Ralph’s TechBlog

It seems that some documentation that is hanging around the net contains incorrect information about correct configuration of the log4j system.

Take care that you specify the properties filename as an URL rather than simple plain path location, e.g

java -Dlog4j.configuration=file:///my/path/to/log4j.properties ...

Log4j should find your configuration then. So make sure you include file:// there…

Some work has been spent over the last weeks to upgrade the stable CSV Utility Package. Of course, the new version contains all the useful existing functionality. The most beneficial improvement is the introduction of ExcelReader and ExcelWriter classes that behave like the CSV pendants. This means that you do not have to care about the underlying output format when you want to read or write table-structured data. The most important changes are:

• Introduction of a TableReader and TableWriter interface
• Introduction of Excel implementation
• Aligning CSV and Excel implementations to these interfaces
• Introduction of a Factory class in order to select correct implementation (CSV or Excel)

The Beta version still requires some work in terms of documentation and code beautifying. However, the CSV part is already frozen and you can use it to upgrade your existing projects to the new utility version. The Excel part still faces some changes while improving usability.

Please be aware also that Java package structure needed to be changed to integrate the new classes and interfaces. Additionally, new 3rd party libraries were integrated (Apache POI and JavaBeans Activation).

Download the Beta Version or browse the existing API Documentation. Bugs and/or enhancements can be requested via Bugzilla.

There is a great SMTP/POP server list in case you need to configure around some of them:

http://www.patshaping.de/hilfen_ta/pop3_smtp.htm

I finalized my DIY-Planner for 2010. You can download the new calendar here (created with my personal fix for DIY Dynamic Templates).

I made some fixes and enhancements to the CSV Utility Package:

• Bug #9: Spaces before and after a value are treated correctly now
• Enhancement #10: CSVReader forwards comment lines to callback objects
• Enhancement #11: A test script was integrated to check major features
• New Class: CSVUtils offers methods for copying JDBC results and JTable data to CSVWriters

You can download the latest release here.

I use a PDF Printer on my professional Windows notebook. It enables me to create PDF documents from whatever application. So, how about Linux then. Thanks God, there is cups-pdf. A German tutorial can be found here. If you find a English HowTo, just post the link here.

A new update of my CSV Utility Package was released. It contains some fixes and enhancements:

• Build system creates tar archive
• Fixed Bug #2: NullPointerException in CSVReader class
• Fixed Bug #4: Multiline values fail when a line looks like a comment
• Enhancement #7: Excel Fix: first column of first row must not start with “ID”
• Enhancement #8: Add row and column count

You can download the latest release here.

I was always annoyed by CAPS-LOCK key on my Linux notebook. Thanks god, there is a solution:

xmodmap -e "remove lock = Caps_Lock"

will switch this damn thing off.

[-A-Z0-9._%+]+@[-A-Z0-9.]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}

This was weird. I lately tried to install Bugzilla on one of my virtual hosts but it’s testserver.pl script failed with:

Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at ./testserver.pl line 110.
Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at ./testserver.pl line 110.
TEST-FAILED Webserver is not executing CGI files.

The Apache error log told nothing more than

Premature end of script headers: testagent.cgi

All Google lookups failed to solve my problem. Although I had the impression that my CGI setup was somehow wrong, I couldn’t find the reason. Then I intensively checked the VirtualHost directive. The server uses a Plesk 8.0 installation for setting up hosts. The default configuration for virtual hosts with CGI there is to include a “SuexecUserGroup” directive. After removing it, the Bugzilla installation succeeded.

So you might wanna give it a try