Crikey, things are looking up!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Typing codes for special character symbols
The symbols for special characters can be typed on a normal keyboard by holding down the Alt key and typing the 4 digit decimal character code on the numeric keypad (with Num Lock on).
These are not the same as the key codes generated by the keyboard when you type, but are the Unicode (formerly ASCII) representation of the characters.
Some useful character codes:
The codes in PDF form are in the code charts section. The ones I use most are Basic Latin and Latin-1.
These are not the same as the key codes generated by the keyboard when you type, but are the Unicode (formerly ASCII) representation of the characters.
Some useful character codes:
© - 0169 (also hex 00A9)
® - 0174 (00AE)
à - 0224 (00E0)
ç - 0231 (00E7)
è - 0232 (00E8)
é - 0233 (00E9)
ê - 0234 (00EA)
ë - 0235 (00EB)
÷ - 0247 (00F7)
x² (squared) - 0178 (00B2)
x³ (cubed) - 0179 (00B3)
µ (micro) - 0181 (00B5)
¼ - 0188 (00BB)
½ - 0189 (00BC)
¾ - 0190 (00BD)
For full information about characters and codes see the Unicode web site.® - 0174 (00AE)
à - 0224 (00E0)
ç - 0231 (00E7)
è - 0232 (00E8)
é - 0233 (00E9)
ê - 0234 (00EA)
ë - 0235 (00EB)
÷ - 0247 (00F7)
x² (squared) - 0178 (00B2)
x³ (cubed) - 0179 (00B3)
µ (micro) - 0181 (00B5)
¼ - 0188 (00BB)
½ - 0189 (00BC)
¾ - 0190 (00BD)
The codes in PDF form are in the code charts section. The ones I use most are Basic Latin and Latin-1.
DOS commands for Windows
Some information about how to use windows command line commands. Some of this is actually useful.
For a Windows DOS-type command box (Start button | Run | cmd)
Windows folders, directories and filenames
The command line operates by default at a command line pointer, that is at a particular folder, on each drive. This is the command line prompt. Example, C:\temp>, commands will operate in this folder.
cd fred will change the directory setting to C:\temp\fred>
cd.. command moves up one directory level (back to C:\temp>)
d: command moves the command line pointer to the d drive (at the directory previously set for that).
Hierarchical folder (directory) names are separated by \ (contrary to Unix and web "folders").
/ is used for command switches for example: dir /w c:\t*
Most filenames have a three-letter "file extension" for historical reasons, file.txt for example.
*.* is the wildcard for file name match to anything (any name, any file extension).
*.txt for any file with extension txt
The following keys are sometimes useful in command line commands
Enter
submit the current command line to DOS and add it to the command line buffer at the end.
Left/Right arrow
moves cursor in the command line by one character left or right
Ctrl+Left/Right arrow
move cursor left or right to next word of cmd line (words separated by spaces)
End/Home
puts cursor at start or end of current line
Ctrl+Home
delete from current cursor position to start of current cmd line
Ctrl+End
delete from current cursor position to end of current cmd line
Delete
delete next character - that which is under the cursor
Ctrl+H/Backspace
deletes previous character - to left of cursor
Insert
toggle Overstrike/Insert mode. Overstrike will overwrite at the cursor. Insert will insert to the left of the cursor
ALT+ENTER
takes your command prompt to fullscreen mode and back again
Moving through the command line buffer
- repeating previous commands (or bits of them)
Up/Down arrow keys
move through the command lines buffer one line at a time.
Up goes to previous, Down goes to next (or nothing if we're viewing the last one)
PageUp
moves to first command in command line buffer
PageDown
moves to last command in command line buffer
F7
pops up your command history list, navigate with the up/down arrow keys and use Enter to select an entry
F9
brings up a dialog to enter the required number of the command from the buffer to be repeated
F1
brings up the next character of the previous command (starting at the first one)
Tab completion of commands is supported
For example, type edit *.ini then hit TAB to iterate through all matches.
Use SHIFT+TAB to move to the previous match.
This works for partial filenames as you would expect, and in all commands.
You can change the size of the command line buffer
Right-mouse on cmd.exe window title bar, then Properties | Options | Command history | Buffer size:
If a window output is going too fast to read, or a program is out of control
Ctrl+C will terminate the program (make sure you have clicked on this window to get focus!)
Ctrl+S will pause the output
Ctrl+Q will restart the output
Other stuff that has not been particularly useful
Ctrl+C clears the current command line
Ctrl+I insert a tab in the command line at current position
Ctrl+M Same as Enter key or CR (submit the current DOS command)
Ctrl+S Stop - ignores next keystroke
Continue (pagination shows --MORE--) Enter key (default is no pagination)
Copy and paste Window contents
Mark (right mouse, choose Mark)
start capturing a selection using the left mouse key & dragging.
End selection using Enter key.
Copy and paste into the command line
You can drag n' drop files or folders from an explorer window into a command prompt; this inserts the quoted path as if you had manually pasted it.
Ctrl+V does not paste into the command line, you have to Right click and select paste.
Dos commands help
help gives list of windows cmd line commands
help the_cmd give details about that command e.g. HELP DIR
Windows folders, directories and filenames
The command line operates by default at a command line pointer, that is at a particular folder, on each drive. This is the command line prompt. Example, C:\temp>, commands will operate in this folder.
cd fred will change the directory setting to C:\temp\fred>
cd.. command moves up one directory level (back to C:\temp>)
d: command moves the command line pointer to the d drive (at the directory previously set for that).
Hierarchical folder (directory) names are separated by \ (contrary to Unix and web "folders").
/ is used for command switches for example: dir /w c:\t*
Most filenames have a three-letter "file extension" for historical reasons, file.txt for example.
*.* is the wildcard for file name match to anything (any name, any file extension).
*.txt for any file with extension txt
For a Windows DOS-type command box (Start button | Run | cmd)
Windows folders, directories and filenames
The command line operates by default at a command line pointer, that is at a particular folder, on each drive. This is the command line prompt. Example, C:\temp>, commands will operate in this folder.
cd fred will change the directory setting to C:\temp\fred>
cd.. command moves up one directory level (back to C:\temp>)
d: command moves the command line pointer to the d drive (at the directory previously set for that).
Hierarchical folder (directory) names are separated by \ (contrary to Unix and web "folders").
/ is used for command switches for example: dir /w c:\t*
Most filenames have a three-letter "file extension" for historical reasons, file.txt for example.
*.* is the wildcard for file name match to anything (any name, any file extension).
*.txt for any file with extension txt
The following keys are sometimes useful in command line commands
Enter
submit the current command line to DOS and add it to the command line buffer at the end.
Left/Right arrow
moves cursor in the command line by one character left or right
Ctrl+Left/Right arrow
move cursor left or right to next word of cmd line (words separated by spaces)
End/Home
puts cursor at start or end of current line
Ctrl+Home
delete from current cursor position to start of current cmd line
Ctrl+End
delete from current cursor position to end of current cmd line
Delete
delete next character - that which is under the cursor
Ctrl+H/Backspace
deletes previous character - to left of cursor
Insert
toggle Overstrike/Insert mode. Overstrike will overwrite at the cursor. Insert will insert to the left of the cursor
ALT+ENTER
takes your command prompt to fullscreen mode and back again
Moving through the command line buffer
- repeating previous commands (or bits of them)
Up/Down arrow keys
move through the command lines buffer one line at a time.
Up goes to previous, Down goes to next (or nothing if we're viewing the last one)
PageUp
moves to first command in command line buffer
PageDown
moves to last command in command line buffer
F7
pops up your command history list, navigate with the up/down arrow keys and use Enter to select an entry
F9
brings up a dialog to enter the required number of the command from the buffer to be repeated
F1
brings up the next character of the previous command (starting at the first one)
Tab completion of commands is supported
For example, type edit *.ini then hit TAB to iterate through all matches.
Use SHIFT+TAB to move to the previous match.
This works for partial filenames as you would expect, and in all commands.
You can change the size of the command line buffer
Right-mouse on cmd.exe window title bar, then Properties | Options | Command history | Buffer size:
If a window output is going too fast to read, or a program is out of control
Ctrl+C will terminate the program (make sure you have clicked on this window to get focus!)
Ctrl+S will pause the output
Ctrl+Q will restart the output
Other stuff that has not been particularly useful
Ctrl+C clears the current command line
Ctrl+I insert a tab in the command line at current position
Ctrl+M Same as Enter key or CR (submit the current DOS command)
Ctrl+S Stop - ignores next keystroke
Continue (pagination shows --MORE--) Enter key (default is no pagination)
Copy and paste Window contents
Mark (right mouse, choose Mark)
start capturing a selection using the left mouse key & dragging.
End selection using Enter key.
Copy and paste into the command line
You can drag n' drop files or folders from an explorer window into a command prompt; this inserts the quoted path as if you had manually pasted it.
Ctrl+V does not paste into the command line, you have to Right click and select paste.
Dos commands help
help gives list of windows cmd line commands
help the_cmd give details about that command e.g. HELP DIR
Windows folders, directories and filenames
The command line operates by default at a command line pointer, that is at a particular folder, on each drive. This is the command line prompt. Example, C:\temp>, commands will operate in this folder.
cd fred will change the directory setting to C:\temp\fred>
cd.. command moves up one directory level (back to C:\temp>)
d: command moves the command line pointer to the d drive (at the directory previously set for that).
Hierarchical folder (directory) names are separated by \ (contrary to Unix and web "folders").
/ is used for command switches for example: dir /w c:\t*
Most filenames have a three-letter "file extension" for historical reasons, file.txt for example.
*.* is the wildcard for file name match to anything (any name, any file extension).
*.txt for any file with extension txt
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
IDEs: Eclipse and MyEclipse
My first Java IDE was a free version of JBuilder. After the dotcom/telecom meltdown, I spent 3 months with this IDE, learning Java while doing a pro bono project with a social worker from Northern Quebec. It was pretty good for the time.
When I started working for my current employers, they had standardized on IntelliJ-IDEA, which was a very good tool by comparison. However it cost a lot of money per person (some hundreds of dollars) and because we were cheap (or broke) we didn't upgrade at all. After a few years the tool was very out-of-date.
At that point 3 years ago, we decided to use Eclipse. IDEA would have cost too much when we had 10 developers. Eclipse had the tempting promise of being open source and more importantly free!
I must say it has lived up to the promise. It is a wonderful developer tool. The great thing about open source is that there are many plug-ins available that are really useful. Some are free, some are commercial, but relatively cheap.
The bad thing about open source is that things that work can get broken when you upgrade. For example I once had a really nice combination of Eclipse, Subversion (Subclipse) integrated with the Eclipse Navigator tool showing file decorations, version numbers, authors, dates, etc.. When I upgraded my Subversion client (Tortoise) a while ago, this all stopped working, in spite of many attempts to fix it. Pooh. Never mind.
One nice commercial integration is MyEclipse. I fell in love with this because of the jsp debugging (breakpoints!) and some nice XML editor features. Recommended. $30-50 per year and it's well worth it. They also bundle the full Eclipse download if you want it.
So, some free plug-ins I use quite often:
When I started working for my current employers, they had standardized on IntelliJ-IDEA, which was a very good tool by comparison. However it cost a lot of money per person (some hundreds of dollars) and because we were cheap (or broke) we didn't upgrade at all. After a few years the tool was very out-of-date.
At that point 3 years ago, we decided to use Eclipse. IDEA would have cost too much when we had 10 developers. Eclipse had the tempting promise of being open source and more importantly free!
I must say it has lived up to the promise. It is a wonderful developer tool. The great thing about open source is that there are many plug-ins available that are really useful. Some are free, some are commercial, but relatively cheap.
The bad thing about open source is that things that work can get broken when you upgrade. For example I once had a really nice combination of Eclipse, Subversion (Subclipse) integrated with the Eclipse Navigator tool showing file decorations, version numbers, authors, dates, etc.. When I upgraded my Subversion client (Tortoise) a while ago, this all stopped working, in spite of many attempts to fix it. Pooh. Never mind.
One nice commercial integration is MyEclipse. I fell in love with this because of the jsp debugging (breakpoints!) and some nice XML editor features. Recommended. $30-50 per year and it's well worth it. They also bundle the full Eclipse download if you want it.
So, some free plug-ins I use quite often:
- ASDT (ActionScript Development Tool) because the Flash CS3 ActionScript editor is still
horrible (frustratingly so, considering the cost of CS3!) - Implementors plug-in http://eclipse-tools.sourceforge.net/implementors/index.html
- Subclipse (although it's not working with my present setup)
Windows Quick Launch management and obsolete links
Our sainted IT person, Sean the Magnificent, removed a network drive from our Windows network and caused all the system desktops to go nuts, presumably hunting for the lost resource ad infinitum...
Over the course of 2 days, my system crept to a halt. Finally Sean told me to edit the registry to remove all the occurrences of the offending drive name...aack!
Using regedit to edit the registry is like going into an abbatoir in satin ballet shoes! No...perhaps doing brain surgery with a teaspoon... not to be undertaken by the faint of heart.
Anyway After deleting about 90 entries...and removing references in the "Network Places" thingy, everything was back to normal...or so it seemed.
After about 2 weeks I started tidying up the Quick Launch part of my Toolbar (being lazy I like to have about 40 items in here). Any obsolete shortcuts here that referred to the removed drive could not be removed directly via the Quick Launch icons. Clicking on the or right clicking on them caused the machine to go have a little think for a long while. And then did nothing.
Hmm...so we open up the C:\Documents and Settings\[your.name]\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch "folder" and remove them there. Silly Windows.
Over the course of 2 days, my system crept to a halt. Finally Sean told me to edit the registry to remove all the occurrences of the offending drive name...aack!
Using regedit to edit the registry is like going into an abbatoir in satin ballet shoes! No...perhaps doing brain surgery with a teaspoon... not to be undertaken by the faint of heart.
Anyway After deleting about 90 entries...and removing references in the "Network Places" thingy, everything was back to normal...or so it seemed.
After about 2 weeks I started tidying up the Quick Launch part of my Toolbar (being lazy I like to have about 40 items in here). Any obsolete shortcuts here that referred to the removed drive could not be removed directly via the Quick Launch icons. Clicking on the or right clicking on them caused the machine to go have a little think for a long while. And then did nothing.
Hmm...so we open up the C:\Documents and Settings\[your.name]\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch "folder" and remove them there. Silly Windows.
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