Fri 09 Mar 2012
The State of The Ultimate Business Machine
Category : Commentary/TUBReduxRedux.txt
In the last few weeks, I've built (and shared) one-click installers for the latest (or nearly the latest) versions of MySQL (5.5.21) and PostgreSQL (9.1.2).
The idea behind my fixation with databases is that every business needs control over their operational data, once they get beyond the start-up, lone proprietor/operator stage. The database is the bedrock on which they build operational excellence, efficiency, and control into their business processes.
But databases seem too hard to set up. Don't they need people like IT managers (or other expensive cost-incurring resources) to set up? Not necessarily, if we can make the tools easy enough for an accountant or business owner to use.
So between these one-click installers to set up databases on the Mac, and a simple-to-use tool which I've developed (which I've called Liya) to design and get data in and out of those databases, I think I'm able to help Mac users get a pretty good headstart.
But wouldn't it be good to be able to get access to this data from an iPhone or an iPad? You can do wondrous things that are only limited by your imagination, if you've got the technical capability to do that.
For example, here's a demo I built, in a couple of days, of an iPad serving as a restaurant menu:
The pages flip like a real-life menu is supposed to do, but here we have the added capability for the reader to make an order and see the running total of his bill. Now if we can imagine other iPads showing appropriate views of the same data to the cook and the waiter, do you see what I mean about how a database could be the bedrock of a successful, operationally well-run business?
The secret sauce, so to speak, is being able to get the iPhone or iPad to talk directly to the database, and that's the ability that's built into Liya in all three of its incarnations - on the Mac, the iPhone, and the iPad. The restaurant menu example above is just a more customised version of the same idea built into Liya (customised, i.e., to the data processing requirements of a restaurant) which is - ubiquitous access to databases, from either static or mobile devices.
So I'm glad that I'm now able to keep all these tools up-to-date with all the currently released versions of MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQLite3, and running on almost the latest version of Xcode.
After this, I'll be moving on to Luca and to Mountain Lion, and figuring out to how keep my server-based apps - MailServe, DNS Enabler and WebMon - going in an environment that is increasingly hostile to their existence. I know that I'll still need to use them, for myself, so I'll have to find alternatives to the system calls that I've relied on for them to do their magic, as Apple seems as determined to deprecate them and make these system calls disappear.
Posted at 10:03AM UTC | permalink
Thu 08 Mar 2012
Liya Updated
Category : Technology/Liya205.txt
The update contain some bug fixes. And it also includes updated database connectors to match the latest versions of MySQL (5.5.21), PostgreSQL (9.1.2) and SQLite3 (3.7.10).
Also, Liya will now do everything on a Postgres database that it can currently do with a MySQL database.
For example, Liya can now do data entry and searches for data in fields with quotes, double-quotes, apostrophes, umlauts, diacriticals, any human language (like Traditional or Simplified Chinese or Tamil), and even partial date strings, for both MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, and it will do it consistently across Mac, iPhone or iPad devices.
By the way, the script displayed in the picture above is in Tamil and it means, "We, the citizens of Singapore", which I took from the Singapore Pledge WikiPage.
Posted at 2:18AM UTC | permalink
Sun 26 Feb 2012
MySQLConnector/C and NSAutoReleasePool
Category : Technology/MySQLConnector.txt
Finally, I can find someone else who sees the same problem as me. There's an excellent page describing how to build libmysqlclient.a from source for both iOS, iPhoneSimulator and Mac OS X. And a code example for iOS, on how to use it.
So it's good to see a comment from someone who sees the NSAutoReleasePool problems after calling mysql_init(). I was wondering why I seem to be the only one having the problem. And I've been working on this for a long time.
I can build a usable libmysqlclient.a from the MySQL 5.5.21 source. And I'm now working out how to build a similar fat static library for iOS and Simulator.
But it'll be great to be able to build one directly from the MySQLConnector/C source, mainly because it'll not be complicated by the normal MySQL 5.5.x release cycles.
That's why we're so near, with the help from those pages I referenced above, and just a little bit too far, at this point.
Posted at 4:59AM UTC | permalink
Sat 25 Feb 2012
Database Access Clients
Category : Technology/databseAccessClientsFeb2012.txt
I've built new versions of our database access clients, based on the source for the very latest versions of SQLite3 and PostgreSQL, i.e., versions 3.7.10 and 9.1.2, respectively.
The recalcitrant one is MySQL. I can build a new libmysqlclient from source (downloaded from the MySQL Connector/C web page), including making fat i386/x86_64 and i386/armv6/armv7 universal libraries.
The problem comes when I'm running it, and calling mysql_init(); I get all sorts of NSAutoReleasePool errors (autoreleased with no pool in place - just leaking).
I can't believe I can't find anything on the web. Surely, I'm not the only one seeing this. Or it's something so simple that I have missed.
Posted at 5:36AM UTC | permalink
Tue 21 Feb 2012
MySQL 5.5.21 Installer for Lion
Category : Technology/MySQL5dot5dot21.txt
We've just built a new MySQL version 5.5.21 installer for Mac OS X Lion. You can download it right now from here.
If you've been using our previous installers, this will upgrade and migrate all your data from previous MySQL 5.1.x and 5.5.x installations. Very convenient in all its one-click goodness.
Posted at 12:48PM UTC | permalink
PostgreSQL 9.1.2 for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Installer
Category : Technology/postgres9dot1dot2Installer.txt
It's the very latest Postgres version. It'll update a previous-versioned Postgres database, especially one that was set up by our previous installers.
And it won't need any fiddling with "syscntl" and "shmmax" on your Mac, whatever those mean.
And, our Postgres won't stop your Mac from going to sleep - great for a MacBook Pro-based development system.
It's the Postgres installer that doesn't suck. Get it now :-)
Posted at 12:34AM UTC | permalink
Mon 20 Feb 2012
Postgres Fixes in Liya 2.0.4
Category : Technology/Liya2dot0dot4.txt
I've fixed some annoying Postgres problems that Liya was having. I was trying to make Postgres work exactly like MySQL, from the point of view of a Liya user, although they work very differently in the way they are set up.
For example, I wanted to be able to create a new user for either database in Liya, and have this user be able to access either database system from any client machine.
And this user would then be able to create and modify new databases, tables and fields.
With Liya 2.0.4, I think I've finally nailed it so both database systems work exactly alike to a Liya user. I've been able to hide the internal differences between the two systems behind a common programming interface, so this benefit will also accrue to other database-centred applications that we are developing, like Luca.
Posted at 7:27AM UTC | permalink
Fri 17 Feb 2012
Luca for Lion 4.0.3
Category : Technology/LucaForLion4dot0dot3.txt
Luca can now handle exporting to PostgreSQL versions 8.4.x, 9.0.x and 9.1.x databases.
Posted at 11:04AM UTC | permalink
Mountain Lion
Category : Technology/MountainLion.txt
Just when I thought I could settle down to work on all my apps, here's another big change coming. Mountain Lion!
Posted at 12:51AM UTC | permalink
Luca 4.0.2 Update
Category : Technology/Luca4dot0dot2.txt
Luca now has the ability to save and re-use any number of connections, for people who store different companies' data in different Lucadb's.
And this version restored Luca's ability to export Lucadb to another SQLite database.
Posted at 12:06AM UTC | permalink
Tue 14 Feb 2012
Luca for Lion 4.0.1
Category : Technology/LucaForLion4dot0dot1.txt
I released Luca for Lion 4.0.1 this morning. I'm cleaning up and simplifying the code, and reducing the number of buttons everywhere - to use only the minimum necessary to get the job done. The more I simplify, the cleaner the code-base that I can build from to put in the long-requested enhancements.
From the Release Notes :
Luca looks first for a Lucadb database containing the accounting data next to the app. If it can't find one, it looks for a Lucadb in the user's Documents folder. If it still can't find one, it creates a fresh Lucadb in Documents, with an example Chart of Accounts and sample vouchers (payments, receipts, payables and receivables) created for the current month.
Luca can export the Lucadb to either MySQL or PostgreSQL. Changes have been made to simplify this. You choose which place to export the database to. Luca allows you to test the connection (the destination database must already been created, but which can be left empty) first. If the connection is OK, you're allowed to proceed with the export. Once the export finishes, the connection is saved in a pop-up menu, so you can switch to it.
This is designed to give Luca only one place where the user can switch databases, so that all the set-up tables and the default currencies are all changed cleanly.
Posted at 11:16AM UTC | permalink
Fri 03 Feb 2012
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3
Category : Technology/10dot7dot3.txt
I've updated my server to Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3. Things look OK still, so I guess it's safe to say it's safe to upgrade.
Posted at 2:57AM UTC | permalink Read more ...
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