A few (!) TestStand questions from a TS Newbie

I am developing a two PC test system which will have TestStand on a MasterPC and the TS remote engine running tests on a SlavePC. The tests are being developed in LV and I have a VB UI controlling the TestStand API. I have generated a palette of company specific code templates and step types which have custom fields detailing my test parameters. When (if?) we hand over the test system we want our customers Test Engineer to edit and create custom test sequences from our palette of test types.
My questions are:-
1. How do I pass variables from one sequence to another (for example from a master sequence into remote sequences) in TestStand? I know about globals/locals, but is there another way? These variables shouldnt be defined as globals, they are test specific and will change from sequence to sequence. The Test Engineer should also be able to modify any test parameter from the top level main sequence, without having to delve into the remote sequences and modifying them.
Alternatively am I able to run remote tests rather than remote sequences. This would then allow me to access the variables directly in the MasterPC sequence editor.
2.Is there a way I can access the Sequence Context variables (which I have created with my custom test type) directly in LabView (Like the Input Buffer for example, which doesnt require any unpacking at the Labview level, it just appears on the front panel). I know how to access the Sequence Context using property nodes etc.
3. Can I calculate the total number of steps in a sequence (including those in remote sequences?) this is to be used for generating a usable progress bar independent of the sequence and number of Vis (I have used Thread.PostUIMessages to post back an increment event in the UI, but this could go over the reported number of test steps).
4. Can I create a step post action that automatically posts a UImessage to update the UI progress bar? (This would remove the need for number 3 in every VI)
5. Is the Remote engine killed after the end of execution? (after going through the two pass shutdown method on the MasterPC.) Can it be started remotely?
Thanks in advance!
Marlon Persaud
Test Development Engineer

Hi,
Q1. Each sequence you have the Step Groups, Locals and Parameters, when viewed in the sequence editor. When you Specify a SequenceCall, On the bottom half of the dialog box is a list of Parameters. These parameters are picked up from the Sequence's Parameters. If you have no parameters defined in your Sequence, then no parameters will be available when you are specifying a SequenceCall.
If you are executing a Sequence by way of the NewExcution API function, then this has an arg which you can use to pass a container of the Parameters' Listed of a sequence.
If you do a search in the Resource Library for "passing parameters to a sequence", you should find some useful examples which will help.
Q2. There are a series a VI's that are installed into your LabVI
EW folder in the USER pallete when you install TestStand. These allow you to read/write to a property/variable knowing the LookupString. eg "Step.Limits.Hi" whould enable to read or write to the current step's upper limit if the Step was a NumericTestLimit type.
Q3. You could scan through the RunState.SequenceFile and the RunState.SequenceFile.RunState.Caller properties, if the step is a SequenceCall, and count the steps in each group or just the Main step groups. This will give you a total count you require.
Q4. Yes. When you create your custom step type. Not only can you define the call for the action of the step. but also the Pre Step action and the Post Step action. Its a similar process to define the Pre and Post Actions of a step as it is the Main action.
Hope this helps
Ray Farmer
PS can not offer an answer to Q5 as I haven't used the remote interface.
Regards
Ray Farmer

Similar Messages

  • Few simple questions from newbie

    I'm new to Java, but i've worked a lot with action script... it didn't help a lot :) Here are my few beginner questions:
    What does: public, static, abstract, void... and other things mean in front of the class name?
    How can i call variables from another classes: if i have one class that does one thing and stores the result in a variable, how can i use that variable from a different class?
    How can i call the input window to enter the value for variable? I've tried with importing "io.inputstream" library, and used the "extend" thing, but i still cant call the input window?

    I came to Java from ActionScript too, and I must say having ActionScript as your first programming language does NOT make it easy to learn other languages. I was incredibly lost when starting with Java.
    What does: public, static, abstract, void... and
    other things mean in front of the class name?You'll find all that in the Java Tutorial
    How can i call variables from another classes: if i
    have one class that does one thing and stores the
    result in a variable, how can i use that variable
    from a different class?To use the variable from another class, you need to make a call to the class. Let's say you're in ClassB; you would make a call to a ClassA variable by doing something such as:
    ClassA.myVar.myMethod();
    How can i call the input window to enter the value
    for variable? I've tried with importing
    "io.inputstream" library, and used the "extend"
    thing, but i still cant call the input window?I recommend reading the tutorial before you try anything like that.

  • A few simple questions from a new Iphone user

    Hi a few simple questions, just got an iphone 2g - 2nd hand so not really sure what to expect. Anyway I guess my first question is about mine sometimes being a little slow - when I look at contacts and sometimes when sending a txt it slows down/freezes a little - normal?
    Secondly Edge - I havent used it much but when I have its been painfully slow, is this normal - is it always really slow - cause I had read despite not being 3g Edge was actually pretty fast - what exactly is data roaming by the way? I mean I have been switched off as basically I dont wanna use the internet till next month when they change my contract to one I get unlimited access on - is that right?
    Im having a problems syncing videos to it - it just wont sync some but will others and Im not sure why - theyre same file type and they used to sync to my ipod touch but now they wont for some reason
    Cheers

    I have the origina iPhone.
    Downloaded 2.0, synced phone with everything UNchecked. Installed 2.0. Synced with all the options checked to reload my data. The iPhone has been great. Noticed a little lag when I opened contacts. Installed the new upgrade, and everything is back, no lag.
    Edge is Edge and nothing more. It is slow compared to a strong 3g signal. But is liveable most of the time. Heavy traffic can slow it down to barely usable.
    My four wheel drive club has a web site with a large photo section. I was standing out in the middle of parking lot in San Jose, Ca and showing a friend some photos. It opens up a page of small picts to choose from. Select a print and it enlarges, He was amazed at how fast they appeard. Especially given the quantity of photos.

  • Internet/General questions from a Mac newbie

    Hey there. Well, after spending my whole life on a PC, I've decided to switch over to Mac. I'll be going off to college in the fall, and so I went with the Macbook Pro.
    Alright, to the questions. I've always only had ONE computer in my house. And so, I have one cable modem attached to it, no router. I want to get on the net on my MBP just in the upcoming months before I'm off to college, where they'll have plenty of net connection options.
    So my question is: should I go with wireless? If I do this, would I need to get a wireless router? How exactly does it work, i.e. do I plug just any cable cord into it, and bang, wireless throughout my house? I was looking into the Linksys WRT54G for this, but I hear mentions of Airport Extreme. I guess I'm just pretty confused by routers in general.
    Now, my main computer is downstairs, but I'll want to use the laptop upstairs. There's a cable cord up there...can I somehow use that to connect to a box or anything to connect as an ethernet plug? Will that be much faster than wireless?
    I have an EVDO phone with DUN that I plan on using if none of those options work out. Will the previous methods be much faster than using the phone via bluetooth or USB?
    I'm obsessed with speed.
    That's it for the internet portion...but I'm going to throw in a few extra questions instead of starting a whole different thread; they're pretty miscellaneous.
    If I want to transfer files from my old computer to this one, what's the best way to do that? Could I (or should I) just access them remotely? You can point me to a thread where this is located if that's easier and already answered.
    Last one. I want to use boot camp. I have a Windows XP Home CD...but I've heard you NEED the CD to have SP2 on it. Mine does not. Could I just use the one I have, and install sp2 once windows is installed? If not, I'd need to get a brand new copy of Windows Home or Pro? Are there advantages to Pro over Home, if I go that route (I hear talk of dual-core...)?
    Thank you so much, these are very important (yet way too plentiful) questions.

    This is really very simple despite the fact that the others dragged the thread off in some direction.
    So my question is: should I go with wireless? If I do
    this, would I need to get a wireless router? How
    exactly does it work, i.e. do I plug just any cable
    cord into it, and bang, wireless throughout my house?
    I was looking into the Linksys WRT54G for this, but I
    hear mentions of Airport Extreme. I guess I'm just
    pretty confused by routers in general.
    Apple sometimes makes up their own cutesy names that are confusingly different than what everybody else calls something. AirPort Extreme is merely Apple's brand of 802.11g, which is a standard all new wireless routers support, including Linksys.
    If you have a cable modem, you can use an Ethernet cable to plug in a wireless router, which will take your cable modem signal and blast it all over the house. At that point, you are like an internet cafe. Your Mac or PC laptop should recognize the signal and you're off and running (subject to the limitations of wireless, which you should know about since you're obsessed with speed).
    I very much doubt that a second cable modem is a practical option. You will probably have to pay for a second cable account. The router is the standard solution, because it takes one connection and routes it to multiple computers.
    Now, my main computer is downstairs, but I'll want to
    use the laptop upstairs. There's a cable cord up
    there...can I somehow use that to connect to a box or
    anything to connect as an ethernet plug? Will that be
    much faster than wireless?
    A good wireless router like the Linksys WRT54G also has wired Ethernet ports. You can plug your desktop into that. Your desktop and cable modem are downstairs, so it will make sense to plug the wireless router into the cable modem and connect the desktop to the router. That way, the router will do the job it's designed for: routing the cable modem signal to both the desktop and the wireless transmitter.
    You could possibly plug and play, but it will be best for you to read the router manual to learn how to open the router's internal home page in your Mac or PC web browser and look through the router settings. If you are concerned about network security, then you will also want to turn on the password for the wireless portion of your network.
    I'm sure you could use that EVDO phone...but wouldn't the Internet airtime cost a lot of money? The speed depends on your phone connection. I hear it varies. The cable modem is almost certainly faster, though.
    If I want to transfer files from my old computer to
    this one, what's the best way to do that? Could I (or
    should I) just access them remotely? You can point me
    to a thread where this is located if that's easier
    and already answered.
    You can use the network wizard in Windows to set up a share and then get to it from the Mac, or turn on file sharing on the Mac and get to it from the PC. My Macs and PC can all share files when needed.
    Last one. I want to use boot camp. I have a Windows
    XP Home CD...but I've heard you NEED the CD to have
    SP2 on it. Mine does not. Could I just use the one I
    have, and install sp2 once windows is installed?
    This is not official word but I hear you MUST have SP2 on the CD.
    not, I'd need to get a brand new copy of Windows Home
    or Pro? Are there advantages to Pro over Home, if I
    go that route (I hear talk of dual-core...)?
    Try this comparison.

  • A few questions from a Mac newbie

    1. What kind of maintainence should I be doing on the mac? Do I need to defrag or run system cleaners (like ccleaner for windows)?
    2. Will it eventually get messed up like Windows, or should be running as good as new years from now without reformatting?
    3. Am I correct in assuming Software Update only updates the System and the official mac applications (iChat, iMovie etc.)?
    4. I know viruses aren't as much of a threat, but should I install antivirus just to be on the safe side?
    5. When I install new software, I'm assuming settings are saved somewhere else besides the Applications folder. Do these remove themselves when I delete the software?
    6. If I eventually update to Leopard, will that do a clean install over Tiger, not corrupting anything? On Windows I know that upgrading Windows basically screwed over everything and messed up the registry permanently, and I'm hoping this isn't an issue with Mac OS.
    7. Lastly, I've noticed that the longer the system is running for, the more memory is used (according to iStat at least), regardless of how many programs I'm running. Is this normal behavior, and is it slowing down the system?
    Thanks, and I'm loving Mac OS, my only regret is that I didn't switch years ago.
    Macbook (2 GHz Core 2 Duo, 1 GB RAM)   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    1. What kind of maintainence should I be doing on the mac? Do I need to defrag or run system cleaners (like ccleaner for windows)?
    After any system update or security update, use DiskUtility to repair permissions. Maybe/maybe not necessary in all instances, but a good plan. You may also boot from an installer disk and run DiskUtility to repair the disk, maybe twice a year. You can also run fsck with the same frequency
    http://macs.about.com/od/osx/a/running_fsck.htm
    I follow the repair permissions rule, but seldom run fsck unless I notice problems. Opinions may vary.
    2. Will it eventually get messed up like Windows, or should be running as good as new years from now without reformatting?
    I lost my crystal ball
    Seriously, disk corruption is a cross platform issue. If you're not the type to install every shareware app you can find, and don't mess around with stuff unnecessarily, or fool around with files you aren't familiar with, you should be OK.
    3. Am I correct in assuming Software Update only updates the System and the official mac applications (iChat, iMovie etc.)?
    Yes.
    4. I know viruses aren't as much of a threat, but should I install antivirus just to be on the safe side?
    Again, with the crystal ball
    At this point, it's probably not necessary. However, you may wish to consider some course of action if you swap files with Windows users on a regular basis. Your Mac will be happy to host malware through infected emails, flash drives, web sites, etc...
    Many folks recommend ClamAV
    http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/24449
    There are commercial apps available, but IMHO, they're not the most polished apps, possibly because there's no real demand for a reliable av app for OS X at this point.
    5. When I install new software, I'm assuming settings are saved somewhere else besides the Applications folder. Do these remove themselves when I delete the software?
    Yes, no, and sort of. Most of apps are contained in a package. Control-click on an application's icon, and you can view the stuff in the package. Deleting the app's icon form the Application folder will get rid of most of it. There will be preference files, mostly in youruserfolder/Library/Preferences. There may be scattered files elsewhere, but generally, none of them are big files, nor should they hurt performance if they stick around.
    6. If I eventually update to Leopard, will that do a clean install over Tiger, not corrupting anything? On Windows I know that upgrading Windows basically screwed over everything and messed up the registry permanently, and I'm hoping this isn't an issue with Mac OS.
    In the past, OS X has allowed you to perform a simple upgrade when going from 10.x to 10.y
    I usually perform an archive and install, but that's just me.
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
    7. Lastly, I've noticed that the longer the system is running for, the more memory is used (according to iStat at least), regardless of how many programs I'm running. Is this normal behavior, and is it slowing down the system?
    Yes, and maybe. OS X likes memory. I recommend 1 GB for 10.4. 10.3 seemed pretty good with 512 MB. Apple Discussions policy says I shouldn't speculate about memory requirements here for Leopard, so I won't, but you can think about the possibilities. More is better. If you fire up activity monitor and notice that you're down to 10 MB of free memory, I'd consider adding more.
    hth
    Jeff

  • Question from a total newbie - cleaning up a few quotes.

    Forgive my complete ignorance to the vast world of audio, but the fact remains - I have a problem that I could really use some help with.
    I'm working as a volunteer videographer doing docs about humanitarian work in the Domincian Republic, and in all of our underfundedness, I only have one lav mic system. It's better than just a cam mic like before, but one person is always way below on the waveform than the other.
    I know my computer can't do magic, but if you have any suggestions on what to do in Soundtrack Pro to make the issue less noticeable, it'd be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks!
    Ryan Prouty (.com)

    A good first steip would be to normalize the audio. When your file is open in an audio file project, normalize is under the "process" menu. This will bring the highest level of audio up to whatever you set. If the audio is real low, I would keep it at the default 0db. This won't balance everything. You may still have to edit specific areas and bring the audio up, or down, to make it all match. But it's a good quick method of getting low audio up towards normal. One caveat, this will also bring up any secondary audio . . . background noise, whatever, if it's there.

  • Questions from a BO newbie

    Hi All,
    I am new to BO and have few queries in regards to using BO ( webi/deski) reports for Canned ( very few) and adhoc reports.
    Requirement:
    1) BO embedded within c# winapp. ( user to run reports from the winapp)
                - This is achieved by using SDK and opendocument API.
                - Relational database ( SQL server 2005) as Datasource.
    Questions:
    1) Can I use custom sytlesheets for all my Webi reports ( to standardise the report's look and feel) ?
    2) Can Alerters be shared across reports ? ( alerter at Universe level ???)
    3) BO reports with collapsable/expandable data rows ( similar to master\detail reports on .Net datagrid)
    4) Callback to the UI ( the parent C# winapp ) from within the BO report (via hyperlink / drilling ???)
    5) Display/hide specific toolbar controls  and othere features ( like template/properties tabs) when rendering an adhoc report from within the C# winapp  ?
    Any help on this is greatly appreciated.
    Thanks in Advance.
    - Mahesh
    Edited by: mahesh gopal on Feb 13, 2009 10:30 AM

    Umm, note Webi = web intelligence
    Your requirement; winapp
    Also, see the [Rules of Engagement|https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/wiki?path=/display/home/rulesofEngagement]
    One query per thread.
    As a BO customer you should be able to create a phone incident. for the number of queries you have, I'd suggest doing so.
    Ludek

  • A bundle of questions from an iPhone newb...

    Ok so me and my wife recently both got the iPhone 4, and so far we love it. We haven't had any issues, except a tricky time getting the phones to hook up to the wifi here at our house but that was resolved pretty quickly. So here we are, two iPhone rookies and we had a few questions that we didn't get around to asking the sales guy because we didn't want to hold up the 50 other people behind us in line... waiting in the rain... at 6a.m. So here's a short list of questions I was hoping to get answered. I tried searching the message boards but couldn't quite find the answers I needed.
    1) What all exactly constitutes data usage? Sounds simple, but we just came from another carrier with an unlimited data plan and we never thought about how much we used, until we got stuck with the 2gig cap imposed by AT&T.
    2) Does the data usage covered by my plan get drained even when I'm on my home wifi connection? In relation to that, is it better to stay connected to wifi or the 3G cell network?
    3) Is the 2gig cap on data usage per phone or shared between us?
    4) Which apps use the most the data? Please don't say Facebook or the news... those are the two apps I use most....
    Thanks for any answers!

    Hi Josh,
    You live in a populated area, so you probably have WiFi most places. Thus, if you are at Starbucks and hop on their WiFi, there is no data usage from ATT's standpoint. If you are in Starbucks and don't hop on their WiFi and surf the net, then you'll get data usage.
    Go to Settings -> General -> Usage and then scroll down to Cellular Network Data and it will tell you how much you used. Keep an eye on it for a few months (you can reset it whenever you like) and you'll have a good idea of how much data you are using.
    Enjoy your phones!

  • Yet Another Hard Drive Question from a Mac Newbie

    I apologize in advance for the length of this post -- as I state in the subject line, I am a complete Mac newbie.
    I just took delivery yesterday on a new (early 2008) Mac Pro. I purchased and installed an additional 8GB RAM, and ordered it with a 500GB HD (Seagate, it looks like) and purchased two 750GB Hitachi HDs for bays 2 and 3. I will be doing a fair amount of photo editing, and also plan to partition the OS drive to run XP using bootcamp, but also plan to use VM Fusion.
    I am thinking of partitioning the boot drive with 250GB for OS X and apps, 150 GB for XP and apps, and ~66 remaining possibly to be used as scratch memory for CS3, though it sounds like this may not be enough. The bay 2 Hitachi would be used for all my user data (photos, music, docs, etc.) bay 3 would be for backup initially, possibly using Time Machine? (other recommendations welcomed). As space becomes an issue in the future, I will invest in a fourth internal HD, and at least 2TB external HDs for backup.
    Does this seem like a reasonable plan? If so, how do I go about formatting the drives and installing boot camp, Fusion, etc., and in what order? Also, how best do I organize my existing files from my current Windows machine as I copy them to the new user data HD, so they can be accessed as needed by both OS X and XP?
    Thanks for your help.

    I like the boot volume to never get beyond 50% used. Enough room for burning dual-layer DVDs can be 50GB for best results. And to force the system to use the first outer tracks.
    I hope you are concurrently zeroing both drives. SoftRAID is my choice for driver for RAIDs and you can cancel safely at any time. There are also excellent tools for checking sectors and mapping out bad blocks.
    I put Vista on its own 10K Raptor. I had it on the boot drive but I am always changing my mind, my drives and setup. Vista needs at least 40GB and that is with all my major documents and files on another drive which holds 150GB out of 450GB.
    You set the preference for what drive to use as scratch in CS3 or other programs. And you want to disable Spotlight indexing on any scratch or editing partition. Scratch can be a drive, a volume, a stripped array. Any 'normal' partition though don't use the default (journaling) feature is all.
    How large? I'd have to see and know how large files, work flow, and how long you work between projects. The nice thing, erase the scratch volume between projects but it is possible to use 300GB when you work on 1.5GB files and above.
    One early Mac Pro owner wasn't able to work as they wanted until they had 10-12GB RAM, boot RAID0, and RAIDs for scratch and data (saving 2GB files and not having to wait forever, which even a minute can feel like forever).
    Disk Utility: Partition. You can even partition 2+ drives, just make them the same, and first create 2 partitions (100GB on each?) and then stripe the first "Untitled 1" of each into 100GB x n array. Stripe or mirror the "Untitled 2" or leave those are two unique non-RAID volumes. Sounds harder than it is.
    Scratch = temp space and designed to not be saved, to be erased as needed.
    SoftRAID.com 3.6.6 makes it easy to create, delete, erase volumes and arrays as needed. Leopard has improved on non-RAID but not with RAIDs (for those that change their minds).

  • Question from worse than Newbie about digital signatures and Adobe Reader.

    1st, thanks for taking the time to even look. 2nd, We are trying to use digital signature pads with PDF documents created by Documaker 11.4. In Adobe Pro there is a setting "Extend features in Adobe Reader" that will allow users with Adobe Reader to sign the PDF documents, however our "guy" creating the forms cannot find anything like this in Documaker. I've never used Documaker before and dont have a copy to even play with, but I was hoping there was a simple "go here, click this" answer.
    Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
    Thanks for you time,
    Jeff Holt

    I'm not expert on Documaker, but I'm close to them and will try to find an answer if I can be sure of the question.
    Documaker is capable of creating PDF signature markers in the output PDF. Those markers are compatible with tools like Acrobat which can sign the documents. Is your question about how to create the markers or are you doing that and finding that Acrobat Reader will not allow you to sign them?
    I'd have to research Adobe's licensing for Acrobat and Reader to see if that was the issue. I know certain features in Acrobat Reader are locked down by Adobe so you have to have another product license from them to enable the feature. If that is the problem, then I'm pretty sure that Documaker has no mechanism to provide a license token to specifically enable the Acrobat Reader product.
    If you can provide more specifics, I'll try to follow up. You may also contact Customer Support, if you haven't already and open a case there requesting a specific question be answered.
    Best Regards.

  • A few 8100 questions from a new guy.

    I just purchased a used 8100, and have a couple of questions.
    Is there anyway I lock just the message application, instead of the whole phone?
    Also, when I tried to set up my E-mail it said that there was already a different account for this pin number. What can I do to reset that and set up my own? 

    In BlackBerry there is no option to separately lock one single application. You can think of any 3rd party apps for this.
    As you purchased an used device you need to collect the user name and password for Email setting apps from the original owner. Your carrier might not help you as this will violate the original user  rights. If the original owner forgets the password as well then ask him to call his carrier and identify himself and make it unlocked for you.
    tanzim                                                                                  
    If your query is resolved then please click on “Accept as Solution”
    Click on the LIKE on the bottom right if the post deserves credit

  • Some basic questions from a mac newbie

    hi,
    i have been using linux and windows all this while, and recently began using an apple too. have some simple questions here that i hope to get some answers for.
    1. is there something similar to /etc/hosts in linux where i can add the IP address of a server? this is for me to use the 'ssh' command in the terminal
    2. when i open up an application, say safari or chrome, i want the window to fill the entire screen automatically, instead of having to drag the bottom right of the window to fill the screen. how to configure that?
    3. when i close an application by clicking on the 'x' at the top left, why is it that it still appears in the list when i press command+tab? to remove the application from the list, i have to right click on its icon on the dock, then click 'quit'. this is rather troublesome.
    appreciate any help!

    1. is there something similar to /etc/hosts in linux where i can add the IP address of a server? this is for me to use the 'ssh' command in the terminal
    The /etc/hosts file is there, but the /etc/ folder is hidden. You can use the Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/) to access it via Unix, or could enter "open /etc" in the Terminal to open that folder in the Finder.
    However, I'm not sure how this relates to ssh... I have not needed to modify that file, yet I can ssh all I need to. Are you trying to connect to your new Mac via ssh, or connect to other machines from the Mac via ssh?
    2. when i open up an application, say safari or chrome, i want the window to fill the entire screen automatically, instead of having to drag the bottom right of the window to fill the screen. how to configure that?
    Just drag the window out to full-screen and the browser should remember and open new windows at that size in the future. There are also some utilities (one called "Right Zoom" IIRC?) that will make the zoom button (green + button) behave more like the Windows zoom button.
    3. when i close an application by clicking on the 'x' at the top left, why is it that it still appears in the list when i press command+tab?
    Applications shouldn't quit just because you close their last window, unless the application's entire user interface is contained within that window. That is the case with ALL Windows apps, since there's no global menu bar, but only in some Mac apps. This is something that always ticked me off big-time with Windows... there have been times when I carelessly closed a window I didn't need anymore, but wanted to keep using the app, and then had to wait for it to load again. That won't happen on the Mac.
    If this bothers you, just use the key combination command-Q to quit apps.

  • Question from a Mac Newbie Regarding Managing Photos

    Hi all,
    I just moved to Mac so I moved all my pictures from my external HD to iPhoto. Now, after I have done that I realized that iPhoto doesn't give you the option to easily access your pictures and make changes or delete like when using Windows, unless it's thru iPhoto. Im serious photography hobbyist and im between buying Lightroom or Aperture. I like iPhoto and its ease of use but Id like to edit my pictures on a serious software so I setup iPhoto to edit pictures on a trial version I have for LIghtroom. I guess my question is, would it be easier to manage my pictures on iphoto and aperture instead of lightroom? Also, which software (lightroom or aperture) will allow me to have a backup of my pictures in the way they were on my Windows PC?
    Thank you in advance for all your help

    Yes, if you do "referenced" files in Aperture, and are using the latest versions of Aperture (3.3+) and iPhoto (9.3+) then they'll all be visible in the Finder.
    They're not all in one big folder in the Finder.  Aperture has lots of options (and I mean LOTS of options) for how and where it stores the files on disk.  You can choose the folder naming structure, all sorts of subfolder options, etc.  Honestly, there can be an overwhelming number of options.  Easiest for your sanity is to choose Finder folder names that  match your project names in Aperture.  I have mine organized in subfolders by year/month/date, but that's Aperture 201 and I'm offering 101 advice because you're a new user and it can be complex.  Aperture makes it trivially easy to move from one naming structure to another in Finder whenever you want... the only issue with that is if you're pointing Lightroom at the same files on disk, if you move them in Aperture, Lightroom will totally freak out.
    Basically you NEVER want to change the folder structure on disk via Finder... EVER, if your're using iPhoto, Aperture, or Lightroom.  You should always use the application to do that.  And if you're using Aperture and Lightroom, and use one to change the folder structure, it will break the other.  So be careful with that.

  • Questions from a Java newbie

    Okay, here's my situation:
    I'm fairly new to Java, but I've done some fairly basic client-side java. However, I haven't done any server-side java stuff before, and I don't know what special considerations I 'll have to make, etc. And I don't really know how to do the things I'm asking about below:
    What I want to do is this:
    1) Grab the Computer Name and Company Name from a computer when the user loads a webpage. This then needs to be stored in a server-side database.
    2) Password protect a webpage, so that only users who enter the correct username/password can view it. I presume the username/password data will also be stored in a server-side database.
    Now, I'm really not sure how to do this, and I'd like at least a few pointers on how to go about it. In fact, any help at all would be appreciated.
    Adrian Forest - Java Newbie

    Actually, any sample code you could give, even showing just one possible solution, would be greatly valued.
    Also, I really don't know how server-side java works, as far as where I have to run these actions. Can I have some server-side code that reads the data from a client? Or do I need a client-side piece that reads data, then sends it to the server-side code that then writes that data to the database?

  • A few general questions from a greenhorn

    Hello there,
    I have a project coming up that will require the ability to
    record live audio conversations. It sounds like I need FMS to
    accomplish this, but which version? I'm hoping we can get by with
    the $1500 version as this is the only functionality of FMS that I
    will be utlilzing.
    Nowthen, on to my extreme-newb questions:
    If we are currently running the site with a php/mysql
    backend, will FMS have the ability to just "ride on top" of what we
    already have going so that we can use the audio recorcing
    functionality without having to re-design our entire back-end? Will
    it have access to our pre-existing session variables?
    What are the pros and cons of licensing FMS vs purchasing
    hosting with FMS enabled?
    If a miracle occurs and I get my app working on a dev edition
    of FMS, would I be looking at any headaches for porting it over to
    an FMS host? (as far as configuration and other factors)
    Thank you very much for any help, it is much
    appreciated.

    "If we are currently running the site with a php/mysql
    backend, will FMS have the ability to just "ride on top" of what we
    already have going so that we can use the audio recorcing
    functionality without having to re-design our entire back-end?
    - Yes this is a drop in solution for you. Your flash audio
    recorder (embeded in your php application) will just communicate
    with the flash server. No retooling of your php is needed.
    "Will it have access to our pre-existing session variables?"
    - Since the recorder would be embeded in your php application
    I dont think you would need to pass session variables into it but
    it is possible.
    "What are the pros and cons of licensing FMS vs purchasing
    hosting with FMS enabled?"
    - Hosted solutions have a recurring cost compared to
    licensing and running it yourself.
    "If a miracle occurs and I get my app working on a dev
    edition of FMS, would I be looking at any headaches for porting it
    over to an FMS host? (as far as configuration and other factors)"
    - There should be no headaches since your app is simple. The
    main factor I would see is just storage limits on a hosted server.
    Hope this helps.

Maybe you are looking for