We just added a cool new feature to our aristo framework, embedded instant messaging! Pretty typical feature but here's what our gui looks like.

Now when we first heard requests for this component I was a little skeptical. It's pretty much a given that at some point ALL software applications get a request to add an instant messenger and email capability; you could be programming a calculator and eventually you'll get this request. Our I.M. does have a couple key differences.

   1. This is an internal only application. Staff can't be chatting to their friends and family through this messenger.

   2. This is an automatic application. Users don't have to start another app to get the messenger going. It's always on when they're in PBS.

   3. This is an embedded component.  Because we're running in a Terminal window we have to work whithin our existing UI space (aka the terminal window, no extra desktop apps allowed).

   4. Because we're embedded there are some very cool extensions we can add for sending "information" in our software between users. More on this in the next couple weeks.

Here's a quick primer on how this works.

Users now have a messenger icon in their system tray whenever they start Aristo. At login this icon will notify users that they are connected to the aristo messenger (this notification will also point out the fact that there is something new in their software).

Users can right click on this icon to either send a message to a specific user or send a broadcast message. Message windows are pretty much like any other I.M. solution and can be minimized while users are doing actual work. New messages cause the conversation windows to highlight until the user views them.

The more interesting aspect of this component will be HOW we can use it as a tool within our software but we've definitely heard this request a lot and our users should be happy to see we've reacted.

I came across the need to do some t-sql work prior to our annual dealer conference next week. The short version is that we need to sanitize our customer data by replacing customer pictures with some stock photos of people around PBS. I certainly didn't want to have to manually change every customer record so I figured a gigantic t-sql script to update everyone would be a huge help.

Now I gotta admit - this is not the kind of component I normally work on.  Database administrators tear through these kinds of apps but when you're a bit more of a generalist you need to be pretty good at googling the right kind of questions.

Anyway, here's the requirements...

1. Update every customer record with a new photo.
2. Choose the photo from a subset of 10 or 12 stock pictures.
3. Try to make sure that "consecutive" customer records don't have the same photo.

The first thing that takes figuring out is how to load an image from a file into a table. For some reason google-ing this didn't do too good. In the end it's pretty easy. The following command loads an image file into a blob-style object for use in t-sql...

Note that you need the rowset descriptor "as i". Otherwise you'll receive some error about corelations.

Next I wanted to build a temporary table of customer id's and picture id's. Something like...

Customer1 Picture1
Customer2 Picture2
Customer3 Picture3
Customer4 Picture1
Customer5 Picture2
...

This would make a somewhat random picture list where at least adjacent customers wouldn't have the same picture. I accomplished this using the ROW_NUMBER() function against our customer code's.

Once we've got these two pieces together we can generate our test data pretty reliably. Here's the final sql script ...

Finally - bathroom is finished. Today was just installing the light fixture and patching a couple rough spots on the walls. As of tonight all the tools are back in the garage and everything's done! Couple thoughts...

1> When installing drywall, cut your openings smaller then req'd and then make them larger once the drywall is in place. Avoids patching later on when you're trying to finish things like electrical.

2> Tub surrounds rock. Way easier than tiling and actually look pretty classy once in place.

3> While it's good to focus on details, don't sweat them too much. We could have patched those drywall corners till the cows came home. Once they've been painted and the room is filled up they look outstanding. Better than most of the corners in our house.

Got the vanity and shower finished today! All that's left is the ter-lette and we're done!!

Tile's down. Good progress today.

Despite ongoing concerns that our bathroom will never be done we made outstanding progress today. Finished painting; 4 coats because of the mold problem - 2 coats kilz sealer, then 2 coats kitchen and bathroom latex paint). Also finished installing a new subfloor for the tile (composite backer board called Easyboard instead of the 40 year old particle board). Starting to look good!

Quick note that Aristo F&I went into pilot last wednesday!

I found something interesting on one of our test boxes today. Our generic web listener uses a web.config file to impersonate a user with enough security access to perform basic file i/o as well as some database stuff. This impersonation command is pretty simple. Here's our web.config below...

<configuration>

   <system.web>

      <authentication mode="Windows"/>

         <identity impersonate="true" userName=".\SomeUser" password="SomePassword" />

   </system.web>

</configuration>

Note how we use .\ to indicate what I thought was the current domain... it's not!

Turns out that .\ refers to the current computer... and if you're running on a domain controller it's no big deal - the domain controller is the current computer. However, on the 1% of servers we manager where our box is not the domain controller we need to manually add an extra user account to the local machine for this account. As long as this account has sufficient security our lister works like normal!

And it's amazing that there's no documentation on this .\ component anywhere on the web!

One of the tools I absolutely love in windows is the Send-To feature. Basically you can setup a list of programs which will show up whenever you right-click on a file and hover over the Send-To menu item.

I use this feature all the time as I developed a little ftp uploader which takes a file as a parameter and sends it to our corporate FTP site. Turns out in Vista they moved the location of this folder slightly. It's now in...

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows

I found this information on another developers blog. Good info!

http://geekswithblogs.net/dlussier/archive/2006/12/30/102366.aspx

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