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Seeing Stripes: Experiment with ZXing

I recently took a look at the ZXing Project which is described as "an open-source, multi-format 1D/2D barcode image processing library implemented in Java.". While its primary focus is mobile phones, I decided to look at the javase component of the project. ZXing also comes with a servlet. But I first wanted to see how the lower level components worked.SetupNot seeing any any pre-compiled jars, I downloaded the latest sources (ZXing-1.4.zip). After loading it into Eclipse, and poked around a bit to figure out how to decode barcode images of different types. Finally, I used the pre-made ant files to (translate)

SOT: Who is the fairest browser of them all?

I have long been a fan of Firefox. But somewhere in between versions 2 and 3.5 it started behaving like a black-hole of resources, sucking up more and more memory, growing increasing sluggish. Not to mention taking forever to start up. So fickle user that I am, I have been trying out other browsers while I give Firefox one last chance before giving it the boot.Of course one of the browsers I am (re-)trying is Chrome. I did use it briefly when it first came out. But quickly gravitated back to my beloved Firefox, with all of its wonderful extensions (translate)

CFBarbecue.cfc (...Just because)

While experimenting with the Barbecue library last week, I put together a cfc for my testing. (You knew that was coming. It is the old developer story: read, test, build something, re-test). Anyway, I decided to post it for anyone else out there experimenting with Barbecue. The cfc can generate any of the 25+ barcodes Barbecue handles, with a full range of settings.Keep in mind the Barbecue library also includes servlet, which is extremely easy to use. Since I was using the built-in webserver at the time, the greatest challenge for me was figuring out how to add a servlet. (translate)

The Wrong Way to Retreive the Last Record ID Inserted

Hardly a week goes by without seeing some forum post that either uses or recommends my pet peeve: the erroneous SELECT MAX(id) query. Mind you this is across the board, not just in CF. For some bizarre reason, this faulty technique never seems to die. And it REALLY should. There are so many correct alternatives, I cannot understand why anyone would still use it for new code. If you are even considering it, might I inject a note of sanity and recommend some excellent reading material on Adrian J. Moreno's blog: Please stop using SELECT MAX(id)(His comments on the topic (translate)

Everything CFDBINFO Never Told You About Your Database (Connection Metadata)

I was doing some debugging and came across the nifty java.sql.DatbaseMetaData class. It is an interface implemented by the various database drivers and it provides you with a ton of information about both your database and driver capabilities. While you can glean some of the information from <CfDbInfo>, DatbaseMetaData tells you so much more.To use it, you need to open a database connection first. If you have full server access, the simplest method is using the internal ServiceFactory. But you could just as easily open your own jdbc connection. Then call one of the 100+ methods to discover things you (translate)

MS SQL: Useless Function Trivia

While reviewing some MS SQL 2005 metadata, I stumbled across something I never noticed before. It still supports the old ODBC "{fn}" functions. With the exception of CurDate and CurTime, there probably not much need for them. (Nor do I find the syntax particularly appealing ...). But I was very surprised to find they do still work. So there is my MS SQL oddity for the day. SELECT {fn CurDate()} AS [CurrentDate], {fn CurTime()} AS [CurrentTime], {fn DayName( getDate() )} AS [DayName], {fn DayOfMonth( getDate() )} AS [DayOfMonth], {fn DayOfWeek (getDate() )} AS [DayOfWeek], {fn DayOfYear(getDate() )} AS [DayOfYear], {fn (translate)

OT: Lame error messages

So I was having fun, trying to break things, and came across a lame excuse only a computer could get away with: com.mysql.jdbc.exceptions.MySQLSyntaxErrorException: memory exhausted. I can see it now: "Sorry Bob. No can do. Geez, my memory is exhausted. I need time to relax, recharge, reboot. Check back with tomorrow." (translate)

Introduction to the Java Barbecue Library (For Beginners)

Just to get this out of the way: if you are looking for a CF wrapper for the Barbecue library, this is not the entry for you. If you are interested in the basics of using Barbecue, feel free to read on.Why write yet another entry on Barbecue? Well, I was recently reading about barcodes, for my own edification, and did not find many introductory resources (you know ... ones that ask and answer those silly novice questions?). So decided to write up my findings and first impressions, in the hopes of providing someone else with a starting point in (translate)

OT: ColdFusion Trials (Let's Do The Time Warp Again)

I was checking my "trials" email folder the other day and these messages gave me a chuckle. (That and the fact that I received a "Your ColdFusion 9 trial starts now" message, before my download had even finished!) Yes... I did download the ColdFusion 9 Trial previously. But it still made me laugh ;) (translate)

ColdFusion: Small Try/Catch Gotcha With CreateObject() and Exceptions

Exceptions can be deceptive and loathsome creatures at times. Case in point, I was happily using createObject() to load an object from a java jar in my classpath. I then added a try/catch. So I could detect when the jar probably was not added to the CF classpath properly, and display a more meaningful error message.<cfscript>try{ handler = createObject("java", "net.sourceforge.barbecue.BarcodeImageHandler");} catch(java.lang.ClassNotFoundException e){ throwError(message="Verify the Barbecue jar is in your CF classpath", type="SupportingClassNotFound"); }</cfscript>Great in theory, the only problem was my try/catch did not work. I double checked the stack trace and it sure seemed like I was catching the correct (translate)

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