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Archive for 2021

DUnit testing code that should raise a specific exception

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/17

A while back, I was writing some code to demonstrate a few inner workings of TInterfacedObject, interface reference counting and mixing object references with interface references.

One way to show this is through a test case that expects a certain exception to happen, but I forgot how to do that in DUnit. Luckily this pointed me on the right track: [WayBack] delphi – CheckException only accepts 0-parameter methods; how do I test that other methods throw exceptions? – Stack Overflow.

The solution shows that DUnit has had support for something similar as DUnitX: now has a WillRaiseAttribute to ease defining tests around code that should throw exceptions for a very long time (I think this was introduced around Delphi 2005).

You can do it in a property way:

unit InterfacedObjectTestCaseUnit;

interface

uses
  TestFramework;

type
  TDebuggableInterfacedObjectTestCase = class(TTestCase)
  published
    procedure System_TInterfacedObject_Free_Before_RefCount_Should_Raise_EInvalidPointer();
  end;

implementation

uses
  System.SysUtils,

procedure TInterfacedObjectTestCase.System_TInterfacedObject_Free_Before_RefCount_Should_Raise_EInvalidPointer();
var
  ObjectReference:    System.TInterfacedObject;
  InterfaceReference: IInterface;
begin
  ObjectReference    := System.TInterfacedObject.Create();
  InterfaceReference := ObjectReference;
  ExpectedException  := System.SysUtils.EInvalidPointer;
  ObjectReference.Free(); // this should raise an exception in System.TInterfacedObject.BeforeDestruction, as it checks the RefCount to be zero
  // the below is optional; should not be reached. If it is reached, it will fail earlier than the encompassing `RunTest` method would
  ExpectedException := nil; // or `StopExpectingException();`
end;

end.

or in a method way for an exception that happens in the current method:

procedure TInterfacedObjectTestCase.System_TInterfacedObject_Free_Before_RefCount_Should_Raise_EInvalidPointer();
var
  ObjectReference:    System.TInterfacedObject;
  InterfaceReference: IInterface;
begin
  ObjectReference    := System.TInterfacedObject.Create();
  InterfaceReference := ObjectReference;
  StartExpectingException(System.SysUtils.EInvalidPointer);
  ObjectReference.Free(); // this should raise an exception in System.TInterfacedObject.BeforeDestruction, as it checks the RefCount to be zero
  // the below is optional; should not be reached. If it is reached, it will fail earlier than the encompassing `RunTest` method would
  StopExpectingException();
end;

The alternative using CheckException that will raise earlier, but also tests the results of a complete method which also has to be parameterless:

procedure TDebuggableInterfacedObjectTestCase.System_TInterfacedObject_Free_Before_RefCount();
var
  ObjectReference:    System.TInterfacedObject;
  InterfaceReference: IInterface;
begin
  ObjectReference    := System.TInterfacedObject.Create();
  InterfaceReference := ObjectReference;
  ObjectReference.Free(); // this should raise an exception in System.TInterfacedObject.BeforeDestruction, as it checks the RefCount to be zero
end;

procedure TDebuggableInterfacedObjectTestCase.System_TInterfacedObject_Free_Before_RefCount_Should_Raise_EInvalidPointer_TTestMethod_Based();
begin
  CheckException(System_TInterfacedObject_Free_Before_RefCount, System.SysUtils.EInvalidPointer);
end;

So I wrote a class helper based on TProc that allows you to test an anonymous method which usually has more fine grained testing potential.

Because of type compatibility, you have to call the inherited version of CheckException inside the new one:

unit TestCaseHelperUnit;

interface

uses
  System.SysUtils,
  TestFramework;

type
  TTestCaseHelper = class helper for TTestCase
  public
    procedure CheckException(const AProc: TProc; const AExceptionClass: TClass; const msg: string = '');
  end;

implementation

type
  TTestCaseInvoker = class
  strict private
    FProc: TProc;
  public
    constructor Create(const AProc: TProc);
    procedure Execute();
  end;

{ TTestCaseInvoker }

constructor TTestCaseInvoker.Create(const AProc: TProc);
begin
  inherited Create();
  FProc := AProc;
end;

procedure TTestCaseInvoker.Execute();
begin
  if Assigned(FProc) then
    FProc();
end;

procedure TTestCaseHelper.CheckException(const AProc: TProc; const AExceptionClass: TClass; const msg: string = '');
var
  TestCaseInvoker: TTestCaseInvoker;
begin
  TestCaseInvoker := TTestCaseInvoker.Create(AProc);
  try
    inherited CheckException(TestCaseInvoker.Execute, AExceptionClass, msg); // `inherited`, to avoid stack overflow because `TProc` is compatible with `TTestMethod`
  finally
    TestCaseInvoker.Free();
  end;
end;

end.

The test then becomes this:

procedure TDebuggableInterfacedObjectTestCase.System_TInterfacedObject_Free_Before_RefCount_Should_Raise_EInvalidPointer_TProc_Based();
var
  ObjectReference:    System.TInterfacedObject;
  InterfaceReference: IInterface;
begin
  ObjectReference    := System.TInterfacedObject.Create();
  InterfaceReference := ObjectReference;
  CheckException(procedure ()
  begin
    ObjectReference.Free(); // this should raise an exception in System.TInterfacedObject.BeforeDestruction, as it checks the RefCount to be zero
  end,
  System.SysUtils.EInvalidPointer);
end;

DUnit code snippets

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Posted in Agile, Conference Topics, Conferences, Delphi, Development, Event, Software Development, Unit Testing | Leave a Comment »

🔎Julia Evans🔍 on Twitter: “ngrep: grep your network!… “

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/16

[WayBack] 🔎Julia Evans🔍 on Twitter: “ngrep: grep your network!… “

So this taught me a new tool and other new things:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in *nix, *nix-tools, Communications Development, Development, Internet protocol suite, Power User, Software Development, Wireshark | Leave a Comment »

Checking expiration dates for your certbot certificates

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/16

I have these two little aliases in my toolbox:

alias "certbot-check-all-by-file=bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/srvrco/checkssl/master/checkssl) --location /etc/letsencrypt/live"
alias "certbot-check-all-by-config=bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/srvrco/checkssl/master/checkssl) --server ISPconfig"

First a big fat warning

do not run just any script downloaded through curl. Plenty of reasons why this is dangerous:

  1. [WayBack] Detecting the use of “curl | bash” server side | Application Security
  2. [WayBack] One way “curl pipe sh” install scripts can be dangerous [proof of concept] / Jordan Eldredge: script content differs depending on user agent
  3. [WayBack] sean cassidy : Don’t Pipe to your Shell: scripts having different behaviour when executed partially
  4. [WayBack] Why using curl | sudo sh is not advised? – Stack Overflow:

    You can proof your scripts against partial execution by putting the whole thing into the body of a function, and executing that function on the last line. If you know a script is defined like that, it’s exactly as secure as downloading and then executing some installer.

The first three can mostly prevented by using your own fork of the script repository, then checking each modification of the script, combined with ensuring your fork location does not throw tricks 1 or 2 on you.

That’s why I run the above alias only from a checkssl fork which I can inspect.

Back to the alias

The aliases use quite a few tricks:

  1. Having curl download a command minimising
    curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/srvrco/checkssl/master/checkssl

    Via: [WayBack] The missing package manager for macOS (or Linux) — The missing package manager for macOS (or Linux)

  2. Running that command through bash as if the download were a file by wrapping wrapping it in parenthesis and a less than sign .
    bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/srvrco/checkssl/master/checkssl)

    Via: [WayBack] linux – Execute bash script from URL – Stack Overflow

  3. Passing arguments to the bash command by appending this to the command just like from the regular command-line:
    bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/srvrco/checkssl/master/checkssl) --location /etc/letsencrypt/live
  4. An alias [WayBack] with double-quotes around the whole statement:
    alias "certbot-check-all-by-file=bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/srvrco/checkssl/master/checkssl) --location /etc/letsencrypt/live"
  5. Either use the certbot configuration file or apache2 (via ISPconfig as the apache2 parameter value is not yet supported) domain configuration:
    alias "certbot-check-all-by-file=bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/srvrco/checkssl/master/checkssl) --location /etc/letsencrypt/live"
    alias "certbot-check-all-by-config=bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/srvrco/checkssl/master/checkssl) --server ISPconfig"

Using source instead of bash

Note that an alternative alias is this one:

alias "certbot-check-all-by-file=(source <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/srvrco/checkssl/master/checkssl) --location /etc/letsencrypt/live)"

However, that needs an extra set of parenthesis, otherwise you will get bumped out of your current shell.

The reason is that bash runs in a [WayBack] subshell, whereas [WayBack] source (and the equivalent [WayBack] “dot” command .) runs in the current shell, but the script performs a gracefull_exit or error_exit which end in an exit [WayBack] terminating the current shell.

The [WayBack] () parenthesis around the source command ensure it runs in a sub-shell.

In this case, you can still pass the --location /etc/letsencrypt/live parameters, as bash is the only shell allowing this: [WayBack] source – Passing variables to a bash script when sourcing it – Unix & Linux Stack Exchange.

References

Related [WayBack] Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide topics:

Related cURL options from [WayBack] curl – How To Use:

  • -f: [WayBack] -f, --fail

    (HTTP) Fail silently (no output at all) on server errors. This is mostly done to better enable scripts etc to better deal with failed attempts. In normal cases when an HTTP server fails to deliver a document, it returns an HTML document stating so (which often also describes why and more). This flag will prevent curl from outputting that and return error 22.

    This method is not fail-safe and there are occasions where non-successful response codes will slip through, especially when authentication is involved (response codes 401 and 407).

  • -s: [WayBack] -s, --silent:

    Silent or quiet mode. Don’t show progress meter or error messages. Makes Curl mute. It will still output the data you ask for, potentially even to the terminal/stdout unless you redirect it.

    Use -S, –show-error in addition to this option to disable progress meter but still show error messages.

    See also -v, –verbose and –stderr.

  • -S: [WayBack] -S, --show-errors:

    When used with -s, –silent, it makes curl show an error message if it fails.

  • -L: [WayBack] -L, --location:

    (HTTP) If the server reports that the requested page has moved to a different location (indicated with a Location: header and a 3XX response code), this option will make curl redo the request on the new place. If used together with -i, –include or -I, –head, headers from all requested pages will be shown. When authentication is used, curl only sends its credentials to the initial host. If a redirect takes curl to a different host, it won’t be able to intercept the user+password. See also –location-trusted on how to change this. You can limit the amount of redirects to follow by using the –max-redirs option.

    When curl follows a redirect and the request is not a plain GET (for example POST or PUT), it will do the following request with a GET if the HTTP response was 301, 302, or 303. If the response code was any other 3xx code, curl will re-send the following request using the same unmodified method.

    You can tell curl to not change the non-GET request method to GET after a 30x response by using the dedicated options for that: –post301–post302 and –post303.

Reminders

Reminder to self: see if JSON output is viable. This commit might help.

–jeroen

Posted in bash, Conference Topics, Conferences, Development, Event, Scripting, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

The magic “procedure Touch(var …” construct

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/16

procedure Touch(var Argument);  
begin
end;

I included the above code in my blog a long time ago (2014 in fact: Delphi: always watch the compiler Warnings), but never got around to explain the why and how I got it, why it works and why it will likely work forever.

Background

Ever since the early Delphi days, there are three hints about “never used” of which the second often gets in the way during debugging:

(note that these %s only hold for non-managed types, which I also addressed in Why don’t I get the warning W1036 Variable “‘MyStrings’ might not have been initialized”… and Delphi 10.3 Rio got released; I’ll wait a while hoping to see more positive comments).

Usually the compiler is right, but sometimes it is not: [WayBack] Check your compiler warnings and hints. They may still be errors. | Shiftkey Software Blog

So once every while, you need this workaround:

Solution

The solution is to have a method with one untyped var parameter (a var parameter without any type: this way you can pass any field or variable to it) that just does nothing. Often I included only at the place I need it as this single line fragment: procedure Touch(var Argument); begin end;.

Former Delphi compiler engineer and Borland Chief Schientist Danny Thorpe handed this solution, I think it was during or around his famous BorCon99 in Philadelphi (and later BorCon2005 in San Jose) Reading Tea Leaves: The Fine Art of Debugging talk. The talk is not-online, but luckily there are notes and a StackOverflow post:

The session had seemingly simple things like this [WayBack] Shenoy At Work: Set Next Statement in Delphi? with the picture on the right.

Voiding the solution

I’ve seen teams making this method inline, but that voids it. Usually they do not see it as they already resolved the “never used” problem in another way.

Why it still works

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Posted in Conference Topics, Conferences, Delphi, Development, Event, Software Development | 1 Comment »

Eurotec 6-6 uit bedrijf nemen

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/15

Even wat linkjes en notities, want Eurotec 6-6 wordt al tijden niet meer gemaakt ([WayBack] Euromatec maakt andere alarmsystemen) en steeds meer worden vervangen door andere alarmapparatuur.

–jeroen

Posted in LifeHacker, Power User | Leave a Comment »

Research list: getting rid of the Windows 10 Delivery Content data and service

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/15

Not sure yet if this is still possible, but on my research list as it pollutes low-resource Windows 10 VMs and computers the Delivery Content:

–jeroen

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Posted in Power User, Windows, Windows 10 | Leave a Comment »

Deleting the WebCache database – The IE browser cache | Apttech’s Blog

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/15

[WayBack] Deleting the WebCache database – The IE browser cache | Apttech’s Blog quotes from WayBack: C drive space is using up on terminal server after upgrading to IE10 or IE11 – AsiaTech: Microsoft Azure & Development:

With the new cache implementation, the cache files are saved in %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\WebCache\ folder. And, the cache files will be created when a new user logs on.

Actually, the database is a file named WebCacheV01.dat in the cache folder, and its initial size could be around 20-32MB. The size of this file will keep increasing along with you browse more and more websites.

save the below contents into ClearIECache.cmd file and try to fun this file.

echo OFF
net stop COMSysApp
taskkill /F /IM dllhost.exe
taskkill /F /IM taskhost.exe
taskkill /F /IM taskhostex.exe
del /Q %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\WebCache\*.*
net start COMSysApp
echo ON

Furthermore, you’d better deploy the batch file to a logoff script of your local GPO, here are the steps.

Related:

–jeroen

Posted in Internet Explorer, Power User, Web Browsers, Windows, Windows 10 | Leave a Comment »

Badhoevedorp, T106, Amsterdamse Baan, groot onderhoud

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/14

Je vindt onderstaande downloads en kaart niet via de detail pagina’s [Wayback] Verkeersoverlast door werkzaamheden Amsterdamse Baan en Lijnderbrug of [Wayback] Werkzaamheden Amsterdamse Baan en Lijnderbrug | Gemeente Haarlemmermeer.

Wel via [Wayback] Wegwerkzaamheden en wegafsluitingen | Gemeente Haarlemmermeer (klik op “Bekijk de kaart met wegwerkzaamheden en wegafsluitingen”) geleend van LTC Wegwerkzaamheden & Evenementen:

LTC Wegwerkzaamheden & Evenementen. Een overzicht van alle wegwerkzaamheden in en rond Haarlemmermeer.

Daar inzoomen op de “T106” brug tussen Lijnden en Amsterdam, en dan klikken op “Badhoevedorp, T106, Amsterdamse Baan, groot onderhoud”:

Badhoevedorp, T106, Amsterdamse Baan, groot onderhoud

Wanneer

Van 1-3-2021 tot en met 19-3-2021 (Periode 1)

Betrokken straten

Amsterdamse baan / S106

Soort

Asfaltering / wegverharding

Hinderklasse

Grote hinder (10-30 minuten)

Wegbeheerder

Gemeente Haarlemmermeer

Status

Plan afstemming gestart

Omschrijving

afsluiting voor gemotoriseerd verkeer

Contact informatie

Dhr. T. Kromwijk (KWS) 0611701477

Bijlage(n)

Omleidingen

Omleiding A

Omleiding B

Streetview

Kaart

Posted in LifeHacker, Power User | Leave a Comment »

Scribbr APA Generator – Genereer je bronvermelding volgens de APA-stijl (American Psychological Association citations of references)

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/12

[Archive.is] Scribbr APA Generator – Genereer je bronvermelding volgens de APA-stijl:

Selecteer het type bron, vul de invoervelden in en genereer eenvoudig de bron precies volgens de officiële APA-stijl.

Gerealteerd:

–jeroen

https://www.google.com/search?q=apa%20quoting%20style&cad=h

Posted in LifeHacker, Power User | Leave a Comment »

Word Shortcuts links

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/12

I was trying to get the love of my life from using a mouse into keyboard shortcuts.

They come natural to me as I learned them step by step from Word for Windows 1.0 until now as I have been a keyboard person since the early 1990s.

But she has been a mouse person all her life, struggling to become faster using word. The mouse became a hindrance, especially since so much has moved around to deeper levels in the Word user interface over time.

This is what I came up with after doing a few searches on-line:

I was amazed at how scattered out and incomplete the information in these links is.

–jeroen

Posted in Office, Power User, Word | Leave a Comment »