Posted by jpluimers on 2010/11/03
I tried searching for an XSD or other schema that describes ASX (Advanced Stream Redirector) files, but somehow could not find them.
The ASX files can be used to generate a playlist, but they are a bit richer in content than the WPL (Windows Media Player Playlist) file format.
So here is a post with some references to ASX files, examples, documentation and an XSD you could use for ASX files, and why ASX is not valid XML, it is just well-formed. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in .NET, C#, Delphi, Development, Software Development, XML, XML/XSD, XSD | 2 Comments »
Posted by jpluimers on 2010/11/02
Last month, Ian Boyd posted a series of interesting questions on StackOverflow.
They all handle specific situations on methods (especially constructors), classes and directives.
He used them to get a more detailed picture of how that all fits together.
Interesting reading!
–jeroen
Posted in Delphi, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2010/11/01
To save people from browsing Twitter history:
@davidheff @kylix_rd x64 has SSE2 for FP ops. 8 directly addressable 64bit XMM FP registers. 8087 FP ops emulated in microcode, deprecated
28 Oct
@kylix_rd You mean critical mass isn’t church service on Christmas and Easter?
27 Oct
@kylix_rd Bah. What do they know about floating point? :P MSVC turns off all the FP hardware (exceptions) by default already!
27 Oct
@kylix_rd Yes, we did. The reason was Extendeds don’t exist at all in CLR. x64 FP ops only supporting 64 bit floats is justification
27 Oct
@kylix_rd Ok, so your cause/effect statement was incomplete. :P Shame to see extendeds go. How to count all atoms in the universe now?
27 Oct
@kylix_rd That doesn’t follow. You could still pass extendeds on the stack (not using the x87 register stack)
27 Oct
@davidheff Yes. Alignment is critical. Even the stack must remain properly aligned. Its all part of the ABI.
27 Oct
@davidheff SSE instructions and the xmm0:xmm15 registers.
27 Oct
@danny_thorpe That and the fact that MS strongly discourages the use of the FP coproc on 64 bit Windows.
27 Oct
@danny_thorpe Extendeds don’t align well, FP ops would dumb them down, sub-optimal codegen, are other reasons to drop them.
27 Oct
http://goo.gl/D0Kv. “The x87 register stack is unused. … must be considered volatile across function calls” So, Extended = Double.
27 Oct
As speculated, the Tag property will become a NativeInt.
27 Oct
@malcolmgroves @seanbdurkin And if we change the underlying implementation, don’t complain… mkay?
27 Oct
The elephants in the room. Max 64bit PE image size 4GB. Extended = Double (since xmm0-xmm4 are for FP param passing).
27 Oct
Number of calling conventions in x64 – 1. pascal, register, cdecl, stdcall… gone, treated as nop.
26 Oct
Wow… just a few tweets about D64 and I get flooded with new followers. Welcome to all my new followers from the last 24 hours.
26 Oct
Most common 64bit data models, LP64 and LLP64. Windows = LLP64, Linux, OSX = LP64. D64/Windows = LLP64.
26 Oct
64bit gotcha: SizeOf(THandle/HWND/HMODULE/Hxxxx) = SizeOf(Pointer) = 8. This isn’t valid: Value := Integer(Handle).
26 Oct
Type sizes for 64: SizeOf(Integer)=4, SizeOf(NativeInt)=SizeOf(Pointer)=8,
26 Oct
If you must… Value := Integer(TList[x]) -> Value := NativeInt(TList[x]). Even better, TList.
26 Oct
via Allen Bauer (kylix_rd) on Twitter
Danny Thorpe (danny_thorpe) on Twitter
Posted in 8087, Algorithms, Delphi, Development, Floating point handling, kylix_rd, SocialMedia, Software Development, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2010/10/27
Quite a while ago, Neil Moffat started the Delphi Basics site.
It is aimed at beginners, but since it has such a wealth of information (for instance a comprehensive list of compiler directives).
So even if you are a Delphi pro, it is worth to give Delphi Basics a look.
The cool thing: Neil originally is not even a programmer, nor a writer.
Maybe that is his strength: he learned by doing, step by step, now giving us a peak on what he learned.
–jeroen
via Delphi Basics.
Posted in Delphi, Development, Software Development | 8 Comments »
Posted by jpluimers on 2010/10/26
Probably a few others will blog about these tweets too.
I have bolded the most important pieces:
kylix_rd Allen Bauer
If you must… Value := Integer(TList[x]) -> Value := NativeInt(TList[x]). Even better, TList<Integer>.
6 hours ago
kylix_rd Allen Bauer
Another Milestone: fixed my first legitimate 64bit RTL bug. if TryOpenForInput(t) then s/b if not TryOpenForInput(t) then
10 hours ago
kylix_rd Allen Bauer
Milestone: 64bit compiler now merged into the main dev branch! All devs are now locked and loaded!
13 hours ago
–jeroen
via Allen Bauer (kylix_rd) on Twitter.
Posted in Delphi, Development, kylix_rd, Software Development | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2010/10/21
Brilliant and so true:
New programmers are drawn to multithreading like moths to flame, with similar results.
Edit: And this is just one example on how tiny little details can impact threading so much.
–jeroen
via Twitter / Danny Thorpe: New programmers are drawn ….
Posted in .NET, Agile, CommandLine, Debugging, Delphi, Development, Opinions, Software Development | 10 Comments »
Posted by jpluimers on 2010/10/19
Recently, I had the error message “Multiple-step OLE DB operation generated errors. Check each OLE DB status value, if available. No work was done” occur to me when connecting through the “Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server”.
I got the below message (in this case in Delphi, but I have seen lots of other people having the same issue using other environments too): Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Database Development, Delphi, Development, Software Development, SQL Server | 5 Comments »
Posted by jpluimers on 2010/09/29
Recently, a co-worker at a client asked me “What is better: extension methods of helper classses?”.
This question is relevant not only in the .NET and Delphi worlds.
My answer was simple, consisting of these 3 points: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in .NET, C#, C# 4.0, Delphi, Development, Opinions, Software Development | 5 Comments »
Posted by jpluimers on 2010/09/10
To quote the Apple statement:
we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.
Which seems to mean you can use both Mono (using MonoTouch) and Flex to develop your Apple iPhone and iPad apps.
–jeroen
via Statement by Apple on App Store Review Guidelines.
Posted in .NET, Delphi, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »
Posted by jpluimers on 2010/09/08
Recently, I was at a client where in a project strings had to be split from:
'FI-150 1U; FI-049-I L=20 MM;LET OP LASVORM'
Into:
'FI-150 1U''FI-049-I L=20 MM''LET OP LASVORM'At first sight, this looks simple: Semicolon Separated Values and you are done.
Not so fast Mr Smart Alec: watch the optional spaces!
The best thing for problems like these is to start with an empty implementation that some units tests covering it.
I use DUnit for Delphi unit testing.
Unit testing should go with code coverage, but there are few Delphi code coverage articles.
I’ll get into code coverage later on, as I’m working with two of the code coverage people to get this to work nicely with Delphi 2010.
Mock objects can be a good addition to unit testing too, so in a future article, I will cover using mock objects with Delphi.
Posted in Agile, Conference Topics, Conferences, Delphi, Development, DUnit, Event, Software Development, Unit Testing | 8 Comments »
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 