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A number of people have complained about data loss after a system crash when using Ext4.  A bug report was logged. According to multiple posts by a developer of Ext4, Theodore Tso, this is due to differences in approach to security and performance issues between the two file systems.

Ext3 commits writes to disk within approximately 5 seconds - Ext4 can take from 40-150 seconds.  In addition, if a system is using Ext3 and crashes before the commit takes place you will still have the previous contents of a file where under Ext4 the file will be empty.  Theodore Tso feels that this is a failure at the application level and that the file system is behaving as designed and as specified by the POSIX spec (which apparently does not specify what is supposed to happen when a system is not shut down cleanly).  His solution to the issue is to suggest proper use of fsync() and lists various scenarios/examples in post 54 of the bug report (linked above).  In addition he wrote a patch that recognize the rename() situation mentioned in his post 54 yet retains the normal Ext4 behaviors and performance in the majority of cases.  Also a more "proper" solution has been provided which allows the behavior of Ext3 to be retained under Ext4 by mounting it with alloc_on_commit.

A somewhat related topic is the use of on-board caching by hard drives.  This behavior can be modified on most drives by using hdparm.
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Recital 10 enhanced Recital by enabling it to be used in bash shell scripts and in shell commands which use pipes and/or redirect stdin and stdout. If stdin is not redirected then recital will startup and operate as normal in a terminal window. Additionally you can use heredoc to denote a block of recital commands that should be executed. Note that when used in this manner, no UI commands can be executed and no user interaction is allowed.  
# recital < mrprog.prg 
# recital < myprog.prg > myoutput.txt
# recital > myoutput.txt <<END
use customers
list structure
END
# echo "select * from sales!customers where overdue" | recital | wc -l
Individual commands can be executed in shell scripts.
# recital -c "create database sales"
# recital -c "create table sales!invoices (id int, name char(25), due date)"
Expressions can be evaluated and used in shell scripts.
# VER=`recital -e "version(1)"`
You can view what command line options are available by typing:
# recital --help
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Subclipse is an Eclipse Team Provider plug-in providing support for Subversion within the Eclipse IDE. This plugin is required in order to use the recital eclipse workspace.
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In Adobe's own words:

"Adobe® AIR® is a cross-operating system runtime that lets developers combine HTML, Ajax, Adobe Flash®, and Adobe Flex® technologies to deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) on the desktop."

The outcome of this combination of technologies is that developers can design and render quite beautiful user interfaces cross platform. For us desktop Linux users it is nice to have an additional avenue for obtaining and running attractive desktop applications.

Examples of great Adobe air applications are Adobe.com for My Desktop, TweetDeck and the Times Reader. You can download these applications and many more at the Adobe Marketplace.

The easiest way to install Adobe Air on Fedora 12 is to download the latest build from Adobe, click here.

Once you have downloaded the .bin file do the following at the shell:
su -
chmod +x AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
Once you have Air installed, there is a slight tweak you will have to do to get it running on Fedora 12, it is related to the security certificates. This can be remedied in one simple line at the shell prompt as root.
su -
for c in /etc/opt/Adobe/certificates/crypt/*.0; do aucm -n $(basename $c) -t true; done
What this line is doing is using the aucm which is the Adobe Unix certificate manager to set the certificates installed as trusted.
You will now be able to go to the Adobe Marketplace and download and run Air applications without any issues.

Enjoy!

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Recital is a rich and versatile product with many ways to do the same thing. Developers usually write code in the way that they are accustomed to without paying much attention to how this will perform in a multi-user environment with large amounts of users and transactions. The best way to optimize Recital applications is to use the built-in tuning capabilities introduced in Recital 10.

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For Recital to run correctly on 64bit Linux you require the ia32 shared libraries.

The 64bit port of Recital requires these libraries to allow access to 32bit Xbase and C-ISAM data files which are 32bit.

If you do not have these libraries installed you will either get a "can't find db.exe" or an "error loading shared libraries" when trying to run or license Recital.

Installing the ia32 shared libraries

Redhat EL 5 / Centos 5 / Fedora 10

  1. Insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Supplementary CD, which contains the ia32el package.

  2. After the system has mounted the CD, change to the directory containing the Supplementary packages. For example:

    cd /media/cdrom/Supplementary/

  3. Install the ia32el package:

    rpm -Uvh ia32el-<version>.ia64.rpm

Alternatively: Note you must have the required repo's enabled.
 yum install ia32el

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

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Recital 10.0 introduced the SET DATADIR TO [<directory>] command.. The full syntax is;
SET DATADIR TO [ <directory> ] 
This command is used to specify a  directory where database tables, memos, indexes, and dictionary  files are located. When a table is being opened this directory is searched first before the current directory and the file search path to locate the table and its associated files. This allows the database tables to be relocated to a different file system without the need to change an existing application.
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The SET RELATION Recital Navigational Data Command can be used to link two (or more) tables based on the master index key of the child table.  With a relation active, as you move through the parent table, the record pointer also moves in the child table, automatically selecting the first related record or moving to the end of file if no related record exists.    

open database southwind
// open child table
use order_details order orderid in 0
// open parent table
use orders order orderid in 0
set relation to orderid into order_details
do while not eof()
? orders.orderid, order_details.productid
skip
enddo

The code above will display the productid from the first related record, but you will often want to display information from all the related records in the child or detail table as in an SQL Left Outer Join.

open database southwind
select orders.orderid, order_details.productid;
from orders left outer join order_details;
on orders.orderid = order_details.orderid

In this case, we can use a second nested DO WHILE loop, for example:

open database southwind
use order_details order orderid in 0
use orders order orderid in 0
set relation to orderid into order_details
do while not eof()
// Display first or 0 child record
? orders.orderid, order_details.productid
// Display any additional child records
do while not eof(order_details)
? orders.orderid, order_details.productid
skip in order_details
enddo
skip
enddo

Or we can use the SET SKIP command.  The SET SKIP command can be used with DISPLAY, LIST and REPORT and automatically skips through all the related records in the child table.

open database southwind
use order_details order orderid in 0
use orders order orderid in 0
set relation to orderid into order_details
set skip on
set skip to order_details
list orders.orderid, order_details.productid

LIST and DISPLAY offer a number of keyword options to allow you to configure the display output.  REPORT offers full column based report design.
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This article looks at the range of client access mechanisms for Windows that can be used with the Recital C-ISAM Bridge and details bridge configuration and usage.

Overview

Just because the format of data is regarded as 'legacy' does not make that data in any way obsolete. Modern client interfaces can not only extend the life of long-term data, but also provide different ways to analyse and gain advantage from that data.

Recital Corporation provides a range of solutions to interface to Informix compliant C-ISAM data on Linux or UNIX from Windows clients.

.NET

Click image to display full size

Fig 1: Recital Mirage .NET application accessing the C-ISAM Demo table.


Recital offers two alternative ways to access C-ISAM data using Microsoft .NET:

The Recital .NET Data Provider is a managed Data Provider written in C# that provides full compatibility with the Microsoft SQLserver and OLE DB data providers that ship with the .NET framework. It is fully integrated with the Visual Studio .NET IDE supporting data binding and automatic code generation using the form designer. The Recital .NET Data Provider works in conjunction with the Recital Database Server for Linux or UNIX to access C-ISAM data.

Recital Mirage .NET is a complete solution for migrating, developing and deploying 4GL database applications. Recital Mirage .NET works in conjunction with the Recital Mirage .NET Application Server for Linux or UNIX to access C-ISAM data.

JDBC

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Fig 2: Java™ Swing JTable accessing the C-ISAM Demo table via the Recital JDBC Driver.


The Recital JDBC Driver is an all Java Type 4 JDBC 3.0 Driver, allowing you to access C-ISAM data from Java applets and applications. The Recital JDBC Driver works in conjunction with the Recital Database Server for Linux or UNIX to access C-ISAM data.

ODBC

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Fig 3: Microsoft® Office Excel 2003 Pivot Chart and Pivot Table accessing the C-ISAM Demo table via the Recital ODBC Driver.


The Recital ODBC Driver is an ODBC 3.0 Driver, allowing you to access C-ISAM data from your preferred ODBC based Windows applications. You can develop your own applications in languages such as C++ or Visual Basic, manipulate the data in a spreadsheet package or word processor document and design charts, graphs and reports. The Recital ODBC Driver works in conjunction with the Recital Database Server for Linux or UNIX to access C-ISAM data.

Configuring the Recital C-ISAM Bridge

Data access is achieved through a C-ISAM Bridge.  This requires the creation of an empty Recital table that has the same structure as the C-ISAM file and of a RecitalC-ISAM Bridge file.

On Linux and UNIX, Recital Terminal Developer and the Recital Database Server come complete with an example C-ISAM data file, C-ISAM index and Recital C-ISAM bridge that can be used for testing and as a template for configuring your own C-ISAM bridges.  The Recital Database Server also includes a bridge creation ini file.

Step 1:

Create a Recital table with the same structure as the C-ISAM file.  The fields/columns in the structure file must exactly match the data type and length of those in the C-ISAM file.  The Recital table will have one byte more in total record length due to the Recital record deletion marker.

To create the table, use the SQL CREATE TABLE command or the Recital Terminal Developer CREATE worksurface.  The SQL CREATE TABLE command can be called directly:

SQLExecDirect:
  In:      hstmt = 0x00761BE8,
    szSqlStr = "CREATE TABLE cisamdemo.str (DD Char(4)
              DESCRIPTION "Dd...", cbSqlStr = -3
  Return:  SQL_SUCCESS=0

or be included in a 4GL program:

// createtab.prg
CREATE TABLE cisamdemo.str;
    (DD Char(4) DESCRIPTION "Dd",;
     CONFIRM Char(6) DESCRIPTION "Confirm",;
     PROCDATE Char(6) DESCRIPTION "Procdate",;
     CONTROL Char(5) DESCRIPTION "Control",;
     DOLLARS Decimal(13,2) DESCRIPTION "Dollars",;
     DEALER Char(5) DESCRIPTION "Dealer",;
     TERRITORY Char(2) DESCRIPTION "Territory",;
     WOREP Char(12) DESCRIPTION "Worep",;
     CURRTRAN Char(3) DESCRIPTION "Currtran",;
     TRADDATE Char(6) DESCRIPTION "Traddate",;
     CITY Char(10) DESCRIPTION "City",;
     ACCOUNT Char(11) DESCRIPTION "Account",;
     PRETRAN Char(2) DESCRIPTION "Pretran",;
     AFSREP Char(14) DESCRIPTION "Afsrep",;
     REPKEY Char(9) DESCRIPTION "Repkey",;
     BRANCH Char(3) DESCRIPTION "Branch",;
     WODEALER Char(5) DESCRIPTION "Wodealer",;
     BANKCODE Char(2) DESCRIPTION "Bankcode",;
     COMMRATE Decimal(6,4) DESCRIPTION "Commrate",;
     NEWREP Char(1) DESCRIPTION "Newrep",;
     SETTLE Char(1) DESCRIPTION "Settle",;
     POSTDATE Char(6) DESCRIPTION "Postdate")
if file("cisamdemo.str")
    return .T.
else
    return .F.
endif
// end of createtab.prg

Server-side 4GL programs can be called by all clients, e.g. from a Java class with a JDBC connection:

//---------------------------------
//-- create_str.java --
//---------------------------------
import java.sql.*;
import java.io.*;
import Recital.sql.*;

public class create_str {

  public static void main(String argv[]) {
    try {
      new RecitalDriver();
      String url = "jdbc:Recital:" +
        "SERVERNAME=cisamserver;" +
        "DIRECTORY=/usr/recital/data/southwind;" +
        "USERNAME=user;" +
        "PASSWORD=password";
      Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url, "user", "pass");
      Statement stmt = con.createStatement();

      CallableStatement sp = con.prepareCall("{call createtab}");
      boolean res = sp.execute();
      String outParam = sp.getString(1);
      System.out.println("Returned "+outParam);
      sp.close();
      con.close();
    } catch (Exception e) {
      System.out.flush();
      System.err.flush();
      DriverManager.println("Driver exception: " + e.getMessage());
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
    try {
      System.out.println("Press any key to continue...");
      System.in.read();
    } catch(IOException ie) {
      ;
    }
  }
}

The table should be given a ‘.str’ file extension (rather than the default ‘.dbf’) to signify that this is a structure file only.

Please see the end of this article for information on matching Informix and Recital data types



Fig 4: Recital CREATE/MODIFY STRUCTURE worksurface for character mode table creation.

Step 2: Creating the Bridge File

If you have Recital installed on the server platform, the Bridge File can be created using the CREATE BRIDGE worksurface.  The corresponding command to modify the bridge file is MODIFY BRIDGE <bridge file>.  This is the cisamdemo.dbf bridge file in the CREATE/MODIFY BRIDGE WORKSURFACE:

> modify bridge cisamdemo.dbf


Fig 5: Recital CREATE BRIDGE/MODIFY BRIDGE worksurface for bridge creation.

For Recital Database Server clients, the Bridge File can be created using the Recital/SQL CREATE BRIDGE command:

Recital/SQL CREATE BRIDGE:
CREATE BRIDGE cisamdemo.dbf;
  TYPE "CISAM";
  EXTERNAL "cisamdemo.dat";
  METADATA "cisamdemo.str";
  ALIAS "cisamdemo"

or:

CREATE BRIDGE cisamdemo.dbf;
  AS "type=CISAM;external=cisamdemo.dat;metadata=cisamdemo.str;alias=cisamdemo"

The examples above assume that the C-ISAM file, the bridge file and the Recital structure file are all in the current working directory.  Full path information can be specified for the <externalname> and the <databasename>.  For added flexibility, environment variables can be used to determine the path at the time the bridge is opened.  Environment variables can be included for either or both the <externalname> and the <databasename>.  A colon should be specified between the environment variable and the file name.

e.g.

  CREATE BRIDGE cisamdemo.dbf;
  TYPE "CISAM";
  EXTERNAL "DB_DATADIR:cisamdemo";
  METADATA "DB_MIRAGE_PATH:cisamdemo.str";
  ALIAS "cisamdemo"
Recital CREATE BRIDGE/MODIFY BRIDGE worksurface:


Fig 6: Recital CREATE BRIDGE/MODIFY BRIDGE worksurface - using environment variables.

Using the Bridge

The Bridge can now be used.  To access the C-ISAM file, use the ‘alias’ specified in the Bridge definition.

SQL:
SELECT * FROM cisamdemo
Recital/4GL:
use cisamdemo

Indexes

The cisamdemo.dat file included in the Recital distributions for Linux and UNIX has three associated index keys in the cisamdemo.idx file:

Select area: 1
Database in use: cisamdemo
Alias: cisamdemo
Number of records: 4
Current record: 2
File Type: CISAM (C-ISAM)
Master Index: [cisamdemo.idx key #1]
Key: DD+CONFIRM+PROCDATE+CONTROL
Type: Character
Len: 21   (Unique)
Index: [cisamdemo.idx key #2]
Key: DD+SUBSTR(CONFIRM,2,5)+TRADDATE+STR(DOLLARS,13,2) +CURRTRAN+ACCOUNT Type: Character Len: 42 Index: [cisamdemo.idx key #3] Key: DEALER+BRANCH+AFSREP+SUBSTR(PROCDATE,5,2) +SUBSTR(CONTROL,2,4) Type: Character Len: 28

The Recital C-ISAM bridge makes full use of the C-ISAM indexes.  SQL SELECT statements with WHERE clauses are optimized based on any of the existing indexes when possible.  The following ODBC SELECT call makes use of key #3 rather than sequentially searching through the data file.

SQLExecDirect:
  In:      hstmt = 0x00761BE8,
    szSqlStr = "select * from cisamdemo
      where dealer+branch+afsrep=' 00161   595-7912",
      cbSqlStr = -3
  Return:  SQL_SUCCESS=0

Get Data All:

"DD", "CONFIRM", "PROCDATE", "CONTROL", "DOLLARS", "DEALER", 
"TERRITORY", "WOREP", "CURRTRAN", "TRADDATE", "CITY", "ACCOUNT", 
"PRETRAN", "AFSREP", "REPKEY", "BRANCH", "WODEALER", "BANKCODE", 
"COMMRATE", "NEWREP", "SETTLE", "POSTDATE"

"0159", " 15522", "930312", "13356", 4992.60, "00161", "19", 
"", "210", "930305", "", "70000100009", "", "595-7912", 
"930315791", "", "", "59", 0.0000, "1", "", "930315"
1 row fetched from 22 columns.

Using the Recital/4GL, the primary index is set as the master index when the bridge is first opened.  Any secondary indexes can be selected using the SET ORDER TO <expN> command.  The Recital/4GL SEEK or FIND commands and SEEK() function can be used to search in the current master index.

> SET ORDER TO 3
Master index: [cisamdemo.idx key #3]
> SEEK “00161   595-7912”

Appendix 1: Data Types

Informix

Recital

Byte

Numeric

Char

Character

Character

Character

Date

Date

Datetime

Character

Decimal

Numeric

Double Precision

Float

Float

Real

16 Bit Integer

Short

Integer

Numeric

Interval

Character

32 Bit Long

Integer

Money

Numeric

Numeric

Numeric

Real

Numeric

Smallfloat

Numeric

Smallint

Numeric

Text

Unsupported

Varchar

Character

Appendix 2: C-ISAM RDD Error Messages

The following errors relate to the use of the Recital CISAM Replaceable Database Driver (RDD).  They can be received as an ‘errno <expN>’ on Recital error messages:


ERRNO()

Error Description

100

Duplicate record

101

File not open

102

Invalid argument

103

Invalid key description

104

Out of file descriptors

105

Invalid ISAM file format

106

Exclusive lock required

107

Record claimed by another user

108

Key already exists

109

Primary key may not be used

110

Beginning or end of file reached

111

No match was found

112

There is no “current” established

113

Entire file locked by another user

114

File name too long

115

Cannot create lock file

116

Memory allocation request failed

117

Bad custom collating

118

Duplicate primary key allowed

119

Invalid transaction identifier

120

Exclusively locked in a transaction

121

Internal error in journaling

122

Object not locked

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An extremely useful article that describes some firefox undocumented features that allow you to install Firefox XPI And JAR Firefox Add-ons And Themes. 

http://www.universefirefox.com/how-to/how-to-install-xpi-and-jar-firefox-add-ons-and-themes
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