Performance enhancement updating tables with indexes

Recital 10 enhances the way updating tables with indexes is done. The Recital engine will now evaluate each index individually to determine if any changes being made to the row effect it. If this is not the case then the index is flagged not to be updated. This enhancement helps speed up performance of updates and is particularly noticeable in cluster/network installations.

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Origins of "Open Source"

In an interesting article at Linux Magazine, Sam Ockman discusses the origin of the term "Open Source". Check it out here.

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FIX: ssh: Connection closed by remote host

When stress testing our loadbalancer, i was unable to get more than 20 reliable ssh connections. The following error would be reported.

ssh_exchange_identification: Connection closed by remote host

The resolution for this is quite simple.

Edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file and increase the MaxStartups. On my server i set this to 200.

Edit /etc/sysctrl.conf and add the following line:

net.core.netdev_max_backlog = 3000

Then apply this change:

# sysctl -p

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Configuring Recital ODBC Datasources on 64 bit Windows

The Recital Universal ODBC Driver is a 32 bit implementation, so is not listed in the 64 bit ODBC Data Source Administrator, which is the default administrator accessed from Control Panel | Administration Tools.

So, to create and configure Recital ODBC datasources, you need to use the Window 32 bit ODBC Data Source Administrator or Recital's own Recital Universal ODBC Manager (32-bit).

The Window 32 bit ODBC Data Source Administrator is %windir%\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe.
The Recital Universal ODBC Manager (32-bit) can be accessed from the Control Panel (icon view).

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Module positions

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HOWTO: Configure SELinux for Recital Web

SE Linux is a feature of the Linux kernel that provides mandatory access control. This policy based access control system grants far greater control over the resources on a machine than standard Linux access controls such as permissions.

Many modern Linux distributions are shipping with SELinux enabled by default, Fedora 14 and Rhel 6 both install with it enabled.

When you run Recital Web on a SELinux enabled machine and navigate to the default.rsp page you will see something similar to the screen shot below.

If you launch the SELinux troubleshooter you will see the following problem.

SELinux is blocking the apache server from accessing the Recital server running on port 8001.

To manage you SELinux policy you must have the policycoreutils package group installed. The policycoreutils contains the policy core utilities that are required for basic operation of a SELinux system.

If you wish to use a GUI tool, you must install the policycoreutils-gui package.

At the command prompt execute the following:

As root

$ yum install policycoreutils

$ semanage port -a -t http_port_t -p tcp 8001

$ service recital restart

$ service httpd restart

We use the semanage command here to allow the http server access to port 8001. Once you have completed the steps detailed above you can go and navigate back to the default.rsp page in your borwser, where you will find the permission denied message is now replaced by the default.rsp page.

SELinux does a great job of restricting services and daemons so rather than simply disabling it, why not work with it!

When it comes to security, every little bit helps...

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Centos 5.3 Released!

I am pleased to finally report that the Centos release of Redhats 5.3 has been built and is available for download from http://www.centos.org/

The highlights of this release can be found at the following URL: http://www.redhat.com

The main areas of interest in my opinion excluding critical secirty fixes are:

Updated hardwaresupport support for the new Intel Core i7 (Nehalem) chips
Beefed up virtualiseation support increasing CPU and Ram limits of Virtual machines.
Inclusion of the fully open sourced OpenJDK. This makes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 the first enterprise-ready solution with a fully open source Java stack when combined with JBoss Enterprise Application Platform.

For those who already have Centos 5.2 installed you can simply receive the update via Yum.

Before you do the following, check that you do not have 3rd party repo's and the Centos-testing repo enabled.

You can display the currently enabled repo's using the following command.

$ yum repolist

Then as root at the prompt type:

$ yum update

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HOWTO: Setup a Linux HA cluster for Recital

In this article Barry Mavin explains step by step how to setup a Linux HA (High Availability) cluster for the running of Recital applications on Redhat/Centos 5.3 although the general configuration should work for other linux versions with a few minor changes.

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CLUSTER

Building C Extension Libraries

In this article Barry Mavin, CEO and Chief Software Architect for Recital details how to Build C Extension Libraries to use with Recital.

Overview

It is possible to extend the functionaliy of Recital products using "Extension libraries" that can be written in C. These extension libraries, written using the Recital/SDK API, are dynamically loadable from all Recital 9 products. This includes:

Recital
Recital Server
Recital Web

Building C Extension Libraries

You can create C wrappers for virtually any native operating system function and access these from the Recital 4GL. Unlike traditional APIs which only handle the development of C functions that are callable from the 4GL, the Recital/SDK allows you to build Classes that are accessible from all Recital products. e.g. You could create a GUI framework for Linux that handles VFP system classes!

To deploy your C Extension Libraries, copy them to the following location:

Windows:

\Program Files\Recital\extensions

Linux/Unix:

/opt/recital/extensions

Please see the Recital/SDK API Reference documentation for further details.

Sample code

Listed below is the complete example of a C Extension Library.:

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
#include "mirage_demo.h"  
      
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Declare your functions and classes below as follows:
//
//    Recital Function Name, C Function Name, Type (Function or Class)
//
#define MAX_ELEMENTS    7
static  struct  API_SHARED_FUNCTION_TABLE api_function_table[MAX_ELEMENTS] = {
        {"schar",   "fnSamplesCharacter",   API_FUNCTION},
        {"stype",   "fnSamplesType",           API_FUNCTION},
        {"slog",    "fnSamplesLogical",        API_FUNCTION},
        {"snum",    "fnSamplesNumeric",    API_FUNCTION},
        {"sopen",   "fnSamplesOpen",         API_FUNCTION},
        {"myclass", "clsMyClass",               API_CLASS},
        {NULL,      NULL,                   -1}
};

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Recital API initialization. This should be in only ONE of your C files
// **IT SHOULD NEVER BE EDITED OR REMOVED**  
INIT_API;


///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This is an example of passing a character parameter and returning one.
RECITAL_FUNCTION fnSamplesCharacter(void)
{
    char    *arg1;
    
    if (!_parse_parameters(PCOUNT, "C", &arg1)) { 
        ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
    }
    
    _retc(arg1);
}


///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This is an example of passing a numeric parameter and returning one.
RECITAL_FUNCTION fnSamplesNumeric(void)
{
    int arg1;
    
    if (!_parse_parameters(PCOUNT, "N", &arg1)) { 
        ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
    }
    
    _retni(arg1);
}


///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This is an example returns the data type of the parameter passed.
RECITAL_FUNCTION fnSamplesType(void)
{
    char    result[10];

    if (PCOUNT != 1) { 
        ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
    }
    
    switch (_parinfo(1)) {
        case API_CTYPE:
            strcpy(result, "Character");
            break;
        case API_NTYPE:
            strcpy(result, "Numeric");
            break;
        case API_LTYPE:
            strcpy(result, "Logical");
            break;
        case API_DTYPE:
            strcpy(result, "Date");
            break;
        case API_TTYPE:
            strcpy(result, "DateTime");
            break;
        case API_YTYPE:
            strcpy(result, "Currency");
            break;
        case API_ATYPE:
            strcpy(result, "Array");
            break;
        default:
            strcpy(result, "Unkown");
            break;
    }

    _retc(result);
}


///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This is an example returns "True" or False.
RECITAL_FUNCTION  fnSamplesLogical(void)
{
    char    result[10];
    int     arg1;
    
    if (!_parse_parameters(PCOUNT, "L", &arg1)) { 
        ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
    }
    
    if (arg1) strcpy(result, "True");
    else strcpy(result, "False");

    _retc(result);
}


///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// This example opens a table.
RECITAL_FUNCTION fnSamplesOpen(void)
{
    char    *arg1;
    
    if (!_parse_parameters(PCOUNT, "C", &arg1)) { 
        ERROR(-1, "Incorrect parameters");
    }
    
    if (_parinfo(1) == API_CTYPE) {
        _retni(COMMAND(arg1));
    } else {
        _retni(-1);
    }
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Define the MyClass CLASS using the API macros
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
RECITAL_EXPORT int DEFINE_CLASS(clsMyClass)
{
    /*-------------------------------------*/ 
    /* Dispatch factory methods and return */
    /*-------------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_FACTORY();
 
    /*---------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch constructor and return */ 
    /*---------------------------------*/ 
    DISPATCH_METHOD(clsMyClass, Constructor);

    /*--------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch destructor and return */
    /*--------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_METHOD(clsMyClass, Destructor); 

    /*-----------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch DEFINE method and return */
    /*-----------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_METHOD(clsMyClass, Define);

    /*------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */
    /* method for property NumValue */
    /* then return.                 */
    /*------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, NumValue);
    DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, NumValue); 

    /*------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */
    /* method for property LogValue */
    /* then return.                 */
    /*------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, LogValue);
    DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, LogValue);

    /*-------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY  */
    /* method for property DateValue */
    /* then return.                 */
    /*-------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, DateValue);
    DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, DateValue);

    /*-------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY  */
    /* method for property TimeValue */
    /* then return.                  */
    /*-------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, TimeValue);
    DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, TimeValue);
 
    /*-------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY  */
    /* method for property CurrValue */
    /* then return.                  */
    /*-------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, CurrValue);
    DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, CurrValue);

    /*-------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY  */
    /* method for property CharValue */
    /* then return.                  */
    /*-------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, CharValue); 
    DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, CharValue);

    /*------------------------------*/
    /* Dispatch SET or GET PROPERTY */ 
    /* method for property ObjValue */ 
    /* then return.                 */
    /*------------------------------*/
    DISPATCH_PROPSET(clsMyClass, ObjValue);
    DISPATCH_PROPGET(clsMyClass, ObjValue);

    /*-----------------------------------*/
    /* If message not found return error */
    /*-----------------------------------*/
    OBJECT_RETERROR("Unknown message type");
}

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Define METHOD handlers
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DEFINE_METHOD(clsMyClass, Constructor) 
{
        struct example_data *objectDataArea;

        /* Allocate memory for objects objectData area */
        objectDataArea = (struct example_data *) 
           malloc(sizeof(struct example_data));
        if (objectDataArea == NULL) return(-1);
    
        /* Assign the default property values */
        strcpy(objectDataArea->prop_charvalue, "Test API object");
        objectDataArea->prop_numvalue = 15.2827;
        objectDataArea->prop_logvalue = 'F';
        strcpy(objectDataArea->prop_datevalue, DATE_DATE());
        strcpy(objectDataArea->prop_timevalue, DATE_DATETIME());
        strcpy(objectDataArea->prop_currvalue, "15.2827");
        strcpy(objectDataArea->object_name, "APIobject");
        objectDataArea->prop_objvalue 
             = OBJECT_NEW(objectDataArea->object_name, "exception", NULL);
    
        /* Set the object objectData area */
        OBJECT_SETDATA((char *)objectDataArea);
    
        return(0);
}
  
DEFINE_METHOD(clsMyClass, Destructor) 
{
        struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();

        if (objectData != NULL) {
            if (objectData->prop_objvalue != NULL) 
              OBJECT_DELETE(objectData->prop_objvalue);
            free(objectData);
            objectData = NULL;
        }
        return(0);
}

DEFINE_METHOD(clsMyClass, Define) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
    struct      API_EXPRESSION result;
    char        buffer[512];
    int         rc;

/* Check the object class */
    OBJECT_GETPROPERTY(objectData->prop_objvalue, "class", buffer);
    rc = OBJECT_GETARG(buffer, &result);
    if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'C' 
        && strcmp(result.character, "Exception") == 0) { 
        switch (OBJECT_GETARGC()) {
            case 1: 
                rc = OBJECT_GETPARAMETER(1, &result);
                if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'C') {
                    OBJECT_SETARG(buffer, &result);
                    rc = OBJECT_SETPROPERTY(objectData->prop_objvalue,
                         "message", buffer);
                }
                break;
            case 2: 
                rc = OBJECT_GETPARAMETER(2, &result);
                if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'N') {
                    OBJECT_SETARG(buffer, &result);
                    rc = OBJECT_SETPROPERTY(objectData->prop_objvalue,
                         "errorno", buffer);
                }
         }
    }

    result.type = 'L';
    result.logical = (rc == 0 ? 'T' : 'F');  
    OBJECT_RETRESULT(&result);
}

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Define GET property handlers
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, NumValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();

    if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);

    OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('N', objectData->prop_numvalue);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, LogValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();

    if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);

    OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('L', objectData->prop_logvalue);
}  

DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, DateValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();

    if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);

    OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('D', objectData->prop_datevalue);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, TimeValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();

    if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);

    OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('T', objectData->prop_timevalue);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, CurrValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();

    if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);

    OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('Y', objectData->prop_currvalue);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, CharValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();

    if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);

    OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('C', objectData->prop_charvalue);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYGET(clsMyClass, ObjValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();

    if (objectData == NULL) return(-1);

    OBJECT_RETPROPERTY('O', objectData->prop_objvalue);
} 


////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Define SET property handlers
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, NumValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
    struct API_EXPRESSION result;
    int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;

    OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
    if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'N') {
        objectData->prop_numvalue = result.number;
        rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
    }

    return(rc);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, LogValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
    struct API_EXPRESSION result;
    int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;

    OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
    if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'L') {
        objectData->prop_logvalue = result.logical;
        rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
    }

    return(rc);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, DateValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
    struct API_EXPRESSION result;
    int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;
    OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
    if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'D') {
        strcpy(objectData->prop_datevalue, DATE_DTOS(result.date));
        rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
    }

    return(rc);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, TimeValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
    struct API_EXPRESSION result;
    int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;

    OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
    if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'T') {
        strcpy(objectData->prop_timevalue, DATE_TTOS(result.datetime));
        rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
    }

    return(rc); 
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, CurrValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
    struct API_EXPRESSION result;
    int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;

    OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
    if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'Y') {
        strcpy(objectData->prop_currvalue, CURR_YTOS(result.currency));
        rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
    }

    return(rc);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, CharValue)  
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
    struct API_EXPRESSION result;
    int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;

    OBJECT_GETVALUE(&result);
    if (result.errno == 0 && result.type == 'C') {
        strcpy(objectData->prop_currvalue, result.character);
        rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
    }

    return(rc);
}

DEFINE_PROPERTYSET(clsMyClass, ObjValue) 
{
    struct example_data *objectData = (struct example_data *)OBJECT_GETDATA();
    OBJECT  objvalue;
    int rc = OBJECT_ERROR;

    if (OBJECT_GETTYPE() == 'O') {
        objvalue = OBJECT_GETOBJECT(); 
        objectData->prop_objvalue = OBJECT_ASSIGN(objvalue, objectData->object_name);
        rc = OBJECT_SUCCESS;
    }

    return(rc);
}

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Recital tuning guide - Part 1

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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Performance enhancement updating tables with indexes

Origins of "Open Source"

FIX: ssh: Connection closed by remote host

Configuring Recital ODBC Datasources on 64 bit Windows

Module positions

HOWTO: Configure SELinux for Recital Web

Centos 5.3 Released!

HOWTO: Setup a Linux HA cluster for Recital

Building C Extension Libraries

Overview

Building C Extension Libraries

Sample code

Recital tuning guide - Part 1

More...

How to configure Recital Server to authenticate against Kerberos

Recital Data Validation: static list of choices

Save and restore state across Recital Web pages

Use Recital in linux/Unix shell scripts

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