Mohd Amree

See Full Referrer URL in Google Analytics

2012-01-21T00:00:00-08:00

See Full Referrer URL in Google Analytics

Most of the tutorial on the web focuses on the old version of Google Analytics. So, after poking around Google Analytics, I found out that there are two ways to see it (I stopped looking once I found the second method, so, there might be more).

Go to Custom Reporting tab.
Click Edit.
If you've already added a tab, just click "+add report tab" for this purpose.
Put the name of this report.
Choose Flat Table as the type.
For the Dimensions, search for Full Referrer.
For the Metrics, use Unique Visitors (or anything you see fits).
Click Save.

That's it. You can refer to the screenshot below if you're feeling lost:

Good luck!

A Not So Simple Introduction to Git

2012-01-07T00:00:00-08:00

A Not So Simple Introduction to Git

Found another presentation from Speaker Deck. I find it useful with its examples. Check it out.

A Good Introduction to Agile and Scrum

2012-01-07T00:00:00-08:00

A Good Introduction to Agile and Scrum

Found this in Speaker Deck. Love the simple explanation.

Renaming Author in Git

2012-01-05T00:00:00-08:00

Renaming Author in Git

In Linux, I use Netbeans a lot as a diff viewer. For now, I think it's the best diff viewer in Linux with side by side comparison and its easy to navigate UI. Plus, it's free.

Recently, I noticed that there are other authors with a different name in my Git's history. Apparently, I've accidentally committed into the repository using a different author's name and email. This is mainly due to the way Netbeans stores author's information history.

So, in order to fix it, I ran this little script from Github in my master branch.

#!/bin/sh

git filter-branch --env-filter '

an="$GIT_AUTHOR_NAME"
am="$GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL"
cn="$GIT_COMMITTER_NAME"
cm="$GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL"

if [ "$GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL" = "your@email.to.match" ]
then
    cn="Your New Committer Name"
    cm="Your New Committer Email"
fi
if [ "$GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL" = "your@email.to.match" ]
then
    an="Your New Author Name"
    am="Your New Author Email"
fi

export GIT_AUTHOR_NAME="$an"
export GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="$am"
export GIT_COMMITTER_NAME="$cn"
export GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL="$cm"
'

To push it into the server, I need to use git push -f instead of git push. If you use the latter command, you'll end up with a merged history (every commit will have another one identical to it).

If you use Redmine, you may need to fetch change set. Just run this command in your Redmine's directory:

script/runner "Repository.fetch_changesets" -e production

Netbeans committer's info are stored in (change the path based on your version):

~/.netbeans/7.0/config/Preferences/org/netbeans/modules/git.properties

References:

Git Remote Commands

2011-12-11T00:00:00-08:00

Git Remote Commands

View some remote information:

git remote show origin

List all remote branch:

git branch -r

Pushing a branch to the remote:

git push origin newfeature

Or when you want to push in the checkout branch:

git push origin HEAD

And use -u to push and track the remote branch:

git push -u origin newfeature

Make an existing git branch to track a remote branch:

git branch --set-upstream newfeature1 origin/newfeature1

Deleting a remote branch:

git push origin :newfeature

Refresh remote branch list:

git remote prune origin

Checkout a remote branch and track it:

git checkout -t origin/newfeature

How to Read MyKad

2011-12-05T00:00:00-08:00

How to Read MyKad

I've decided to merge posts about reading MyKad from my previous blog into a single post.

Notes:

The original codes were written by Xenon from Lowyat.net. Somehow, he managed to reverse engineer MyKad's APDU so that we can read it without buying any SDK.
This application only reads data from Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN).

Xenon also wrote two small example applications to read MyKad. I've listed them based on the programming language. Click on the link to download it:

Since there's no Java implementation of the code yet, I've decided to develop one. You can also get the source code from my Github. It's written using Netbeans.

I'm not going to give explanation about the code. Instead, I'm going to guide you guys on how to setup your system (Linux and Windows) so that you can read the Java application to read a MyKad.

Windows

Download Windows binary of JPC/SC Java API.
Download the application which is in Netbeans project format from my Github.
You must include jpcsc.jar as the library. You can get the file from Step 1.
You also must put jpcsc.dll into your main project folder. Furthermore, if you want to distribute the application, you need to put it together with your main jar file. You can also get the file from Step 1.
Plug in your reader (obviously).
Run the application. I'd recommend you run it through Netbeans.
Insert a MyKad.
Wait until the application finish reading it (usually once the LED stop blinking).
A GUI will be displayed presenting your MyKad data.
If there's no data showing, there's a possibility that your MyKad chip is spoiled.

Linux

Login as a root.
Download PCSC Lite and install it. You need to put some parameters in your ./configure if you want to enable libusb support. Please check the README.
```
tar xvjf pcsc-lite-1.8.1.tar.bz2
cd pcsc-lite-1.8.1
./configure --enable-libusb --disable-libudev
make
make install
```
Download and install your reader's driver. I'm using OMNIKEY 5321 USB.
Get Windows binary of JPC/SC Java API. It's for Windows but it also has a precompiled Linux library in it.

Extract, copy and update:

unzip jpcsc-0.8.0.zip
cd jpcsc/bin/linux
cp libjpcsc.so /usr/lib
ldconfig

Start the pcsc service:

pcscd -d -f

You should get something like this:

00000000 pcscdaemon.c:233:main() pcscd set to foreground with debug send to stdout
00000044 configfile.l:287:DBGetReaderList() Parsing conf file: /usr/local/etc/reader.conf.d
00000008 pcscdaemon.c:518:main() pcsc-lite 1.8.1 daemon ready.
00001566 hotplug_libusb.c:514:HPAddHotPluggable() Adding USB device: 4:2:0
00008631 readerfactory.c:934:RFInitializeReader() Attempting startup of OMNIKEY CardMan 5x21 (USB iClass Reader) 00 00 using /usr/local/lib/pcsc/drivers/ifdokrfid_lnx_i
00000179 readerfactory.c:824:RFBindFunctions() Loading IFD Handler 3.0 HID HID Global OMNIKEY RFID  IA32 v2.9.1
00300863 readerfactory.c:296:RFAddReader() Using the reader polling thread
00001975 readerfactory.c:934:RFInitializeReader() Attempting startup of OMNIKEY CardMan 5x21 (USB iClass Reader) 00 01 using /usr/local/lib/pcsc/drivers/ifdokrfid_lnx_i
00000012 readerfactory.c:738:RFLoadReader() Reusing already loaded driver for /usr/local/lib/pcsc/drivers/ifdokrfid_lnx_i686-2.9.1.bundle/Contents/Linux/ifdokrfid.so
00000014 readerfactory.c:824:RFBindFunctions() Loading IFD Handler 3.0 HID HID Global OMNIKEY RFID  IA32 v2.9.1
00424985 readerfactory.c:453:RFAddReader() Using the reader polling thread
00444313 readerfactory.c:1301:RFWaitForReaderInit() Waiting init for reader: OMNIKEY CardMan 5x21 (USB iClass Reader) 00 01

Run the Java application, it should be working right now.

That's it, again, the full credit should goes to Xenon :)

HUSM at Malaysia Open Source Conference 2011

2011-07-12T00:00:00-07:00

HUSM at Malaysia Open Source Conference 2011

On the 5th of July 2011, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) has been chosen as one of the speakers in Malaysia Open Source Conference 2011. It was presented by Mr Yusdirman Bin Yusoff as “Open Source in Health Care: HUSM 10 Years of Innovation”.

Basically it’s about what and how HUSM as one among few hospitals in Malaysia managed to develop its own Total Hospital Information System thus saved millions ringgit of taxpayers money. This is actually the first step for us (IT Unit, HUSM) to show to the world what we have done in this 10 years where most hospitals not willing to do.

How to enable MySQL Support in Qt SDK for Windows

2011-07-11T00:00:00-07:00

How to enable MySQL Support in Qt SDK for Windows

It has been quite a while since I wrote the previous guide. Since that particular post gained a lot of visitors, I decided to write a new guide based on the new Qt SDK and MySQL so that it will help people with new version for both softwares.

Download Qt SDK and install it. In my case, I installed it at C:\QtSDK. You must make sure that you’ve chosen to install Qt Sources. If you have Qt SDK installed but you haven’t install Qt sources, just go to Start > All Programs > Qt SDK > Maintain Qt SDK to install it.
Download MySQL and install it. In my case, I choose to install it at:
```
C:\Program Files (x86)\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.5. 
```
You don’t need to install everything if you want to compile the plugin. Make sure you will at least choose to install Client C API Library.
Open Start > All Programs > Qt SDK > Desktop > Qt 4.7.3 for Desktop (MingW)

Run these commands (change according to your environment):

> set mysql=C:\PROGRA~2\MySQL\MYSQLS~1.5
> cd \
> cd QtSDK\QtSources\4.7.3\src\plugins\sqldrivers\mysql\

> qmake "INCLUDEPATH+=%mysql%\include" "LIBS+=%mysql%\lib\libmysql.lib" -o Makefile mysql.pro
> mingw32-make

> qmake "INCLUDEPATH+=%mysql%\include" "LIBS+=%mysql%\lib\libmysql.lib" -o Makefile mysql.pro "CONFIG+=release"
> mingw32-make

You should be able to run these commands without any error.

You’ll find two directories (debug and release) created in the current directory.

In debug directory, you’ll find libqsqlmysqld4.a and qsqlmysqld4.dll.

Meanwhile, in release directory, you’ll find libqsqlmysql4.a and qsqlmysql4.dll.

Copy all these 4 files into:
```
C:\QtSDK\Desktop\Qt\4.7.3\mingw\plugins\sqldrivers
```
Copy libmysql.dll (found in your MySQL installation directory) into C:\Windows.

Create new project and put these codes to test your new plugin

#include <QApplication>
#include <QtSql>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
  QCoreApplication a(argc, argv);
  qDebug() << QSqlDatabase::drivers();
  return a.exec();
}

Make sure you have QtSql Module in your project configuration file (.pro file)

QT += sql

You’ll get these outputs showing that your Qt has supports for MySQL:

("QSQLITE", "QMYSQL3", "QMYSQL", "QODBC3", "QODBC")

Things to watch out for:

You can’t use MySQL 64 Bit (at the moment) to compile the plugin.
Make sure you’ll use short path type if you’ve installed MySQL into directory’s name containing spaces.
Load sql module in your .pro file.

Tested on:

11/7/2011 – Windows 64 Bit, MySQL Server 5.5.1 32 Bit (Community Version) and Qt 4.7.3.

I’m currently dedicating most of my time developing Rails application. So, I strongly encourage you guys to get help at Qt Developer Network if you have any problem. Those guys are very helpful.

A Simple Working Example for Qt NCReport

2011-07-09T00:00:00-07:00

A Simple Working Example for Qt NCReport

Windows

Download NCReport with MingW for Windows.
Install NCReport at
```
C:\NCReport\2.6.1.mingw.eval
```
Get the full source code of the project at my Github.
Go to Projects (bar at the left) > Run Settings > Click Details on the Run Environment > Edit PATH’s variable and append the following line at the end of the string.
```
;C:\NCReport\2.6.1.mingw.eval\bin
```
Run the project in Debug and Release mode. You should be able to run the report by clicking the button.

Tested on:

Windows 7 (64 bit), NCReport 2.6.1 with MingW for Windows, QtSDK 1.1.2, Qt 4.7.3 and Qt Creator 2.2.1.

Linux

Download NCReport for Linux.
Install NCReport at /opt/ncreport
Get the full source code of the project at my Github.
Run the project in Debug and Release mode. You should be able to run the report by clicking the button.

Tested on:

Slackware 13.37 (32 Bit), NCReport 2.6.1 for Linux, QtSDK 1.1.2, Qt 4.7.3 and Qt Creator 2.2.1

Using Sybase with Ruby on Rails on Linux

2011-07-01T00:00:00-07:00

Using Sybase with Ruby on Rails on Linux

This guide will help you (mostly will help me in the future) to configure your Ruby on Rails to support connection to Sybase using sybase-ctlib in Linux. I wrote this tutorial after everything’s good, so, I might miss a few steps that I’ve forgotten. Feel free to comment about it.

My setup:

Ruby v1.9.2p180
Gem v1.8.5
RVM 1.6.14
Linux Slackware (32 bit)
Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise v15

Files you’ll need:

Alright, after you’ve downloaded all the files, let’s start by installing them.

Install unixODBC

$ tar zxvf unixODBC-2.3.0.tar.gz
$ cd unixODBC-2.3.0
$ ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/unix-odbc
$ make
$ make install

Install FreeTDS

$ tar zxvf freetds-stable.tar.gz
$ cd freetds-0.8.2
$ ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/freetds --with-unixodbc=/usr/local/unix-odbc
$ make
$ make install

Let’s do some testing with FreeTDS.

Edit /usr/local/freetds/etc/freetds.conf

[server]
host = www.server.com
port = 6060
tds version = 5.0

Run these commands:

$ cd /usr/local/freetds/bin/
$ ./tsql -S server -U username -P password
locale is "C/UTF-8/C/C/C/C"
locale charset is "UTF-8"Msg 2401, Level 11, State 2, Server SERVER, Line 0Character set conversion is not available between client character set 'utf8' and server character set 'iso_1'.

Msg 2411, Level 10, State 1, Server SERVER, Line 0
No conversions will be done.

Msg 5704, Level 10, State 2, Server SERVER, Line 0
Changed client character set setting to '<NULL>'.

1>

That means everything’s good.

Edit /usr/local/unix-odbc/etc/odbc.ini:

[sybase]
Driver      = FreeTDS
Description = Sybase Database with FreeTDS
Trace       = No
Server      = www.server.com
Port        = 6060
TDS Version = 5.0

Edit /usr/local/unix-odbc/etc/odbcinst.ini:

[FreeTDS]
Description=v0.63 with protocol v8.0
Driver=/usr/local/freetds/lib/libtdsodbc.so
UsageCount=1

Time for testing, this time, it’s for unixODBC.

$ cd /usr/local/unix-odbc/bin
$ ./sql sybase username password
+---------------------------------------+
| Connected!                            |
|                                       |
| sql-statement                         |
| help [tablename]                      |
| quit                                  |
|                                       |
+---------------------------------------+

Install Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise and export some variables:

export SYBASE=/opt/sybase
export SYBASE_OCS=/opt/sybase/OCS-15_0/

Install sybct-ruby

$ tar zxvf sybct-ruby-0.2.12.tar.gz
$ cd sybct-ruby-0.2.12
$ vi extconf.rb

Edit your extconf.rb. Mine would look like this. After that, generate Makefile and compile it.

$ ruby extconf.rb
creating Makefile
$ make
gcc -shared -o sybct.so sybct.o -L. -L/home/amree/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p180/lib -Wl,-R/home/amree/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p180/lib -L/opt/sybase/OCS-15_0/lib   -lsybct -lsybcs -lsybtcl -lsybcomn -lsybintl -rdynamic -ldl -lnsl -lm -Wl,-R -Wl,/home/amree/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p180/lib -L/home/amree/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p180/lib -lruby  -lpthread -lrt -ldl -lcrypt -lm   -lc
$

Everthing looks good. Time for Sybase’s configuration:

Edit /opt/sybase/interfaces:

SERVER
    master tcp ether www.server.com 6060
    query tcp ether www.server.com 6060

Please be careful about the file’s whitespace. You can read more about the file settings at here.

Time for some tests:

$ cd sample
$ ruby -I ../ ./sqlsample.rb -S SERVER -U username -P password

Just make sure you got connected, I did get some errors about privileges or something, but in the end I can query just fine. So, if you didn’t get any weird errors as if your Ruby cannot load sybsql, you should now put the necessary files into the correct path so that it can be loaded anywhere you want. To list down all your load path for Ruby, you can use irb.

Since the sample ran fine, it’s time to put all the necessary files in your Ruby’s load path.

$ irb
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :001 > $LOAD_PATH
 => #... your load paths here
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :002 > quit
$ cp sybct.o sybct.so sybct.rb sybsql.rb /home/amree/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.2-p180/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/i686-linux
$ irb
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :001 > require "sybsql.rb"
 => true
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :002 > query=SybSQL.new( {'S'=>'SERVER', 'U'=>'username', 'P'=>'password'} )
 => #... some weird things
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :003 > raise "ERROR: use dbname ..." unless( query.sql_norow("use dbname") )
 => nil
ruby-1.9.2-p180 :004 > query.sql("select top 10 * from table")

The last line (query) should ran without any errors. It’s time for your Rails database configuration.

Edit database.yml:

development:
  adapter: sybase
  host: SERVER
  username: username
  password: password
  database: dbname

Install activerecord-sybase-adapter gem. You need to use this command to make sure there’s no error.

gem install activerecord-sybase-adapter -s http://gems.rubyonrails.org

Put activerecord-sybase-adapter in your Gemfile:

gem 'activerecord-sybase-adapter'

Use bundler:

$ bundle install

Everything should be working by now. However, I do notice that you can’t do queries that involve limiting the result. It’s most probably because of the way Sybase’s queries work. For an example, I have to use table.find_all_by("col") instead of table.find_by("col").

That’s it folks and good luck! Remember, feel free to comment if you got something to improve or correct this guide :)

Running Multiple MySQL on a Single Server

2011-03-15T00:00:00-07:00

Running Multiple MySQL on a Single Server

I’m pretty sure I’m going to forget these steps, so, just to be safe, I’m putting it here.

I’m dividing this tutorial into two sections, one for default MySQL that comes from Slackware and the other one is for new MySQL.

Using the Default MySQL

We need to create separate (different from the default) directory for the data to be stored. I’m going to create a new one for it. I’m going to name the directory as mysql-1. Make sure you use full path when running mysql_install_db.

$ cd /var/lib
$ mkdir mysql-1
$ chown -R mysql.mysql mysql-1
$ mysql_install_db --datadir=/var/lib/mysql-1 --user=mysql

We also need a new configuration file so that it won’t clash with the default MySQL.

$ cp /etc/my-small.cnf /etc/my-1.cnf
$ nano /etc/my-1.cnf

These are the settings that I’ve changed from the default file (other settings remain unchanged).

[client]
port = 3307
socket = /var/run/mysql/mysql-1.sock

[mysqld]
port = 3307
socket = /var/run/mysql/mysql-1.sock
server-id = 10

innodb_data_home_dir = /var/lib/mysql-1/
innodb_log_group_home_dir = /var/lib/mysql-1/

To run our newly configured MySQL instance, use this command:

$ /usr/bin/mysqld_safe --defaults-file=/etc/my-1.cnf --datadir=/var/lib/mysql-1 &

By checking background process, you should see something like this

$ ps ax | grep mysql

23416 pts/1    S      0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/mysqld_safe --defaults-file=/etc/my-1.cnf --datadir=/var/lib/mysql-1
23515 pts/1    Sl     0:00 /usr/libexec/mysqld --defaults-file=/etc/my-1.cnf --basedir=/usr --datadir=/var/lib/mysql-1 --user=mysql --log-error=/var/lib/mysql-1/eebox.err --pid-file=/var/lib/mysql-1/eebox.pid --socket=/var/run/mysql/mysql-1.sock --port=3307

Time for some test, we need to make sure we’re connecting to the correct server. One way to do this is by checking the server_id.

$ mysql -u root -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3307
mysql> SHOW VARIABLES LIKE "server_id";
+---------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+-------+
| server_id     | 10    |
+---------------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

As you can see, we have the same server_id as we specified in our my-1.cnf. You can use this command to shut it down.

$ mysqladmin -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3307 shutdown

Using new Downloaded MySQL

Download MySQL Download > MySQL Community Server > Linux Generic > Linux – Generic 2.6 (x86, 32-bit), Compressed TAR Archive

$ cp mysql-5.5.9-linux2.6-i686.tar.gz /opt
$ cd opt
$ tar zxvf mysql-5.5.9-linux2.6-i686.tar.gz
$ mv mysql-5.5.9-linux2.6-i686 mysql
$ cd mysql
$ chown -R mysql.mysql .
$ ./scripts/mysql_install_db --user=mysql
$ cp support-files/my-small.cnf /etc/my-2.cnf
$ nano /etc/my-2.cnf

/etc/my-2.cnf

[client]
port = 3308
socket = /var/run/mysql/mysql-2.sock

[mysqld]
port = 3308
socket = /var/run/mysql/mysql-2.sock
server-id = 20

innodb_data_home_dir = /var/lib/mysql-1/
innodb_log_group_home_dir = /var/lib/mysql-1/

To run it, you need to specify some parameters

/opt/mysql/bin/mysqld --defaults-file=/etc/my-2.cnf --basedir=/opt/mysql --datadir=/opt/mysql/data --plugin-dir=/opt/mysql/lib/plugin --user=mysql --log-error=/opt/mysql/data/eebox.err

To shut it down, you can use the following command

./bin/mysqladmin -h 127.0.0.1 -P 3308 shutdown

You can test the server connection just like the method I used above.

That's it, good luck!

Adding memcached support to PHP in Slackware 13.1

2010-10-09T00:00:00-07:00

Adding memcached support to PHP in Slackware 13.1

I just started learning Zend Framework and in one of the tutorials I read, I need to enable memcached in my PHP which is not available by default.

Install libevent.
Install memcached.
Install libmemcached.

Install memcache.

wget http://pecl.php.net/get/memcache-2.2.6.tgz
tar -zxvf memcache-2.2.6.tgz
cd memcache-2.2.6
phpize && ./configure --enable-memcache && make
cp modules/memcache.so /usr/lib/php/extensions/

Load the module using .ini files in /etc/php

touch /etc/php/memcached.ini
echo 'extension=memcache.so' > /etc/php/memcached.ini

Run memcached as a daemon (d = daemon, m = memory, u = user, l = IP to listen to, p = port).
```
memcached -d -m 1024 -u root -l 127.0.0.1 -p 11211
```
Put this file in your web directory and run it. It should be rendered without any error.

<?php
$memcache = new Memcache;
$memcache->connect('localhost', 11211) or die ("Could not connect");

$version = $memcache->getVersion();
echo "Server's version: ".$version."<br/>\n";

$tmp_object = new stdClass;
$tmp_object->str_attr = 'test';
$tmp_object->int_attr = 123;

$memcache->set('key', $tmp_object, false, 10) or die ("Failed to save data at the server");
echo "Store data in the cache (data will expire in 10 seconds)<br/>\n";

$get_result = $memcache->get('key');
echo "Data from the cache:<br/>\n";

var_dump($get_result);
?>

References:

Configuring Linux to work with NVidia Hybrid SLI Technology

2010-02-21T00:00:00-08:00

Configuring Linux to work with NVidia Hybrid SLI Technology

First of all, at the time of this writing, NVIDIA Hybrid SLI Technology is not supported on Linux and without proper configuration, you won’t even be able to load your Desktop Environment such as Xfce.

That’s not the only problem, based on an interview with NVIDIA’s Tom Petersen, one of its main feature is called HybridPower which basically allows users to shut off the graphics card when not needed and dramatically reduce power consumption. This means, there is a possibility that if we can’t find a way to turn off the second GPU, it will consume more power that it should be.

But that’s another problem. Right now, we just want to boot into our Desktop Environment properly.

Running startx would show these error messages from /var/log/Xorg.0.log:

(!!) More than one possible primary device found
(--) PCI: (0:2:0:0) 10de:06e8:1028:0271 rev 161, Mem @ 0xae000000/16777216, 0xd0000000/268435456, 0xac000000/33554432, I/O @ 0x00004000/128
(--) PCI: (0:3:0:0) 10de:0866:1028:0271 rev 177, Mem @ 0xaa000000/16777216, 0xb0000000/268435456, 0xcc000000/33554432, I/O @ 0x00005000/128, BIOS @ 0x????????/131072

Generate the default configuration for your X (using root):
```
$ nvidia-xconfig
```

Get the list of the GPUs.

$ lspci
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G98 [GeForce 9200M GS] (rev a1)
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation C79 [GeForce 9400M G] (rev b1)

You will get a long list of devices connected to your PCI buses. We are only interested with the VGA controller.

As you can see, we have two VGA controller, we just need to specify which one we would like to use.
```
$ nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
```
Go to your Device section and set Bus ID for your controller in it. So, in the end, if I chose the second controller, my Xorg.conf would somehow look like this:
```
Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 9400M G"
    BusID          "PCI:3:0:0"
EndSection
```
The configuration is simple, you just need to add the 6th line. Just make sure you put it in the correct format PCI:X:X:X, X possibly refers to the last 3 digit number in your error log.

How to Enable MySQL Support in Qt SDK for Linux

2009-07-22T00:00:00-07:00

How to Enable MySQL Support in Qt SDK for Linux

Download Qt SDK for Linux/X11 at Qt Software.
Install it anywhere you want, just make sure you remember the path.

To build MySQL as a plugin, you need to know two other paths:

MySQL header directory's files example:

decimal.h   m_string.h      my_dbug.h    my_list.h        my_sys.h     mysql_embed.h    mysqld_error.h  sql_state.h        typelib.h
errmsg.h    my_alloc.h      my_dir.h     my_net.h         my_xml.h     mysql_time.h     raid.h          sslopt-case.h
keycache.h  my_attribute.h  my_getopt.h  my_no_pthread.h  mysql.h      mysql_version.h  readline.h      sslopt-longopts.h
m_ctype.h   my_config.h     my_global.h  my_pthread.h     mysql_com.h  mysqld_ername.h  sql_common.h    sslopt-vars.h

MySQL library directory's files example:

libdbug.a    libmyisammrg.a      libmysqlclient.so@         libmysqlclient_r.a    libmysqlclient_r.so.15@      libmysys.a
libheap.a    libmysqlclient.a    libmysqlclient.so.15@      libmysqlclient_r.la*  libmysqlclient_r.so.15.0.0*  libvio.a
libmyisam.a  libmysqlclient.la*  libmysqlclient.so.15.0.0*  libmysqlclient_r.so@  libmystrings.a

For Slackware v12.2, it should be at:

# Headers directory
/usr/include/mysql  

# Libraries directory
/usr/lib/mysql

Go your main Qt SDK installation's path:

cd /opt/qtsdk-2009.03/
cd qt/src/plugins/sqldrivers/mysql/
# Replace all the path based on your computer environment. 
# Make sure 'qmake' can be run from anywhere or you'd have to specify the full path for it.
qmake -o Makefile "INCLUDEPATH+=/usr/include/mysql" "LIBS+=-L/usr/lib/mysql -lmysqlclient" mysql.pro
make

You should have these files created for you

Makefile
README
libqsqlmysql.so*
main.cpp
main.o
moc_qsql_mysql.cpp
moc_qsql_mysql.o
mysql.pro
qsql_mysql.moc
qsql_mysql.o

Copy MySQL plugin to your Qt’s plugins directory,

cp libqsqlmysql.so /opt/qtsdk-2009.03/qt/plugins/sqldrivers

Create a new project and put these codes to test your new plugin.

QT       += core sql
QT       -= gui

TARGET    = mysql
CONFIG   += console
CONFIG   -= app_bundle

TEMPLATE = app

SOURCES += main.cpp

Make sure you have mysql included in your .pro file.

#include <QCoreApplication>
#include <QtSql>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QCoreApplication a(argc, argv);

    qDebug() << QSqlDatabase::drivers();

    return a.exec();
}

You should get these outputs when you ran the application:

("QSQLITE", "QMYSQL3", "QMYSQL")

That's it, good luck!

Reading Mifare 1K Card using Java in Linux

2009-02-11T00:00:00-08:00

Reading Mifare 1K Card using Java in Linux

The Story

In the end of last year, my friends and I were tasked to read our staff card. The main objective was pretty simple which is to create a library where we don’t have to depend on the vendor every time we want to read our own staff card and the library should also work in Linux and Windows (that means Java to us).

Working environment:

Slackware 12.2
JDK 6 Update 11
Netbeans 6.5
libusb 0.1.12
Windows Binary of JPC/SC Java API 0.8.0
Smartcard Reader

Let’s talk about the reader first. You need to get a reader that supports Mifare 1K card (obviously) which to be exact a reader that supports ISO14443A/B or ISO15693 (contactless standard). Now, to make your life easier, you should get a reader that can read contactless standards compliant using the same framework as ISO7816 compliant contact cards. In simple terms, you can use APDU to get the data that you want.

So, for this little project, we use OMNIKEY CardMan 5321 RFID reader. It has everything that we need, Linux/Windows supports, APDU calls to the contactless card, it even comes a contact card’s reader too and it’s also inexpensive.

Make sure you choose the correct reader or you won’t be able to use this tutorial. Some reader requires you to read using their own specific code, which means you can only use the code you wrote on that particular reader, unlike readers that support APDU calls to contactless cards.

The Card

1024 byte memory is organised as sixteen sectors, each of which is made up of four blocks and each block is 16 bytes long. The first block in the memory (Block 0) is read-only and is set in the factory to contain the four-byte serial number (UID), check bytes and manufacturers data. The last block of each sector (Blocks 3, 7, 11, 15 … 59, 63) is the Sector Trailer Block which contains the two security Key codes (KeyA and KeyB) and the Access bits that define how the sector can be accessed.

Taking into account the Serial Number/Manufacturers Block and the Sector Trailer Blocks then there are 752 bytes of free memory for user storage. For all Read and Write operations the Mifare card memory is addressed by Block number (in hexadecimal format).

The Installation

Before you begin coding your codes, you need to make sure your environment is ready for you. To do that, just follow steps from my previous tutorial which is pretty much the same.

General Steps to Read the Card

Load Mifare key
Authenticate
Read

The Code

  1 package my.husm.mifare;
  2 
  3 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
  4 import java.util.List;
  5 import javax.smartcardio.Card;
  6 import javax.smartcardio.CardChannel;
  7 import javax.smartcardio.CardException;
  8 import javax.smartcardio.CardTerminal;
  9 import javax.smartcardio.TerminalFactory;
 10 
 11 public class Read {
 12 
 13    public Read() {
 14        
 15        try {
 16 
 17            CardTerminal terminal = null;
 18 
 19            // show the list of available terminals
 20            TerminalFactory factory = TerminalFactory.getDefault();
 21            List<CardTerminal> terminals = factory.terminals().list();
 22 
 23            String readerName = "";
 24 
 25            for (int i = 0; i < terminals.size(); i++) {
 26 
 27                readerName = terminals.get(i).toString().substring(
 28                                    terminals.get(i).toString().length() - 2);
 29 
 30                if (readerName.equalsIgnoreCase("01")) {
 31                    terminal = terminals.get(i);
 32                }
 33            }
 34 
 35            // Establish a connection with the card
 36            System.out.println("Waiting for a card..");
 37            terminal.waitForCardPresent(0);
 38 
 39            Card card = terminal.connect("T=0");
 40            CardChannel channel = card.getBasicChannel();
 41 
 42            // Start with something simple, read UID, kinda like Hello World!
 43            byte[] baReadUID = new byte[5];
 44 
 45            baReadUID = new byte[]{(byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xCA, (byte) 0x00,
 46                                   (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00};
 47 
 48            System.out.println("UID: " + send(baReadUID, channel));
 49            // If successfull, the output will end with 9000
 50 
 51            // OK, now, the real work
 52            // Get Serial Number
 53            // Load key
 54            byte[] baLoadKey = new byte[12];
 55 
 56            baLoadKey = new byte[]{(byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0x82, (byte) 0x20,
 57                                      (byte) 0x1A, (byte) 0x06, (byte) 0xFF,
 58                                      (byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xFF,
 59                                      (byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xFF};
 60 
 61            System.out.println("LOAD KEY: " + send(baLoadKey, channel));
 62            // If successfull, will output 9000
 63 
 64            // Authenticate
 65            byte[] baAuth = new byte[7];
 66 
 67            baAuth = new byte[]{(byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0x88, (byte) 0x00,
 68                                (byte) 0x09, (byte) 0x60, (byte) 0x00};
 69 
 70            System.out.println("AUTHENTICATE: " + send(baAuth, channel));
 71            // If successfull, will output 9000
 72 
 73            // Read Serial
 74            byte[] baRead = new byte[6];
 75 
 76            baRead = new byte[]{(byte) 0xFF, (byte) 0xB0, (byte) 0x00,
 77                                (byte) 0x09, (byte) 0x10};
 78 
 79            System.out.println("READ: " + send(baRead, channel));
 80            // If successfull, the output will end with 9000
 81 
 82        } catch (Exception ex) {
 83            ex.printStackTrace();
 84        }
 85    }
 86 
 87    public String send(byte[] cmd, CardChannel channel) {
 88 
 89        String res = "";
 90 
 91        byte[] baResp = new byte[258];
 92        ByteBuffer bufCmd = ByteBuffer.wrap(cmd);
 93        ByteBuffer bufResp = ByteBuffer.wrap(baResp);
 94 
 95        // output = The length of the received response APDU
 96        int output = 0;
 97 
 98        try {
 99 
100            output = channel.transmit(bufCmd, bufResp);
101 
102        } catch (CardException ex) {
103            ex.printStackTrace();
104        }
105 
106        for (int i = 0; i < output; i++) {
107            res += String.format("%02X", baResp[i]);
108            // The result is formatted as a hexadecimal integer
109        }
110 
111        return res;
112    }
113 
114    public static void main(String[] args) {
115        new Read();
116    }
117 }

Make sure you have set the right connection protocol at line 43, as pointed out by Animesh (previous commentator).

These codes use Java API to read the smartcard, but I suggest you use the jpcsc library. It’s much more robust when it comes to error handling.

The APDU Commands

# Load Key
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|   FF   |   82   |   20   |   1A   |   06   |   FF   |   FF   |   FF   |   FF   |   FF   |   FF   |
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|   1    |   2    |   3    |   4    |   5    |   6    |   7    |   8    |   9    |   10   |   11   |
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

1   = CLA : (Fixed)
2   = INS : (Fixed)
3   = P1  : (Fixed)
4   = P2  : Key type, could be 00, 1A, 1B
5   = LC  : Key length, usually 6 for 6 byte
6   = XX  : ----+
7   = XX  :     |
8   = XX  :     |__ The Key (eg. FF FF FF FF FF FF)
9   = XX  :     |
10  = XX  :     |
11  = XX  : ----+

# Autenthicate
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|   FF   |   88   |   00   |   01   |   60   |   00   |
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|   1    |   2    |   3    |   4    |   5    |   6    |
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

1   = CLA : (Fixed)
2   = INS : (Fixed)
3   = P1  : (Fixed)
4   = P2  : Block Number you want to authenticate in Hex
5   = P3  : Mifare Block Number LSB
6   = XX  : Key type, could be 00, 1A, 1B

# Read
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|   FF   |   B0   |   00   |   01   |   10   |
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|   1    |   2    |   3    |   4    |   5    |
+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

1   = CLA : (Fixed)
2   = INS : (Fixed)
3   = P1  : (Fixed)
4   = P2  : Block Number that you want to read in Hex
5   = Le  : (Fixed)

So, that’s it, good luck!

Printing to PDF using CUPS

2008-09-10T00:00:00-07:00

Printing to PDF using CUPS

Install CUPS-PDF based on your distro, you can download if from here.
Go to http://localhost:631.
If the page requested a username and password, just enter your root as username and password for your root.
Go to Administration > Add Printer.
In the Add Printer page, put a name for your virtual PDF printe, any name will do. Then click Continue.
For the Device for a, you should select CUPS-PDF (Virtual PDF Driver). If it’s not there, then you haven’t executed Step 1 successfully.
In the 3rd page, choose Generic as the Make and then click Continue.
In the 4th page, choose Generic CUPS-PDF Printer (en) as the model and then click Add Printer. For now, you’re done, but we need to customize where the file will be generated when you printed it.
Edit /etc/cups/cups-pdf.conf
Put these lines at the end of the file and save it (both can be customized):
```
Out /home/${USER}/Desktop
Label 1
```
The first line actually tell CUPS to print your file to the Desktop and the second line will make sure your file won’t be overwritten by a newer one.
Restart CUPS.

So, that’s all and good luck !

Java Printing Fix for Linux

2008-09-09T00:00:00-07:00

Java Printing Fix for Linux

Apparently, there's a bug in Java where people using newer version of CUPS cannot print (can't even display the print dialog) due to a null pointer exception and this is actually a known bug. So, how do we fix this? For people who use Gnome, you can refer to this page

However, for people who uses non desktop environment such as Fluxbox, Openbox and etc (Gnome and KDE user can use these steps too), you can fix it by editing your CUPS printers configuration file. You can get edit the file at /etc/cups/printers.conf

<DefaultPrinter Printer>
# Printer configuration file for CUPS v1.3.7
# Written by cupsd on 2008-09-08 11:24
.
.
.
Option orientation-requested 3
</Printer>

Make sure you Option orientation-requested 3 to every configuration for every printer you've installed. If you cannot find the file, it's possible that you haven't configured any printer yet.

This fix is simply to make sure CUPS will provide a page orientation setting to Java.

The exception:

Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: null attribute
        at sun.print.IPPPrintService.isAttributeValueSupported(IPPPrintService.java:1147)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog$OrientationPanel.updateInfo(ServiceDialog.java:2121)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog$PageSetupPanel.updateInfo(ServiceDialog.java:1263)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.updatePanels(ServiceDialog.java:437)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.initPrintDialog(ServiceDialog.java:195)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.(ServiceDialog.java:124)
        at javax.print.ServiceUI.printDialog(ServiceUI.java:188)
        at sun.print.RasterPrinterJob.printDialog(RasterPrinterJob.java:855)
        at sun.print.PSPrinterJob.printDialog(PSPrinterJob.java:421)</code>

Please refer to some of the discussions here:

FYI, you need to restart your CUPS after editing the configuration (Thanks to Brandon Bell).

Auto Resize JTable Column Width

2008-08-13T00:00:00-07:00

Auto Resize JTable Column Width

This code should resize your JTable column width based on the contents of the header and data.

public JTable autoResizeColWidth(JTable table, DefaultTableModel model) {
    table.setAutoResizeMode(JTable.AUTO_RESIZE_OFF);
    table.setModel(model);

    int margin = 5;

    for (int i = 0; i < table.getColumnCount(); i++) {
        int                     vColIndex = i;
        DefaultTableColumnModel colModel  = (DefaultTableColumnModel) table.getColumnModel();
        TableColumn             col       = colModel.getColumn(vColIndex);
        int                     width     = 0;

        // Get width of column header
        TableCellRenderer renderer = col.getHeaderRenderer();

        if (renderer == null) {
            renderer = table.getTableHeader().getDefaultRenderer();
        }

        Component comp = renderer.getTableCellRendererComponent(table, col.getHeaderValue(), false, false, 0, 0);

        width = comp.getPreferredSize().width;

        // Get maximum width of column data
        for (int r = 0; r < table.getRowCount(); r++) {
            renderer = table.getCellRenderer(r, vColIndex);
            comp     = renderer.getTableCellRendererComponent(table, table.getValueAt(r, vColIndex), false, false,
                    r, vColIndex);
            width = Math.max(width, comp.getPreferredSize().width);
        }

        // Add margin
        width += 2 * margin;

        // Set the width
        col.setPreferredWidth(width);
    }

    ((DefaultTableCellRenderer) table.getTableHeader().getDefaultRenderer()).setHorizontalAlignment(
        SwingConstants.LEFT);

    // table.setAutoCreateRowSorter(true);
    table.getTableHeader().setReorderingAllowed(false);

    return table;
}

Example:

// Must pass the model
DefaultTableModel model = new DefaultTableModel();
jTable = autoResizeColWidth(jTable, model);

Printing to Zebra S4M Using Java and ZPL II

2008-05-11T00:00:00-07:00

Printing to Zebra S4M Using Java and ZPL II

Apparently there're some codes scattered on the net telling people that you can print to a Zebra printer by sending ZPL II codes using PrintService. But the problem is, it's not working, I don't know why, maybe because of a different version of printer or model but I'm pretty sure the thing that came out from the printer are just ordinary texts not barcode which is what the code was supposed to output.

New Version

Thanks to Oleg (a commentator) for pointing out on how to print using Zebra S4M connected either via USB or network.

The solution is pretty simple, all you have to do is do not install Zebra S4M as a Zebra S4M (sounds weird, I know), instead, just install it as a local raw printer (Linux) or generic text printer (Windows).

For CUPS user in Linux, this is the example for the correct configurations:

/etc/cups/printers.conf

<Printer Zebra>
  Info
  Location
  DeviceURI socket://10.1.1.5:9100
  State Idle
  StateTime 1223445299
  Accepting Yes
  Shared Yes
  JobSheets none none
  QuotaPeriod 0
  PageLimit 0
  KLimit 0
  OpPolicy default
  ErrorPolicy stop-printer
  Option orientation-requested 3
</Printer>

You can always add the printer using the web interface, just make sure you choose RAW as the Make/Manufacturer and Model/Driver.

Test this Java code, it should print out a barcode:

import javax.print.Doc;
import javax.print.DocFlavor;
import javax.print.DocPrintJob;
import javax.print.PrintException;
import javax.print.PrintService;
import javax.print.PrintServiceLookup;
import javax.print.SimpleDoc;
import javax.print.attribute.PrintServiceAttribute;
import javax.print.attribute.standard.PrinterName;

public class SimplePrint {

   public static void main(String[] args) {
       
       try {
           
           PrintService psZebra = null;
           String sPrinterName = null;
           PrintService[] services = PrintServiceLookup.lookupPrintServices(null, null);
           
           for (int i = 0; i < services.length; i++) {
               
               PrintServiceAttribute attr = services[i].getAttribute(PrinterName.class);
               sPrinterName = ((PrinterName) attr).getValue();
               
               if (sPrinterName.toLowerCase().indexOf("zebra") >= 0) {
                   psZebra = services[i];
                   break;
               }
           }
           
           if (psZebra == null) {
               System.out.println("Zebra printer is not found.");
               return;
           }
           DocPrintJob job = psZebra.createPrintJob();

           String s = "^XA^FO100,40^BY3^B3,,30^FD123ABC^XZ";

           byte[] by = s.getBytes();
           DocFlavor flavor = DocFlavor.BYTE_ARRAY.AUTOSENSE;
           Doc doc = new SimpleDoc(by, flavor, null);
           job.print(doc, null);
           
       } catch (PrintException e) {
           e.printStackTrace();
       }      
   }
}

Print using FTP:

import java.io.FileInputStream;
import org.apache.commons.net.ftp.FTP;
import org.apache.commons.net.ftp.FTPClient;

public class FtpPrint {

   public static void main(String[] args) {

       try {

           FTPClient f = new FTPClient();            

           f.connect("10.1.127.3");
           f.login("anonymous", "");
           f.setFileType(FTP.ASCII_FILE_TYPE);                            

           FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream("/path/to/file");
           if (f.storeFile("filename", in)) {
               System.out.println("Upload ok");
           }                

           f.logout();
           f.disconnect();

       } catch (Exception e) {
           e.printStackTrace();
       }
   }
}

Print using socket:

import java.io.DataOutputStream;
import java.net.Socket;

public class SocketPrint {

   public static void main(String argv[]) throws Exception {

       for (int i = 0; i &lt; 10; i++) {
           Socket clientSocket = new Socket("10.1.127.3", 9100);
           DataOutputStream outToServer = new DataOutputStream(clientSocket.getOutputStream());
           outToServer.writeBytes("^XA^FO100,40^BY3^B3,,30^FD123ABC^XZ");
           clientSocket.close();
       }
   }
}

(got it from Zebra's website)

Download guide to ZPL II

Automatically Sign JARs Using Ant and Bash

2008-04-14T00:00:00-07:00

Automatically Sign JARs Using Ant and Bash

This guide is more towards Netbeans project, but it can be used as a reference for you to customize the script to suit your needs.

signer.bash

#!/bin/bash
find . -name "*.jar" -exec jarsigner -keystore /path/to/your/key -storepass yourpassword '{}' yourkeystorename \;
echo 'JARs signed';
exit 0

This script will search all files ending with .jar from the current directory recursively and then sign it. This means, it can be used separately without ant script. Just make it executable and run it.

Put this in the last line of your build.xml but it must before the closing tag of the "project" (build.xml can be found in your main project directory)

build.xml

<project>
    .
    .
    .
    <target name="-post-jar">
        <exec dir="${dist.dir}" executable="/path/to/your/signer.bash" os="Linux" />
    </target>
</project>

This script will basically sign the jars after all the jars has been build. Please note that it'd better if you set all the path using absolute path.

After this, you just have to use Clean and Build to generate the jars and also automatically sign it. This script will also sign all of your included libraries.

Good luck :)