Lighting detection related tidbits:
Public utilities track lighting strikes nationwide since lightning strikes often damage power lines.
Ryan makes the "StrikeFinder" - a lightning detector/ receiver used in smaller aircraft to provide the pilot with a crude map of severe weather in their path.
In contrast to the software soundcard o-scopes described by others that are limited to 0-20kHz, here is a low-cost kit that can turn your soundcard into a spectrum analyzer in the 3-500 MHz range with 1.7 GHz possible.
"Do you think a hierarchical database would really be a better answer for storing XML data over the existing relational counterparts?"
My point (and that of others) is: an LDAP server is a valid store for XML data and so should be considered relevant to the question above. You were dismissing LDAP as merely a *protocol*.
Like I said, an LDAP server *is* a database. You've just confirmed that.
I've set up OpenLDAP before and even created a custom schema for it so I understand your point - but it does not contradict what I've said.
-rick
"Do you think a hierarchical database would really be a better answer for storing XML data over the existing relational counterparts?"
This is like asking "would multi-gigabyte tape or sub-gigabyte cd be better for storing audio?" Depends on your needs - do you need random access or is brute capacity more important?
In the case of XML, the answer comes from what you want to do after you've stored the data. XML can represent hierarchical data by nesting tags. It can represent relational data by matching ID and IDREF attributes (part of the XML 1.0 spec).
Another issue is whether a schema or DTD is available. With schema information you can optimize you storage strategy whether relational or hierarchical.
Of course you *can* store hierarchical data in an relational database with the hierarchy preserved as a parent/child relation.
For the longest time (decades) relational DBs have had SQL as an effective powerful way to express a query.
Now we have XQuery as a query language for XML. XQuery may come to rival SQL but the experts are still figuring out how to implement and optimize XQuery. Optimized implementations of SQL are commonplace and have had years of testing.
So... figure out what your goals are and go from there!
-rick
Could you please elaborate on what those false assumptions are?
Could you explain what appears in the document that indicates poor knowledge of C++?
What details were overlooked?
Finally, why in this second post do you suggest they go with C (a step down) instead of the latest standard compliant C++ (a step up)? You seem to insist to either extreme rather than the compromised path that was chosen for reasons I've already explained.
-rick
Please read the following which appears at the end of the guide.
Revision History.
* 0.5 Initial Revision. 3-27-1998 David Williams
* 0.6 Added "C++ Style casts" and "mutable" entries. 12-24-1998 Ramiro Estrugo
* 0.7 Added "nsCOMPtr" entry and mozillaZine resource link. 12-02-1999 Ramiro Estrugo
* 0.8 Added "reserved words" entry. 2-01-2001 Scott Collins
Also, beware that a stong faction within the mozilla team wanted to code in C rather than C++
because of all the less-than-compatible implementations in C++ that existed. Templates are still broke on some versions of C++. There are folks running mozilla ported to C front for crying out loud. The objective here was to cover as many platforms as possible - not just the top four or five.
Good morning!
Write your program as a XUL application!
Say what? Yeah, that's XUL (pronounced zool)...
The folks that earlier suggested NSPR are on the right track but they stopped short of taking advantage of the cross-platform GUI aspects of mozilla. Design you UI using XML - that's XUL.
Write modular components in C++ using XPCOM - a
cross platform variant of COM.
Compile and deploy to just about any platform that mozilla runs on - and *that* my friend is a lot!
The bulk of your app can be defined using a few
text files (XUL compatible XML tags with some Javascript). You might not even need to write *any* C++ code.
Besides the docs available directly on mozilla.org,
here's a link to some stuff I wrote:
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/ library/co-xpcom/
Enjoy.
flipper28 said "I'm not sure if you remember, but before.NET, there was a language called COM+ (not the COM mananger they shipped) which was never released (although there are two articles in msj now msdn)."
COM+ is an architecture, not a language. You can write COM+ apps in C++, VB, and now C#. COM+ has
been made part of dot-NET along with MTS and
MSMQ. If you have Win2K or XP, you've got COM+. There are client installations available all the
way back to Win95 as well.
Next flipper28 said, "Microsoft will move to other platforms, but to do so developers will need to make their code portable, which is where.NET comes into play."Yeah, Microsoft gave up trying to assimilate Java and came out with their own virtual machine environment. They're reinventing stuff folks like IBM developed about 30 years ago though much more nicely packaged.
... to actually fulfill the RFP. For large projects where responsibility is scattered among a large number of people - send your request to those whose contributions are closest to your needs.
For small, tightly controlled projects you can send the request directly to the whole team or post your request to the small community that surrounds and supports the open source project.
Even if the core team members are too busy to contribute, you are certain to get the attention of an outside person that actively uses and is very familiar with the project and code.
There are a lot of consultants that keep a collection of open source tools in their bag of tricks. They will be happy to be paid to customize or enhance one of their favorite tools.
In any case, it will require you to get involved in the community at least well enough to know who's who. Get on the message boards and mailing lists and start asking questions. You'll soon find out who is helpful.
I bought a Winbook XL3 in Feb of 2000. By June it was starting to show stress cracks around the hinges, over the PC card slot bays. The upper clamshell that wraps the screen begain splitting along the hinge line. The mouse buttons were also flakey. I started using an external mouse.
During the last ten days of the one year warranty I sent the unit back. They fixed the cracked plastic but the mouse button was still bad. That was Feb 2001. Now it is October - the cracks are starting to show again and the mouse button is still does not work reliably.
By next summer I expect to buy a replacement unit. It won't be a WinBook and from the looks of other messages here - it won't be a Dell either.
Slashdot Mirror
Lighting detection related tidbits: Public utilities track lighting strikes nationwide since lightning strikes often damage power lines. Ryan makes the "StrikeFinder" - a lightning detector/ receiver used in smaller aircraft to provide the pilot with a crude map of severe weather in their path.
In contrast to the software soundcard o-scopes described by others that are limited to 0-20kHz, here is a low-cost kit that can turn your soundcard into a spectrum analyzer in the 3-500 MHz range with 1.7 GHz possible.
http://www.science-workshop.com/
Enjoy.
"Do you think a hierarchical database would really be a better answer for storing XML data over the existing relational counterparts?"
My point (and that of others) is: an LDAP server is a valid store for XML data and so should be considered relevant to the question above. You were dismissing LDAP as merely a *protocol*.
Like I said, an LDAP server *is* a database. You've just confirmed that. I've set up OpenLDAP before and even created a custom schema for it so I understand your point - but it does not contradict what I've said. -rick
Yes, the "P" in LDAP stands for protocol. You use it to talk to an LDAP server. The LDAP server *is* a database so the points are still valid.
"Do you think a hierarchical database would really be a better answer for storing XML data over the existing relational counterparts?" This is like asking "would multi-gigabyte tape or sub-gigabyte cd be better for storing audio?" Depends on your needs - do you need random access or is brute capacity more important? In the case of XML, the answer comes from what you want to do after you've stored the data. XML can represent hierarchical data by nesting tags. It can represent relational data by matching ID and IDREF attributes (part of the XML 1.0 spec). Another issue is whether a schema or DTD is available. With schema information you can optimize you storage strategy whether relational or hierarchical. Of course you *can* store hierarchical data in an relational database with the hierarchy preserved as a parent/child relation. For the longest time (decades) relational DBs have had SQL as an effective powerful way to express a query. Now we have XQuery as a query language for XML. XQuery may come to rival SQL but the experts are still figuring out how to implement and optimize XQuery. Optimized implementations of SQL are commonplace and have had years of testing. So ... figure out what your goals are and go from there!
-rick
Could you please elaborate on what those false assumptions are?
Could you explain what appears in the document that indicates poor knowledge of C++?
What details were overlooked?
Finally, why in this second post do you suggest they go with C (a step down) instead of the latest standard compliant C++ (a step up)? You seem to insist to either extreme rather than the compromised path that was chosen for reasons I've already explained. -rick
Please read the following which appears at the end of the guide.
Revision History.
* 0.5 Initial Revision. 3-27-1998 David Williams
* 0.6 Added "C++ Style casts" and "mutable" entries. 12-24-1998 Ramiro Estrugo
* 0.7 Added "nsCOMPtr" entry and mozillaZine resource link. 12-02-1999 Ramiro Estrugo
* 0.8 Added "reserved words" entry. 2-01-2001 Scott Collins
Also, beware that a stong faction within the mozilla team wanted to code in C rather than C++ because of all the less-than-compatible implementations in C++ that existed. Templates are still broke on some versions of C++. There are folks running mozilla ported to C front for crying out loud. The objective here was to cover as many platforms as possible - not just the top four or five.
Link fix XPCOM Intro
Good morning! Write your program as a XUL application! Say what? Yeah, that's XUL (pronounced zool) ...
The folks that earlier suggested NSPR are on the right track but they stopped short of taking advantage of the cross-platform GUI aspects of mozilla. Design you UI using XML - that's XUL.
Write modular components in C++ using XPCOM - a
cross platform variant of COM.
Compile and deploy to just about any platform that mozilla runs on - and *that* my friend is a lot!
The bulk of your app can be defined using a few
text files (XUL compatible XML tags with some Javascript). You might not even need to write *any* C++ code.
Besides the docs available directly on mozilla.org,
here's a link to some stuff I wrote:
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/ library/co-xpcom/
Enjoy.
flipper28 said "I'm not sure if you remember, but before .NET, there was a language called COM+ (not the COM mananger they shipped) which was never released (although there are two articles in msj now msdn)."
.NET comes into play."Yeah, Microsoft gave up trying to assimilate Java and came out with their own virtual machine environment. They're reinventing stuff folks like IBM developed about 30 years ago though much more nicely packaged.
COM+ is an architecture, not a language. You can write COM+ apps in C++, VB, and now C#. COM+ has
been made part of dot-NET along with MTS and
MSMQ. If you have Win2K or XP, you've got COM+. There are client installations available all the
way back to Win95 as well.
Next flipper28 said, "Microsoft will move to other platforms, but to do so developers will need to make their code portable, which is where
-rick
... to actually fulfill the RFP. For large projects where responsibility is scattered among a large number of people - send your request to those whose contributions are closest to your needs.
For small, tightly controlled projects you can send the request directly to the whole team or post your request to the small community that surrounds and supports the open source project.
Even if the core team members are too busy to contribute, you are certain to get the attention of an outside person that actively uses and is very familiar with the project and code.
There are a lot of consultants that keep a collection of open source tools in their bag of tricks. They will be happy to be paid to customize or enhance one of their favorite tools.
In any case, it will require you to get involved in the community at least well enough to know who's who. Get on the message boards and mailing lists and start asking questions. You'll soon find out who is helpful.
Regards, Rick Parrishbero is right. I just tried Mozilla again and it is still blocked. Like I care about msn, heh.
I bought a Winbook XL3 in Feb of 2000. By June it was starting to show stress cracks around the hinges, over the PC card slot bays. The upper clamshell that wraps the screen begain splitting along the hinge line. The mouse buttons were also flakey. I started using an external mouse.
During the last ten days of the one year warranty I sent the unit back. They fixed the cracked plastic but the mouse button was still bad. That was Feb 2001. Now it is October - the cracks are starting to show again and the mouse button is still does not work reliably.
By next summer I expect to buy a replacement unit. It won't be a WinBook and from the looks of other messages here - it won't be a Dell either.
Sony VIAO anyone?