (a === b)\n  ? 1\n  : 2;

\n\n\t\t

See also: Conditional (ternary) Operator, MDN web docs

\n","modified":"2021-05-07T18:05:02.404Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"sparql-examples-construct","title":"SPARQL Examples – Construct","description":"Example SPARQL queries that can help you list the classes in an ontology.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-12-19T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-01T04:52:45.086Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Construct a graph giving ontology structure (the class hierarchy, properties, domains and ranges)

\n\n\t\tCONSTRUCT { ?s ?p ?o . } \nWHERE { VALUES ?p { rdfs:subClassOf rdfs:subPropertyOf rdfs:domain rdfs:range} ?s ?p ?o }\n\n\n\t\t

Note that when a reasoner is enabled classes may typically be inferred to be rdfs:subClassOf\n\t\t\tthemselves and rdfs:subClassOf any parent class, not just the direct parent.

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"sparql-examples-list-classes","title":"SPARQL Examples – List Classes","description":"Example SPARQL queries that can help you list the classes in an ontology.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-12-19T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:05:55.151Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Example SPARQL queries that can help you list the classes in an ontology.

List all classes

\n\nPREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>\n \nSELECT DISTINCT ?type\nWHERE {\n ?s a ?type.\n}\n\n

Note: The SPARQL keyword a is a shortcut for the common predicate rdf:type, giving the class of a resource.

\n\n

List root classes

\n\n

SELECT ?directSub ?super\n WHERE { ?directSub rdfs:subClassOf ?super .\n         FILTER NOT EXISTS {\n            ?directSub rdfs:subClassOf ?otherSub .\n            FILTER (?otherSub != ?directSub)\n         }\n}

\n\n

List all classes with a given prefix

\n\n

PREFIX bc: <http://base22.com/ont/bc#>\n \nSELECT DISTINCT ?type\nWHERE {\n  ?subject a ?type.\n  FILTER( STRSTARTS(STR(?type),str(bc:)) )\n}

\n\n

List class hierarchy

\n\n

PREFIX owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#>\nPREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\n \nSELECT DISTINCT ?subject ?label ?supertype\nWHERE {\n    { ?subject a owl:Class . } UNION { ?individual a ?subject . } .\n    OPTIONAL { ?subject rdfs:subClassOf ?supertype } .\n    OPTIONAL { ?subject rdfs:label ?label }\n} ORDER BY ?subject

\n\n

Note that when a reasoner is enabled classes may typically be inferred to be rdfs:subClassOf themselves and rdfs:subClassOf any parent class, not just the direct parent.

\n\n

List class hierarchy – filtered

\n\n

Give a class hierarchy, but filter out several structural elements so that we only end up with the unique classes in our ontology.

\n\n

PREFIX owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#>\nPREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>\nPREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\nSELECT DISTINCT ?subject ?label ?supertype\nWHERE {\n    { ?subject a owl:Class . } UNION { ?individual a ?subject . } .\n    OPTIONAL { ?subject rdfs:subClassOf ?supertype } .\n    OPTIONAL { ?subject rdfs:label ?label }.\n    FILTER (?subject != owl:Class &&\n        ?subject != rdf:List &&\n        ?subject != rdf:Property &&\n        ?subject != rdfs:Class &&\n        ?subject != rdfs:Datatype &&\n        ?subject != rdfs:ContainerMembershipProperty &&\n        ?subject != owl:DatatypeProperty &&\n        ?subject != owl:NamedIndividual &&\n        ?subject != owl:Ontology )\n} ORDER BY ?subject

\n\n

Note that when a reasoner is enabled classes may typically be inferred to be rdfs:subClassOf themselves and rdfs:subClassOf any parent class, not just the direct parent.

\n\n

List class hierarchy with direct subclasses only

\n\n

This is similar to the query above, but uses the Sesame-specific sesame:directSubClassOf to get only direct subclasses. This would work in any RDF4J (formerly Sesame) system such as Graph DB.

\n\n

PREFIX owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#>\nPREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>\nPREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\nPREFIX : <https://codyburleson.com/hyperg/>\n \nSELECT DISTINCT ?subject ?label ?supertype\nWHERE {\n    {\n        ?subject a owl:Class .\n        OPTIONAL { ?subject sesame:directSubClassOf ?supertype } .\n        OPTIONAL { ?subject rdfs:label ?label }.\n    }\n           \n          FILTER (?subject != owl:Class &&\n            ?subject != rdf:List &&\n            ?subject != rdf:Property &&\n            ?subject != rdfs:Class &&\n            ?subject != rdfs:Datatype &&\n            ?subject != rdfs:ContainerMembershipProperty &&\n            ?subject != owl:DatatypeProperty &&\n            ?subject != owl:NamedIndividual &&\n            ?subject != owl:Ontology &&\n            ?subject != ?supertype)\n} ORDER BY ?subject

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"sparql-examples-select","title":"SPARQL Examples – Select","description":"Various examples for using SELECT in SPARQL queries.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-12-17T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:06:39.292Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Find all triples

\n\n

Use SELECT to signify you want to select certain information and WHERE to signify your conditions, restrictions, and filters. A LIMIT is used to avoid cracking the server on a large dataset.

\n\nSELECT ?subject ?predicate ?object\nWHERE {?subject ?predicate ?object} \nLIMIT 100\n\n

Find all same-subject triples by given subject

\n\n

By specifying only the subject in the pattern, we can return all triples that have that subject. When an individual entity is defined by a given subject URI, then this is a way to get all the properties for that entity.

\n\n

PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\nPREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>\nSELECT ?subject ?predicate ?object\nWHERE {\n    <http://codyburleson.com/hyperg/person/cody-burleson> ?predicate ?object .\n} LIMIT 100

\n\n

Since the subject is known, you could also omit ?subject from the SELECT line so that only the predicates and objects are returned.

\n\n

Find and order most used predicates

\n\n

SELECT ?predicate (COUNT(*)AS ?frequency)\nWHERE {?subject ?predicate ?object}\nGROUP BY ?predicate\nORDER BY DESC(?frequency)\nLIMIT 10

\n\n

Select the top 100 nodes in the RDF graph

\n\n

RDF Rank is a GraphDB extension. It is similar to Page Rank and it identifies “important” nodes in an RDF graph based on their interconnectedness. It is accessed using the rank:hasRDFRank system predicate.

\n\n

PREFIX rank:<http://www.ontotext.com/owlim/RDFRank#>\nSELECT ?n\nWHERE {?n rank:hasRDFRank ?r }\nORDER BY DESC(?r)\nLIMIT 100

\n\n

Find anything with a label

\n\n

The following query will find all triples where subject and object are joined by rdfs:label. In other words, anything that has been defined as having a label.

\n\n

PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\nSELECT ?subject ?label\nWHERE { ?subject rdfs:label ?label } LIMIT 100

\n\n

Find instances by class with a label

\n\n

The following example query will get the labels of anything of the class type (rdf:type) Organization.

\n\n

PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\nPREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>\nSELECT ?subject ?label\nWHERE {\n    ?subject rdf:type <http://codyburleson.com/hyperg#Organization> .\n    ?subject rdfs:label ?label\n} LIMIT 100

\n\n

Find all subjects with a given object property

\n\n

PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\nPREFIX bc: <http://www.base22.com/ontologies/2010/5/bc.owl#>\nSELECT ?subject\nWHERE { ?subject bc:hasEmployer <http://www.base22.com/ontologies/2010/5/my-contacts.owl#IBM> } LIMIT 100

\n\n

From my contacts ontology, I find all IBMers (i.e. the hasEmployer predicate points to the individual IBM, which is an object of type Organization).

\n\n

Find all classes

\n\nPREFIX rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#>\n \n SELECT DISTINCT ?type\n WHERE {\n ?s a ?type.\n }\n\n

The SPARQL keyword a is a shortcut for the common predicate rdf:type, giving the class of a resource.

\n\n

Find all classes with a given prefix

\n\n

PREFIX bc: <http://base22.com/ont/bc#>\n \n SELECT DISTINCT ?type\n WHERE {\n     ?subject a ?type.\n     FILTER( STRSTARTS(STR(?type),str(bc:)) )\n }

\n\n

The SPARQL keyword a is a shortcut for the common predicate rdf:type, giving the class of a resource.

\n\n

Query from a particular graph on the web

\n\n

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>\nPREFIX card: <http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card#>\nSELECT ?homepage\nFROM <http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card>\nWHERE {\n    card:i foaf:knows ?known .\n    ?known foaf:homepage ?homepage .\n}

\n\n

The FROM keyword lets us specify the target graph in the query itself.
Of interest also in the query shown above:
By using ?known as an object of one triple and the subject of another, we traverse multiple links in the graph.

\n\n

Find subjects with a property value greater than

\n\n

Find me all landlocked countries with a population greater than 15 million

\n\n

PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\nPREFIX type: <http://dbpedia.org/class/yago/>\nPREFIX prop: <http://dbpedia.org/property/>\nSELECT ?country_name ?population\nWHERE {\n    ?country a type:LandlockedCountries ;\n    rdfs:label ?country_name ;\n    prop:populationEstimate ?population .\n    FILTER (?population > 15000000) .\n}

\n\n

You can try this one at the DBPedia SPARQL endpoint.

FILTER constraints use boolean conditions to filter out unwanted query results.
Shortcut: a semicolon (;) can be used to separate two triple patterns that share the same subject. (?country is the shared subject above.)
rdfs:label is a common predicate for giving a human-friendly label to a resource.

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"respond-to-button-click-with-observable","title":"Respond to a Button Click With an Observable","description":"A recipe for responding to a button click with an RxJS Observable.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-javascript.svg","created":"2017-12-03T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:07:12.905Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

A recipe for responding to a button click with an RxJS Observable.

HTML

\n\n<script src="https://unpkg.com/@reactivex/rxjs@5.3.0/dist/global/Rx.js"></script>\n<button>Click me</button>\n\n

JavaScript

\n\n

var button = document.querySelector('button');\nRx.Observable.fromEvent(button, 'click').\n    subscribe(\n        (value) => console.log(value.clientX) // just for example, log the x position of the cursor\n    );

\n \n

The observable is created by the operator, fromEvent, which takes an “element” and an event name as parameters. It will listens for events of that name (i.e. 'click') taking place on that element. It returns an Observable that emits those events. An “element” may be a simple DOM element, or a NodeList, jQuery element, Zepto Element, Angular element, Ember.js element, or EventEmitter. This operator also takes an optional third parameter: a function that accepts the arguments from the event handler as parameters and returns an item to be emitted by the resulting Observable in place of the event.

Alternative importing

If you're using a JavaScript modules approach (such as with TypeScript), you could do something like the following instead of using the <script> element for importing as shown above.

\n\n

import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';\nimport 'rxjs/add/operator/map';\nimport 'rxjs/add/observable/of';\n// import 'rxjs/add/operator/switchMap';\n// etc., etc...\n// or, you could just more conventiently grab the whole package, but this may not be efficient without Tree Shaking, so I'd recommend the approach above\n// import 'rxjs/Rx';

\n\n

Creating your own observer

Alternatively, you could create your on observer to listen to the click event. Since RxJS provides the fromEvent operator, this is unnecessary. However, showing how this could be done provides a good example of how to create your own observers without use of the RxJS operators.

JavaScript

\n\n

var button = document.querySelector('button');\nvar observer = {\n    next: function(value) {\n        console.log(value.clientX);\n    }\n    // In reality, the error and complete functions below would never be\n    // called for a button click event, but this shows the basic structure\n    // of an Observable; generally implementing the three functions: next, error, and complete...\n    error: function (error) {\n        console.log(error);\n    }\n    complete: function() {\n        console.log('Completed');\n    }\n};\nRx.Observable.fromEvent(button, 'click').\n    subscribe(observer);

\n \n

References

\n\n \t

\n \t\n

","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"stories-of-slavery-as-told-by-ex-slaves","title":"A Treasure on the Web: Stories of Slavery as Told by Ex-Slaves","description":"Share the memories of what it truly meant to be born in slavery.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2017/11/slavery-thumbnail.jpg","created":"2017-11-27T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["memoir"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

\n\n

\"My mind hinder comes and goes, but I can always 'member 'bout slav'ry time.\"

\n\n

Uncle Ant'ny sat dozing in the early morning sunshine on his rickety front porch. He was a thin little old man with patches of white wool here and there on his bald head, and an expression of kindness and gentleness on his wrinkled old face.

\n\n

As Susie O'Brien went cautiously up the steps, which appeared none too safe, the cane against his chair fell to the floor with a clatter. He awoke, startled, and began fumbling around for it with his trembling and bony hands.

\n\n

\"Uncle Ant'ny, you don't see so well, do you?\" she asked as she recovered the stick for him.

\n\n

\"No ma'am, I sho' don't,\" he replied. \"I aint seed none outen one of my eyes in near 'bout sixty years, and de doctor say I got a catiac on de uther one; but I knows you is white folks. I always is been puny, but I reckon I does purty well considerin' I is a hundred years old.\"

\n\n

\"How do you know you are that old?\" she inquired of him.

\n\n

Without hesitation, he answered. \"I knows I's dat old 'cause my mistis put it down in de Bible. I was born on de fourth day and I was a full growed man when de war come on in '61.\"

\n\n

\"Yessum,\" he said. \"My mind hinder comes and goes, but I can always 'member 'bout slav'ry time. Emt's the things what happen in those days dat's so hard for me to disremember.\"

\n\n

And so it went on the Alabama morning of August 4th, 1937 that old Anthony Abercrombie, an ex-slave, began to tell his story. Susie O'Brien, Anthony's biographer, was employed by The Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, which provided work for historians, teachers, writers, librarians, and other white-collar workers during the Great Depression. As per instruction, she recorded his story with meticulous faith to his own account, capturing even the cultural dialect from \"the days of local color\" with phonetic spelling.

\n\n

Other informants, like Susie O'Brien, worked across several of the Southern United States during the years of 1936-1938 with a shared realization that the last generation of slaves would soon be gone. As such, they transcribed authentic recollections from the ex-slaves for posterity. The project resulted in 2,300 first-person accounts and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. The collection, Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938, is from the Library of Congress and available online.

\n\n

\n
\"Tisn’t he who has stood and looked on, that can tell you what slavery is–'tis he who has endured.\"
\n
John Little, a fugitive slave, 1855
\n

\n\n

There are many great works that recount the history of slavery in the United States and my guess is that many of those have drawn from the Slave Narratives as a source. You may find, like me, that going back to that original source is engaging in its own unique way and probably as authentic a telling as one can find. You will find yourself fascinated by the people who told their stories as much as the stories themselves. It's like going back in time to the days of the Great Depression, sitting down on a rickety front porch in Alabama, and listening along as some wise old man or woman takes you back in time to some place from whence the winds came that now whisper in the leaves of the ancient oak on the lawn. Back to the Civil War and before.

\n\n

I could sit there with Uncle Antn'y all through the Autumn day, just listening. Yet there are more states to visit, more porches and more people. We can visit them anytime and share the memories of what it truly meant, each to their own, to be born in slavery. What a treasure!

\n\n \n

\n \n\n

At the Lincoln Memorial in 2017 - only yards away from the spot where Martin Luther King Jr. stood and said, \"I have a dream.\" King's speech was given 100 years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation promised freedom to the slaves.

\n\n

Citations

\n\n

Federal Writers' Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 1, Alabama, Aarons-Young. to 1937, 1936. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mesn010/. (Accessed November 25, 2017.)
Image: A Union soldier stands with African Americans on the plantation Thomas F. Drayton, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, 1862. Photo by Henry P. Moore, May 1862. Shutterstock stock illustration ID: 242290462
Image: Grave of Uncle Joe; died 1888; tombstone erected by B.J. Hoole, son-in-law of General John L. Hunter; \"In memory of a trusted slave who continued as a servant after he was freed\"; Fairview Cemetery, Eufaula, Alabama

\n","modified":"2021-05-07T18:07:39.977Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"loneliness-and-a-shovel","title":"Prompt Writing - Loneliness and a Shovel","description":"A creepy little tale I wrote in response to a writing prompt.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2017-10-28T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["storycraft-and-writing"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Writing prompt

\n\n

Prompt by Cameron Graham, Oct 25 2017, Writing Prompts Group, Facebook

\n\n

The loneliness was crushing. For six weeks, since the fever had taken her, there had been no one to talk to. The walls would not reply; the looming trees around the cabin had nothing to say; the winds only whipped his words away.

\n\n

Why did she have to be gone?

\n\n

He realized she did not have to be gone. Taking up his pick and shovel, he returned to the clearing where he had made her grave.

\n\n

Writing

\n\n

He dug madly into the earth. The moon watched over him throughout the night and then finally retired. As the sun rose, he carried her frail and withered body back to rest in her favorite chair beside the hearth where she had sat for all the years of his life. It was from that chair she’d taught him all the most important things to know.

\n\n

“You can’t keep that sweet young girl here, Jimmy,” Mama would say. And then she would wait patiently as he pinched his ears and shook his head and moaned and groaned in a fit of anger. She was always so patient. Always so gentle and wise.

\n\n

Jimmy picked maggots from her flesh and tossed them into the fire. He fetched her crochet needles and placed them gently in her hands. Laid the roll of yarn in her lap and arranged the blanket snug upon her shoulders.

\n\n

“I know, Mama,” he said. “Someone might a come lookin’ for that girl.”

\n\n

He waited for her to answer as she had done so many times before. He waited for her to say what she always said, and what he always hated to hear. That’s right, Jimmy. And you ought not have her in your bed when they come a knockin’.

\n\n

“But Mama,” he would whine.

\n\n

And “Now, Jimmy,” she would say, “you know better. You get that girl on outta here now.”

\n\n

He peeked through the door in his bedroom at the child. In the soft glow of the firelight, he could see that she was still there. Still sleeping. So, he sat on the floor by his mama and waited for her to tell him when it was time.

\n\n

As the day went on, she said many things, but never a sharp word. She never told him to take the girl on out. She had changed. The fever had softened her heart.

And Jimmy’s heart grew full. His loneliness was gone. He had someone to talk to. Like wise old friends, even the trees around the cabin had much to say. The winds sang like a jubilent chorus in their leaves.

\n\n

If she can stay, why do the others have to be gone too?

\n\n

He realized they did not have to be gone. Taking up his pick and shovel, he returned to the clearing where he had buried them.

\n","modified":"2021-05-07T18:08:06.695Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"install-oracle-java-8-on-ubuntu","title":"Install Oracle Java 8 on Ubuntu","description":"How to install Oracle Java 8 on Ubuntu (in may case, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS)","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-ubuntu.svg","created":"2017-10-24T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

How to install Oracle Java 8 on Ubuntu (in my case, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS)

\n\n

Procedure to install Oracle Java 8 on Ubuntu

\n\n

You probably want to confirm first that a version of Java is not already installed. If so, you can do that with the java -version command as shown below…

\n\n

developer@ubuntu:~$ java -version\nThe program 'java' can be found in the following packages:\n * default-jre\n * gcj-5-jre-headless\n * openjdk-8-jre-headless\n * gcj-4.8-jre-headless\n * gcj-4.9-jre-headless\n * openjdk-9-jre-headless\nTry: sudo apt install \ndeveloper@ubuntu:~$

\n\n

Change to root…

\n\n

sudo su -\n(enter password)\napt-get install software-properties-common\nadd-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java\napt-get update\napt-get install oracle-java8-installer

\n\n

Check if Java is successfully installed

\n\n

java -version\njava version \"1.8.0_111\"\nJava(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_111-b14)\nJava HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.111-b14, mixed mode)

\n\n

Procedure to uninstall

\n\n

If, for some reason, you want to undo this operation and uninstall Oracle Java 8 from Ubuntu, you can then execute the following:

\n\nsudo su -\nsudo apt-get remove oracle-java8-installer","modified":"2021-05-07T18:09:44.077Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"liferay-7-ubuntu-developer-vm-setup-log","title":"Liferay 7 Ubuntu Developer VM Setup Log","description":"My notes on how I setup a Liferay development environment using Ubuntu and VMWare Fusion.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-liferay.svg","created":"2017-10-24T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

This page provides a log of how I setup a Liferay development environment using Ubuntu and VMWare Fusion. The idea is to be able to develop for Liferay CE and Liferay DXP although only the CE portion is fully setup so far, with the DXP portion standing by for potential completion in the case of a customer project. I like to snapshot my VMs frequently so that I can roll back at any point, so you will see indicators everywhere that I’ve taken a snapshot.

This also includes an acid-test, which is itself a mini-tutorial on how to create a RESTful web service endpoint in Liferay.

\n\n

Create an Ubuntu virtual machine

\n\n

Download Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS Desktop ISO:
\n https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
Install using the easy install (drag and drop the ISO after selecting new in VMWare Fusion)
\n $\"\"$
\n Password is: dev
On this next screen, do not click FINISH!
\n $\"\"$
\n Instead, click Customize Settings
Save the VM as “Ubuntu 64-bit Server 16.04.3” (default file name for the VM)
In the virtual machine settings:\n
- Processors: 2 Processor Cores
- Memory 4000 MB
- Disk size: 60 GB (but not pre-allocated); leave split into multiple files checked
\n
Start up the VM
Reinstall VMWare Tools using the instructions for installing here:
\n https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1022525
\n RESTART
SNAPSHOT: CLEAN INSTALL W VMWARE TOOLS

\n\n

Update Ubuntu

\n\n

developer@ubuntu:~$ sudo su -\n[sudo] password for developer:\nroot@ubuntu:~# dev <-password\nroot@ubuntu:~# apt-get update && apt-get upgrade

\n\n

SNAPSHOT: UBUNTU UPDATE & UPGRADE

\n\n

Install Java

\n\n

Note by the following command that Java is not installed…

\n\n

developer@ubuntu:~$ java -version\nThe program 'java' can be found in the following packages:\n * default-jre\n * gcj-5-jre-headless\n * openjdk-8-jre-headless\n * gcj-4.8-jre-headless\n * gcj-4.9-jre-headless\n * openjdk-9-jre-headless\nTry: sudo apt install <selected package>\ndeveloper@ubuntu:~$

\n\n

Change to root…

\n\n

sudo su -\n(enter password)\napt-get install software-properties-common\nadd-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java\napt-get update\napt-get install oracle-java8-installer

\n\n

Check if Java is successfully installed

\n\n

java -version\njava version \"1.8.0_111\"\nJava(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_111-b14)\nJava HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.111-b14, mixed mode)

\n\n

Fix for network service discovery disabled

\n\n

I got this on a startup.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Fix

\n\n

It looks like avahi-daemon is started when the network connection is established (/etc/network/if-up.d/avahi-daemon). This notification is informing you that mDNS (Avahi) has been disabled. It’s only used for a small number of applications that only work on the local network, it won’t adversely affect your internet connection or DNS.

\n\n

The most well known use for mDNS is sharing music with Rhythmbox (or iTunes) over your LAN. It’s an Apple technology, but it’s largely been ignored in favour of uPNP or DLNA.

\n\n

To disable it, you must edit the file /etc/default/avahi-daemon as root:

\n\nsudo -i\ngedit /etc/default/avahi-daemon\n\n

and add this line (or change it if already exists to):

\n\n

AVAHI_DAEMON_DETECT_LOCAL=0

\n\n

Source: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1632952

\n\n

Fix for colord-sane crash on startup

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Fix

\n\n sudo apt-get remove sane-utils\nsudo apt-get remove colord\n\n

Worked for me, 16.04 running XFCE, but i’ve no need for color profiles.

\n\n

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/sane-backends/+bug/1351286

\n\n

SNAPSHOT: STARTUP ERRORS FIXED

\n\n

Install MySQL 5.6

\n\n

You’ll need MySQL 5.6 for the latest version of Liferay (at this point in time).

\n\n\n

sudo add-apt-repository 'deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty universe'\nsudo apt-get update\nsudo apt install mysql-server-5.6\nsudo apt install mysql-client-5.6

\n\n

MySQL root credentials

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

user	root
password	fruityrooty22

\n\n

SNAPSHOT: MYSQL 5.6 SERVER AND CLIENT

\n\n

Start the MySQL server and enable the service on system boot

\n\n

Once the MySQL installation is completed, start the MySQL server and enable the service on system boot:

\n\n\nsudo su -\nsystemctl restart mysql\nsystemctl enable mysql\n\n

SNAPSHOT: ENABLE MYSQL ON BOOT

\n\n

Install MySQL Workbench

\n\n

Install MySQL Workbench using the APT package manager:

\n\nsudo apt install mysql-workbench\n\n

Run MySQL Workbench

\n\n

Launch MySQL Workbench from the terminal:

\n\nmysql-workbench\n\n

To view more launch options from the command line interface, use the --help option:

\n\n/usr/bin/mysql-workbench --help\n\n

SNAPSHOT: MYSQL WORKBENCH

\n\n

Secure the MySQL installation

\n\nsudo su -\nmysql_secure_installation\n\n

SNAPSHOT: SECURE MYSQL INSTALLATION

\n\n

Download Liferay assets

\n\n

Download Liferay Portal CE from the site using the Firefox browser in the virtual machine.
Alsxo download the latest Liferay IDE for Linux (64bit)

\n\n

Now, we have both in our Downloads directory. This is what we’ll need to setup a basic Liferay Portal CE dev environment. Note that in the future, I want to also be able to do Liferay DXP development on the same system. Thus, I’ll name things using “CE” versus “DXP” to distinguish.

\n\n

Download Liferay DXP from Customer Portal
Download Liferay Developer Studio from Customer Portal
You DO NOT need to download Liferay Workspace as it is within Liferay Developer Studio

\n\n

To simplify subsequent steps, I renamed my downloads as follows:

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

SNASPSHOT: LIFERAY ASSETS DOWNLOADED

\n\n

Unzip and move Liferay CE

\n\n

In a terminal…

\n\ncd ~\ncd Downloads\nunzip liferay-ce.zip\nsudo mv liferay-ce-portal-7.0-ga4/ /opt/liferay-ce\n\n

Notice that during the move operation, the directory was renamed to simpley “liferay-ce”.

\n\n

Next, we’ll do a similar procedure for Liferay DXP.

\n\n

Unzip and Move Liferay DXP

\n\n

In a terminal…

\n\ncd ~\ncd Downloads\nunzip liferay-dxp.zip\nsudo mv liferay-dxp-digital-enterprise-7.0-sp4/ /opt/liferay-dxp\n\n

Notice that during the move operation, the directory was renamed to simpley “liferay-ce”.

\n\n

Delete Liferay CE and DXP Zips

\n\n

Now we can delete the original archive files to clean up and free some space…

\n\ncd ~\ncd Downloads\nrm -rf liferay-ce.zip\nrm -rf liferay-dxp.zip\n\n

SNAPSHOT: LIFERAY CE AND DXP IN PLACE

\n\n

Create MySQL databases for Liferay

\n\n

Since I am setting up my dev to support both liferay-ce and liferay-dxp, I’ll create two databases, on for each instance.

\n\n

Run the ‘mysql‘ command as a MySQL super user. The default user is ‘root’ with a blank password.

\n\n mysql -h localhost -u root -pfruityrooty22\n\n

Create an empty Liferay database schema by running this command:

\n\n

CREATE DATABASE liferayce CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_bin;\nCREATE DATABASE liferaydxp CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_bin;

\n\n

Create the Liferay database user by running this command. Replace ‘liferayuser’ and ‘liferaypass’ with a username and password of your choice. If Liferay is not running on the same server as your MySQL database server, replace ‘localhost’ with the hostname or IP address of the Liferay server.

\n\n

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON liferayce.* TO 'liferay_db_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'liferay_db_user22';\nGRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON liferaydxp.* TO 'liferay_db_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'liferay_db_user22';

\n\n

liferay_db_user credentials

\n\n

…for both lifreayce and liferaydxp databases…

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

User	\n `liferay_db_user`\n
Password	\n `liferay_db_user22`\n

\n\n

Enter quit to exit out of mysql.

\n\n

If you want, you can execute the following command to fire up the MySQL Workbench to verify:

\n\n mysql-workbench\n\n

You should see the following…

\n\n

(click to enlarge…)

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

SNAPSHOT: EMPTY LIFERAY DBS CREATED

\n\n

Create portal-ext.properties files

\n\n

Create the following two portal-ext.properties files and place them in their respective Liferay home directories.

\n\n

portal-ext.properties for liferay-ce

\n\n

#\n# MySQL\n#\njdbc.default.driverClassName=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver\njdbc.default.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost/liferayce?useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8&useFastDateParsing=false\njdbc.default.username=liferay_db_user\njdbc.default.password=liferay_db_user22

\n\n

portal-ext.properties for liferay-dxp

\n\n

#\n# MySQL\n#\njdbc.default.driverClassName=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver\njdbc.default.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost/liferaydxp?useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8&useFastDateParsing=false\njdbc.default.username=liferay_db_user\njdbc.default.password=liferay_db_user22

\n\n

Note:

\n\n

You can find the default portal.properties file inside of…

\n\n

tomcat/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/lib/portal-impl.jar

\n\n

That can be used as a reference (has lots of nice comments in it; but you’ll never edit that directly – you just override properties within it)

\n\n

SNAPSHOT: PORTAL-EXT.PROPERTIES CREATED

\n\n

I corrected the above files AFTER creating this snapshot, so the values shown above are what they SHOULD be for this snapshot. If you go back to this snapshot for some reason or use any between this one up to and including BUMP TOMCAT, you need to revise the files above as shown above.

\n\n

Remove Libre Office from the VM

\n\n

This is a developer VM; we don’t need it.

\n\nsudo apt-get remove --purge libreoffice*\nsudo apt-get clean\nsudo apt-get autoremove\n\n

SNAPSHOT: LIBREOFFICE* REMOVED

\n\n

Increase Tomcat memory settings

\n\n

In each Liferay home directory, navigate into the tomcat/bin directory and edit the setenv.sh file. You want to change

\n\n Xmx2048m -XX:MaxPermSize=1024m\n\n

It should look something like this after you change it…

\n\n

setenv.sh

\n\n

CATALINA_OPTS=\"$CATALINA_OPTS -Dfile.encoding=UTF8 -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true  -Dorg.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.ENABLE_CLEAR_REFERENCES=false -Duser.timezone=GMT -Xmx2048m -XX:MaxPermSize=1024m\"

\n\n

BUMP TOMCAT MEM

\n\n

Start Liferay CE and complete configuration

\n\n/opt/liferay-ce/tomcat-8.0.32/bin/startup.sh\ntail -f /opt/liferay-ce/tomcat-8.0.32/logs/catalina.out\n\n

The application may take some time to be fully started; that’s why we follow the log file for details.

\n\n

After it starts, at localhost:8080, keep all the defaults in the configuration, uncheck Add Sample Data and then click Finish Configuration…

\n\n

(click to enlarge…)

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Then you will see:

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Now, we should shut down this portal and do the same for the liferay-dxp instance.

\n\n/opt/liferay-ce/tomcat-8.0.32/bin/shutdown.sh\ntail -f /opt/liferay-ce/tomcat-8.0.32/logs/catalina.out\n\n

Again, now, you must start the liferay instance. Answer YES to the Terms agreement in the web browser and enter a new password. For the new poassword, I just entered “test” again.

\n\n

Liferay admin user credentials

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

user	test@liferay.com
password	dev

\n\n

CE 7.0 GA4 CONFIGURED AND RUNNING

\n\n

Install Liferay IDE

\n\n

Extract the liferay-ide.tar.gz

\n\n

Use drag-and-drop to move the resulting “eclipse” folder from Downloads to Home.

\n\n

Start up eclipse from that directory and choose the following default workspace:

\n\n

/home/developer/workspace-ce

\n\n

Remove Ubuntu apps

\n\n

Who has time for games?

\n\n

sudo apt remove aisleriot gnome-mahjongg gnome-mines gnome-sudoku\nsudo apt remove account-plugin-facebook account-plugin-flickr

\n\n

Also while we’re at it, go to Ubuntu Software > Installed and remove:

\n\n

Thunderbird Mail
Cheese (a camera app)
Rhythmbox
Simple Scan
Shotwell
Screen Reader

\n\n

SNAPSHOT: LIFERAY IDE INSTALLED

\n\n

Create a new Liferay Workspace Project

\n\n

Create a new Liferay Workspace Project named ce-work

\n\n

(do not choose to Download liferay bundle)

\n\n

Note (OPTIONAL)

\n\n

We will use the existing liferay-ce bundle outside of the workspace (/opt/liferay-ce). But if you wanted to use a bundle within the workspace, after the project is created, in the Gradle Tasks view execute Bundle > initBundle

\n\n

When that’s done running, refresh the workspace in the IDE and you’ll see the bundle…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Modify the gradle.properties file. Uncomment and change the liferay.workspace.home.dir as shown below. This is what the gradle deploy tasks will use when executing deploy.

\n\nliferay.workspace.home.dir=/opt/liferay-ce\n\n

Modify the bundles > config > local > portal-ext.properties so that it points to your local database as so…

\n\n

#\n# MySQL\n#\n\njdbc.default.driverClassName=com.mysql.jdbc.Driver\njdbc.default.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost/liferayce?useUnicode=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8&useFastDateParsing=false\njdbc.default.username=liferay_db_user\njdbc.default.password=liferay_db_user22

\n\n

Also, edit gradle.properties and uncomment the following line so that the local config is what is used:

\n\nliferay.workspace.environment=local\n\n

Later, you can change that line for another configuration.

\n\n

DON’T FORGET TO DO A GRADLE REFRESH AFTER YOU SAVE! Right-click the file and select Gradle > Refresh Gradle Project

\n\n

Edit the tomcat / bin / setenv.sh in the bundles of the workspace and bump the tomcat memory 2048, 1024 as described earlier.

\n\n

At this point you follow the instructions for Connect to existing Liferay CE from within the workspace (only pointing to the internal bundle) and then…

\n\n

For safety, we’ll modify the portal-ext.properties file for this newly created server to point to our local ce database also…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

So, at this point, we have a liferay-ce bundle in /opt and we now have another one inside the Liferay workspace. Both should be pointing to our local ce database.

\n\n

Again, however, we need to keep the defaults in the web browser configuration and accept the License, but Add Create Sample Data!

\n\n

And then, again, restart the portal (this time, from within the IDE).

\n\n

After creating the Liferay Project Workspace, you should see:

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Connect to existing Liferay CE from within the workspace

\n\n

Next, we’ll connect to the bundle by creating a new server so we can stop and start and watch the logs within the IDE…

\n\n

Connect to the Liferay Server…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Stop the liferay-ce server by command line (if one is started), so we can restart it from within the IDE.

\n\n

After the server is created, double-click to open it in the Editor.

\n\n

In the Liferay Account section, make sure you enter the username and password for the Liferay administrative user and save the server file.

Now you can start the server from within the IDE…

\n\n

SNAPSHOT: LIFERAY IDE SETUP

\n\n

Quick acid test – create and deploy a RESTful web service

\n\n

Now, we should be able to test this setup. To do so, we’ll create an OSGI module, a simple REST web service, and deploy it using Gradle deploy.

\n\n

Right-click on the ce-work node (the Liferay Workspace Project node) and select New > Liferay Module Project
Enter project name ‘rest’ and select Project Template Name: rest as shown below…
\n $\"\"$
I am naming my class and package as shown below…
\n $\"\"$
Click Finish
The resulting module project should look like this:
\n $\"\"$
In the Gradle Tasks view, under the Rest > build nodes and double-click build to execute the Gradle build for this module. You should get a BUILD SUCCESSFUL message in the console.
In the Gradle Tasks view, under the Rest > build nodes, double-click the deploy task. Wait for the console to show you that the module was started.
Note that you can also right-click on the server and select to open the gogo shell:
\n $\"\"$
In the gogo shell, type lb and hit enter. You should see there at the bottom, the OSGI module as Active…
\n $\"\"$
Now point your browser to http://localhost:8080/o/rest/greetings and you should see that it works!
\n $\"\"$

\n\n

SNAPSHOT: REST ACID-TEST MODULE CREATED

\n\n

Conclusion

\n\n

This log has demonstrated the steps that I have used to build a developer’s virtual machine (VMWare Fusion for Mac, in my case – although it should also be fine on VMWare for Windows). At this point, you’ve got enough to do some development with Liferay CE using the Liferay IDE.

\n\n

Potential future step A – complete the configuration for Liferay DXP

\n\n

This step will be very much like the CE step above, but we’ll wait on it as I intend to explore the CE stuff and the Liferay IDE before getting into any of the DXP stuff. When it comes to the DXP, I’ll simply pick up here and do similar steps as what was done for CE above – adding in the license file for DXP as an additional deploy step.

\n\n

Potential future step B – Setup for building Liferay from source code

\n\n

In a future step, I’d also like to set this environment up also for building Liferay from source code.

\n\n

Potential future step C – Setup for developing with IntelliJ

\n\n

I’d also like to experiment with using IntelliJ instead of an Eclipse-based IDE.

\n\n

References

\n\n

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:09:06.697Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"quotes-for-writers","title":"Quotes for Writers","description":"A list of inspiring quotes from writers, for writers.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2017-10-21T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-01T04:45:04.697Z","topics":["storycraft-and-writing"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

A list of quotes for writers – most often from writers, most often inspiring.

\n\n

\n
The first sentence can’t be written until the final sentence is written.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Creativity and ego cannot go together. If you free yourself from the comparing and jealous mind, your creativity opens up endlessly.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Editing while writing is a terrible idea. Reviewing while writing is a terrible idea. Making retrospective story changes while writing is a terrible idea. There are cases where you might feel that you have to do some of those things, but you’d be better off if you didn’t. Just write the thing. That’s the single most valuable lesson I learned. Get the words out, almost without regard to what those words are. Keep going, at all costs.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Habit is the bed of creativity. Tuck yourself in.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Time constraints sharpen the mind.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Inspiration is everywhere. Carry a notebook.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
The difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightening.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Serious writers write, inspired or not. Over time they discover that routine is a better friend than inspiration.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
The two most engaging powers of a writer are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and, as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
It’s hell writing and it’s hell not writing. The only tolerable state is having just written.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Good dialog illuminates what people are not saying.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
My prescription for writer’s block is to face the fact there is no such thing. It’s an invented condition, a literary version of the judicial ‘abuse excuse’. Writing well is difficult, but one can always write something. And then, with a lot of work, make it better. It’s a question of having enough will and ambition, not of hoping to evade this mysterious hysteria people are always talking about.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
One of the biggest, and possibly the biggest, obstacle to becoming a writer is learning to live with the fact that the wonderful story in your head is infinitely better, truer, more moving, more fascinating, more perceptive, than anything you’re going to get down on paper.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Be an unstoppable force. Write with an imaginary machete strapped to your thigh. This is not a wishy-washy, polite, drinking-tea-with-your-pinkie-sticking-out stuff. It’s who you want to be, your most powerful self. Write your books. Finish them, then make them better. Find the way. No one will make this dream come true for you but you.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are\n numbered.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
When in doubt, make trouble for your character. Don’t let her stand on the edge of the pool, dipping her toe. Come up behind her and give her a good hard shove. That’s my advice to you now. Make trouble for your character. In life, we try to avoid trouble. We chew on our choices endlessly. We go to shrinks, we talk to our friends. In fiction, this is deadly. Protagonists need to screw up, act impulsively, have enemies, get into trouble.
\n
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
You don’t really understand an antagonist until you understand why he’s a protagonist in his own version of the world.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing to do is shovel shit from a sitting position.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
A good writer is always a people watcher.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
If you don’t see the book you want on the shelf, write it.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
I want your loves to be multiple. I don’t want you to be a snob about anything. Anything you love, you do it. It’s got to be with a great sense of fun. Writing is not a serious business. It’s a joy and a celebration. You should be having fun at it. Ignore the authors who say, oh my god, what work, oh Jesus Christ, you know. No, to hell with that. It is not work. If it’s work, stop it, and do something else.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Writing isn't hard. Landmine removal is hard. There are so many things in this world harder than spending an hour a night pretending to be somebody else. I don't mean to minimize your pain, but let's recognize that writing is fun. It's when we don't write that we complain about how hard it is.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Becoming a writer was partly a matter of acquiring technique, but it was just as importantly a matter of the spirit and a habit of the mind. It was the willingness to sit in that chair for thousands of hours, receiving only occasional and minor recognition, enduring the grief of writing in the belief that somehow, despite my ignorance, something transformative was taking place. It was an act of faith, and faith would not be faith if it was not hard, if it was not a test, if it was not an act of willful ignorance, of believing in something that can neither be predicted nor proved by any scientific metric.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Like everyone, I know some big words, but I try my damndest not to use them.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Don't look back until you've written an entire draft, just begin each day from the last sentence you wrote the preceding day. This prevents those cringing feelings, and means that you have a substantial body of work before you get down to the real work which is all in the edit.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
I don't need time, I need a deadline.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories — science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Creative living is any life that you live where your decisions are based more strongly on your curiosity than your fear.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
Whatever the genre, I look for someone who is precise and economical in their style and hard-working in their prose. By that I mean they take the time to choose words that surprise me; they use metaphors that I've never heard before; and they avoid cliches like "The mortars slammed into the hillside." I don't want to read anything - not even a clause - that I've seen before. It's just a waste of everyone's time.
\n

\n \n\n\n

\n
One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?"
\n

\n \n","subtitle":"","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight"},{"_id":"docker-cheat-sheet","title":"Docker Cheat Sheet","description":"Cheat sheet of commonly used docker commands.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-docker.svg","created":"2017-10-20T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-12-21T03:38:17.609Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

My cheat sheet of commonly used docker commands.

\n\n

List all containers

\ndocker ps --all\n

or...

\ndocker ps -a\n

Remove all containers and images

Here are the two Docker commands you can run in sequence to completely remove (delete) all of your containers and images.

To remove all containers:

\ndocker rm $(docker ps -a -q)\n

To remove all images:

\ndocker rmi $(docker images -q)\n

Warning: Executing the commands shown above will destroy all your containers and images; it will not be possible to restore them.

List images

\ndocker images\n

Remove an image

\ndocker rmi <image-id>\n

Warning: Executing the commands shown above will destroy the given image; it will not be possible to restore it.

Container shell access

The docker exec command allows you to run commands inside a Docker container. The following command line will give you a bash shell inside your container:

\ndocker exec -it <container-name> bash\n

If the container does not have bash installed you can use the following as an alternative:

\ndocker exec -it <container-name> sh\n

For container shell access with root privileges, you can run the following command:

\ndocker exec -ti -u root <container-name> bash\n

Type exit to exit out of the container and return to your host shell.

List ports

The port command can be used to display the ports that are exposed by a given container.

\ndocker port <container-name>\n

List processes

To see the processes running in a container, you can use the top command (similar to running the Linux top command):

\ndocker top <container-name>\n

View container log file

\ndocker logs <container-name>\n

Follow container log file

\ndocker logs --follow <container-name>\n

or...

\ndocker logs -f <container-name>\n

Restart a running container

\ndocker restart\n

Stop all running containers

\ndocker stop $(docker ps -a -q)\n

Inspect container information

\ndocker inspect <container-name-or-id>\n

This returns verbose information about the container in JSON format.

You can zero in on a particular attribute using the f parameter. The following, for example, will print only the Mounts section of the container information that would otherwise be found in the whole JSON print.

\ndocker inspect -f '{{ .Mounts }}' <container-name-or-id>","path":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"scene-and-sequel-pattern-for-writers","title":"The Scene and Sequel Pattern for Writers","description":"This technique is one that can help you create a solid pacing with the powerful and emotional experience that readers crave.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2017-10-12T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["storycraft-and-writing"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Aliases

\n\n

ACTION SCENE AND REACTION SCENE

\n\n

Context

\n\n

Whether you’re a pantser or a plotter, you need to carry the reader through your story with a purposeful progression of logically connected events that ultimately lead to the resolution of a climax. How can you advance through your scenes in a way that creates a steady and consistent reading speed, or pacing, while also accounting for important factors such as building tension, developing characters, and describing setting? The Scene and Sequel technique developed by Dwight Swain in his book, Techniques of the Selling Writer, is one that can help you create a solid pacing with the powerful and emotional experience that readers crave.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Problem

\n\n

Portions of your novel may have the tendency to lag or drag and fail to create a deep emotional connection with the characters of your story.

\n\n

Forces

\n\n

Humans like patterns and readers like a pattern that establishes solid pacing through a novel while building tension, developing characters, describing setting, and advancing plot lines.
As a writer, you must use a pacing that helps create and maintain an illusion strong enough to deliver the powerful and emotional experience that readers crave – one that allows them to escape from the drudgery of the real world and a way to live vicariously through others.

\n\n

Solution

\n\n

Therefore:

\n\n

Alternate between the two variant types of scenes known as SCENE and SEQUEL. The SCENE is driven by a goal, conflict, and disaster. It is then followed by a SEQUEL, which contains a reaction, dilemma, and decision. The decision leads to a new goal which begets the next SCENE and, as such, the cycle repeats.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Rationale

\n\n

Scene and Sequel is a technique developed by Dwight Swain in his book, Techniques of the Selling Writer. It can help you create and maintain solid pacing while also guiding you to account for the factors that build tension, develop characters, describe setting, and advance plot lines.

\n\n

A scene has the following pattern:

Goal – what the character wants. Must be clearly definable
Conflict – an obstacle or series of obstacles that keep the character from the goal
Disaster – makes the character fail to get the goal

And a sequel has the following pattern:

Reaction – emotional follow through of the disaster
Dilemma – a situation with no good options
Decision – character makes a choice (which sets up the new goal)

\n\n

Example

\n\n

For a brief example, see Writing Patterns Into Fiction: Scene and Sequel.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Related patterns

\n\n

SCENE
SWAIN SCENE
SWAIN SEQUEL

\n\n

References and related external resources

\n\n

Ackerman, Angela (2015). Writing Patterns Into Fiction: Scene and Sequel. Retrieved: 2017-10-07.
Swain, Dwight V. (1965). Techniques of the Selling Writer. University of Oklahoma Press.
Weiland, K.M. (2013). Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story. Published by PenForASword.
\n
Weiland, K.M. (2012). Structuring Your Story’s Scenes, Pt. 1: Mastering the Two Different Types of Scene. Retrieved: 2017-10-07.

\n","modified":"2021-06-01T14:55:49.458Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"sparql-examples-date-range","title":"SPARQL Examples – Date Range","description":"An example SPARQL query for resources within a given date range.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:18:52.922Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

An example SPARQL query filtering for resources within a given date range (between two given dates).

\n\n

PREFIX c: <https://carbonldp.com/ns/v1/platform#>\n \nSELECT ?document ?createdDate WHERE {\n    ?document c:created ?createdDate\n    FILTER (?createdDate < "2017-04-18T22:29:33.667Z"^^xsd:dateTime && ?createdDate > "2017-04-18T21:37:37.708Z"^^xsd:dateTime)\n} LIMIT 100

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"rdf-syntax-examples","title":"RDF Syntax Examples","description":"One RDF example in seven different serialization formats.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

RDF can be expressed in a variety of different serialization formats. It can also be used inline with HTML. Following is an example of the most widely used of these formats so that you can compare them at a glance.

\n\n

RDF/XML

\n\n

An XML-based syntax for RDF graphs that was the first standard format for serializing RDF.

\n\n

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>\n<rdf:RDF\n  xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"\n  xmlns:gr="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#">\n  <gr:Location rdf:about="http://www.acme.com/#store">\n    <gr:name>Hepp's Happy Burger Restaurant</gr:name>\n    <gr:hasOpeningHoursSpecification>\n      <gr:OpeningHoursSpecification>\n        <gr:opens>08:00:00</gr:opens>\n        <gr:closes>20:00:00</gr:closes>\n        <gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek rdf:resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Wednesday"/>\n        <gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek rdf:resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Monday"/>\n        <gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek rdf:resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Tuesday"/>\n        <gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek rdf:resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Thursday"/>\n        <gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek rdf:resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Friday"/>\n      </gr:OpeningHoursSpecification>\n    </gr:hasOpeningHoursSpecification>\n  </gr:Location>\n</rdf:RDF>

\n\n

Turtle

\n\n

A compact, human-friendly format.

\n\n

@prefix gr: <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#> .\n \n <http://www.acme.com/#store>\n   a gr:Location ;\n   gr:name "Hepp's Happy Burger Restaurant" ;\n   gr:hasOpeningHoursSpecification [\n     a gr:OpeningHoursSpecification ;\n     gr:opens "08:00:00" ;\n     gr:closes "20:00:00" ;\n     gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek gr:Wednesday, gr:Monday, gr:Tuesday, gr:Thursday, gr:Friday\n   ] .

\n\n

N-Triples

\n\n

A very simple, easy-to-parse, line-based format that is not as compact as Turtle.

\n\n

<http://www.acme.com/#store> <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Location> .\n<http://www.acme.com/#store> <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#hasOpeningHoursSpecification> _:b0 .\n<http://www.acme.com/#store> <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#name> "Hepp's Happy Burger Restaurant" .\n_:b0 <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type> <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#OpeningHoursSpecification> .\n_:b0 <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#opens> "08:00:00" .\n_:b0 <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#closes> "20:00:00" .\n_:b0 <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek> <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Wednesday> .\n_:b0 <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek> <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Thursday> .\n_:b0 <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek> <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Friday> .\n_:b0 <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek> <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Tuesday> .\n_:b0 <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek> <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Monday> .

\n\n

N3 (or Notation3)

\n\n

A non-standard serialization that is very similar to Turtle, but has some additional features, such as the ability to define inference rules.

\n\n

@prefix gr: <http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#> .\n \n <http://www.acme.com/#store> a gr:Location;\n     gr:hasOpeningHoursSpecification [ a gr:OpeningHoursSpecification;\n             gr:opens "08:00:00";\n             gr:closes "20:00:00";\n             gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek gr:Friday,\n                 gr:Monday,\n                 gr:Thursday,\n                 gr:Tuesday,\n                 gr:Wednesday ];\n     gr:name "Hepp's Happy Burger Restaurant" .

\n\n

JSON-LD

\n\n

a JSON-based serialization (for Linked Data).

\n\n

{\n  "@context": {\n    "gr": "http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#"\n  },\n  "@id": "http://www.acme.com/#store",\n  "@type": "gr:Location",\n  "gr:hasOpeningHoursSpecification": {\n    "@type": "gr:OpeningHoursSpecification",\n    "gr:closes": "20:00:00",\n    "gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek": [\n      {\n        "@id": "gr:Thursday"\n      },\n      {\n        "@id": "gr:Wednesday"\n      },\n      {\n        "@id": "gr:Friday"\n      },\n      {\n        "@id": "gr:Monday"\n      },\n      {\n        "@id": "gr:Tuesday"\n      }\n    ],\n    "gr:opens": "08:00:00"\n  },\n  "gr:name": "Hepp's Happy Burger Restaurant"\n}

\n\n

RDFa

\n\n

Not really an RDF syntax, but rather – a compatible format. “RDFa is an extension to HTML5 that helps you markup things like People, Places, Events, Recipes and Reviews. Search Engines and Web Services use this markup to generate better search listings and give you better visibility on the Web, so that people can find your website more easily.” – rdfa.info

\n\n

<div xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"\n     xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"\n     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"\n     xmlns:gr="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#">\n   <div about="http://www.acme.com/#store" typeof="gr:Location">\n      <div rel="gr:hasOpeningHoursSpecification">\n         <div typeof="gr:OpeningHoursSpecification">\n            <div property="gr:closes" content="20:00:00"/>\n            <div rel="gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n                 resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Thursday"/>\n            <div rel="gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n                 resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Tuesday"/>\n            <div rel="gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n                 resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Monday"/>\n            <div rel="gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n                 resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Friday"/>\n            <div rel="gr:hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n                 resource="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Wednesday"/>\n            <div property="gr:opens" content="08:00:00"/>\n         </div>\n      </div>\n      <div property="gr:name" content="Hepp's Happy Burger Restaurant"/>\n   </div>\n</div>

\n\n

Microdata

\n\n

Also not really an RDF syntax, but a compatible format. This mechanism allows machine-readable data to be embedded in HTML documents in an easy-to-write manner, with an unambiguous parsing model.

\n\n

<div itemscope itemtype="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Location" itemid="http://www.acme.com/#store">\n  <span itemprop="name">Hepp's Happy Burger Restaurant</span>\n  <div itemprop="hasOpeningHoursSpecification" itemscope\n       itemtype="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#OpeningHoursSpecification">\nOpening hours: Mo-Fri,\n     <link itemprop="hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n           href="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Monday" />\n     <link itemprop="hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n           href="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Tuesday" />\n     <link itemprop="hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n           href="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Wednesday" />\n     <link itemprop="hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n           href="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Thursday" />\n     <link itemprop="hasOpeningHoursDayOfWeek"\n           href="http://purl.org/goodrelations/v1#Friday" />\n     <meta itemprop="opens" content="08:00:00">8:00 a.m. -\n     <meta itemprop="closes" content="20:00:00">8:00 p.m.\n  </div>\n</div>

\n\n

RDF Converter Services Online

\n\n

There’s a few decent RDF converter services that you can use online:

\n\n

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:13:53.881Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"sparql-examples-filter","title":"SPARQL Examples – Filter","description":"Example use of FILTER in SPARQL queries.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:19:22.962Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Return items with recorded date less than given date

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n

PREFIX dcterms: <http://purl.org/dc/terms/>\nPREFIX xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#>\nPREFIX web: <http://base22.com/ont/web#>\n \nSELECT * WHERE {\n    ?subject dcterms:title ?title.\n    ?subject dcterms:abstract ?abstract.\n    ?subject web:publishDate ?publishDate.\n    FILTER (?publishDate < "2016-09-28T19:19:02.982Z"^^xsd:dateTime)\n}

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"sparql-examples-ask","title":"SPARQL Examples – Ask","description":"SPARQL query examples using 'ASK'.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:12:41.875Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Is the Amazon river longer than the Nile river?

\n\n\t\t

You can also try this one against DBPedia…

\n\n

PREFIX prop: <http://dbpedia.org/property/>\nASK\n{\n<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Amazon_River> prop:length ?amazon .\n<http://dbpedia.org/resource/Nile> prop:length ?nile .\nFILTER(?amazon > ?nile) .\n}

\n\n\t\t

The answer is: false.

\n\n\t\t

Note: The WHERE keyword is optional–not only in ASK queries but in all SPARQL queries.

\n\n\t\t

Does a triple with the given subject URI exist?

\n\nASK { <http://example.org/carbon/ldp/main/people> ?p ?o> }\n\n\t\t

Returns true or false.

\n\n\t\t

Does Fred have grandchildren?

\n\nPREFIX: <http://bedrock/> \nASK \nWHERE { :fred :hasChild :?child . :?child :hasChild :?grandchild. }\n\n\t\t

Where :fred has any child, see if that child has any child identified by the placeholder, :?child, then use the value of that placeholder to ask whether or not that child itself also has a child, which will be the :?grandchild.

\n","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"sparql-examples-count-all-statements","title":"SPARQL Examples – Count All Statements","description":"SPARQL query that counts all statements (triples) in a repository.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:18:18.826Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Here’s a SPARQL query that counts all statements (triples) in a repository.

\n\n\t\tSELECT (COUNT(?s) AS ?triples) WHERE { ?s ?p ?o }\n\t\t\n\n\t\t

Note that this can be a long running query. For me it took took 21 seconds to count the statements in a\n\t\t\trepository with 30 million triples.

\n","layoutName":"SidebarRight","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"sparql-examples-insert","title":"SPARQL Examples – Insert","description":"Example use of INSERT to add data with SPARQL.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:15:16.045Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Insert some statements

\n\n

PREFIX <http://bedrock/>\nINSERT DATA {\n    :fred :hasSpouse :wilma .\n    :fred :hasChild :pebbles .\n    :wilma :hasChild :pebbles .\n    :pebbles :hasSpouse :bamm-bamm ;\n        :hasChild :roxy, :chip.\n}

\n\n\t\t\t\t

Insert data into a named graph

\n\n

INSERT DATA\n{\n     GRAPH <http://example.org/myGraph> \n     {\n          <http://example.org/subject> <http://example.org/predicate> <http://example.org/object>\n     }\n}\n

\n\n

Inserts into a specific Graph. You can insert as many Triples as you want within a single command (only one is used in the example for brevity)

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"sparql-examples-order-by","title":"SPARQL Examples – Order By","description":"Example use of ORDER BY in SPARQL","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-03T18:26:17.451Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Order by the highest population
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHere’s a similar query for DBPedia – this time, ordered by highest population first and filtered by language (“en”).

\n\n

PREFIX type: <http://dbpedia.org/class/yago/>\nPREFIX prop: <http://dbpedia.org/property/>\nSELECT ?country_name ?population\nWHERE {\n    ?country a type:LandlockedCountries ;\n             rdfs:label ?country_name ;\n             prop:populationEstimate ?population .\n    FILTER (?population > 15000000 && langMatches(lang(?country_name), "en")) .\n} ORDER BY DESC(?population)

\n","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"sparql-examples-paging","title":"SPARQL Examples – Paging","description":"An example SPARQL query for retrieving one given page of results.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-18T15:55:03.208Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Retrieve the second page of names and emails of people in Tim Berners-Lee’s FOAF file, given that each page has 10 people. Try this on ARQ.

\n\n

PREFIX foaf:<http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>\n\nSELECT ?name ?email FROM <http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card>\nWHERE {\n    {SELECT DISTINCT ?person ?name WHERE {\n        ?person foaf:name ?name\n        } ORDER BY ?name LIMIT 10 OFFSET 10 }\n    OPTIONAL { ?person foaf:mbox ?email }\n}

\n","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"sparql-examples-negation","title":"SPARQL Examples – Negation","description":"Example negation in SPARQL with the MINUS keyword.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:16:15.640Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Find the person entries in Tim Berners-Lee’s FOAF file that do not contain a URL for the person’s FOAF file. Try this on ARQ.

\n\n

PREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>\nPREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\n\nSELECT ?name\nFROM <http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card>\nWHERE {\n  ?person a foaf:Person ; foaf:name ?name .\n  MINUS { ?person rdfs:seeAlso ?url }\n}

\n","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"sparql-examples-federation","title":"SPARQL Examples – Federation","description":"Federate data from 2 endpoints with SPARQL.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:14:33.486Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Federate data from 2 endpoints

\n\t\t

Find the birth dates of all of the actors in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
\n\t\t\tTry this on ARQ.

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n

PREFIX movie: <http://data.linkedmdb.org/resource/movie/>\nPREFIX dbpedia: <http://dbpedia.org/ontology/>\nPREFIX foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/>\nSELECT ?actor_name ?birth_date\nFROM <http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/card> # placeholder graph\nWHERE {\n  SERVICE <http://data.linkedmdb.org/sparql> {\n    <http://data.linkedmdb.org/resource/film/675> movie:actor ?actor .\n    ?actor movie:actor_name ?actor_name\n  }\n  SERVICE <http://dbpedia.org/sparql> {\n    ?actor2 a dbpedia:Actor ; foaf:name ?actor_name_en ; dbpedia:birthDate ?birth_date .\n    FILTER(STR(?actor_name_en) = ?actor_name)\n  }\n}

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The SERVICE keyword is used to send part of a query against a remote SPARQL endpoint.

\n","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"sparql-examples-limit","title":"SPARQL Examples – Limit","description":"Example use of the LIMIT keyword in SPARQL.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2017-08-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-23T14:48:52.383Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Limit the number of results returned

\n\n

PREFIX rdfs:<http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>\nPREFIX bc: <http://www.base22.com/ontologies/2010/5/bc.owl#>\n\nSELECT *\nWHERE {\n  ?subject bc:hasEmployer <http://www.base22.com/ontologies/2010/5/my-contacts.owl#IBM> .\n           ?subject bc:hasBusinessEmail ?email .\n} LIMIT 5

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The LIMIT keyword is used after the WHERE clause, followed by a numerical value. In this case, of course, only 5 results are returned.

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

LIMIT is a solution modifier that limits the number of rows returned from a query. SPARQL has two other solution modifiers:\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
- ORDER BY for sorting query solutions on the value of one or more variables
- OFFSET, used in conjunction with LIMIT and ORDER BY to take a slice of a sorted solution set (e.g. for paging)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"book-review-more-than-everything-by-vanessa-foster","title":"Book Review - More Than Everything by Vanessa Foster","description":"Lost, Broken, and on the Run From the FBI; a gripping memoir of resilience and liberation.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2017/07/book-more-than-everything-thumb.jpg","created":"2017-07-20T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["book-reviews"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$ Vanessa Foster’s account of a misguided youth, fleeing the FBI from Texas all the way to Alaska, is everything a great memoir should be. It’s a love-crazed and drug-twisted adventure where one mishap after another unravels her world until little remains, but a helpless wish for grace and a humbled reliance on the aid of culinary angels. It’s also a poetic search through the colorful, but frayed and fading pieces of a once hopeful reality. She gropes desperately for a thread of meaning while fumbling with her exhilarating lover in his schizophrenic downward spiral. With all hopes, dreams, family, and innocence seemingly lost, she is finally relented with a gift of grace, illuminated with spiritual truth, and crowned a woman. In losing almost everything, she gains something that is more.

\n\n

Vanessa Foster delivers all the things we seek from a good story – escape, adventure, entertainment, spiritual retreat and self-discovery. And it’s all true.

\n\n

As a wanna-be writer, I have to envy her. The book reminded me of The Road $\"\"$ by Cormac McCarthy. It’s not a similar story, but she’s similar in her ability to break all the rules of writing in eloquent service of honesty and poetic truth. Like McCarthy, she dismisses quotation marks from dialog in a way that makes the words of others somehow also her own – a technically challenging feat that paints every external scene with vivid emotions from her own mind – her own experience of each moment. In this, she enables us to feel what she felt and to see things as she saw them. We become her. We become who she was, and then we become with her as she changes into something new. Ultimately, we are left with the memory of an experience that might as well have been our own – complete with its hard-earned rewards, and yet all under the safety of our bedside reading lamp.

\n\n

Today, finding a good book, much less a great one, is a difficult task; they are few and far between. But if you’re anything like me, I think you’ll find that Vanessa Foster’s More Than Everything is at least more than many.

\n\n

Shop now: More Than Everything | Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

","path":["books"],"layoutName":"Default","modified":"2021-06-01T14:00:49.458Z","subtitle":""},{"_id":"pink-hearts","title":"Pink Hearts","description":"A memory of when my sister tried to kill herself (I think).","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2017-07-15T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["memoir"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"A$
Image by rawpixel.com

Momma cranked the car window down with one hand and spun the steering wheel frantically with the other.

I was eleven years old and hadn’t hit puberty yet, so the g-force of the turn slid my tiny body clear across the backseat behind Momma. Fresh air was now blowing out the sour stench of acidic bile from my sister’s stomach — a mop-water musk from the afternoon rain now softening the taste of vinegar that had been invading my throat. I sat up and stabled myself in the corner of the backseat and with both arms rigid, I watched little pink hearts drip slowly off the upholstery from the roof of the car and onto my sister’s head. She leaned drunkenly, thunked against the passenger window, and then slid forward, leaving a trail of dark, wet hair in her pink vomit on the glass.

“Dammit, Dawn!” Momma yelled, her head turning from the road to my sister and back. She reached over and pushed my sister’s limp body up against the seat. Brushed some hair behind my sister’s ear to get a better look at her face, which was pale, and her lips, which were blue.

“What were you thinking, dammit? What the hell were you thinking?”

The little pink hearts in my sister’s wet hair looked like candy to me. Sort of like the kind we passed around in class on Valentine's day. You know, the kind with little messages printed on them like HUG ME, LOVE YOU, XOXO and BE MINE. But one look at Momma’s eyes in the rearview mirror assured me it was no box of candy that my sister had swallowed.

“Where are we going, Momma? To the hospital?”

“Emergency room. Yes! We’ve got to get her stomach pumped now!”

Momma was a Licensed Vocational Nurse, she knew what to do.

My sister was thirteen years old and she survived it, but to this day, I don’t know why she did it.

I was too young to understand much, but today I know that pieces of her own heart were mixed up with all those little speed pills, or whatever they were. Something got fractured that day and the fissure, I think, just kept on growing from then on out. I watched over time as the weight of a thousand little things stuck to her like used up chewing gum from young boys in line for a ride at a theme park. She carried the weight of all that glop on her bones and it eventually brought her to her knees.

In the hospital, years later, I rubbed lotion into the course and cracked skin on the bottom of her feet. At some point, they started swelling, so she had stopped wearing shoes.

“If something happens to me, will you look out for my boy?” she asked. I just casually shook my head with a “pffft” and said, “Sure. Whatever.” And then on my way out the door that evening, she stopped me.

“No, wait!” she said. “I’m serious. I really need you to promise. I want you to look out for him. You.”

I should have asked her then about that day with the pink hearts because I always wanted to know. Why did you do that? What happened?

I’ll never know.

When I received her ashes in a black plastic box, I held a handful tight in my palm and thought about that weird scene in Cheryl Strayed’s memoir, Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found.

“I put her burnt bones into my mouth,” she wrote about her mother, “and swallowed them whole.”

I poured my sister’s ashes back into the bag within the box and then dusted the residue slowly and carefully off my palm and fingers. When I read the verdict on the coroner's report, it made sense to me. It was her heart, most probably, the coroner wrote in a sort of medical way. It gave out, early.

Of course it did.

What was left of it, anyway. Broken a hundred times, battered, bruised, and swollen large and yet still then given, and given, and given all away.

Much of it to me, I think. So much of it to me.

In Strayed’s brilliant novel, after a cathartic and solitary journey along the Pacific Coast Trail, she lay down in the place where she’d poured her mother’s ashes and told her mother it was okay. She had surrendered. That since her mother died, everything had changed. Things she could not have imagined and would never have guessed. She had lived a very troubled life and had ventured down many dark paths, but had been lucky enough to survive long enough to eventually find the light.

“My words came out low and steadfast,” Cheryl wrote. “I was so sad it felt as if someone were choking me, and yet it seemed my whole life depended on my getting those words out.”

\n
“She would always be my mother, I told her, but I had to go. She wasn’t there for me in that flowerbed anymore anyway, I explained. I’d put her somewhere else. The only place I could reach her. In me.”
\n

Well said, Cheryl Strayed. “In me,” indeed.

Thank you for reminding us that our hearts are not entirely our own.

","modified":"2021-08-08T14:59:27.188Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"how-to-use-wcm-categories-from-query-parameter-for-pzn","title":"How to Use WCM Categories From Query Parameter for Personalization","description":"A procedure for personalizing IBM Web Content Manager content with URL query parameters.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2017-07-13T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"WebSphere$ Here’s how to use query parameters from the HTPP request (or from the URL) in a personalization component. This page came from my raw notes and hasn’t yet been rewritten for the broader audience; sorry. Posting it anyway for those who won’t mind a little sloppiness.

\n\n

The personalization component must be rendered by the WCM servlet (the URL of which you can get from Previewing the component – DONT FORGET TO REMOVE NO CACHE PARAMS IN PROD). If you access it as rendered within the Web Content Viewer, the rule will not have access to the Request and won’t be able to get the request parameters.

\n\n

Assuming the following taxonomy and categories…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

And assuming the following content…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

We’re going to create the following PZN rule…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

We created 3 request parameters so that we can enforce a rule that insists that all 3 must be on the content (AND). With this, we can add the following to the URL:

\n\n

&cat1=testcat1&cat2=testcat2&cat3=testcat3

\n\n

We could alternatively have only 1 request param and do something like this:

\n\n

&cats=testcat1,testcat2,testcat3

\n\n

The problem with that is that it will only enforce an OR evaluation. If any content is tagged with any one of the given categories, it will show up.

\n\n

Because we need to ensure that only content tagged with all 3 categories shows up, we create 3 separate request params. This allows us to use the PZN rule to enforce the AND condition.

\n\n

Here’s how you make establish the request parameters and make them available in the pzn rule.

\n\n

Step one: Click the value slot…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Step two: Navigate to Manage Properties… under the Request item…

\n\n

When you’re just starting, you list may be empty (mine has some examples in it already).

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Step Three: Click Add Dynamic Property…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Step four: Fill out as follows…for example…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Click SAVE.

\n\n

Click DONE.

\n\n

Your new item should show in the list under Request…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Preview the PZN Component. Remove the unecessary params (like no chache) from the URL for PROD. Add your parameters and category names to the URL. For example:

\n\n

http://local.base22.com:10039/wps/wcm/myconnect/web%20content/articles?source=library&srv=cmpnt&cmpntid=0d99a109-b8c7-4f38-a9ae-8d48faf37e32&cat1=testcat1&cat2=testcat2&cat3=testcat3

\n\n

And you get:

\n\n

$\"\"$

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:20:18.360Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"show-item-namesin-ibm-wcm-authoring","title":"Show Item Names Instead of Display Titles in the IBM WCM Authoring UI","description":"By default, the Display title, rather than the Name is displayed for items in the authoring UI for IBM Web Content Manager (WCM). Here's how to see the name instead.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2017-07-13T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

By default, the Display title, rather than the Name is displayed for items in the authoring UI for IBM Web\n Content Manager (WCM). It may be desirable to see the name instead. This can give authors the ability to use\n special naming conventions, acronyms, or codes in item names while still keeping a user friendly Display\n name for end-users and the search engine. If you’d like to switch the default configuration for your\n authors, here’s how…

In the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console (the WAS or deployment manager console), navigate to\n Resources > Resource Environment Providers > WCM WCMConfigService.
Under Additional Properties, click on the link to go to the Custom properties.
Click New… to add a new property to the list.
For the Name of the property, enter wcm.authoringui.use.name.as.browser.display.value and\n for the value enter true. The type of the property should remain set on\n java.lang.String.

\n $\"\"$
Click OK.
In the message that says you can Save or Review changes, click the link to Review changes before saving\n or discarding. This will allow you to select to Synchronize changes with Nodes in one step rather than\n saving the changes and then later synchronizing.
Click the check box to Synchronize changes with Nodes and click the Save button.
You’ll need to restart the servers for the change to take effect. In a clustered environment, you can do\n this from the Deployment Manager by navigating to Servers > Clusters > WebSphere application\n server clusters, select the PortalCluster and then click the Ripplestart button. Ripplestart stops and\n then starts each server in the cluster in turn, which can help ensure that one member of the cluster\n stays up for use at all times.

\n\n

If your authors prefer it, now you know! At Base22, we like to say that one happy author makes a thousand\n happy users. To help ensure a positive end-user experience, pay careful attention to the author experience.\n

\n","modified":"2021-06-22T03:11:15.210Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"7-quintessential-brushes-for-zbrush-beginners","title":"7 Quintessential Brushes for ZBrush Beginners","description":"Here are seven of the most important ZBrush brushes you’ll ever use. Begin your practice with these.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-zbrush.svg","created":"2017-07-12T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-01T14:03:30.364Z","topics":["zbrush"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Standard Brush

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t $\"\"$ \n\t\t\t\t\t

Often overlooked and really great for things like the detail in an ear. This brush is kind of like inflating an area and it is topology dependent. This is very good in its ALT or ZSub form for defining relatively soft inset detail (like shaping around the nostrils of a nose).

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Smooth Brush

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t $\"\"$ \n\t\t\t\t\t

Don’t use early in the process (because it’s pointless). Start with a “design” phase and block-out form with clay-build up, other heavy tools, and move. Then instead of smooth, consider clay brush filling in or adding on rather than digging into the mesh with smooth.

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Move Brush

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t $\"\"$ \n\t\t\t\t\t \t

Move surface areas (push and pull) to make quick and dramatic changes to the form. A typical sculpting workflow often begins with using the Move brush to create a basic form from sphere or base mesh.

\n\t

Tips:

\n\t

If you’ve increased your subdivision level, it can help to step back down in the subdivision level to use the Move brush and then step it back up after the move. This ensures that the Move is making a more global change and is done in Tool > SubTool > Geometry (Divide and SDiv slider).
Try changing the Focal Shift (slider at the top of the UI) when using the Move Brush. A negative focal shift will make the surface that’s moved more bulbous and rounded. A positive focal shift will make the moved surface pointy.
Hold down the ALT key while dragging to move along normals.
Click, then hold down the SHIFT key while dragging and the move try to follow the surface.

\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Clay Brush

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t $\"\"$ \n\t\t\t\t\t

Add volume (but doesn’t build up a lot of height). This can be used for additive smoothing without removing detail from existing mesh.

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

ClayBuildup Brush

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t $\"\"$ \n\t\t\t\t\t

Add volume and can build upwards in height. (Try turning Alpha off for a big build-up that doesn’t have as crisp an edge; it’s the alpha that gives the ClayBuild up brush its square edge.) This brush is topology independent.

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

TrimDynamic Brush

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t $\"\"$ \n\t\t\t\t\t

Trim off the model in a planar sort of way; great for simplifying model while keeping key shape (makes it planar). It’s really easy in ZBrush to get too detailed too soon!

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Dam_Standard Brush

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t $\"\"$ \n\t\t\t\t\t

For carving in details (like wrinkles); press alt for relatively sharp ridges. This brush often gives greater results for details because it’s a kind of pinch brush, which pulls geometry towards it as you dig in – resulting in cleaner topology around the area worked. This is not the case for something like the Standard brush. Often, however, if you’re not getting the clean detail you need, you may simply need to increase polygons using Tool > SubTool > Geometry > Divide.

\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\n\t

Reference Resources

\n\t \n\t

I derived this list of brushes by watching the following tutorial and listening to what the two commentators from FlippedNormals had to say about them as they worked.

\n\t \n\t

Zbrush Sculpting Tutorial – White Walker from Game of Thrones HD

\n\t\n\t

\n\t \n\t

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"intellij-idea-cheat-sheet","title":"IntelliJ IDEA Cheat Sheet","description":"My personal cheat sheet for IntelliJ.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-intellij.svg","created":"2017-06-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":" \n

Keyboard shortcuts and various tips for IntelliJ IDEA. This document assumes IntelliJ on a Mac, using the Keymap setting for Mac OS X 10.5+ (in Preferences > Keymap). I know you can get all these through Help > Keymap Reference in IntelliJ, but I like to maintain my own list so that I can organize and search it the way I prefer, plus have a place to add my own additional notes.

\n\n

Editing

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Comment / uncomment selected text	Select block of text and then press `CMD` + `/`
Spread selection from cursor (to word, then line, etc.)	ALT + up arrow or down arrow
Format selected code	CTRL + ALT + I
Format all code	ALT + CMD + L
Autocomplete method parameter info	CMD + P (when cursor is in method signature)
Invoke a Surround Template (ex: surround a line with try/catch)	OPTION + CMD + T
Complete a statement	SHIFT + CMD + ENTER
Import Java Package	Hover over the red text of the class missing a package and press: ALT + ENTER

\n\n

Live Templates

\n\n

Live templates can be found in Preferences > Editor > Live Templates. Learn them! To use a live template, enter its short text in the editor and then press tab to replace the short text with its template.

\n\n

Navigation

\n\n

Tool Windows and Dialogs

Project	CMD + 1
Version Control	CMD + 9
Preferences	CMD + ,
Breakpoints	SHIFT + COMMAND + F8
Recent Files	CMD + E
Search Everywhere	SHIFT + SHIFT
Search Classes	CMD + O
Search Symbols	OPTION + CMD + O
Navigate back and forth through recent files	CMD + [ and CMD + ]
New file (where selection is in Project window)	CMD + N Note: you can use slashes to create entire trees abc/def/ghi/jkl…
Hide all other windows	SHIFT + CMD + F12
Stretch pane right or left	SHIFT + CMD + left or right arrow
Clipboard History	SHIFT + CMD + V
Method List (of the active editor file)	CMD + F12
Navigation Bar	CMD + up arrow Note: This is particularly useful if you turn off the normal navigation bar in preferences to save UI space.
Action Search	SHIFT + CMD + A (try, for example, “RESTful Web Service”)
Version Control Quick List	CTRL + V
Quick Switch Settings	CTRL + ~
Quick Documentation	CTRL + J (and then again to pin it open at larger size).

\n\n

TO DO items

\n\n

Create a TO DO item

\n\n

CMD + / to create a new comment line
Type TODO then whatever comment you want

\n\n

View all TO DO items

\n\n

View > Tool Windows > TODO or
CMD + 6

\n\n

Increase IntelliJ IDE memory on a Mac

\n\n

Help > Edit Custom VM Options…
Answer Yes to create the idea.vmoptions file. This will automatically create a copy of the .vmoptions file in the config folder and open a dialog to edit it.
I change -Xmx750m to -Xmx2048m

\n\n

Tips

\n\n

Following are some of the Tip of the Day items that appear when you first open IntelliJ.

\n\n

Highlight usages of some variable

\n\n

Use ⇧⌘F7 (Edit | Find | Highlight Usages in File) to quickly highlight usages of some variable in the current file.
Use ⌘G and ⇧⌘G keys to navigate through highlighted usages.
Press ⎋ to remove highlighting.

\n\n

Optimize imports

\n\n

Use Code | Optimize Imports to automatically optimize imports (remove unused imports, etc.). To access the corresponding settings, use File | Settings | Code Style | Imports.

\n\n

Reformat code

\n\n

Use Code | Reformat Code to reformat code according to your code style preferences (File | Settings | Code Style).

\n\n

References

\n\n

\n 42 IntelliJ IDEA Tips and Tricks, YouTube\n
\n How to increase IDE memory limit in IntelliJ IDEA on Mac?\n

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:50:50.252Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"use-spring-for-stardog-in-a-spring-boot-application","title":"Use Spring for Stardog in a Spring Boot Application","description":"How to incorporate Spring for Stardog into a Spring Boot web app.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-stardog.svg","created":"2017-05-11T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Recently I completed a little study incorporating Spring for Stardog into a Spring Boot web app, with successful results. Here’s how.

\n\n

Introduction

\n\n

Stardog is a Java based RDF repository server (a.k.a. triple-store and more), which supports the RDF graph data model; SPARQL query language; property graph model and Gremlin graph traversal language; HTTP and SNARL protocols for remote access and control; OWL 2 and user-defined rules for inference and data analytics; virtual graphs; geospatial query answering; and programmatic interaction via several languages and network interfaces. At this point, I don’t have a lot of experience with Stardog, but I’ve been experimenting with it to see what I can learn. As part of my study, I recently incorporated Stardog Spring into a Spring Boot web app – taking notes along the way. Here’s my notes on how I got it setup and working successfully.

\n\n

Download and install Stardog

\n\n

For my local development environment on Mac OS, I installed Stardog 5 BETA (Community Edition).

\n\n

You can download Stardog at www.stardog.com. Once you’ve downloaded it, unzip the archive to a destination directory. I’m put mine in /Users/cburleson/stardog

\n\n

Next you need to set the STARDOG_HOME environment variable. You can do this by adding an export line to your .bash_profile.

\n\ncd ~\nsudo nano .bash_profile\n\n

Add the following line to .bash_profile:

\n\n

export STARDOG_HOME=/Users/cburleson/stardog

\n\n

Save changes made to .bash_profile by hitting Control+o (that’s an o as in otter), ENTER, then exit out of nano by hitting Control+X.

\n\n

Note that changes made .bash_profile will require the shell to be restarted or a new shell to spawn.

\n\n

Copy stardog-license-key.bin into the STARDOG_HOME location. Then you can start the Stardog server to test your installation.

\n\n

Start the Stardog server

\n\n

/Users/cburleson/stardog/bin/stardog-admin server start

\n\n

If everything is working properly, you should get the following response.

\n\n

Stardog server is listening on all network interfaces.\nHTTP server available at http://localhost:5820.\n \nSTARDOG_HOME=/Users/cburleson/stardog

\n\n

the server is running and can be accessed in a web browser at http://localhost:5820/

\n\n

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Username	admin
Password	admin

\n\n

You can also check the server status with the following command:

\n\n

/Users/cburleson/stardog/bin/stardog-admin server status

\n\n

Now, that you’ve tested the installation, you can stop the server with the following command.

\n\n

/Users/cburleson/stardog/bin/stardog-admin server stop

\n\n

Add the Stardog Maven Repo to pom.xml

\n\n

In order to get the required dependencies, you need to add the Stardog public maven repository to your repositories defined in the Maven POM (pom.xml). Here’s how that section looks in my file:

\n\n

<repositories>\n \n <repository>\n     <id>spring-releases</id>\n     <url>https://repo.spring.io/libs-release</url>\n </repository>\n\n <repository>\n     <id>stardog-public</id>\n     <url>http://maven.stardog.com</url>\n </repository>\n\n</repositories>

\n\n\n

Add Stardog dependencies to pom.xml

\n\n

Now, we can add the required dependencies. Notice that even though I installed Stardog 5 BETA, I’m using a different version number for various dependencies (still, it works).

\n\n

<dependency>\n    <groupId>com.complexible.stardog</groupId>\n    <artifactId>client-snarl</artifactId>\n    <version>4.2.4</version>\n    <type>pom</type>\n</dependency>\n \n \n<dependency>\n    <groupId>com.complexible.stardog</groupId>\n    <artifactId>client-http</artifactId>\n    <version>4.2.4</version>\n    <type>pom</type>\n</dependency>\n \n \n<dependency>\n    <groupId>com.complexible.stardog</groupId>\n    <artifactId>server</artifactId>\n    <version>4.2.4</version>\n    <type>pom</type>\n</dependency>\n \n<!--\n<dependency>\n    <groupId>com.complexible.stardog.sesame</groupId>\n    <artifactId>stardog-sesame-core</artifactId>\n    <version>4.2.4</version>\n    <type>jar</type>\n</dependency>\n-->\n<!--\n<dependency>\n  <groupId>com.complexible.stardog.jena</groupId>\n  <artifactId>stardog-jena</artifactId>\n  <version>4.2.4</version>\n  <type>jar</type>\n</dependency>\n-->\n \n<!--\n<dependency>\n    <groupId>com.complexible.stardog.gremlin</groupId>\n    <artifactId>stardog-gremlin</artifactId>\n    <version>4.2.4</version>\n    <type>jar</type>\n</dependency>\n-->\n \n \n<dependency>\n    <groupId>com.complexible.stardog</groupId>\n    <artifactId>stardog-spring</artifactId>\n    <version>2.1.3</version>\n    <type>jar</type>\n</dependency>\n \n \n<!--\n<dependency>\n    <groupId>com.complexible.stardog</groupId>\n    <artifactId>stardog-spring-batch</artifactId>\n    <version>2.1.3</version>\n    <type>jar</type>\n</dependency>\n-->\n \n<!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.apache.lucene/lucene-core -->\n<dependency>\n    <groupId>org.apache.lucene</groupId>\n    <artifactId>lucene-core</artifactId>\n    <version>6.5.1</version>\n</dependency>

\n\n

Notice that I’ve got stardog-spring-batch commented in the file, but commented out. I put it in the file incase I decide to use it in the future, but for now, I don’t need it.

\n\n

Create or edit Spring application context file

\n\n

I prefer using pure Java only configuration for Spring, but I had trouble with this one, so opted to use the XML configuration. I created the following file inside of src/main/resources...

\n\n

applicationContext.xml

\n\n

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"\n       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"\n       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd">\n \n    <bean name="embeddedProvider" class="com.base22.rdfx.config.EmbeddedProvider"></bean>\n \n    <bean name="dataSource" class="com.complexible.stardog.ext.spring.DataSourceFactoryBean">\n        <property name="to" value="testdb"/>\n        <property name="provider" ref="embeddedProvider"/>\n        <property name="username" value="admin"/>\n        <property name="password" value="admin"/>\n    </bean>\n \n    <bean name="template" class="com.complexible.stardog.ext.spring.SnarlTemplate">\n        <property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource"/>\n    </bean>\n \n    <bean name="importer" class="com.complexible.stardog.ext.spring.DataImporter">\n        <property name="snarlTemplate" ref="template"/>\n        <property name="format" value="N3"/>\n        <property name="inputFiles">\n            <list>\n                <value>classpath:data/sp2b_10k.n3</value>\n            </list>\n        </property>\n    </bean>\n \n</beans>

\n\n

Notice that the data importer bean is going to look for an RDF file in the classpath, which should exist in src/main/resources/data.

\n\n

I got that file from the source project for stardog-spring, which you can find on GitHub at: https://github.com/stardog-union/stardog-spring

\n\n

You could use any RDF file that you want to have auto-loaded into the Stardog repository.

\n\n

Make the applicationContext.xml available to your Spring Boot app

\n\n

In order for your Spring Boot app to recognize and load the applicationContext.xml, you’ll need to add an annotation to the main application class (the one with a Java main() method)…

\n\n

The annotation you’ll need to add is:

\n\n

@ImportResource(\"classpath:applicationContext.xml\")

\n\n

My main application class looks like this:

\n\n

package com.base22.rdfx;\n  \n  import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;\n  import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;\n  import org.springframework.context.annotation.ImportResource;\n    \n  @SpringBootApplication\n  @ImportResource("classpath:applicationContext.xml")\n  public class Platform {\n    \n      public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {\n          SpringApplication.run(Platform.class, args);\n      }\n    \n  }

\n\n

Create an EmbeddedProvider Java class

\n\n

The applicationContext.xml file references an EmbeddedProvider class. There is no EmbeddedProvider exposed by the stardog-spring library, but I found one in the stardog-spring source code at src/main/test/java/com/complexible/stardog/ext/spring.

\n\n

You’ll need to create this class in your project and make sure that you reference the package and class properly for the embeddedProvider bean in your applicationContext.xml file.

\n\n

EmbeddedProvider.java

\n\n

package com.base22.rdfx.config;\n \n import com.complexible.common.protocols.server.ServerException;\n import com.complexible.stardog.Stardog;\n import com.complexible.stardog.StardogException;\n import com.complexible.stardog.api.admin.AdminConnection;\n import com.complexible.stardog.api.admin.AdminConnectionConfiguration;\n import com.complexible.stardog.ext.spring.Provider;\n import com.complexible.stardog.protocols.snarl.SNARLProtocolConstants;\n  \n public class EmbeddedProvider implements Provider {\n  \n    @Override\n    public void execute(String to, String url, String user, String pass) {\n  \n       try {\n          Stardog.builder()\n                .create()\n                .newServer()\n                .bind(SNARLProtocolConstants.EMBEDDED_ADDRESS)\n                .start();\n          AdminConnection dbms = AdminConnectionConfiguration.toEmbeddedServer().credentials(user, pass).connect();\n          if (dbms.list().contains(to)) {\n             dbms.drop(to);\n             dbms.createMemory(to);\n          } else {\n             dbms.createMemory(to);\n          }\n          dbms.close();\n       } catch (StardogException e) {\n  \n       } catch (ServerException e) {\n  \n       } finally {\n  \n       }\n  \n    }\n }

\n\n

Use the Spring for Stardog SnarlTemplate in a controller

\n\n

For a quick acid test, I created a simple Spring Controller that gets executed when you hit the path /test in a web browser.

\n\n

Here’s the simple test controller I created, which logs output from a SPARQL query to the console.

\n\n

TestController.java

\n\n

package com.base22.rdfx.controllers;\n \n import com.complexible.stardog.ext.spring.SnarlTemplate;\n import com.complexible.stardog.ext.spring.mapper.SimpleRowMapper;\n import org.slf4j.Logger;\n import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;\n import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;\n import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;\n import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;\n import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;\n  \n import java.util.Iterator;\n import java.util.List;\n import java.util.Map;\n import java.util.Set;\n  \n @RestController\n public class TestController {\n  \n    private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger( TestController.class);\n  \n    @Autowired\n    private SnarlTemplate template;\n  \n    //private static final String template = "Hello, %s!";\n    //private final AtomicLong counter = new AtomicLong();\n  \n    @RequestMapping("/test")\n    public void test(@RequestParam(value="name", defaultValue="World") String name) {\n  \n       log.trace(">> test()");\n  \n       String sparql = "SELECT ?s ?p ?o WHERE { ?s ?p ?o } LIMIT 5";\n  \n       List<Map<String,String>> results = template.query(sparql, new SimpleRowMapper());\n  \n       for ( Map<String, String> result : results ) {\n  \n          log.trace( "-- test() > --------------------------");\n  \n          Set keys = result.keySet();\n  \n          for ( Iterator i = keys.iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) {\n             String key = (String) i.next();\n             String value = result.get(key);\n             log.trace("-- test() > " + key + " | " + value);\n          }\n  \n       }\n  \n    }\n  \n }

\n\n

How to use the SnarlTemplate

\n\n

The Spring Programming section of the documentation on the Stardog website provides some good information. However, if you want to see some actual code examples, you might want to refer to the TestDataSourceFactory.java class on GitHub. That’s where I learned how to execute the query shown in my TestController using a SimpleRowMapper.

\n\n

Test the app

\n\n

Now you should be able to run your Spring Boot application and hit the TestController (/test in your browser). When you hit the URL, you should see the following output logged to the console, which shows that you’ve successfully configured and used Spring for Stardog. As you can see, five triples were returned from the given LIMIT 5 SPARQL query…

\n\n

14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > --------------------------\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > p | http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#subClassOf\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > s | http://localhost/vocabulary/bench/Journal\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > o | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Document\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > --------------------------\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > p | http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#subClassOf\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > s | http://localhost/vocabulary/bench/Proceedings\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > o | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Document\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > --------------------------\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > p | http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#subClassOf\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > s | http://localhost/vocabulary/bench/Inproceedings\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > o | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Document\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > --------------------------\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > p | http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#subClassOf\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > s | http://localhost/vocabulary/bench/Article\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > o | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Document\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > --------------------------\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > p | http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#subClassOf\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > s | http://localhost/vocabulary/bench/Www\n14:40:36.903 [http-nio-8080-exec-1] TRACE com.base22.rdfx.controllers.TestController - -- test() > o | http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Document

\n\n

Conclusion

\n\n

In this post, I showed how I used Spring for Stardog in a Spring Boot web app. With some minor variation, these instructions could probably be useful for any Spring app and not just a Spring Boot web app.

\n\n

There is also some useful information in the QUICKSTART.txt file on GitHub that you might find useful, so be sure to check it out.

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:22:47.814Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"linux-and-unix-commands","title":"Linux and Unix Commands","description":"My collection of handy Linux, Unix, and Mac OS terminal commands.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-linux.svg","created":"2017-04-22T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2023-02-14T22:48:59.005Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

My collection of handy Linux, Unix, and Mac OS terminal commands.

\n\n

Change file permissions

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`chmod +x filename.ext`	Give execute access to a file.
`sudo chmod -R 777 workspace`	`-R` means RECURSIVE
`sudo chown -R basejump workspace`	Take ownership of a file. basejump (the user) and workspace (the directory)

\n\n

Compress or extract files

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command Usage

tar -zxvf file.tar.gz To extract one or more members from an archive:

\n tar -czvf name-of-archive.tar.gz /path/to/directory-or-file\n

Compress an entire directory or single file.

Note: Be sure to add the .tar.gz in the archive file name yourself; the command doesn't do it for you.
\n

Here's what the switches mean: -c: Create an archive. -z: Compress the archive with gzip. -v: Display progress in the terminal
\n while creating the archive, also known as "verbose" mode. The v is always optional in these commands, but
\n it's helpful. -f: Allows you to specify the filename of the archive.

\n gzip -9 /path/to/file
\n Example: gzip -9 ./data/*.ldif\n

Compress files with -9 signifying highest level of compression.

The original files will be removed, leaving only the archives (.gz) that replace them.

\n\n

Copy File Between Local Machine and Remote Server

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`scp /local/path/to/file user@server:/path/to/destination`	scp stands for 'secure copy.' It copies files over a secure, encrypted network connection. This command copies a file from your local machine to the given server.
`scp user@remote_host:/path/to/remote/file /path/to/local_file`	This command downloads the specified file from the specified remote server to your local machine.

\n\n

Create an alias for a common command

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command Usage

alias p="<command>"

Create shortcut aliases to common commands.

For example:

alias p="open /x/yx/z" to open a particular directory in Finder

\n\n

Directory commands

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`pwd`	Print working directory (the directory you're currently in).
`mv <oldDirName> <newDirName>`	Rename a directory. Be aware: this is actually a move command. So, you’re just moving \n the directory from one name to another in the same path.
`rmdir`	Remove an empty directory
`rm -rf <dirName>`	Forcefully remove a directory recursively.\n Remove the f switch to be prompted for each sub-directory and file inside.
`cp -rf present/directory /desire/directory`	Copy an entire directory, its subdirectories, and files.\n Remove the f switch to be prompted for each sub-directory and file inside.

\n\n

Execute command as root user

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`sudo <command>`	Execute command as the root user.
`sudo !!`	Execute the last command as root user. (`!!`) represents the last command \n you just tried to run, but couldn't because of permission issues.

\n\n

Execute task in background

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`./startTest.sh &`	Start the execution in the background, which will allow you to kill your SSH terminal \n without killing the process itself.

\n\n

Find large files

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`cd / find . -size +10000000c -print`	Prints out the names of all files with size > 10mb.
`cd / sudo du -sm *`	Examine the size of the directories under /. You can then navigate into \n any given subdirectory and execute `du -sm *` again to see which subdirectories are the largest.

\n\n

Inspect disk space and usage

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`df -h`	Inspect disk space and usage (in MB or GB)

\n\n

Work with environment variables

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`printenv`	Prints all currently set environment variables and values.

\n\n

Remove a file

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`mv`	Rename a file
`rm`	Remove a file
`rm -f`	Forcefully remove a file
`rm -i`	Interactively remove a file

\n\n

If you are not certain about removing files that match a pattern you supply, it is always good to run rm interactively (rm –i) to prompt before every removal.

\n\n

Switch user

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`su – <username>`	Switch to the given user, loading their profile. You may have to use sudo su – <username>.
`su`	Without a username means to just switch to root user.
`whoami`	"Who Am I?" Prints the current user.

\n\n

View a file

\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Command	Usage
`cat`	Used for viewing files that are not very long; it does not provide any scroll-back.
`tac`	Used to look at a file backwards, starting with the last line.
`less`	Used to view larger files because it is a paging program; it pauses at each \n screenful of text, provides scroll-back capabilities, and lets you search and navigate within the file. Note:\n Use / to search for a pattern in the forward direction and ? for a pattern in the backward direction. Press `Q` to quit.
`tail`	Used to print the last 10 lines of a file by default. You can change the \n number of lines by doing -n 15 or just -15 if you wanted to look at the last 15 lines instead of the default.
`head`	The opposite of tail; by default it prints the first 10 lines of a file.

\n\n

Update the OS packages

\n\nsudo apt-get update\nsudo apt-get upgrade\nsudo apt-get dist-upgrade\nsudo reboot\n\n

Use pipes

\n\n

The UNIX/Linux philosophy is to have many simple and short programs (or commands) cooperate together to produce quite complex results, rather than have one complex program with many possible options and modes of operation. In order to accomplish this, extensive use of pipes is made; you can pipe the output of one command or program into another as its input. In order to do this we use the vertical-bar, |, (pipe symbol) between commands as in: $ command1 | command2 | command3 This represents what we often call a pipeline and allows Linux to combine the actions of several commands into one. This is extraordinarily efficient because command2 and command3 do not have to wait for the previous pipeline commands to complete before they can begin hacking at the data in their input streams; on multiple CPU or core systems the available computing power is much better utilized and things get done quicker. In addition there is no need to save output in (temporary) files between the stages in the pipeline, which saves disk space and reduces reading and writing from disk, which is often the slowest bottleneck in getting something done.

\n\n

Split a large text file into smaller parts

\n\n

The Linux split command can help you break up really large text files into smaller, more manageable parts.

\n\n

split -l <line-numbers> <source-file> <destination-file-prefix>

\n\n

For example:

\n\n

split -l 5000000 data3.trig segment

\n\n

Fast string replace using stream editor (sed)

\n\n

If you need to replace strings in a very large file or many files, you can use sed, the streaming editor. It's very fast because it uses streaming. This sure beats opening individual files in some editor and then using a find and replace function. The string positions expect regex, so be careful for special characters.

\n\n

sed 's/<original-string>/<revised-string>/' <source-file> > <new-file>

\n\n

For example:

\n\n

sed 's/dev.acme.com:48083/ldp.demo:8083/' segment-aa > segmentaa

\n\n

Change default shell (on Mac OS X)

\n\n

You can change the default shell through the command line chsh command, which is shorthand for ‘change shell’. You’ll need to authenticate each change as well, the command will ask directly or you can prefix it with sudo. Here’s how to set the default user shell to zsh, bash, tcsh, ksh, sh, or any other shell for that matter.

\n\n

zsh: chsh -s /bin/zsh
ksh: chsh -s /bin/ksh
tcsh: chsh -s /bin/tcsh
bash (default): chsh -s /bin/bash
sh: chsh -s /bin/sh
other shells: chsh -s /path/to/alternate/shell

\n\n

Related Web Resources

\n","features":["syntax highlighter"],"path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","ogImage":""},{"_id":"serve-static-resources-with-spring-boot","title":"Serve Static Resources With Spring Boot","description":"Learn how to serve static resources with Spring Boot.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-spring-framework.svg","created":"2017-04-05T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:25:28.280Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

To automatically serve static resources with Spring Boot (e.g. when using spring-boot-starter-web), you can\n simply place the static resources in one of several paths that Spring Boot automatically recognizes as a\n static file paths.

Following are paths that will are recognized as static file paths:

src/main/resources/META-INF/resources/index.html
src/main/resources/resources/index.html
src/main/resources/static/index.html
src/main/resources/public/index.html

You can then access the resources at:

http://host/index.html

So, for example, given the following resource at the following location…

src/main/resources/static/css/bootstrap.min.css

You could fetch the file with the following URL:

http://host/css/bootstrap.min.css

\n\n","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"confluence-panel-macro","title":"Confluence Panel Macro","description":"A macro plugin I made for Atlassian Confluence that mimics a Bootstrap 3 Panel.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-confluence.svg","created":"2017-04-04T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

A macro plugin I made for Atlassian Confluence that mimics a Bootstrap 3 Panel.

\n\n

Overview

\n\n

This is a simple macro I developed that mimics the Bootstrap 3 Panel. The macro takes an optional Title, an optional Style, and a rich text macro body. It renders results as shown in the examples section below.

\n \n

I did this as a learning exercise in preparation to do a more sophisticated plugin for Confluence. You might find the code useful if your doing something similar. You can find the source code in the following public repository on GitHub:

\n \n

https://github.com/codyburleson/confluence-panel-macro

\n \n

Tested on:

\n \n

Atlassian Confluence 6.0.5
Google Chrome Version 57.0.2987.98 (64-bit) on Mac OS

\n \n

If you find any issues, please open an issue on GitHub.

\n \n

Examples

\n \n

$\"Confluence$

\n \n

Download

\n \n

The current version of the macro can be downloaded from the link below. If you want to try it out, you can upload the jar through Manage add-ons in the Confluence admin area.

\n \n

panelMacro-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.jar

\n\n","modified":"2021-05-07T18:26:24.512Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"logging-with-spring-boot","title":"Logging With Spring Boot","description":"Quick and simple tips to get your Spring Boot logs rolling.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-spring-framework.svg","created":"2017-04-04T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Logging with Spring Boot is dead simple. Everything’s pretty much setup and ready to go. In this post, I provide some quick and simple tips to get your Spring Boot logs rolling.

\n\n

About Logging Dependencies

\n\n

If you use the ‘Starters’, Logback will be used with appropriate routing included to ensure that dependent libraries that use Java Util Logging, Commons Logging, Log4J or SLF4J will all work correctly. Let’s suppose, for example, that you’re using the web starter in your Maven pom.xml file, as shown below.

\n\n

<dependency>\n    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>\n    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>\n</dependency>

\n\n\n

Generally you won’t need to change any logging dependencies and the Spring Boot defaults will work just fine. That is to say, you don’t need to add any additional dependencies to the POM for logging. You can verify this by printing a tree representation of your project dependencies. On the command line, change to your project directory and executing the following command.

\n\n

Print Maven Dependency Tree with the command: mvn dependency:tree

\n\n

Notice that the Spring Boot starter already includes dependencies for logging…

\n\n

[INFO] +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web:jar:1.5.2.RELEASE:compile\n[INFO] |  +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter:jar:1.5.2.RELEASE:compile\n[INFO] |  |  +- org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-logging:jar:1.5.2.RELEASE:compile\n[INFO] |  |  |  +- ch.qos.logback:logback-classic:jar:1.1.11:compile\n[INFO] |  |  |  |  \\- ch.qos.logback:logback-core:jar:1.1.11:compile\n[INFO] |  |  |  +- org.slf4j:jcl-over-slf4j:jar:1.7.24:compile\n[INFO] |  |  |  +- org.slf4j:jul-to-slf4j:jar:1.7.24:compile\n[INFO] |  |  |  \\- org.slf4j:log4j-over-slf4j:jar:1.7.24:compile

\n\n

Configure Log Levels

\n\n

The easiest way to configure logging levels is in the application.properties file. If you don’t already have one, create the file in the root of the resources folder. Then, simply prefix Java packages and classes with logging.level as shown below. Notice that you can configure the root logger at a specific level first, then get more specific with other loggers.

\n\n

application.properties

\n\nlogging.level.root=INFO\nlogging.level.com.cburleson.rdfx=TRACE\n\n

Put Logging Code in Your Classes

\n\n

Now, we can use SLF4J for logging. Here’s how.

\n\n

Add the following to the imports section of your java code:

\n\nimport org.slf4j.Logger;\nimport org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;\n\n

Add the following at the top of your class in the global section (just under the line that declares your class public class Whatever extends Whatever). Change the name of the class (MyClassName) in the getLogger method call, of course. Name it the same as the class you’re dropping this code into.

\n\nstatic final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MyClassName.class);\n\n

To test quickly, you can throw some logging statements in your code somewhere where you know they’ll be fired right away when you run your app. For example:

\n\n

LOG.trace(\"Hello World!\");\nLOG.debug(\"How are you today?\");\nLOG.info(\"I am fine.\");\nLOG.warn(\"I love programming.\");\nLOG.error(\"I am programming.\");

\n\n

The default log configuration will echo messages to the console as they are written. If your terminal supports ANSI, color output will be used to aid readability.

\n\n

Log to a File

\n\n

If you want to write log files in addition to the console, you can set a logging.file or logging.path property in your application.properties file. For example…

\n\n

logging.level.root=INFO\nlogging.level.com.cburleson.rdfx=TRACE\n#output to a temp_folder/file\nlogging.file=${java.io.tmpdir}/myapp.log\n#output to a file\n#logging.file=/Users/cburleson/myapp.log\n#output to a file called spring.log in the specified path\n#logging.path=/var/log

\n\n

Using SLF4J over Log4j

\n\n

Now, if you want to use SLF4 over Log4j 2, and a log4j configuration file, the setup is a little different. In your Maven, POM, you must exclude spring-boot-starter-logging and then add a dependency for spring-boot-starter-log4j2 as shown below.

\n\n

<dependency>\n    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>\n    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>\n    <exclusions>\n        <exclusion>\n            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>\n            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-logging</artifactId>\n        </exclusion>\n    </exclusions>\n</dependency>\n \n<dependency>\n    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>\n    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-log4j2</artifactId>\n</dependency>

\n\n

Then you need to have a log4j2.xml file on the classpath; for example – in src/main/resources. Here’s a simple log4j2.xml file example.

\n\n

log4j2.xml

\n\n

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n<Configuration status="INFO">\n    <Appenders>\n        <Console name="Console" target="SYSTEM_OUT">\n            <PatternLayout pattern="%d{HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n" />\n        </Console>\n        <File name="MyFile" fileName="all.log" immediateFlush="false" append="false">\n            <PatternLayout pattern="%d{yyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS} [%t] %-5level %logger{36} - %msg%n"/>\n        </File>\n    </Appenders>\n    <Loggers>\n        <Root level="debug">\n            <AppenderRef ref="Console" />\n            <!-- AppenderRef ref="MyFile"/ -->\n        </Root>\n \n        <Logger name="com.base22" level="trace" additivity="false">\n            <AppenderRef ref="Console"/>\n        </Logger>\n \n    </Loggers>\n</Configuration>

\n\n

Conclusion

\n\n

As you can see, logging from your Spring Boot application is piece of cake. Of course, there’s a lot more that you can do as your requirements dictate. For more information, take a look at Logging, in the Spring Boot Reference Guide.

\n\n

References

\n\n

Logging, in the Spring Boot Reference Guide
Logging in Spring Boot, by Andrea Ligios, Baeldung

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:45:54.045Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"enhance-your-front-end-web-dev-workflow-with-emmet","title":"Enhance Your Front-End Web Dev Workflow With Emmet, which is built in to WebStorm, IDEA, and Microsoft VS Code.","description":"Learn how to write HTML faster with Emmet.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-emmet.svg","created":"2017-03-10T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Did you know that Emmet’s built-in to WebStorm, IDEA, and Microsoft VS Code? Emmet takes the snippets idea to a whole new level: you can type CSS-like expressions that imply the HTML structure you want and have the IDE spit out the desired HTML.

\n\n

Try It!

\n\n

Here’s a simple example of a basic expression in the Emmet syntax. Try typing the following in an HTML page in your IDE. If your using VS Code, you simply hit ENTER or RETURN after the expression. If you’re using an IntelliJ product like WebStorm or IDEA, you have to press TAB after the expression.

\n\n ul>li*10\n\n

At the end of the expression, just hit the Tab key. WebStorm will use Emmet to parse the text and spit out the intended HTML which, in this case, will be an unordered list with 5 list items (shown below):

\n\n<ul>\n <li></li>\n <li></li>\n <li></li>\n <li></li>\n <li></li>\n</ul>\n\n

For details, you can refer to the Emmet Documentation, but for convenience, I’m including the most common stuff below. There’s a lot more to it though, so if you like what you see here, be sure to RTFM.

\n\n

Emmet Syntax

\n\n

Nesting

\n\n

You can use > operator to nest elements inside each other:

\n\ndiv>ul>li\n\n

Result:

\n\n<div>\n <ul>\n <li></li>\n </ul>\n</div>\n\n

Sibling

\n\n

Use + operator to place elements near each other, on the same level:

\n\ndiv+p+bq\n\n

Result:

\n\n<div></div>\n<p></p>\n<blockquote></blockquote>\n\n

Multiplication

\n\n

With * operator you can define how many times element should be outputted:

\n\nul>li*5\n\n

Result:

\n\n<ul>\n <li></li>\n <li></li>\n <li></li>\n <li></li>\n <li></li>\n</ul>\n\n

Grouping

\n\n

Parenthesises are used by Emmets’ power users for grouping subtrees in complex abbreviations:

\n\ndiv>(header>ul>li*2>a)+footer>p\n\n

Result:

\n\n

<div>\n    <header>\n        <ul>\n            <li><a href=""></a></li>\n            <li><a href=""></a></li>\n        </ul>\n    </header>\n    <footer>\n        <p></p>\n    </footer>\n</div>

\n\n

If you’re working with browser’s DOM, you may think of groups as Document Fragments: each group contains abbreviation subtree and all the following elements are inserted at the same level as the first element of group.

\n\n

You can nest groups inside each other and combine them with multiplication * operator.

\n\n

ID and CLASS

\n\n

In CSS, you use elem#id and elem.class notation to reach the elements with specified id or class attributes. In Emmet, you can use the very same syntax to add these attributes to specified element:

\n\ndiv#header+div.page+div#footer.class1.class2.class3\n\n

Result:

\n\n<div id="header"></div>\n<div class="page"></div>\n<div id="footer" class="class1 class2 class3"></div>\n\n

Custom attributes

\n\n

You can use [attr] notation (as in CSS) to add custom attributes to your element:

\n\n td[title=\"Hello world!\" colspan=3]\n\n

Result:

\n\n<td title="Hello world!" colspan="3"></td>\n\n

Item numbering

\n\n

With multiplication * operator you can repeat elements, but with $ you can number them. Place $ operator inside element’s name, attribute’s name or attribute’s value to output current number of repeated element:

\n\nul>li.item$*5\n\n

Result:

\n\n

<ul>\n    <li class="item1"></li>\n    <li class="item2"></li>\n    <li class="item3"></li>\n    <li class="item4"></li>\n    <li class="item5"></li>\n</ul>

\n\n

You can use multiple $ in a row to pad number with zeroes:

\n\nul>li.item$$*5\n\n

Result:

\n\n

<ul>\n    <li class="item001"></li>\n    <li class="item002"></li>\n    <li class="item003"></li>\n    <li class="item004"></li>\n    <li class="item005"></li>\n</ul>

\n\n

Text

\n\n

You can use curly braces to add text to element:

\n\na{Click me}\n\n

Result:

\n\n<a href="">Click me</a>\n\n

Greek Text

\n\n

You know – that filler text that designers use when they can’t think of real words that are relevant to a design…

\n\nlorem5\n\n

Result:

\n\nLorem ipsum dolor sit amet.\n\n

Holy shit example

\n\n

Here’s a crazy example to give you an idea of what you can accomplish if you get bad ass with Emmet.

\n\n

nav#menuSystem.navMenu.isOpen>div#hotelLogo>div.navMenuIcon.logoIcon+div#arrowPointer+ul#navMenuMain>li.navMenuItem.navMenuItem$$*10>div.navMenuIcon{Item $}+a{Item $}

\n\n

Result:

\n\n

<nav id="menuSystem" class="navMenu isOpen">\n   <div id="hotelLogo">\n      <div class="navMenuIcon logoIcon"></div>\n      <div id="arrowPointer"></div>\n      <ul id="navMenuMain">\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem001">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 1</div>\n            <a>Item 1</a></li>\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem002">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 2</div>\n            <a>Item 2</a></li>\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem003">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 3</div>\n            <a>Item 3</a></li>\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem004">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 4</div>\n            <a>Item 4</a></li>\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem005">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 5</div>\n            <a>Item 5</a></li>\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem006">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 6</div>\n            <a>Item 6</a></li>\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem007">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 7</div>\n            <a>Item 7</a></li>\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem008">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 8</div>\n            <a>Item 8</a></li>\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem009">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 9</div>\n            <a>Item 9</a></li>\n         <li class="navMenuItem navMenuItem010">\n            <div class="navMenuIcon">Item 10</div>\n            <a>Item 10</a></li>\n      </ul>\n   </div>\n</nav>

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:26:56.334Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"avoid-tracking-ga-page-views-in-atlassian-confluence","title":"How to Avoid Tracking Google Analytics Page Views for Admin or Specific Users in Atlassian Confluence","description":"Here's how to avoid tracking page views in Google Analytics when you're logged into Confluence as an admin or other specific user.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-google-analytics.svg","created":"2017-02-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Here's how to avoid tracking page views in Google Analytics when you're logged in as an administrative or other specific user.

This solution presupposes that your Google Analytics tracking snippet is pasted into the field labelled "At end of the HEAD" in the Custom HTML section in the Confluence Administration Area as shown below…

$\"\"$

Before modification, your Google Analytics tracking code should look something like this.

\n\n

<script>\n(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){\n(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),\nm=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)\n})(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');\n \nga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXXX-X', 'auto');\nga('send', 'pageview');\n \n</script>

\n\n

Now, to avoid tracking pages for an administrative user (or any particular user or set of users, for that matter), you can wrap the ga() function calls in an IF check. In the following code, we use the Confluence AJS object to determine whether or not the authenticated user is an administrative user. If that’s true, we do not reach the ga() functions and thus, the pageview is not tracked. In all other cases, however, the pageview will be tracked.

\n\n

<script>\n(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){\n(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),\nm=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)\n})(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');\n \nif(! AJS.params.isConfluenceAdmin) {\n    ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXXX-X', 'auto');\n    ga('send', 'pageview');\n}\n</script>

\n\n

You could use console.log statements to test this in your local browser.

If you want to avoid logging page views for specific users, you can check for specific user names with AJS.params.remoteUser.

\n","modified":"2021-07-18T23:11:17.528Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"set-the-page-title-in-angular","title":"Set the Page Title in Angular","description":"Angular provides a Title service that you can use to set the title of a page. Here’s how to use it.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-angular.svg","created":"2016-10-31T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-03T17:18:32.013Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Angular provides a Title service that you can use to set the title of a page. This is good, of course, for SEO. Here’s how to use it.

\n\n

import { Component } from '@angular/core';\nimport { Title } from '@angular/platform-browser';\n \n@Component({\n    selector: 'my-app', \n    viewProviders: [Title], \n    template: \\`< h1 > MyApp</h1>\\`\n                })\nexport class MyAppComponent {\n    constructor(private titleService: Title) {}\n\n    ngOnInit() {\n        this.setTitle('My Web Page Title');\n    }\n            \n    public setTitle( newTitle: string) {\n        this.titleService.setTitle(newTitle);\n    }\n}

\n\n

The service automatically creates the title element in the head if needed and also sets the value. The service also has a getter method to get the title.

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"im-not-bored-im-thinking","title":"I'm Not Bored, I'm Thinking","description":"In order to think, sometimes you have to power through a little boredom.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2016-08-12T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["storycraft-and-writing"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Last night, I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I went to bed without my laptop or smart phone. Once in the bed, I did not so much as peek at either screen. I didn’t even set an audiobook or podcast to playing as usual. I just laid there in the dark with nothing but silence and my very own thoughts. Not even a traditional printed book.

\n\n

As I laid there, for what seemed like forever, I was reminded of a conversation I often have with my son, which goes something like this.

\n\n

“Caden,” I say, “You’re not getting enough sleep.”

\n\n

“I can’t sleep,” he says.

\n\n

I look at the unshaven hair on his chin and neck. It itches me.

\n\n

“You know you need at least seven or eight hours of sleep per night,” I say. “How much sleep have you been getting?”

\n\n

“I don’t know. About four hours?”

\n\n

“If you’d stop going to bed so late, you wouldn’t be so exhausted and then, when you are awake, you would be more effective. Your mind will be clear. Your brain will work better. You won’t be so stressed.”

\n\n

“Yeah,” he says. “I tried that. It doesn’t work. I just lie there and I can’t fall asleep.”

\n\n

“So, just keep lying there until you do!”

\n\n

“It doesn’t work! I just lie there with my monkey mind, thinking about all sorts of things, and I never fall asleep.”

\n\n

And then he gets frustrated. I bark at him about shaving, or his unkempt hair, or his absences at school, unfinished business, or whatever. I’m always dispensing advice – like annoying drips of water on his forehead. I might as well be thumping him there with my finger. I can see from the way he diverts his eyes that it feels like that – endless criticism, not guidance.

\n\n

Anyway, so I’m lying there thinking about this. Thinking about that. Thinking about all sorts of things. Monkey mind, as my son said. And just like him, I can’t sleep.

\n\n

Still, I resist the swelling urge to grab my smart phone.

\n\n

And then it occurs to me. That monkey mind, all that noise in my head, is me. I’m am with myself, in myself, of myself. Even if my thoughts are in the past, or the future, I am experiencing them fully.

\n\n

I remembered that, as a boy, I once enjoyed this time before sleep. It was my chance to make movies in my mind. I would close my eyes, the lights in the theater would dim, and I would project my stories up there on the back of my eyelids. And I would enjoy them as much, if not more, than the real movies. I would work on them for nights in a row – changing up the scenes, introducing new characters and situations. And then, in the days, I would write or draw or tell stories and people would often ask “Where in hell do you come up with this stuff?”

\n\n

So, I try it again.

\n\n

Instead of just letting my mind jump around like a broken time machine, I direct my thoughts. I try to hold them on a single idea or question.

\n\n

At first, it’s very clear that I’m out of practice. Every little thing that comes to mind reminds me of something else – like an inbox full of spam. But, I concentrate. I heave my mind back out of the muck and return it to the idea. Back and forth it goes like this until alas, I’m thinking.

\n\n

I’m thinking!

\n\n

I’m not bored, I’m thinking.

\n\n

Since when did thinking become boredom?

\n\n

I like thinking!

\n\n

I like this place of thought. I like this spot here in the dark, in the bed – this perfect place for quiet contemplation. I like the silence. I can hear myself. I’m in good company.

\n\n

And then, maybe thirty minutes later, maybe an hour, maybe more, I fell asleep.

\n\n

I woke early, feeling fully rested – energized, but remarkably peaceful. I made a cup of hot tea. The house was quiet. I watched a hummingbird drink from the feeder just outside the window.

\n\n

I opened my laptop. I didn’t jump straight into the email. I didn’t open Skype. No Facebook. No Twitter. Not even the daily news. Just a blank page and a blinking cursor.

\n\n

I wrote.

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:28:55.778Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"format-currency-in-angular","title":"Format Currency in Angular","description":"How format a number into currency with the Angular currency pipe.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-angular.svg","created":"2016-04-29T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:29:26.480Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

In Angular, to format a currency, use the currency pipe on a number as shown here.

\n\n\n

\n<tr *ngFor="#item of data">\n     <td><a href="#">{{ item.invoiceNo }}</a></td>\n     <td>{{ item.invoiceDate }}</td>\n     <td>{{ item.invoiceStatus }}</td>\n     <td class="right aligned">{{ item.invoiceTotal | currency:'USD':true:'1.2-2' }}</td>\n</tr>\n

\n\n\n

The first parameter, 'USD', of the pipe is an ISO currency code (e.g. ‘USD’,’EUR’, etc.)
The second parameter, true, is an optional boolean to specify whether or not you want to render the currency symbol (‘$’, ‘€’); default is false
The third parameter,'1.2-2', also optional, specifies how to format the number, using the same formatting rules as apply to the number pipe.

Note, however, that the currency pipe relies on the Internationalization API, which is not available in all browsers. See current browser support for Internationalization API.

Here’s a visual example of what the example shown above renders when used on a decimal number:

$\"\"$

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"index-of-item-within-angular-ngfor-loop","title":"Index of Item Within Angular NgFor Loop","description":"How to get and print the index (or the iteration number) of the current item in an ngFor loop.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-angular.svg","created":"2016-04-28T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:29:55.093Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Here's how to get and print the index (or the iteration number) of the current item in an ngFor loop.

\n\n

In Angular, to get the index (or the iteration number) of the current item, add a second part to the ngFor expression (after a semi-colon) as shown here.

\n\n

<tr *ngFor="#item of data; #ndx = index">\n    <td>{{ndx+1}}</td>\n    <td>{{item.po}}</td>\n    <td>{{item.serviceType}}</td>\n    <td>{{item.validStart}}</td>\n    ...\n</tr>

\n\n

Notice that I’m adding 1 to the output expression ( ndx+1 ) because the index is zero-based. The data table row example shown above renders as follows:

\n\n

$\"\"$

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"story-structure-diagram","title":"Story Structure Diagram","description":"A story structure diagram to help you plan and plot your novel.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2016-04-02T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2022-02-28T22:38:23.066Z","topics":["storycraft-and-writing"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Here is a story structure diagram to help you visualize, plan, and plot your novel.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

LEGEND: Acts, Periods, Events, Points

\n\n

Details

\n\n

ACT I – The Beginning\n
- Hook – Grab the reader, provoke interest,and cause questions to be asked.
- Inciting Event – The event that sets the story in motion, and will lead to the Key Event.
- Key Event – The event that causes the protagonist to be caught up in the story.
- Plot Point 1 – A change of surroundings. A personal turning point. The point of no return for the protagonist.
\n
ACT II – The Middle\n
- Strong Reaction – The protagonist has a strong response to the 1st Plot Point.
- Pinch 1 – The antagonist’s presence and power are displayed.
- Plot Point 2 – The midpoint. The turning point of the novel. A change of direction for the characters. A push from reaction to action. A personal catalyst for the protagonist. A move to dramatic, new, fresh, different circumstances. The true midpoint is not a scene. It’s a moment within a scene. It’s like the earth’s core. The true center. Find it in your novel, and everything will radiate from it.
- Strong Action – The protagonist takes a strong action after the Turning Point.
- Pinch 2 – The antagonist’s presence and power are reaffirmed.
- Plot Point 3 – We are setup on our inexorable course towards the Climax. A low point for the protagonist. Perhaps a meeting between protagonist and antagonist? A decision? An upheaval? An unexpected event?
\n
ACT III – The End\n
- Increased Pace – The pacing will naturally increase (and chapter length will decrease) as we approach the Climax.
- Climax – The final 10% of the novel, where the core conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is brought to a conclusion.\n
  - Climactic Moment – The critical moment that fulfills the dramatic promise of the story.
  \n
- Resolution – A brief hint (a scene or two) of how the story continues beyond the novel’s scope. A period of emotional recovery. A chance to spend another brief moment with the protagonist.
\n

\n\n

Sources

\n\n

Although this is pretty standard for story structure, it is based primarily on a study of the book, Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story $\"\"/$ , by K.M. Weiland. She also has an excellent blog called Helping Writers Become Better Authors where you can find a treasure trove of tips on writing.

\n\n

Image Files

\n\n

For the original Adobe Illustrator master image, as well as a much higher resolution JPEG image, download Story Structure Diagram.zip (983.8 KB).

\n","path":["blog"],"features":[],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"quick-and-simple-caching-with-apache-commons-jcs","title":"Quick and Simple Caching With Apache Commons JCS","description":"Need a quick and easy caching system for your web app?","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-apache.svg","created":"2016-02-19T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-01T04:47:29.423Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Need a quick and easy caching system for your web app? Don’t you dare roll your own. And don’t even think about doing some kind of quick and dirty HashMap. Setting up a simple cache with Commons JCS™, is easy – you can have a basic LRU Cache up and running in minutes. What’s more, the package is mature and sophisticated, so you can get into more advanced features when the need arises. But let’s take a look at a simple setup.

\n\n

First, the Maven dependency…

\n\n

<dependency>\n     <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>\n     <artifactId>commons-jcs-core</artifactId>\n     <version>2.0-beta-1</version>\n</dependency>

\n\n

Next, create the cache config file as follows. Name it cache.ccf and put it in your resources directory on the classpath. The first stanza is the default cache. The second is one I created, for example, to cache a list of people (active users) from an expensive API call into the cloud.

\n\n

# DEFAULT CACHE REGION\njcs.default=DC\njcs.default.cacheattributes=org.apache.commons.jcs.engine.CompositeCacheAttributes\njcs.default.cacheattributes.MaxObjects=1000\njcs.default.cacheattributes.MemoryCacheName=org.apache.commons.jcs.engine.memory.lru.LRUMemoryCache\njcs.default.cacheattributes.UseMemoryShrinker=false\njcs.default.cacheattributes.MaxMemoryIdleTime=3600\njcs.default.cacheattributes.ShrinkerInterval=60\njcs.default.elementattributes=org.apache.commons.jcs.engine.ElementAttributes\njcs.default.elementattributes.IsEternal=false\njcs.default.elementattributes.MaxLife=21600\njcs.default.elementattributes.IdleTime=1800\njcs.default.elementattributes.IsSpool=true\njcs.default.elementattributes.IsRemote=true\njcs.default.elementattributes.IsLateral=true\n \n# PRE-DEFINED CACHE REGIONS\njcs.region.peopleCache=DC\njcs.region.peopleCache.cacheattributes=org.apache.commons.jcs.engine.CompositeCacheAttributes\njcs.region.peopleCache.cacheattributes.MaxObjects=1000\njcs.region.peopleCache.cacheattributes.MemoryCacheName=org.apache.commons.jcs.engine.memory.lru.LRUMemoryCache\njcs.region.peopleCache.cacheattributes.UseMemoryShrinker=false\njcs.region.peopleCache.cacheattributes.MaxMemoryIdleTime=3600\njcs.region.peopleCache.cacheattributes.ShrinkerInterval=60\njcs.region.peopleCache.cacheattributes.MaxSpoolPerRun=500\njcs.region.peopleCache.elementattributes=org.apache.commons.jcs.engine.ElementAttributes\njcs.region.peopleCache.elementattributes.IsEternal=false

\n\n

You’ll need the following imports…

\n\n

import org.apache.commons.jcs.JCS;\nimport org.apache.commons.jcs.access.exception.CacheException;\nimport org.apache.commons.jcs.access.CacheAccess;

\n\n

Get a handle on the cache by name like this…

\n\n

// String is the cache key, the second param is whatever object type you're caching...\nprivate CacheAccess<String, List<User>> cache = null;\n \npublic MyService() {\n \n     try\n     {\n          cache = JCS.getInstance( "peopleCache" );\n     }\n     catch ( CacheException e )\n     {\n            LOG.error( String.format( "Problem initializing cache: %s", e.getMessage() ) );\n     }\n \n}

\n\n

Finally, here’s an example of a fetch method that attempts to get resources from the cache before going back to the expensive API client request.

\n\n

public List getActiveUsers() {\n \n // First, try to get the user list from the cache...\n List userList = cache.get("activeUserList");\n\n // If the userList does not exist in the cache, build it\n // from the repository request and stick it in the cache.\n if(userList == null) {\n\n        UserCollection users = client.getUsers();\n        userList = new ArrayList();\n\n        for (User user : users)\n        {\n            if(user.isActive()) {\n                userList.add(user);\n            }\n        }\n\n        cache.put("activeUserList",userList);\n\n    }\n\n    return userList;\n\n}

\n\n

That’s all you need to do to setup a cache in your web app fast. But if you’re wondering if Commons JCS™ has the chops to handle something more sophisticated, here’s something to ease your concerns. Beyond simply caching objects in memory, it provides numerous additional features:

Memory management
Disk overflow (and defragmentation)
Thread pool controls
Element grouping
Minimal dependencies
Quick nested categorical removal
Data expiration (idle time and max life)
Extensible framework
Fully configurable runtime parameters
Region data separation and configuration
Fine grained element configuration options
Remote synchronization
Remote store recovery
Non-blocking “zombie” (balking facade) pattern
Lateral distribution of elements via HTTP, TCP, or UDP
UDP Discovery of other caches
Element event handling
Remote server chaining (or clustering) and failover
Custom event logging hooks
Custom event queue injection
Custom object serializer injection
Key pattern matching retrieval
Network efficient multi-key retrieval

Before integrating Commons JCS™, be sure to check out possible cache features available on whatever platform you’re building for. For example, you might instead use the built-in DynaCache for IBM WebSphere or the IBM Data Cache for Bluemix. If nothing is already available on your platform, Commons JCS™ can be the way to go.

\n\n","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"i-dare-you-to-touch-her","title":"The Glass Beneath Our Feet","description":"A Reflection on My First Encounter with Human Death","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2016-01-25T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["memoir"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels

I was barely six when I saw a person dead for the first time, but dead bodies had been common in my boyish imagination up to that day.

I imagined them mostly around water — on the banks of creeks, half buried in mud, and with all the color drowned from their milky-white eyes. I imagined them in piles of garbage — a severed limb protruding accidentally from a suspicious trash bag. If they’d been sitting out long enough, they were surrounded by flies. Sometimes, they had determined columns of ants lapping up the last of the salty water from the edges of their eyelids or from the corners of the their gaping mouths. This was all my big sister’s fault.

Fishing off a dock, in the long hours of a lazy summer day, she’d suddenly break the silence.

“What if you saw something kind of pale and whitish just sort of floating up from the bottom of the lake right here under our feet?” she would say. “And as it got closer and closer, you suddenly realized it was a dead body?”

“Of a lady,” I would add. “A naked lady.”

Then there would be silence again as we both imagined this gruesome scene. And on the way home, or the next day, and generally on just about every other day, my sister would point to a shack, or toward the dark shadows of an alley, or to a gutter, or just about any place that made a good frame for the dead and she’d ask it again, “What if…?”

One long summer of this game had left me with a morbid curiosity to see it for real. So, when my mother invited my sister and I to go alone into the viewing room to see our aunt, Debbie, before they closed her coffin, we accepted.

“I dare you to touch her,” my sister said.

Why not? Her body was nothing like the ones I’d seen in scary movies. Her eyes and mouth were closed. No ants. No flies. No maggots. I was relieved. I reached over and I touched her on the nose and then jerked my hand back in a shock. My sister’s eyes got wide as she waited eagerly for my report.

“She’s cold,” I whispered, “She doesn’t feel real.”

My aunt’s body wasn’t warm. It didn’t seem soft anymore. Her mouth was rigid. They’d dolled her up with colors and dressed her for church. She didn’t feel right and I couldn’t shake the eerie draft that seemed to be washing down my skin like cold gray dishwater. There it was finally — a real dead person.

In the days that followed, we didn’t play our morbid games so much any more. We imagined the dead less often; the fascination had gone. Or, at least, we didn’t share what we imagined so much anymore. We’d began to fathom something new about our own mortality.

Fishing off the dock again, in the long hours at the end of that summer, I looked at our reflection in the water beneath us and, in quiet contemplation, I watched the first cool breeze of the coming fall break the glass beneath our feet.

\n\n","modified":"2021-08-05T16:27:34.785Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":"A Reflection on My First Encounter with Human Death"},{"_id":"7-reasons-why-typescript-helps-you-kick-ass","title":"7 Reasons Why Typescript Helps You Kick Ass","description":"Need a reason to learn Typescript? Here are seven.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-angular.svg","created":"2015-11-16T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2018-07-26T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"\"$

\r\n\r\n

You can now count me as one of the many JavaScript developers who thinks TypeScript is kick-ass. I don’t want to say that I’m old-school, but if you measure by Internet time, I’m pretty old. I grew up shoving JavaScript into onclick attributes years before jQuery was even a thing. It also means that lately, I’ve been feeling a lot like a toddler who just got tossed in the twelve-foot end of a swimming pool and told to swim. I’ve been paddling my ass off to keep up with all the newfangled ways that front-end development is done. Seems like there’s been a whole-scale revolution darn-near overnight – what with all the Node.js, CSS preprocessors, task runners like Gulp and all. But recently, I took a deep dive into TypeScript and I gotta say – it’s a breath of fresh air. I feel like someone just threw me a floaty.

\r\n\r\n

TypeScript adds to everything that JavaScript can already do while giving you a whole new set of features that can really improve the way you work. I’ll explain why in a second, but before you go crying about yet another technology to learn, let me ease your mind. You see, TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript, which means it literally sits right on top JavaScript and, as a result you can take any existing JavaScript code and shove it in a TypeScript file (a file with a .ts extension). Assuming you weren’t drunk when you wrote the code, it’ll work. Once you get the tools in place to compile TypeScript into JavaScript, you can start writing the kind of JavaScript you’re already familiar with in TypeScript files. Then, at your own leisure, you can start learning some of the benefits of TypeScript and start sweetening your code as you go.

\r\n\r\n

I’ll introduce you to seven of the key benefits now so you can know why you might go with TypeScript and where it might lead you.

\r\n\r\n

7 key benefits of TypeScript

\r\n\r\n

Types
Classes
ES6/ECMAScript® 2015 Features
Compile to ES3/ES5/ES6
Generics
Modules
Interfaces

\r\n\r\n

1. Types

\r\n\r\n

One of the most significant value propositions for using TypeScript is that it offers types, which you can associate with function parameters, variables, and other aspects of your code. By this, I mean types like number, boolean, string, and array.

\r\n

As you know, JavaScript is not a strongly typed language, which can be good in some cases, but bad in others. It’s bad for IDE’s for one thing. Without explicit types, developer tools don’t have the semantics they need to help you out. Tools that understand TypeScript can help you find errors in your code at compile time and they can employ techniques like intellisense to give you hints about what you can properly do. A lot of the best and most commonly used tools support TypeScript – Visual Studio, WebStorm, and Sublime Text to name just a few.

\r\n

Your weakly typed code can also be error prone and difficult for other developers to use. Take the following function, which is intended to add two numbers, for example:

\r\n\r\nfunction total(x, y) {\r\n alert( x + y );\r\n}\r\n\r\n

There’s nothing in that code that says that the two parameters given to the function should be numbers and JavaScript won’t enforce it either. If you pass a number and a string, you’d get an unintended result. The result of the following function call would not give you 3, but 12.

\r\n\r\ntotal('1',2);\r\n\r\n

In TypeScript, we can explicitly assign types to the function parameters like this:

\r\n\r\nfunction total(x: number, y: number) {\r\n alert( x + y );\r\n}\r\n\r\n

When we explicitly assign types, developers and IDE’s can better understand the code and that can help us avoid problems before runtime.

\r\n\r\n

2. Classes

\r\n\r\n

JavaScript is a functional language, which has its own benefits, but it can be a hassle when you like to think and organize your code in an object-oriented way. Classes allow that. Just like Java and other object-oriented languages, TypeScript allows you to define classes with fields (variables), a constructor (for seeding the class when creating instances), and functions (methods) among other things.

\r\n\r\n

TypeScript also supports inheritance, so the classes you create can extend other classes and inherit their attributes. So, with TypeScript it’s possible to structure your code in a way that can make a lot more sense than the typical function spaghetti. It’s also makes it easier to to use proven object-oriented patterns.

\r\n\r\n

It’s pretty simple. Here’s a class in TypeScript, for example:

\r\n\r\n

class Greeter {\r\n \r\n    greeting: string;\r\n \r\n    constructor(message: string) {\r\n        this.greeting = message;\r\n    }\r\n \r\n    greet() {\r\n        return \"Hello, \" + this.greeting;\r\n    }\r\n \r\n}

\r\n\r\n

We can instantiate that class using the following code:

\r\n\r\n var greeter = new Greeter(\"world\");\r\n\r\n

Pretty cool, huh? The makers of ES6/ECMAScript® 2015 seem to think so; classes are coming to JavaScript irregardless of TypeScript. Which brings me to the next point.

\r\n\r\n

3. ES6/ECMAScript® 2015

\r\n\r\n

TypeScript allows you to use several features of ES6/ECMAScript® 2015 now without having to worry about how compatible they might be in today’s browsers. With TypeScript, you can start learning and using a lot of the new JavaScript now – features such as the following, for example:

\r\n\r\n

Classes
Modules
Arrow functions
Rest parameters
Default parameter values

\r\n\r\n

But wait, you say. How can I use ES6/ECMAScript® 2015 without worrying about browser support?

\r\n\r\n

4. Compile to ES3/ES5/ES6

\r\n\r\n

That’s right. It’s genius. With TypeScript, you can learn and use ES6, but compile down to ES5 or even ES3. And guess what. It all still works. Boom! TypeScript automatically changes your code for you. You can see this in action using the TypeScript Playground, which is shown below. In the Playground, you can enter TypeScript code on the left while watching how the TypeScript compiler transforms it on the right.

\r\n\r\n

$\"\"$

\r\n\r\n

You may be wondering: if TypeScript is compiled, how can I debug it at runtime using developer tools in my browser? Not a problem. There’s a source map generator in the TypeScript compiler, which will create .map files alongside your JavaScript files. These files tell your browser tooling how to map the compiled JavaScript to the original TypeScript .ts files. That means, for example, that in Chrome’s Developer Tools, you can find the .ts file under Sources, and place breakpoints.

\r\n\r\n

5. Generics

\r\n\r\n

TypeScript has the ability to define code templates, called generics, that can be reused throughout your codebase and that provide great functionality. C# and Java have a similar feature you may already be familiar with. Generics provide a lot more flexibility while working with types. As a developer, you can write code that allows for multiple, but limited types. With generics you get to say, “You can use multiple types here, but not anything under the sun. I’ll let you tell me which types you want to use when calling this code, but it needs to be either a string or number.” In other words, generics allow you to write code templates that can change depending on the context of use.

\r\n\r\n

To understand what I mean, take a look at the following class that simply manages a list of numbers.

\r\n\r\n

class ListOfNumbers {\r\n \r\n        _items: number[] = [];\r\n \r\n        add(item: number) {\r\n                this._items.push(item);\r\n        }\r\n \r\n        getItems(): number[] {\r\n                return this._items;\r\n        }\r\n \r\n}

\r\n\r\n

Now, suppose someone comes along, looks at this code and decides they need to do something very similar. They want to manage a list of strings in the same way, so they copy the code, paste it, and change it up a bit by replacing all the number types with string types, like so…

\r\n\r\n

class ListOfStrings {\r\n \r\n        _items: string[] = [];\r\n \r\n        add(item: string) {\r\n                this._items.push(item);\r\n        }\r\n \r\n        getItems(): string[] {\r\n                return this._items;\r\n        }\r\n \r\n}

\r\n\r\n

It has been said that duplicate code is the root of all evil in software design. This, being identical or nearly identical code, you might call it careless. If you’re in a bad mood, you might even say it’s just downright sloppy and unprofessional. Generics can help solve this by allowing the same class to handle both a list of numbers and a list of strings.

\r\n\r\n

An easy metaphor for understanding how this works is to look at a kind of template we’re all familiar with – a mail merge template:

\r\n\r\nDear \r\n\r\nWe have sent the info to

.\r\n\r\nThanks, \r\n\r\n

I can merge values into the placeholders for this template to get a unique letter for each person on my mailing list.

\r\n\r\n

Generics allow you to make code templates in a similar way. Of course, JavaScript functions already allow you to pass in different data values. Generics allow you to vary the actual data types that can be used with a function. They rely on “type” variables such as to define types in a generic template.

\r\n\r\n

With generics we can have just one function, which can be called with a specified type for the type variable. For example:

\r\n\r\nvar stringNumeric = new GenericNumber();\r\n\r\n

Or…

\r\n\r\nvar stringNumeric = new GenericNumber();\r\n\r\n

In summary, a generic is a code template that relies on type variables: . This allows you to create more generalized code while ensuring that it remains type-safe at compile time.

\r\n\r\n

6. Modules

\r\n\r\n

Modules are a way to organize code into buckets with namespaces (like package names in Java). In addition to helping you avoid naming conflicts, these buckets of code can encapsulate some general functionality that is then imported and reused across your project or in other projects.

\r\n\r\n

Historically, JavaScript wasn’t often used to build very large, sophisticated applications with several dependencies and a large set of files. As it has increased in popularity and as people now use it to build sophisticated single-page apps like GMail or Office 365 Web, the need for modularity has become increasingly clear. Managing such apps without modularity is a royal pain.

\r\n\r\n

To ease this pain, you can use internal modules in TypeScript, which help you organize your code. You can also use external modules (CommonJS or AMD loading), which in addition to helping you organize code, allow you to encapsulate and share reusable functionality.

\r\n\r\n

If you use Gulp, you’ve already used modules. Gulp and other Node.js applications use CommonJS to require and import modules:

\r\n\r\nvar gulp = require('gulp-uglify');\r\n\r\n

7. Interfaces

\r\n\r\n

You’ve heard the old programming best practice: alway program to an interface, not an implementation. Interfaces allow us to define a certain set of rules that classes must follow when they implement the interface. In this way, classes can be more easily swapped without breaking existing code and your objects can be more loosely coupled.

\r\n\r\n

JavaScript doesn’t inherently support the use of interfaces, so again, TypeScript comes to the rescue – giving us a way to define the contract for a class, what members of the interface must be implemented, and optional members.

\r\n\r\n

Following is a TypeScript example of the interface for a class and the class itself.

\r\n\r\n

interface IClock {\r\n    currentTime: Date;\r\n}\r\n \r\nclass Clock implements IClock {\r\n    currentTime: Date;\r\n    constructor(h: number, m: number) { }\r\n}

\r\n\r\n

Conclusion

\r\n\r\n

In this post, I’ve shown you just 7 out of more reasons why TypeScript helps you kicks ass. Of course, you don’t have to kick ass. You can wait for ES6/ECMAScript® 2015 to become widely adopted and learn about it then. You can keep wrestling with runtime defects and debugging your code in a browser. You can stick with writing JavaScript purely in the functional form and miss out on object orientated benefits that have been enjoyed in other languages for years. You can write tons of big-ass JavaScript files that are difficult to understand and difficult to maintain. You can keep swimming with your nose just above the surface of the water.

\r\n\r\n

But not me. I like to kick ass.

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"new-web-developer-toolkit-for-ibm-digital-experience","title":"New Web Developer Toolkit for IBM Digital Experience","description":"Learn how to automatically download components and presentation templates for editing offline using with the new Web Developer Toolkit for IBM Digital Experience.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2015-10-05T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

\n\t\t\n\t\t

https://github.com/codyburleson/ibm-dx-resources

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:42:06.188Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"better-error-messages-from-gulp-using-gulp-util","title":"Better Error Messages From Gulp Using Gulp-Util","description":"Learn about a Gulp plugin that can help you coax more troubleshooting info out of errors.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-gulpjs.svg","created":"2015-09-11T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Gulp is a streaming build system that can help automate and enhance your workflow. For example, at Base22, in one of our composite tasks, we use Gulp to create a directory structure, compile Less into standard CSS, copy static dependencies, minify JavaScript, compress images, run a simple HTTP server, and then watch for subsequent changes to files while we’re working. Gulp is easy to install, easy to learn, easy to configure, and I love it. But when it happens to bomb on a problem, it doesn’t always log information that you can actually make sense of. Luckily, there’s a Gulp plugin that can help you coax more troubleshooting info out of these errors.

\n\n

Take the following Gulp error message, for example:

\n\n

Example Problem – Useless Error Message

\n\n

events.js:85\n      throw er; // Unhandled 'error' event\n            ^\nError\n    at new Parser (C:\\git\\frontend\\node_modules\\gulp-less\\node_modules\\less\\lib\\less\\parser.js:333:27)\n    at Object.less.render (C:\\git\\frontend\\node_modules\\gulp-less\\node_modules\\less\\lib\\less\\index.js:18:22)

\n\n\n

Pretty useless. The only thing one can discern from the error is that it has something to do with the less parser. But what? Who the #$@% knows.

\n\n

But what if you could get the following instead?

\n\n

Example Solution: Improved Error Message

\n\n

[15:52:20] { [Error: Unrecognised input in file C:\\git\\frontend\\dev\\less\\theme.less line no. 2449]\n  type: 'Parse',\n  message: 'Unrecognised input in file C:\\\\git\\\\frontend\\\\dev\\\\less\\\\theme.less line no. 2449',\n  filename: 'C:\\\\git\\\\frontend\\\\dev\\\\less\\\\theme.less',\n  index: 45319,\n  line: 2449,\n  callLine: NaN,\n  callExtract: undefined,\n  column: 17,\n  extract:\n   [ ' .btn-main-green {background-color: #7AB642; color:white; }',\n     ' .btn-main-green: {background-color: #7AB642; color:white; }',\n     ' .btn-main-green:hover {background-color: #2B872B; color:white;}' ],\n  lineNumber: 2449,\n  fileName: 'C:\\\\git\\\\frontend\\\\dev\\\\less\\\\theme.less',\n  ...etc...

\n\n

This error message is much improved. It tells us exactly which less file is failing the parser. It also tells us the precise failing line number, and it even gives us an extract of the CSS around that line number. Without even opening the file, we can see the erroneous colon after the CSS class, .btn-main-green: {.

\n\n

How To…

\n\n

The answer to this problem lies in the gulp-util plugin.

\n\n

Install the plugin and also add it to your package.json file with the following command:

\n\n

npm install --save-dev gulp-util

\n\n

Next, add the following declaration to the top of your gulp.js file:

\n\n

var gutil = require('gulp-util');

\n\n

Finally, attach the following error handler to tasks (when you are compiling less, uglifying some code, or whatever):

\n\n

.pipe(less().on('error', gutil.log))

\n\n

or…

\n\n

.pipe(uglify().on('error', gutil.log))

\n\n

With this little gem, you can now spend less time troubleshooting errors and more time creating works of art.

\n","modified":"2021-05-07T18:32:10.573Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"unity-get-rigidbody-from-object","title":"Unity - How to Get Rigidbody From Object a Script Is Applied To","description":"C# scipt to get rigidbody from object the script is applied to in Unity.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2015-04-01T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":" \n

Here’s how to get the rigidbody from an object the script is applied to in Unity. The example shown is in C#.

\n\n

using UnityEngine;\nusing System.Collections;\npublic class PlayerController : MonoBehaviour {\n  private Rigidbody rb;\n  // Use this for initialization\n  void Start () {\n    rb = GetComponent ();\n  }\n  \n  // Update is called once per frame\n  void Update () {\n  }\n  // Called before any physics calculations.\n  // This is where you put your physics code.\n  // We apply forces to the rigid body, which is physics, so this is where it goes.\n  void FixedUpdate() {\n    // Pressing arrow keys on keyboard will apply force to rigidbody \n    float moveHorizontal = Input.GetAxis (\"Horizontal\");\n    float moveVertical = Input.GetAxis (\"Vertical\");\n    Vector3 movement = new Vector3 (moveHorizontal,0.0f,moveVertical);\n    rb.AddForce (movement);\n  }\n}

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:51:34.006Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"identifying-large-objects-consuming-memory-in-java-heap","title":"Identifying Large Objects Consuming Memory in the Java Heap","description":"Learn to identify large objects that were filling up the Java heap with this simple JVM argument.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-java.svg","created":"2015-03-20T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Recently, we experienced some excessive memory consumption that was leading our servers into an out-of-memory\n\t\t\t(OOM) condition. To troubleshoot the issue, we needed a way to identify any large objects that were filling\n\t\t\tup the heap. As it turns out, there’s a JVM argument for this.

\n\n\t\t

Generic JVM argument: -Xdump:stack:events=allocation,filter

\n\n\t\t

If you set this option, whenever an allocation request is made for an object greater than or equal to the\n\t\t\tgiven size, the Java stack trace corresponding to the thread requesting the allocation is printed into the\n\t\t\tstandard error log. From this stack trace, you can easily see which actual Java class is eating up all your\n\t\t\tmemory. For example, the following setting will print the stack information for all allocations over 10\n\t\t\tmegabytes to the native_stderr.log:

\n\n\t\t

-Xdump:stack:events=allocation,filter=#10m

\n\n\t\t

You can also view an allocation within a certain range of values. The following, for example, will print the\n\t\t\tstack information for all allocations between 2m and 4m to the native_stderr.log

\n\n\t\t

-Xdump:stack:events=allocation,filter=#2m..4m

\n\n\t\t

You can read more about this in the following IBM technote:

\n\n\t\t

Identifying the Java stack\n\t\t\t\tof a thread making an allocation request larger than a certain size

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:23:21.324Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"string-replace-helper-for-dust-js","title":"String Replace Helper for Dust.js","description":"Steal this String Replace helper that can be used within a Dust rendering template.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-javascript.svg","created":"2014-10-24T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Recently, I’ve been learning about the LinkedIn fork of Dust – a client-side templating solution. Dust allows you to create helpers, which are functions that can be called from within a rendering template. They help separate presentation from logic, which is always a good practice.

\n\n

Today we created a String Replace helper, which seems like it might be pretty useful for others, so I thought I’d share it.

\n\n

Following is an example of the helper in use. In this example, the replace helper will replace all instances of a period character with a hyphen in the given message string, and then it will write the trimmed result.

\n\n

Usage example:

\n\n {@replace str=\"{message}\" search=\".\" replace=\"-\" trim=\"true\" /}\n\n

Here is the Replace Helper for Dust (also on GitHub Gist)

\n\n

(function (dust) {\n \n /**\n  * Polyfill to create String.trim() if it's not natively available\n  */\n if (!String.prototype.trim) {\n     (function(){\n         // Make sure we trim BOM and NBSP\n         var rtrim = /^[\\\\s\\\\uFEFF\\\\xA0]+|[\\\\s\\\\uFEFF\\\\xA0]+$/g;\n         String.prototype.trim = function () {\n             return this.replace(rtrim, "");\n         }\n     })();\n }\n\n /**\n  * Processes the given string to escape special meta characters used within\n  * Regular Expressions. This is used by the replace helper.\n  */\n function escapeRegExp(string) {\n     return string.replace(/([.*+?^=!:$\\{\\}()|\\\\[\\\\]\\\\/\\\\\\\\])/g, "\\\\\\\\$1");\n }\n\n /**\n  * Performs a global search and replace within a string.\n  * In the following example, we replace all periods in the\n  * message string with dashes and we trim the result.\n  *\n  * {@replace str="{message}" search="." replace="-" trim="true" /}\n  *\n  * str - the input string within which the search and replace will be performed\n  * search - the character or sequence to search\n  * replace - the character or sequence used to replace\n  * trim - when 'true', will trim the string before returning result.\n  *\n  */\n dust.helpers.replace = function (chunk, ctx, bodies, params) {\n\n     var str = dust.helpers.tap(params.str, chunk, ctx);\n     var search = dust.helpers.tap(params.search, chunk, ctx);\n     var replace = dust.helpers.tap(params.replace, chunk, ctx);\n     var trim = dust.helpers.tap(params.trim, chunk, ctx);\n\n     if(trim && trim == 'true') {\n         str = str.trim();\n     }\n\n     var result = str.replace(new RegExp(escapeRegExp(search), 'g'), replace);\n\n     return chunk.write( result );\n\n }\n\n})(typeof exports !== 'undefined' ? module.exports = require('dustjs-linkedin') : dust);

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:45:49.959Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"meet-iife-the-quintessential-javascript-closure","title":"Meet IIFE - the Quintessential JavaScript Closure","description":"If you don't know this, you don't know JavaScript.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-javascript.svg","created":"2014-10-23T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

If you want to call yourself a JavaScript bad-ass, then there is at least one little code pattern you should know by heart: the Immediately Invoked Function Expression (IIFE). This pattern defines a function that is executed immediately and it looks like this:

\n\n(function () {\n alert("Hello world, I'm an IIFE!");\n}());\n\n

This is an important pattern primarily because it provides a closure for initialization code, which allows you to keep temporary variables out of the global scope. That is to say, it encloses code in a function that acts as a scope wrapper or sandbox and that is executed immediately after it’s created. I find it easier to remember this pattern by breaking it down into the following steps…

\n\n

JavaScript IIFE in 4 simple steps

\n\n

Define a function using a function expression.
\n function() {};
Add a set of parentheses at the end, which causes the function to be executed immediately.
\n function() {}();
Wrap the whole function in parentheses.This is required because we’re not assigning the function to a variable.
\n (function() {}());
Write the function body.…in the usual spot between the curly braces.
\n(function () {\n alert("Hello world, I'm an IIFE!");\n}());

\n\n

You can use this pattern any time you need to create a scope sandbox. You can also use it instead of jQuery’s $( document ).ready() when you’re actually able to follow the best-practice of loading render-blocking scripts last. You will almost certainly use this pattern when creating your own reusable JavaScript library or framework. When using an IIFE in your own library, you will likely use a more complex form – passing in parameters. In an upcoming post, I’ll show you how to do that, so stay tuned.

\n\n

POST-PUBLISH NOTE: See Jason Knight's interesting notes about alternatives now provided with let/const: We No Longer Need IIFE? Let/Const To The Rescue!

\n","modified":"2022-03-11T17:21:19.682Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"Default","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"how-to-start-a-simple-http-server-from-any-folder-on-a-mac","title":"How to Start a Simple HTTP Server From Any Folder on a Mac","description":"Here’s a simple command that will startup an HTTP server from any given folder on a Mac.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-apple.svg","created":"2014-10-23T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Here’s a simple command that will startup an HTTP server from any given folder on a Mac. Open Terminal, cd to change to the directory you wish to serve files from, and then execute the following command.

\n\n

python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8000

\n\n

This can be very handy for web development on a Mac; especially when using the Google Chrome web browser, which doesn’t allow you to run JavaScript from your filesystem. Even if you bypass Chrome’s restriction by starting it with the –allow-file-access-from-files parameter, there can be cases where a web server is still desired. For example, when using Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) for cross-domain Ajax, the browser needs to report its origin with an HTTP request. When served by the web server, Origin will report http://localhost:8000 rather than null or file://.

\n\n

Python 3.x+ releases

\n\n

If you’re a Mac Python user who has installed or updated to Python 3, then you’ll find the traditional command string from the prior Python versions does not work to initiate the web server in new Python 3.x+ releases. For Python 3.x+, use the following instead:

\n\n

python -m http.server

\n\n

OR (depending on how Python 3.x is installed and named):

\n\n

python3 -m http.server

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:46:21.321Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"eclipse-tip-format-source-code-on-save","title":"Eclipse Tip - Format Source Code on Save","description":"How to force Eclipse (or any Eclipse-based IDE) to format source code automatically on Save.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-eclipse.svg","created":"2014-09-18T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Pressing CTRL + SHIFT + F in the Eclipse editor will automatically format source code according to the default or specific formatter preference settings. However, if team members do not format consistently before committing code, relevant changes can become difficult to identify amongst code style changes. One way to alleviate this problem is to force Eclipse (or any Eclipse-based IDE) to format source code automatically on Save. Here’s how…

\n\n

You can set this behavior globally or on a per-project basis. I would recommend that you enforce it at the project level since you can’t be sure that other developers will keep the global setting turned on. This will work in Eclipse or any Eclipse-based IDE such as Rational Application Developer or the Spring Tools Suite.

\n\n

Project specific settings

\n\n

Right-click on any project in the workspace and select Properties.
In the Project Properties dialog, expand Java Editor and then click Save Actions.
Check Enable project specific settings.
Check Format source code and Organize imports.
Click Apply and OK.

\n\n

Global settings

\n\n

Select Window > Preferences in the application menu.
In the Preferences dialog, expand Java > Editor and then click on Save Actions.
Check Perform the selected actions on save.
Check Format source code and Organize imports.
Click Apply and OK.

","modified":"2021-06-01T14:53:38.482Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"how-to-shake-hands","title":"How to Shake Hands","description":"Yes, there is a right way and a wrong way and you WILL be judged.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2018/07/handshake-thumbnail.jpg","created":"2014-07-12T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["opinion"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

I’m not sure if this is a particularly Southern thing, but where I was raised, shaking hands was kind of a big deal. So, I have to admit that I’m often surprised (and sometimes a little disconcerted) when people seem to lack the knowledge of \"a proper\" handshake. I'm guessing that it must be irrelevant in some cultures. Heck, maybe it’s even an insult in some. But here in the United States, and especially down South, there’s a lot meaning conveyed in this simple act. So, for those who care to know, I'm going to tell as it was taught to me…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Be quick to offer, be quick to respond

\n\n

First of all, if somebody offers their hand, be quick to respond with your own. The very nature of the ritual is about assurance and trust. If you hesitate, it sends the wrong message and it makes the other person uncomfortable. You know what it means when someone extends their hand for a shake, so get yours out there to meet it. Better yet, offer yours first.

\n\n

Have a firm, but not bionic, grip

\n\n

Don’t shake with just your fingertips and a limp wrist. Wrap your hand firmly around the other and give it a subtle once-up / once-down. You don’t want it to feel like you have a wet noodle in your hand. Of course, you can actually hurt someone or cause discomfort if you overdo it, so be conscious of your grip as well as of the other person's stature.

\n\n

Make eye contact

\n\n

Nothing is worse about a bad handshake than not making eye contact! If you don’t make eye contact when you shake hands then the assurance and trust becomes a lie, which is worse than no handshake at all. In my opinion, this is absolutely the most important thing about a good handshake. If I'm shaking hands and the other person doesn't look at me, or even worse – looks away, I totally get a bad feeling about the whole affair. Squirrelly is the best word I can find for the opinion I get about the other person.

\n\n

Bonus touch

\n\n

Sometimes, you may shake normally with your right hand (as is customary), yet also embrace the shake with your other hand to show a little added touch. If you do this, just don't be creepy; make it relatively quick, accompanied with a smile, and perhaps a positive word or two.

\n\n

Shaking a woman's hand (for men)

\n\n

Nobody ever told me this one, but in my opinion, if you are a man, you should not shake hands differently with a woman than you would with another man. Don't try some kind of old fashioned curtsy thing where you barely grab the hand with your fingertips, or where you bend the lady's hand sideways as if you were going to kiss it. You can be slightly more gentle with your grip, but don't do anything that could possibly be misinterpereted; keep it strictly professional.

\n\n

Exceptions

\n\n

I think it's OK to avoid shaking hands when it is actually an act of respect as long as you clearly say so. For example, you could say, \"Normally, I would shake your hand, but I'm just getting over a cold, so I don't want to chance passing it on.\" Considering the possible consequences, I think the other person can honor and respect such a refusal.

\n","modified":"2021-05-07T18:46:44.924Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"a-javascript-implementation-of-java-util-map","title":"A JavaScript Implementation of java.util.Map","description":"Maps are now available as a part of the ECMAScript 2015 (ES6) standard, so this post is now outdated.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-javascript.svg","created":"2014-06-02T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-08T00:19:42.946Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"\"$ As a Java developer, I use a lot of maps – especially instances of HashMap. A map is a dictionary or lookup table that contains key/value pairs. It provides a very convenient way to cache objects for easy retrieval by some identifier such as a string (the key). It’s so convenient, in fact, that I find myself struggling without a JavaScript equivalent, so I wrote one. Following is a partial JavaScript implementation of the java.util.Map interface, which you are free to copy and use.

\n\n

Before using this map, please be advised that maps are now available as a part of the ECMAScript 2015 (ES6) standard. See: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Map

\n\n

JavaScript Map usage example

\n\n

As you can see from the example below, using this map is just like using a map in Java.

\n\n

var myMap = new Map();\nmyMap.put('myKey1',"Hello World!");\nmyMap.put('myKey2',{'prop1':'How','prop2':' are you?'});\n \nconsole.log( myMap.get('myKey1') );\nconsole.log( myMap.get('myKey2').prop1 + myMap.get('myKey2').prop2);

JavaScript Map

\n\n

* An object that maps keys to values. A map cannot contain duplicate keys; each key can map to at most one value.\n* For those familiar with the Java programming language, this is similar to a HashMap; it implements most of the\n* methods defined by Java's java.util.Map interface.\n*\n* @constructor\n* @version 1.1.0\n* @author cody@base22.com Burleson, Cody\n*/\n \nfunction Map() {\n \n    this.dict = {};\n     \n    /**\n    * Returns the number of key-value mappings in this map.\n    * @method\n    */\n \n    this.size = function() {\n        return Object.keys(this.dict).length;\n    };\n \n    /**\n    * Returns true if this map contains no key-value mappings.\n    * @method\n    */\n    this.isEmpty = function() {\n        return Object.keys(this.dict).length == 0;\n    };\n \n    /**\n    * Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or null if this map contains no mapping for the key.\n    * @method\n    */\n    this.get = function(key){\n        return this.dict[key];\n    };\n \n    /**\n    * Returns true if this map contains a mapping for the specified key.\n    * @method\n    */\n    this.containsKey = function(key){\n        if( this.get(key) !== undefined) {\n            return true;\n        } else {\n            return false;\n        }\n    };\n \n    /**\n    * Associates the specified value with the specified key in this map. If the map previously contained a mapping for the key, the old value is replaced.\n    * @method\n    */\n    this.put = function(key,value) {\n        this.dict[key] = value;\n    };\n \n    /**\n    * Removes the mapping for the specified key from this map if present.\n    * @method\n    */\n    this.remove = function(key) {\n        'use strict';\n        delete this.dict[key];\n    };\n \n    /**\n    * Removes all of the mappings from this map. The map will be empty after this call returns.\n    * @method\n    */\n    this.clear = function(){\n        this.dict = {};\n    };\n     \n    /**\n     * Executes the given callback for each entry in this map until all entries have been processed.\n     * The given callback will be passed a map entry as parameter. So, for example...\n     *\n     * function myCallback(mapEntryItem) {\n     *      console.log('I will process this item: ' + mapEntryItem.text);\n     * }\n     *\n     * myMap.forEach(myCallback);\n     *\n     * @method\n     */\n \n    this.forEach = function(callback) {\n        var len = this.size();\n        for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {\n            var item = this.get( Object.keys(this.dict)[i] );\n            callback(item);\n        }\n    }\n}

\n\n

Test Class

\n\n

/**\n* =============================\n* Map Test Cases\n* =============================\n*/\n \n/**\n* Useful for unit testing JavaScript, this method asserts that the given condition is true.\n* If the given condition is not true, an optionally provided message is logged or 'Assertion failed.'\n* @method\n*/\nfunction assert(condition, message) {\n    if (!condition) {\n        console.error(message) || console.error('Assertion failed');\n    } else {\n        console.log("-- PASS");\n    }\n}\n \n// Instantiate a new Dictionary object...\nvar myMap = new Map();\n \n// Test that isEmpty returns true at this point\nassert( myMap.isEmpty() );\n \n// Test that size is zero at this point\nassert( myMap.size() == 0 , "size should be zero before any entries have been put into the lookup table.");\n \n// Put a sim0le string value in the dictionary and then test for it\n \nmyMap.put('key1','http://value1?dt=2014_06_01&dummy=true');\n \n// Now let's test adding a different kind of object...\nvar testObj = {prop1:"Hello", prop2:" World!"};\nmyMap.put('key2',testObj);\n \n// Test that size now equals one\nassert( myMap.size() == 2, "size should be 2 after adding 2 entries.");\n \nvar ref = myMap.get('key2');\n \n// Test that ref was fetched from the dictionary\nassert( ref !== undefined , "ref should not be undefined; it should be a reference to testObj");\n \n// Test a property of the fetched object; just to show there is support for more than just string types\nassert( ref.prop1 == 'Hello' , "ref.prop1 should equal 'hello' ");\n \n// Show that containsKey is false when there is no matching key\nassert( myMap.containsKey('notReal') == false, "containsKey('notReal') should return false; no such object is in the lookup table.");\n \n// Show that containsKey is true when there is a matching object found\nassert( myMap.containsKey('key2') == true, "containsKey('key2') should return true; that object is in the lookup table.");\n \n// Now, we remove an item to test the remove() method\nmyMap.remove('key1');\nassert( myMap.size() == 1 , "size should be 1 after removing item under 'key1'.");\n \n// Finally, test the clear()\nmyMap.clear();\nassert( myMap.size() == 0 , "size should be 0 after clearing lookup table.");

\n\n

JavaScript Map API

\n\n

Map

\n\n

new Map()

\n\n

An object that maps keys to values. A map cannot contain duplicate keys; each key can map to at most one value. For those familiar with the Java programming language, this is similar to a HashMap; it implements most of the methods defined by Java’s java.util.Map interface.

\n\n

Methods

\n\n

clear()

\n\n

Removes all of the mappings from this map. The map will be empty after this call returns.

\n\n

containsKey(key)

\n\n

Returns true if this map contains a mapping for the specified key. Parameters:

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Name	Type	Description
key	String	key whose presence in this map is to be tested

\n\n

forEach(callback)

\n\n

Executes the given callback for each entry in this map until all entries have been processed. The given callback will be passed a map entry as parameter. So, for example…

\n\n

function myCallback(mapEntryItem) {\n     console.log('I will process this item: ' + mapEntryItem.text);\n}\n \nmyMap.forEach(myCallback);

\n\n

Parameters:

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Name	Type	Description
callback	function	The callback function that will be called for each entry in the map and which will be passed the value for each entry in the map.

\n\n

isEmpty()

\n\n

Returns true if this map contains no key-value mappings.

\n\n

put(key, value)

\n\n

Associates the specified value with the specified key in this map. If the map previously contained a mapping for the key, the old value is replaced.

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Name	Type	Description
key	String	key with which the specified value is to be associated
value	Object	value to be associated with the specified key

\n\n

remove(key)

\n\n

Removes the mapping for the specified key from this map if present.

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Name	Type	Description
key	String	key whose mapping is to be removed from the map

\n\n

size()

\n\n

Returns the number of key-value mappings in this map.

\n\n

Gist on GitHub

\n\n

https://gist.github.com/codyburleson/089157ed8eca114da8c4#file-javascript-map

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"improve-your-rational-or-eclipse-based-ides-spelling-dictionary","title":"Improve Your Rational or Eclipse-Based IDE's Spelling Dictionary","description":"How to add a user defined dictionary for your IDE's spelling checker.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-eclipse.svg","created":"2013-12-30T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

I was the guy in middle school who raised his hand in class just to point out a spot on the chalkboard missed\n\t\t\tby the teacher’s eraser. Little things like that don’t bother most people, but for me, they stand out like a\n\t\t\tturd in a punch bowl. If I'm writing in ink and I scratch out just one word in my notebook, I want to rip\n\t\t\tout the whole damn page. You know what I mean? Then you probably feel the same about those squiggly red\n\t\t\tlines in the editor of your Rational or Eclipse-based IDE. They’re supposed to indicate misspelled words,\n\t\t\twhich is totally useful, but when they flag words that are actually spelled correctly, it annoys me to all\n\t\t\thell. For those who share this compulsive dread, I’ve found a cure…

\n\n\t\t

How to add a user defined dictionary for your IDE’s spelling checker

\n\n\t\t

Prepare a simple text file with one word on each line. Here are two properly spelled words that Eclipse\n\t\t\t\tis unaware of in the English (United States) platform dictionary, for example: interoperability and\n\t\t\t\tutilitarian.
Select menu, Window > Preferences
Within the options tree of the Preferences dialog, expand and select General > Editors > Text\n\t\t\t\tEditors > Spelling
You should see the view that follows. Click Browse… and navigate to find the text file you’ve prepared.\n\t\t\t
Click Apply and then OK to dismiss the preferences dialog. You may have to re-open editors to initialize\n\t\t\t\tnewly added words, or in some cases, restart the IDE.

\n\n\t\t

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:47:50.436Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"how-to-find-large-images-and-files-in-ibm-wcm","title":"How to Find Large Images and Files in IBM WCM","description":"How to use the FindLargeResources module to perform an audit for large files in WCM.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2013-12-04T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"WebSphere$ Even though you can limit the maximum size of the resources that can be\n uploaded in WCM, you may still wish to perform an occasional audit for large files. The FindLargeResources\n module, developed for APAR PK75187 (going back to Portal 6.1.0.4), was created for such a task.

\n\n

WHY?

\n\n

Users can experience poor performance when viewing large resources that have been uploaded into Image, File,\n and Rich Text Components (including the Ephox EditLive!). You may wish to periodically review large items in\n an effort to improve user experience. For example, you may have a content author who is uploading\n unnecessarily high-res images that needs to be identified and educated.

\n\n

You could use the WCM API to determine the size of images for Image and File Components, but that would be\n very slow because each item would have to be retrieved individually. Furthermore, there is no API tool to\n find the size of embedded images in Rich Text fields. So, the FindLargeResources module fills these gaps.\n

\n\n

HOW?

\n\n

The following lines should be added to the WCMConfigService.properties file in <Portal\n directory>/wcm/shared/app/config/wcmservices

\n\n

connect.businesslogic.module.findlargeresources.class=com.ibm.workplace.wcm.services.statistics.FindLargeResourcesModule\nconnect.businesslogic.module.findlargeresources.remoteaccess=true\nconnect.businesslogic.module.findlargeresources.autoload=false\n

\n\n

Also, append findlargeresources to this key: ‘connect.businesslogic.module’

\n\n

For example:

\n\n

\nconnect.businesslogic.module=template,multi_template,web,mail,form,aggregator,default,ajpe,federatedproxy,ajpecatselect,memberfixer,versioningenablement,workflowenablement,itemdispatcher,plutouploadfile,plutodownloadfile,ensureusermanagement,pdmproxy,synd,subs,syndication,refreshallitems,unlocklibrary,findlargeresources,custom\n

\n\n

Restart the server for the changes to take effect. You should then be able to execute the module by entering\n a URL in your browser, similar to the following:

\n\n

http://<serverName>:/wps/wcm/connect?MOD=FindLargeResources[&min_size=]

\n\n

The module will find all Image File and Rich Text Component’s resources that are greater than the minimum\n size specified by the “min_size” parameter (in bytes). If no size is specified, it will look by default for\n resources greater then 1 Mb. For Rich Text Components, it will not find resources that are less than 2 Mbs.\n

\n\n

The result will output each resource item’s name, path, type and size.

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:47:53.516Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"fix-validation-errors-when-using-renderrequest-in-a-jsp","title":"Fix Annoying Validation Errors When Using RenderRequest in a JSP","description":"How to fix renderRequest cannot be resolved validation errors in your IDE.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-java.svg","created":"2013-11-08T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

When you use renderRequest, renderResponse, and portletConfig objects in a JSP, your Rational or Eclipse-based IDE will usually give a validation error – \"renderRequest cannot be resolved,\" for example. Having red-x validation errors in your IDE is annoying as all-hell, so here’s a nice work-around for that…

\n\n

<%@ page import="javax.portlet.RenderRequest" %>\n<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/portlet" prefix="portlet"%>\n  \n<%!\nRenderRequest renderRequest;\n%>\n  \n<portlet:defineObjects />\n  \n<%--\nString portletSiteArea = renderRequest.getPreferences().getValue("sitearea", "");\n// code...\n--%>

\n\n

Lines 1 and 2 represent the area atop your JSP where you do your imports and taglib references. I've put those two in because we're using both in the code that follows.
Line 5 is the key. We’re declaring the the renderRequest object so that our IDE will shut up and stop telling us it cannot be resolved.
Line 8 is important – it’s the tag that establishes the renderRequest, renderResponse, and portletConfig objects so that you can access them in your JSP. It is crucially important to ensure this tag always comes after your declaration of any of those javax.portlet objects. When the <portlet:defineObjects /> tag does its thing, the objects you declared will be overridden by the real deal.
Line 11 is just a random example showing how you might be using the object in your code to do some real work. The renderRequest instance in that line would normally get a squiggly red underline.

\n\n

Happy coding! (Unless you’re on a death-march – to which I can only say: hang in there, buddy.)

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:48:18.143Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"touch-all-items-in-a-wcm-library","title":"How to Touch All Items in a WCM Library","description":"Learn about the role and capabilities of a WCM Library in this 10 minute Lunch Byte video.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2013-10-03T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Occasionally, you may find yourself with the need\n\t\t\tto “touch” (force a SAVE operation) on every item in a given WCM library. For example, we recently had some\n\t\t\tenvironmental issues that left us with a pretty large sum of taxonomy categories that did not syndicate.\n\t\t\tAfter recreating the syndicator/subscriber pair, we could get individual categories to syndicate by\n\t\t\t“touching” them on the source server. But there were far too many to touch by hand. Before you go running\n\t\t\ttowards the API to build a custom utility for such a task, consider first, the RefreshAllItems module.

\n\n\t\t

The RefreshAllItems module was introduced in APAR PK31637, which goes all the way back to IBM WebSphere\n\t\t\tPortal and IBM Web Content Manager 6.0.0.1. Once it is configured for use, it is invoked by hitting a\n\t\t\tspecific URL that tells the WCM servlet to fire the module on a given library. The URL looks like this:

\n\n\t\t

http://<serverName>:<serverPort>/wps/wcm/connect?MOD=RefreshAllItems[&library=<libName>][&preserve_dates=true]\n\t\t

\n\n\t\t

In addition to forcing many items to syndicate because they’ve been touched, this module can help fix\n\t\t\treferential integrity issues (which are less and less common as you migrate up from WebSphere Portal 6 into\n\t\t\tsuccessive versions, by the way). At one point in time, for example, IBM released a fix that stores WCM\n\t\t\tcontent in a new, performance-enhanced format. Legacy content is only converted to the new format when it is\n\t\t\tsaved. So, this module provides a way to sweep an entire library and “upgrade” the legacy content.

\n\n\t\t

Now, I know I don’t have to tell you not to execute a utility like this in a production system during peak\n\t\t\thours. By nature, it’s going to use up some CPU and then, consequently, fill up quite a bit of syndication\n\t\t\tbandwidth (depending on your library size).

\n\n\t\t

Until next time, enjoy your work and evolve the Web!

","modified":"2021-05-07T18:48:49.978Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"accessing-the-authenticated-websphere-portal-user-from-a-separate-web-app","title":"Accessing the Authenticated WebSphere Portal User From a Separate Web App","description":"How to share a security context between WebSphere Portal and a custom web app deployed on the same server.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2013-09-21T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"WebSphere$ Recently, I had trouble sharing a security context between WebSphere Portal and a custom web app deployed on the same server. It was for a mobile app that provides a JSON/XML REST API to content and services from Portal 6.1.5. For this to work, we needed the currently authenticated portal user, but since it was a separate web app deployed on the app server, and not a portlet or set of resources deployed within the portal, it was a challenge. This post illustrates the challenge and a solution.

\n\n

If the user was logged in to the portal, I expected to get a name for the Principal from the HTTPServletRequest object using the following code:

\n\n

Principal principal = (Principal) request.getUserPrincipal();\nif(principal != null) {\n     System.out.println("username: " + principal.getName());\n} else {\n     System.out.println("Principal is null!");\n}

\n\n

But, this did not work. The Principal was null. And of course, I couldn’t get what I needed using the Portal User Management Architecture (PUMA) either using code similar to the following…

\n\n

String userCnFromPuma = null;\nPumaHome home = null;\ntry {\n    // ------------------------------------------\n    // Stuff like this should really be done in\n    // an init method of a service singleton\n    // because JNDI lookups are expensive...\n    Context ctx = new InitialContext();\n    String myjndiname = PumaHome.JNDI_NAME;\n    home = (PumaHome) ctx.lookup(myjndiname);\n    // ------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n    Map map=null;   \n    if(home!=null){\n\n        PumaProfile pp = home.getProfile(request);\n\n        if(pp!=null){\n            List attribNames = new ArrayList();\n            attribNames.add("cn");\n            map = pp.getAttributes(pp.getCurrentUser(),attribNames);\n            userCnFromPuma = (String)map.get("cn");\n            if(userCnFromPuma != null) {\n                    System.out.println("userCnFromPuma: " + userCnFromPuma);\n            } else {\n                    System.out.println("userCnFromPuma from PUMA is null!");\n            }\n        }\n\n    }else{\n            System.out.println("PumaHome is null!");\n    }\n} catch (Exception e) {\n        e.printStackTrace();\n        System.out.println("Exception occurred while looking up PuamHome");\n}

\n\n

Following is a solution…

\n\n

Add security roles and bindings to the deployment descriptor for the EAR

\n\n

Modify the deployment descriptor (application.xml) for the EAR project, which is the wrapper to your web app’s module (WAR) in Rational. Add an "Everyone Role" and then check Everyone in the WebSphere Bindings.

\n\n

Add an "All Role" and check All authenticated users in the WebSphere Bindings.

\n\n

And for good measure, added a "No Role" and leave all the WebSphere Bindings unchecked for that role.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

After making these changes, the source of your application.xml file should look something like this:

\n\n

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n<application id="Application_ID" version="1.4" xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/application_1_4.xsd">\n    <display-name>mywebappEAR</display-name>\n    <module id="WebModule_1377797584294">\n        <web>\n            <web-uri>mywebapp.war</web-uri>\n            <context-root>wps/mywebapp</context-root>\n        </web>\n    </module>\n    <security-role id="SecurityRole_1379706420653">\n        <description>Everyone in the enterprise.</description>\n        <role-name>Everyone Role</role-name>\n    </security-role>\n    <security-role id="SecurityRole_1379706420654">\n        <description>All Authenticated users in the enterprise.</description>\n        <role-name>All Role</role-name>\n    </security-role>\n    <security-role>\n        <description>No users in the enterprise.</description>\n        <role-name>No Role</role-name>\n    </security-role>\n</application>

\n\n

Add auth constraints to the deployment descriptor for the WAR

\n \n

Finally, added auth constraints to the deployment descriptor for the WAR. That is to say – modify the WEB-INF/web.xml file in the dynamic web app project by adding the following:

\n\n

<security-constraint id="SecurityConstraint_1">\n    <web-resource-collection id="WebResourceCollection_1">\n        <web-resource-name/>\n        <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>\n        <http-method>DELETE</http-method>\n        <http-method>GET</http-method>\n        <http-method>POST</http-method>\n        <http-method>PUT</http-method>\n        <http-method>HEAD</http-method>\n    </web-resource-collection>\n    <auth-constraint id="AuthConstraint_1">\n        <description/>\n        <role-name>All Role</role-name>\n    </auth-constraint>\n    <user-data-constraint id="UserDataConstraint_4">\n        <transport-guarantee>NONE</transport-guarantee>\n    </user-data-constraint>\n</security-constraint>\n\n<security-role id="SecurityRole_1">\n    <description>Everyone role</description>\n    <role-name>Everyone Role</role-name>\n</security-role>\n<security-role id="SecurityRole_2">\n    <description>All role</description>\n    <role-name>All Role</role-name>\n</security-role>\n<security-role id="SecurityRole_3">\n    <description>No role</description>\n    <role-name>No Role</role-name>\n</security-role>

\n\n

The HTTP methods you wish to protect with the transport-guarantee are up to you. In my case, I used the very same settings as what is defined for the “/myportal” path in WebSphere Portal.

\n\n

Final results

\n\n

After having added the security (auth) constraints, I established an authenticated session by logging in to the portal. I then entered the URL of the web app and was able to see that the Principal from the HTTPServletRequest was no longer returning null; principal.getName() returned the name of the user I authenticated with. The PUMA code also returned the common name (cn) of the user. When I did not establish an authenticated session and I tried to access the web app, I was routed by WebSeal to the portal login, which is exactly what I wanted.

\n\n

Side Note

\n\n

A colleague informed me that there is a way to bypass the need to define web-app specific security (auth) constraints. He said…

\n\n

There’s also a setting in the WAS Admin console you can use, under the security administration stuff, for “use available authentication” … this will tell WAS to build a security context around a request to your web app if it can, regardless of whether your request URL has security constraints on it or not.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

I elected not to use this feature since it seems to me that it’s better to explicitly define security constraints for each app than relax the restriction overall. But, nevertheless, it may also be handy to have noted.

","modified":"2021-10-18T19:26:52.023Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","ogImage":""},{"_id":"getting-parts-of-a-url-from-the-httpservletrequest-object","title":"Getting Parts of a URL From the HttpServletRequest Object","description":"Example Java code and example output values for getter methods on the HttpServletRequest object.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-eclipse.svg","created":"2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-02T20:21:52.730Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

When I’m not quite sure how to get exactly what I need out of the request URL, I write some stanza that spits out the value of just about every relevant getter method on the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest object. I’ve done this more than once. You know what I’m talking about? It goes something like this:

\n\n

@RequestMapping(value="/root/**", method = RequestMethod.POST)\npublic void handlePost(Model model,HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) {\n \n    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();\n    sb.append(" [");\n    sb.append("\\n\\t ContextPath: ").append(request.getContextPath());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t LocalAddr: ").append(request.getLocalAddr());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t LocalName: ").append(request.getLocalName());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t LocalPort: ").append(request.getLocalPort());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t PathInfo: ").append(request.getPathInfo());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t PathTranslated: ").append(request.getPathTranslated());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t Protocol: ").append(request.getProtocol());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t RemoteAddr: ").append(request.getRemoteAddr());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t RemoteHost: ").append(request.getRemoteHost());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t RemotePort: ").append(request.getRemotePort());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t RequestURI: ").append(request.getRequestURI());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t RequestURL: ").append(request.getRequestURL());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t Scheme: " ).append(request.getScheme());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t ServerName: ").append(request.getServerName());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t ServerPort: ").append(request.getServerPort());\n    sb.append("\\n\\t ServletPath: ").append(request.getServletPath());\n    sb.append("\\n]");\n \n    LOG.trace("-- handlePost() > interesting URL and URI related stuff from request object: " + sb.toString());\n \n}

\n\n

C’mon. You know you’ve done it more than once too, so just stop it with the smug smile.

I’m ashamed and sick of it, so this time, I’m dropping a breadcrumb for my future self by posting the output, which will give me a clue in some future date when my brain is wore to the core like it is tonight. As God is my witness, I will never, ever write this code stanza again. Here’s the output…

\n\n

1:07:18.650 [http-bio-8080-exec-3] TRACE c.b.c.controllers.LdpRestController - -- handlePost() > interesting URL and URI related stuff from request object: [\n    ContextPath: /myapp\n    LocalAddr: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1\n    LocalName: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1\n    LocalPort: 8080\n    PathInfo: /root/hello/world.jsp\n    PathTranslated: C:\\workspace-c\\.metadata\\.plugins\\org.eclipse.wst.server.core\\tmp0\\wtpwebapps\\myapp\\root\\hello\\world.jsp\n    Protocol: HTTP/1.1\n    RemoteAddr: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1\n    RemoteHost: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1\n    RemotePort: 49278\n    RequestURI: /myapp/abc/root/hello/world.jsp\n    RequestURL: http://localhost:8080/myapp/abc/root/hello/world.jsp\n    Scheme: http\n    ServerName: localhost\n    ServerPort: 8080\n    ServletPath: /abc\n]

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"mapping-to-a-view-in-spring-when-no-controller-logic-is-required","title":"Mapping to a View in Spring When No Controller Logic is Required","description":"You don't need to write a Spring controller to map to a view when no controller logic is required. Here's how...","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-spring-framework.svg","created":"2013-07-20T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-07T18:49:56.044Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

I’ve always felt stupid for writing a simple Spring controller just to return a view when no controller logic is required. Turns out, I was right; there is a better way. So, okay. I was stupid, but now I know and here it is.

\n\n

Since Spring 3.0, you can use the following tag in your XML configuration:

\n\n<mvc:view-controller path="/" view-name="home"/>\n\n

That’s an example of a view-controller definition that forwards to a home page without any custom backing controller. The Spring 3.0 documentation describes the tag as follows:

\n\n

This tag is a shorcut for defining a ParameterizableViewController that immediately forwards to a view when invoked. Use it in static cases when there is no Java Controller logic to execute before the view generates the response.

\n\n

Following is an example of the full dispatcher-servlet.xml file that I’m using at the moment. You can see at the very bottom that I’ve mapped two of these. The path ‘/index’ routes to a FreeMarker view I’ve defined in an index.ftl file and the path ‘/about’ routes to another FreeMarker view defined in the file, about.ftl.

\n\n

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" \n     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" \n     xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p" \n     xmlns:mvc="http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc" \n     xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context" \n     xsi:schemaLocation=" http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd \n     http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd \n     http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc/spring-mvc-3.0.xsd">\n \n        <!-- This must remain in place even if there are no uses of the properties loaded in this file because \n        it prepares the properties for use in Java classes. For example: @Value("$\\{ldp.installableDataPath\\}") \n        private String installableDataPath; -->\n        <context:property-placeholder location="classpath:/config.properties" />\n \n        <!-- Spring will search in the bellow paths controller an services annotations -->\n        <context:component-scan base-package="com.base22" />\n \n        <!-- The URL mapping definition -->\n        <bean class="org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation.DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping" />\n \n        <bean class="org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation.AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter"/>\n \n        <!-- freemarker config -->\n        <bean id="freemarkerConfig" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.freemarker.FreeMarkerConfigurer">\n                <property name="templateLoaderPath" value="/WEB-INF/ftl/" />\n        </bean>\n \n        <!-- View resolvers can also be configured with ResourceBundles or XML files. If you need different \n        view resolving based on Locale, you have to use the resource bundle resolver. -->\n        <bean id="viewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.freemarker.FreeMarkerViewResolver">\n                <property name="cache" value="true" />\n                <property name="prefix" value="" />\n                <property name="suffix" value=".ftl" />\n        </bean>\n \n        <!-- The following tags are shorcuts for defining a ParameterizableViewController that immediately forwards \n        to a view when invoked. They are used in static cases when there is no Java Controller logic to execute before \n        the view generates the response. -->\n        <mvc:view-controller path="/index" view-name="index" />\n        <mvc:view-controller path="/about" view-name="about" />\n \n</beans>

\n\n

If you prefer Java code configuration over XML files for Spring, you can do this:

\n\n

@Configuration\n@EnableWebMvc\npublic class WebConfig extends WebMvcConfigurerAdapter {\n \n  @Override\n  public void addViewControllers(ViewControllerRegistry registry) {\n    registry.addViewController("/").setViewName("home");\n  }\n \n}

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"ia-files-005-navigation-breadth-and-depth","title":"The IA Files 5 - Navigation Breadth and Depth","description":"What navigation depth and breadth is ideal for usability? Here's some food for thought.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/webpage-icon.png","created":"2013-07-07T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$ In my previous post of the IA Files, I promised I would begin to share best practices for building effective website navigation systems. One “rule of thumb” at the top of my list relates to Navigation Breadth and Depth. The first part of this rule says that static navigation menus should not exceed 7 (plus or minus 2) items. The second rule says that the depth of static navigation systems should not exceed three levels. I propose that a 7/3 breadth/depth ratio provides a healthy set of parameters for IA’s to design navigation systems within.

\n\n

Navigation Breadth

\n\n

Miller’s Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two

\n\n

So, there’s all kinds of stuff you can read about this Harvard professor dude named George Miller. Some might say that he kicked off the whole field of cognitive psychology. He won the American Psychological Foundation’s Life Achievement Award in 1990 and the National Medal of Science in 1991. Definitely the kind of guy you’d want to meet (supposing, say, you had a DeLorean with a flux capacitor; he died in 2012 at age 92).

\n\n

He did a bunch of studies, which demonstrated that most people could only retain about seven “chunks” of information in short term memory at any given time (words, numbers, names, etc). The actual numbers were about seven for numbers, six for letters and five for words. In the case of words, he also found that the amount that could be retained was a function of whether the words were known by the listener. The rules, he found, are different for long-term memory, however, where storage capacity seems to be less limited. Though he published a lot of books and papers in his career, he’s probably best known for his paper, “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two,” published in The Psychological Review in 1956.

\n\n

$\"\"$ George Miller called the number “magical” because of its mysterious prevalence in so many things. For example:

\n\n

the seven wonders of the world
the seven seas
the seven deadly sins
the seven daughters of Atlas in the Pleiades
the seven ages of man
the seven levels of hell
the seven primary colors
the seven notes of the musical scale
the seven days of the week

\n\n

Perhaps, there is really nothing magical about the number at all, but rather, it simply represents a numerical sweet spot in human cognition. Though George was hesitant to assert it firmly, his research seems to have made the implication.

\n\n

Thus it is this cognitive numerical limit that gives us the rule of thumb for navigation breadth:

\n\n

Static navigation menus should not exceed 7 (plus or minus 2) items.

\n\n

'Static' navigation refers to the kind of anchored navigation, which does not change regularly – the navigation structures you hope your users will learn through frequent use. This is opposed to dynamic menus and lists of links like “Related Links”. One could logically argue that too many items, even in a dynamic list, will likely create a lot of visual noise and contribute to information overload. Long lists of links are rarely, but sometimes necessary; a paging “News Archive,” for example.

\n\n

Navigation Depth

\n\n

The depth of static navigation systems should not exceed 3 levels.

\n\n

At my company, Base22, we’ve found through our own experience and usability testing that a good limit for the depth of static navigation is no more than three levels. In fact, we’ve even hard-coded this limit into the widgets we use to render static navigation. If stakeholders feel the need to publish content at deeper levels, we believe the IA is flawed and needs to be revised or the business stakeholders need to come to a better understanding of the IA strategy.

\n\n

The concepts in a navigation structure are, after all, abstractions designed to collect and represent things that are related. Having a numerical limit to navigation depth forces us to complete the process of abstraction and classification to a certain standard. In this case, that standard is loosely based on factors pertaining to web usability (total number of clicks and what-not).

\n\n

Depth allows us to limit breadth and thus reduce the overall choices the user has to make at higher levels. But if concepts are too abstract, the navigation labels may not be discreet enough to support reliable decision making. So, depth provides progressive levels of detail below those higher level “chunks” that are more easily scanned and digested. This aids the foraging process through which users pick up and follow “information scent” – getting an increasing or decreasing sense of confirmation as they explore, and discovering new things along the way.

\n\n

But what about breadth versus depth? Which is better? Research tends to suggests that one should favor breadth over depth for web sites, but it’s always a balancing act. Information Architects have a lot to think about in this balancing act. What are the content and services that are currently available and how should they be classified and organized? What are the kinds of content and services that do not presently exist, but that are likely to come? Who are the users and how do they think? Do we want to influence their thinking and, if so, how?

\n\n

A basic 7/3 breadth/depth ratio provides a healthy set of parameters to work with. You won’t go to IA hell for stepping outside of those bounds, but you can at least be sure that it’s a good framework. It’s supported by scientific research and it has proven to work well in our experience. Using this as a general “rule of thumb” for navigation breadth and depth will give you a solid starting point so that you can focus on the fun stuff – classification and organization, abstraction and concretization, etc.

\n\n

Related Resources:

\n\n

The magical number 4 in short-term memory: a reconsideration of mental storage capacity

\n\n

<< Previous: Part 4

","modified":"2021-08-11T20:10:12.695Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"w3c-linked-data-platform-aims-to-reframe-the-web","title":"W3C Linked Data Platform Aims to Reframe the Web","description":"The World Wide Web Consortium works on a new specification for a Linked Data Platform.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2013-06-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"\n\t\t\t\twidth=\"150\"$ Last week at the Center for Open Middleware in Madrid, Spain, history was\n\t\t\tmade. The World Wide Web Consortium’s Linked Data Platform working group concluded a third face-to-face\n\t\t\tmeeting in which the finer points of an emerging specification were vigorously debated. Being the dumbest\n\t\t\tguy in the room is not usually something to be proud of, but I’m lucky to have been there. What occurred\n\t\t\tlast week pertains to a paradigm shift in computing on a global scale and it will ultimately affect the\n\t\t\tfuture of the World Wide Web.

\n\n

$\"\"$ \n\t\t

\n\n\t\t

W3C’s Linked Data Platform working group, Madrid, Spain, June 2013

\n\n\t\t

From left to right: Cody Burleson (me), Henry Story, Nandana Mihindukulasooriya, Raúl García Castro, Arnaud\n\t\t\tLe Hors (top row), John Arwe (green shirt), Miel Vander Sande, Steve Speicher, Ashok Malhotra (grey beard),\n\t\t\tMiguel Esteban Gutiérrez, Kevin Page, and Roger Menday. Note that others attended our daily meetings by\n\t\t\tphone. Some of the other contributors include Ted Thibodeau, Bart van Leeuwen, Steve Battle, Sandro Hawke,\n\t\t\tDavid Wood, and Eric Prud’hommeaux. Numerous other contributors have also been playing an active role, and I\n\t\t\tbeg pardon for not including an exhaustive list.

\n\n\t\t

Reframing the Web

\n\n\t\t

Though I’ve been working with web technology for years, it still takes every ounce of concentration I’ve got\n\t\t\tto keep up with these guys. They argue and debate in a language that seems to know every little nuance of\n\t\t\tevery specification that defines the Web that runs our world. They cite RFC numbers and even specific\n\t\t\tpassages by memory while, pretending to take notes, I am Googling feverishly to keep up. At times, following\n\t\t\talong is a bit like reading RegEx, but I think I can boil it down to the salient points for you.

\n\n\t\t

What we’re working on is a new reframing of the Web – an essential new part of the emerging Semantic Web,\n\t\t\tcalled the Linked Data Platform. Years ago, we were compelled to put our documents on the Internet and\n\t\t\tthrough what was essentially a wildly successful grassroots movement, the World Wide Web was born. Now, we\n\t\t\tare compelled to put our data on the Web in a new movement that promises to transform the current Web of\n\t\t\tlinked documents into a Web of linked data. It’s sort of like turning the Web into a massive database, which\n\t\t\twill allow us to mix and mash, query, and process information like never before. It promises to unlock what\n\t\t\tis still incredibly huge potential – huge enough to change the world yet again.

\n\n\t\t

$\"\"\n\t\t\t\twidth=\"150\"$ So, what’s the big deal? What’s the big difference between linkeddocuments\n\t\t\tand linked data? Documents on the web are largely unstructured or just semi-structured. They are mainly\n\t\t\tdesigned for browsers to render and for humans to read. Data, on the other hand, is structured for\n\t\t\tprocessing. You can do a lot of magical things with it. Take statistics guru, Hans Rosling’s global trends\n\t\t\tin health and economics for example. In one of the most amazing TED presentations to date, he showed how\n\t\t\tvisualizing data could help us see new things – breaking down our preconceived notions and debunking common\n\t\t\tmyths about the so-called “developing world”. By putting a bunch of existing data together, he was able to\n\t\t\telicit much more from all the data than what was originally there. If Hans could do something so spectacular\n\t\t\twith what he was able to cobble together, just imagine the possibilities in a world where everybody is\n\t\t\tputting data on the Web.

\n\n\t\t

The technology for Linked Data is actually extremely simple:

\n\n\t\t

First, those HTTP URLs or URIs that you normally see in your web browser’s address bar are now being used to\n\t\t\tidentify, not just documents, but the things that they are about; concepts and real-world things (people,\n\t\t\tplaces, products, events, etc).

\n\n\t\t

Second, if we use those URI’s to fetch data using the HTTP protocol, we should get back data in standard and\n\t\t\twell-defined formats (using RDF and SPARQL, for example).

\n\n\t\t

Third, when we get that data back, it doesn’t just contain information about the entity we asked for, but\n\t\t\talso relationships and links to other things. These relationships are expressed with URIs and so, through\n\t\t\tthese linked URI’s and the standards for the data, we can slice, dice, and traverse the web as one big graph\n\t\t\tof information.

\n\n\t\t

Data comes in a lot of forms and formats. It is incredibly diverse. There is government data; tons of it.\n\t\t\tMedical data. Scholastic data. Genomics data. Social data. Geographic data. The list goes on and on.\n\t\t\tUnlocking and linking this data will represent a sea change of insight and discovery. The Linked Data\n\t\t\tPlatform (LDP) can help us in this plan by providing a standard set of principles and patterns for\n\t\t\tinteracting with Linked Data over HTTP (accessing, updating, creating and deleting resources from servers\n\t\t\tthat expose their resources as Linked Data). There’s a lot more to reframing the Web than just the LDP, but\n\t\t\twe believe the LDP is going to play an extremely important role.

\n\n\t\t

The working group hopes to have a recommendation published by Q1, 2014. In the mean-time, you can review some\n\t\t\tof our work-in-progress on the working group’s wiki. You can also follow my blog and I’ll keep you posted.\n\t\t

\n","modified":"2021-06-01T14:02:27.595Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"script-for-rotating-unity-game-object-90-degrees","title":"Script for Rotating a Unity Game Object 90 Degrees","description":"Unity behavior script that rotates object 90 degrees when the script’s rotate function is called.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2013-05-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

This Unity behavior script rotates the object it’s attached to by 90 degrees when the script’s rotate function is called. Just copy and paste the contents into a new JavaScript in Unity.

\n\n

#pragma strict\npublic var seconds: float = .2;\nprivate var rotating = false;\nfunction rotateObject (thisTransform : Transform, degrees : Vector3) {\n    if (rotating) return;\n    rotating = true;\n    var startRotation : Quaternion = thisTransform.rotation;\n    var endRotation : Quaternion = thisTransform.rotation * Quaternion.Euler(degrees);\n    var t : float = 0.0;\n    var rate : float = 1.0/seconds;\n    while (t < 1.0) {\n      t += Time.deltaTime * rate;\n      thisTransform.rotation = Quaternion.Slerp(startRotation, endRotation, t);\n      yield;\n  }\n  rotating = false;\n}\nfunction rotate() {\n  rotateObject(transform, Vector3.forward*-90);\n}

\n\n

One way to call the rotate function from some other script is as follows:

\n\nvar cube : GameObject = GameObject.Find("Cube");\ncube.SendMessage("rotate");\n\n

Cheers!

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:25:21.273Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"install-java-plugin-for-64bit-firefox-on-centos-6-4","title":"Install the Java Plugin for 64bit Firefox on CentOS 6.4","description":"How to install the Oracle (not OpenJDK) Java Plugin for 64bit Firefox on CentOS 6.4","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-centos.svg","created":"2013-05-03T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"CentOS$

\n\n

Today, I had to install the Java plugin for 64bit Firefox on CentOS 6.4. The procedure wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t exactly straight-forward either. So, I’m recording what worked for when I have to do it again. Hopefully, you might find it useful too. This is not a descriptive tutorial; it’s just quick notes, so you may have to do a little reading between the lines.

\n\n

Java must be installed on the system first. This procedure only works with the version you download from Oracle; it will not work with the OpenJDK version of Java you’ll have when using the ‘yum install java’ command.

\n\n

Download Linux x64 RPM from Oracle's Java Downloads for All Operating Systems page.

\n\n

Close Firefox.

\n\n

Change to root user and enter password.

\n\nsu\n\n

Change directory to /usr/java. If it isn’t created, create it.

\n\nmkdir /usr/java\ncd /usr/java\n\n

Execute rpm on the Java RPM you just downloaded…

\n\nrpm -ivh /home/basejump/Downloads/jre-7u21-linux-x64.rpm\n\n

Validate with:

\n\njava -version\n\n

Delete the original RPM; you don’t need that anymore.

\n\nrm -rf /home/basejump/Downloads/jre-7u21-linux-x64.rpm\n\n

From the /usr/java directory, Find the Firefox plugin (which gets installed with java):

\n\nfind . | grep libnpjp\n\n

For me, that returned:

\n\n/usr/java/jre1.7.0_21/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so\n\n

Change to directory for Firefox plugins:

\n\ncd /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins\n\n

Be careful. There is also a /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins directory. Be sure you’re in lib64!

\n\n

Create symbolic link to the plugin:

\n\nln -fs /usr/java/jre1.7.0_21/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so libnpjp2.so\n\n

Exit the root user:

\n\nexit\n\n

Start Firefox and validate by going to Tools > Addons > Plugins. You should now see Java Plug-in 1.x.x enabled.

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:14:46.352Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"automatically-build-and-include-one-eclipse-project-into-another","title":"Automatically Build and Include One Eclipse Project Into Another","description":"In your Eclipse IDE, you can automatically build and consume one project into another as a Java jar file. Here's how.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-eclipse.svg","created":"2013-04-21T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-02T20:23:01.587Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

You can automatically build and consume one project into another as a Java jar file in your Eclipse or Rational IDE.

This will save you from having to right-click and export every time you change code in the project that’s consumed. Or it can save you from having to write a build script just for this purpose, which I am embarrassed to say I've done (more than once).

In your Eclipse or Rational IDE, right-click on the destination project and select Properties.
Select Java Build Path and then the Projects tab.
Click Add… to add the dependency project that you want to consume as a jar file.
Next, in the left-hand side of the Properties dialog, switch from the Java Build Path to the item that says Deployment Assembly.
Click Add… and select the project to be consumed as shown below

\n $\"\"$
Finally, click Apply and OK.

Now, when I build my web app project, my base22-commons library (a separate project) is now automatically built and included in WEB-INF/lib as base22-commons.jar.

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"ia-files-004-taxonomies","title":"The IA Files 4 - Taxonomies","description":"An overview of taxonomies and their role in information architecture.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/webpage-icon.png","created":"2013-03-28T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$ In my previous post in the IA Files, we took a look at definitions – those things you typically find in dictionaries or, perhaps more commonly today, when you type ‘define <word>‘ in a Google search.

\n\n

A definition states the meaning of a concept and distinguishes it from all others, thus preserving the logical order of a concept’s hierarchical interdependence. [1]

\n\n

Such a hierarchy can be expressed in a model that Information Architects like to call a taxonomy. Taxonomies are quintessential to information architecture and very well worth a pause for deeper reflection. So, before we go flingin’ the term around like we know what we’re doing, let’s take that pause now…

\n\n

What is a taxonomy?

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy.

\n\n

The term taxonomy is ancient Greek for “arrangement method“. In the strictest sense, taxonomy refers to the conception, naming, and classification of biological organisms. In this sense, the term is heavily associated with Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, and the dude who originally came up with the formal system of naming species using the two-part Latin word scheme known as binomial nomenclature (e.g. Psittacus alexandri, Turdus migratorius, Tradescantia virginiana). Information Architects tend to use the term in a more general sense to refer to just about any kind of hierarchical ordering of items into groups based on similarities and/or differences.

\n\n

Some IA’s use the term to describe the navigational structure of a website, although I prefer to call that site architecture. One case where I do often use the word taxonomy is when referring to a controlled vocabulary of terms used for describing content. In IBM’s Web Content Manager, for example, taxonomies are used to represent hierarchical collections of terms called categories. Content authors can apply these categories as a way to describe the subject and nature of their content. Menus and search components are then used to retrieve and display content based on the categories applied to the content items. This allows us to do cool things like render dynamic lists of hyperlinks that are relevant and related to the content item being viewed.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Taxonomy Categories in IBM Web Content Manager

\n\n

Formal versus informal taxonomies

\n\n

Understanding the difference between formal and informal taxonomies is essential. A formal taxonomy is one in which the associations between the taxons or categories are formally defined.

\n\n

A common formal classification scheme expresses the “is a (type of)” relationship. In such a scheme, the child concepts under a given parent are said to be a type of the parent. A simple test for following the rule is to use the concepts in a sentence where the child is the subject, “is a” or “is a type of” is used as the predicate, and the parent as the object.

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Subject	Predicate	Object
DOG	IS A	MAMMAL
MOZARRELLA	IS A	CHEESE TOPPING

\n\n

Because these sentences logically evaluate to TRUE, we can rest assured that we have not broken the rule, which makes our taxonomy formal.

\n\n

This is important because a taxonomy that is intended to be formal should be formal throughout. Otherwise, it will not serve its purpose effectively. If most of the taxonomy adheres to the rule of formality, but some of it does not, then this can cause confusion amongst users.

\n\n

Best Practice

\n\n

The defined relationship between concepts in a formal taxonomy should be uniformly applied throughout the entire taxonomy.

\n\n

Now, I am not saying that all taxonomies must be formal. I am just saying that when they are intended to be formal, their rule of relation must be explicitly defined and adhered to. Otherwise, they are not formal or they are simply incorrect.

\n\n

Most navigation systems on websites and portals are informal. They typically always express increasing levels of specificity as one goes deeper into the structure, but specificity is not a rule of relationship between concepts. It is a general characteristic of all taxonomies. As we go down into the branches of a taxonomy tree, we find increasing levels of detail. As we move up towards the trunk, we’re moving through increasing levels of abstraction. That’s a fundamental principal of the function and purpose of taxonomy as a classification tool, but it is not itself the classification scheme.

\n\n

Which brings us to an interesting question…

\n\n

If there are no “rules” for an informal taxonomy such as a website navigation system, then how do we go about building one properly – one that we can say is good?

\n\n

Rest assured, there are best practices and “rules of thumb” for building effective website navigation systems and in the next installment of the IA Files, I’ll begin to share some things my colleagues and I have learned from our experiences, so please stay tuned.

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

<< Previous: Part 3 Next: Part 5 >>

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n

Notes:

Rand, Ayn. Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology: Expanded Second Edition, ‘Definitions’, page 40.

","modified":"2021-05-07T17:43:02.294Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"define-a-servlet-using-java-annotations-instead-of-xml","title":"How to Define a Servlet Using Java Annotations Instead of XML","description":"With Servlet 3.0, it's now possible to define your servlet using Java annotations instead of using XML in the web.xml file. Here's how...","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-java.svg","created":"2013-03-23T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"\"$ With Servlet 3.0, it’s now possible to define your servlet using annotations instead of XML in the web deployment descriptor (web.xml). This can simplify maintenance and deployments because it keeps the servlet definition inline with the servlet’s actual code – everything’s conveniently found and managed together in one file. For those of you ready to start evolving into Java EE 6, here’s the essential information you need to know.

\n\n

Use the @WebServlet annotation to define (declare) your servlet.

\n\n

@WebServlet(\n    description = "Main dispatcher for the application.",\n    urlPatterns = {\n        "/HelloServlet",\n        "/"\n    })\npublic class HelloServlet extends HttpServlet {\n \n    // servlet code...\n \n}

\n\n

Here's another example...

\n\n@WebServlet(value="/hello")\npublic class HelloServlet extends GenericServlet {\n \n // servlet code...\n \n}\n\n

Note that I’ve defined URL mappings using urlPatterns in one case and then using value in another. The JavaDoc for the @WebServlet annotation states they are the same. There are other optional elements that can be used with the annotation (e.g. initParams, loadOnStartup, etc.) and those can be found in the JavaDoc also.

\n","modified":"2021-05-08T00:26:14.981Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"musing-on-nostalgia","title":"Musing on Nostalgia","description":"A fond memory of my Commodore 64 and the first computer program I ever wrote.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2013-03-23T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["memoir"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"\"$ So, I just stumbled onto this butt-ugly JavaDoc page, which reminds me of the early nineties\n and I have to say, it gave me a strange, warm-fuzzy kind of feeling. The last time I saw a JavaDoc like\n this, applets were actually cool. Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise comes to mind. Michael Jackson is still alive\n (perhaps also still cool). Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is the shiznit. Internet Explorer wasn’t even\n born yet (the good old days). This is what they call nostalgia. Look at this beautiful\n monstrosity…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

At the time of this writing, Wikipedia describes nostalgia as…

\n\n

\n
a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal\n associations.
\n

\n\n

For me nothing…nothing brings it back like the Commodore 64.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Look at those big, puffy keys and that red LED that just screams "I'm on!" She's a real beauty,\n isn't she? She was my second obsession (after the VIC 20); I was eleven or twelve years old when I got her.\n There was also, of course, the Atari 2600, but that’s a whole other story.

\n\n

$\"\"$ Anyway, I remember sitting for hours and hours with a copy of Commodore Magazine, typing in\n about twenty pages of BASIC code found in the middle pages. I had no freagin’ clue what the hell I was\n typing. All I knew was that if I got it right, my computer might do something awesome – play a song, render\n an 8-bit game like the Towers of Hanoi, or use my name in a story. I never got one of those programs to\n work. Not a one.

\n\n

I do remember the very first working program I wrote though. It went something like this:\n

\n\n 10 PRINT "WHAT IS YOUR NAME"; INPUT A$\n20 PRINT "HI, " + A$\n30 PRINT "IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU"\n\n\n

I wanted to make the characters type across the screen like they did on that green CRT in the movie War\n Games. Remember that one? With Mathew Broderick? "SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?" I couldn’t figure it out,\n but my teacher in middle school later showed me how to do it with a for loop on a TRS-80 (a.k.a\n Trash-80).

\n\n

I’m not all nerd. Of course there are other things that give me that nostalgic feeling. Star Wars\n figures, for example. The original motion picture soundtrack by John Williams on 8-track tape. OK, still\n nerdy. But how about Beaches with Bette Midler? Just you try and watch that again without sobbing\n like a baby. Flashdance. Footloose. Fangoria Magazine.

\n\n

Do you get this warm-fuzzy with certain things? Things that bring you back to a time and a place when the\n worst of your worries was a pissed off mom or dad? Or whether or not you’d get the guts enough to kiss\n someone? Or never mind LOST, how about the original tropical island suspense featuring Gilligan, Maryann,\n and the Skipper?

\n\n

Nostalgia; I love it, don’t you?

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:24:35.365Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"ia-files-003-definitions-defined","title":"The IA Files 3 - Definitions, Defined","description":"Understanding the information architecture of word definitions.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/webpage-icon.png","created":"2013-02-22T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$

\n\n

In my previous post in the IA Files, I introduced the role of concepts in human cognition and language. I wrote about how concepts are formed in a process that involves both differentiation and integration. Being conscious of that process can help you become a better Information Architect (IA).

\n\n

Today we continue building on this foundation with a look at definitions. A definition states the meaning of a concept and distinguishes it from all others. It preserves the logical order of a concept’s hierarchical interdependence in the great big tree of knowledge.

\n\n

As an IA, you can use definitions as an important tool in your craft. So, you should understand very precisely what a definition is, the purpose it serves, and the rules of a correct definition. And then, of course, you have to know how to put this knowledge into practice, which we’re leading up to, but… first things first…

\n\n

What is a definition?

\n\n

At the time of this writing, Wikipedia describes a definition as “a statement that explains the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols)”. Other trustworthy sources pretty much agree that it is:

\n\n

A statement of the exact meaning of a word, especially in a dictionary.

\n\n

This statement of meaning should identify the nature of the units subsumed under the concept as concisely as possibly – describing only what is essential. So, how do we arrive upon the nature of the concept and identify what is essential? We use a process that includes both differentiation and integration.

\n\n

Differentiation and integration – the rules of a correct definition

\n\n

Remember the picture of the camel caravan in the previous post from the The IA Files? We identified various units in the picture by differentiating them based on their distinguishing characteristics. We then used a process of integration by blending the similar units into a single new mental entity – a concept, a classification, or in Java-speak, a class. The rules of a correct definition are derived from this same general process of forming concepts, so a good definition:

\n\n

Specifies the distinguishing characteristic(s) of the units. (differentia)
Indicates the category of existents from which they were differentiated (genus)

\n\n

The differentia isolates the units of a concept from all others and the genus indicates its connection to a wider group.

\n\n

Why are definitions important to information architecture?

\n\n

As an IA, you will use definitions as a tool to aid in the proper classification and organization of information. You won’t really be using written definitions, although you can when that is helpful for your own clarification. What I am trying to point out is what’s behind a definition so you can understand how to properly define a concept in your own mind or properly hold the definition in your mind. Knowing what’s behind a definition helps you think about concepts in a simple way. As you do the work of classification and organization, for example, you can ask questions that relate to the two rules, such as:

\n\n

What makes this unit different than the others? Anything significant?
Are there units with differences significant enough to set them apart? And do we have enough of them to justify a new category?
Is the term we’re using to describe this set of units the best term? Is it too narrow? Too broad?
Forgetting any formal definition, how does this user community actually think of this concept in this context and in this particular culture?

\n\n

Putting it to practice

\n\n

We now have a framework for answering the kinds of questions that are useful to classification and organization.

\n\n

In short, we can use the rules of a correct definition, differentia and genus.

\n\n

Of course, we might also leverage this knowledge in order to break the rules effectively. I know you, don’t I? You rebel, you.

\n\n

<< Previous: Part 2 Next: Part 4 >>

","modified":"2021-08-05T17:13:06.442Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"Default","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"create-custom-properties-for-a-resource-environment-provider-using-wasadmin-scripting","title":"How to Create Custom Properties for a Resource Environment Provider Using wasadmin Scripting","description":"An example wasadmin script (in Jython) that demonstrates how to create and/or update custom properties for resource environment providers.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2013-02-17T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Here’s an example wasadmin script (in Jython) that demonstrates how to create and/or update custom properties for resource environment providers. This one, in particular, is a good template for scripting the creation and/or updating of dynamic content spot mappings for a WebSphere Portal theme.

\n\n

First, I want to give a shout out to Gabriel Aberasturi, System Analist at Grupo Versia who helped me find this long desired script by answering my question in LinkedIn; he pointed me to IBM documentation for this that none of my searches had returned. Also, after posting the original article, my friend Jared Piper, who works at the Neiman Marcus Group, provided a much improved script, which has now replaced my old example in this article. I could never be any good if it wasn’t for a strong community of people like Gabriel and Jared who take the time to help. That’s exactly why I blog what I learn – to give back. Where would any of us be without the virtual community that makes us stronger? I know I speak for everyone in ours when I say to Gabriel and those who take the time to share that we salute you.

\n\n

Anyway, here’s the script…

\n\n

Jython: Create dynamic content spot mappings

\n\n

\n# To execute, navigate to wp_profile/bin and use:\n# wsadmin -lang jython -user wpsadmin -password wpsadmin -conntype SOAP -host mojo.base22.com -port 10025 -f C:/workspace/themeScripts/updated_example.py\n \n# Identify the parent ID and assign it to the newrep variable.\nnewrep = AdminConfig.getid('/ResourceEnvironmentProvider:WP DynamicContentSpotMappings/')\nprint newrep\n \n# Identify the required attributes\n#print AdminConfig.required('J2EEResourceProperty')\n \n# Identify all possible attributes\n#print AdminConfig.attributes('J2EEResourceProperty')\n \n# Set up a list of dictionaries for the properties. Each Dictionary should have "name" and "value" at a minimum. Look at line 10 for possible attributes\nthemePropertyList = [\n    {"name": "MyTheme_toolbar", "value": "res:/wps/themeModules/modules/pagebuilder/jsp/toolbar.jsp,wp_toolbar"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_status", "value": "res:/MyTheme/themes/html/dynamicSpots/status.jsp,wp_status_bar"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_sideNav", "value": "res:/MyTheme/themes/html/dynamicSpots/sideNavigation.jsp?startLevel=2"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_projectMenu", "value": "res:/wps/themeModules/modules/pagebuilder/jsp/projectMenu.jsp,wp_project_menu"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_preview", "value": "res:/wps/themeModules/modules/pagebuilder/jsp/preview.jsp,wp_preview"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_asaPortlet", "value": "res:/wps/themeModules/modules/asa/jsp/asaPortlet.jsp, wp_analytics"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_asaHead", "value": "res:/wps/themeModules/modules/asa/jsp/head.jsp, wp_analytics"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_topNav", "value": "res:/MyTheme/themes/html/dynamicSpots/navigation.jsp?rootClass=wpthemeHeaderNav&amp;amp;startLevel=0&amp;amp;primeRoot=true"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_pageModeToggle", "value": "res:/MyTheme/themes/html/dynamicSpots/pageModeToggle.jsp, wp_toolbar"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_primaryNav", "value": "res:/MyTheme/themes/html/dynamicSpots/navigation.jsp?rootClass=wpthemePrimaryNav%20wpthemeLeft&amp;amp;startLevel=1"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_secondaryNav", "value": "res:/MyTheme/themes/html/dynamicSpots/navigation.jsp?rootClass=wpthemeSecondaryNav&amp;amp;startLevel=2&amp;amp;levelsDisplayed=2"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_crumbTrail", "value": "res:/MyTheme/themes/html/dynamicSpots/crumbTrail.jsp?rootClass=wpthemeCrumbTrail&amp;amp;startLevel=2"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_layout", "value": "lm:template"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_asa", "value": "res:/wps/themeModules/modules/asa/jsp/asa.jsp,wp_analytics"},\n    {"name": "MyTheme_search", "value": "res:/MyTheme/themes/html/dynamicSpots/modules/search/coveo-search.jsp"}\n]\n \n# Get the J2EE resource property set:\npropSet = AdminConfig.showAttribute(newrep, 'propertySet')\nresourceProperties = AdminConfig.list("J2EEResourceProperty", propSet).splitlines()\n \n# Loop through properties we are adding\nfor property in themePropertyList:\n    found = 0\n    for resourceProperty in resourceProperties:\n        if (AdminConfig.showAttribute(resourceProperty, "name") == property["name"]):\n            # Modify if values are different\n            if (AdminConfig.showAttribute(resourceProperty, "value") != property["value"]):\n                print("Found and modified: ", property["name"])\n                print AdminConfig.modify(resourceProperty, [['value', property["value"]]])\n            else:\n                print("Found but did not modify: ", property["name"])\n            found = 1\n            break\n    if found == 0:\n        # Add to the property set\n        print("Creating new property: ", property["name"], " ", property["value"])\n        print AdminConfig.create('J2EEResourceProperty', propSet, [["name", property["name"]], ["value", property["value"]]])\n \n# Save the configuration changes:\nAdminConfig.save()\n \n# Display finished message\nprint "Config Saved."\n

","modified":"2021-06-15T13:16:22.113Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"check-user-access-role-in-hcl-portal-theme","title":"How to Check User Access Role in an HCL Portal theme","description":"How to use the AccessControlRuntimeModelBean to get the current access control permissions on a resource.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2013-02-14T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-08T00:27:35.018Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"WebSphere$ Since the release of Portal 7, there have been a\n number of Portal EL beans exposed for access in your theme. EL beans are Java objects that can be used with\n the JSTL Expression Language. One of these objects, the AccessControlRuntimeModelBean, provides convenient\n access to the current access control permissions on a resource.

\n\n

In the default Portal 8.0 theme, for example, you can find the following code stanza, which is used to\n determine whether or not a Help link should be shown in the UI. The snippet is in\n /themes/html/dynamicSpots/commonActions.jsp and it looks like this:

\n\n

<%-- Help icon - only displayed for users with admin or editor role --%>\n<portal-logic:if loggedIn="yes" line="1">\n    <c:set var="admin" value="<%=com.ibm.portal.ac.data.RoleType.ADMIN%>"/>\n    <c:if test="${wp.ac[wp.selectionModel.selected].hasPermission[admin]}">\n        <a class="wpthemeHelp" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="javascript:window.open('/wps/iehs/topic/com.ibm.wp.admin.help/admin/h_wp_admin_welcome.html','wpthemeHelp','width=800,height=600')" aria-label="<portal-fmt:text key="help.title" bundle="nls.commonUI"/>" aria-haspopup="true" role="button">\n            <img src="${themeConfig['resources.modules.ibm.contextRoot']}/themes/html/dynamicSpots/icons/blank.gif" alt="">\n            <span class="wpthemeAltText"><portal-fmt:text key="help.title" bundle="nls.commonUI"/></span>\n        </a>\n    </li>\n    </c:if>\n</portal-logic:if>

\n\n

First, a JSTL variable, admin, is being set with the value of a RoleType constant representing the\n Administrator role. The AccessControlRuntimeModelBean is exposed as an EL bean called wp.ac, which has a\n hasPermission method that takes the RoleType as parameter. That’s the part, written in expression language,\n that looks like this:

\n\n

${wp.ac[wp.selectionModel.selected].hasPermission[admin]}

\n\n

So, you can use the same general stanza to check whether or not the current user is in a given role on a\n given resource.

\n\n

Your Copy/Paste Template…

\n\n

Here’s a general template you can use to copy/paste from.

\n\n

<portal-logic:if loggedIn="yes">\n    <c:if test="${wp.ac[wp.selectionModel.selected].hasPermission[<role_type_var>]}">\n        ... render something ...\n    </li>\n</portal-logic:if>

\n\n

And here’s a useful variation, which checks against a named portal page, rather than the currently selected\n page.

\n\n

<portal-logic:if loggedIn="yes">\n    <c:if test="${wp.ac[wp.navigationModel['uniquename']].hasPermission[<role_type_var>]}">\n        ... render something ...\n    </li>\n</portal-logic:if>

\n\n

Role Types:

\n\n

The com.ibm.portal.ac.data.RoleType object shown above exposes the following RoleType constants:\n

ADMIN
SECURITY_ADMIN
DELEGATOR
CAN_RUN_AS_USER
MANAGER
EDITOR
MARKUP_EDITOR
CONTRIBUTOR
PRIVILEGED_USER
USER

\n\n

Related Content

\n\n

You may also be interested in another useful Portal EL Bean, which I describe in my post, How to Display User\n Attributes in an HCL Portal Theme.

\n\n

For a list of more EL beans that can be used in theme development, see: Expression language beans for accessing programming models | HCL Digital Experience

\n\n

Acknowledgements

\n\n

Special thanks goes to Georgy Gobozov who provided information that improved the quality of this post. Georgy\n blogs about Android and WebSphere Portal development, among other things (in both Russian and English) on\n his weblog, Блоггг.

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"xmlaccess-samples","title":"XMLAccess Samples","description":"A list of all the XMLAccess sample files available with the HCL Digital Experience platform.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2013-01-24T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2022-04-01T00:22:42.204Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"WebSphere$ XMLAccess is a command-line utility for exporting and\nimporting various portal configuration settings in an XML format. The utility takes an XML file as input and\nproduces an XML file, which is the results of the input. It’s a very common way of moving configuration\nsettings from one environment to another. On the portal file system, there are number of useful samples,\nwhich can be used as-is or a basis for creating your own scripts. Following is a list of the available\nXMLAccess samples. I wanted to list these on my blog because it’s often more convenient to check them here\nthan on the actual server file system.

\n\n

XMLAccess samples

\n\n

Found in <PortalServer-root>/doc/xml-samples.

In the HCL Docker/Kubernetes image from HCL, for example, they can be found at the following path:
/opt/HCL/PortalServer/doc/xml-samples

List last updated from files in HCL Portal version 9.5 (CF200)

\n\n

\n ActivatePortlet.xml
\nCleanSystemSlots.xml
\nCleanupUsers.xml
\nClonePortlet.xml
\nCopyPage.xml
\nCreateAnalyticsTags.xml
\nCreateApplicationCategoryByLabel.xml
\nCreateApplicationCategoryByURL.xml
\nCreateCsaPage.xml
\nCreateFilter.xml
\nCreateLanguage.xml
\nCreateLegacyPage.xml
\nCreatePageFromTemplate.xml
\nCreatePageFromZip.xml
\nCreatePage.xml
\nCreateTagsAndRatings.xml
\nCreateUrl.xml
\nCreateUser.xml
\nCreateUXFMDialogDefinition.xml
\nCreateWSRPProducer.xml
\nDeleteAnalyticsTags.xml
\nDeleteApplicationCategory.xml
\nDeleteFilter.xml
\nDeletePage.xml
\nDeletePortlet.xml
\nDeleteTagsAndRatings.xml
\nDeleteUser.xml
\nDeleteUXFMDialogDefinition.xml
\nDeployPortlet.xml
\nDeployThemeFromWebModule.xml
\nDeployTheme.xml
\nExportAllDAMCollections.xml
\nExportAllPolicyNodes.xml
\nExportAllPortlets.xml
\nExportAllUsers.xml
\nExportAnalyticsTags.xml
\nExportIncludingOrphanedData.xml
\nExportManagedPagesRelease.xml
\nExportPageResult.xml
\nExportPage.xml
\nExportPortletAndPage.xml
\nExportPortletAndStaticPage.xml
\nExportRelease.xml
\nExportStaticPage.xml
\nExportSubTree.xml
\nExportTagsAndRatings.xml
\nExportTasks.xml
\nExportThemesAndSkins.xml
\nExportUniqueRelease.xml
\nExportUserResource.xml\n

\n\n

\n ExportUXFMDialogDefinition.xml
\nExportWSRPCustomizedPortletInstances.xml
\nExportWSRPProducersAndPortlets.xml
\nExportWSRPProducer.xml
\nExport.xml
\nFederationDeletion.xml
\nFederationImport.xml
\nindex1.zip
\nIntegrateRemotePortlet.xml
\nModifyPortlet.xml
\nMovePage.xml
\npagetitles_ar.properties
\npagetitles_ca.properties
\npagetitles_cs.properties
\npagetitles_da.properties
\npagetitles_de.properties
\npagetitles_el.properties
\npagetitles_en.properties
\npagetitles_es.properties
\npagetitles_fi.properties
\npagetitles_fr.properties
\npagetitles_hr.properties
\npagetitles_hu.properties
\npagetitles_it.properties
\npagetitles_iw.properties
\npagetitles_ja.properties
\npagetitles_kk.properties
\npagetitles_ko.properties
\npagetitles_nl.properties
\npagetitles_no.properties
\npagetitles_pl.properties
\npagetitles_pt_BR.properties
\npagetitles_pt.properties
\npagetitles_ro.properties
\npagetitles_ru.properties
\npagetitles_sk.properties
\npagetitles_sl.properties
\npagetitles_sv.properties
\npagetitles_th.properties
\npagetitles_tr.properties
\npagetitles_uk.properties
\npagetitles_zh.properties
\npagetitles_zh_TW.properties
\nRegisterPreDeployedEAR.xml
\nTask.xml
\nTransaction.xml
\nUpdateAccesscontrol.xml
\nUpdateFilter.xml
\nUpdatePortlet.xml\n

\n\n

Example: export all themes and skins

\n\n

Following is an example of how one of these scripts might be executed on a UNIX system:

\n\n/opt/HCL/PortalServer/bin/xmlaccess.sh -user wpsadmin -password <password> -url http://<host>:<port>/wps/config -in /opt/HCL/PortalServer/doc/xml-samples/ExportThemesAndSkins.xml -out /opt/HCL/wp_profile/ExportThemesAndSkins_result.xml\n\n\n

In the command above, you should modify the paths if they differ on your server and you must also replace\n <password>, <host>, and <port> with values appropriate to your own environment.

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"base22-consultants-creed","title":"The Base22 Consultant's Creed","description":"A 'just for fun' pep talk I wrote for new recruits at Base22.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2018/07/Base22CreedFlag-thumbnail.png","created":"2013-01-23T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

At Base22, we have a channel on Skype that we use to exchange key information such as when we’re bouncing a\n\t\t\tserver or when we’re polling the staff for ideas to resolve some issue. Of course, there’s also a bit of\n\t\t\tlighthearted play that goes on. For example, here’s some content from today’s Skype chatter that I thought\n\t\t\twas amusing. Team pride – HOOYA!

\n\n\t\t

The Pep Talk for New Recruits

\n\n\t\t

Today, you people are no longer maggots. Today, you are Base22 consultants. You’re part of a brotherhood.\n\t\t\tFrom now on until the day you die, wherever you are, every Base22 consultant is your brother. Most of you\n\t\t\twill go to client sites. Some of you will not come back. But always remember this: Base22 consultants die\n\t\t\tfor our clients. That’s what we’re here for. But Base22 lives forever. And that means YOU live forever.

\n\n\t\t

$\"\"$ \n\t\t

\n\n\t\t

The Creed

\n\n\t\t

This is my laptop. There are many others like it, but this one is mine. My laptop is my best friend. It is my\n\t\t\tlife. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my laptop is useless. Without my laptop, I am\n\t\t\tuseless. I must evolve the enterprise. I must evolve the Web. I must design better than my competition, who\n\t\t\tis trying to beat me. I must out-code him before he out-codes me. I will. Before God I swear this creed: my\n\t\t\tlaptop and myself are defenders of my company, we are the masters of our platform, we are the saviors of my\n\t\t\tlife. So be it, until there are no defects, but peace and delight amongst all end-users. Amen.

\n","modified":"2021-05-08T00:30:01.269Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"display-user-attributes-in-hcl-portal-theme","title":"How to Display User Attributes in an HCL Portal Theme","description":"Here's how to use the UserBean, (a Portal EL bean available since version 7) for convenient access to the attributes of the authenticated user.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2013-01-22T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-01T04:38:34.753Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"WebSphere$ Since the release of Portal 7, there have been a number of Portal EL beans exposed for access in your theme. EL beans are Java objects that can be used with the JSTL Expression Language. One of these objects, the UserBean, provides convenient access to the defined user attributes of the authenticated user.

\n\n

In the default Portal 8.0 and CTC 3.1 theme, for example, you can find the following JSTL statement, which is used to print the authenticated user’s name in the theme header. The snippet is in /themes/html/dynamicSpots/commonActions.jsp and it looks like this:

\n\n<c:out value="${wp.user[themeConfig['user.displaynameattribute']]}" />\n\n

The JSTL c:out tag in the line above is actually using two EL beans together. The ThemeConfigBean is providing access to theme metadata, the value of which is being passed as a parmeter to the UserBean. To clarify, we could simplify that line to go after the user’s surname, which is defined by LDAP convention as 'sn'...

\n\n<c:out value="{wp.user['sn']}" />\n\n

You have to be careful though; I learned that you cannot expect a String to be returned in all cases. Take this for example:

\n\n<c:out value="{wp.user['givenName']}" />\n\n

That prints the username with square brackets surrounding it (e.g. [Cody]) and it took me a bit to understand why. As it turns out, givenName was a multi-valued attribute, so what was actually being returned was an ArrayList. Once I knew that, it was easy enough to solve the problem with the following stanza:

\n\n

<%-- givenName is an ArrayList --%>\n<c:set var="gName" value="${wp.user['givenName']}"/>\n<c:if test="${gName ne null}">\n    <c:set var="givenName" value="${gName[0]}"/>\n</c:if>\n<c:choose>\n    <c:when test="${givenName eq null || givenName eq ''}">\n        <a href="<%wpsURL.write(escapeXmlWriter);%>"><c:out value="${wp.user[themeConfig['user.displaynameattribute']]}" /></a>\n    </c:when>\n    <c:otherwise>\n        <a href="<%wpsURL.write(escapeXmlWriter);>"><c:out value="${givenName}" /> <c:out value="${wp.user['sn']}" /></a>\n    </c:otherwise>\n</c:choose>

\n\n

In the code above, I’m checking to see if the user has a givenName defined and if so, I’m printing it by accessing the first String in the ArrayList ( i.e. ${gName[0]} ). I put the result of that expression into a variable called givenName and then use it later as ${givenName} in a c:out tag.

\n\n

Now, you may be familiar with printing defined user attribute values in your theme using the portal-fmt tag like this:

\n\n<portal-fmt:user attribute="givenName"/>\n\n

I don’t have any reason to believe that one approach is better than the other, but it’s an alternative that you might find useful in some scenarios. Also, just being aware of these EL beans that are accessible from theme code is good. Perhaps the next time you see one, it will be a little more familiar to you now.

\n","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"ia-files-002-concepts-crows-camels-and-the-cognitive-divide","title":"The IA Files 2 - Concepts, Crows, Camels, and the Cognitive Divide","description":"What crows and camels can teach us about information architecture.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/webpage-icon.png","created":"2013-01-19T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$ We are\nall information architects. It’s just what we do. It’s what makes us human.

\n\n

Our ability to organize and classify information, to conceptualize and abstract – they’re what differentiate\nus from all other animals on the planet. It’s no wonder that information architecture is so fascinating; it\ngoes to the very heart of our humanity. It’s not only interesting to think about – it is itself what makes\nthinking possible!

\n\n

And since one of the chief aims of a professional IA is to communicate and to influence behavior, it’s\nsurprisingly useful for one to consider the very foundation of that: concepts – what they are, how\nwe form them, name them, classify and organize them, and ultimately how we use them in language, thought,\nweb campaigns, as content categories, and in site architecture and navigation.

\n\n

Crow Epistemology and the Cognitive Divide

\n\n

$\"\"\n$

\n\n

Our story begins at a clearing in the woods where a flock of hungry crows had gathered to forage for food.\nThe crows were unaware of the human observer who watched quietly from aside. The observer had prepared an\nexperiment that he could not have known at the time would make a lasting mark on cognitive science – an\nexperiment designed to explore the ability of birds to deal with numbers. Here’s how it went…

\n\n

The ‘Counting Crows’ Experiment

\n\n

A man walked through the clearing and into the forest. The startled crows fled into the tree tops where they\nwaited in hiding until the man returned and left the way he came. Then three men walked across the clearing\nand on into the woods. Again, the crows scattered up into the tree tops. This time, however, only two of the\nmen returned from the forest to leave the way they came.

\n\n

See, crows are actually pretty smart. They knew that whenever people entered those woods they always came\nout. So, the crows waited for that third dude and when he finally showed up and left the way he came, the\ncrows knew the coast was clear. They came out of the trees and back down to the clearing.

\n\n

But here’s the kicker. When five guys went in and only four returned, the crows came out of hiding.\nEvidently, they couldn’t discriminate beyond the level of three units and their perceptual-mathematical\nability consisted of a sequence such as one-two-three-many. [1]

\n\n

Whether this particular experiment is accurate or not is beside the point. What’s relevant is the principle\nit illustrates, which is that an animal’s ability to discriminate by purely perceptual means is very\nlimited. By ‘purely perceptual’, I mean through sight or sound and without using numbers to count. Now, you\nmight think that a man’s perceptual ability is greater than that of a crow, but as it turns out, it’s not by\nmuch: we may hold five or six units at most.

This fact demonstrates the role that concepts play in our cognitive abilities. I hope to impress upon you\nthat this principle, when well understood, is one of the most profitable instruments an Information\nArchitect can have in her repertoire. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves (God is in the\n details); We need to have a shared understanding of what I mean when I use the term.

\n\n

What is a Concept?

\n\n

Starting simply, we could say that a concept is just a word – a label. Those taxonomy categories you use to\ntag content in your CMS are concepts. Your website navigation labels represent concepts. The headers of the\nwidgets on your web page are concepts. Concepts are very often just the best words that happen to come to\nmind when we need to classify and organize a set of things. Most all words, in fact, represent concepts.

\n\n

Words are, in other words, the things that transform concepts into mental entities. And even though most\nwords are abstractions, they ultimately represent concretes in reality – the things we perceive directly\nwith our senses: percepts. It can thus be argued that our ability to use a single word (or concept)\nto represent more things than we’re able to hold in our perception at any given moment is the key to that\ngreat cognitive divide that separates man from all other species.

\n\n

I’ve found that the most useful definition of the word ‘concept’, in the context of information architecture,\nis that which was written by Ayn Rand in her work on Objectivist Epistemology. She wrote:

\n\n

\n
A concept is a mental integration of two or more units possessing the same distinguishing\n characteristic(s), with their particular measurements omitted.
\n

\n\n

The units that she refers to may be any aspect of reality, whether they be perceptual concretes or\nother earlier-formed concepts. The units are isolated in a process of selective mental focus that separates\na particular attribute from all others. Or in other words, a differentiation is made, which\nseparates the units from all others in a given context. Take a view of a camel caravan in the Sahara desert,\nfor example.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Conceptualizing this view begins with differentiating one thing from another.The sky is obviously different\nthan the ground. There are tufts of grass on the ground and they are different than the backdrop of sand\nupon which we see them. The camels are clearly different than both the sky and the ground. And then there\nare two men who are different than the camels. These are the units, which are such because they can be\ndifferentiated from other aspects of the scene. The rocks and even the shadows on the sand are also units.\n

\n\n

The next step of the process involves integration, wherein we blend similar units into a single new\nmental entity based on something or several things similar about them. Those camels for example. Even though\ntheir different from a lot of things in the scene, they are very much like one another. So, even though\nthere are several of them, we can now use them as a single unit of thought. And it doesn’t matter that one\nmay be larger than another or a different shade of color; it still doesn’t make it something other than a\ncamel. The measurements of the particular attributes that make them camels can be omitted. The size of a\ncamel doesn’t take the camelness out of the camel.

\n\n

And then there is the fact that we’ve seen these creatures before. We’ve heard about them in stories. We know\nthey’ve been around for a long time and will likely be around for decades more. There has been, there are\nnow, and there will be numerous camels. The differentiations and the integrations that we’ve made in this\nscene extend far beyond it in all directions of our mind. How do we hold all of that in our mind, given that\nour perceptual-mathematical ability is not much greater than that of a crow? That’s the magic of\nthe concept (and quite possibly of the cognitive divide).

\n\n

The Function of Language

\n\n

Finally, we replace the concept with a single, specific, perceptual concrete – a placeholder that\ndifferentiates it from all other concretes and all other concepts: a word. This is the function of language.\n

\n\n

\n
Language is a code of visual-auditory symbols that serves the psycho-epistemological function of\n converting concepts into the mental equivalent of concretes. Language is the exclusive domain of\n concepts. Every word we use (with the exception of proper names) is a symbol that denotes a concept,\n i.e., that stands for an unlimited number of concretes of a certain kind. (Rand, ITOE, Ch.2)
\n

\n\n

This is the perfect place for me to conclude today’s file with a tie-back to IA and a hint at where we’re\ngoing. Wikipedia says that “information, in its most restricted technical sense, is a\nsequence of symbols that can be interpreted as a message.” The characters of the text you’re reading now\nform the words – the message. The words represent concepts – the meaning. And now that we\nhave a shared understanding of what I mean when I use the word concept, we can begin to explore how\nthey might be architected. That is to say, how they might be formally classified and\norganized, because of their meaning, or informally, to create new meaning or to influence\ninterpretation (e.g. to influence employee culture and behavior through a strategic arrangement and use of\nthem).

\n\n\n\n

<< Previous:\n Part 1 Next:\n Part 3 >>

\n\n

Notes:

Rand, Ayn. Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology: Expanded Second Edition,\n Chapter 7 – The story of the crows was said by Ayn Rand to have been originally told by a university\n classroom professor of psychology.

","modified":"2021-06-11T20:37:36.323Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"Default","subtitle":""},{"_id":"ia-files-001-into-the-fire","title":"The IA Files","description":"On Information Architecture - Concepts, Definitions, Taxonomies, and Navigation Breadth and Depth.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/webpage-icon.png","created":"2013-01-17T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$ Those who practice user-centered design\n might say that Information Architecture (IA) is all about organizing information in a way that\n is most useful and meaningful to end-users. Indeed that’s a big part of it, but certainly\n not all. If that were really all there was to it, we could just call it\n Information Organization.

\n\n

But Architecture implies more; it implies both art and science, both\n process and product. It implies planning, design, and construction. It implies a\n number of different components and systems integrated to create one cohesive whole. It’s a\n multi-faceted thing wherein we find multiple forces pushing and pulling on one another. What’s\n needed by the business and what’s viable? What’s wanted by the users? What are the capabilities\n and constraints of the technology platform? Of the organization? Its teams and individuals? A\n great IA must consider and balance all of these forces.

\n\n

I did my first job as an IA on a project to build a new employee portal for a package\n distribution company. The Project Manager at IBM said I’d be filling a role called “Information\n Architect”. Now, this was a very large and complex project with multiple C-level stakeholders\n and very ambitious goals. And it was a very big company – a global company. 400,000 souls –\n 90,000 of which would certainly be registered just after go-live.

\n\n

I remember thinking, Geeze, how many people is that, really? If you stacked 90,000\n employees feet on shoulders, they’d extend at least 85 miles or more. That’s Mount Everest… 15\n times. And then I thought about the lifetime of the portal and how many more people might\n interact with it over the years to come. I thought to myself, “Self, where do you even start\n with something like this?” And then it occurred to me to start by seeking an answer to the\n secret question that was weighing heavy on my mind…

What the hell is an Information Architect, anyway?

Nine years, several projects, countless sleepless nights, a few death marches, and at least ten\n thousand Google searches later, I’m still chewing on that question. My quest has taken me\n through library and information science, business strategy, governance, creative design,\n usability, graph and network theory, brain science, game theory, software engineering,\n philosophy, and even down into the nucleus of a cell where all those little A’s, G’s, C’s and\n T’s form the source code for life itself.

What is an Information Architect? What is Information Architecture? What is Information?\n

\n\n

It’s like a Zen Kōan. The more I grasp for the answer, the more it seems to squeeze through my\n fingers like water. The more questions I answer, the more questions arise. It’s mind bending,\n but maybe it’s not supposed to be. Maybe it’s just supposed to be a title on a business card\n for a guy that can help you build a website. And sure – it has been that for me, but it’s been\n much more. And sure, it’s been a long while since I was thrown into the fire of my first portal\n project and branded an IA. Yet every day still brings a new lesson. Every day – a new question.\n

\n\n

What is an Information Architect?

\n\n

I’m not sure I have a good answer yet, but I have some interesting stories to tell and I figure I\n bess get to tellin’ because maybe… just maybe… there’s someone out there who just got thrown\n into the fire and is typing the same question into Google now.

\n\n

Howdy friend. These are the IA Files.

\n\n

\n Next: Part 2 >>\n

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:31:09.311Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"resolving-404-errors-accessing-wcm-content-through-poc-servlet","title":"Resolving 404 Errors Accessing WCM Content Through POC Servlet","description":"A fix for 404 errors related to the URI resolution framework, which resolves a WCM resource (that is, a Piece Of Content or POC) to a portal view.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2013-01-12T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

The other day, I got a tweet from my buddy, Dave Hay, who blogs on A Portal to a Portal. He was looking for a\n post I had in my former blog before a lot of that content was lost. I looked on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, which allows\n you to look at the Web as it was in the past and I found the content so I’m reposting it. Dave has since\n added more information to this subject, so be sure to check out his post also: "More on 404\n errors accessing WCM content through the POC Servlet (/wps/mypoc/…)"

Here’s the original post from December, 2011:

Recently, we had a problem where WCM URLs in OmniFind search results (generated by the Portal seedlist\n mechanism) were giving 404 errors when clicked. These are URLs that contain /wps/mypoc in the URL. This page\n documents a solution that worked for us.

/poc and /mypoc are mapped to the POC Servlet which is part of the URI resolution framework. The purpose of\n the URI resolution framework is to resolve a WCM resource (that is, a piece of content or POC) to a\n portal view.

But let me get to the point quickly. As you may know, you can create a portal page with the WCM Web Content\n Viewer (JSR286) on it and map the portal page to a site or web content folder in WCM. After creating and\n saving a portal page, you can find this mapping control in the advanced section when you edit the page\n properties. After mapping the portal page to a web content folder in WCM, any piece of content within that\n area should then get resolved to the mapped portal page and consequently render in the JSR286 viewer that is\n on it.

But recently, we had an issue where that wasn’t going too well for us; the default URL generated by the\n seedlist mechanism just wasn’t working – we got 404 response. We could not get the POC Servlet to resolve\n properly to a portal page. We were able to resolve the issue by rewriting the URL using a RegEx filter\n mechanism available to OmniFind. We found that links would always resolve properly as long as the base URL\n was as follows (with the content identifier appended):

https://www.ourportal.com/wps/mypoc/?urile=wcm%3apath%3a%2f

That is just an encoded form of the following:

https://www.ourportal.com/wps/mypoc/?urile=wcm:path:/

Append the content identifier to the end of that (typically the wcm library, site area path, and content ID).\n For example:

Content%2fSiteArea1%2fSiteArea1-1%2f7cdad580493e87dd89e7891b4dda79ec

Together, the resolvable URL should looks something like this:

https://www.ourportal.com/wps/mypoc/?urile=wcm%3apath%3a%2fContent%2fSiteArea1%2fSiteArea1-1%2f7cdad580493e87dd89e7891b4dda79ec\n

And that worked for us. It resolved to a portal view. You could tell because the URL in the browser then\n switched to one of those crazy portal URLs with all the state information encoded in it… and the expected\n piece of content was rendered in the JSR286 Web Content Viewer.

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:35:03.346Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"shrink-windows-vm-on-vmware-fusion-for-mac","title":"How to Shrink a Windows VM on VMWare Fusion for Mac","description":"Procedure for shrinking a Windows virtual machine on VMWare Fusion for the Mac.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-vmware-fusion.png","created":"2013-01-05T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-08T00:28:48.392Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Here's my procedure for shrinking a Windows virtual machine on VMWare Fusion for the Mac.

\n\n

Make a backup of the VM (just to be on the safe side).
Remove any snapshots; you can’t reclaim disk space on a VM that has them.
From within the Windows VM, clean up files and defrag the hard drive (Run Disk Cleanup, delete unused\n files, uninstall anything you don’t need, empty the recycle bin, delete the browser caches, etc., etc.\n Then defragment the hard-drive inside the Windows VM.)
Zap the unused disk space
\n – Download SDelete into the Windows VM. I like to put sdelete.exe directly in C: (root) on\n all my VMs so that I know it’s always there in that convenient spot when it’s time to compress the VM\n again.
\n – In a command prompt, execute “sdelete -z c:” to zap all the free disk space on the C drive
Shut down the Windows VM and quit VMWare Fusion.
Go to Window > Virtual Machines Library, select the VM and then click the icon to Refresh Disk Space\n (as shown below)…
\n $\"\"$
Finally, go to Virtual Machines > Settings… > General and click the Clean Up Virtual Machine\n button to reclaim disk space (shown below)…
\n $\"\"$

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"user-impersonation-in-websphere-portal-video-demo","title":"User Impersonation in WebSphere Portal - Video Demo","description":"A video demonstration about how to take on the profile of other users without having to know their login credentials.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2013-01-04T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

User Impersonation is a feature in WebSphere Portal that allows select\n\t\t\tadministrative users to take on the profile of other users without having to know their login credentials.\n\t\t\tThis allows the administrative user to evaluate the user experience from the impersonated user’s\n\t\t\tperspective. It can be quite handy for portals where security and personalization play a heavy role or where\n\t\t\thelp-desk and support staff really need to see exactly what the end-user sees. I created this screencast\n\t\t\tthat demonstrates how it works and even though it may be a little old, it’s still relevant…

\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t

\n","modified":"2021-05-08T00:33:32.870Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"how-to-make-your-rational-project-use-ant-for-automatic-build","title":"How to Make Your Rational Project Use Ant for Automatic Build","description":"You can configure your project to use an Apache Ant script to build automatically, rather than with the default Java Builder in Rational Application Developer (RAD).","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-eclipse.svg","created":"2012-12-30T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"$ You can configure your project to use an Apache Ant script to build automatically, rather than\n with the default Java Builder in Rational Application Developer (RAD). This is valuable when you need a more\n sophisticated build process, but you still want the efficiency and convenience of an automatic build in\n the IDE. It’s alo useful if you simply need to trigger additional tasks after a ‘clean’, during a ‘clean’,\n in the manual build, or in the automatic build.

\n\n

Here’s how you set it up…

\n\n

Right-click on your project node in the explorer and select Properties from the context menu.

\n\n

Select ‘Builders’ in the dialog and then click the ‘New…’ button as shown below…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Then select the Ant Builder and click ‘OK’.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

On the Main tab of the builder configuration, click the ‘Browse Workspace…’ button and select your Ant\n build.xml file.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Next, click on the Targets tab. You’ll be able to choose a target in your Ant script to execute After a\n ‘Clean’, for the Manual Build, for the Auto Build, or during a ‘Clean’. For one or more of those options,\n click ‘Set Targets…’ and choose a target in the build script.

\n\n

$\"\"$ \n

\n\n

When you click OK to dismiss all the open dialogs, you will see your new Ant Builder in the list of builders\n applied to your project. You can then easily toggle the builder on or off or toggle between the Ant Builder\n and the default java Builder. It’s a lot more convenient than right-clicking your build file and selecting\n Run As > Ant Build every time you want to build from your Ant script.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Sounds useful, eh? Here’s just one example use case for this, which I know because it’s one I use myself…

\n\n

Suppose you have a commons project with a lot of utility classes that are bundled up in a JAR and used in\n multiple other projects. Using an Ant Builder, you could automatically distribute the modified JAR file to\n all projects in the workspace that use it.

\n\n

If you have any little not-so-obvious IDE tips like this, please share in the comments section of this page.

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:39:52.963Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"build-a-rendering-plugin-ibm-wcm-part-1","title":"Build a Rendering Plugin to Integrate Velocity with IBM WCM","description":"Learn how to extend IBM Web Content Manager (WCM) with a custom rendering plugin - part 1 of 2.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2012-12-26T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

$\"\"$ In this multi-part series, you will learn how to make your developers and advanced content authors happy by extending IBM Web Content Manager (WCM) with a custom rendering plugin that integrates the Apache Velocity Engine. Your users will then be able to use Velocity templates within WCM content, which can give them JSP-like capabilities without the need for server-side deployments.

\n\n

Velocity Plugin for IBM WCM

A simple and powerful templating language
Variable assignment and reuse, if-else conditional logic and for-each looping
Access to Java objects and methods from within WCM content

\n\n

For this exercise, we will be developing on IBM WebSphere Portal v8 although I’m pretty sure this will all work the same or similarly on WebSphere Portal v7. For development, I’m using IBM Rational Software Architect v8.5, but Rational Application Developer or any Eclipse-based IDE will do. In this first part of the series, you will learn how to make a custom rendering plugin for WCM, which is an awesome thing to know in and of itself. In successive parts, we will then build upon this base to turn our plugin into a useful tool that will empower your WCM developers and advanced content authors to do even greater things with WCM.

\n\n

Lesson Plan

\n\n

Step One – Create a New Dynamic Web Project
Step Two – Create a Landing Page for Your plugin
Step Three – Add the EAR Project to the WebSphere Portal Server in Your IDE
Step Four – Start the Server and Test the Web App
Step Five – Create the Initial Rendering Plugin Class
Step Six – Create plugin.xml File
Step Seven – Test the plugin with WCM Content
Step Eight – Add Velocity Engine Java Libraries
Step Nine – Develop a Simple Console Test

\n\n

Step One – Create a New Dynamic Web Project

\n\n

You can create a WCM rendering plugin using just a .jar file, but building it as a web app allows us to more easily publish into WebSphere directly from our IDE. It also gives us more long-term flexibility. So, let’s start by building a new Dynamic Web App project…

\n\n

In Rational, select File > New Project

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

In the New Project dialog, select Dynamic Web Project under the Web category. You may need to check the Show All Wizards check-box in order to see the Web category.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Click the Next button. If you haven’t yet enabled all of the related activities in Rational, you may get a view asking you to. If so, enable them – of course. Otherwise, your next view is going to look like the following and you should fill it out as shown.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Click Next twice in order to get to the part where you can check the box to Generate web.xml deployment descriptor; we’ll need that.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Click Finish. You should end up with two projects in your IDE as shown; VelocityRenderPlugin and the EAR, VelocityRenderPluginEAR.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Step Two – Create a Landing Page for Your plugin

\n\n

Even though it isn’t necessary, I like to create a landing page for my plugin so that I have a place to write usage instructions and version information. It also helps administrators validate deployment of the plugin without having to go all the way into WCM.

\n\n

Right-click on the WebContent folder and choose New > JSP File.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Name the file index.jsp and click Finish.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

For now, I’ve just given a nice title to the page and put some handy links to the Apache Velocity Engine home page and the Velocity User Guide.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Step Three – Add the EAR Project to the WebSphere Portal Server in Your IDE

\n\n

If you’re using Rational, you can now add your EAR project to the server within your IDE. This will allow you to publish code changes rapidly as you work.

\n\n

Right-click on the IBM WebSphere Portal Server in the Servers view and the select Add and Remove… from the context menu.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Next, select the VelocityRenderPluginEAR project in the Available panel at left of the view and then click the ‘Add >’ button to move it over to the Configured panel on the right.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Click the ‘Finish’ button and then you should see that the project is added to your WebSphere Portal server as shown below…

\n\n

Step Four – Start the Server and Test the Web App

\n\n

Now, we can start the server and then access the index page to give the project a quick test. That is to say – we can check that it’s deploying to our portal server and we’re now ready to start coding.

\n\n

Right click in the WebSphere Portal Server in the Servers view and then select Start from the context menu or press CTRL + ALT + R.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

The Console view in Rational will start spitting out a bunch of log statements as the server starts and when the server has started, you should be able to access the web app in your browser at http://<host>:<port>/VelocityRenderPlugin/

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Cool beans and awesome sauce! This is confirmation that the basic web app is deploying properly and now we can start coding our plugin.

\n\n

Step Five – Create the Initial Rendering Plugin Class

\n\n

Next, we’ll stub-out the custom rendering plugin class. For this step, you might want to first review ‘Creating a rendering plugin class‘ in the IBM WebSphere Portal Family wiki.

\n\n

First, let’s create a Java package for our code. In your IDE, right-click on the src node and select New > Package from the context menu.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Fill in the name for your package and click the Finish button. I’m using the name ‘com.base22.wcm.plugin.rendering’…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Now, right-click on the Java package node and select New > Class…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Name the class “VelocityPlugin”. We’ll need to extend a particular interface, so before clicking Finish, click on the ‘Add…’ button to the right of the Interfaces field…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

This displays another dialog, where you can find interfaces that the class might implement. Type com.ibm.workplace.wcm.api.plugin.rendering.RenderingPlugin and then click OK.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

The RenderingPlugin interface should then show inside of the Interfaces field as shown below and you can click the Finish button.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

The Java class file is generated with all the methods from the RenderingPlugin interface stubbed out and ready for your implementation…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Copy the following code, and replace the contents of the VelocityPlugin.java file. This will give us something simple that we can use to perform another test to ensure the plugin is visible in the WCM Authoring interface and usable in WCM content.

\n\n

package com.base22.wcm.plugin.rendering;\n\nimport java.io.IOException;\nimport java.io.Writer;\nimport java.util.ArrayList;\nimport java.util.Iterator;\nimport java.util.List;\nimport java.util.Locale;\nimport java.util.Map;\nimport java.util.Set;\n\nimport com.ibm.portal.ListModel;\nimport com.ibm.portal.ModelException;\nimport com.ibm.workplace.wcm.api.plugin.rendering.RenderingPlugin;\nimport com.ibm.workplace.wcm.api.plugin.rendering.RenderingPluginException;\nimport com.ibm.workplace.wcm.api.plugin.rendering.RenderingPluginModel;\n\n/** * A rendering plugin that integrates the Velocity Template Engine with WCM. */\npublic class VelocityPlugin implements RenderingPlugin {\n\n    /** * A simple list model holding locales. */\n    protected static class SimpleLocaleListModel implements ListModel {\n\n        /** the list of locales of this list model */\n        final List m_localeList = new ArrayList();\n\n        /** * Constructs this simple list model holding the given locales. * * @param locales * the locales of this list model. May be <code>null</code>. */\n        public SimpleLocaleListModel(final Locale[] p_locales) {\n            if (p_locales != null) {\n            for (int i = 0; i < p_locales.length; ++i) {\n                m_localeList.add(p_locales[i]);\n            }\n            }\n        }\n\n        /* * (non-Javadoc) * * @see com.ibm.portal.ListModel#iterator() */\n        @Override\n        public Iterator iterator() throws ModelException {\n            return m_localeList.iterator();\n        }\n\n    }\n\n    /** a list model that only contains the English language locale */\n    private static final ListModel ENGLISH_ONLY = new SimpleLocaleListModel(new Locale[] { Locale.ENGLISH });\n\n    /* * (non-Javadoc) * * @see com.ibm.portal.Localized#getDescription(java.util.Locale) */\n    @Override\n    public String getDescription(final Locale p_locale) {\n        return "Provides ability to use Velocity Templates in WCM.";\n    }\n\n    /* * (non-Javadoc) * * @see com.ibm.portal.Localized#getLocales() */\n    @Override\n    public ListModel getLocales() {\n        return ENGLISH_ONLY;\n    }\n\n    /* * (non-Javadoc) * * @see com.ibm.workplace.wcm.api.plugin.rendering#getName() */\n    @Override\n    public String getName() {\n        return "Velocity";\n    }\n\n    /* * (non-Javadoc) * * @see com.ibm.portal.Localized#getTitle(java.util.Locale) */\n    @Override\n    public String getTitle(final Locale p_locale) {\n        return "Velocity";\n    }\n\n    /* * (non-Javadoc) * * @see * com.ibm.workplace.wcm.api.plugin.AuthoringPlugin#isShownInAuthoringUI() */\n    @Override\n    public boolean isShownInAuthoringUI() {\n        return true;\n    }\n\n    /* * (non-Javadoc) * * @see com.ibm.workplace.wcm.api.plugin.rendering.RenderingPlugin# * render(com.ibm.workplace.wcm.api .plugin.rendering.RenderingPluginModel) */\n    @Override\n    public boolean render(final RenderingPluginModel p_model) throws RenderingPluginException {\n        final Map<String, List> params = p_model.getPluginParameters();\n\n        // determine whether the inner contents of the plugin should actually be\n        // rendered\n        final boolean renderBody;\n        final List renderBodyList = params.get("renderbody");\n        if (renderBodyList != null && renderBodyList.get(0).equals("false")) {\n            renderBody = false;\n        } else {\n            renderBody = true;\n        }\n\n        // render the output of the plugin to the writer provided by the\n        // RenderingPluginModel\n        final Writer writer = p_model.getWriter();\n        try {\n            writer.write("<b>Velocity Rendering Plugin</b>");\n\n            final Set keys = params.keySet();\n\n            final Iterator iter = keys.iterator();\n            while (iter.hasNext()) {\n                String key = iter.next();\n                writer.write(" " + key + " = " + params.get(key));\n            }\n\n            writer.write(" ");\n        } catch (IOException e) {\n            e.printStackTrace();\n        }\n\n        return renderBody;\n    }\n\n}

\n\n

Step Six – Create plugin.xml File

\n\n

In order to register the plugin with WCM, we need to create a plugin.xml file and place it within our project’s WEB-INF directory…

\n\n

WEB-INF/plugin.xml

\n\n

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n<?eclipse version="3.0"?>\n<plugin id="com.base22.wcm.VelocityPlugin" name="Velocity Rendering Plugin" version="1.0.0" provider-name="Base22">\n<extension point="com.ibm.workplace.wcm.api.RenderingPlugin" id="VelocityPlugin">\n<provider class="com.base22.wcm.plugin.rendering.VelocityPlugin"/>\n</extension>\n</plugin>

\n\n

Pete Raleigh, IBM WebSphere Portal Consultant at IBM, posted the following comment on LinkedIn. While he was referring to Custom Workflow Actions and not WCM plugins, both use the same plugin.xml mechanism, so I thought I’d repost his comment here. Though I have not tested it, it may also hold true in this case. Thanks, Pete!

\n\n

When editing / creating a plugin.xml file for your Custom Workflow Actions, ensure the order of attributes for the “extension” tag are correct. They must have “point” first followed by “id”. If they are the other way around, they will not work. – Pete Raleigh

\n\n

Step Seven – Test the plugin with WCM Content

\n\n

Now, you can publish the application to your server and test using it’s tag WCM content.

\n\n

After publishing the web app, navigate into the WCM Authoring interface and create a new HTML component…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

When the new HTML Component form appears, click in the HTML Element field to place the cursor / caret there and then click the ‘Insert a Tag’ button.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

A pop-up window appears.

\n\n

Select ‘Plugin Component’ for the tag type and then ‘Velocity’ as the plugin to reference as shown…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

When you click OK, the tag should appear in your HTML Element field as shown…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

The stub code we’ve used is written to accept and echo back any arbitrary attribute and attribute values given to the tag, so let’s type some in like so…

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Now save and preview the HTML Component and you should see the following result in your browser:

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Step Eight – Add Velocity Engine Java Libraries

\n\n

Next, we need to add the Velocity Engine library and its dependencies.

\n\n

Download the latest stable version of Velocity (that’s velocity-1.7.zip at the time of this writing).

\n\n

In the root of the archive, you will find velocity-17.jar, which you’ll need to place in the project’s WEB-INF/lib folder. There’s also a lib directory in the archive containing some dependency jar files you’ll also need to put in WEB-INF/lib; they are avalon-logkit, commons-collections, commons-lang, and oro. You’re WEB-INF/lib directory should look the same or similar to what’s depicted below:

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Step Nine – Develop a Simple Console Test

\n\n

One quick and simple way to validate functionality is to add a main method to your class. This will allow you execute the class in order to perform some quick validation tests outside of the normal deployment to WebSphere. First, add the following two methods two the VelocityPlugin.java file.

\n\n

public String getRenderedTemplate() {\n    /* first, we init the runtime engine. Defaults are fine. */\n    Velocity.init();\n\n    /* lets make a Context and put data into it */\n    VelocityContext context = new VelocityContext();\n    context.put("name", "Velocity");\n    context.put("project", "Jakarta");\n\n    StringWriter w = new StringWriter();\n    String s = "We are using $project $name to render this.";\n    Velocity.evaluate( context, w, "mystring", s );\n\n    return w.toString();\n}\n\n/** * A main method for convenient console testing... */\npublic static void main(String[] args) {\n    VelocityPlugin plugin = new VelocityPlugin();\n    System.out.println( plugin.getRenderedTemplate() );\n}

\n\n

Note that with the addition of these methods, you’ll also need to add the following imports:

\n\nimport java.io.StringWriter;\nimport org.apache.velocity.VelocityContext;\nimport org.apache.velocity.app.Velocity;\n\n

The main method initializes an instance of the VelocityPlugin class and then calls the getRenderedTemplate() method – printing the resulting string to the console.
First, we initialize the Velocity runtime engine.
We then create a VelocityContext. The context is sort of like a HashMap in which we can put key/value pairs. Anything put into the context will be accessible from the user’s template as variables such as ‘name’ and ‘project’.
A simple template is written in VTL. As our plugin progresses, we’ll give users the ability to put templates into HTML Components or File Resources in WCM, but for now, this will prove that everything’s hooked up properly. Notice that the template contains variable placeholders to access values that are expected to be in the context ($project and $name; variables in VTL are preceded with a dollar sign)
We merge the template with the context and push the rendered results of that merge into a StringWriter.
Finally, we return the rendered results as a String, which are then printed to the console.

\n\n

If all goes well, the output should be printed to the Console view in your IDE as shown below:

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Voila! The variable $project was replaced with the value, ‘Jakarta’ that was placed in the Velocity context and the variable $name was replaced with the value ‘Velocity’.

\n\n

Hopefully, at this point, you’re starting to see the value in this. Yes – this means that anything we shove into the Velocity context will be accessible to developers and authors from within WCM content. That could be user profile attributes, objects from the WCM or Portal APIs, values from a back-end database, or whatever.

\n\n

Conclusion

\n\n

In today’s class, we learned how to make a custom rendering plugin for WCM. We also learned how to incorporate the Velocity Engine into our code.

\n\n

In part 2 of this series, we’re going to take our plugin to the next level by making it so that Velocity templates can be written inside of HTML Components and then referenced by an attribute in our custom tag like this:

\n\n

[Velocity lib=”Web Content” cmpnt=”HTML – My Velocity Template” vars=”name=Velocity | project=Jakarta”]

\n\n

>> Next: Part 2

\n\n

Reference Resources

\n\n

Following are some of the reference resources I used to research and write this article.

Apache Velocity Site – Velocity Engine – Velocity is a Java-based template engine. It permits anyone to use a simple yet powerful template language to reference objects defined in Java code.\n
- Apache Velocity 1.7 User Guide – The Velocity User Guide is intended to help page designers and content providers get acquainted with Velocity and the syntax of its simple yet powerful scripting language, the Velocity Template Language (VTL).
\n
Creating custom plugins – WebSphere Portal Family wiki documentation on the various plugin types you can develop for IBM WCM.\n
- Creating a rendering plugin class – WebSphere Portal Family wiki documentation on the rendering plugin type upon which this article is based.
\n

","modified":"2021-09-14T19:19:42.630Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":"","ogImage":""},{"_id":"websphere-federated-repository-lesson-learned","title":"WebSphere Federated Repository - Lesson Learned","description":"Why you should leave the wasadmin and wpsadmin users in the defaultWIMFileBasedRealm and how to do it properly.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2018/07/DManager150x150.png","created":"2012-12-19T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"\"\n\t\t\t\twidth=\"150\"$ When configuring WebSphere Portal to use the federated repository for\n\t\t\tnon-prod environments, you have the option to leave the wasadmin and wpsadmin users in the\n\t\t\tdefaultWIMFileBasedRealm. With this configuration, you should be able to login to the deployment manager and\n\t\t\tWebSphere Portal even if your federated user repository is down. I learned today, however, that it’s not\n\t\t\tenough to simply leave the administrative users there. There’s also a very important configuration option\n\t\t\tthat must be checked or the whole plan is kaput.

\n\n\t\t

In the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console (WAS admin interface, deployment manager), under Security,\n\t\t\tclick Global Security as indicated below…

\n\n\t\t

$\"\"$ \n\t\t

\n\n\t\t

Next, click the ‘Configure…’ button for the Federated repositories realm definition…

\n\n\t\t

Check the checkbox to Allow operations if some of the repositories are down as shown below. If you don’t do\n\t\t\tthat then everything’s dead after one of your repositories fail, so it wouldn’t even matter that your\n\t\t\tadministrative users are still in the defaultWIMFIleBasedRealm.

\n\n\t\t

Recently we changed our Active Directory (AD) server configuration and I needed to access my Deployment\n\t\t\tManager to change the AD host, but I could not login to the Deployment Manager because I’d overlooked this\n\t\t\tsetting. Both me and one of my colleagues burned some valuable time getting around this. So, if you’re\n\t\t\tcounting on this strategy to save you too, perhaps you should double-check this setting now\n\t\t\t– before you have to actually rely on it.

\n","modified":"2021-05-08T00:36:41.369Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"unity-freebies-game-timer-cinematic-letterbox-and-fade-in-scripts","title":"Unity Freebies: Game Timer, Cinematic Letterbox, and Fade-in Scripts","description":"Two awesome Unity behavior scripts that you can download and use for free right now!","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2012-11-14T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"GUI$

Two awesome Unity behavior scripts that you can download and use for free right now!

GUIGameTimerAndGUILetterbox.zip (3 KB ZIP)

The GUI Gamer Timer runs a timer during the life of your game. You can display the timer on the screen or\n simply have it running behind the scenes so that you can determine the elapsed minutes and seconds from\n other scripts in the game.

The GUI Letterbox script draws a cinematic letterbox on the screen which can open up to expose the full view\n of your game at the time you specify. Along with some good music, this can help you set a very interesting\n mood! The letterbox script also contains fade-in functionality which you can use alone or in combination\n with the letterbox.

$\"\"$

\n\n

Create a new GameObject and name it ‘GameController’. Drag both scripts onto a GameObject that’s in the\n scene. Select the GameObject that holds the script and then look in the Inspector panel.

Following is a definition of each attribute that you can change in the inspector:\n

GUI Game Timer

Position X – Specifies where to draw the timer from the left-hand side of the screen.\n
Position Y – Specifies where to start drawing the timer from the top-most side of the\n screen.
Gui Depth – Specifies the depth to render the timer on the GUI plane. A lower number,\n such as zero can help ensure the timer draws atop any other GUI you might be rendering.
Show Time – Specifies whether or not to show the timer on screen. If the behavior is\n active, the timer will still be running whether it’s shown on screen or not. This will allow you to\n access the timer from other scripts and call the script’s getMinutes() and getSeconds() methods to\n determine elapsed time.

GUI Letterbox

Use Letterbox – Specifies whether or not to use the letterbox feature.
Use Fade In – Specifies whether or not to use the fade-in feature.
Black Solid Texture – You need to drag and drop the included blackSolid.gif file on\n this property in the inspector!
Start Fade In Minutes – When, in minutes, to start fading in from black (can be zero to\n use seconds only)
Start Fade In Seconds – When, in seconds, to start fading in from black (combines with\n minutes if minutes is set greater than zero).
Start Open Letterbox Minutes – When, in minutes, to start opening the cinematic\n letterbox (can be zero to use seconds only)
Start Open Letterbox Seconds – When, in seconds, to start opening the cinematic\n letterbox (combines with minutes if minutes is set greater than zero).

If you like these free goodies, please give us a +1, Tweet and share with your friends!

","modified":"2021-06-23T15:52:13.729Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"unity-preferences-your-built-in-keyboard-cheat-sheet","title":"Unity Preferences – Your Built-in Keyboard Cheat Sheet","description":"An easy way to find keyboard commands in the Unity game development tool.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2012-11-11T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"\t

Learning keyboard commands in the Unity game development tool is essential to working fast and efficiently.\n\t\t\tTo find them, you don’t have to search the Web for a cheat sheet; you can simply open Unity’s Preferences.\n\t\t\tFrom the menu bar, select Unity > Preferences…

\n\t\t

$\"Keyboard$

\n\t\t

Once the Unity Preferences view appears, select Keys and then choose from the list of Actions. The keyboard\n\t\t\tcommands for the selected action are then shown.

\n\t\t

We recommend that you avoid changing the keyboard action settings if you’re new to Unity because the default\n\t\t\tsettings may be referenced in the documentation and tutorials that you’ll be learning from.

\n","modified":"2021-05-08T00:43:41.829Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"create-player-health-status-indicator-for-unity-gui-part-1","title":"Create a Player Health Status Indicator for the Unity GUI","description":"First of a multi-part series teaching how to build a player health status indicator for the Unity GUI.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-unity.svg","created":"2012-10-13T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["game-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

This is the first of a multi-part series that will teach you how to build a player health status indicator for the Unity GUI.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Introduction

\n\n

In this series, we’ll build a cartoon-styled health status indicator and you will learn how to create one with a style that suits your game. What we want to do in this part of the series is to simply give you a starting point that will get you results fast. We’ll focus on finer details in follow-on posts.

\n\n

If you download the Health Status Indicator assets, you can have the health status indicator that’s shown above in your game’s GUI very quickly. Though it will not yet be fully functional, it will give you a good base from which to start. So, let’s get on with it…

\n\n

Draw the health status bar on 3 layers

\n\n

Start by drawing your health status bar using any graphics tool that supports layers. We used Adobe Illustrator to get the cartoon style that we wanted. We then used Adobe Photoshop to crop and save each layer as a transparent GIF and PNG-24 files.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

The layers are going to be stacked and properly aligned in the Unity GUI. As the player loses health, the background and top frame layers remain static, but the middle layer will be reduced in size horizontally.

\n\n

When preparing the image assets from the layers, crop the background layer and the frame layer exactly the same size so they will align easily when placed in the GUI.

\n\n

The green layer, which represents health, must be cropped exactly around the dimensions of the green bar with no transparent space around it. This is because it will be resized horizontally to represent the player’s health being reduced or increased. If the image had transparency around it, you can get unexpected results in the GUI that are not easily fixed by the math in your code.

\n\n

Be sure to save the images with their transparency so that you’ll be able to see through the transparent parts to the game world behind the health status bar.

\n\n

We saved the foreground and background images as GIF files because that file format is good for images that don’t have a lot of photographic detail or gradients. With a GIF, we were able to get the file size as small as possible. For the frame, we used a transparent PNG-24, which was necessary for the semi-transparent effect that mimiks the reflection of light on glass.

\n\n

You can import your image assets by right-clicking in the Unity Project panel and choosing Import New Asset… from the context menu (shown below). In our case, we created a folder to help keep our assets organized.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Create a simple script to start with

\n\n

Now, we’re going to need a Unity script to represent and control our health status widget. You can create a new script by right-clicking in the Project panel and choosing Create > Javascript. Name the script ‘HealthStatusBarScript’.

\n\n

Below you will find a simple starter script that will allow us to get something showing in the GUI quickly. We’ll explain this code line-by-line in the next article of this series and then later, we’ll improve it.

\n\n

#pragma strict\n// JavaScript\nvar backgroundTexture : Texture;\nvar foregroundTexture : Texture;\nvar frameTexture : Texture;\nvar healthWidth: int = 199;\nvar healthHeight: int = 30;\nvar healthMarginLeft: int = 41;\nvar healthMarginTop: int = 38;\nvar frameWidth : int = 266;\nvar frameHeight: int = 65;\nvar frameMarginLeft : int = 10;\nvar frameMarginTop: int = 10;\n\nfunction OnGUI () {\n    GUI.DrawTexture( Rect(frameMarginLeft,frameMarginTop, frameMarginLeft + frameWidth, frameMarginTop + frameHeight), backgroundTexture, ScaleMode.ScaleToFit, true, 0 );\n    GUI.DrawTexture( Rect(healthMarginLeft,healthMarginTop,healthWidth + healthMarginLeft, healthHeight), foregroundTexture, ScaleMode.ScaleAndCrop, true, 0 );\n    GUI.DrawTexture( Rect(frameMarginLeft,frameMarginTop, frameMarginLeft + frameWidth,frameMarginTop + frameHeight), frameTexture, ScaleMode.ScaleToFit, true, 0 );\n}

\n\n

Create an empty GameObject, attach the Javascript and associate the textures

\n\n

In order for the script to do anything, it needs to be attached to a GameObject, so create a new GameObject by selecting from the menu: GameObject > Create Empty. Once the GameObject is made you can right-click on it and rename it to something meaningful like ‘HealthStatusBarGUI’. Drag the script onto the GameObject. You should then see the script’s global variables in the Inspector panel where you must add each of the textures to the appropriate slot.

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

Tip: You can add the textures to each slot by simply dragging and dropping each image asset from the Project panel onto the appropriate texture slot in the Inspector.

\n\n

Run the game and admire your progress

\n\n

At this point, you can run the game and see your new health status bar on the screen!

\n\n

$\"\"$

\n\n

To get a feel for how the indicator will work during game play, drag the Health Width item left and right in the Inspector panel while the game is playing.

\n\n

Conclusion

\n\n

In this article, we provided the assets and a few tips for getting you started on building a player health status indicator for your game. What we wanted to do was give you a starting point that would get you results fast. We discussed how you can prepare the graphics for your GUI in layers which will allow the green health bar to shrink and expand beneath the indicator’s glass and frame. We also provided a starting script and a way to manually drag a control to preview how the widget’s going to move during game play.

\n\n

In Part 2, we’ll examine the Javascript line by line so that you can learn how the script works and hopefully also improve your programming skills.

\n\n

Until next time, enjoy the craft!

\n\n\t\t\t

Next: Part 2 >>

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:24:32.708Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"logging-through-websphere-portal-from-java-and-jsps","title":"Logging Through WebSphere Portal From Java and JSPs","description":"Learn how to tap into the WebSphere Portal logging system so that admins can enable tracing for your application classes.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2012-07-31T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Recently, I wanted to tap into the WebSphere Portal logging system so that administrators can toggle tracing\n for my application classes at runtime by using the Enable Tracing feature in the WebSphere Portal Admin UI.\n

\n\n

I was attempting the typical java.util.logging business like this:

\n\n

Imports

\n\n import java.util.logging.Level;\nimport java.util.logging.Logger;\n\n

Declare the Logger

\n\n public static final Logger LOG = Logger.getLogger(PDFUtils.class.getName());\n \n\n

Use the Logger (well, attempt to…)

\n\n if(LOG.isLoggable(Level.FINEST)) {\n LOG.finest(\"HELLO WORLD!\");\n}\n\n

Problem

\n\n

I would then navigate to Portal Admin > Enable Tracing and add com.base22.*=finest, but none of my\n statements ever spit out to my console in Rational Software Architect or to WebSphere Portal’s\n SystemOut.log file. As it turns out, “log entries lower than WsLevel.DETAIL are never stored in the\n SystemOut.log file”. After much searching, I finally learned this from a post found online called LOGGING AND\n TRACING FROM A WEBSPHERE BASED J2EE APPLICATION.

\n\n

Solution

\n\n

My final solution was to include an import for the WebSphere specific levels like so…

\n\n import com.ibm.websphere.logging.WsLevel;\n \n\n

.. and then modify my logging statements to key off of WsLevel.DETAIL, which FINE, FINER, and FINEST roll up\n into; like this:

\n\n if (LOG.isLoggable(WsLevel.DETAIL)) {\n LOG.log(WsLevel.DETAIL,\">> writePDFFromContentToOutputStream()\");\n}\n\n

Hopefully this will save you the time it took me to whittle trough it.

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:44:21.315Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"permitting-author-access-to-search-collection-in-wcm-search-component","title":"Permitting Author Access to the Search Collection in a WCM search Component","description":"WCM developers who have editor access to a search component may not have appropriate access to the search collection that the component refers to. Here's how to fix that.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2011-09-25T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

WCM developers who have editor access to a search component may not have appropriate access to the search collection that the component refers to. In this case, the WCM developer may see a warning message in the WCM authoring UI, which states: “The search collection: <CollectionName> could not be found. Please create the collection or select another one.” The search collection selected in the component will also be tagged as [missing].

\n\n

This can be corrected by giving the WCM search component editor appropriate access to the collection using the Access area within the Portal admin interface.

\n\n

Here’s how:

\n\n

Login as a portal administrator and navigate to Access > Resource Permissions and click on PSE Sources.
Locate the collection that the WCM search component refers to and then click the key icon to assign access.
The various access roles for the resource will appear. Click on the pencil icon for the Editor role.
Add the group or users who should have editor access to the WCM search component that refers to the collection. Then click the collection name in the breadcrumb to move up a level where you can click to Apply the changes.
Now, the editor should have access to the PSE source (the collection) from within the WCM search component. The warning message should no longer be displayed and the search collection should no longer be flagged as [missing].

\n\n

With this tip, you should be able to ease concerns that your WCM search component developers might have. If the same developers do not have access to the search administration area of the Portal admin UI, you should not be concerned about their ability to edit attributes of the collection itself.

\n","modified":"2021-06-01T14:01:27.513Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"trim-fat-from-your-content","title":"Trim Fat From Your Content","description":"An example-based reminder to make reduction a conscious part of your writing process.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/thumbnail-writing-hand.svg","created":"2011-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["storycraft-and-writing"],"menus":["blog"],"body":" \n

Fat makes your Web content ugly. ~~Face it, friends – it’s a fact. So, I’m going to get straight to the point and leave you with the~~ Here’s the big tip now: Make REDUCTION a conscious part of your ~~Web authoring~~ writing process. Teach this to your ~~colleagues~~ friends. Have competitions in your office to ~~see who can~~ destroy ~~the most~~ useless words. ~~There is too much shit on the Web already and we just don’t need any more, dammit. Add value, be crisp, be succinct, or get off the pot.~~

\n\n

I’m reading the book, Getting the Words Right: 39 Ways to Improve Your Writing $\"\"$ , ~~in which Theodore Cheney provides 39 ways to improve your writing.~~ , by Theodore Cheney. He starts with ~~a section on reduction with~~ these key tips:

\n\n

Shorten or remove whole chapters, sections, and paragraphs
Shorten or remove superfluous, ineffective, or redundant sentences and words
Replace longer words with shorter ones

\n\n

~~Whether you’re writing a novel, an essay, an article, or an email, reduction should be first and foremost in your revision process.~~ With so many channels to choose from, and with so much traffic and noise online, trimming the fat from your content is more important now than ever. ~~In fact,~~ Studies suggest that 79 percent of Web users scan rather than read ~~. It’s not just some bull-shit from somebody trying to be famous, either.~~ I’ve witnessed it first-hand during formal Web usability evaluations. ~~As someone who loves to both read and write, I have been shocked…horrified…at witnessing this. But the scientist in me cannot ignore the evidence of my senses. It’s simple:~~

\n\n

Users don’t like to read a lot of crap, so cut it.

\n","modified":"2021-06-01T04:43:14.513Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"user-impersonation-programming-in-websphere-portal","title":"User Impersonation Programming in WebSphere Portal","description":"Learn how to program the user impersonation feature in HCL Portal, which allows specified users or groups the ability to assume the profile of others.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2011-07-31T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

The user impersonation feature in WebSphere Portal allows specified users or groups the ability to assume the\n profile of others. In this way, administrators or help-desk staff can view a personalized and secured portal\n the way another end-user sees it. Of course, depending on the types of content and services you provide,\n this could be a security risk. If you have features that should not be accessed, even in impersonated\n sessions, you may need to wrap those features with some specialized logic. In this post, I show you how.

\n\n

Accessing the ImpersonationService in Your Java Code

\n\n

First, you’ll need to access the ImpersonationService in your theme or portlet code. The example below uses a\n JNDI lookup, which can be expensive, so be sure to put these kinds of things in an init method.

\n\n

try {\n  portletServiceHome = (com.ibm.portal.portlet.service.PortletServiceHome)ctx.lookup(com.ibm.portal.portlet.service.impersonation.ImpersonationService.JNDI_NAME);\n  if(portletServiceHome != null) {\n    impersonationHome = (com.ibm.portal.portlet.service.impersonation.ImpersonationService) portletServiceHome.getPortletService(com.ibm.portal.portlet.service.impersonation.ImpersonationService.class);\n    if( impersonationHome != null ) {\n      isImpersonationEnabled = true;\n    }\n  }\n} catch ( javax.naming.NamingException ne ) {\n  // impersonation is not present\n} catch ( com.ibm.portal.portlet.service.PortletServiceUnavailableException psue ) {\n  // impersonation is not present\n}\n

\n\n

That’s how the PageBuilder theme does it. Here’s another example from the SPIs JavaDoc on how to perform the\n JNDI lookup to acquire the service object:

\n\n

com.ibm.portal.portlet.service.PortletServiceHome psh;\njavax.naming.Context ctx = new javax.naming.InitialContext();\n \ntry {\n    psh = (PortletServiceHome) ctx.lookup(ImpersonationService.JNDI_NAME);\n} catch(javax.naming.NameNotFoundException ex) {\n    // error handling\n}\n \n// obtain the service object and use the service\nImpersonationService impersonationService = (ImpersonationService) psh.getPortletService(ImpersonationService.class);\ntry {\n    impersonationService.doImpersonate(request, response, request.getParameter(FORM_TEXT));\n} catch (Exception e) {\n    // error handling\n}

\n\n

Using the ImpersonationService in Your Java Code

\n\n

Once you have access to the service, you can use the following method to determine if the current user is an\n impersonated user (returns a boolean):

\n\n

impersonationHome.isUserImpersonated()

\n\n

There are other useful methods on the ImpersonationService. Following are all the methods as of WebSphere\n Portal 7.0.0.

\n\n

Interface com.ibm.portal.portlet.service.impersonation.ImpersonationService

\n\n

void doImpersonate(ActionRequest actionRequest, ActionResponse actionResponse, java.lang.String impUserDN)
\n This method starts the impersonation.

\n\n

void doImpersonate(ActionRequest actionRequest, ActionResponse actionResponse, User impUser)
\n This method starts the impersonation.

\n\n

void doImpersonate(PortletRequest portletRequest, PortletResponse portletResponse, java.lang.String impUserDN)
\n Deprecated. since 7.0 use doImpersonate(ActionRequest, ActionResponse, String) instead

\n\n

void doImpersonate(PortletRequest portletRequest, PortletResponse portletResponse, User impUser)
\n Deprecated. since 7.0 use doImpersonate(ActionRequest, ActionResponse, User) instead

\n\n

User getOriginalUser()
\n This method returns the original user that has logged in.

\n\n

boolean isUserImpersonated()
\n This method indicates whether the current user has been impersonated or he is acting on its own behalf.

\n\n

void loginOriginalUser(HttpServletRequest aRequest, HttpServletResponse aResponse) Deprecated.\n since 7.0 use
\n com.ibm.portal.impersonation.ImpersonationService#loginOriginalUser(HttpServletRequest, HttpServletResponse)\n instead

","modified":"2021-05-08T00:43:15.881Z","features":["syntax highlighter"],"path":["blog"]},{"_id":"find-java-classes-or-packages-contained-in-jar-files","title":"Find Java Classes or Packages Contained in JAR Files","description":"Here's a tool that can help you search through JAR files to find Java classes or packages.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-java.svg","created":"2011-04-18T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Did you know there’s a tool that can help you search through JAR files to find Java classes or packages? I’ve been using it for years and I am often surprised that so few Java developers have it in their toolbox. Of course, it’s very handy for resolving those pesky NoClassDefFoundError and ClassNotFoundExceptions, but my favorite use case is to find the location of a class and JAR file on my hard-drive so I can decompile it to understand what some vendor’s proprietary code is actually doing behind the scenes. I know vendors frown on this, but whatever; I’ve got a job to do.

The tool is called jarscan and you can read more about it or download it here.

It’s just a little jar file that executes as a command-line program. On my Windows virtual machines, I put the jar file in C:\\JarScanner\\

If you’d like to find a Java class called “SystemProperty” somewhere in the “C:\\IBM\\WebSphere\\PortalServer” directory. You would execute the following command:

java -jar C:\\JarScanner\\jarscan.jar -dir c:\\IBM\\WebSphere\\PortalServer -class SystemProperty

That command would then search through every jar file that it can find in the PortalServer directory, including sub-directories. If it finds the specified class file, it reports the location and name of the Jar file containing the class. You can also search for packages, not just class files.

For Help, type the following command:

java -jar C:\\JarScanner\\jarscan.jar -help

Shout out to Geoff Yaworski for building this handy tool (there’s a PayPal donate link on his site)

","modified":"2021-06-18T17:57:13.264Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"classnotfound-does-not-always-mean-class-not-found","title":"ClassNotFound Does Not Always Mean Class Not Found","description":"Sometimes ClassNotFound can mean the class was actually found 2 or more times - a conflict in the classloader.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-java.svg","created":"2011-02-06T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

$\"Java$ A Java ClassNotFound exception does not always mean that a class could not be found on the classpath. Sometimes it can mean the class was actually found 2 or more times – a conflict in the classloader.

Recently, while developing a portlet for WebSphere Portal, I got the following exception:

Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: javax.el.ELException

My portlet ran fine in my local development environment, but when I deployed it to Production, it crapped out. This is because I had included JSTL jar files in my portlet’s WEB-INF/lib folder. As it turns out, those jar files, or similar ones, were already somewhere on the classpath in the Production environment.

So…It seems that the class was actually found – just more times than expected. It is as if the classloader cancels them all out if it finds duplicates or conflicts. This, in turn, can lead to the ClassNotFound message, which in that case is somewhat misleading.

Just something to keep in mind.

","modified":"2022-02-17T01:56:46.693Z","path":["blog"],"features":[],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"introduction-to-the-semantic-web-vision-and-technologies","title":"Introduction to the Semantic Web Vision and Technologies","description":"Video version of a PowerPoint presentation for a talk I gave at the IBM Technical Leadership Exchange in March, 2006.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-semantic-web.svg","created":"2010-09-13T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

This is the video version of the PowerPoint presentation for a talk I gave at the IBM Technical Leadership Exchange in March, 2006. The presentation, which is now quite dated, provides a summary of the vision and technologies related to the Semantic Web, which was arguably considered to be emergent for the time. Related, but more modern concepts that have since surfaced include Linked Data, Linked Data Platform, and Graph Databases (e.g. Amazon Neptune, Blazegraph, Stardog, Ontotext GraphDB).

\n\n

\n \t\n

\n\n

Download this presentation as a Microsoft PowerPoint file (1,881 KB zipped, 2,087 KB unzipped):

emt-070_semantic-web-vision-and-tech_2006-03-08.zip

\n","modified":"2021-07-18T23:18:29.230Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"remove-sign-up-link-on-wps-login-page","title":"How to Remove the Sign-Up Link on the WebSphere Portal Login Page","description":"When sign-up capability is not desired, here’s how to remove the sign-up link from the login portlet.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2010-06-14T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

The Login form on the login page comes from a portlet. The sign-up link that appears on the login page comes from this portlet. In many cases, anonymous access to the portal is not given or the sign-up capability is not desired. Here’s how to remove the sign-up link from the portlet (it is a configurable parameter):

\n\n\t\t

In Portal Admin, navigate to Portlets (under Portlet Management).
\n\t\t\t\tFind the “Login” portlet and click on the wrench icon (Configure portlet).
One of the parameters on the portlet is “ShowSignupLink”, which can be given the value “yes” or “no”.
Simply change the value as appropriate and commit the changes by pressing what ever logical “OK” or “Apply” buttons that follow.

\n","modified":"2021-05-08T00:49:43.791Z","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"wcm-security-video-overview","title":"WCM Security - Video Overview","description":"A 10 minute Lunch Byte to help you improve your skills using security in IBM Workplace Web Content Management.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2010-05-01T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

A 10 minute Lunch Byte in a series designed to help you improve your skills in developing websites using IBM Workplace Web Content Management. This episode focuses on WCM security.

\n\t\t

","modified":"2021-06-01T14:02:55.177Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"wcm-libraries-video-overview","title":"WCM Libraries - Video Overview","description":"Understand the role and capabilities of a Library in IBM Web Content Manager.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-websphere.png","created":"2010-01-02T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

A 10 minute Lunch Byte in a series designed to help you improve your skills in developing websites using IBM Workplace Web Content Management. This episode focuses on the role and capabilities of a Library in WCM.

\n\n

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:55:03.584Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"render-the-keys-and-values-from-a-map-in-freemarker","title":"Render the Keys and Values From a Map in Freemarker","description":"How to get the keys and values of a Map (such as a HashMap) from within a Freemarker template.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-java.svg","created":"2009-12-24T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Render the values of a Map

\n\n

The following code snippet shows how to get the values of a Map (e.g. HashMap) from within a Freemarker\n template.

\n\n

<#assign m = myMap>\n<#assign values = m?values>\n         \n<ul>\n     <#list values as myObject>\n     <li>$\\{myObject.myPropery\\}</li>\n     </#list>\n</ul>

\n\n

Render the keys of a Map

\n\n

You can do a similar thing with the keys of a map as shown below.

\n\n

<#assign m = myMap>\n<#assign keys = m?keys>\n         \n<ul>\n     <#list keys as key>\n     <li>$\\{key\\}\n     </#list>\n</ul>

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:49:35.237Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"ldap-error-codes","title":"LDAP Error Codes","description":"A reference table of common LDAP error codes and error constants with possible causes.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-ldap.svg","created":"2009-11-21T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":" \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

ERROR CODE	LDAPEXCEPTION CONSTANT	POSSIBLE CAUSE(S)
0	SUCCESS	The operation completed successfully
1	OPERATION_ERROR	Invalid syntax for ACI or schema, or inappropriate control for the operation
2	PROTOCOL_ERROR	Invalid filter expression on search, or DN on add, modify, or delete
3	TIME_LIMIT_EXCEEDED	Either the server’s or the client’s specified search time limit was exceeded
4	SIZE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED	Either the server’s or the client’s specified limit on number of search results was exceeded
5	COMPARE_FALSE	A compare operation returns mismatch
6	COMPARE_TRUE	A compare operation returns match
7	AUTH_METHOD_NOT_SUPPORTED	The server does not support the requested authentication method
8	STRONG_AUTH_REQUIRED	The server requires an authentication method stronger than unencrypted user name and password
9	LDAP_PARTIAL_RESULTS	The client has bound with LDAPv2, or the server supports only LDAPv2, and the base DN specified by the client is not among the naming contexts of the server
10	REFERRAL	The server is configured to return a referral or search reference when an operation is directed toward this DN
11	ADMIN_LIMIT_EXCEEDED	To satisfy the search request, the server would need to process too many entries; the search may need to be narrowed, or the server’s look-through limit raised
12	UNAVAILABLE_CRITICAL_EXTENSION	A control was provided with the request; the control was tagged as critical, but the server doesn’t support it
13	CONFIDENTIALITY_REQUIRED	.
14	SASL_BIND_IN_PROGRESS	SASL authentication is being negotiated between the client and the server
16	NO_SUCH_ATTRIBUTE	An attribute to be modified or deleted was not present in the entry
17	UNDEFINED_ATTRIBUTE_TYPE	.
18	INAPPROPRIATE_MATCHING	.
19	CONSTRAINT_VIOLATION	Invalid attribute for this entry, or new password does not meet password policy requirements
20	ATTRIBUTE_OR_VALUE_EXISTS	Attempt to add an identical attribute value to an existing one
21	INVALID_ATTRIBUTE_SYNTAX	.
32	NO_SUCH_OBJECT	Attempt to bind with a nonexistent DN, to search with a nonexistent base DN, or to modify or delete a nonexistent DN
33	ALIAS_PROBLEM	.
34	INVALID_DN_SYNTAX	Invalid DN or RDN specified on adding an entry or modifying an RDN
35	IS_LEAF	.
36	ALIAS_DEREFERENCING_PROBLEM	.
48	INAPPROPRIATE_AUTHENTICATION	.
49	INVALID_CREDENTIALS	Invalid password or other credentials supplied on bind
50	INSUFFICIENT_ACCESS_RIGHTS	.
51	BUSY	.
52	UNAVAILABLE	Returned by SDK if server is not accessible
53	UNWILLING_TO_PERFORM	User not allowed to change password, password expired, operation not implemented (moddn), attempt to modify read-only attribute, attempt to delete all schema elements, attempt to delete an object class that has derived object classes, attempt to delete a read-only schema element, the database is read-only, no back end (database) is available for the operation, or other uncategorized error
54	LOOP_DETECT	.
64	NAMING_VIOLATION	.
65	OBJECT_CLASS_VIOLATION	Invalid attribute specified for modify operation on an entry
66	NOT_ALLOWED_ON_NONLEAF	Attempt to delete an entry that has child nodes
67	NOT_ALLOWED_ON_RDN	.
68	ENTRY_ALREADY_EXISTS	.
69	OBJECT_CLASS_MODS_PROHIBITED	.
71	AFFECTS_MULTIPLE_DSAS	.
80	OTHER	.
81	SERVER_DOWN	SDK could not connect to server
89	PARAM_ERROR	No modifications on a modify operation, no attributes on an add operation, invalid scope or empty search filter on search, or other invalid argument to an SDK method
91	CONNECT_ERROR	SDK reports unexpected error connecting to server
92	LDAP_NOT_SUPPORTED	.
93	CONTROL_NOT_FOUND	.
94	NO_RESULTS_RETURNED	.
95	MORE_RESULTS_TO_RETURN	.
96	CLIENT_LOOP	.
97	REFERRAL_LIMIT_EXCEEDED	SDK reports hop limit exceeded on referral processing

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:51:15.958Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"glossary-of-ldap-acronyms-and-terms","title":"Glossary of LDAP Acronyms and Terms","description":"A glossary of commonly used acronyms and terms related to LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) and LDIF (LDAP Data Interchange Format).","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-ldap.svg","created":"2009-11-20T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-05-08T00:49:14.567Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

abstract (object classes)
\n Abstract classes are used to build other object classes, but never for building direct instances of the class. A special abstract class called top is the ultimate superclass of all object classes. To build a class that doesn’t inherit any attributes, you build a class that is a direct subclass of top.

ApacheDS
\n ApacheDS (Apache Directory Server) is an embeddable, extendable, standards compliant, modern LDAP server written entirely in Java, and available under the Apache Software License.

auxiliary (object classes)
\n You use auxiliary classes to mix and match. An auxiliary class augments the other object classes of an entry without the costs tied to inheritance. The auxiliary class is never involved in inheritance because it is never the super class for a structural or abstract class. Instead, auxiliary classes are explicitly included in an entry rather than included implicitly via inheritance. You use auxiliary classes to add specific functionality to a standard object class without modifying the original object definition. The same auxiliary class may be added to entries with different object classes and this is the most significant advantage of the auxiliary class. In other words, the auxiliary class is not part of a chain of inheritance and you can use it with entries of differing classes.

So, which is better: inheritance or Auxiliary class? The main thing to consider is the users who must create new entries. They must explicitly include both object classes unless you have some kind of user interface that abstracts this from them. If you use inheritance instead, they need to include only one object class. With the auxiliary option, problems can occur if a user forgets one of the object classes.

c
\n Country

cn
\n common name

If the object holding this attribute corresponds to a person, it is typically the person’s full name.

dc
\n Domain Component

DIT
\n Directory Information Tree

DN
\n Distinguished Name

l
\n Location

LDIF
\n LDAP Data Interchange Format
\n Example LDIF file with organizational and person entries:

\n\n\n

\ndn: o=burlesontech.com\nobjectclass: top\nobjectclass: organization\no: burlesontech.com\n\ndn: ou=People, o=burlesontech.com\nobjectclass: organizationalUnit\nou: people\n\ndn: ou=marketing, o=burlesontech.com\nobjectclass: organizationalUnit\nou: marketing\n\ndn: cn=Cody Burleson, ou=people, o=burlesontech.com\nobjectclass: top\nobjectclass: organizationalPerson\ncn: Cody Burleson\nsn: Burleson\ngivenname: Cody\nuid: cburleson\nou: marketing\n

\n\n\n

o
Organization

OID
Object Identifier used to uniquely name each entity in the LDAP schema. The syntax is a string of numbers separated by periods. For example:

\n\n

2.16.840.1.113730.3.2.2

\n\n

The string can be of any length and can contain any number of segments. The left-most segments are considered ‘most significant’. An OID can be subdivided simply by adding more segments to the end; the collective group of all OIDs beginning with a specific series of numbers is commonly called an ‘arch’.

\n\n

Since OIDs are hierarchical, your organization can obtain one OID and then branch it as needed. For example, if your organization’s OID was 1.1, you could use 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.3.1, etc. A root OID for your organization, a.k.a. Private Enterprise Number (PEN), can be obtained from IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. You can typically receive a PEN within a few days after applying online although IANA commits only to a minimum of 30 days.

\n\n

There is a specific arch that is reserved for private use within an enterprise. That arch is 1.3.6.1.4.1. Following the private-OID arch, organizations add their own Private Enterprise Number (PEN) to form a sub-arch that belongs totally to that organization and is globally unique. My company, Burleson Technology Group, has been assigned the Private Enterprise Number 31751, so our LDAP arch is 1.3.6.1.4.1.31751. Thus, if we created any unique entities in our LDAP schema, that’s the arch we would start with. We could, of course, branch it or add to the end, so that OIDs like 1.3.6.1.4.1.31751.1 or 1.3.6.1.4.1.31751.1.2.1 would be valid for our schema.

\n\n

There is a specific arch (1.3.6.1.3) which is reserved by the IANA for experimentation and you can assign OIDs within this arch for temporary purposes, such as testing or for experimenting with your schema while waiting for your permanent PEN. OIDs within this experimental arch are not guaranteed to be globally unique, and therefore should not be published external to your organization nor used for production LDAP directories.

\n\n

Organizational Unit
OUs are typically used to create a hierarchy of containers within a domain. Only OUs within the same domain can have relationships. OUs of the same name in different domains are independent.

\n\n

RDN
Relative Distinuished Name

\n\n

Surname

The family name (last name) of a person

\n\n

st
State

\n\n

structural (object classes)
\n Each directory entry (instance) must contain at least one structural class. A structural class always uses inheritance, and it must be a subclass of some other object class. Only structural classes can use inheritance; abstract and auxiliary classes cannot use inheritance. A structural class can be a super class of another object class.

uid
User ID

","path":["blog"]},{"_id":"are-mashups-the-new-portals-and-gadgets-the-new-portlets","title":"Are Mashups the New Portals and Gadgets the New Portlets?","description":"What it means to be a portal and a portlet may be changing. Here's why.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/webpage-icon.png","created":"2009-06-12T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

What it means to be a portal and a portlet may be changing. With Google Gadgets, OpenSocial, and Apache Shindig, application functionality can now be delivered to any page on the web, backed by any variety of web and application servers. Using only HTML, JavaScript, and REST/RPC protocols, gadgets are more universal than JSR 168 Portlets and arguably more amenable to rich internet application techniques like Ajax. Gadgets go hand-in-hand with OpenSocial, a common API that can help you bring social networking features to your applications. With OpenSocial, it is possible to extend the range of your apps and evolve towards Enterprise 2.0 while adhering to a service oriented model. Shindig is an OpenSocial container from Apache that can help you make any website capable of hosting these gadgets and social apps. Taken together, these kinds of technologies have to make one wonder if the days of the monolithic enterprise portal platform are nearing an end.

As a former consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM, I have spent many years working to help companies realize the promise of an enterprise portal: one consistent interface to the enterprise, a common development platform, common infrastructure, standardized application architecture, employee self-service, security, personalization, content management, application integration, single sign-on, and the like. IBM WebSphere Portal, Oracle WebLogic Portal, and SAP NetWeaver Portal are just a few of the platforms I’ve worked with that promise to deliver all this value in a single package. But if there is one thing I’ve learned from my experience with these behemoths, it is that tapping that value and getting honest-to-goodness ROI in a large organization is incredibly hard. In fact, professional consultants have coined a term to describe the feeling customers have after a year or more of design, installation, customization, configuration and tuning – we call it “portal fatigue”.

The fact is that while the promise is noble, integrating a large enterprise on one platform does not honor the reality in most organizations. For one thing, it presents a huge governance challenge. It requires C-level sponsorship, unification across organizational boundaries, an integrated funding model, and centralized management that can deal with being blamed for any individual problem that makes the whole thing look bad. Building an enterprise portal is difficult in itself – running it efficiently is then an entirely new problem.

There is also the problem of lethargy. The portal is supposed to deliver “on-demand” transformation to your enterprise and help you respond more quickly to new business requirements. But what happens when you line up an entire organization behind a single deployment process? It’s like waiting to ride a roller coaster at Six Flags on a sunny summer afternoon. By the time you actually get your seat, you’ve already wasted a great portion of your day at the park – aside from being severely dehydrated.

Then there is the problem of variety amongst developers and their unwavering love for the particular technology they use. In one division, you have the Java guys. Since most of the enterprise-class platforms are based on Java, these guys often hold the keys to the kingdom – or at least they think they do or think they should. You also have the mainframe bunch. Their apps, old as they may be, still form the mission-critical heart of many organizations. There are ColdFusion, ASP, and .NET developers and all their various applications serving a variety of needs from ‘rogue’ servers tucked inconspicuously under desks and in storage closets. And then there are ‘the new kids on the block’ – the youngest new group of web savvy, open source users who’ve mastered Web 2.0 and who dig things like PHP. None are less or more than the others. They are just different and these differences often make it difficult to get them on the same page – especially if that page is not based on just a few common standards they all understand such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Which brings me to my point.

This is all about the need to share information and collaborate amongst employees, with business partners, and with customers. The two things we all share are the browser and the Net. That is why technologies like Gadgets and OpenSocial are so appealing now. They seek to unify us where we are common – on the web page where just a few simple standards are well excepted. They embrace our differences by responding to any back-end technology that can ultimately serve an HTTP response. They provide a new means to integrate application functionality and data at the front-end without as much reliance on changes in the back-end. They can also extend the reach of our information into new applications on the Web while improving our ability to pull data and features from those apps into our own.

While all of this is naturally maturing in the open domain of the World Wide Web, it has enormous potential behind the firewall. Atlassian Software, for example, has embraced the paradigm in their products (Atlassian + OpenSocial). They’ve made it possible to build a dashboard incorporating gadgets from Confluence, JIRA, Bamboo, Crucible, and external sources. Those same gadgets can also be deployed to other applications such as iGoogle, Google Desktop, and GMail. IBM has also embraced the paradigm by extending support for Google Gadgets in WebSphere Portal 6. Support is huge on the Web, and growing fast within the firewall.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the enterprise portal platform is really dying. But if I had my choice today, I would at least think twice before writing another fat portlet on JSR 168 with JSF. When designing new applications, we must always ask the questions, “How can I make this investment usable and useful by and for more than just this one app? How can I make this information more open and accessible across the entire enterprise – across enterprises? How can I be sure I’m not just building another information silo?” With technologies like Google Gadgets, OpenSocial, and Apache Shindig, we now have fresh new paradigms to consider.

\n","modified":"2021-09-29T18:11:30.611Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","ogImage":"","subtitle":""},{"_id":"list-ibm-db2-commands","title":"List IBM DB2 Commands","description":"Get a quick list of IBM DB2 commands.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-ibm.svg","created":"2009-03-29T00:00:00.000Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"body":"

Did you know that you can get a quick list of db2 commands by typing “db2 ?” on the command line?

$\"\"$

Following are the DB2 commands from the screen-shot in a form that you can copy and paste:

\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

ACTIVATE DATABASE	GET CONTACTS	RECOVER
ADD CONTACT	GET/UPDATE DB CFG	REDISTRIBUTE DB PARTITION
ADD CONTACTGROUP	GET/UPDATE DBM CFG	REFRESH LDAP
ADD DATALINKS MANAGER	GET DBM MONITOR SWITCHES	REGISTER LDAP
ADD DBPARTITIONNUM	GET DESCRIPTION FOR HEALTH	REGISTER XMLSCHEMA
ADD XMLSCHEMA	GET NOTIFICATION LIST	REGISTER XSROBJECT
ARCHIVE LOG	GET HEALTH SNAPSHOT	REORG INDEXES/TABLE
ATTACH	GET INSTANCE	REORGCHK
AUTOCONFIGURE	GET MONITOR SWITCHES	RESET ADMIN CFG
BACKUP DATABASE	GET RECOMMENDATIONS	RESET ALERT CFG
BIND	GET ROUTINE	RESET DB CFG
CATALOG APPC NODE	GET SNAPSHOT	RESET DBM CFG
CATALOG APPN NODE	HELP	RESET MONITOR
CATALOG DATABASE	HISTORY	RESTART DATABASE
CATALOG DCS DATABASE	IMPORT	RESTORE DATABASE
CATALOG LDAP DATABASE	INITIALIZE TAPE	REWIND TAPE
CATALOG LDAP NODE	INSPECT	ROLLFORWARD DATABASE
CATALOG LOCAL NODE	LIST ACTIVE DATABASES	RUNCMD
CATALOG NPIPE NODE	LIST APPLICATIONS	RUNSTATS
CATALOG NETBIOS NODE	LIST COMMAND OPTIONS	SET CLIENT
CATALOG ODBC DATA SOURCE	LIST DATABASE DIRECTORY	SET RUNTIME DEGREE
CATALOG TCPIP NODE	LIST DB PARTITION GROUPS	SET TABLESPACE CONTAINERS
CHANGE DATABASE COMMENT	LIST DATALINKS MANAGERS	SET TAPE POSITION
CHANGE ISOLATION LEVEL	LIST DBPARTITIONNUMS	SET UTIL_IMPACT_PRIORITY
COMPLETE XMLSCHEMA	LIST DCS APPLICATIONS	SET WRITE
CREATE DATABASE	LIST DCS DIRECTORY	START DATABASE MANAGER
CREATE TOOLS CATALOG	LIST DRDA INDOUBT	START HADR
DEACTIVATE DATABASE	LIST HISTORY	STOP DATABASE MANAGER
DECOMPOSE XML DOCUMENT	LIST INDOUBT TRANSACTIONS	STOP HADR
DEREGISTER	LIST NODE DIRECTORY	TAKEOVER
DESCRIBE	LIST ODBC DATA SOURCES	TERMINATE
DETACH	LIST PACKAGES/TABLES	UNCATALOG DATABASE
DROP CONTACT	LIST TABLESPACE CONTAINERS	UNCATALOG DCS DATABASE
DROP CONTACTGROUP	LIST TABLESPACES	UNCATALOG LDAP DATABASE
DROP DATABASE	LIST UTILITIES	UNCATALOG LDAP NODE
DROP DATALINKS MANAGER	LOAD	UNCATALOG NODE
DROP DBPARTITIONNUM	LOAD QUERY	UNCATALOG ODBC DATA
DROP TOOLS CATALOG	MIGRATE DATABASE	UNQUIESCE DATABASE
ECHO	PING	UNQUIESCE INSTANCE
EDIT	PREP/PRECOMPILE	UPDATE ALERT CFG
EXPORT	PRUNE HISTORY/LOGFILE	UPDATE COMMAND OPTIONS
FORCE APPLICATION	PUT ROUTINE	UPDATE CONTACT
GET/UPDATE ADMIN CFG	QUERY CLIENT	UPDATE CONTACTGROUP
GET ALERT CFG	QUIESCE DATABASE	UPDATE NOTIFICATION LIST
GET AUTHORIZATIONS	QUIESCE INSTANCE	UPDATE HISTORY
GET/UPDATE CLI CFG	QUIESCE TABLESPACES	UPDATE LDAP NODE
GET CONNECTION STATE	QUIT	UPDATE MONITOR SWITCHES
GET CONTACTGROUP	REBIND	XQUERY
GET CONTACTGROUPS	RECONCILE

","modified":"2021-06-01T04:42:42.726Z","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"java-system-properties","title":"Java System Properties","description":"A list of the system properties that can be accessed in Java code with System.getProperty","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/logo-java.svg","created":"2008-10-29T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-01T04:49:56.500Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Following are a list of the standard system properties which can be accessed in Java code by using the System.getProperty methods. For example…

\n\n System.getProperty(\"path.separator\");\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n

Property Name	Description	Java Version
`file.encoding`	The character encoding for the default locale	1.1
`file.encoding.pkg`	The package that contains the converters that handle converting between local encodings and Unicode	1.1
`file.separator`	The platform-dependent file separator (e.g., “/” on UNIX, “\\” for Windows)	1.0
`java.class.path`	The value of the CLASSPATH environment variable	1.0
`java.class.version`	The version of the Java API	1.0
`java.compiler`	The just-in-time compiler to use, if any. The java interpreter provided with the JDK initializes this property from the environment variable JAVA_COMPILER.	1.0
`java.home`	The directory in which Java is installed	1.0
`java.io.tmpdir`	The directory in which java should create temporary files	1.2
`java.version`	The version of the Java interpreter	1.0
`java.vendor`	A vendor-specific string	1.0
`java.vendor.url`	A vendor URL	1.0
`line.separator`	The platform-dependent line separator (e.g., “\\n” on UNIX, “\\r\\n” for Windows)	1.0
`os.name`	The name of the operating system	1.0
`os.arch`	The system architecture	1.0
`os.version`	The operating system version	1.0
`path.separator`	The platform-dependent path separator (e.g., “:” on UNIX, “,” for Windows)	1.0
`user.dir`	The current working directory when the properties were initialized	1.0
`user.home`	The home directory of the current user	1.0
`user.language`	The two-letter language code of the default locale	1.1
`user.name`	The username of the current user	1.0
`user.region`	The two-letter country code of the default locale	1.1
`user.timezone`	The default time zone	1.1

","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""},{"_id":"access-was-console-from-hcl-portal","title":"Access the WAS Console From HCL Portal Server","description":"Up to Portal version 5.1, you could not access the WebSphere Application Server administration console from Portal, but now you can. Here's how.","thumbnail":"https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/codyburleson.com/images/2018/07/DManager150x150.png","published":"2012-08-08T00:00:00.000Z","modified":"2021-06-01T04:50:12.154Z","topics":["software-dev"],"menus":["blog"],"features":["syntax highlighter"],"body":"

Up to Portal version 5.1, you could not access the WebSphere\n\t\t\tApplication Server administration console from Portal. You had to have your WAS server running\n\t\t\tseparately. Now, you no longer have to have WAS running separately and you can access the WAS console\n\t\t\tdirectly from the Portal Server. Following is a URL you can try, which might work:

\n\t\t

https://<host>:10032/ibm/console

\n\n\t\t

You might also try the following URL, which is what I've been using with a Docker/Kubernetes image from HCL:

\n\n\t\t

https://<host>:10041/ibm/console

\n\n\t\t

In some installations, ports may differ. To find your WAS admin console port, you can check\n\t\t\tyour serverindex.xml file.

\n\t\t

On my local development environment (Docker container), that file is located\n\t\t\tat: /opt/HCL/wp_profile/config/cells/dockerCell/nodes/dockerNode/serverindex.xml.

\n\t\t

In that file, you might try looking for endPointName="WC_adminhost" or endPointName="WC_adminhost_secure".\n\t\t\tFor example, in my development environment, I found the following, which confirms port 10041, but in\n\t\t\tyour environment, you may find a different value there to use:

\n\n\n

\n<specialEndpoints xmi:id="NamedEndPoint_1607793695380" endPointName="WC_adminhost_secure">\n\t<endPoint xmi:id="EndPoint_1607793695380" host="*" port="10041"/>\n</specialEndpoints>\n

\n","path":["blog"],"layoutName":"SidebarRight","subtitle":""}]

Console Errors

Renewing the SSL Certificate in the WebSphere Application Server

Sources for Vietnam War Map Coordinates

Convert MGRS to Latitude and Longitude

Create Your Own Online Map

RDF and the surprisingly simple, but infinitely powerful triple

Schema-less RDF storage

SPARQL endpoints

References

Save and Load Spotlight configuration

References:

Keyboard shortcuts for Windows

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Obtain Stardog and license key file

Setup the Stardog docker container

Create a database in Stardog for Carbon LDP

Configure and run the Carbon LDP platform container

Run the Carbon LDP Workbench

Accessing the Stardog container’s shell

Accessing the Carbon LDP container’s shell

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Travis\n Davids, Educational Materials and Resources, YouTube

What am I missing?

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Procedure for Timelapse Recording in ZBrush

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