Smalltalk with James Robertson

Spotted in Planet Squeak

The slides from the Pharo presentation at Smalltalks 2011 are now available online:

-- Download PDF
-- SlideShare: slideshare.net/MarcusDenker/pharo-one-year-later

Technorati Tags: smalltalks2011, pharo

Today's Smalltalk 4 You sets up connectivity for Oracle and GLORP on Windows for VA Smalltalk. There are few tricky parts to this, including the use of the correct ODBC definition. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

.

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

Today we'll set up connectivity to Oracle (using ODBC) so that we can use Glorp against Oracle from VA Smalltalk. The Oracle support in VA for GLORP uses ODBC, so that's why we are doing this. To get started, bring up the ODBC configuration tool, and set up access to your database (installing Oracle is beyond the scope of this tutorial). Make sure you use the Oracle drive, not the Microsoft one - the MS one does not play well with VA Smalltalk:

Once you have that, you can connect to your database as follows:

login := Login new.
	database: OracleODBCPlatform new;
	username: username;
	password: password;
	connectString: 'orcl11g';
	yourself.

Make sure you use the proper connect string, which was set up when you configured Oracle. Next, login:

"login and logout"
accessor := DatabaseAccessor froLogin: login.
accessor login.

accessor logout.

If you specified a password, it'll login for you; otherwise, you'll get prompted.

Next time we'll start taking a real look at creating database descriptors, so that we can start interacting with tables using GLORP.

Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.

Technorati Tags: smalltalk, va smalltalk, oracle, database

I remember the hell of the Oracle installer years ago, when I was installing Oracle 8 under Linux. Surely, I though, 11g has to be better under Windows?

Well... not so much. First, it complains about misisng files as you get about 3/4 done. With modal dialogs that have a "continue" option. Awesome, that. Then, it fails to install your database (if you asked it to), claiming that it's missing a default template. remind me what business Oracle claims to be in again?

You can install a db manually, of course - getting prompted with a slew of questions that you probably don't care about unless you're an honest to goodness DBA. Why they don't have an option for "take a all the defaults and just go" is beyond me.

On the other hand, unlike the Linux installer of yore, it doesn't crash multiple times on install... I guess that's progress.

Technorati Tags: database, installer, oracle

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at the support() function - which lets you gauge the level of JQuery support a browser has. For more details on that, check the API page. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

Technorati Tags: javascript, jquery, browser, tutorial

Today's Smalltalk 4 You gets started with GLORP for VA Smalltalk. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

.

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

Today we'll get started with GLORP for VA Smalltalk - for our examples, we'll be using the ODBC support and PostgreSQL, but it's going to be the same for any other database (such as DB2) at this level. To start with, let's load the support in from ENVY. Open up the load/unload features tool from the launcher:

Just hit "Ok", and let it spin - you'll have GLORP support loaded shortly.

Next time we'll start taking a real look at GLORP itself.

Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.

Technorati Tags: smalltalk, va smalltalk, glorp, database

HPI has started a new series of Squeak screencasts - check it out.

Technorati Tags: squeak

Our iTunes feed has been approved

Technorati Tags: thuumcast, skyrim

"That Podcast" is done, but never fear: the crew (expanded!) is back with Thu'umcast, a gameplay diary for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This will be the last post into this feed; if you want to hear the rest of Thu'umcast, then subscribe to the new feed

You can subscribe to the new podcast in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition.

Visit the Thu'umcast page for all the details.

Technorati Tags: skyrim, thuumcast, games, elder scrolls

"That Podcast" is done, but never fear: the crew (expanded!) is back with Thu'umcast, a gameplay diary for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This will be the last post into this feed; if you want to hear the rest of Thu'umcast, then subscribe to the new feed

You can subscribe to the new podcast in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition.

Visit the Thu'umcast page for all the details.

Technorati Tags: thuumcast, skyrim, games, elder scrolls

Welcome to episode 0 of "Thu'umcast" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith, Scott Dirk, Austin healy, Makahlua and I document our trials and tribulations in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Today we set the stage for Skyrim with a quiz on Elder Scrolls mythology - Michael asked the questions, and, other than Maki, the rest of us show how little we know :) We'll be getting into the gameplay proper once the game is released on November 11th, so stay tuned for that! If you liked our work on That Podcast, you'll probably like this. We intend to stay with the same idea - a gameplay podcast. If you don't want spoilers, don't listen - we are going to be talking about how we play the game, and what we ran across as we played.

You can subscribe in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition. We'll add the iTunes specific links as soon as they are available. In the meantime, join the Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter. If you play on Steam, join the Steam Group. Like the music? Pay Sbeast a visit, we thank him for letting us use it!

Links to all episodes and other information can be found on the Thu'umcast page

If you want to download the podcast directly, we've provided it in three formats:

• MP3 Edition
• AAC Edition
• Ogg Vorbis Edition

Got feedback? Tweet us!. Enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in Skyrim!

Technorati Tags: skyrim, thuumcast, games, elder scrolls

Welcome to episode 0 of "Thu'umcast" - a podcast where Michael Lucas-Smith, Scott Dirk, Austin healy, Makahlua and I document our trials and tribulations in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Today we set the stage for Skyrim with a quiz on Elder Scrolls mythology - Michael asked the questions, and, other than Maki, the rest of us show how little we know :) We'll be getting into the gameplay proper once the game is released on November 11th, so stay tuned for that! If you liked our work on That Podcast, you'll probably like this. We intend to stay with the same idea - a gameplay podcast. If you don't want spoilers, don't listen - we are going to be talking about how we play the game, and what we ran across as we played.

You can subscribe in iTunes (or any podcatcher) using this feed, or this one for the AAC edition. We'll add the iTunes specific links as soon as they are available. In the meantime, join the Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter. If you play on Steam, join the Steam Group. Like the music? Pay Sbeast a visit, we thank him for letting us use it!

Links to all episodes and other information can be found on the Thu'umcast page

If you want to download the podcast directly, we've provided it in three formats:

• MP3 Edition
• AAC Edition
• Ogg Vorbis Edition

Got feedback? Tweet us!. Enjoy the podcast, and we'll see you in Skyrim!

Technorati Tags: skyrim, games, elder scrolls, thuumcast

Welcome to episode 53 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week we have another ESUG 2011 session - Gemstone's Dale Henreichs talking about GLASS 2.0.

You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.

To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.

If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!

If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!

Technorati Tags: esug2011, smalltalk, gemstone, glass

Welcome to episode 53 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson and David Buck.

This week we have another ESUG 2011 session - Gemstone's Dale Henreichs talking about GLASS 2.0.

You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.

To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.

If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!

If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!

Technorati Tags: esug11, glass, gemstone, smalltalk

Truth is stranger than fiction:

Believe it or not, SCO isn't dead yet. SCO Group, by its lawyers Boies Schiller & Flexner and Hatch & Dodge, has just asked the US District Court for the District of Utah to reopen [PDF] its litigation against IBM

IP law is getting to the point where it's impossible to parody....

Technorati Tags: stupidity

I see that there's a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth about the requirements Apple has announced for apps that come from the App store. Unless they start requiring that apps use the App store, this actually puts in place an interesting two tier system:

• A "safe" app store where Apple vets things
• A "you're on your own" normal eco-system

I think we need to see how Apple lets this play out before anyone panics. I also think there's a fairly large market for people who want to treat their computer like an appliance that doesn't need ongoing maintenance....

Technorati Tags: development

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at how to determine whether your database query came back empty in VA Smalltalk. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

.

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

Today we'll look at checking the results from a query in VA Smalltalk, and then prompting the user on empty results. Let's do a query that should result in no answers:

"try a query that should return no rows"
resultCollection := OrderedCollection new.
querySpec := (AbtQuerySpec new)
	statement: 'SELECT * FROM PEOPLE where ZIPCODE = 34567'.
result := connection resultTableFromQuerySpec: querySpec.
result do: [:eachRow | resultCollection add: (eachRow)].
resultCollection isEmpty
	ifTrue:  [CwMessagePrompter message: 'No Rows Came Back' title: 'No Rows'].

The checking is fairly obvious; we simply use standard collection protocol. Then we use the standard CWMessagePrompter class to pop up a warning dialog.

And that's about it for today

Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.

Technorati Tags: smalltalk, va smalltalk, database

Today's Javascript 4 You looks at the height() function (with arguments) in JQuery. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

Can't get to Smalltalks 2011 in Argentina? Never fear, they are live streaming, starting tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: argentina, smalltalks

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at error handling for database development in VA Smalltalk. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

.

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

Today we'll look at setting (and unsetting) an error handler for database exceptions. In some cases, you may not want to catch all possible errors at the place they originate; you'll want a catchall handler specific to database issues. That turns out to be easy to set up in VA Smalltalk:

"set up an error handler for db work"
AbtDbmSystem activeDatabaseMgr  errorBlock: 
     [:error | Transcript show: 'Whoops, that did not work out for us: ', error errorText printString; cr].

To illustrate, let's execute a query that won't work:

"try a query that should throw an error"
resultCollection := OrderedCollection new.
querySpec := (AbtQuerySpec new)
	statement: 'SELECT EMAIL FROM PEOPLE'.
result := connection resultTableFromQuerySpec: querySpec.
result do: [:eachRow | resultCollection add: (eachRow)].
^resultCollection. 		

Instead of an error notifier, you get a message in the Transcript:

This can be useful when you are running a server system, and don't want a default notifier to pop up. Instead, you can log the error, and then have the system do something intelligent - quit, reset connections, whatever. If you want to reset to the default handling (for development, probably), just execute the same code with a nil argument:

"reset to default handling"
AbtDbmSystem activeDatabaseMgr  errorBlock: nil.

Now you'll see the default handling when you try that bad query:

Need more help? There's a screencast for other topics like this which you may want to watch. Questions? Try the "Chat with James" Google gadget over in the sidebar.

Technorati Tags: smalltalk, va smalltalk, database