Developer Notes

Microsoft Windows startup Registry Settings

2008-05-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

INFO: Run, RunOnce, RunServices, RunServicesOnce and Startup:

I believe this is pretty much a bulk of the information set by Xteq X-Setup. For those who don't want to make the purchase for a very simple edit, the following is the except from the Microsoft KB article

General order of loading:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
<Logon Prompt>
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce Not supported in NT 3.51 and ignored by XP and 2000 in safe mode
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
StartUp Folder
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce Not supported in NT 3.51 and ignored by XP and 2000 in safe mode

However,

With the exception of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\...\RunOnce key, all keys and their entries are loaded asynchronously. Therefore, all entries in the RunServices and RunServicesOnce keys can potentially run at the same time.

Entries in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\...\RunOnce key are loaded synchronously in an undefined order.

Because the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\...\RunOnce key is loaded synchronously, all of its entries must finish loading before the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\...\Run, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\...\Run, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\...\RunOnce, and Startup Folder entries can be loaded.

WMIC service cheat sheet.

2008-04-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's documentation is thorough, but I got a lot more out of the above link.

Time since last boot (Windows, VBScript)

2008-04-10T13:43:00.001-07:00

I don't remember where I found this, I was just happy to find code that did this.

 strComputer = "." ' Local computer 
set objWMIDateTime = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemDateTime")
set objWMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
set colOS = objWMI.InstancesOf("Win32_OperatingSystem")
for each objOS in colOS
    objWMIDateTime.Value = objOS.LastBootUpTime
    Wscript.Echo "Last Boot Up Time: " & objWMIDateTime.GetVarDate & vbcrlf & _
        "Time Since Last Boot: " &  TimeSpan(objWMIDateTime.GetVarDate,Now) & _
        " (hh:mm:ss)"
next

Function TimeSpan(dt1, dt2)
    ' Function to display the difference between
    ' 2 dates in hh:mm:ss format
    If (isDate(dt1) And IsDate(dt2)) = false Then
        TimeSpan = "00:00:00"
        Exit Function
        End If

        seconds = Abs(DateDiff("S", dt1, dt2))
        minutes = seconds \ 60
        hours = minutes \ 60
        minutes = minutes mod 60
        seconds = seconds mod 60

        if len(hours) = 1 then hours = "0" & hours

        TimeSpan = hours & ":" & _
            RIGHT("00" & minutes, 2) & ":" & _
            RIGHT("00" & seconds, 2)
End Function

Getting size estimates for tables in SQL SERVER 2000

2008-03-27T14:03:00.001-07:00


-- SQL Server tables and row counts

declare tables_cursor cursor for 
select name from sysobjects where xtype='U'
declare @table_name sysname

open tables_cursor
fetch next from tables_cursor INTO @table_name

while @@fetch_status = 0
begin
    exec sp_spaceused @table_name
    fetch next from tables_cursor INTO @table_name
end
close tables_cursor
deallocate tables_cursor

Restoredb.bat

2008-03-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Using osql and trusted connection for SQL Server 2000.


@echo off

if {%2}=={} (
    call :Usage
    goto :EOF
)
net stop mssqlserver
net start mssqlserver
osql -E -d master -Q "restore database 
%1 from disk='%2' with replace"

goto :EOF
::Subroutine area 

:Usage
    @echo Syntax: call restoredb.bat DatabaseName 
FullDatabaseBackupPath

goto :EOF

"Playtime" project: Porting Didiwiki to C#.NET

2008-03-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping to find time to throw at least a quick port of DidiWiki to C#.NET together.

Reference 1: Creating your own Web Server using C# - This article is from 2001, so there might be a significantly better way of doing things.

Update: This CodeGuru page looks like a more original version of the same page.

Reference 2: Didiwiki Source Code that I've saved off. Original maintainer is no longer maintaining.

Importing a runningahead log.xml into SQL Server 2005 using OPENXML

2008-03-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

I don't currently have a work-based use for 2005, so I thought I'd use the only readily available collection of data that I have at my disposal... my running log. This is an export file from RunningAhead.com. I don't think I'm completely loading the XML data yet, and I don't have database tables to load to yet, either. However, this is my implementation of some OPENXML examples.

DECLARE @hdoc int
DECLARE @xmlDoc XML
SET @xmlDoc = (
  SELECT * FROM OPENROWSET (
    BULK 'C:\projects\runningahead\log.1.321C02\log.xml', SINGLE_CLOB
  ) AS xmlData
)
SELECT @xmlDoc

EXEC sp_xml_preparedocument @hdoc OUTPUT, @xmlDoc

SELECT * FROM
OPENXML(@hdoc, '/RunningAHEADLog/CourseCollection/Course', 2)
WITH
(
        ID varchar(32),
        Name varchar(255) ,
        Surface varchar(255),
        City varchar(255),
        State char(3),
        Notes varchar(255)
)

SELECT * FROM
OPENXML(@hdoc, '/RunningAHEADLog/EquipmentCollection/Shoe', 2)
WITH
(

        ID varchar(32),
        Make varchar(255) ,
        Model varchar(255),
        Serial char(20),
        InitDistance decimal(7,2),
        PurchaseDate datetime,
        Retired char(3),
        Size char(10),
        SizeSystem char(40)
)

SELECT * FROM
OPENXML(@hdoc, '/RunningAHEADLog/EventCollection/Run', 2)
WITH
(
        ID char(32),
        Date datetime,
        Time datetime,
        Type char(15),
        Weight decimal(4,1),
        WeightUnit char(12),
        AvgHR tinyint,
        MaxHR tinyint,
        Quality tinyint,
        Effort tinyint,
        CourseID char(32),
        Distance decimal(8,2),
        DistanceUnit char(12),
        Duration char(20)
)

EXEC sp_xml_removedocument @hdoc

Sql Date Time formats.

2008-02-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

Fromhttp://lists.evolt.org/archive/Week-of-Mon-20020617/115646.html

without century (yy)	with century (yyyy)	standard	outputformat
-	0 or 100 (*)	default	mon dd yyyy hh:miAM (or PM)
1	101	USA	mm/dd/yy
2	102	ANSI	yy.mm.dd
3	103	British/French	dd/mm/yy
4	104	German	dd.mm.yy
5	105	Italian	dd-mm-yy
6	106	-	dd mon yy
7	107	-	mon dd, yy
8	108	-	hh:mm:ss
-	9 or 109 (*)	default milliseconds	mon dd yyyy hh:mi:ss:mmmAM (or PM)
10	110	USA	mm-dd-yy
11	111	Japan	yy/mm/dd
12	112	ISO	yymmdd
-	13 or 113 (*)	Europe default milliseconds	dd mon yyyy hh:mm:ss:mmm(24h)
14	114	-	hh:mi:ss:mmm(24h)
20	120	-	yyyy-mm-dd hh:mi:ss(24h)
21	121	-	yyyy-mm-dd hh:mi:ss.mmm(24h)
-	126	-	yyyy-mm-dd Thh:mm:ss.mmm(no spaces)
-	130	-	dd mon yyyy hh:mi:ss:mmmAM
-	131	-	dd/mm/yy hh:mi:ss:mmmAM

(*) the default values (style 0 or 100, 9 or 109, and
13 or 113) always return the century (yyyy)

Run Command Most Recently Used List Storage

2008-02-15T06:22:00.000-08:00

At least for Windows XP, this list is stored in the registry:

My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU

It looks like there are values \a through \z off of RunMRU, plus \(Default) and \MRUList. There is string value in MRUList: e.g., "nkvlsawbhczeyoijfugrtdxpmq", which determines the ordering of MRUList entries.

Miscellaneous Excel tricks that I needed today.

2008-02-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

How to hide gridlines on an Excel Worksheet.

Select a Worksheet.
Select Tools->Options...
On the [View] tab, un-check Gridlines under the Window Options section.

Row and column headers, scroll bars, and sheet tabs are also hideable through this tab.

How to Split and Freeze Panes

Freeze panes makes very nice title rows (the bottom pane does not scroll into the title row).

ILASM and ILDASM (.NET "Assembler")

2008-02-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

Reverse Engineering To Learn .NET Better

Accessible via command line using:
Start->Microsoft Visual Studio 2005->Visual Studio Tools->Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt

C vs C# formatting.

2008-01-31T12:11:00.000-08:00


printf("%05d\n",123);


Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0:00000}", 123))

Calculate average daily mileage required to make yearly goal

2007-09-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

This might be useful if you're programming a running site. For me, however, I wanted to write this calculation in SQL Server to expand my knowledge some.


--Calculates the average daily mileage needed to meet a target yearly mileage goal, based on current mileage.
CREATE FUNCTION averageDistanceNeeded (@targetMileage decimal(10,4), @currentMileage decimal(10,4))
RETURNS decimal(10,4)
AS
BEGIN
    Declare @daysLeft decimal(10,4)
    Declare @dt datetime

    SELECT @dt = dt from openquery
    (
        "my-server",
        'select dt = getdate()'
    )
    select @daysLeft = datediff(day, @dt, CAST (CAST (YEAR(@dt) AS VARCHAR(4)) + '-12-31' AS DATETIME))
    return CONVERT(decimal(10,4), (@targetMileage - @currentMileage) / @daysLeft)
END
GO

--Get average daily mileage needed to reach 2000 miles, based on a current mileage
-- of 960.2
select dbo.averageDistanceNeeded(2000.0, 960.2)

Further refined version of code searching

2007-09-06T07:53:00.001-07:00

I have now included views in the search code version. Both functions now return the object type the result was found in.


--Searches stored procedures, functions and views for code
-- containing the stringtosearch
CREATE FUNCTION findTextInCode (@StringToSearch varchar(100))
RETURNS @fNames TABLE (search varchar(100), name sysname, type char(2))
AS
BEGIN
   SET @StringToSearch = '%' + @StringToSearch +'%'
   INSERT @fNames
   SELECT DISTINCT @stringtosearch, SO.Name, SO.Type
   FROM sysobjects SO (NOLOCK)
   INNER JOIN syscomments SC (NOLOCK) on SO.ID = SC.ID
   AND (SO.Type = 'P' OR SO.Type LIKE '%F%' OR SO.Type = 'V')
   AND SC.Text LIKE @stringtosearch
   ORDER BY SO.Name
   RETURN
END
GO


--Searches column names from stored procedure parameters and function,
-- user tables, and view columns
CREATE FUNCTION findTextInColumnName (@StringToSearch varchar(100))
RETURNS @fColumnNames TABLE (tablename sysname, colname sysname, type char(2))
AS
BEGIN
   SET @StringToSEarch = '%' + @StringToSearch + '%'
   INSERT @fColumnNames
   SELECT DISTINCT SO.NAME, SC.NAME, SO.TYPE
   FROM syscolumns SC (NOLOCK)
INNER JOIN
   sysobjects SO (NOLOCK)
   ON SC.id = SO.id
   WHERE SC.NAME LIKE @StringToSearch
   ORDER BY SC.Name
   RETURN
END

Further refined Find Text in Column Name

2007-08-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Now returns table (or function which returns a table) and column name.


CREATE FUNCTION Find_Text_In_Column_Name (@StringToSearch varchar(100))
RETURNS @fColumnNames TABLE (tablename sysname, colname sysname)
AS
BEGIN
   SET @StringToSEarch = '%' + @StringToSearch + '%'
   INSERT @fColumnNames
   SELECT DISTINCT SO.NAME, SC.NAME
   FROM syscolumns SC (NOLOCK)
INNER JOIN
   sysobjects SO (NOLOCK)
   ON SC.id = SO.id
   WHERE SC.NAME LIKE @StringToSearch
   ORDER BY SC.Name
   RETURN
END

Functions to find text in column names and in stored procedures and function definitions

2007-08-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

Implemented in SQL Server:
This function finds a text string in a stored procedure or function definition:


CREATE FUNCTION Find_Text_In_SP_or_FN (@StringToSearch varchar(100))
RETURNS @fNames TABLE (name sysname)
AS
BEGIN
   SET @StringToSearch = '%' + @StringToSearch +'%'
   INSERT @fNames
   SELECT DISTINCT SO.Name
   FROM sysobjects SO (NOLOCK)
   INNER JOIN syscomments SC (NOLOCK) on SO.ID = SC.ID
   AND (SO.Type = 'P' OR SO.Type LIKE '%F%')
   AND SC.Text LIKE @stringtosearch
   ORDER BY SO.Name
   RETURN
END
GO

This function finds a text string in a column name:


CREATE FUNCTION Find_Text_In_Column_Name (@StringToSearch varchar(100))
RETURNS @fColumnNames TABLE (colname sysname)
AS
BEGIN
   SET @StringToSEarch = '%' + @StringToSearch + '%'
   INSERT @fColumnNames
   SELECT DISTINCT SC.NAME
   FROM syscolumns SC (NOLOCK)
   WHERE SC.NAME LIKE @StringToSearch
   ORDER BY SC.Name
   RETURN
END
GO

Some example usage for the novices:


select * from Find_Text_In_SP_or_FN('addr')
GO
Select * from Find_Text_In_Column_Name('city')
GO
Select * from Find_Text_In_Column_Name('state')
GO

Google code search for "I'm an idiot"

2007-08-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

My new favorite toy: Google code search

Some interesting comments and such left in code: I'm an idiot.

Why the hell

wtf

Some idiot

What an idiot

Google code search even does regex. How about a string of random ? and !?

Windows XP Keyboard Navigation

2007-07-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

In Explorer:

"<ALT>VOU" - Go up one level (View, Go To, Up one level

Stored procedure to search functions and stored procedures.

2007-07-12T07:09:00.000-07:00


-- Altered slightly from http://www.knowdotnet.com/articles/storedprocfinds.html
CREATE PROCEDURE Find_Text_In_SP_or_FN (@StringToSearch varchar(100))
AS
   SET @StringToSearch = '%' + @StringToSearch +'%'
   SELECT DISTINCT SO.Name
   FROM sysobjects SO (NOLOCK)
   INNER JOIN syscomments SC (NOLOCK) on SO.ID = SC.ID
   AND (SO.Type = 'P' OR SO.Type LIKE '%F%')
   AND SC.Text LIKE @stringtosearch
   ORDER BY SO.Name
GO

Turn pseudo-enums expressed as #defines into strings.

2007-06-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

I have an include file that has 50+ #defines with constants (0,1,2,3,...,etc). I have a dump program to dump the data structure that these #defines are used in into a .csv file. I used this little script to dump case statements out for the #defines, with readable strings instead of arbitrary constant values.


cat $1 | awk '/#define/{
   print "\t\tcase " $2 ":";
   print "\t\t\tfprintf(out_csv_fp,\"," $2 "\");";
   print "\t\t\tbreak;";
}' > out.txt

Awk script to quote all parameters for a given function name.

2007-06-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

I was trying to maintain a program that wrote 200+ lines to a single file, using a single repeated function call--many of which had all NULL parameters. There were also occasional loops involved. The data was position based, so NULL writes counted.

I was just trying to figure out:

How many times a given function was called.
At what position actual data occurred.

I created a stub function of the original offending function that logged to a file what # call this was and the data passed. Then I copied the offending functions' caller and substituted offending function calls using this script, which quotes all passed parameters (note: already quoted parameters would need a little more work):


BEGIN {
  OFS=","
}
/repeated_function_name/{

  for(i=1; i<=NF; i++)
  {
      if(i==1)
      {
          sub("[(]", "(\"", $i);
      }
      else
      {
          sub("^[ ]*","\"", $i);
      }
      if(i==NF)
      {
          sub("[)]", "\")", $i);
      }
      else
      {
          sub("[ ]*$", "\"", $i);
      }
  }

  print $0
  next;
}
{ print $0; }

Awk to split c functions into multiple files.

2007-05-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

This, at present, is overly simplistic and makes many stupid assumptions:

That the return type is short.
That there are no short global variables declared.
That everything is well-formatted so that the return type is always first column, and that there is a space between both function name and return type (as in, only spaces--no comments) and function name and open parenthesis of the arg list.


cat $1 | awk '
BEGIN {
    functionNameFile="";
}
/^short/ {
    /* assumes return type of short */
    /* assumes space between return type, function name, and parm list */
    functionNameFile=$2.".c";
    print $0 > functionNameFile;
}
/^\}/ {
    print $0 >> functionNameFile;
    functionNameFile="";
    next;
}
{
    if(functionNameFile    != "") {
        print $0 >> functionNameFile;
    }
}
'

Windows Vista problems resticting GNU GCC apps to 32MB

2007-05-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

Disturbing to see this come about:
Windows Vista problems resticting GNU GCC apps to 32MB

Buried in the footnotes is a note about a response supposedly coming from a Microsoft representative saying, "now that people are asking for this, we are planning to fix..."

(g)awk script to remove last dir from PATH

2007-04-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

This script chops off the last dir off of the PATH (still need to assign back to PATH)


echo $PATH | gawk -F':' '{
    for(i=1; i<NF; i++) {
        if(i) {
            printf (":");
        } 
        printf("%s", $i);
    }
}'

Writing an onLoad function that includes a delay.

2007-04-17T06:59:00.000-07:00

This code was written out of desperation when I could not use an embedded APPLET's isActive() function to check if the APPLET was loaded. Instead, I waited for 500 milliseconds. Hopefully, there are better uses for this code.


<SCRIPT>

function OnLoadFunction(milliseconds_time)
{
 setTimeout("delayedOnLoadFunction()", milliseconds_time);
}

function delayedOnLoadFunction()
{
 /* Function body */
}
</SCRIPT>

<body onLoad="OnLoadFunction(500)">