Happy 16th Birthday - Delphi

Happy 16th Birthday - Delphi!

Thank you again, to all those involved with Delphi.

Last month I was able to go to San Francisco to talk as a Rad Studio customer to talk to Embarcadero sales team.    Where I was able to meet most of the executive team and hear some directions and plans.   From the small little bits I learned there I can insure you that the direction of Delphi is in good hands.    Some of this has been hinted at during Jim's Podcast's with Allen Bauer, episodes 44, and 45.

Last year I posted a  Happy Birthday Delphi message.    At the end of that message I asked for Delphi to find it's self back into the entry level market.     I please with the directions that have been taken.     The Delphi Starter Edition has been released with a price point that opens the entry level market again.   I have also learned that the academic pricing is available for the product that is 90% of the list of the original product.  For a student this means that the professional edition can be purchased for around $100 USD which is the same price as the starter edition, and for labs I think it can be even cheaper.

Windows 64Bit OS - Directory Layout

Short and sweet, as I had someone ask me about this today...

The \windows\system32\ directory on 64 bit version of  Windows does not contain 32 bit files it contains 64 bit files.    The 32 bit files are stored in \windows\SysWOW64

WOW stands for "Windows on Windows"

Go figure, the 32 bit files are in a directory with 64 in it, and the 64 bit files are in a directory with 32 in it.

According to the road map the next version of Delphi should be able to produce 64bit applications so it's important to know this detail.

Job Openings @ State of Utah

I work for the Department of Technology Services for the State of Utah.
I am assigned to work at the Department of Workforce Services.

We recently have opened up a few new State Employee based position, which is really a rare thing.

All Jobs at the State of Utah can be located here:  https://statejobs.utah.gov/
These are all Full-Time positions with work being performed in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Benefits are good, we work Monday-Thursday for ten hours a day, so you always have
a long weekend.   We have a good working environment.   We also have excellent Benefits
which include (not a complete list) medical, dental, and life insurance.  1.5% employer contribution into 401(k).   Annual, Sick and Holiday Leave.  Finally last but not least a Pension with 4 years to become vested.

On my team I have two openings for Delphi Developers.     We currently have 10 People on my team, we practice agile techniques development.

My team currently uses the following technologies.

Languages:

• Rad Studio XE Enterprise (under maintenance so we always have the latest version) 
• Delphi Win32 2007, XE  (Primary Development Tool)
• Delphi Prism XE    (Secondary Development Tool)
• C++ Builder 2007 & XE (Limited)
• Visual Studio C++ Express (Limited)
• C# (Limited) typically using Sharp Develop

Databases

• Oracle 10g (Project underway to move to 11g)
• Sybase (Limited)

Tools (list not complete)

• Subversion
• Final Builder
• Test Complete
• Toad

Libraries (list not complete)

• JCL 
• Envision Imaging Library
• TMS Components
• Rave Reports 
• Gnostice eDocEngine
• Turbopower Abbrevia
• Turbopower LockBox

Delphi Job details listed here:
https://statejobs.utah.gov/JobAnnouncement.jsp?rid=22780

On our web team we also have two openings for C# Developers details listed here:
https://statejobs.utah.gov/JobAnnouncement.jsp?rid=22817

We also have a Versta Developer opening which is a framework based on Java.
https://statejobs.utah.gov/JobAnnouncement.jsp?rid=22806

If someone wants to be considered for multiple positions they need to apply for each
as they are under different hiring managers.

No Commercial Version of RAVE for Delphi XE

Where I work our product is very tied to Nevrona's Rave Reports.    We are based around the NDR file format and concept.    Since the release of XE our emails to Nevrona and being ignored we still don't have an XE version of RAVE Reports.

XE is a compelling upgrade for us and as such we have decided to try to upgrade RAVE  to XE.      We do have the commercial 8.0 release.

I don't know about Embarcadero's agreement is with Nevrona but I don't think it's in the best interest of either party to keep bundling RAVE to with Embarcadero.    From Embarcadero's point of view they are shipping a product that points to a company that all but appears dead.     From Nevrona's Point of view they may be able make revenue on a product from those that need to upgrade Delphi versions.   Maybe returning a revenue stream that they have lost because most users just use the free version. I know they can't be making much money now.  

I actually would like to see RAVE become open source.   I know my team would be at the very least committing changes to keep it updated to the latest compilers.

As for our long term roadmap, I don't have a clue.... Research begins now... Looking for Reporting solution that can temporary file that can then be printed, exported to Excel, specified pages of the report can be converted to an image.   (We use TIFF but I can convert from about any format)

CodeRage - Audio/Recording Equipment

I was just accepted to do two CodeRage Sessions, I am excited about both of them.

• Building Robust Applications with Customized Exception Management
• Continuous Integration with DUnit and FinalBuilder

I hope everyone gets a chance to attend some of the sessions, the exact dates and times of my sessions are not known yet. The conference is scheduled for October 4-8, 2010.

What I used in the past and will still
use to monitor broadcast audio

Right after I graduated from high school, I attended university as a theater major. That lasted about 2 years before dropping out to become a full time Delphi programmer. :-) But my love for Theater is still in my life. I volunteer at our local theater, building sets, running shows, and many other things.  As such, I developed an appreciation for quality sound.

One of the things I observed in my past recordings was my audio quality was not what I wanted it to be.     I also don't have a huge budget to turn my office office into a studio, but I did make some investments to try to improve the quality of the sound.  About $280 later this this is what i have:

The New setup

• A new microphone
• Nady MPF-6 6-Inch Clamp On Microphone Pop Filter
• Samson C01 Large Diaphragm Vocal Condenser Microphone
• On Stage DS7200B Adjustable Desk Microphone Stand, Black
• Samson SP01 Shockmount Spider Mount for Condenser Mics
• A new mixer and headphones
• Behringer Xenyx 802 Premium 8-Input 2-Bus Mixer with Xenyx Mic Preamps and British EQs
• Audio Technica ATHM40FS Precision Studio Headphones
• USB Audio Interface
• Behringer UCA202 U-Control Audio Interface
• And the cables needed to hook it all up.
• Hosa CPR201 Dual 1/4 To Dual RCA Cable 3.25 Ft
• XLR male to XLR female Microphone Cable - 15 feet

I have now done some test recordings, and I really pleased with the quality of my voice.  If I were only doing an audio podcast I would have a near perfect setup. But with a good microphone comes some problems, related to the acoustics of the room,  I now can hear the keyboard, mouse, the squeaky chair, the fan on the computer, and a slight echo.  I also can hear the kids if they are talking in the room next door.  To get the audio in my office where I would want it would be another $400-$700 not something I am going to spend any time soon.

So some tricks I have learned:   A laptop keyboard is much quieter than my desktop keyboard so I most likely will be presenting on it instead of my desktop.   Strategic placement of hung blankets helps with the Echo of room which reduces other noises.    I suspect some WD-40 on the chair will help with the squeak or I will just switch chairs.     If I am recording noise reduction will remove most of the noise from the computer fan.  This but it won't help with the live presentations, so I might pull out the longer cables I have. to isolate the computer, as I still need it even if I am not typing 100% of the time on it.

Overall I hope that future live and recorded sessions of mine will have better audio for everyone.    Even if I am the only one that may notice the difference in the end .

Rad Studio XE - DelphiLive

At DelphiLive last week it was fairly obvious that Embarcadero was close to shipping RAD Studio.   When there I took a few photos, and Jim wanted to play with the Camera so he took more :-)   I have recordings of the keynote session that I will be posting in the next day or two on the VDUG site.

Well RAD Studio XE was released yesterday, and I am really impressed as SA/Maint Customer I received the keys and the download the same day.    I was able to get the full product installed today.   In past releases I have had to wait a few weeks to get the product, so this is very welcome change.

I had an Windows XP Machine and I bit shocked by the menu bloat, and I did not even install InterBase or Installaware.    But it does highlight some of the new editions the the RAD Studio Line.   For Delphi and C++ Developers they get to look forward to Automated QA, and CodeSite.        For Delphi, C++ Builder, and Delphi Prism developers  they get Subversion Integration, FinalBuilder.   Rave Reports is still the product, since we depend on it I am happy as it appears that Nevrona is all but a dead company.      Delphi Prism now integrates into both Visual Studio 2010 but also MonoDevelop.   There is even an install for Delphi Prism to install with  MonoDevelop on a MAC.    To round out the Menu RadPHP (Formerly Delphi for PHP) is now included in the RAD Studio XE  product line.

There are a few other new items bundled with RAD Studio XE that don't create menu items (Thank you for not doing that!)

• Beyond Compare
• IP*Works components (Indy is still there!)
• RemObjects Oxfuscator

And I would not be surprised if I missed something else that is bundled.       Of course my next questions and potential blog posts are what is under the covers.

DelphiLive - I am here!

I am now at DelphiLive,  I ran into the guys at RemObjects.   Today waiting for the conference to get underway we took a little trip to Cupertino to visit Apple and had lunch.   Marc nearly sold me on an iPad his with 3G support was used quite a bit as we navigated the streets.     One of the things we talked about was RemObjects TV, which really looks good.  BTW I found out that some of the VDUG videos don't work on iPad and that Jim re-encodes the Camtasia results to make it work on iPad.   They guys at RemObjects are all carrying Flip Ultra HD Video Cameras, and I suspect we will get all sorts of good material from it.    I am carrying a Kodak Zi8 and Digtal Rebel T1i so I have a couple of options to gather and share what is going on here.

Looking forward to the keynote tomorrow!