Days of …

I tried to search all over the web for a Java Faces component, which will do a simple thing: totals and subtotals. And I failed. It seems that whole web is about how much more AJAX you could put everywhere, not how more useful your product could be for average user.

It could be done through a facet tag, which is obvious.

I think about that as competitive advantage for myself. If nobody done it - I should do it and be recognised for it!

Excellent article on branching in Subversion. One thing missing is the branch timeline chart. Something like this:

Where horisontal line is the trunk timeline and angled lines are releases. Based on my experience, that chart often helps developers to understand when branches are created and how to deal with them.

Just made a configuration change on my hosting account: disabled Java in order to get Ruby-On-Rails

For a website I want to build, I have to choose the platform and the programming language. At work I use Java and Websphere 6, but can’t use it for my own project. The reason is that I don’t know how popular my service would be it seems quite expensive to put it into Websphere hosting. I have Java capabilities in my hosting plan here, but its only for web applications with no backend server support. In other words - there will be no MVC. Only JSPs and servlets.

And I will not be able to use JDK 5, nor be able to change server to, say, Glassfish, so I will be able to use some latest useful JSF components.

Another choice would be to choose other language, say Ruby. But I don’t have any experience using it, so it would be a major roadblock for a starters.

I’m stuck again!

Java Developer’s Journal published a very good article on security issues in JSF applications. The article consists of three pages. Two first pages provide the neccessary background information with the possible solution. The third page looks like the editors decided not to publish more details and just finish that article as fast as possible. And source code attachment does not work either.

Another link to check is JSF security project on Sourceforge

The corporate policy setting on my work notebook always sets the screen saver to 15 minutes and require login password. I don’t mind to have a screen save 15 minutes, but that login requirement… I just hate it! And I hate it mostly because the screen saver tab in the Display Properties dialog is disabled by the same policy!

Now I found the way to cheat on corporate policy - I created a simple .reg file, which will change one DWORD value:

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop\ScreenSaverIsSecure = “0″

Ahh, back to work…

annoyance, windows, registry, hack

Everybody, who worked with Rational tools could think that there is nothing rational in them. And frustration mounts when you’ll try to read the supplied documentation. The documentation is structured, but some pages are very shallow and others do not explain topics in undestandable language.

This article is very helpful. It actually shows how to structure design files, so the design will be understandable by anyone in the project.

At the end of page is a little gem: Software Architecture Document for the project, described in the article. Very very helpful!

architecture, rational, UML, RUP

The only way to fix that problem is to upgrade Websphere, which shipped with Rational products, from version 6.0.0.0 to 6.0.2.3. The problem is that Websphere upgrades are not available through Rational Product Updater and some manual work is required.

The steps are:

1. Download Websphere patch 6.0.2.0 (355 megs!)
2. Unpack it into C:\Program Files\IBM\Rational\SATrial\6.0\runtimes\base_v6\
3. Run C:\Program Files\IBM\Rational\SATrial\6.0\runtimes\base_v6\updateinstaller\update.exe and let it upgrade everything
4. Delete C:\Program Files\IBM\Rational\SATrial\6.0\runtimes\base_v6\updateinstaller\ folder
5. Download Websphere patch 6.0.2.3 (192 megs)
6. Repeat steps 2-4

Now everything should work properly.

Some sources recommended installing IBM Agent Controller, which didn’t solved the problem. Other sources recommended to create additional WebSphere profile, which didn’t solved the problem either, but was quite useful because it’s a way to create websphere instance somewhere close to the root folder, so I don’t have to go to the “C:\Program Files\IBM\Rational\SATrial\6.0\runtimes\base_v6\bla\bla\twenty_more_blas\” to get to the server logs…

Now my dev environment is completed and I can start normal life.


websphere rational hack]]>

According to this, and that classic Struts will not be extended anymore and there will not be a Struts 2.0. But what is the next big thing? Tapestry? JSF? Cocoon?

…is Kevin Gibbs. He announced a latest Google addition in the Google Blog Live. Now this giy from SlashDot can send him a cash donation.