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Creating a maven repository in source forge

Assuming you have started a project already and have admin rights,  

create a local sshfs mount:  (http://blog.damontimm.com/how-to-mount-a-sftp-folder-ssh-ftp-on-ubuntu-linux-using-sshfs-fuse/ )

so create a folder to hold the mount:

cd ~/Desktop

mkdir sourceforge

sshfs This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.:/home/project-web/clearcheckbookjavaapi /home/stephen/Desktop/sourceforge/

(can unmount with fusermount -u /home/stephen/Desktop/sourceforge/ if you want to change the directory its mounted at)

cd to your htdocs directory

cd /home/stephen/Desktop/sourceforge/htdocs/

create a maven folder

mkdir maven

cd into it

cd maven

make the directory indexable - create .htaccess file with the contents "Options +Indexes" - see http://clearcheckbookjavaapi.sourceforge.net/maven/

vi .htaccess

Options +Indexes

Now follow the steps in this link to create the repository structure and files: http://www.javaworld.com/article/2073230/maven-repository-in-three-steps.html

  1. build the project with extra commands to do the release: mvn install -DperformRelease=true -DcreateChecksum=true
  2. copy the relevant files from your local repository, ~/.m2 to your maven folder in the mount, e.g. /home/stephen/Desktop/sourceforge/htdocs/maven. This will contain the code you deployed plus any projects you have used, so you probably don't need to copy it all.
  3. cd to that folder, e.g. /home/stephen/Desktop/sourceforge/htdocs/maven and go to the release folder of your project, e.g. /home/stephen/Desktop/sourceforge/htdocs/maven/com/leonarduk/clearcheckbook/clearcheckbookapi/0.1 and rename the maven-metadata-local.xml and create the checksums:
    
    mv maven-metadata-local.xml maven-metadata.xml
    md5sum maven-metadata.xml > maven-metadata.xml.md5
    sha1sum maven-metadata.xml > maven-metadata.xml.sha1

You can now use this in another maven project by adding this to its pom.xml

...
	<dependencies>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>com.leonarduk.clearcheckbook</groupId>
			<artifactId>clearcheckbookapi</artifactId>
			<version>0.1</version>
		</dependency>
	</dependencies>
	<repositories>
		<repository>
			<releases>
				<enabled>true</enabled>
				<updatePolicy>always</updatePolicy>
				<checksumPolicy>fail</checksumPolicy>
			</releases>
			<id>Clearcheckbookapi</id>
			<name>Clearcheckbookapi</name>
			<url>http://clearcheckbookjavaapi.sourceforge.net/maven/</url>
			<layout>default</layout>
		</repository>
	</repositories>
...

Running Windows in Linux

When the hard disk on my three year old laptop failed I had to either replace it or the whole PC.  I chose to buy a 500 GB solid state disk and upgrade the memory to 8 GB. This allows me to run pretty much what I want. Since I am more of a Linux programmer than Windows, I installed Ubuntu Linux as the OS.  Since you still need Windows for many things, Word, etc I thought about the various options:

1 Emulation via WINE - not as good as you need

2 Dual boot Windows and Linux - a pain if you need to switch between the two a lot

3 Run Windows inside Linux as a virtual machine.  That is what I chose to do.

 

Steps I took:

1 booted up Windows via a backup of the original installation

2 cleaned up removing obsolete programs and files

3 saved the Windows install to a Virtual Disk using http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/ee656415.aspx  (save to VHD not VHDX as we want to use it in Virtualbox and it does not support VHDX). This was saved to another drive that can then be accessed in Linux.

4 Rebooted with Linux

5 copied over the VHD file to Linux as I don't want to have to keep the external HDD attached

6 installed virtual box 4.3 in Ubuntu - ie. not the version that comes in the Ubuntu distribution https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

7 set up a Windows virtual machine using the VHD file

8 Opened Word and re-activated on line - no issues

9 Searched for activate windows and did that online - no issues

 

 

UML for Visio

If you are having to make a UML diagram with Microsoft Visio, you might be a bit frustrated with the built in templates.

I found a website which offers a free UML 2.2 template which seems to do the job: http://www.softwarestencils.com/uml/index.html

Seems you just download the Zip file,  and can then double click on the files to have them imported into Visio.

Thought it was worth sharing.

 

Great mind mapping tool

I have become almost reliant on a great FREE mind mapping application, Free Mind

It allows you to hyperlink to other nodes, to other pages, to external files and sites.  I found it extremely useful when I studied for the GARP FRM exam.  For exams,  you can create an overview node with the main topics of the curriculum and then break out in detail a new page per subject.  Related topics can hyperlink between each other, then you add links to youtube or PDFs.  It really helped me.

Updated profile on Linkedin

I have updated my LinkedIn profile, to reflect my achievements within financial services, particularly the last six good years contracting at Swiss Re, working in the Gherkin.