Drafting table

Then along came Computer Aided Design (CAD) and we all ended up sitting passively in front of computer screens.

Fast forward to present day. Keep going… I’ve been sitting a long time.

I’ve been following the ‘standing desk’ idea now for awhile. A few months ago my wife was redecorating her office and we had a trip to Ikea on the horizon so I spent some time on ikeahackers.net and came up with some ideas.

Billsta Table

The general rule among standing desk experts is the table top should be at about elbow level. The Billsta is just a tad too short. Right now I have it resting on a few 2x4s and may even raise it a bit more.

Feet Relief

The last bit of the puzzle was what to do with my monitor and laptop. Standing requires the monitor to be much more elevated off the desktop than sitting. I surfed Craigslist for while and found someone selling some monitor arms. This allows me to free up my entire desk surface giving me much more space, and if I sit I can adjust the arms accordingly.

I haven’t lost any weight (I blame the holidays) but I do feel much better since starting to stand. If you’ve been thinking about trying it there are many ideas on the web on how to inexpensively get started. Next I’m going to investigate hacking up some sort of standing configuration at work.

Where the magic happens

Today I needed to work on multiple things so I broke down and discovered how projects work. Like everything else in Sublime they are very simple, and offer a lot of flexibility.

Step one is to create a new project. You do that by simply adding a folder.

Project > Add Folder to Project…

Your project files and folders should now be displayed in the sidebar.

Now save your project.

Project > Save Project As…

This will create two files:

1. your_project.sublime-project
2. your_project.sublime-workspace

From the Sublime Text 2 documentation:

Projects in Sublime Text 2 are made up of two files: the sublime-project file, which contains the project definition, and the sublime-workspace file, which contains user specific data, such as the open files and the modifications to each.

As a general rule, the sublime-project file would be checked into version control, while the sublime-workspace file would not.

The sublime-project file allows you to make project specific configurations to Sublime. You define multiple folder paths as well as specify folders and files you want to exclude from view. You can also define per project Settings for Sublime:

{
    "folders":
    [
        {
            "path": "wwwroot",
            "folder_exclude_patterns": ["images"]
        },
        {
            "path": "c:\wwwroot\project1\assets",
            "name": "Project 1",
            "file_exclude_patterns": ["*.php"]
        }
    ],
    "settings":
    {
        "tab_size": 8
    }
 }

Here we’re defining two folders. The ‘name’ attribute will define the name that is displayed in the Sublime sidebar for this folder. This is helpful if you have a long path or folder name and want a more descriptive label.

Once you have multiple projects setup, you can easily switch between them by hitting CTRL+ALT+P. That will bring up a dialog of all defined projects. You can either click on the project or start typing a project name to apply a filter.

I’m still learning how best to use projects but I like the flexibility of defining multiple folders and being able to specify the path. I’m working on a project now with many deeply nested subfolders and can simply map to a specific directory instead of having to click down through several folders.

I have both the Remote Desktop application and Putty available but managing all these connections is a bit tedious.

I did a bit of research and discovered mRemoteNG.

mRemoteNG is an open source, tabbed, multi-protocol, remote connections manager. It allows you to view all of your remote connections in a simple yet powerful tabbed interface.

It basically provides a single location to manage all those connections in one location. It provides a nice clean interface with tabs which I find very useful when connecting to multiple servers at the same time. In addition to RDP and SSH it supports the following protocols:

• VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
• ICA (Citrix Independent Computing Architecture)
• Telnet (TELecommunication NETwork)
• HTTP/HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
• rlogin
• Raw Socket Connections

mRemoteNg

I use a lot of software from Donation Coder, including Find and Run Robot and Screenshot Captor. Recently in their newsletter they mentioned a new clipboard manager called Ethervane Echo. Intrigued, I’ve been using it for the last week or so…

Ethervane Echo Clipboard Manager

For the longest time I’ve been a huge fan of Ditto.

The author of Ethervane Echo actually based his tool on Ditto but with some adjustments. What I really like about it is the addition of tabs. The tabs allow you to organize your clipboard somewhat.

With the search it’s easy to find previously used text, but occasionally I’ll have something I use over and over, and want to easily access. With Ethervane I can move that to the ‘sticky’ tab and it won’t get flushed out as the clipboard fills up. Or if I’ve recently copied something I can hit the “Last Hour” tab.

Everything in Ethervane is easily accessible via keyboard shortcuts, and it some easy to use maintenance tools to use to keep your clipboard data cleaned up.

The only downside is it is text only. No copying and pasting images, which I don’t find to be that much of a drawback.

If you are currently using Ditto or another clipboard manager I’d definitely check it out, and if you aren’t using a clipboard manager at all – what are you waiting for!

In my current project I’m overhauling a lot of old spaghetti code. The code is a mix of camelCase (more recent) and under_score variables (the old stuff). We’re currently favoring camelCase but changing the old under_score variables can be a chore. That is until I noticed AnyEdit tools has a camelCase to under_score!

Select your variable, hit CTRL+ALT+K and voila, it will switch between thisIsMyFieldName and this_is_my_field_name.

AnyEdit tools includes a host of other useful utilities and makes a great addition to your standard Eclipse install.

We’re using Project Tracker a ColdFusion based application written by Joe Danziger.

I don’t have the time or talent to write a native Mylyn connector but I did remember hearing about a ‘generic’ web connector. For reference it’s now in the ‘incubator‘

Installing that gives you several preconfigured example repositories to choose from:

Preconfigured examples

I didn’t expect to see Project Tracker in the list but what did catch my eye was the listing for Eclipse Plugin Central which had (RSS) next to it. I knew Project Tracker supported RSS…

Configuration

Please note this is still a work in progress… the steps outlined below ‘work’ but may not be the best way to do this. As I tinker more I’ll update this post.

• Open the Planning perspective and the Task Repositories view.
• Right click in the view and select “Add Task Repository…”
• Select Web Template (Advanced) and click Next
• Server: the base URL to your Project Tracker
• Label: Whatever you want to call it
• UserID: Depending on how you have your authentication setup Mylyn can store your credentials – enter the username and password you use to access Project Tracker here…

Initial configuration

• Expand “Additional Settings” at the bottom
• Then expand “Advanced Configuration”

Here you can enter several URLs. Remember we’re using RSS again so:

• Query Request URL: https://my.project.com/project/rss.cfm
• Login Form URL: https://my.project.com/project/index.cfm?username=${userId}&password=${password}

Here we’re passing the username and password we entered earlier.

Click finish to save your repository. Next we need to write a ‘query’ to pull tickets. But first we have to generate our RSS feed.

RSS Feed

I opened up Project Tracker, navigated to one of my projects and selected the “Issues” tab. At the top there is an RSS feed button. Copy that URL.

You should get something like so:

https://my.project.com/project/rss.cfm?&p=4BA4E-9B9-DFG00-6F4702A9FB4A5&type=issues&assignedto=&severity=&milestone=&issuetype=

Note: Your URL may vary depending on how you have things setup!

Empty items we can ignore so we can trim down our query string:

https://my.project.com/project/rss.cfm?&p=4B814A4E-19B9-DA00-6F4C76706A9FB3A5&type=issues

Now the important part! Run this URL through your browser and verify the results are correct.

Mylyn Meets RSS

With a working URL:

• In Eclipse open the Task List view, right click inside it and select “New > Query”
• Select your newly added task repository we just created
• Click next
• On the “Create web query” window – select “Advanced Configuration”

Enter the RSS URL in the Query URL field:

RSS configuration

You can click the “Open” button to verify Mylyn is also reading the URL correctly. If you get an error continue to tweak and test your URL.

Once it’s working in Eclipse – click Finish.

Your Task List should refresh and you will see a list of your items!

It works!

Note: I modified the Project Tracker rss.cfm file and added the Ticket # to the title.

Next

Looking at the Mylyn examples online there are ways I can streamline some of the URLs like we did with the authentication URL to assign and use variables. I’ll be looking into that next. I don’t think opening and modifying tickets via this interface is doable but this functionality gives me 90% of what I use Mylyn for. I can see my tasks, I can activate them and use contexts. I’m happy.

Followup

One thing that was bugging me was the dates showing up in the issue list (see the last screenshot above). Turns out this is due to the type of RSS feed, and this is easily changed in ProjectTracker. I’m using v.2.6.2. Open rss.cfm and around line 117 you will need to tweak:

<cfset rssXML = rss.generateRSS("RSS092",data,meta)>

I changed it from RSS1 to RSS092. Your mileage may vary. I now get a nicely formatted list with no weird dates.

SSMS Tools Pack

SSMS Tools Pack is an add-in for Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) … It contains a few upgrades to the SSMS IDE that I thought were missing.

SSMS Tools Pack was the first tool I stumbled upon. Almost every SQL Server blog post I came across mentioned it. It’s free and has a lot of functionality built in, most of which I haven’t explored yet. But a few of the features I like so far…

Window Connection Coloring

There is nothing worse than running a delete or update script and realize that you are connected to production not development! Oops. Window Connection Coloring allows you to assign a color which appears as a dark bar across your SQL window. So when I’m connected to dev things are green. Production = red!

Window History

This gives you quick access to recently used queries and code.

Snippets

Snippets! Very similar to Eclipse based snippets – these are short bits of code you can use to create shortcuts…

CRT =  CREATE TABLE ( )

SSMS Tools Pack also included code formatter but it is very basic so I went searching for a solution…

SQL Beautifier / Code Formatter

Right now I’m evaluating two tools:

1. SQL Code Formatter
2. SQL Complete

SQL Code Formatter ($50)

They provide several versions of the tool – a stand alone version, and one that plugs into SMSS. I’ve been trying the SMSS plugin and it’s very nice. Lots of options (over 80!) which allows you to configure things to your liking or company standards. SQL Code Formatter does one thing only and does it well.

SQL Complete (Free ‘Express’ version)

SQL Complete provides a fairly comprehensive formatter as well as some additional features like enhanced intellisense. I’ve been evaluating the free ‘express’ edition and so far it has met my needs. The formatter options are not as robust as SQL Code Formatter but so far they have been good enough.

Code Formatter

1. (1) Desktop (Linux) w/dual monitors
2. (1) Laptop (Windows 7) w/15″ monitor

When working from home I usually have my desktop cranked up and I RDP into my workstation at work. Usually my laptop would sit on my desk collecting dust. But then I realized I could leverage the extra laptop monitor for something (Skype, IM, etc) so I started using it but there was a disconnect when something happened on the laptop. I’d have to shift my focus (and hands) over to the laptop keyboard to interact. Ugh.

The solution? Synergy!

Synergy is Free and Open Source Software that lets you easily share your mouse and keyboard between multiple computers, where each computer has its own display. No special hardware is required, all you need is a local area network. Synergy is supported on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Redirecting the mouse and keyboard is as simple as moving the mouse off the edge of your screen. Synergy is released under the GNU Public License (GPL).

You basically have a client/server relationship and once configured correctly you can easily share your mouse and keyboard between systems – even if they are using different operating systems!

Installation

On my Windows 7 laptop I downloaded and installed the Synergy software. It would be the ‘client’ so I selected “Use another computer’s keyboard and mouse (client)” and entered my desktop IP address. You can also set Synergy to automatically start when the computer starts or when you login. That’s it for the client.

Note: The one ‘drawback’ I’ve found is if you normally use DHCP to set your IP addresses you may need to give them a static address to make configuration easier.

On my Linux desktop Synegy was available via Apt but I quickly realized that it was a simple CLI interface. Digging around however I found QuickSynergy which gives you a very simple GUI to manage your settings.

Quick Synergy GUI

I first attempted to enter an IP address but that failed. For some reason Synergy is expecting a host name. So in my case my laptop host is “JIM-PC”. My laptop is sitting to the left of my main monitors so I entered “JIM-PC” in the ‘left’ text box, click Execute and viola! I can now move my mouse between systems simply by dragging it to the edge of my far left monitor.

So now I have my desktop (Ubuntu Linux) and my laptop (Windows 7) and 3 monitors:

3 Monitors. 1 Keyboard and mouse.

What’s Next?

I have another old PC I’ve been considering setting up as a ‘server’ at home. All I need for it is a monitor (would go on the right) and then I could easily access 3 machines, 4 monitors all from a single keyboard and mouse!

Uses a virtual “pad” to arrange windows. Use the Numpad or your own custom layout to move and resize a window to fill the appropriate section of the screen.

What is neat is that this is actually an AutoHotkey script. So to run you can either run the .ahk (if you have AutoHotkey installed) or a compiled .exe file.  This is a great example of what you can do with AutoHotkey beyond simple text replacement.

I usually stuff the .exe in Dropbox. I have a directory setup in Dropbox where I store all my useful scripts and applications. Then I create a shortcut and drop that in my Startup folder. So either at home or work I have access to the script!

WindowPad is a simple utility – by using a hotkey and your keyboard numpad you can easily manipulate windows. Either one one screen, or if you have multiple monitors, between screens. All without leaving the comfort of your keyboard. No need to stop typing, grab the mouse, find the title bar, drag. Drag again because you lost focus. Double click to maximize, etc.

The shortcuts are simple, using a hot key (Windows key) and the number pad:

• Win + Numpad 1 – Move window to lower left of active monitor
• Win +Numpad 2 – Move window to bottom of active monitor
• Win +Numpad 3 – Move window to lower right of active monitor
• Win +Numpad 4 – Move window to far left
• Win +Numpad 5 – Center window
• Win +Numpad 6 – Move window to far right
• Win +Numpad 7 – Move window to upper left of active monitor
• Win +Numpad 8 – Move window to top of active monitor
• Win +Numpad 9 – Move window to upper right of active monitor
• Win +Numpad Add = Maximize Toggle
• Win +Numpad Enter = Window Screen Move

Window Pad Shortcuts

One thing I often do is pop open a Firefox and Selenium IDE window.  To get them tiled easily I can simply do a WIN+Numpad4 and WIN+Numpad6.  I know there are Windows shortcuts to tile things but I find WndowsPad a bit more intuitive.

Win + Numpad Enter is my favorite.  Clicking that will  quickly whip a window between multiple monitors. Great when you want to focus on something but it’s on your secondary monitor.

And if you are feeling adventurous you can add your own shortcuts using the included .ahk script!

Want to learn more about tools like this?  Come see me present at cf.Objective!   I will be talking about automation, AutoHotkey and other tools than can make your life as a developer easier.

Search Dialog

I love tools. And I really love tools that make pictures.

WireframeSketcher meets both those needs.

WireframeSketcher is a software tool that helps you quickly create wireframes, mockups and prototypes for desktop, web and mobile application.

If you are still laying out web pages by firing up Fireworks, or worse yet, by hacking code in Dreamweaver stop what you are doing and embrace wireframe mockups.

There are lots of benefits to using a tool like WireframeSketcher vs coding early or doing mockups in a graphics program like Photoshop or Fireworks.

1. WireframeSketcher comes preloaded with a huge library of elements you can easily drag and drop on the screen. Need an input form? Calendar? Drop down?  They are already there!
2. It’s very easy to make changes.  does the client want to scrap the navigation bar and add breadcrumbs instead?  It’s much easier to make those sort of changes in a mockup vs code!

Available WireframeSketcher Widgets

In the past I’ve used Balsamiq with great success. The two tools are very similar.

The big benefit I find  with WireframeSketcher is that 99% of the time I always have Eclipse open so there is no context shift to stop and open another program.  And since it runs on Eclipse, WireframeSketcher runs on Linux, Mac and Windows.  ( Balsamiq is an Air app and is cross platform as well. )

Installation is like any other Eclipse plugin via an update URL.  Once installed you can access both a well documented User Guide and a tutorial that steps you through the basics.

One feature I really like in WireframeSketcher is their idea of “Masters”.  These are like CFIncludes for your mockups.  You can layout a login form for example, then reuse that layout in your other mockups.  If something changes you simply need to update the original mockup.  Nice!

Another nice tweak is you can alter the font of your mockup. So if you are not a fan of Comic Sans you can select something else!

It’s also affordable. A license only costs $75 and there is a fully functional trial available with the following limitations:  a watermark in exported files and a reminder dialog that will popup after 1 week.  Certainly good enough to give it a try on your next project.

If you haven’t tried a mockup tool I strongly encourage you to checkout WireframeSketcher.  Especially if you are coding in Eclipse for the majority of  our day.

Is it better than Balsamiq?  I think for the most part they are very similar.  The big benefit I find with WireframeSketcher is the fact that it run on Eclipse. If you don’t use Eclipse then Balsamiq may work just as well.