ProFox June 2016

profox@leafe.com

56 participants
61 discussions

RE: [NF] Which Programming Language Should I Learn?
by Kurt Wendt 17 Jun '16

17 Jun '16

I especially liked the answer at the top - to the Q: What is Programming? Definitely a cute graphic - entertaining to look the thing over - especially whilst I was running an SSIS Package to copy Data from a Prod to a UAT database! :-) Regards, Kurt Wendt Senior Systems Analyst Tel. +1-212-747-9100 www.GlobeTax.com -----Original Message----- From: ProfoxTech [mailto:profoxtech-bounces@leafe.com] On Behalf Of Gene Wirchenko Sent: Friday, June 17, 2016 12:54 PM To: profoxtech(a)leafe.com Subject: Re: [NF] Which Programming Language Should I Learn? At 09:18 2016-06-17, Alan Bourke <alanpbourke(a)fastmail.fm> wrote: >With added Lord Of The Rings comparisions. > >http://carlcheo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/which-programming-langua >ge-should-i-learn-first-infographic.png It made for a break from all the shooting-yourself-in-the-foot comparisons. Sincerely, Gene Wirchenko [excessive quoting removed by server]

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Re: [NF] Which Programming Language Should I Learn?
by Gene Wirchenko 17 Jun '16

17 Jun '16

At 09:18 2016-06-17, Alan Bourke <alanpbourke(a)fastmail.fm> wrote: >With added Lord Of The Rings comparisions. > >http://carlcheo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/which-programming-language-s… It made for a break from all the shooting-yourself-in-the-foot comparisons. Sincerely, Gene Wirchenko

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Re: InteractiveChange and ProgrammaticChange Oddness
by Ken Dibble 17 Jun '16

17 Jun '16

>>IF THIS.Value <> THIS.OldValue >> >>triggered Error 107 ("Operator/operand type mismatch") in the >>InteractiveChange() method. >> >>That is the first odd issue. I cannot figure out for the life of me >>how that could happen. > > A VFP bug is possible. I had a case with aliases where VFP > lost track somehow. This was in a loop where the loop could have > executed thousands of times on the table. It was also in code that > had run fine for quite a while. > > What are the types and values of this.value and > this.oldvalue? Dump out that in your error handler. You might > have a VFP bug, but you might have something you overlooked. Have done, and if I'm still alive and not retired the next time it happens, I'll let you know what I find. Thanks. Ken Dibble www.stic-cil.org

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[NF] Linux SMTP/POP Servers?
by Ken Dibble 17 Jun '16

17 Jun '16

We've been running an internal email system that is built into the ClearOS operating system (a version of CentOS that functions as a SAMBA 3 domain controller) for many years. Along with the ClearOS SMTP/POP server, we've been running MailMan on the same machine to provide an internal listserv capability. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to discard ClearOS and go with a Windows AD domain server. I want to preserve the internal email and listserve functionality, and I want to run it on one of my new Linux Synology NAS clones. There are a bazillion options for replacements and I don't have any reliable basis on which to evaluate them. Do any of you have recommendations for Linux SMTP/POP server software that would be suitable for running an internal email system? By "suitable for running an internal email system" I mean: 1. The system will not/cannot/must not communicate with, or be seen from, the internet. The ClearOS SMTP/POP server is configured to only accept, and send, email within its own domain (though this may be achieved by tweaking Linux ports rather than directly within the email server, given the information provided in the next paragraph, I don't know). The host machine is behind a NATing router that does not have any open ports for email. I need an email server that can be configured in the same way. Related to this, I would prefer the ability to configure how the SMTP server responds to invalid input, including messages addressed to the internet or to invalid internal addresses. The ClearOS server tries to send these several times, at increasingly long intervals, so that it takes 3 or more days to put out a bounce-back message, and this configuration can't be changed. I would rather that bounce-backs take place immediately. 2. Must provide all standard POP3 functionality (thank you, but I am not looking for an explanation of why I should use IMAP instead), including the ability to communicate with a fat Windows email client that will sometimes tell it to retain email on the server for a period of time. 3. Free as in beer, preferably, but if not an option, then I would be willing to pay a reasonable one-time license fee, not based on the number of email accounts, for perpetual use. I am not willing to pay for a "software as service" arrangement. 4. Because it is an internal server with no connection to the internet, it does not have to have all of the high-paranoia-level security features that an internet email server needs. I will cope with it if it does not pemit plain text authentication, but plain text authentication is perfectly adequate and completely safe for my purposes. 5. It doesn't have to have any built-in spam filtering. The current CentOS SMTP/POP server has annoying spam filtering features that are buggy and can't be turned off. For example, zip file attachments (and sometimes docx and xlsx attachments, which are just zip files) go missing, and it can choke on other unusual file attachments. None of this nonsense is necessary and I would prefer for nothing to be built-in that filters spam or messes with attachments. If any such thing is built-in, it needs to be able to be turned off, and stay off. 6. If it doesn't integrate true listserv capabilities (no fudging with "aliases" or numerically-limited forwarding lists) like those of MailMan, then it needs to be compatible with MailMan. 7. Traffic requirements: I don't know much about what sort of resources a Linux SMTP/POP server requires. Currently we have about 120 email accounts, each with a 1 GB mailbox on the server, and the NAS will accommodate that without even blinking. Conceivably someday we could be looking at more like 250 accounts. To the extent to which that affects speed/responsiveness, then that's a consideration. 8. Easy to set up and configure, and if not, then EXTREMELY well- and reliably-documented. 9. <rant>Probably not an option, but, since I want an integrated SMTP/POP server, then, for the sake of the Mother of All that is Good, would it be too much to ask for an integrated validation system in which, just for laughs, the SMTP server simply compares the sender's address to the POP server's list of valid accounts for that domain to determine whether or not to accept and relay an incoming message, instead of performing bollocks-oriented "test sends" back to the user that will fail if the user's inbox, the state of which bears no rational relationship to the person's authorization, ability, or need, to use the SMTP server to SEND email, is full, and calling it "validation", which it is, emphatically, NOT?</rant> Thanks for all of your suggestions and the benefit of your experience. Ken Dibble www.stic-cil.org

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VFP menu documentation utility?
by Richard Kaye 17 Jun '16

17 Jun '16

I want to compare some VFP menus; bars, pads, etc. I know there are a number of native functions I can string together to do this but before I reinvent the wheel I thought I'd check with the collective wisdom to see if anyone here has already built my utility for me. : - ) TIA -- rk --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/alternative text/plain (text body -- kept) text/html ---

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[NF] Windows 10 for less than $54!
by mbsoftwaresolutions＠mbsoftwaresolutions.com 16 Jun '16

16 Jun '16

Awhile back I ordered Win 7 Pro from Amazon and paid $54. Upon installation, it upgraded on demand to Win 10. :-) Cart Items SKU Qty Item Price Item Total Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit Download (Download Files) PG-FQC00734S (291) 1 $53.98 USD $53.98 USD Subtotal: $53.98 USD Grand Total: $53.98 USD Just a heads up in case you needed to go that route.

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A Blank Value for a Number?
by Kurt Wendt 16 Jun '16

16 Jun '16

I know - it's a Crazy request. Trying to figure out the Easiest way to try and do this - and hoping to Avoid having to do more complicated solutions like Office Automation to manipulate an Excel file. So - here's the deal. This system I work on - it outputs this Excel file. And, in the past - if there are certain records that have a Zero in a particular column - they would Manually wipe out the Zero - and also blank out several of the other fields in that Row. But, the new request is to make those things happen automatically during process when the Excel file gets exported. So that they do NOT have to manually blank out certain fields. But, of course, therein lies the problem. For the other rows of data - this particular field is supposed to be a numeric value. And, AFAIK - there really is NO Way to have a DBF or Cursor that has a Numeric field - and yet have blank values in it. As such, I suspect the answer is that this can't be done - to have a numeric data field hold any kind of blank data. They even suggested just a Dash. But, again - I figured it's not possible. However, I figured for the hell of it - I would post here - in case someone had an interesting insight that I hadn't thought of... Kurt Wendt Senior Systems Analyst [GlobeTax_SecondaryLogo_TwoColor_Lo]<https://www.globetax.com/> One New York Plaza - 34th Floor New York, NY 10004-1936, USA Tel. +1-212-747-9100 Direct +1-212-405-8246 www.GlobeTax.com<https://www.globetax.com/> GlobeTax does not provide or offer, and this is not, tax, investment or legal advice. This email and any attachments hereto is intended only for use by the addressee(s) and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please immediately notify the sender at +1-212-747-9100 and permanently delete the original and any copies of this email. --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/related multipart/alternative text/plain (text body -- kept) text/html image/png ---

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InteractiveChange and ProgrammaticChange Oddness
by Ken Dibble 16 Jun '16

16 Jun '16

Hi folks, There are actually two odd issues here, but the second one, for which this subject is named, seems even stranger than the first: First Issue I have a textbox, in whose Init() I have this: THIS.AddProperty("OldValue",{}) THIS.Value = {} (Let's leave aside, for now, that I could set the default value in the property sheet instead of doing this, and I could use the Format property to enforce good Date types. I don't do that, and haven't in nearly 10 years of use.) There are some programmatic methods that can set this textbox's value to a Date coming from a Date field in one specific table without any "translation", or to an empty date, as I do above. The table does not accept NULLs. The InteractiveChange() method of this control (fires when the user is typing in the control) will compare THIS.Value to THIS.OldValue and if they are not the same, THIS.Value will be copied to THIS.OldValue, like so: IF THIS.Value <> THIS.OldValue THIS.OldValue = THIS.Value ENDIF There is identical code in the control's ProgrammaticChange() method, so that the two properties are kept in synch when some other piece of code changes the control's Value. I have verified that no code ever can change the control's Value or OldValue properties to anything that is not a Date. I have also confirmed that there is no somehow corrupted value in the relevant table's date column that is not a valid Date data type. Further, if the user tries to type anything other than a digit or a slash into the control, nothing happens, including that the InteractiveChange() code does not run. The cursor just sits there, waiting for the user to type a valid character. (Not directly relevant but just in case you ask, I also can confirm that the standard un-trappable "Bad date" error will occur if the user's entry consists only of dights and slashes that do not correspond to a valid date.) This is ancient code and it has not been changed in many, many years. But today, for the first time (at least since my program started emailing me when it crashes about a year ago) the line: IF THIS.Value <> THIS.OldValue triggered Error 107 ("Operator/operand type mismatch") in the InteractiveChange() method. That is the first odd issue. I cannot figure out for the life of me how that could happen. Second Issue The code in the InteractiveChange() and ProgrammaticChange() methods of this textbox was originally identical. In order to add an error handler that displays a message, resets the values to empty dates, and does not crash the program, I added: IF TYPE("THIS.Value") <> "D" OR TYPE("THIS.OldValue") <> "D" *Issue some message THIS.Value = {} THIS.OldValue = {} ENDIF to the InteractiveChange() method before it gets to the property value-comparison line. Then I inserted THIS.Value = "Foobar" Above that block to test my change and ran the program. I began typing into the textbox. I immediately got Error 107 from the **ProgrammaticChange()** method. Yes, I had only made the change in the InteractiveChange() method. But I expected that method to generate the error message. Instead, somehow, when I started typing, InteractiveChange() ran to the point where I set the control's Value to a string, executed that line, and then, instead of generating the error message, execution somehow jumped to the ProgrammaticChange() method, where Error 107 occurred on: IF THIS.Value <> THIS.OldValue ???? I don't believe that InteractiveChange() is supposed to call ProgrammaticChange() or vice-versa. That's why there are two separate methods. I have often said that the VFP order of events does not always proceed as advertised, and I guess here is proof. Any thoughts? Thanks and I hope you are amused. Ken Dibble www.stic-cil.org

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[NF] Looking to Python Data manipulation?
by Stephen Russell 16 Jun '16

16 Jun '16

Book DescriptionPython for Data Analysis is concerned with the nuts and bolts of manipulating, processing, cleaning, and crunching data in Python. It is also a practical, modern introduction to scientific computing in Python, tailored for data-intensive applications. This is a book about the parts of the Python language and libraries you'll need to effectively solve a broad set of data analysis problems. This book is not an exposition on analytical methods using Python as the implementation language. http://it-ebooks.info/book/1041/ -- Stephen Russell Sr. Analyst Ring Container Technology Oakland TN 901.246-0159 cell --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/alternative text/plain (text body -- kept) text/html ---

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RE: [NF] you know it is coming
by Allen Pollard 15 Jun '16

15 Jun '16

Oh I have a facebook account. It just goes nowhere near other logins Al -----Original Message----- From: ProfoxTech [mailto:profoxtech-bounces@leafe.com] On Behalf Of Gene Wirchenko Sent: 15 June 2016 19:22 To: profoxtech(a)leafe.com Subject: RE: [NF] you know it is coming At 02:16 2016-06-15, "Allen Pollard" <profox(a)gatwicksoftware.com> wrote: >Too right. All these sites that say sign on with facebook too. No way I have protection. I tried to sign up on Facebook so that I could find out when my local uni's games club met. The sign-up failed. Why, I do not know.

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