my Computer Quest: November 2014

23 November, 2014

Printing problem in Crystal Reports for VS2005 - SOLVED!

Crystal Reports (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

23-Nov-2014

A week or so ago, I had my old work desktop PC formatted and installed with Windows 7. I opted for that because I don't want any leftovers from previous users cluttering up my work. Say I'm fussy, but that is me. At least I can safely say, if ever the time comes that I leave the company, that they can format the hard disk drive, without ever worrying about 'others' having leftover files in the HDD of the PC that I used for X number of years.

Now, that new Windows 7 OS is sure better than XP Professional SP3, and while I am able to make use of the better hardware and better OS, in that the very reason why I had the Windows 7 installed after a format is that the hardware is better, even when it was running Windows XP. Yap, there was another desktop PC involved. I had a swap. I had the faster PC for a swap, and requested for a total clean sweep of the hard disk, which mandated the installation of Windows 7. I didn't know that, but it was a pleasant surprise - when I was told that due to the formatting of the hard disk, I will now be getting Windows 7 instead of Windows XP. I said, "Err... okay!"

When all applications have been reinstalled back, I discovered that the main software I use in my daily work is getting a problem: it wasn't able to run Crystal Reports, or to be precise, all sections work, except the Crystal Reports form.

When that problem was fixed, a new one came about: printing function. All else, like exporting, viewing pages, etc., work. I was stuck, as again, printing the generated report was a mandatory part of the process flow that I call work.

I asked for help, which didn't easily come. I figure, I had to do it on my own. And that was even harder because I don't have internet access at work. I should say it is hard, but I feel safer and more comfortable, with much ado about wasting time browsing while working, etc., etc. So I do my web seraching at home, then attempt all solutions and resolutions when I come back to the office.

To cut to the chase, here's what I did, and unfortunately, I am not quite sure on the exact item that fixed the problem. And yes, I am using Windows 7 64-bit OS. Sadly, some of the articles that I checked insisted that it has nothing to do with the bit-ness of the OS of the client, or the local PC, but the bit-ness of the server. That is contrary to my experience.

I turned on .NET Framework 3.5 through the Control Panel, Turning Windows features on or off.
I installed ReportViewer.exe
I installed cr_net_2005_x86.msi
I installed CRRedist2005_x86.msi
I installed CRRedist2005_X64.msi

Five items, and I didn't know which one did the fix. So I suggest that if you are following my method, help me out by doing one-by-one, and noting which one does the fix, so I can update my post.

Hope this helps somebody, as it did me.

Till then!

22 November, 2014

Quick Start Guide to JavaFX

JavaFX Mobile (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

22-Nov-2014

Last week or so, I completed reading my first book on JavaFX. It wasn' actually an intentional read. I just grabbed that book when it presented itself to me while I was browsing through the shelves in the library.

It wasn't a bad choice, I could say. It was bery basic, really a primer, but it gave me an idea of where JavaFX is leading, towards a more graphics-oriented computing, and it is no longer a very time-consuming activity. At least that is what it looks like on the surface.

Graphics.

Since that is something that catches our attention, what better way to create applications, whether on the desktop, or on the web, but which is expressed in graphics?

I had to return the book today, so I am making a short note now that I would again borrow the same book, re-read and re-read as many times as I can, then grab a new one to further my knowledge.

Fancy every time, a rounded button is designed how? That is one of the things I learned in this JavaFX primer.

Short read, much learning. How's that?

Till then!

16 November, 2014

How to log USB transactions?

English: A Sandisk-brand USB thumb drive, SanDisk Cruzer Micro, 4GB. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

16-Nov-2014

I am looking at the possibility of logging USB thumb drive transactions, like copy to and fro, delete, format, etc. This, unfortunately, I cannot find anything on the world wide web.

Can anybody help me?

I don't even find it in CodeProject.com repository. Or maybe I am just not looking hard enough?

At any rate, I am curious how this works, if ever.

I need help. Anybody, if you know, or if you can direct me to some other articles that has the answer, please feel free to let me know.

Thank you!

04 November, 2014

Smart Technology Can Make Us Dumber

English: A pile of mobile devices including smart phones, tablets, laptops and ebok readers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

TOM BRADY

Writers have long taken up residency at woodsy retreats to block out the outside world and focus on the blank page, but it’s getting harder to keep out the wired world. Some of those retreats have allowed wireless access into writing studios, while others, like Yaddo and MacDowell, confine the ability to surf the Web to their libraries.

“People are sometimes surprised by their own reaction” to going offline, David Macy, the MacDowell resident director, told The Times. “I think there’s even a medical name for it, or maybe it’s (the satirical newspaper) The Onion’s name for it: ‘anxiety provoked by not being in a wireless hot spot.’”

Some writers have installed software programs like Freedom and SelfControl to try to limit their Internet browsing. Jonathan Franzen, the American novelist, removed his computer’s wireless card and glued its Ethernet cable in place and then cut the cable off to convert it into an Internet-free writing machine, The Times reported.

The goal to minimize distractions is more than a noble one. Interruptions make us dumper, according to research by the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Researchers there set out to measure the brain power lost when someone is interrupted – either by a phone call or e-mail, the authors Bob Sullivan and Hugh Thompson reported in The Times. When subjects were told to expect a distraction and were interrupted during the course of a test, they did much worse than subjects who were left alone. The distracted/interrupted group answered correctly 20 percent less often than the uninterrupted group.

“There is some evidence that we’re not just suckers for that new text message or addicted to it,” Sullivan and Thompson wrote. “It’s actually robbing us of brain power too.”

The problem of monitoring a cellphone and walking without bumping into things is the one Google was hoping to solve by making Glass.

Other companies are also making it easier to use the phone during other activities, the psychologists Daniel J. Simons and Christopher F. Chabris reported in The Times. In April, Chevrolet advertised its “eyes-free and hands-free integration” with the iPhone’s Siri voice-command interface.

These technologies seem like ideal solution, letting you interact with your smartphone while staying alert to your surroundings. But the brain does not work that way.

“The problem is that looking is not the same as seeing,” Simons and Chabris wrote, “and people make wrong assumptions about what will grab their attention.”

Experiments have shown that people fail to notice things as obvious as a person in a gorilla suit when their attention is diverted.

“Researchers using eye-tracking devices found that people can miss the gorilla suit even when they look right at it,” Simon and Chabris said.” This phenomenon of ‘inattentional blindness’ shows that what we see depends not just on where we look but also how we focus our attention.”

Few writers would give up the research capabilities the Internet offers, and the age of wearable computing is upon us, but new technology is evolving faster than our ability to manage it.

“Google Glass may allow users to do amazing things,” Simon and Chabris wrote, “but it does not abolish the limits on the human ability to pay attention.”

Taken from TODAY Saturday Edition, June 15, 2013

02 November, 2014

F5 Plug-in for Safari in Windows (8.1)

Apple Safari icon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

02-Nov-2014

I wanted to see if Safari is able to run the F5 plug-in so that I can use this browser when I do a remote access to my office network from home. I mean, this is the browser that is so free, so why not use it, for working from home?

When I typed in the URL of the VPN provided by IT user support, I was able to log-in alright. but when I clicked on the Terminal Server link that supposedly uses F5 plug-in, since F5 is not currently installed (for Safari browser), it goes by default to the page that gives the two options for installation: auto and manual.

Manual, obviously, didn't work. For why would it give the two options, instead of going straight away to the installation process?

When I clicked on the manual install link, nothing happened. So both auto and manual don't work!

I searched. And I had to be so specific, for Safari is primarily and mostly utilized in Macbooks. So I have to search for "F5 plugin download for Safari in Windows", and that gave a lot of results.

Took some sifting through all the irrelevant pages, and even those that says F5 support, tells you what hotfix to download and apply, but doesn't tell you where to download. So yes, it took some time, but not very long.

Found one that I believe is from the Far East, and why not, the page is in Chinese. Anyway, I won't lose anything for clicking a button here and there. and the icons are quite straightforward, so I managed to download the so-called hot fix.

Here's the link, before it is lost in my daily computing life: Hotfix-BIGIP-11.2.0-2713.0-HF3

And by the way, the more exhaustive list is here: F5 Product Family

I am still downloading the 235MB file as I post this article, so I can't tell if it works or not. At least I have the patch to start with.

Till then!

my Computer Quest

23 November, 2014

Printing problem in Crystal Reports for VS2005 - SOLVED!