For those who don’t know already, I am preparing to start a Masters in Computer science. Yes, it is crazy…I am an now a USU aggie.
I can take four classes before I have to be officially accepted, and my first two classes are Android Development and Computer Security. Both are great classes.
I don’t get to use MonoDroid from my Android class, so yes, I will be writing code in Java using Eclipse (gasp!). By the way, I already know Java and I have used Eclipse plenty, even though I work in C#, every class in school I have taken had me code in Java and I have coded for Salesforce, which uses Eclipse and is Java-like.
My security class is to be written in C++ on an open source platform, so I will be putting my computer back into dual-boot with PC-BSD. I may try MonoDevelop’s IDE for my C++ tasks or maybe KDevelop, or I may just go command line.
So expect a few java/Android posts and some C++ posts that are related to security. However, I still work in C# and I still like BSD, so expect those posts too.
PC-BSD 9.2 Beta 2 is available for testing and I just installed it. This is probably the best desktop OS that is not Windows, Mac, or Linux.
The installer was already a nice easy GUI, so I didn’t expect many changes and it is still nice and easy to use, and just works.
The installer does present new features about PC-BSD 9.2, in that you can choose from a list of Desktop Managers. Before KDE was it during install and if you wanted something else, you could change it later, but now you have a nice list of GNOME, KDE, and others.
I chose KDE because I usually use KDE or Fluxbox and when I have plenty of system power, I go with KDE and this system is on a beefy VM.
I did miss seeing Firefox as an installable application during install? Not a big deal, as I will install it later…but I was used to it being there.
The install went flawlessly.
Setting up the Video Card still is a screen. It would be best to have it just work and not even have the screen at all. But it still prompts me and I still have to do it. I would like it to detect that I am on VMWare and just install the VMWare video driver for me or if I am on hardware, just install the driver I need.
There is a nice “tip” screen post login.
Branding is very important! AppCafe is probably one of the first times I have ever seen PC-BSD really do something that I consider a good brand. I have an opinion that the PC-BSD, which is 5 letters where you just say the letters name like an acronym, is a horrible brand and should be changed as soon as possible. However, AppCafe is great. It goes with the whole App Store idea that is trendy currently. Good move!
I quickly found Firefox and Chrome in the AppCafe. The search feature is great, otherwise they were under the “Web” group. I was curious as to why Firefox was still version 4.0.1 as Firefox is on 6.x now. The one downside is that I would really like Firefox to load a lot faster.
Flash…Yes, it works with a beta note: In previous versions, flash has worked perfectly, and it will in the next release too. However, turns out that this beta has a bug where you have to run a command to enable flash…oops. That is why we have betas. Expect this to work in the final release as Flash has worked out of the box now for multiple releases.
For KDE, After installation, App icons are placed in a desktop folder, that is a transparent box on the screen, giving the system a sense of “flashiness”.
A lot of the default Apps that were installed, such as K3B, a DVD/CD burning software, and a video player and music player are all there.
I am probably going to install a GNOME only version as well and give it a look.
Update: A system update just came out and it claims longer battery life, so I will have to test again…
My HTC Sensation looks like it will probably have a battery life of 1.5 days for me before it hit 9% battery. I have heard that even though it boasts That is less than I hoped. I was hoping for two days, so I would only have to plug it in every other evening. Maybe 9% would last me till tonight, but I doubt it.
A few notes on this 1.5 days.
I used my HTC Sensation for browsing the web for a good 45 minutes straight in the evening, so maybe I used more battery life than normal last night.
I was on the phone no more than 10 minutes
I made sure to keep all services, GPS, Wi-fi, etc., off during most of this time as I am fine turning them on when I use them.
So I also may have used less battery than some who must have these services enabled all the time.
I hoped that since I turned off these services, I would get much more than two days, even with good hour of use at some point during that span. But alas, the HTC Sensation Battery Life meets the low expectations I’ve heard from others. I have already bought a car charger (well, actually I bought an iGo tip to go with my iGo Car Charger) and I will certainly buy a an extra charger to have at my desk at work as well.
Found a quality development blog recently that had a post on a topic I have been interested in but haven’t got around to working on. The topic is publishing a project using Visual Studio.
So as I mentioned previously, I just got a new T-Mobile HTC Sensation 4G and of course I had to transfer my files.
UPDATE: I just realized you can skip transferring to a PC and connect your old phone to your new phone via Bluetooth and just transfer the files straight from your old phone to your new phone, eliminating the computer as the middle man.
Retrieving contacts from a deactivated phone to your Computer or to your HTC Sensation 4G
First I had to get them off my Motorola RAZR V3m, which I did using this guys steps:
Though there was no copyright listed, I want to give the author credit, especially since I am including a copy of these steps here (though I am modifying them) in case his site ever goes dark.
You can use these steps to transfer your contacts to a computer or to transfer them directly to your HTC Sensation 4G.
Step 1 – Enable Bluetooth
Turn your Bluetooth on, and make sure it’s discoverable. Do this for each device.
On either device, scan for or add a new Bluetooth device.
Connect/Pair the two devices.
Enter the pin in both devices to pair them.
Step 2 – Send the Contacts
On your old RAZR V3m, select Contacts on your phone.
Select Options.
Scroll all the way to the bottom of that ridiculous list. See the one that says, “Send Name Card.” Select it.
Only one card will have been selected (likely the first on your contacts list). Hit the “Add” softkey option, and select “Add All.”
Press “Send.” It’s going to ask you where to send them. You’re going to tell it to send to the computer to which you just paired your phone.
On your computer or HTC, notice automatic activity. You will need to confirm that it’s okay with you for the transfer to happen.
You should now have a bunch of .vcf files.
On Windows 7, they are here: C:\Users\UserName\Documents\Bluetooth Exchange Folder
Hopefully, you will find similar steps for your phone if it is not a RAZR V3m
Transferring Contacts to your HTC Sensation 4G
If you transferred the contacts to your HTC Sensation 4g, skip directly to Step 4.
Step 1 – Turn on Bluetooth
Click on the bottom left icon to go to All Apps.
Scroll down and select Settings.
Click on Wireless & Networks.
Turn on Bluetooth by clicking it (make sure the check box is green).
Step 2 – Connect the HTC Sensation 4G to your computer via Bluetooth
On your computer (I used Windows 7) click Add device from your Bluetooth options.
Windows searches for you device. Click it when it is found.
Enter the number that pops up on the screen into your HTC Sensation 4G.
You are now connected via Bluetooth from your laptop and on your laptop the Bluetooth device control window should appear.
Step 3 – Send your .vcf files to the HTC Sensation 4G
On your laptop, in the Bluetooth device control window, click the link under file transfer: “Send files to your (HTC Sensation 4G) phone”.
Click Browse Files.
Add all the .vcf files that you previously transferred to this folder: C:\Users\UserName\Documents\Bluetooth Exchange Folder
Click Send.
On your HTC Sensation 4G, you will get prompted to allow the transfer. Allow it.
The .vcf files should now be on the SD card in your HTC Sensation 4G.
Step 4 – Import all the .vcf files to your HTC Sensation 4G
On your HTC Sensation 4G, click Contacts.
Click the second icon below the screen (has one longer horizontal line above three shorter horizontal lines).
So my new HTC Sensation with T-Mobile arrived today, and I got it for less than $199 it would have cost through T-Mobile direct.
I just thought I would tell you how I got the discount. This discount is not limited to T-Mobile or the HTC Sensation, but is pretty much with any phone you get, and for any company, including Verizon, that you choose to use as your carrier. The discount is different on different phones, but it can save you some money.
Linda Barneck, is an Independent Business Owner in a multi-level-marketing (MLM) company called ACN (Yes, this is the company that was promoted on The Apprentice) but I didn’t get this deal due to family relation. It turns out that anybody who orders through Linda Barneck’s Independent Business Owner site can get this discount.
So click this link and order you new phone with this discount now.
There are a lot more products that you can get through ACN. You could get a Tablet with a data plan, or a Video Phone, or Satellite TV, or other cool products. See a what products are available in your area here:
I have personally chosen to not participate directly in MLMs, though I have no problem buying product from an MLM especially if it saves me money, which is what I am doing in this instance. I benefit in no way from you ordering your phone through ACN. My mother did not solicit this post. I am writing this only because I got my phone at a discount.
I almost joined ACN. With ACN being a “techie’s MLM”, I was almost tempted to join. If you are interested in an MLM and you are a bit high-tech, you can become an Independent Business Owner and then buy yourself a new phone through you own account. Just go check out Linda Barneck’s ACN Independent Business Owner page and then click on the “Get Started” link.
I saw some alternate resumes for designers and I thought I would do an alternate resume for a developer. Make sure that if you use this, you are applying at a company that will appreciate it and not just throw the resume away.
namespace Resume {
public class Candidate {
public ContactInfo Info {
get { return new Person {FirstName = "Jared", LastName = "Barneck",
Street = "9110 Rigewood Place", City = "West Jordan",
State = "Utah", Zip = "84088", Email = "Rhyous@yahoo.com"}
}
}
public List<Experience> WorkHistory {
get { List<Experience> exp = new List<Experience>();
exp.Add(new Experience() { Start = "3/2012", End = "Present",
Company = "Caradigm",
Positions = new string [] { "Lead Software Developer"};
exp.Add(new Experience() { Start = "9/2004", End = "3/2012",
Company = "LANDesk",
Positions = new string [] { "Software Developer",
"Systems Analyst Developer", "Product Support Expert/Lead",
"Channel Support Manager"}};
exp.Add(new Experience() { Start = "1/2000", End = "9/2004",
Company = "Convergys – Nortel Networks Account",
Positions = new string [] { "Advanced Networking Trainer",
"Technical Lead", "Support Engineer"}};
return experience;
}
}
public List<Education> Education {
get { List<Education> edu = new List<Education>();
edu.Add(new Education() { Start = "8/1999", End = "8/2004"
College = "Brigham Young University",
Degree = "BA – Technical Writing"};
edu.Add(new Education() { Start = "9/2006", End = "4/2009"
College = "Brigham Young University",
Description = "Various Computer Science courses"};
return edu;
}
}
public List<String> Certifications {
get { List<String> cert = new List<String>();
cert.Add("Certified LANDesk Engineer");
cert.Add("Nortel Networks - Routers");
cert.Add("Nortel Networks – L3 Switches");
cert.Add("MSCE NT 4.0" };
return cert;
}
}
public List<String> Skills {
get { List<String> skills = new List<String>();
skills.Add("C#"); skills.Add("WPF"); skills.Add( "MVVM");
skills.Add("PHP"); skills.Add("MySQL"); skills.Add("Apache");
skills.Add("Shell Scripts"); skills.Add("Batch Files");
skills.Add("FreeBSD"); skills.Add("Linux"); skills.Add("Mono");
return skills;
}
}
}
}
Have you ever wanted to have a TextBox that requires data or specifically formatted data and you want to enforce this validation and display this to the user.
Well, I figured this out, with a great deal of pain, but hey, it works.
You can download this project in it’s entirety here:
I started with a new WPF Project in Visual Studio. Here is a general overview of the steps I took to make this example project happen.
MainWindow.xaml
Here, create a simple form to fill out using TextBlock and TextBox pairs in a Grid.
Configure the TextBox elements to use binding.
Configure the TextBox elements to use the appropriate Validation. (See the validation examples we will create below.)
Below the form you created in a StackPanel, add some TextBlock elements to display the Validation’s ErrorConent.
Bind each TextBlock element to the TextBox in the form they pertain to.
Bind the Visibility of each TextBlock to the Errors. (We will use the converter below to return Visible if there is ErrorContent and Collapsed if not.)
To this file we add a Person class and then create and instance of it and set it the instance as the DataContext.
using System;
using System.Windows;
using System.ComponentModel;
namespace WpfTextBoxValidation
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
Person p = new Person();
MainGrid.DataContext = p;
}
}
public class Person
{
public String FirstName { get; set; }
public String LastName { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
public String Phone { get; set; }
}
}
ErrorCollectionToVisibility.cs
This class is used to convert the Validation.Error collection to a Visibility.
There is a property Validation.HasError but for some reason it is not available to bind to. If it were, I would bind to it and use the built-in BooleanToVisibility converter. But since, I can’t, I used this ErrorCollectionToVisibility converter which simply returns Visible if there is at least one item in the collection or Collapse if the Collection is null or empty.
using System;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
namespace WpfTextBoxValidation
{
class ErrorCollectionToVisibility : IValueConverter
{
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
{
ReadOnlyCollection<ValidationError> collection = value as ReadOnlyCollection<ValidationError>;
if (collection != null && collection.Count > 0)
return Visibility.Visible;
else
return Visibility.Collapsed;
}
public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
{
return new object();
}
}
}
OverThirteenValidationRule.cs
Here we check if the value is greater than 13 and if not, we return the false ValidationResult.
using System;
using System.Windows.Controls;
namespace WpfTextBoxValidation
{
public class OverThirteenValidationRule : ValidationRule
{
public override ValidationResult Validate(object value, System.Globalization.CultureInfo cultureInfo)
{
if (value != null)
{
int age = 0;
try
{
age = Convert.ToInt32(value);
}
catch
{
return new ValidationResult(false, "You must be older than 13!");
}
if (age > 13)
return ValidationResult.ValidResult;
}
return new ValidationResult(false, "You must be older than 13!");
}
}
}
TextBoxNotEmptyValidationRule.cs
This validation just makes sure there is at least one character in a TextBlock.
using System;
using System.Windows.Controls;
namespace WpfTextBoxValidation
{
public class TextBoxNotEmptyValidationRule : ValidationRule
{
public override ValidationResult Validate(object value, System.Globalization.CultureInfo cultureInfo)
{
string str = value as string;
if (str != null)
{
if (str.Length > 0)
return ValidationResult.ValidResult;
}
return new ValidationResult(false, Message);
}
public String Message { get; set; }
}
}
You have now learned to bind to Validation.ErrorContent.
The simple array is a single-dimensional array. The idea of an array is to be a list of items. Lets give you two examples.
Example 1 – Single-dimensional array example with integers
This list of numbers is an array.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
To create an array in C# with the above list of numbers you would use the following code:
int[] nums = new int[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
The variable “nums” now holds all five number values. These can be accessed with bracket notation with an index starting at 0. That means that nums[0] would return the first item in the array, which is 1.
nums[4] would return 5. However, be aware that you cannot overstep your bounds. You only have nums[0] through nums[4] and if you try to access any index out of the range, such as nums[5] you will get an exception.
You can change any item in the array as well.
nums[1] = 100;
After running the above statement, your array now looks like this:
1, 100, 3, 4, 5
Example 2 – Single-dimensional array example with chars
The variable “alphas ” now holds all the listed character values. These can be accessed with bracket notation with an index starting at 0. That means that alphas[0] would return the first item in the array, which is A. alphas[2] would return B. alphas[11] would return f. However, be aware that you cannot overstep your bounds. You only have alphas[0] through alphas[11] and if you try to access any index out of the range, such as alphas[12] you will get an exception.
You can change any item in the array as well.
alphas[0] = '@';
After running the above statement, your character array now looks like this:
The variable “fruit” now holds all the listed string values. These can be accessed with bracket notation with an index starting at 0. That means that fruit[0] would return the first item in the array, which is “apple”. fruit[2] would return “banana”. fruit[5] would return “grapefruit”. However, be aware that you cannot overstep your bounds. You only have fruit[0] through fruit[5] and if you try to access any index out of the range, such as fruit[6] you will get an exception.
You can change any item in the array as well.
fruit[2] = "plantain'';
Before this statement, fruit[2] was assigned the string “banana”, but after running the above statement, it is assigned the string “plantain”. So now your character array now looks like this:
“apple”, “orange”, “plantain”, “peach”, “pear”
Arrays of Arrays in C#
There are different kinds of Arrays of . Lets discuss them as they are not the same.
multidimensional
jagged arrays.
With multidimensional arrays, the arrays are arrays of lists, but the lists themselves are not exactly formed into an official C# array object. Some might argue that these are not actually arrays but it that is all semantics.
With jagged arrays, the arrays are arrays of lists, and the lists themselves are also C# array objects.
Multidimensional Array in C#
A multi-dimensional array is an array of fixed size arrays and is often depicted at a table. Lets learn by some examples.
Two-dimensional array examples
First lest have three examples of two-dimensional arrays.
Example 1 – A multidimensional array of number pairs
The first digit inside the brackets, 6, indicates the number of groups. The second digit, 2, indicates the number of items in the group.
You can now access any of the numbers using the following syntax.
char val = alphaUpperAndLower[0,0];
The above will return the first item in the first pair, which is ‘A’. Or to get the second item in the last pair do this:
char val = alphaUpperAndLower[5,1];
However, because this is a multi-dimensional array, you cannot access the character pairs as an array. The following is NOT allowed.
char[] pair = alphaUpperAndLower[0];
That gives you a compile error. That is because the number pairs are not really stored in memory as C# array objects.
Three-dimensional array examples
We have already shown you some two-dimensional examples, now here are some three-dimensional examples.
Note: Of course, there is no limit to the number of dimensions you can create, but each dimension becomes exponentially more complex.
Example 4 – A three-dimensional array of numbers
Imagine you have the following groups of number groups, where the number groups are always three numbers, and there are always three groups.
{ 10, 11, 12 }, { 20, 21, 22 }, { 30, 31, 32 },
{ 40, 41, 42 }, { 50, 51, 52 } , { 60, 61, 62 },
{70, 71, 72 }, { 80, 81, 82 }, { 90, 91, 92 }
So if two-dimensional was displayed as a grid, you can assume that three-dimensional is displays similar to a cube. We have 3 groups of three groups of three numbers or 3x3x3, which is a cube.
The first digit inside the brackets, 3, indicates the number of groups of groups. The second digit, 2, indicates the number of groups of numbers, and the third digit indicates the count of numbers in the group.
You can now access any of the numbers using the following syntax.
int val = cube[0,0,0];
The above will return the first item in the first pair, which is 10. Or to get the last number in the last group of number in the last group of groups do this:
int val = cube[2,2,2];
However, because this is a multi-dimensional array, you cannot access the number groups or the groups of groups as arrays. The following two statements are NOT allowed.
That gives you a compile error. That is because the number pairs are not really stored in memory as C# array objects.
Jagged Array in C#
A jagged array is an array of variable-sized arrays. For example, imagine you have the following arrays of numbers and you want an array of these arrays.
int[][] jagged = new int[][] { new int[]{ 10, 11, 12 }, new int[]{ 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 },
new int[]{ 30, 31 }, new int[]{ 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 },
new int[]{ 50, 51, 52 } };
Notice that you have to actually instantiate each individual array inside the jagged array.
You can now access any of the numbers using the following syntax.
int val = jagged[0][0];
The above will return the first item in the first pair, which is 10. Or to get the last number in the last group of number in the last group of groups do this:
int val = jagged[4][2];
And because this is an array of arrays, you CAN access the internal groups as arrays. The following statement is VALID.
The problem with Canvas is that when you click on it, you don’t actually get the click event to occur unless you have a background that is not white.
One trick if you want white is to use white -1 or #FFFFFE or possibly Transparent (unless the parent is not white). So no one can tell it isn’t white, because it is as close to white as can be without actually being white.
Now your click event can occur.
Also you need to make the Canvas focusable.
Example 1 – Getting a Canvas to take keyboard focus from a TextBox with a mouse click
For those who don’t know already, I am preparing to start a Masters in Computer science. Yes, it is crazy…I am an now a USU aggie.
