mod_proxy

 2 Responses »
Jun 252007
 

Thanks to my colleague Wijnand for pointing me out that the XMLHTTPREQUEST security problem can be solved by using mod_proxy. As I was trying to show an Oracle Mapviewer map inside an APEX HTML region, I needed to proxy the mapviewer in the APEX Apache configuration.


    ProxyRequests On
    # Set to one of: Off | On | Full | Block
    ProxyVia On
    ProxyPass /mapviewer http://l-rsprinkhuizen:8888/mapviewer
    ProxyPassReverse /mapviewer http://l-rsprinkhuizen:8888/mapviewer

At first I proxied to /mv to keep the typing (-errors) to a minimum, but that didn’t seem to work. Parts were showing, others parts were not. Then I changed the /mv to /mapviewer and everything worked. So there you have it: Mapviewer has a hardcoded path in some of its core!

 Posted by at 23:57

FireFox signed scripts

 1 Response »
Jun 252007
 

FireFox implemented a scripting-security feature that should do its work better than a question “Do you allow this script to run” or something along that line. Because users will press YES, since they are browsing and don’t want to be annoyed with pop-ups…
One of the items that can’t be done from scripting anymore is an XMLHTTPRequest (to another site). Basically the thing that runs AJAX. Without it, you would not have AJAX.

Now FireFox is asking us to sign our Javascript, so it will know the script is what it’s supposed to be. But wait….not only the Javascript (or external .js file), but the whole page.

WTF?

APEX generates pages on the fly, and you can include javascript in the page definition. But there is no complete page to sign. So how do I solve a “Permission denied to call method XMLHTTPRequest.open”? Any framework that dynamically generates pages will suffer from the same problem, so….any thoughts on this one? I can’t just alter the framework to do some server-side proxying only to overcome the fact that the client can’t request an URL.

 Posted by at 01:39

xkcd

 No Responses »
Jun 182007
 

When you have some (understatement) time to spare, just surf to XKCD. Drawn like you gave your youngest some pencils, but each time the message is unmistakenly clear.

 Posted by at 20:59

Advice for webdesigners

 No Responses »
Jun 162007
 

If you create a Javascript enabled website, and it includes a dropdownlist that reloads the page when you change its value, please include a “go” button as well. Surround it by <noscript> tags if you must.
Remember that I don’t know you. There is no basis of trust when I first visit your site. I have Javascript disabled by default (using the NoScript add-on). So nothing happens when I change the dropdownlist.

 Posted by at 02:05

Application Express is cool

 2 Responses »
Jun 162007
 

My company is hosting a seminar June 28th. On that seminar we will put some Oracle technologies side by side, and compare them. Read the (Dutch) website for more info.

One of the technologies we will have a presentation about, is Oracle Application Express, or APEX. In the old days known as HTMLDB, and AskTom as a great example of the technology. You can recognize APEX sites by the “f?p=” in the URL.

This week we had a trial-run and I watched the APEX presentation. The presentation is very clear about what APEX is and how to use it. That alone should warm you up. But my colleague also demonstrates APEX live, and that is something you must see for yourselves. I had heard of HTMLDB/APEX, I already viewed some screenies and some casts, but as you all know: screenies don’t say anything about the amount of time to get there. And casts, well, they can be shortened or could be skipping tedious parts. Seeing the APEX application modified live in just a couple of minutes was a matter of “seeing is believing”. And boy, am I a believer know.

So if you have some guru-skills (not that you really need them) in SQL and/or PL/SQL and don’t want to learn something like Java, or PHP to create webapplications, than you really should try APEX. All you need is a browser, and a database to install the runtime-packages in. Simple.

If you are from the Netherlands, then by all means: come to our seminar. It’s free. We have a discussion forum with the presenters and the audience at the end. And of course we will have some drinks before we send you home. Hope to see your there.

If you can’t make it, or you’re not living in our area, please do yourself a favor and learn about APEX on Oracle’s website.

 Posted by at 01:24

Problems with comments and single page views solved

 No Responses »
Jun 162007
 

After some digging into RewriteRules and other mod_rewrite stuff, I tried to run the weblog with a clean install (just unzip into new directory and point Apache to it) of WordPress. The comments and single pages still did not show up. So I figured it must be something else. Since I also read somewhere that Askimet (an anti-spam plugin) could be disabled to solve the problem, I did just that.
It did not work. But I also have Bad Behaviour and WP-Hashcash active. Disabling Hashcash brought back the comments and single pages. FINALLY.

I did happen to use an old version of WP-Hashcash, so I’ll check to see if I can use the new version without any trouble.

Thanks for your patience.

Update: I switched from WP-Hashcash 2.3 to 4.0.1 and things still seem to be working.

 Posted by at 00:41

Comments and single pages screwed up…

 No Responses »
Jun 142007
 

Since I got some comments in March, I know the setup is correct, and I did not change my weblog/webserver setup since then. The only thing that changed, is the IP-address, since we’ve moved.
But for some unknown reason, you cannot see the single-post pages nor the comment page. It just shows an empty page (right click->view source -> nothing). How come? Anybody? You can reach me as Switchbl8 on Google’s mail.

 Posted by at 00:32

Blog about Netbeans?!

 No Responses »
Jun 122007
 

Sun is asking developers to download the Netbeans 6 preview (milestone 9 for people following more closely), use it and blog about it. But I already did! And I will in the future. Although I’m an Oracle-adept, I can’t help but like the Netbeans IDE more than I like Oracle’s JDeveloper. Netbeans is missing some specific Oracle support, but it has tons of other stuff instead! What is there not to like about Ruby support? Or the full mobile development environment? The slick interface? Or the snappy code-completion? Heck, JDeveloper 11g (still in preview too) has changed the project-structure-pane layout so dramatically, even a newbie can’t help but dislike it.
So, if you have no special reason to use JDeveloper, by all means, use Netbeans (that rhymes). I know you won’t be disappointed.

There. Sun. I said it.

 Posted by at 23:32

Judoscript here-docs inside here-docs?

 No Responses »
Jun 082007
 

In Judoscript (check that one out, it’s very powerful, yet easy to grab) you can use here-docs. Unix-adepts will know them, since most shell have them too:

cat <

In Judoscript you use [[* as start of a here-doc section and you end it with *]]. Not as flexible as you would like, yes? Since: how can you embed the actual here-doc tags when explaining something? Well, if it's only for display, why not add a non-visible tag like [</>[*. Simple, but effective.
 Posted by at 00:33

Tweakers.net downgrade

 No Responses »
Jun 052007
 

This afternoon Tweakers.net treated me on a “under construction, we’ll be back in 2500-something seconds” message. Please, please, please guys. Tell me there is a “use the classic layout” option implemented? Blame it on VNU is what you say? So they gotta make Tweakers more accessible to what? The non-tweakers audience? Why not rename the site into weeners.net in the same makeover?

Come on, gimme me a break. The new layout is something even Slashdot would not use!

 Posted by at 23:05
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