Hello, Community!

Here's an interesting task I found on the Internet.

Problem description

Write a method that would draw a box of a specified size.

The goal is to write the shortest method.

Here's a method signature (it can't be modified):

ClassMethod main(s As %Integer = 10)

And call sample:

>do ##class(ITPlanet.Task4).main(5)
#####
## ##
# # #
## ##
#####

>do ##class(ITPlanet.Task4).main(10)
##########
##      ##
# #    # #
#  #  #  #
#   ##   #
#   ##   #
#  #  #  #
# #    # #
##      ##
##########
 
>do ##class(ITPlanet.Task4).main(20)
####################
##                ##
# #              # #
#  #            #  #
#   #          #   #
#    #        #    #
#     #      #     #
#      #    #      #
#       #  #       #
#        ##        #
#        ##        #
#       #  #       #
#      #    #      #
#     #      #     #
#    #        #    #
#   #          #   #
#  #            #  #
# #              # #
##                ##
####################

In this series of articles, I'd like to present and discuss several possible approaches toward software development with InterSystems technologies and GitLab. I will cover such topics as:

• Git 101
• Git flow (development process)
• GitLab installation
• GitLab Workflow
• Continuous Delivery
• GitLab installation and configuration
• GitLab CI/CD
• Why containers?
• GitLab CI/CD using containers

In the first article, we covered Git basics, why a high-level understanding of Git concepts is important for modern software development, and how Git can be used to develop software.

In the second article, we covered GitLab Workflow - a complete software life cycle process and Continuous Delivery.

In the third article,  we covered GitLab installation and configuration and connecting your environments to GitLab

In the fourth article, we wrote a CD configuration.

In this article, let's talk about containers and how (and why) they can be used.

In this series of articles, I'd like to present and discuss several possible approaches toward software development with InterSystems technologies and GitLab. I will cover such topics as:

• Git 101
• Git flow (development process)
• GitLab installation
• GitLab Workflow
• Continuous Delivery
• GitLab installation and configuration
• GitLab CI/CD

In the first article, we covered Git basics, why a high-level understanding of Git concepts is important for modern software development, and how Git can be used to develop software.

Intro

For many in today's interoperability landscape, REST reigns supreme. With the overabundance of tools and approaches to REST API development, what tools do you choose and what do you need to plan for before writing any code? This article focuses on design patterns and considerations that allow you to build highly robust, adaptive, and consistent REST APIs. Viable approaches to challenges of CORS support and authentication management will be discussed, along with various tips and tricks and best tools for all stages of REST API development. Learn about the open-source REST APIs available for InterSystems IRIS Data Platform and how they tackle the challenge of ever-increasing API complexity. The article is a write-up for a recent webinar on the same topic.

In this series of articles, I'd like to present and discuss several possible approaches toward software development with InterSystems technologies and GitLab. I will cover such topics as:

• Git 101
• Git flow (development process)
• GitLab installation
• GitLab Workflow
• Continuous Delivery
• GitLab installation and configuration
• GitLab CI/CD

In the first article, we covered Git basics, why a high-level understanding of Git concepts is important for modern software development, and how Git can be used to develop software.

In the second article, we covered GitLab Workflow - a complete software life cycle process and Continuous Delivery.

I this article we'll discuss:

• GitLab installation and configuration
• Connecting your environments to GitLab

csession can be called with a variety of arguments:

• tag+offset^routine
• tag^routine([parameter-list])
• ##CLASS(package.class).method([parameter-list])

In this series of articles, I'd like to present and discuss several possible approaches toward software development with InterSystems technologies and GitLab. I will cover such topics as:

• Git 101
• Git flow (development process)
• GitLab installation
• GitLab Workflow
• Continuous Delivery
• GitLab installation and configuration
• GitLab CI/CD

In the previous article, we covered Git basics, why a high-level understanding of Git concepts is important for modern software development, and how Git can be used to develop software. Still, our focus was on the implementation part of software development, but this part presents:

• GitLab Workflow - a complete software life cycle process - from idea to user feedback
• Continuous Delivery - software engineering approach in which teams produce software in short cycles, ensuring that the software can be reliably released at any time. It aims at building, testing, and releasing software faster and more frequently.

Everybody has a testing environment.

Some people are lucky enough to have a totally separate environment to run production in.

-- Unknown

.

In this series of articles, I'd like to present and discuss several possible approaches toward software development with InterSystems technologies and GitLab. I will cover such topics as:

• Git 101
• Git flow (development process)
• GitLab installation
• GitLab WorkFlow
• GitLab CI/CD
• CI/CD with containers

This first part deals with the cornerstone of modern software development - Git version control system and various Git flows.

I needed to know programmatically if last ran failed or not.

After some exploring, here's the code:

ClassMethod isLastTestOk() As %Boolean
{
  set in = ##class(%UnitTest.Result.TestInstance).%OpenId(^UnitTest.Result)
  for i=1:1:in.TestSuites.Count() {
    #dim suite As %UnitTest.Result.TestSuite
    set suite = in.TestSuites.GetAt(i)
    return:suite.Status=0 $$$NO
  }
  quit $$$YES
}

Several $System.OBJ methods have ByRef errorlog argument:

Compile(ByRef classes As %String = "", qspec As %String = "", ByRef errorlog As %String, recurse As %Boolean = 0)

ImportDir(dir As %String = "", wildcards As %String, qspec As %String = "", ByRef errorlog As %String, recurse As %Boolean = 0, ByRef imported As %String, listonly As %Boolean, ByRef selectedlist As %String)

What's the best approach of working with errorlog?

Do you convert it to status? If so - how? Manual iteration over local?

Is there some system method to convert it into %Status?

Let's say I want to execute  this cache script (saved as test.txt) from OS terminal:

zn "USER"
write 1
zn "%SYS"
write 2
halt

Executing the following command in a terminal:

csession cache < test.txt

Would yield this output:

Is there a better way to run these scripts?

Currently I have two problems:

1. I have several variables defined in my bash script, what's the best approach to pass them into Caché? 
2. I can't capture script input (for example write 1)

As for 1 there are two solutions I found:

1. Generate test.txt

Currently to check if the class  is mapped I call:

ClassMethod IsClassMapped(class) As %Boolean

{
  set sc = $system.OBJ.GetClassList(.classes,"/system=0 /percent=0 /mapped=0")
  quit $data(classes(class))
}

And it works, but I'm interested if there is a simpler approach out there?

Recently DigitalOcean introduced new plans for droplets, but as existing droplets stayed on the old plans  I decided to use API to resize them automatically.  After reading tutorial, I wrote partial client for DigitalOcean API, which I would like to share today.

Let's say I have Macro.Parent class:

Include Parent
Class Macro.Parent
{

ClassMethod Test()
{
    write "Class: " _ $classname() _ $c(10,13) _ "Value: " _ $$$name
}

}

which references Parent.inc macro name:

#define name "Parent"

Now, I want in my subclass Macro.Child to have Test method with the same code, but to redefine value of name macro.

In this article I'd like to discuss asynchronous REST and approaches to implementing it.

Why do we need asynchronous REST? Simply put - answering the request takes too much time. While most requests usually can be satisfied immediately, some can't. The reasons are varied:

• You need to perform time-consuming calculations
• Performing action actually takes time (for example container creation)
• etc.

The solution to these problems is asynchronous REST. Asynchronous REST works by separating request and real response. Here's an example, let's consider the following simple async REST broker:

Is there a way to get one of:

• Struct
• $lb
• Subscripted local variable
• List/array

As a return type from callout call?

And related question: is there a way to return several values (which may contain commas) from one callout call.  Or rather what's the best approach when doing that?

Is there any way to specify in which order indices are built during:

• %BuildIndices
• %Save

So far I think they are built by name order.

Is there an option to configure Caché to start external apache instead of internal one on startup?

I'm extracting text from HTML (more on how - here), and after I extract text it has two problems:

• Lot's of $c(10) control characters
• Multiple whitespaces

Here's an example of the text extracted from HTML page:

set text = " "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" Word1"_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" Word2 "_$c(10)_"Word3 "_$c(10,10,10,10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" © 2017 "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)_" "_$c(10)

I have a classname and a property name. I want to know, when I get object value directly from a global, which property corresponds to which position in the $lb structure.

Here's what I got so far:

Class Utils.Storage {

/// write ##class(Utils.Storage).GetPosition()
ClassMethod GetPosition(class As %Dictionary.CacheClassname = "Sample.Address", property As %Dictionary.CacheIdentifier = "Zip") As %Integer
{
    set strategy = $$$comClassKeyGet(class, $$$cCLASSstoragestrategy)    
    set strategyId  = class _ "||" _ strategy
    &sql(SELECT Name INTO :position
         FROM %Dictionary.StorageDataValueDefinition
         WHERE parent = (SELECT ID
                         FROM %Dictionary.StorageDataDefinition
                         WHERE parent = :strategyId AND Structure = 'listnode')
         AND Value = :property)
    quit position
}


/// do ##class(Utils.Storage).Test()
ClassMethod Test()
{
    set list = $lb("Street", "City", "State", "Zip")
    set obj = ##class(Sample.Address).%New()
    Do obj.%SetSerial(list)
    
    set list2 = obj.%GetSerial()
    zw obj, list2
}
}

I have two databases, and both of them have a global ^Data with subscripts going from 1 to 10 000 000.

I want to get one database with global ^Data but with subscripts going from 1 to 20 000 000.

Since each db is around 100 Gb and they are on a different hosts, what's the best way to merge them?

Trying to connect Ensemble to RabbitMQ following this article I'm using Java Gateway and encountered the following problem - in all my calls I need to pass connection object, which is always the same but it takes a long time to create. Here's java code:

package com.myorgname.rabbitmq;

import com.rabbitmq.client.ConnectionFactory;
import com.rabbitmq.client.Connection;
import com.rabbitmq.client.Channel;
import com.rabbitmq.client.QueueingConsumer;

public class Wrapper {

  public void sendMsg(String hostName, String queueName, byte[] msg) throws Exception {
       ConnectionFactory factory = new ConnectionFactory();
       factory.setHost(hostName);
       Connection 

Let's say I have this property:

Property FavoriteColors As List Of %String;

I heed to convert it to JSON using SQL or at least without object access (so direct global access).

What's the fastest way to do that?

I thought about JSON_ARRAY and JSON_ARRAYAGG sql functions but they don't do that.

In the first article I started discussing RESTForms - REST API for your persistent classes. We talked about basic features, now, I'd like to discuss advanced features - mainly queries capabilites:

• Basic queries
• Query arguments
• Custom queries

Queries

Queries allow getting slices of data, based on arbitrary criteria. There are two query types in RESTForms:

• Basic queries work for all RESTForms classes once defined and they differ only by the field list
• Custom queries work only for the classes in which they are specified and available, but the developer has full access to query text

I need to check if one class is a subclass of another (either direct or indirect).

For example:

Class Package.ClassA Extends %Library.Persistent
{
}

Class Package.ClassB Extends Package.ClassA 
{
}

Class Package.ClassC Extends Package.ClassB
{
}

In this example Package.ClassC is a subclass of 3 classes: %Library.Persistent, Package.ClassA, Package.ClassB.

So any of these checks should return 1:

Write ##class(Some.System.Class).IsSubclass("Package.ClassC", "%Library.Persistent")
Write ##class(Some.System.Class).IsSubclass("Package.ClassC", " Package.ClassA")
Write ##class(Some.System.Class).IsSubclass("Package.ClassC", " Package.ClassB")

I need to get a list of all classes that are subclasses of two unrelated classes.

For example I want to get a list of all classes that are both:

• Persistent (extends %Library.Persistent)
• XML-Enabled (extends %XML.Adaptor)

To get subclasses of one class I can use this query:

set rs = ##class(%Dictionary.ClassDefinitionQuery).SubclassOfFunc("%Library.Persistent")

But what about two classes?

I suppose I can run this query twice, build two $lb, then iterate over one of them and build a new $lb with classes that appear in both lists. Are there any better approaches?

Several Ensemble adapters have SERVICEINPUTCLASS and/or SERVICEOUTPUTCLASS parameters defined.

For example:

Class EnsLib.HTTP.InboundAdapter Extends EnsLib.TCP.InboundAdapter
{

Parameter SERVICEINPUTCLASS = "%Stream.Object";

Parameter SERVICEOUTPUTCLASS = "%Stream.Object";

...
}

What are they for?

I have a Caché server with external apache.

It has a hostname, i.e.: http://myserver.com

There is an index page, which is available over http://myserver.com/index.html (/ is a Caché CSP app)

How can I make index.html available from http://myserver.com?

Here's the relevant parts of my apache config:

<Directory />
    CSP On
    DirectoryIndex index.html
    Options FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>
<Location />
    DirectoryIndex index.html
    Options FollowSymLinks 
    AllowOverride All
    CSP On
    SetHandler csp-handler-sa
</Location>
DirectoryIndex index.html
AccessFileName .htaccess

I'm trying to create asynchronous Ensemble service/operation pair for SOAP passthrough.

General configuration:

• Ensemble Service receives a message and immediately returns an answer to a caller (message received or some error)
• Ensemble Service asynchronously calls Business Operation
• Business Operation  does guaranteed message delivery, etc.

Is it a viable approach?

Any tips? Ideas? Caveats? Code?

Seems like I can sublass EnsLib.SOAP.GenericService and change Sync to ASync (and provide a default reply immediately).

I have tried to create Ensemble SOAP passthrough operation following this guide.

Here's my production configuration (after steps 1-4):

Class Passthrough.Production Extends Ens.Production

Step 5 of the guide says to open the url:

http://localhost:nnnnn/currencyconverter/ConvertCurrencySOAPPassthrough…

have two web applications in a namespace:

• /csp/passthrough
• /passthrough

 I have tried calling the following urls:

• http://localhost:57773/passthrough/PassthroughService/CurrencyConvertor.asmx
• http://localhost:57773/passthrough/PassthroughService/CurrencyConvertor.asmx?CfgItem=