"Automating" applications that really weren't designed to be automated?

Hello folks. I recently purchased the American Heritage fourth edition dictionary and thesaurus, which comes with a CD-Rom with both products. It's a great dictionary and the one I want to use but it's an older application (I think it's called eReference, the database shell that it's built on) that has no "hooks" in it so you could, for instance, right click on a word in Safari or Nisus or anywhere else and have the word sent to the dictionary app that way. But I would love to build that if possible.
Is there a way to send text to an application like that? Or automate this with the automator tool in leopard?

launchbar does this. http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/7354/launchbar
Its the instant send feature

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Automator app that works with files behaves randomly

I have a VERY simple automator application that just copies a file, renames it, copies it again, renames it again, and that's all. It's all done with standard automator steps. For some reason, it behaves randomly. Sometimes it does the right thing; sometimes it misses one of the copies; sometimes it misses one of the renames; sometimes it misses two steps. I can get it to work more consistently by putting one second pauses in between the steps, but this seems like a ridiculous requirement. It is really the case that the automator is not synchronized to the termination of each step so that one can expect scripts to execute consistently w/o having to put in delays????? Certainly a shell script would never misbehave in this manner.

AppCleaner, it's free but just as good as the others.
http://www.freemacsoft.net/AppCleaner/index.php

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I downloaded the icalbirthdays automator application from: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/index.html
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I checked the developer's website and could only find one application there - automator 3. And, according to their FAQs, there is no "install program" for Automator 3 - it simply says that you are supposed to drag the downloaded file into your Applications folder. Is that what you did?
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How to create Automator application?

I cannot figure out how to create an application in Automator that actually works.
What I have is a workflow that combines PDFs.   As a workflow it works well.
I would like to create an application that does the same thing.   First I tried saving the workflow as an application.   I duplicated the workflow and saved it as an application. Later I started at the beginning by creating a new application and building it up with the same actions that are in the workflow.
With both techniques I got an "application" that sits on my hard drive.   The OS describes it as an application. But, when I click on the icon, the icon blinks as if an application is opening. But then nothing happens.   The computer remains in Finder.   The Automator "application" does nothing.
I must be missing something. How do I create an Automator application that opens?

It won't. It runs the task in the background.
My suggestion is to create two folders
PDF Files
Merged PDF Files
Tell the workflow to merge PDFs found in PDF Files and place the merged PDFs into Merged PDF Files.
Then dump a bunch of PDFs into the first folder. Click the application. Then check the second folder. You should see them all merged into one there.

Automator Applications don't let me run applescripts!

ok just made an excellent automator application that deleted invisible files on selected drives. the only problem is that when i run it as an application, it gives me an error message and tells mr to check the "Run Applescript" action's properties. But, it works in the workflow perfectly!
please help.

OK, that does help. The statementset y to (value of variable "path" of front workflow)uses Automator terminology - unless your workflow is actually running in Automator, your script won't know anything about those terms unless you target the Automator or the Automator Runner applications.
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2) *Run AppleScript*
<pre style="
font-family: Monaco, 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;
font-size: 10px;
font-weight: normal;
margin: 0px;
padding: 5px;
border: 1px solid #000000;
width: 720px;
color: #000000;
background-color: #DAFFB6;
overflow: auto;"
title="this text can be pasted into an Automator 'Run AppleScript' action">
on run {input, parameters}
set y to input as text -- coerce from list
display dialog "Are you sure you want to delete the Trash folder on flashdrive " & quoted form of y & "?" buttons {"Cancel", "Yes"} default button 2
display dialog "Enter password:" default answer "password" buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} default button 2
set x to (text returned of result)
tell application "Terminal"
delay 2
do script "cd " & quoted form of POSIX path of y -- convert path
do script "sudo rm -rf .Trashes" in window 1
delay 2
do script x in window 1
delay 2
do script "yes" in window 1
delay 2
do script "killall Terminal"
end tell
return input
end run</pre>

How to design and implement an application that reads a string from the ...

How to design and implement an application that reads a string from the user and prints it one character per line???

This is so trivial that it barely deserves the words "design" or "application".
You can use java.util.Scanner to get user input from the command line.
You can use String.getChars to convert a String into an array of characters.
You can use a loop to get all the characters individually.
You can use System.out.println to print data on its own line.
Good luck on your homework.

Had to reset ipod touch, how do i re-download applications that weren't on the computer

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Click here and follow the instructions.
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Is there an application that can batch convert wma to m4a and save the output files to their respective original file location?

I need to convert thousands (yes, really) of wma files to m4a. The wma files are all located in different folders and each converted m4a file needs to end up in the same folder as its respective original wma file. Does anyone know of an application that can do this?
Thanks,
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I'm not completely sure that MPEG Streamclip can convert AVCHD footage (.mts files). If MPEG Streamclip doesn't do the job, then get a copy of Clipwrap, which was designed for transcoding .mts files to QuickTime/Apple Intermediate Codec (that's the format/codec you need to convert the .mts files to for use in FCE).

Write UML for application that implemented by JHeadStart

Can you give me some idea to write UML in Design specification for Application implemented by JHeadStart ?
What UML look like ?
What are contents in Design specification for JHeadStart Configuration ?
What is specification for preparing business components ( BC ) ?
if you have a sample , please send me a email .
[email protected]
thanks in advance

I'm definately not an authority on using UML on projects where powerful frameworks and/or productivity boosters such as JHeadstart are used. In my humble opinion, design specifications get more valuable the more explicitely they provide the kind of input the chosen development frameworks and tools need during the implementation phase. With all due respect (and I am sure I am offending a lot of UML adapts with this statement), UML seems to provide the right input for a system where most of the (Java) code will be created manually. But you, me and many others have wondered what type of UML would help creating, for instance, a JHeadstart application (but really the same goes for any development toolstack where much less Java coding is required, and a large part of the development process is done by configuring third-party software, rather than creating your own).
The easiest way (and I have seen this done often) is by focussing the UML specification on the Use Case descriptions, which are, pretty much, free-format documents where things like screenshots but also sorts of "instructions" can be provided such as "Table layout with the possibility to drill down to an individual record", more often than not knowing that the implementation toolstack will have a way to provide that (such as setting the JHeadstart "Layout Style" property to "table-form"). Purist will argue that a UML design should be as independent as possible of the implementation technology, though. But as I said, this is what I have seen done quite often.
For many of the other UML specifications and diagrams, such as for instance Class models and Sequence diagrams, I have seen situations where the UML teams went very far and very 'low-level' in their designs, specifying pretty much how each aspect of the architecture should be layed out, and what the protocols for communication between the various parts of the architecture are. This can prove quite a mismatch with the frameworks chosen for the implementation (whether for persistence, controller-duties or UI aspects), rendering a significant portion of the UML design useless. In my (again, very humble) opinion, a good Design specification should still be valid AFTER the application is built, for instance for a third party doing maintainance on the application later. Speaking from my own personal experiences in this matter, this is something I have seldom seen in projects where many frameworks and/or productivity boosters such as JHeadstart were used.
I hope this is not the end of this thread, I very much welcome anyone who has maybe the same but preferably an opposite opinion, to share it here with us!
Kind regards,
Peter Ebell
JHeadstart Team

Are there any applications that cleans up your macbook ?

I bought a macbook a 2 months ago.
I am wondering if there are any applications that cleans up my macbook. Like the ccleaner for windows.
Are there any ?

Novaknlis wrote:
I bought a macbook a 2 months ago.
I am wondering if there are any applications that cleans up my macbook. Like the ccleaner for windows.
Are there any ?
Ccleaner on Windows has a few functions:
1: Repairs the Registry
2: Cleans the caches
3: Secure Erases free space on the drive / deleted files.
OnyX for OS X.
1: OS X doesn't have a Registry to bork, but other things like Preference files, caches etc, can.
2: OnyX can clean the caches and check for corrupted Preference files, rebuilt ds_store files and other things, basically clean out all the automated stuff designed to make the computer faster so it can rebuild it in case it gets borked or may contain content you rather wish it didn't.
3: OnyX can Erase whats in the Trash, but not wipe free space on the drive, Apple's provided Disk Utility has a feature to to that.
So if your looking for something to clean your Internet tracks on OS X, first use the browser cleaning aspects, then OnyX cleaning, then a reboot to clear the OS X DNS cache then a Disk Utility > Wipe Free Space.
These features are not automated or intertwined with Firefox add-ons like Click2Clean is with CCleaner on Windows. You'll have to perform it manually.
http://www.titanium.free.fr/
Another option for totally cleaning one's system faster on OS X would be to use the free VirtualBox to run a free distro ISO of Linux (Ubuntu, Mint, MacBuntu etc) in OS X. Then once the distro is setup in the virtual machine, save a snapshot of this OS state to revert back to after browsing potentially malicious sites in Firefox (in Linux)
Reverting on takes only a few seconds, instead of the painfully long time OnyX can take, and ensures everything is included for removal, of course a DU free space wipe would be necessary for completeness.

Error message when I try to publish aa application with BI Mobile App Designer

Hello,
We had last month a product demonstration of BI Mobile App Designer by Oracle's commercial.
Following this demonstration, I installed and deployed this module on one of our OBIEE server 11.1.7.141014
I thus tested the BI Mobile App Designer product by creating two smartphone applications that worked perfectly.
The problemis that since a few days, I can not access one of my applications from my smartphone.
From OBI, I then load my application and tried to publish it again, but I get the error message :
oracle.xdo.webservice.exception.OperationFailedException: PublicReportService::generateReportParametersDefinition
Failure: Due to oracle.xdo.servlet.data.DataException: oracle.xdo.XDOException:
oracle.xdo.das.DASException: BISvsException on getting a JBIPS member query data.
Then I tried to duplicate my "Mobile App" and rename it and when I tried to publish it I get the error :
French message :
La bibliothèque d'applications n'est pas configurée correctement.
Assurez-vous que le fichier de configuration est défini pour la bibliothèque d'applications.
English message :
The application library is not configured correctly.
Make sure that the configuration file is defined for the application library.
I don't understand what happens and I can't find any solution to this problem in Oracle knowledge base !...
Any ideas ?
Thanks,
Thierry Demoy

Hi Thierry,
In relation to the second error, I have had this before and it related to be below so this may help: Check the following file:
<DOMAIN_HOME>/config/bipublisher/repository/Admin/Configuration/xmlp-server-config.xml
Check that the following line matches were you are trying to publish your apps on OBIEE. The default is normally "Apps Library" but you can name this folder anything you like.
Just change the below line and point to the folder. Restart the services BIMAD.
<property name="APPS_LIBRARY_FOLDER_LOCAL" value="/Apps Library"/>
Let us know if this helps?
Thanks
Mark

How do you use the windows User32.dll Library functions to read variables from other applications that are running

I am trying to read a text box from a programme running at the same time as my Labview application using calls to the Windows
User32.dll. I believe I need to find the window handle for the 'form' containing this text string and use this together with
various other defined input variables to access the sting.
I have no experience of using this 'Call Library Function Node', but have an understanding of the 'C' programming language. Does anyone have
example Labview code showing how this might be done.
Thanks

If you're trying to access information that's being displayed in the window of another application and that application has no ActiveX interface, then yes, Windows calls can be used. There's a very good example on calling DLLs that ship with LabVIEW. Open the Example Finder (Help->Find Examples) and switch to the Search tab. Enter "Call" in the search box and open the VI "Call DLL". Run the VI, select any of the examples, and click the "Open Example VI..." button. That shows you how to call a DLL.
Now, given that you have no experience in calling DLLs, have only an "understanding" of C (which to me means you have never written something like a DLL), and don't seem to know that much about what Windows functions you may need, you're going to find this route pretty difficult, especially since you have to deal with Windows API calls, which are not always that easy to do from LabVIEW.
Let me propose an alternate solution. Go over to http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/ and download AutoIt. This is an automation tool that allows you to automate just about anything you want. It has an ActiveX interface that you can call from LabVIEW. I've attached an example VI that shows you how to use it to get the value of a text box from one of the tabs in the computer "System Properties" control panel applet.
Attachments:
AutoIt Example (v7).vi ‏25 KB

Need advice for an application that restricts access to other applications using a smart card

Hello everybody,
I am developing a system that uses a smart card reader attached to a USB port of a PC.
What the system should provide is:
When computer boots up and shows the users login screen, a user, previously registered, can use his smart card to access the system, instead of entering his password
Once the user is logged in, when he tries to launch an application, which has previously marked as "secured", a dialog box is shown indicating that the user has to present his smart card. If the smart card has access to the application, the application
is launched, otherwise an error message is shown to the user and the application is not executed.
I develop in C++ and C#. I have already created a library (in Visual C++) that manages the smart card reader and provides the card presented to it.
Now I am developing the applicastion (in C#) that will configure the security (assigning cards to users and applications).
Concerning this, I have 2 questions regarding each point above:
Is it possible to create the centralized application that lists all users and allows to assign cards to them? Then, when the users login screen is shown, the system must access that data before logging in, so that it can check which card was presented and
what user it corresponds to. I have seen in laptops, that have embedded fingerprint readers, a user must login to his account first and then he can register his fingerprints. In fact, what I need to do is something similar but with smart card reader instead
of fingerprint reader. So, perhaps, user must login into his account first and then he will be able to add his card and store that information somewhere (in windows registry maybe).
How can I launch my application when other application is executed but before its interface is actually shown? this is similar to what antivirus programs do, because they check the executable before it is actually ran. What is the best method to address
the application? by executable file name? process name? or other? if the best is by process name, how can I know the process name without actually running the application?
Well, that is all what I need to do. Please advice regarding this subject.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Best regards,
Jaime
Powered by C++

> what was the guidance?
1. Research other software that does similar things (not just exactly the same) as you need. If you like something in their solutions, copy it :)
The only software I know that does that is an antivirus, but I am unlucky to find some code in c++ that allows to intercept the program execution before actually executing it.
2. If a kernel driver would fit in your solution, go for it (google for what is available for free, or find a consultant to write it for you).
There are a lot of information about kernel drivers, but the question is, is that really the solution?
Otherwise, you can just hide the application from user's reach and substitute the executable in shortcuts, etc. to run your program instead.
Definetly this is not the way to go
What is the best method to address the application? by executable file name? process name? or other?
By executable file name, like in the Windows Applocker, I think. Processes do not have names (they are artifact of Task manager and debugging tools, to represent the processes for user somehow). Or, only by the filename part of the full path.
I agree with that
if the best is by process name, how can I know the process name without actually running the application?
When the user runs the application, the driver will detect this and do its magic.
I have found this page: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3556048/how-to-detect-win32-process-creation-termination-in-c. They mention WMI, but I will study it tommorow... it is so late for today :-)
Regards,
-- pa
Regards
Jaime
Powered by C++

How do I exposed to a UI Automation Client that an offset in my RichText editor contains a link?

How do I exposed to a UI Automation Client that an offset in my RichText editor contains a link?
I have a custom RichText editor in a C# WPF application.
What interface would expose such information? ITextRange? ITextRangeProvider?
When using a screen reader, I noticed when using WordPad if I up or down arrow to a line of text that contains "The search engine
www.bing.com" I will hear "The search engine link
www.bing.com." Notice the word "link" was added.
I would like to implement the same behavior in my custom RichText editor when navigating up and down by line.
When I right arrow through the text in WordPad, the screen reader does NOT speak "link" when the caret reaches the first "w" in "www.bing.com".
I would like to implement the speaking of "link" when the caret reaches the first character in the URL.
I assume the UIA client would call ITextRangeProvider.Move with TextUnit.Character when the user navigates with the left or right arrow keys.
Then through some other UI Automation means, the screen reader could determine there is a link at the TextRange. How is this done?
I see the client can call ITextProvider.RangeFromChild which "Retrieves a text range enclosing a child element such as an image, hyperlink, or other embedded object." Does the UIA client then iterate through the range and find the link? If
so, is there an example on how to do so?

How do I exposed to a UI Automation Client that an offset in my RichText editor contains a link?
I have a custom RichText editor in a C# WPF application.
What interface would expose such information? ITextRange? ITextRangeProvider?
When using a screen reader, I noticed when using WordPad if I up or down arrow to a line of text that contains "The search engine
www.bing.com" I will hear "The search engine link
www.bing.com." Notice the word "link" was added.
I would like to implement the same behavior in my custom RichText editor when navigating up and down by line.
When I right arrow through the text in WordPad, the screen reader does NOT speak "link" when the caret reaches the first "w" in "www.bing.com".
I would like to implement the speaking of "link" when the caret reaches the first character in the URL.
I assume the UIA client would call ITextRangeProvider.Move with TextUnit.Character when the user navigates with the left or right arrow keys.
Then through some other UI Automation means, the screen reader could determine there is a link at the TextRange. How is this done?
I see the client can call ITextProvider.RangeFromChild which "Retrieves a text range enclosing a child element such as an image, hyperlink, or other embedded object." Does the UIA client then iterate through the range and find the link? If
so, is there an example on how to do so?

Best practise for creating an application that connects to a SQL Server database

I have created an application that connects to a SQL Server database and views information using a datagrid and performs several updates when a button
is selected.
I have created a SQLcontrol.vb using the following code:
Imports System.Data.Sql
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Public Class SQlControl
'connection 1
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= "Data Source=;Initial Catalog=;Integrated Security=True"}
'connection 2
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= "Data Source;Initial Catalog=;Integrated Security=True"}
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    Public sqldataset As DataSet
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            SQLCon.open()
            SQLCon.close()
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            MsgBox(ex.Message)
            Return False
        End Try
    End Function
    Public Sub runquery(query As String)
        Try
            SQLCon.Open()
            sqlcmd = New SqlCommand(query,
SQLCon)
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SQL RECORDS FOR DATAGROD
            sqlda = New SqlDataAdapter(sqlcmd)
            sqldataset = New DataSet
            sqlda.Fill(sqldataset)
BH READ DIRECTLY FROM THE DATABASE
            'Dim
R As SqlDataReader = sqlcmd.ExecuteReader
            'While
R.Read
            'MsgBox(R.GetName(0)
& ": " & R(0))
            'End
While
            SQLCon.Close()
        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox(ex.Message)
            'will
close connection if still open
            If SQLCon.State
= ConnectionState.Open Then
                SQLCon.Close()
            End If
        End Try
    End Sub
    Public Sub runquery1(query As String)
        Try
            SQLCon1.Open()
            sqlcmd = New SqlCommand(query,
SQLCon1)
            'LOAD
SQL RECORDS FOR DATAGROD
            sqlda = New SqlDataAdapter(sqlcmd)
            sqldataset = New DataSet
            sqlda.Fill(sqldataset)
BH READ DIRECTLY FROM THE DATABASE
            'Dim
R As SqlDataReader = sqlcmd.ExecuteReader
            'While
R.Read
            'MsgBox(R.GetName(0)
& ": " & R(0))
            'End
While
            SQLCon1.Close()
        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox(ex.Message)
            'will
close connection if still open
            If SQLCon1.State
= ConnectionState.Open Then
                SQLCon1.Close()
            End If
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class
A code for one of my button which views displays data grid contains the following code:
Private Sub Button1_Click_1(sender As Object,
e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        If SQL.hasconnection
= True Then
            SQL.runquery("select
* from tablea")
            If SQL.sqldataset.Tables.Count
> 0 Then
                DGVData.DataSource = SQL.sqldataset.Tables(0)
            End If
        End If
    End Sub
I am fairly new to vb.net and have read a few books and followed a few tutorials on youtube, what I would like to know is, are there any disadvantages
to the way I have connected to a SQL database using the SQLControl.vb. A lot of the vb books include data adapter and dataset within the form, I'm not sure if I'm following best practice by have the connection details outside of the form.
My other question is, I have created two connections in the SQLControl and call these connections within the same form using the same data adapter
and dataset. It all works fine but I just wanted to know of any potential issues?
Public SQLCon As New SqlConnection With {.ConnectionString
= "Data Source=;Initial Catalog=;Integrated Security=True"}
'connection 2
    Public SQLCon1 As New SqlConnection With {.ConnectionString
= "Data Source;Initial Catalog=;Integrated Security=True"}
Thanks

My other question is, I have created two connections in the SQLControl and call these connections within the same form using the same data adapter and dataset. It all works fine but
I just wanted to know of any potential issues
1) You are not using Sepration of concerns for a solution that is doing data access, like using a DAL.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_concerns
2) You are directly issuing SQL commands at the UI, leading to sql injection attacks.
3) You are not using a UI design pattern, which leads you to tightly couple database activity to the UI.
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/228214/Understanding-Basics-of-UI-Design-Pattern-MVC-MVP
@System243trd, parameters are important to prevent SQL injection attacks (people will insert SQL commands into the database if you do not perform basic checking of what you are passing to the database). If you write a stored procedure try to make
the variables the correct SQL server data type to avoid problems later of people trying to call it directly.  Darnold924 is right, I see no code to prevent against SQL injection attacks. In addition, during development in some instances LocalSQLDB
database system is used and during deployment you usually need to use the production SQL server database. Moreover, Linq-to-SQL is used on Windows Phone 8.1 and it is required for phone development later and so I highly recommend learning
it if you plan on developing windows phone applications.
@System243trd, If you want the code for the windows phone app I think it uses the MVVM model or that might be for universal apps or regular windows phone apps. I have been using the windows phone Silverlight pivot or panorama template (it might
be pieces of both). I've already submitted to the windows phone marketplace and it had to go through certification first. I plan on later making an article on it but I need to first fix one or two simple problems I have with it. Here's a link to
the source code if you later want to look at the source code (in vb.net):
https://jeffsblogcodesamples.codeplex.com/downloads/get/1445836
Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. - Sherlock Holmes. speak softly and carry a big stick - theodore roosevelt. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering - Yoda. Blog
- http://www.computerprofessions.us

"Automating" applications that really weren't designed to be automated?

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