Posted By : Dan Wilson     January 29, 2010 7:39 AM

My wife creates massive proposals using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office. Today she had a Word document spontaneously get corrupted and lose hours of her changes. The Microsoft Word document would not open at all, not on her computer, or any of her co-worker's computers.

I offered to take a look at the document and see if I could recover any part. She sent me the document and I started googling around for 'how to recover docx files and found a number of paid utilities claiming to fix the situation. Not ready to spend money, and on a whim, I tried to open the document with the Open Office, open source word processing software. Guess what, it worked!

The corrupted document opened just fine with Open Office. I easily saved the document as a .doc file which opened just fine on my wife's computer in Microsoft Office.

Since the file is now a .doc format and not a .docx format, some of the formatting was munged. However, fixing formatting is a whole lot easier than re-crafting pages and pages of text, don't you agree?

The best part about this, is it took less than a minute and $0 to repair the file.

Here are the steps:

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     December 24, 2009 4:35 PM

While working on some Model-Glue documentation we needed to convert an open office document to TracWiki format. I'm not fluent in TracWiki and I certainly didn't want to manually format 30-40 pages. Thankfully, there is an Open Office --> TracWiki conversion macro that will automate pretty much all of it. It helps if you used the Styles features of Open Office because the TracWiki will be cleaner, but no worries, it'll convert it anyways if you didn't. Here is how it works.

1. Open the Open Office document you want to copy text from. We'll call it the Source document.
2. Set the macro permissions to Medium or Low by going to the menu -> Tools -> Options -> Open Office.org -> Security -> Macro Security
3. Download and open the Open Office Template Macro (ODT file)
4. Remove all text in the newly opened ODT file.
5. Highlight the text in your Source document, copy it, then paste it into the ODT file.
6. Press the button with the correct format, the text will be converted to the correct wiki format and copied to the clipboard. (English is on page 2)
7. Paste the text from the clipboard into the edit box in your wiki.

You now have converted Open Office document text to wiki format.

The conversion picked nearly everything. I manually cleaned up white space issues and also added in code blocks around all the source code sections, but I was very pleased with the amount of work handled by the OpenOfficeToTracWikiScript.

Posted By : Dan Wilson     November 25, 2009 7:25 AM

Welcome to So You Wanna Learn Regex? Part 6. OK, I know I said part 5 would be the last part in the series, but I just had to work this one out and wanted to share. Remember, If you want more tutorials about regex, especially more advanced ones than the mickey mouse onces here, go bug Ben. He knows more about this than I ever will and I hear he has a blog...

In our last exercise, we looked at cleaning up some data scripts.

In this exercise, we are going to reformat a configuration file from .ini style to ColdSpring MapFactory style. Specifically, I'm integrating CFFormProtect into an application and I want the config to be managed in ColdSpring with the rest of my configurations. Sure, I could go flapping around with copy+paste, smashing keys, burning tendons, but that seems so Junior Programmerish, doesn't it?

Assume this set of declarations:

mouseMovement=1
usedKeyboard=1
timedFormSubmission=1
hiddenFormField=1
akismet=0
tooManyUrls=1
teststrings=1
projectHoneyPot=0
timedFormMinSeconds=5
timedFormMaxSeconds=3600
encryptionKey=JacobMuns0n
akismetAPIKey=
akismetBlogURL=
akismetFormNameField=
akismetFormEmailField=
akismetFormURLField=
akismetFormBodyField=
tooManyUrlsMaxUrls=6

What we want, is to turn:mouseMovement=1 into: <entry key="mouseMovement"><value>1</value></entry>

Note we've split a string delimted by an equals sign into some XML nodes.

So as you know, we define this pattern in the gobbledegook of regular expressions. When read one chunk at a time, these actually make sense. We'll go through the exercise, then look at why it worked.

In Eclipse, perform the following:

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     September 29, 2009 9:13 AM

Welcome to So You Wanna Learn Regex? Part 5. This is our last part of this series, mostly because I don't know a whole lot more than this. If you want more tutorials about regex, go bug Ben. He knows more about this than I ever will and I hear he has a blog...

In our last exercise, we looked at a simple way to add cfqueryparam to a bunch of queries. This was accomplished by making a pattern consisting of 3 groups then using one of the groups to populate a literal string.

In this exercise, we are going to clean up some data scripts. Let's suppose you are generating database scripts and your script generator puts the primary key in there. For whatever reason, you want to remove this.

Assume this set of declarations:

INSERT INTO `memberchallenge` VALUES ('11', '1', '19', null, '2008-11-14 14:07:59', '2008-11-14 14:07:59', '1', '2008-11-14 14:07:59', '0');
INSERT INTO `memberchallenge` VALUES ('12', '2', '19', null, '2008-11-14 15:40:51', '2008-11-14 15:40:51', '1', '2008-11-14 15:40:51', '0');
INSERT INTO `memberchallenge` VALUES ('14', '5', '19', null, '2008-11-14 20:14:26', '2008-11-14 20:14:26', '5', '2008-11-14 20:14:26', '0');
INSERT INTO `memberchallenge` VALUES ('15', '1', '20', null, '2008-11-23 18:19:31', '2008-11-23 18:19:31', '1', '2008-11-23 18:19:30', '0');
INSERT INTO `memberchallenge` VALUES ('16', '2', '20', null, '2008-11-23 18:20:09', '2008-11-23 18:20:09', '1', '2008-11-23 18:20:09', '0');
INSERT INTO `memberchallenge` VALUES ('17', '1', '21', null, '2008-11-25 20:32:44', '2008-11-25 20:32:44', '1', '2008-11-25 20:32:44', '0');
INSERT INTO `memberchallenge` VALUES ('18', '2', '21', null, '2008-11-25 20:33:01', '2008-11-25 20:33:01', '1', '2008-11-25 20:33:01', '0');

What we want, is to turn:INSERT INTO `memberchallenge` VALUES ('11', '1', '19', null, '2008-11-14 14:07:59', '2008-11-14 14:07:59', '1', '2008-11-14 14:07:59', '0'); into: INSERT INTO `memberchallenge` VALUES ('1', '19', null, '2008-11-14 14:07:59', '2008-11-14 14:07:59', '1', '2008-11-14 14:07:59', '0');

Note the first value in the VALUES statement has vanished.. this would be the primary key in our dataload script.

So as you know, we define this pattern in the gobbledegook of regular expressions. When read one chunk at a time, these actually make sense. We'll go through the exercise, then look at why it worked.

In Eclipse, perform the following:

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     September 28, 2009 8:50 AM

Welcome to So You Wanna Learn Regex? Part 4. In our last exercise, we looked at a simple way to clean a whole bunch of strings. This was accomplished by making a pattern, then removing everything according to that pattern. This time we are going to add cfqueryparam to a query. Say for example, that you have a junior developer who has been turned loose on her first application and she's done a good job, except for she didn't use cfqueryparam. You just found this out and the site has to go live in 10 minutes and you have 200 queries to fix. Do you:

• a) Download the code to your laptop then pull the fire alarm to stall for time?
• b) Start blasting your resume out on Monster.com?
• c) Take a fistfull of aspirin, knowing your forearms will ache in the morning?

If you answered d) none of the above, please keep reading.

Assume this set of declarations:

UPDATE plant
	SET 	Symbol = '#form.symbol#',
			SynonymSymbol = '#form.SynonymSymbol#',
     		ScientificNameWithAuthor = '#form.ScientificNameWithAuthor#',
     		CommonName = '#CommonName#',
     		Family = '#Family#'
WHERE PlantCode = '#form.plantCode#'

What we want, is to turn: '#form.symbol#' into: <cfqueryparam value="#form.symbol#" cfsqltype="cf_sql_varchar">

So as you know, we define this pattern in the gobbledegook of regular expressions. When read one chunk at a time, these actually make sense. We'll go through the exercise, then look at why it worked.

In Eclipse, perform the following:

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     September 25, 2009 8:25 AM

Welcome to So You Wanna Learn Regex? Part 3.

In our last exercise, we looked at a simple way to wrap a function argument inside a new function. This was accomplished by making a pattern, defining a group and using a back reference. This time we will look at how to clean some strings.

Say for example, that you run a website called The Health Challenge and say for example, you wanted to use some of your fine tax dollar funded research to deliver motivating messages to the members.

Well, you could just happen across Small Steps and just use their content. After all, it is in the public domain. So you happily cut a LARGE chunk of these from the web site, but now you have to clean them.

Assume this set of declarations:

(# 11)  	Avoid food portions larger than your fist.
(# 12) 	Mow lawn with push mower.
(# 13) 	Increase the fiber in your diet.
(# 17) 	Join an exercise group.
(# 20) 	Do yard work.
(# 24) 	Skip seconds.
(# 25) 	Work around the house.
(# 26) 	Skip buffets.
(# 29) 	Take dog to the park.
(# 30) 	Ask your doctor about taking a multi-vitamin.
....( 700 more lines)

What we want, is to turn: (# 11) Avoid food portions larger than your fist. into: Avoid food portions larger than your fist. See, we like the content, we don't like the parentheticals nor the whitespace. Do we flex our forearms in preparation for a copy/paste session? Do we call KeyboardsAreUs.com and have 2 fresh keyboards airdropped, knowing we'll wear out some keys? (if you said yes, please delete your hard drive and apply at KFC.) Regular expressions are our friends. A Regex is a pattern matcher, and it can do stuff. We can see our code is repetitive and the pattern we want is: Get rid of the parentheticals and the extra whitespace. (Same stuff we'd do over and over via cut/paste/etc, isn't it? Though in a copy paste, you are talking about 5 keystrokes per line times 700 lines. That is 3500 keystrokes, unless you type like me, in which case it would be nearly 4 million.)

So as you know, we define this pattern in the gobbledegook of regular expressions. When read one chunk at a time, these actually make sense. We'll go through the exercise, then look at why it worked.

In Eclipse, perform the following:

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     September 25, 2009 8:24 AM

Welcome to So You Wanna Learn Regex? Part 2. In our last exercise, we looked at a simple way to add a new attribute to an HTML tag. This was accomplished by making a pattern, defining a group and using a back reference. This time we will look at a slightly more complicated use case.

Assume this set of declarations:

product.setColor(arguments.color);
product.setSize(arguments.size);
product.setCondition(arguments.condition);
product.setRating(arguments.rating);
product.setReliability(arguments.reliability);
product.setNeedsBatteries(arguments.needsBatteries);

What we want, is to turn: product.setColor(arguments.color); into: product.setColor( htmlEditFormat(arguments.color) );

Normally, this would be a forearm/wrist fatiguing flail on the keyboard, furiously cutting/pasting and generally flapping about. Not so with Regular Expressions. A Regex is a pattern matcher, and it can do stuff. We can see our code is repetitive and the pattern we want is: Take Everything Inside The Parenthesis, and Wrap It In A htmlEditFormat() Function. (Same stuff we'd do over and over via cut/paste/etc, isn't it?)

We can define this pattern in the gobbledegook defining a regular expression. When read one chunk at a time, these actually make sense. We'll go through the exercise, then look at why it worked.

In Eclipse, perform the following:

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     September 24, 2009 9:18 AM

I've had a set of blog posts stewing in my brain for a while. Steve Nelson, last year, helped me out with a Regular Expression (Regex) and I made it a point to practice my Regex skills more. This series will show how to use Regular Expressions in Eclipse and we'll learn some helpful tips along the way. This series is for you if you are the kind of developer that reads Ben Nadel's blog posts containing Regular Expressions, and has no idea what the heck he is talking about. Seriously Ben, this is unintelligible to us mere mortals:

<cfset blogContent = reReplace( blogContent, "</?\w+(\s*[\w:]+\s*=\s*(""[^""]*""|'[^']*'))*\s*/?>", " ", "all" ) />

(It looks like a catnip crazed kitty went for a prance on a keyboard, doesn't it?) Enough guffaws and such. On with the learning.

Editors Note:

Simply reading these blog posts aren't going to help you. Open eclipse, and copy/paste this stuff into your find/replace dialog. You'll learn more, or your money back!

So, firstly we need a use case. Let's pretend we are going through some old code and looking to add HTMLEditFormat around some arguments so that the forms won't break if there are quotes.

Assume this set of declarations:

<input name="fred" value="willy" />
<input name="bill" value="mickey" />
<input name="erin" value="harry" />
<input name="baz" value="pissette" />

What we want, is to turn: <input name="fred" value="willy" /> into: <input name="fred" id="fred" value="willy" /> Normally, this would be a forearm/wrist fatiguing flail on the keyboard, furiously cutting/pasting and generally flapping about. Not so with Regular Expressions. A Regex is a pattern matcher, and it can do stuff. We can see our code is repetitive and the pattern we want is: make a new attribute called 'id' and populate it with the value from the attribute 'name'... which is what we'd do over and over via cut/paste/etc. We can define this pattern in the gobbledegook defining a regular expression, of course, else I'd be writing this post about Cute LOLCats, not Cute Regexes., wouldn't I? We'll go through the exercise, then look at why it worked.

In Eclipse, perform the following:

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Posted By : Dan Wilson     January 26, 2009 9:44 PM

In 2009, TACFUG will put on a free series of courses on Object Oriented programming in ColdFusion. We originally had slots for 20, constrained by the size of our location, and we are pretty much at capacity.

We realized this topic would have broad appeal and tried to creatively think of a way to record these sessions. Frankly, the material and the characteristics of our location does not lend itself to recording this meeting.

As a consolation prize, we will make the material used in OO Code Camp available to any other User Group that wants to use it. Just drop us a line at the TACFUG site, we'll get it over to you.

Thanks go to Alagad for sponsoring the series with Pizza. Thanks also to Doug Hughes and to Phill Nacelli for letting us use their previous OO presentations for ideas/content.

Posted By : Dan Wilson     December 22, 2008 7:39 AM

We work fairly hard at TACFUG to keep our members informed and engaged in key information about programming and ColdFusion. Recently, Jim and I, put out a request for topics and we found some challenges in meeting the need. Some of our members have a long history of programming in ColdFusion and want to branch out into Object Oriented programming, but for one reason or another just haven't. Jim and I came up with an OO Code Camp concept and floated it out to our group to gauge interest.

Here was our announcement:

The fine folks at TACFUG (me and Jim) are seriously considering doing an OO camp starting in January. OO Camp will be a crash course on OO in ColdFusion. Ideally, we'd cover the topic in 3 or 4 evenings spread over a couple of months. This crash course will be designed to teach OO concepts and how to efficiently work with ColdFusion components. If you are new to OO or do not think you are using OO effectively, this crash course is for you. There will be no cost for this event though we may take up a donation for Pizza. Who would be ready to commit to coming to 3 or 4 evenings of OO camp? Please use this email thread for comments, questions and such about the proposed OO Camp. Feel free to extend this offer to others in your company, organization, Facebook Network, etc that would find this helpful as well.

We got a good bit of interest, certainly more than enough to justify running OO Code Camp in RTP.

Jim and I will be teaching the class and while we are pretty darned good at what we do, we've never run an organized class on this topic before. To make sure we cover all the bases and deliver appropriate, encompassing training, I thought it would be a good idea to ask the multitude of talented readers of this blog for their advice. We want to deliver the core concepts of Object Oriented Programming in a practical, hands-on fashion. Please offer, by commenting below, any constructive advice, suggestions, key topics that you feel we should cover.

Thanks in advance!