Nullpointerexception while editing data sets in Eclipse BIRT 4.2.1

Do you sometimes get null pointer exceptions while editing a data set in BIRT? Your error log states something like:

java.lang.NullPointerException
    at org.eclipse.datatools.sqltools.sqlbuilder.SQLBuilder.setControlStateSize(SQLBuilder.java:1287)
    at org.eclipse.datatools.sqltools.sqlbuilder.SQLBuilder.saveWindowStateInfo(SQLBuilder.java:1233)
    at org.eclipse.datatools.sqltools.sqlbuilder.SQLBuilder.getWindowStateInfo(SQLBuilder.java:1218)
    at org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc.dbprofile.ui.internal.sqb.SQLBuilderDesignState.createSQBInput(SQLBuilderDesignState.java:93)
    at org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc.dbprofile.ui.internal.sqb.SQLBuilderDesignState.(SQLBuilderDesignState.java:46)

...

or

java.lang.NullPointerException
    at org.eclipse.datatools.sqltools.sqlbuilder.SQLBuilder.setControlStateSize(SQLBuilder.java:1287)
    at org.eclipse.datatools.sqltools.sqlbuilder.SQLBuilder.saveWindowStateInfo(SQLBuilder.java:1233)
    at org.eclipse.datatools.sqltools.sqlbuilder.SQLBuilder.getWindowStateInfo(SQLBuilder.java:1218)
    at org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc.dbprofile.ui.internal.sqb.SQLBuilderDesignState.createSQBInput(SQLBuilderDesignState.java:93)
    at org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc.dbprofile.ui.internal.sqb.SQLBuilderDesignState.(SQLBuilderDesignState.java:46)

? Then I have a workaround hint for you: edit the file in XML, look for the dataset section that causes the problem and delete its whole section  . Save and after that, the nullpointer Exception should be gone. Make sure to have backups before you change anything so you can always roll back.

Proof-reading Latex documents with Microsoft Word

It makes sense to proof read papers or articles in Microsoft Word as it provides a pretty good spell and grammar checker (as opposed to what is available for use with Latex). A method working pretty well for me is the following:

Include \usepackage{hyphenat} in your Latex project.

Surround all text in the Latex document with a \nohyphens{ } which forbids hyphenations.

Use NitroPDF or http://www.pdftoword.com to convert the Latex generated PDF to a Word .doc file.

The PDF to Latex converter often produces multiple white spaces after another. This is reported by the spell checker. To remove this problem, do the following:

1. Ctrl+H
2. Find what: enter ^w
3. Replace with: enter a space
4. Replace all.

To avoid ligatures (e.g., ff, fl, fi are one character) use the following package and configuration:

\usepackage{microtype}
\DisableLigatures{encoding = *, family = * }

The nohypens step is useful, because the PDF to Word converter does not recognize words that have be hyphenated (or split) by Latex - they are interpreted as two word. Using the nohyphens block avoids this problem and there is considerably less to proof read and actual errors are easier to spot.

Greetings from Reykjavik

A few pictures from Iceland...

 

 

Eclipse Run Configurations under Snow Leopard

Again a reminder for myself: when running the Eclipse App causes strange SWT errors and so on, try to pass in the VM argument "-d32". This is somehow a 64bit/32bit problem.

Rename Refactoring for Xtext DSLs

Today, i kind of finished hacking together a rename refactoring for an Xtext DSL i'm working on. It may be kind of messy in some places, but anyway, here it is. In a few places, it is DSL specific and so far it only processes the open file. But it should be easy to adapt (and clean up). Please feel free to copy, adapt, generalize or whatever.

First, there is the rename processor "RenameProcessor.java":

package mysomething.refactoring.rename;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Set;

import org.eclipse.core.resources.IFile;
import org.eclipse.core.resources.IProject;
import org.eclipse.core.resources.IWorkspace;
import org.eclipse.core.resources.IWorkspaceRoot;
import org.eclipse.core.resources.ResourcesPlugin;
import org.eclipse.core.runtime.CoreException;
import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IPath;
import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IProgressMonitor;
import org.eclipse.core.runtime.OperationCanceledException;
import org.eclipse.emf.common.util.URI;
import org.eclipse.emf.ecore.EObject;
import org.eclipse.emf.ecore.util.EcoreUtil;
import org.eclipse.jface.text.ITextSelection;
import org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Change;
import org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.CompositeChange;
import org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.RefactoringStatus;
import org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.TextFileChange;
import org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants.CheckConditionsContext;
import org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants.ProcessorBasedRefactoring;
import org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants.RefactoringParticipant;
import org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants.SharableParticipants;
import org.eclipse.text.edits.MultiTextEdit;
import org.eclipse.text.edits.ReplaceEdit;
import org.eclipse.text.edits.TextEditGroup;
import org.eclipse.xtext.parsetree.CompositeNode;
import org.eclipse.xtext.parsetree.NodeAdapter;
import org.eclipse.xtext.parsetree.NodeUtil;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.EObjectAtOffsetHelper;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IEObjectDescription;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IReferenceDescription;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IResourceDescription;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IResourceDescriptions;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.XtextResource;
import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.core.editor.XtextEditor;
import org.eclipse.xtext.util.concurrent.IUnitOfWork;
import mysomething.Rule;
import mysomething.RuleReference;
import mysomething.utils.EObjectResolver;
import mysomething.utils.URIFragmentResolver;

import com.google.common.base.Predicate;
import com.google.common.collect.Iterables;

public class RenameProcessor extends
  org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants.RenameProcessor {

 private XtextEditor editor;
 private IResourceDescriptions resourceDescriptions;
 private List<CompositeNode> references = null;
 private String currentName;
 private CompositeNode declaration;
 private IFile file;

 public RenameProcessor(XtextEditor editor,
   IResourceDescriptions resourceDescriptions) {
  this.editor = editor;
  this.resourceDescriptions = resourceDescriptions;

  final ITextSelection selection = (ITextSelection) editor
    .getSelectionProvider().getSelection();
  final IEObjectDescription eObjectDescription = editor.getDocument()
    .readOnly(new EObjectResolver(selection, resourceDescriptions));

  declaration = editor.getDocument().readOnly(
    new URIFragmentResolver(eObjectDescription.getEObjectURI()
      .fragment()));

  if (declaration.getElement() instanceof Rule) {
   Rule r = (Rule) declaration.getElement();
   currentName = r.getName();
  }

  file = (IFile) editor.getEditorInput().getAdapter(IFile.class);
  
  if (eObjectDescription != null) {
   references = findReferenceDescriptions(eObjectDescription);
  }

 }

 @Override
 public Object[] getElements() {
  return null;
 }

 @Override
 public String getIdentifier() {
  return "Rename Processor Identifier";
 }

 @Override
 public String getProcessorName() {
  return "Rename Processor";
 }

 @Override
 public boolean isApplicable() throws CoreException {
  return (references != null);
 }

 @Override
 public RefactoringStatus checkInitialConditions(IProgressMonitor pm)
   throws CoreException, OperationCanceledException {
  RefactoringStatus status = new RefactoringStatus();

  if (references == null)
   status.addFatalError("Could not obtain references!");

  return status;
 }

 @Override
 public RefactoringStatus checkFinalConditions(IProgressMonitor pm,
   CheckConditionsContext context) throws CoreException,
   OperationCanceledException {
  RefactoringStatus status = new RefactoringStatus();
  RenameRefactoring refactoring = (RenameRefactoring) getRefactoring();
  if (currentName.equals(refactoring.getRenameText())) {
   status.addFatalError("Name unchanged!");
  } else if (refactoring.getRenameText().length() <= 0) {
   status.addFatalError("name must not be empty!");
  }

  return status;
 }

 @Override
 public Change createChange(IProgressMonitor pm) throws CoreException,
   OperationCanceledException {
  CompositeChange compositeChange = new CompositeChange("Rename");
  pm.beginTask("Rename Refactoring", references.size());

  MultiTextEdit multiEdit = new MultiTextEdit();
  TextFileChange fileChange = new TextFileChange("Declaraction Renaming", file);
  
  fileChange.setEdit(multiEdit);
  fileChange.setTextType("bnf");
  compositeChange.add(fileChange);
  
  RenameRefactoring refactoring = (RenameRefactoring) getRefactoring();
  String replaceText = refactoring.getRenameText();
  
  ReplaceEdit replaceEdit = new ReplaceEdit(declaration.getOffset(), ((Rule)declaration.getElement()).getName().length(), replaceText);
  multiEdit.addChild(replaceEdit);
  
  TextEditGroup editGroup = new TextEditGroup("declaration update", replaceEdit);
  fileChange.addTextEditGroup(editGroup);
  pm.worked(1);
  
  
  for (int i=0; i < references.size(); i++) {
   CompositeNode reference = references.get(i);
   
   replaceEdit = new ReplaceEdit(reference.getOffset(), ((Rule)declaration.getElement()).getName().length(), replaceText);
   multiEdit.addChild(replaceEdit);
   editGroup = new TextEditGroup("reference update", replaceEdit);
   fileChange.addTextEditGroup(editGroup);
   
   pm.worked(1);
  }
  
  return compositeChange;
 }

 @Override
 public RefactoringParticipant[] loadParticipants(RefactoringStatus status,
   SharableParticipants sharedParticipants) throws CoreException {
  return null;
 }

 private List<CompositeNode> findReferenceDescriptions(
   final IEObjectDescription eObjectDescription) {
  List<CompositeNode> references = new ArrayList<CompositeNode>();

  for (IResourceDescription resourceDescription : resourceDescriptions
    .getAllResourceDescriptions()) {
   Iterable<IReferenceDescription> matchingReferenceDescriptors = Iterables
     .filter(resourceDescription.getReferenceDescriptions(),
       new Predicate<IReferenceDescription>() {
        public boolean apply(IReferenceDescription input) {
         return eObjectDescription
           .getEObjectURI()
           .equals(input.getTargetEObjectUri());
        }
       });
   for (IReferenceDescription matchingReferenceDescription : matchingReferenceDescriptors) {
    CompositeNode node = editor.getDocument().readOnly(
      new URIFragmentResolver(matchingReferenceDescription
        .getSourceEObjectUri().fragment()));
    references.add(node);
   }
  }
  return references;
 }

 private IFile getProjectFile(String filename) {
  IWorkspace ws = ResourcesPlugin.getWorkspace();
  IWorkspaceRoot root = ws.getRoot();
  IProject project = root.getProject();

  IFile file = null;
  if (project == null) {
   IPath path = ws.getRoot().findMember(filename).getFullPath();
   file = ws.getRoot().getFile(path);
  } else {
   file = project.getFile(filename);
  }

  return file;
 }

}

The handler called from the command "RenameRefactoringHandler.java":

package mysomething.refactoring.rename;

import org.eclipse.core.commands.AbstractHandler;
import org.eclipse.core.commands.ExecutionEvent;
import org.eclipse.core.commands.ExecutionException;
import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.MessageDialog;
import org.eclipse.jface.text.ITextSelection;
import org.eclipse.ltk.ui.refactoring.RefactoringWizard;
import org.eclipse.ltk.ui.refactoring.RefactoringWizardOpenOperation;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display;
import org.eclipse.ui.handlers.HandlerUtil;
import org.eclipse.xtext.parsetree.CompositeNode;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IEObjectDescription;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IResourceDescriptions;
import org.eclipse.xtext.ui.core.editor.XtextEditor;
import mysomething.Rule;
import mysomething.utils.EObjectResolver;
import mysomething.utils.URIFragmentResolver;

import com.google.inject.Inject;

public class RenameRefactoringHandler extends AbstractHandler {

 @Inject
 private IResourceDescriptions resourceDescriptions;

 @Override
 public Object execute(ExecutionEvent event) throws ExecutionException {
  try {
   String currentName = "";

   XtextEditor editor = (XtextEditor) HandlerUtil
     .getActiveEditor(event);

   final ITextSelection selection = (ITextSelection) editor
     .getSelectionProvider().getSelection();

   final IEObjectDescription eObjectDescription = editor
     .getDocument()
     .readOnly(
       new EObjectResolver(selection, resourceDescriptions));

   CompositeNode o = editor.getDocument().readOnly(
     new URIFragmentResolver(eObjectDescription.getEObjectURI()
       .fragment()));

   if (o.getElement() instanceof Rule) {
    Rule r = (Rule) o.getElement();
    currentName = r.getName();
   }
   
   RenameProcessor processor = new RenameProcessor(editor,
     resourceDescriptions);
   RenameRefactoring refactoring = new RenameRefactoring(processor);

   RenameRefactoringWizard wizard = new RenameRefactoringWizard(
     refactoring, RefactoringWizard.WIZARD_BASED_USER_INTERFACE);
   wizard.setRenameText(currentName);

   RefactoringWizardOpenOperation openOperation = new RefactoringWizardOpenOperation(
     wizard);

   openOperation.run(Display.getCurrent().getActiveShell(),
     "Refactoring not possible!");

  } catch (Exception e) {
   MessageDialog.openInformation(
     Display.getDefault().getActiveShell(),
     "Rename Refactoring",
     "Error while applying refactoring to workbench/wizard: "
       + e.getMessage());
   e.printStackTrace();
  }
  return null;
 }

}

and we have the two gui classes "RenameRefactoringWizard.java" and "RenamePageComposite.java":

package mysomething.refactoring.rename;

import org.eclipse.jface.wizard.IWizardPage;
import org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Refactoring;
import org.eclipse.ltk.ui.refactoring.RefactoringWizard;
import org.eclipse.ltk.ui.refactoring.UserInputWizardPage;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Composite;

public class RenameRefactoringWizard extends RefactoringWizard {

 private RenameInputWizardPage wizardPage;
 private String renameText = "";

 public RenameRefactoringWizard(Refactoring refactoring, int flags) {
  super(refactoring, flags);
 }

 @Override
 protected void addUserInputPages() {
  wizardPage = new RenameInputWizardPage("Refactoring");
  wizardPage.setRenameText(renameText);
  addPage(wizardPage);
 }

 public void setRenameText(String s) {
  renameText = s;
  if (wizardPage != null)
   wizardPage.setRenameText(s);
 }

 static class RenameInputWizardPage extends UserInputWizardPage {

  private RenamePageComposite composite;
  private String renameText;

  public RenameInputWizardPage(String name) {
   super(name);
   setTitle("Rename Refactoring");
   setDescription("Automated Refactoring to rename rule names, rule references etc."
     + " with the possibility to automatically update references");
  }

  public void createControl(Composite parent) {
   composite = new RenamePageComposite(parent, 0);
   composite.getRenameText().setText(renameText);
   composite.getRenameText().selectAll();
   setControl(composite);
  }

  public String getRenameText() {
   return composite.getRenameText().getText();
  }

  public void setRenameText(String s) {
   renameText = s;
   if (composite != null)
    composite.getRenameText().setText(renameText);
  }

  @Override
  public IWizardPage getNextPage() {
   RenameRefactoring refactoring = (RenameRefactoring) getRefactoring();
   if (refactoring != null) {
    refactoring.setRenameText(getRenameText());
   }
   return super.getNextPage();
  }

  @Override
  protected boolean performFinish() {
   RenameRefactoring refactoring = (RenameRefactoring) getRefactoring();
   if (refactoring != null) {
    refactoring.setRenameText(getRenameText());
   }

   return super.performFinish();
  }
 }

}

package mysomething.refactoring.rename;

import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.GridData;
import org.eclipse.swt.layout.GridLayout;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Composite;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Label;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Text;

public class RenamePageComposite extends Composite {
 private Text renameText;

 public RenamePageComposite(Composite parent, int style) {
  super(parent, style);
  final GridLayout gridLayout = new GridLayout();
  setLayout(gridLayout);

  final Composite composite = new Composite(this, SWT.NONE);
  composite.setLayoutData(new GridData(GridData.FILL, GridData.BEGINNING,
    true, false));
  final GridLayout gridLayout_1 = new GridLayout();
  gridLayout_1.numColumns = 2;
  composite.setLayout(gridLayout_1);

  final Label renameLabel = new Label(composite, SWT.NONE);
  renameLabel.setLayoutData(new GridData(GridData.BEGINNING,
    GridData.CENTER, false, true));
  renameLabel.setText("New Name:");

  renameText = new Text(composite, SWT.BORDER);
  renameText.setLayoutData(new GridData(GridData.FILL, GridData.CENTER,
    true, true));
 }

 @Override
 public void dispose() {
  super.dispose();
 }

 public Text getRenameText() {
  return renameText;
 }
}

Finally, two helper classes that deal with the EObject stuff:

package mysomething.utils;

import java.util.Iterator;

import org.eclipse.emf.common.util.URI;
import org.eclipse.emf.ecore.EObject;
import org.eclipse.emf.ecore.util.EcoreUtil;
import org.eclipse.jface.text.ITextSelection;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.EObjectAtOffsetHelper;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IEObjectDescription;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IResourceDescription;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.IResourceDescriptions;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.XtextResource;
import org.eclipse.xtext.util.concurrent.IUnitOfWork;

import com.google.common.base.Predicate;
import com.google.common.collect.Iterables;

public class EObjectResolver implements
  IUnitOfWork<IEObjectDescription, XtextResource> {
 private final ITextSelection selection;
 private IResourceDescriptions resourceDescriptions;

 public EObjectResolver(ITextSelection selection,
   IResourceDescriptions resourceDescriptions) {
  this.selection = selection;
  this.resourceDescriptions = resourceDescriptions;
 }

 public IEObjectDescription exec(XtextResource state) throws Exception {
  EObject element = EObjectAtOffsetHelper.resolveElementAt(state,
    selection.getOffset(), null);
  if (element != null) {
   final URI eObjectURI = EcoreUtil.getURI(element);
   IResourceDescription resourceDescription = resourceDescriptions
     .getResourceDescription(eObjectURI.trimFragment());
   if (resourceDescription != null) {
    Iterator<IEObjectDescription> eObjectDescriptions = Iterables
      .filter(resourceDescription.getExportedObjects(),
        new Predicate<IEObjectDescription>() {
         public boolean apply(
           IEObjectDescription input) {
          return input.getEObjectURI().equals(
            eObjectURI);
         }
        }).iterator();
    if (eObjectDescriptions.hasNext()) {
     return eObjectDescriptions.next();
    }
   }
  }
  return null;
 }
}

package mysomething.utils;

import org.eclipse.emf.ecore.EObject;
import org.eclipse.xtext.parsetree.CompositeNode;
import org.eclipse.xtext.parsetree.NodeAdapter;
import org.eclipse.xtext.parsetree.NodeUtil;
import org.eclipse.xtext.resource.XtextResource;
import org.eclipse.xtext.util.concurrent.IUnitOfWork;

public class URIFragmentResolver implements
  IUnitOfWork<CompositeNode, XtextResource> {
 private String uriFragment;

 public URIFragmentResolver(String uriFragment) {
  this.uriFragment = uriFragment;
 }

 @Override
 public CompositeNode exec(XtextResource state) throws Exception {
  EObject o = state.getEObject(uriFragment);
  NodeAdapter node = NodeUtil.getNodeAdapter(o);

  return node.getParserNode();

 }
}

sofortüberweisung.de!?!

Nanu, ich wollte mir gerade eine Apple Care Garantieverlängerung für mein Macbook holen (eine Geschichte für sich, da man offensichtlich auf Originalboxen bestehen sollte) und habe mich dann entschlossen lieber bei mac*****.de als (hoffentlich) authorisierten Apple Händler einzukaufen. Der Preis ist (verglichen mit dem Appleshop) in Ordnung und es gibt eine Box. Plötzlich komme ich zur Bezahlung und die vorgezogene Bezahlungsmethode ist sofortüberweisung.de. Weniger Versandkosten und keine Anmeldung erforderlich, ausserdem TÜV zertifiziert. Was kann da schon schiefgehen dachte ich mir und wähle sofortüberweisung.de aus.

Das nächste was passiert hat mich schon arg überrascht. Da wollte die Webseite doch tatsächlich von mir meinen PIN wissen. Leicht verunsichert schmeisse ich meinen Google an und siehe da: Verbraucherzentralen warnen vor sofortüberweisung.de und der Paynet AG. Es soll wohl klar gegen die AGBs der Banken verstossen PINs und TANs an Dritte weiterzugeben. Und sowas zertifiziert der TÜV? Zudem sagen ja meines Wissens die neuen Geschäftsbedingungen der Banken, die vor einem Monat oder so in Kraft getreten sind noch einmal glarklar, dass der Kunde selbst für Schäden haftet, wenn er sorglos mit Pins und Tans umgeht.

Ich habe dem betroffenen Laden (der sicherlich zu den bekannteren Deutschen Apple Online Händlern zählt) empfohlen doch noch einmal über seine präferrierte Zahlungsmethode nachzudenken und darum gebeten die Bezahlung in eine andere Methode umzuwandeln, da ich per sofortüberweisung.de nicht bezahlen werde. Etwas schockiert bin ich dennoch davon, dass es überhaupt solch zweifelhafte Bezahlsysteme gibt (und sich offensichtlich über Jahre halten), die einen AGB Bruch der Bank einfordern.

Eclipse RCP: no application id found...

The one mistake i do again and again when separating the branding of an Eclipse RCP app into its own branding plugin is that i forget to include the branding plugin itself in the product definition. Its not really that hard to find the problem if you read the exception correctly, but this little mistake is just too easy to make and nevertheless hard to figure out, because the missing branding plugin in the product definition is never the problem that you expect. Hopefully, the Eclipse guys will add a check at some point whether the plugin that contains the .product file is itself included as a plugin dependency :-)