Can I Told You So Be Retroactive?

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I was part of the team at my former employer bidding for the re-work of the MBTA web site. Lo and behold (whatever that means), I get around to reading /. for the first time since then and I run across this little item that talks about how the new-and-improved site didn’t support Opera and has been rolled back to it’s earlier version.

So, if they had gone with my former company and if I had stayed, they wouldn’t be having these issues. But, then, I probably wouldn’t have time to read about them 🙂

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© Scott S. Nelson

Quieter Console for WLP 9.2.x Domains

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In the server console window when starting WLP 9.2.x there is a lot of logging that is both useless and slows down the start of your unit tests when developing. Here is how to get rid of that:

Go into your WebLogic Administration Console.

Under Environment on the left hand side navigation there is a node called Work Managers. Click on that and add a new Work Manager for the name:

weblogic.wsee.mdb.DispatchPolicy

Be sure to check the target server on the Next screen after adding the name.

Note: This tip came from Dev2Dev, which is sadly no longer.

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© Scott S. Nelson

Whether to Use Open Source or Windows Development Platform

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The following questions was on LinkedIn today:

How to decide whether to use Open Source or Windows development platform.  we are working on creating a SAAS model for a payroll and HR software. The debate we currently having is to on what software to develop Open Source or Windows. Need some help to decide the parameters on which to compare so as to come up with a logical decision rather than the decision based on gut.

Here is my response:

I started typing a couple of different responses, and then stopped as it occurred to me that the world of the operating system has turned upside in the last ten years, because your choice for OS is literally Mircrosoft or Open Source. All of the other vendors have either gone open source or are too small to consider as real choices anymore.

So from the OS point of view, it is a choice of who your support vendor is now.

Once you choose your operating system, then you need to choose your software packages. This is where in-house skill is a big part of the equation, because if you don’t have people that will take complete ownership of both the framework and custom code, your open source options narrow. You have to look at which projects have the most solid team that will still be updating the product n years from now. Currently, those are products that either have vendor sponsorship (and you expect the vendor to be around n years from now) or are so wildly popular for so long that even if the current group gets rich and bored someone else will step in.

And, back to the Windows or something else question: For a web-based application, if software doesn’t run on both (at least a version that runs on both), I wouldn’t consider it.

But (as Dennis Miller used to say every week), that’s just  my opinion. I could be wrong.

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© Scott S. Nelson

Annotation Overrides in a Cluster

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The original blog I referenced in my original blog (I recall someone  laughing at the term “Legacy Web Application” back in 2000) is sadly gone. So, for those who may run into the following error:

“javax.enterprise.deploy.model.exceptions.DDBeanCreateException: [J2EE Deployment SPI:260142]The descriptor at ‘META-INF/annotation-manifest.xml’ in module

Here is the closest reference still available to help you out: http://blogs.oracle.com/jamesbayer/2007/08/changing_weblogic_annotations.html

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© Scott S. Nelson

Permission Error on Delete Directory for Java Projects on Windows

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I wish I had take a screen shot of the error to make this easier for folks to say “oh, yeah, I have that problem”. The thing is, when you build some J2EE applications from a project on the Desktop or My Documents (which I am only now starting to use out of convenience for back up programs that think that is where things should be stored) and then are done with them you find you can’t delete them.  You get this annoying warning that you might not have permission to do so, even though your are the administrator in Windows and the owner of the files.

This is because of a bug in Windows meant to annoy those of use who like having the directory structure match the namespace.  The generated name spaces are often too long when combined with all that extra path crud that goes to My Documents or Desktop for the OS to handle. So, the simple solution is take the folder and drag it into the root of the drive and then delete it. Apparently, only delete is crippled by this bug and not move. Go figure.

And, yes, I know that Microsoft bashing is cheap and easy. So am I, which is why I do it. I am fully aware that if it were not for Microsoft I would most likely be living in a trailer wondering why a guy that likes and understands something as complex as programming is ignored by Corporate America and treated like a warehouse worker (the way it was before Bill was a Billionaire).  Thank you Bill, for everything 🙂

PS: Microsoft bugs still piss me off.

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© Scott S. Nelson