Posts

Windows DeVeDe Development Instructions
Optional
- ImgBurn Support
- Building Packages
Design Patterns Explained
C# Database Audit/History Tracking
html2chm
Screen Video Capture

Windows DeVeDe Development Instructions

January 24, 2010

This is a checklist of items and actions that must be performed to build/develop DeVeDe on Windows.

First there are several packages that must be installed. All packages are for x86 and not 64bit and all python packages are for version 2.6.*.

Install Python 2.7 (make sure it is 2.7 not 3.*) - http://python.org/download/
Install Python for Win32 Extensions - http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/ (direct http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/files/pywin32/Build%20214/pywin32-214.win32-py2.7.exe/download).
Install PyGTK 2.22 all in one installer - http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/binaries/win32/pygtk/2.22/pygtk-all-in-one-2.22.5.win32-py2.7.msi
Check out DeVeDe master from github https://github.com/majorsilence/Devede (new url) - to setup git on windows see http://help.github.com/win-set-up-git/
From an install of devede (http://files.majorsilence.com/devede/downloads/316-9/devede-setup-3.16.9-build7.msi) copy the bin folder into the "src" folder. This provides the executables that DeVeDe requires to do its work.
Double click devede.py to start devede.

Optional

ImgBurn Support

Install ImgBurn - http://www.imgburn.com/
ImgBurn is used when it is detected to create the ISO files. Otherwise mkisofs.exe is used and it has major problems on Vista and Windows 7.
ImgBurn must be run once after install to add its location to the registry path.

Building Packages

Install py2exe - http://sourceforge.net/projects/py2exe/files/ - direct link (http://sourceforge.net/projects/py2exe/files/py2exe/0.6.9/py2exe-0.6.9.win32-py2.7.exe/download)
Install wix - http://sourceforge.net/projects/wix/files/. As of this posting this is not currently integrated in devede win32 build but it will be soon.
From the GTK install directory copy the "etc", "lib", and "share" folders to the devede trunk folders. These are used when building devede.exe
Create zipped source package (trunk-src.zip), devede.exe (trunk\dist\devede.exe, you need the entire "dist" folder), and msi installers by running devede_build.py (You may have to edit this file to point to the correct location of python).

Design Patterns Explained

January 11, 2010

Results of reading Design Patterns Explained. My definitions are very loose. For better understanding read the book or visit Wikipedia.

Facade pattern - Basically Create a wrapper around methods/classes to to ease use (simplified interface).

Adapter pattern - Basically Create a wrapper for a class to meet a defined interface. Similar to a Facade.

Bridge pattern - The abstraction/interface is separate from the implementation. Create the interface. Then program the implementation to the interface. The interface is never a concrete implementation itself.

Abstract Factory pattern Create an abstract class. Create concrete classes from abstract class. Have another class that. Abstract/Interface A Implementation B Implementation C

Class D returns

Class E calls D which returns either B or C. Since both implement A they both have the same methods and properties and can be used interchangeably. At least this is what I gathered from the chapter.

• First, identify the rules for instantiation and define an abstract class with an interface that has a method for each object that needs to be instantiated. • Then, implement concrete classes from this class for each family. • The client object uses this factory object to create the server objects that it needs.

Strategy Pattern - Encapsulating an algorithm(s) in an abstract class and using one of them at a time inter-changeably. GOF: Define a family of algorithms, encapsulate each one, and make them interchangeable. Strategy lets the algorithm vary independently from the clients that use it.

Decorator Pattern - Attach additional responsibilities to a object dynamically.

Singleton pattern - used in single threaded applications. Purpose is to make sure only one instance of a class is instantiated.

Double-Checked Locking Pattern - like singleton but used in multi threaded application. Purpose is to make sure only one instance of a class is instantiated.

Eg. Constructor is private so the only instance can be created with the Instance Property

  public sealed class Login
  {
         private static volatile Login instance;
         private static object syncRoot = new Object();

         private Login() { }

         public static Login Instance
         {
            get 
            {
               if (instance == null) 
               {
                  lock (syncRoot) 
                  {
                      if (instance == null)
                      {
                          instance = new Login();
                      }
                  }
               }

               return instance;
            }
         }
  }

Observer pattern An object called the subject maintains a list of its dependants, called observers, and notifies them automatically of any state changes, by calling one of their methods.

Defines a one-to-many dependency between objects so that when one object changes state, all its dependents are notified and updated automatically.

The Template Method Pattern Define the skeleton of an algorithm in an operation, deferring some steps to subclasses. Redefine the steps in an algorithm without changing the algorithm’s structure.

Factory Pattern Method “When there is a method involved in making an object, the approach is called a Factory Method.”

According to the Gang of Four, the intent of the Factory Method is to: Define an interface for creating an object, but let sub-classes decide which class to instantiate. Factory Method lets a class defer instantiation to subclasses.

C# Database Audit/History Tracking

January 10, 2010

This is a simple method of history tracking of database changes that in done within in the application. There are other methods to do this including creating triggers within the database itself.

Basically this is one small function that you pass in a dataset and transaction. It loops through each table and each row and column in the table and detects the current state of the row and records it in an audit table.

First lets take a look at the audit table. The audit table tracks the tablename, field that was changed, the original and new value of the changed column, the action taken (insert, modified, delete), the user that did the action and the date. The tablename and code (primary key) field can be used to search the history of a row. Also included is orig_binary and new_binary for storing values for binary columns instead of original and new.

SQL (SQLite)

CREATE TABLE [audit] (
[id] INTEGER  PRIMARY KEY,
[tablename] VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL,
[field] NVARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL,
[original] NVARCHAR(4000)  NOT NULL,
[new] NVARCHAR(4000)  NOT NULL,
[action] NVARCHAR(10)  NOT NULL,
[user] NVARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL,
[date] DATE  NOT NULL,
[code] INTEGER  NOT NULL,
[orig_binary] BLOB  NULL,
[new_binary] BLOB  NULL
);


CREATE TABLE [actor] (
[id] INTEGER  PRIMARY KEY,
[first_name] VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL,
[last_name] NVARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL,
[date_of_birth] NVARCHAR(25)  NOT NULL
);

So it should be obvious that this approach is to use one table for tracking all changes in every table. Another option would be to create an audit table for each table and every time a row is changed copy it to the audit table first. You would then have to scan the audit table and check each column to see what the change that was made.

I would like to point out that I do not particularly like the code shown below. I would prefer to use a RowUpdated event handler but since I am SQLiteDataAdapters with sql text instead of stored procedures with return row I am settling for this. In another post I will show using the updated event with Microsoft SQL server and Stored procedures.

Here is the code that set ups the transactions and calls the audit function. The audit function must be called before the DataAdapter update. This is all done within one transaction so that nothing is recorded in the audit table unless records are saved in the main table.

You should notice that the DoAudit function takes as parameters a DataSet that is to be tracked in the audit, a code (if empty it will use the primary key column as the code) and a SQLiteTransaction.

Please excuse the incompleteness of the class Program as I am in the middle of rewritting this article.

class Program
{
    private static SQLiteDataAdapter daActor;
    private static DataSet dsActor;
    private static Audit auditTracking;

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        auditTracking = new Audit();
        dsActor = new DataSet();

        SQLiteConnection cn = HelperFunctions.CreateConnection();
        daActor = new SQLiteDataAdapter("SELECT * FROM actor;", cn);
        if (System.IO.File.Exists("hello.db"))
        {
            daActor.Fill(dsActor);
        }

        bool exit = false;
        Console.WriteLine("h - for help");
        while (exit == false)
        {
            Console.Write("Command: ");
            string input = Console.ReadLine();
            switch (input)
            {
                case "q":
                    exit = true;
                    break;
                case "0":
                    HelperFunctions.CreateDatabase();
                    daActor.Fill(dsActor);
                    break;
                case "n":
                    NewActor();
                    break;
                case "p":
                    PrintAllActors();
                    break;
                case "pa":
                    PrintAuditTable();
                    break;
                case "h":
                    Console.WriteLine("q - quite program");
                    Console.WriteLine("0 - Create Database");
                    Console.WriteLine("n - Add new actor");
                    Console.WriteLine("p - Print all actors");
                    Console.WriteLine("pa - Print audit table");
                    Console.WriteLine("h - Print Help");
                    Console.WriteLine("");
                    break;
            }
        }

    }

    private static void PrintAuditTable()
    {
        DataTable dt = new DataTable();
        SQLiteConnection cn = HelperFunctions.CreateConnection();
        SQLiteCommand cmd = new SQLiteCommand("SELECT * FROM audit;", cn);
        cn.Open();
        SQLiteDataReader reader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
        dt.Load(reader);
        reader.Close();

        foreach (DataRow row in dt.Rows)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("ID: " + row["id"]);
            Console.WriteLine("tablename: " + row["tablename"]);
            Console.WriteLine("field: " + row["field"]);
            Console.WriteLine("original: " + row["original"]);
            Console.WriteLine("new: " + row["new"]);
            Console.WriteLine("action: " + row["action"]);
            Console.WriteLine("user: " + row["user"]);
            Console.WriteLine("date: " + row["date"]);
            Console.WriteLine("code: " + row["code"]);
            Console.WriteLine("orig_binary: " + row["orig_binary"]);
            Console.WriteLine("new_binary: " + row["new_binary"]);
            Console.WriteLine("");
        }
    }

    private static void PrintAllActors()
    {
        foreach (DataRow row in dsActor.Tables[0].Rows)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Actor: " + row["first_name"] + " " + row["last_name"]);
            Console.WriteLine("DOB: " + row["date_of_birth"]);
            Console.WriteLine("");
        }
    }
    private static void NewActor()
    {
        DataRow row = dsActor.Tables[0].NewRow();

        row["id"] = DBNull.Value;

        Console.Write("First Name: ");
        row["first_name"] = Console.ReadLine();

        Console.Write("Last Name: ");
        row["last_name"] = Console.ReadLine();

        Console.Write("Date of Birth: ");
        row["date_of_birth"] = Console.ReadLine();

        dsActor.Tables[0].Rows.Add(row);

        UpdateDatabase();
    }

    private static void UpdateDatabase()
    {
        SQLiteConnection cn = HelperFunctions.CreateConnection();

        cn.Open();
        daActor.SelectCommand.Connection = cn;
        SQLiteTransaction txn = cn.BeginTransaction();
        try
        {
            SQLiteCommandBuilder cmd = new SQLiteCommandBuilder(daActor);
            daActor.InsertCommand = cmd.GetInsertCommand();
            daActor.UpdateCommand = cmd.GetUpdateCommand();
            daActor.DeleteCommand = cmd.GetDeleteCommand();

            daActor.InsertCommand.Transaction = txn;
            daActor.UpdateCommand.Transaction = txn;
            daActor.DeleteCommand.Transaction = txn;

            // call the audit function.  If the daActor.Update command succeeds then
            // there will be an audit trail.  If it fails the audit will be rolled back.
            auditTracking.DoAudit(dsActor, "", txn);
            daActor.Update(dsActor);
            txn.Commit();
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            // rollback action and audit trail.
            txn.Rollback();
            TrapErrors(ex, true);
        }
        finally
        {
            cn.Close();
        }
    }

    public static void TrapErrors(Exception ex, bool showMessage)
    {
        if (showMessage)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
        }
    }
}

The Main function runs the code that lets the user enter new actors and then calls the UpdateDatabase function to update the actor and audit table.

Here is the audit class that does the actual work.

The DoAudit function is passed a DataSet and a Transaction. It will loop through each row in each table that is in the DataSet. If there are any changes to the values such as an Insert, Update, or Delete it will record this change in the audit table. It will attempt to identify the primary key and use that as the code column in the audit table.

public class Audit
{
    private SQLiteDataAdapter daAudit;


    /// <summary>
    /// Check the specfied table in the dataset and record them in the audit table.
    /// Currently is only an example and does not work
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="ds">DataSet</param>
    /// <param name="code">string - generally the primary key of the table</param>
    /// <param name="txn">IDbTransaction</param>
    /// <remarks>Requires a table with columns: tablename, action, user, date, new, original, field, code.
    /// The "code" field is the one that is to be searched.</remarks>
    public void DoAudit(DataSet ds, string code, SQLiteTransaction txn)
    {
        if (ds.Tables.Count <= 0)
        {
            return;
        }

        DataSet dsAudit = new DataSet();
        DataRow row_Audit;
        daAudit = new SQLiteDataAdapter("Select * from audit WHERE 1=2;", txn.Connection);
        daAudit.Fill(dsAudit);

        dsAudit.Tables[0].Columns["id"].AllowDBNull = true;
        dsAudit.Tables[0].Columns["orig_binary"].AllowDBNull = true;
        dsAudit.Tables[0].Columns["new_binary"].AllowDBNull = true;

        SQLiteCommandBuilder cmd = new SQLiteCommandBuilder(daAudit);
        daAudit.InsertCommand = cmd.GetInsertCommand();
        daAudit.InsertCommand.Transaction = txn;


        daAudit.InsertCommand.UpdatedRowSource = UpdateRowSource.FirstReturnedRecord;
        daAudit.InsertCommand.Transaction = txn;

        string tableName = "";
        string primaryKey = "";


        foreach (DataTable tbl in ds.Tables)
        {
            tableName = tbl.TableName;

            if (ds.Tables[tableName].PrimaryKey.Length > 0)
            {
                primaryKey = ds.Tables[tableName].PrimaryKey[0].ColumnName.Trim();
            }

            foreach (DataRow x in tbl.Rows)
            {
                int codeID = -1;

                for (int i = 0; i <= tbl.Columns.Count - 1; i++)
                {
                    row_Audit = dsAudit.Tables[0].NewRow();
                    row_Audit["id"] = DBNull.Value;
                    row_Audit["tablename"] = tableName;
                    row_Audit["date"] = DateTime.Now;
                    row_Audit["action"] = x.RowState.ToString();
                    row_Audit["code"] = codeID;
                    row_Audit["user"] = System.Environment.UserName; //Login.LoggedInUser;
                    row_Audit["new_binary"] = null;
                    row_Audit["orig_binary"] = null;


                    string original = "";
                    string current = "";

                    // deletes should have blank current values
                    if (x.RowState != DataRowState.Deleted)
                    {
                        current = x[i, DataRowVersion.Current].ToString().Trim();
                    }

                    // Insert should have blank original values.
                    if (x.RowState != DataRowState.Added)
                    {
                        original = x[i, DataRowVersion.Original].ToString().Trim();
                    }


                    if (tbl.Columns[i].ColumnName == primaryKey)
                    {
                        try
                        {
                            if (HelperFunctions.IsNumeric(current, System.Globalization.NumberStyles.Integer))
                            {
                                codeID = int.Parse(current);
                            }
                            else
                            {
                                codeID = -1;
                            }
                        }
                        catch
                        {
                            codeID = -1;
                        }
                        row_Audit["code"] = codeID;
                    }

                    if (current != original)
                    {

                        row_Audit["field"] = ds.Tables[tableName].Columns[i].ColumnName;
                        row_Audit["new"] = current;
                        row_Audit["original"] = original;

                        dsAudit.Tables[0].Rows.Add(row_Audit);
                    }
                }

            }

            daAudit.Update(dsAudit);
        }
    }
}

As can be seen in this code it will also work on fields that are binary blobs.

New HelperFunctions class: This class has functions for creating a new sample database named hello.db, returning a connection to the sample database and testing if a field is numeric.

class HelperFunctions
{

    public static void CreateDatabase()
    {

        SQLiteConnection.CreateFile("hello.db");
        SQLiteConnection cn = CreateConnection();
        String.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "Data Source = {0}; Version = 3", "database.sql");

        string sql = System.IO.File.ReadAllText("database.sql", System.Text.Encoding.UTF8);
        SQLiteCommand cmd = new SQLiteCommand(sql, cn);
        cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
    }

    public static SQLiteConnection CreateConnection()
    {
        return new SQLiteConnection("Data Source = 'hello.db'; Version = 3");
    }

    static public bool IsNumeric(string val, System.Globalization.NumberStyles NumberStyle)
    {
        Double result;
        return Double.TryParse(val, NumberStyle, System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, out result);
    }
}

html2chm

January 1, 2010

C# version of turning a website into a chm file. Requires that html workshop (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/htmlhelp/html/vsconhh1start.asp) is installed. If anyone knows of a working open source chm compiler let me know.

Can be used like: html2chm.Html2chm action = new html2chm.Html2chm(); This will run and prompt you for which website directory and which file in the directory to convert to a chm file.

Or it can be used like this: bool eachFileAsTopic = true; html2chm.Html2chm action = new html2chm.Html2chm(@”\Path\to\directory\to\convert”, @”mainTopic.html”, eachFileAsTopic);

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Diagnostics;


namespace html2chm
{

    public class Html2chm
    {
        //http://www.majorsilence.com/csharp_html2chm
        //The generated CHM file is named YourCHMFile.chm on your desktop.

        string HHC;
        // Path to hhc.exe

        // Directory path where HHP file is stored
        // and base directory of the html files to be converted
        string RepBase;

        string FicHHP;
        // Path to HHP file

        string fileListString;


        public Html2chm() : this("", "", false)
        {
        }

        public Html2chm(string convertDirectory, string mainTopic, bool filesAsTopics)
        {
            List<string> fileList = new List<string>();

            HHC = System.IO.Path.Combine("C:\\Program Files\\HTML Help Workshop", "hhc.exe");

            if (System.IO.File.Exists(HHC) == false)
            {
                HHC = System.IO.Path.Combine("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\HTML Help Workshop", "hhc.exe");
                if (System.IO.File.Exists(HHC) == false)
                {
                    MessageBox.Show("In order to use this script, you need HTML Help Workshop" + System.Environment.NewLine + "http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/htmlhelp/html/vsconhh1start.asp");
                    return;
                }
            }

            if (convertDirectory == string.Empty)
            {
                System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog DirectoryBrowser = default(System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog);
                DirectoryBrowser = new System.Windows.Forms.FolderBrowserDialog();
                DirectoryBrowser.Description = "Which directory do you want to use?";
                if ((DirectoryBrowser.ShowDialog() == System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK))
                {
                    RepBase = DirectoryBrowser.SelectedPath;
                }
            }
            else
            {
                RepBase = convertDirectory;
            }


            if (RepBase == null)
            {

                MessageBox.Show("Please choose a Folder");
            }
            else
            {
                fileList.AddRange(RecursiveFileList(new DirectoryInfo(RepBase), new DirectoryInfo(RepBase)));
                string fileHHC="";
                string FicHHC = System.IO.Path.Combine(RepBase, "chm-editor-Temp-HHC.hhc");
                foreach (string s in fileList)
                {
                    this.fileListString += s + System.Environment.NewLine;

                    if (filesAsTopics)
                    {
                        string value = s.Replace(RepBase, "");

                        string textValue = ""; 

                        if (value.StartsWith("\\"))
                        {
                            value = value.Remove(0, 1);
                        }

                        textValue = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(value); 
                        textValue = textValue.Replace(System.IO.Path.GetExtension(textValue), "");

                        fileHHC += "<LI><OBJECT type=\"text/sitemap\"><PARAM name=\"Name\" value=\"" + textValue + "\"><PARAM name=\"Local\" value=\"" + value + "\"><PARAM name=\"ImageNumber\" value=\"0\"></OBJECT>";
                    }
                }

                if (filesAsTopics)
                {
                    System.IO.File.WriteAllText(FicHHC, fileHHC);
                }

                FicHHP = System.IO.Path.Combine(RepBase, "chm-editor-Temp" + DateTime.Now.Millisecond.ToString() + ".HHP");
                string output = "[OPTIONS]" + System.Environment.NewLine;
                output += "Compatibility=1.1 or later" + System.Environment.NewLine;
                output += "Compiled file=" + System.IO.Path.Combine(System.Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Desktop), "YourCHMFile.chm") + System.Environment.NewLine;
                string main_topic;

                if (mainTopic == string.Empty)
                {
                    main_topic = MainTopic();
                }
                else
                {
                    main_topic = mainTopic;
                }

                if (filesAsTopics)
                {
                    output += "Contents file=" + FicHHC + System.Environment.NewLine;
                }

                output += "Default topic=" + main_topic.Substring(RepBase.Length + 1, main_topic.Length - (RepBase.Length + 1)) + System.Environment.NewLine; //Strings.Mid(MainTopic(), Strings.Len(RepBase) + 2) + System.Environment.NewLine;
                output += "Display compile progress=No" + System.Environment.NewLine;
                output += "Language=0x409 English (standard)" + System.Environment.NewLine;
                // 0x40C - French
                // 0x407 - German
                output += "Title=(c) 2010 MajorSilence" + System.Environment.NewLine;
                output += System.Environment.NewLine + "[FILES]" + System.Environment.NewLine;
                output += this.fileListString + System.Environment.NewLine;
                output += System.Environment.NewLine + "[INFOTYPES]" + System.Environment.NewLine;

                System.IO.File.WriteAllText(FicHHP, output);

                System.Diagnostics.Process p = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
                p.StartInfo.FileName = HHC;
                p.StartInfo.Arguments = FicHHP;
                p.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
                p.Start();
                p.WaitForExit();

                // Finally Remove 
                try
                {
                    System.IO.File.Delete(FicHHP);

                    if (System.IO.File.Exists(FicHHC))
                    {
                        System.IO.File.Delete(FicHHC);
                    }
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                }
            }

            
        }

        // Recurse through directory and return string of files
        public List<String> RecursiveFileList(DirectoryInfo source, DirectoryInfo target)
        {
            // loop through each file in current directory
            List<string> fileList = new List<string>();

            foreach (FileInfo file in source.GetFiles())
            {
                if (file.Name.ToLower().EndsWith("html") | file.Name.ToLower().EndsWith("htm") | file.Name.ToLower().EndsWith("mov") | file.Name.ToLower().EndsWith("au"))
                {
                    fileList.Add(file.FullName);

                }
            }

            // Then loop through each directory
            foreach (DirectoryInfo dir in source.GetDirectories())
            {
                fileList.AddRange(RecursiveFileList(dir, new DirectoryInfo(dir.Name)));
            }


            return fileList;
        }


        // Select the root file (Main topic) in base directory
        public string MainTopic()
        {
            System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog dlg = new System.Windows.Forms.OpenFileDialog();

            if (dlg.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
            {
                return dlg.FileName;
            }

            return string.Empty;
        }

    }

}

Screen Video Capture

December 24, 2009

I needed a screen video capture software that was free and open source and worked with several different video types. I also wanted the program to record the proper screen colours. So I wrote a small program to do this. It uses mencoder to do the video processing so I will be able to add almost any video format as the output. Current it outputs mpeg/mp3 in an avi container.

See the two attached files. Warning, this is very alpha quality software. When doing a new recording always make sure it is in a new empty folder. It should not harm any other files but I would not take the chance. Tested on 64 bit Vista. Not sure how well it will work on Windows XP or 7.

It currently uses a lot of memory. Can only record from the primary screen. Only does full screen recordings. Which is fine for my needs.

It also currently highlights the mouse location and records from the computer mic.

UPDATE: Get the latest release and news from http://majorsilence.com/screen_video_capture