now wot...?

Here's today's annoyance: Adding a new network printer to Windows 7 failed to update the Windows registry properly. At work the other day I needed to add a new network printer. Pretty easy huh? After browsing for the network device, installing the correct driver and running of a test page I thought I was done. Apparently I was mistaken. Here's what happened after the printer was added: Applications such as Adobe Reader X fail to "see" the added printer. Applications such as Microsoft Word 2010 or Excel 2010 can "see" the printer (kinda) but will not let you select it. Could not set and/or change the default printer, fails with " Operation could not be completed (error 0x00000709). Double check the printer name and make sure that printer is connected to the network. ". Thinking there was something wrong with the network, printer driver and/or ports I (attempted to) uninstall/re-install the printer several times - ending up with severa...

Today's little hiccup: I'm extracting email attachments to a directory and I need to read the list of files that have been extracted. Here's where the Foundation FileUtils Find operation comes in. The documentation  states: " ... Regular Expression A string value that represents the regular expression used to match the file and directory names. The default is * which matches any file and directory name. (See Regular expressions syntax.) ... " Using the default value of " * " produces this result: ALC-FUT-001-007: Syntax error in the regular expression *. at com.adobe.livecycle.fileutils.FileUtilsService.list(FileUtilsService.java:809) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597) at com.adobe.id...

For those of you who wished for a 'user-friendly' graphical interface for a HyperSQL database, your wait is over! OpenOffice.org Base is the preferred graphical environment for a HyperSQL database as OOo actually utilises HyperSQL as its embedded database engine. Here's what you'll need: A HyperSQL database server. You can download HyperSQL from here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/hsqldb/files/ OpenOffice.org Base. You can download the full OpenOffice.org suite from here: http://download.openoffice.org/   And here's how to get it up and running: 1. Extract the downloaded HyperSQL bundle to a location on your local machine, e.g. C:\hsqldb-1.8.0.10 [optional]: Add the following entries to your system environment variables: name: HSQLDB_HOME value: <path to your HyperSQL installation, e.g. C:\hsqldb-1.8.0.10> name: PATH value: ;%HSQLDB_HOME%\lib; Note: This value should be added to your existing PATH value! 2. Install OpenOffice.org. 3. Confi...

HyperSQL is a terrific lightweight Java database solution that can be embedded to applications. This post outlines a couple of simple scripts for safely starting / stopping a HyperSQL database server instance (hosting one or more individual databases). It also avoids the need to have the main HyperSQL jar file sitting alongside your database files. In the examples below, I'm configuring a local database instance called ' resdb '. You’ll need to configure three files: a start-up script called: start_hsqldb_server.bat a connection properties file called sqltool.rc a shutdown script called stop_hsqldb_server.bat The start-up script looks like this: #REM start_hsqldb_server.bat @echo off set HSQLDB_LIB= <path to hsqldb library> set DB_FILE=<path to your database .script file [minus the .script part]> set DB_ALIAS=<database alias name> start "HSQLDB Server" java -cp "%HSQLDB_LIB%" org.hsqldb.Server -database.0 file:"%DB_F...

Well, I must admit it hasn't been a very good start, looks like those 'good intentions' only lasted one post :-) Although, In my defence I have been quite busy and/or stressed over the last few weeks. This post finds me relocated to Melbourne ( Ivanhoe to be exact) on my own (more on that in a minute) and somewhat settled into my new position with Company A. I will endeavour catch up with recent events in some subsequent posts on “ Saying Goodbye to Nine Years ”, “ Surviving On-Road Boredom ”, “ An Entrance Guide to Melbourne, VIC ” and “ Newbie Paranoia ”; but I just wanted to slip this note in first. Yes, unfortunately I’ve made the move to Melbourne ahead of my family. At the moment we’re still waiting to sell our house before we’re able to completely relocate everyone to Victoria. This obviously puts a bit of stress on everyone, particularly my wife how has to take care of four children on her own (fortunately she’s a very resourceful person! :-) ).  Remote communi...

Well, here we are, another new year and yet another new blogger. Sigh. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against blogs - I totally get the point of blogging, I really do! - it’s just that I’m not a journal type of guy. I’m notoriously slack at posting or even returning correspondence on any of these social networking sites. Years have been known to pass before I might get around to letting Bob (not his real name) know that “ yes, I do think that Beck’s is a great beer ”. So why the hell am I writing a blog I hear you ask? Well, 2011 has brought a reasonably significant event in my life: I’m moving. More specifically I’ve left my current job with Company I and will be starting a new job with Company A (not their real names either). I’m also selling my house and moving 832km with my wife and four children from Wollongong, NSW to Melbourne, VIC . Well, slight correction: hopefully selling my house, we haven’t had any offers just yet... so it looks very likely that I’ll be movi...