I have used Sparx System Enterprise Architect for almost 4 years now and absolutely love working with it for UML design and also for ColdFusion code stub generation. The only problem with EA is that it has to run on windows, sorry but I hate windows, but anyways. I am finally opening my templates to the world so I can get more collaboration on them. I took a project from Mike Ranklin I believe and updated lots of the source to make it work with ColdFusion 9 script syntax and also ORM entities.
It is really great to have a great UML model and stub out our ORM entities out of it. So if you are interested, the project is here and help out.
As you might have noticed from the ColdBox migrations, we are moving to github. I took the decision to migrate our source code over for several reasons that you git fans might already know. However, not only did I move because of the version control system, but because it allows for easier community involvement in the projects. This to me was key. So instead of tons of headaches with SVN patches, just fork the dang thing, patch it and send me a request. So hopefully, this will allow for more community involvements.
I am also moving my personal projects to github and you can find them on my personal space.
If you are like me and have a thousand millions things to work on and lack focus. This little app will help you out. Its called Focus Booster: http://www.focusboosterapp.com/
It is a very simple focus timer that sits on your desktop and helps you do Pomodoro times. If you are not aware of the Pomodoro Technique, it is a technique to help you focus on tasks.
The Pomodoro Technique™ is a way to get the most out of time management. Turn time into a valuable ally to accomplish what we want to do and chart continuous improvement in the way we do it.
They offer their book free in PDF format or you can order their full Pomodoro Kit. I recommend you guys take a look at it.
The basic unit of work in the Pomodoro Technique™ can be split in five simple steps:
- Choose a task to be accomplished
- Set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes (the Pomodoro is the timer)
- Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper
- Take a short break (5 minutes is OK)
- Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break
I am now happy doing some cool Android development and doing it on the MAC is amazingly simple, just connect the device to the USB port and enable USB debugging by doing the following on your device:
- Settings > Applications > Development > Enable USB Debugging
The problem, as with the majority of things, is windows #fail. To get your Android phone to work on windows 7 so you can debug it and install apps is a pain in the buttocks. Anyways, after much loosing time and hair, the easiest solution was to use PDANet. So just download PDANet and follow the instructions, it really solves all the nasty issues in Windows 7 to get the pesky USB drivers to work and as an added bonus, you can use it to tether your phone!
Cheers from Android Land!
Just a reminder that the latest milestone release is now out and available. Read all about it in the ColdBox blog. This includes tons of fixes and updates to the core, but the best thing about it is the release of CacheBox.
This has been a true life saver I had no idea about if it where not for my friend Aaron Roberson. My issue was that I suffered a crash on my box and eclipse was open. The configuration got messed up and it could not load ColdFusion Builder or Flash Builder. I have an Eclipse JEE install with CF and Flash builder as plugins on top. For some strange reason the Eclipse installer reported the plugins as installed, but no perspectives available. So what do I do? Reinistall everything again?
Well, this little gem is hidden. So click on Help > Install Software… and look at the following:
Click on the already installed link and you will get another dialog, where click on the configuration tab. Look for a stable configuration you remember running on and then hit the “Revert” button and voila!! Eclipse configuration restored. What a life saver!!
One little caveat when working with CFBuilder is that I was not getting the file preview working on the IDE because it was complaining that my project was not the root of the selected server as you can see below:
The problem is that Builder knows the root of the server but my application project is not on the root of server but on a folder embedded in it. So in order to make this work, just add a URL prefix to the project. Right click on the project and click on “SET URL Prefix”:
Click on it and you will get the following dialog and fill out the FULL URL, I tried just the directory, but it did not work, maybe a bug in Builder. So put the FULL URL.
Hope this helps, enjoy!
Next week is CFUnited 2010 and I am super excited about it. I have always enjoyed CFUnited and this year I am staying for the whole thing, so I am happy. I will also be taking several books with me (ColdBox Books) that is. So if you want to buy-win a hard copy ColdBox Definitive Guide, then look for me, ping me via twitter @lmajano or just shout at the conference.
With my friend Josh Highland we decided to upgrade my MacBook Pro Unibody style with 8 GB of sweet sweet RAM. Of course, geeks that we are, we video taped the whole journey!
Just a reminder that our registration for our ColdBox training closes in a few days and you don’t want to miss out. So here is a super duper discount code: superweek. Take advantage and register now, we will be covering the up and coming 3.0.0 release and some great goodies.
