Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 July 4

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July 4

Splat!

If there is anyone else here who uses the program Splat!, I have a rather specific question. This morning I began a line-of-sight terrain analysis using the command line splat -t [tx_site].qth -r [rx_site].qth -p [terrain plot].png. It is now over 13 hours later, and Splat is still happily motoring along, sucking up a large percentage of CPU time in the process. All it claims to have done is loaded the appropriate terrain files (four of them) and written a site analysis report, both of which it did within seconds of starting up. Is it normal for Splat to take this long when performing analyses? The transmitter and receiver are also a little over 60 miles apart; could this have had any bearing on the time required? Thanks in advance, Xenon54 (talk) 01:11, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

I'd run the "is this normal" question by the developer at the bottom of this pdf: [1]. It is apparently a "CPU and memory intensive application". 198.161.238.19 (talk) 17:14, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

Youtube Player with A Video in E-mail

Does anybody know how to put a youtube player with a video in an e-mail message?? I don't want a web link, but a youtube player with a video that is ready to be played in the e-mail. 174.114.236.41 (talk) 04:33, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Due to security concerns any any proper email program would not allow you open a flash object (in this case a YouTube video) in an email you have received. Research says gmail will strip it out, as will Outlook. Your best bet is to just send them the link. --mboverload@ 06:53, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Wireless

Resolved

Is it possible to disable to wireless part of a WGR614 Cable/DSL Wireless Router? I have one which I want to use to network two computers to share the internet via ethernet cable, so the wireless part is pointless and I hate the thought of signals buzzing in my head all day long while it's in use. Short of opening the thing up and cutting the cable to the aerial, is there another way to shut off the wireless signals? 82.43.90.93 (talk) 09:07, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

If it is like a normal router, you can just go into the settings page and disable the wireless. No need to bring out the scissors. 121.72.189.19 (talk) 09:51, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I worked it out! 82.43.90.93 (talk) 10:47, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Sharing internet between two computers via a ethernet cable router

I get my internet via an ethernet cable. My computer (Windows 7) has two ethernet ports. I want to connect a second computer (Windows XP) to the first and share the internet between them. I connected a router (like the one in this pic) to the second ethernet port on Windows 7, and connected the XP computer to that router. Now the internet doesn't work on Windows 7, even though it's showing up on the Network and Sharing center as connected and working, and the second computer also isn't getting internet. What am I doing wrong? 82.43.90.93 (talk) 10:47, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Plug the router into the incoming ethernet cable at the wall - and then plug both computers into the router - that should work fine. SteveBaker (talk) 11:29, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

That doesn't work either :( And the two computers still can't connect to each other 82.43.90.93 (talk) 11:52, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Agree with what Steve says, are you using 2 ethernet cables from both computers into the router? Mo ainm~Talk 12:37, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Yes. The router thing has four ethernet ports and what looks like a phone connection. I connected both computers into the routers ethernet ports. Both computers detect the router, but they don't connect or detect each other 82.43.90.93 (talk) 13:16, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

What is the model number of the router? Jc3s5h (talk) 12:52, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Netgear dg834g 82.43.90.93 (talk) 13:16, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Maybe something here you are missing. Mo ainm~Talk 13:30, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

I went though all of that and it's still not working :((( 82.43.90.93 (talk) 14:10, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Try turning off router and both computers and leaving them off for 5 minutes before starting them up one at a time. - Kittybrewster ☎ 14:26, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

I did, still nothing 82.43.90.93 (talk) 14:44, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

(unindent) That sounds simple enough to do, having read all of the above I still cannot fathom why this shouldn't be working. I have a setup like this at home myself. If you've already tried switching everything (both computers, router, modem (your internet cable needs to be coming from somewhere, for assurance reset the next device upstream from the router, this will be a modem in most cases)) off and on again, that leaves one question: have you configured the router? You might need to log onto the router itself (say accessing http://192.168.1.1 or a similar address from your browser). I had to do it for mine (TP-Link) when I bought it two months ago. Username and password are usually given in the instruction manual, as is the procedure to (auto)configure the device once logged in. If that step also doesn't help you, then I'm stumped to the bone. --Ouro (blah blah) 15:10, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Probably 192.168.0.1 admin password - Kittybrewster ☎ 17:46, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

I can't find anything in the routers config pages which might help. Under "attached devices" it registers both computers and their mac addresses. But they're still not connecting to each other :( 82.43.90.93 (talk) 18:03, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Understood. Are they both connecting to the internet? Do they have the same SSID? Kittybrewster ☎

The windows 7 computer connects to the internet. It has two ethernet ports, so I wanted to connect a second computer (Windows XP) to the first via its second port. That didn't work, so I got a router as people here said that just connecting them with the ethernet cable wouldn't work. I've tried all possible combinations of ethernet cables from computers to the router and none of it works. I've even tried a second router in case the first was broken. Still nothing. The internet isn't really even the issue at this point, I just want the two computers to connect to each other so they can share files and stuff, and of course the internet if possible 82.43.90.93 (talk) 19:08, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

OK. What you need to do is to connect ethernet cable from computer1 to router and from computer2 to router. Then check each computer is connected to the internet. If they both are, then we have various boxes ticked. Then we go to stage 2 to get them talking to each other. Kittybrewster ☎ 19:14, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

That's not the issue. What are the IP addresses of each computer? If you go to Start --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Command prompt and type ipconfig it will tell you your computer's IP address. Then, ping each computer (e.g., ping 192.168.1.2). If the pings go through, then go to the Control panel in Windows XP and choose Folder Options --> View and uncheck "Use simple file sharing." Then, right click on your hard drive in My Computer and choose Properties --> Sharing and share the drive. Then, from the Windows 7 PC you can go to Start --> Computer and on the left-hand side, expand "Network" and hopefully, you will see your other PC. In other words, sharing files is a very complicated task. I walked my friend through these steps the other day over the phone and it took two hours! It's much faster when I do it to the computers in person. There are so many things that can go wrong--firewall settings, workgroup settings (make sure they'e in the same workgroup), interface differences (Windows XP home vs. Professional), etc.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 19:29, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

The power-up sequence is important, because when the computers power up, they receive information about what IP address to use, and other important information, from DHCP, which is usually provided by the router. If the router is off when the PC is powered up, this obviously won't work. So be sure to power up the router before you power up the PCs. Jc3s5h (talk) 19:27, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

return type

in a c programing, printf() is a commonly using in build function.now I am coat with a doubt whats its return type.Similarly what about scanf()? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.204.84.14 (talk) 16:31, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

printf returns the number of characters it printed (not including the terminating null). So printf("%d", 349) returns 3. scanf returns the number of arguments it successfully matched . -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:35, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

The return type of both printf and scanf is int, regardless of the types indicated by their format strings. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:37, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

can u explain a bit more —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.204.84.14 (talk) 16:39, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

not any better than the articles printf and scanf, and the corresponding pages in your compiler/library's documentation can. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:43, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

what abour printf("abcd"); —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.204.84.14 (talk) 16:42, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

4 -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:43, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

• The man pages contain all you need to know about standard functions like printf. On *nix you can just do man printf to see the manual. --59.95.108.152 (talk) 16:49, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

print() and scanf()- c programing

i like to print/scan a set of data , it may be integer,charater,float,string,or mixed (there is no order that means data may 1001fdff10565anoog12102.552gfg or aadfd.hghg665gffgf55662055 or 10a or a or he is good boy or world cup 2010 or 21 cup 2010 or any combination.).then how to print or scan it

scanf really only works when the data is of a fixed format (strictly, clever handing of errors can allow some flexibility, but this quickly becomes more work than it's worth). If the data isn't of a fixed format, you'll have to examine the data yourself, character by character, and figure out what to do. Some cases may call for using a regular expression, and more complex cases may require a formal parser. There isn't, and can't be, a general library function that takes data in any random format and somehow divines meaning from it. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:41, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

syntax

i need commonly used tags or syntax of pascal.Can u help me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.204.84.14 (talk) 16:45, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

If you mean the Backus Naur form of the Pascal programming language, try this. If you mean you want to know how to do some basic programs in Pascal, try the Pascal programming wikibook. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 16:49, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

formating output

i wand to display 2 raised to some no (ie; 2^3) using c programing.how? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.204.84.14 (talk) 16:49, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

By using the appropriate document format (e.g. RTF, HTML, etc.) While you could attempt that using printf, it requires a massive kludge and is easier just to sidestep the issue. --Sigma 7 (talk) 18:17, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

If I understand it correctly, you have a variable P and want to display 2^P in a C program? That could be printf( "%d", 1<<P );. You may want to range check P first. -- SGBailey (talk) 08:32, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

And if you need a base other than 2, or if you need non-integer powers, use the library function pow. -- Coneslayer (talk) 15:59, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

dump mediawiki articles' source to text file

Hi, I have a personal mediawiki installation and I just want to get the mediawiki source for every article (or even better, certain articles with source matching a regular expression). What is the easiest way to do this? Is there a mediawiki extension/plugin that I can use? Is there mysql code that will reconstruct the source and I can dump that to a text file? Whatever is easiest/quickest is what I'm looking for right now. Character encodings, multimedia, etc. don't really matter to me. Thank you for your help. --Rajah (talk) 18:23, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

The database dumps of Wikipedia are around 8GB downloaded and uncompress to about 35GB. XML format.

You can then use Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Database Scanner to find the articles you want with RegEx. --mboverload@ 23:36, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I guess I was unclear though that this is a "personal mediawiki installation", i.e. my own wiki. This has nothing to do with Wikipedia per se. --Rajah (talk) 16:02, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

The SQL code would look something like this:

        USE wikidb; # change to match the database name chose at setup - wikidb is the default

        SELECT old_text FROM text, page
          WHERE old_id=page_latest
          AND page_title LIKE 'Test%'
        ;

which would retrieve every page which had a name beginning "Test". MySQL's regular expression syntax is described at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/pattern-matching.html  : -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:45, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, I will try that. I ended up using Special:Export for my needs as all the articles were in a certain category. --Rajah (talk) 16:02, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

In general, the database layout is described here. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 23:52, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. --Rajah (talk) 16:02, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Why such a long-winded bookmarking procedure in Firefox?

To bookmark the page that I'm viewing in Firefox I have to:

1) Click "Bookmarks"

2) Click "Bookmark this page"

3) Click "V" on the "Edit This Bookmark" menu

4) Choose from a menu

5) Click "Done"

Why cannot I just:

a) Click something that means "Bookmark this page"

b) Choose from a menu

c) Click "Done"

The later procedure would avoid the pointless showing of two different menus at 2) and 3). Note that I want to place the bookmark in a particular category that I have previously made - just having uncategorised jumble of bookmarks is of no value to me. Thanks 92.15.12.165 (talk) 18:31, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for saying that. I find it very tedious to maintain Bookmarks in Firefox. Bus stop (talk) 18:38, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Does double-clicking on the star icon in the address bar not work for you? Nanonic (talk) 18:43, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Interesting. I never knew that. Bus stop (talk) 18:44, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Another way is to hit CTRL-B to open the bookmarks sidebar and then drag the url via the favicon into whatever folder you want (and even drag them around into a different order if you wish). Nanonic (talk) 18:47, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Interesting! It is "Power"-B, in Mac OS-X, I think. That is nice, because the triangles remain in the pointing down position, which is the "open" position, the next time you come back to it. Bus stop (talk) 18:55, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

"Power"?! The key that you're referring to is the Command key. Dismas|^(talk) 23:35, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Or press Ctrl+D; then type a name for the bookmark if desired, or leave the default name; then press Tab to move to the folder selection box; then use the up and down arrow keys to select a folder; then press Enter. -- BenRG (talk) 19:21, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

If I "double click" the star (why isnt one click enough???) then I get:

i) Double click the star

ii) Click "V" on the "Edit This Bookmark" menu

iii) Choose from a menu

iv) Click "Done"

I still get the pointless and unnecessary menu at ii). 92.15.12.165 (talk) 19:56, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

I usually just right click the tab i want bookmarked and select bookmark this tab, then select what menu i want--90.221.201.166 (talk) 22:20, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

I just drag the tab or the favicon to the bookmarks toolbar. --Sean 16:53, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, and if you want to put it in with the main bookmark collection (ie, not in the toolbar), you can just drag the tab or favicon up to the bookmarks menu, then down to the folder you want it in. Indeterminate (talk) 03:46, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

The reason you have to click the star twice is not that it's a "double click" action, but because the first click creates the bookmark (when the star becomes filled, that's bookmarked), and the second click edits it (even if you go back to the bookmarked page later, and click the filled star once).

The reason you then have to expand the dropdown for selecting the folder is because choosing a folder isn't what everyone wants to do with that dialog, so it shows a summary of common options first, and you expand what you need.

(None of this is to detract from you wanting an easy way to achieve what you want to do, just to answer your original question of why the interface works that way) - IMSoP (talk) 00:55, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Creating a Backup

I'm new to computers and I'm trying to create a backup of at least some files in case I need them in the future. I found "Create a Backup", I put a disc in my disc drive, it blinked green and then stopped. I got the error message "Removable Storage Not Running The Backup Utility cannot connect to the Removable Storage Service. This service is required for use of tape drives and other backup devices. Please exit and start the Removable Storage service using the System Service function of the Management Console". I found Start>Control Panel>performancew & maintenance>administrative tools>Computer Management. The Computer Management screen included storage and within that removable storage. When I clicked on it I got the message :"The service cannot be started either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it, This snapin's display may be inconsistant with the removable Storage Service. If the problem persists please restart the snapin." What is a snapin and how do I get one and restart it? Which files should I back up? I had a problem today and had to do a system restore to yesterday and that problem was fixed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.9.92.164 (talk) 22:31, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Go to Start --> Run... and type cmd then press ENTER. In the window that appears type sc config NtmsSvc start= "auto" and press ENTER. Then type net start NtmsSvc and press ENTER. What messages do you get back?--Best Dog Ever (talk) 23:30, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for that information Best Dog Ever. I'll go do that now and get back to you on (hopefully) completion.98.77.194.107 (talk) 15:08, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

After the first enter I got:

Modifies a service entry in the registry and Service Database SYNTAX: sc<server>config[service name]<option1><option2> CONFIG OPTIONS NOTE: The option name includes the equal sign then: type= down to password= then the original C:\Documents & Settings\my name> I entered 'net start NtmsSvc' and hit enter and got the same: system error 1058 has occured. The service cannot be started either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. I guess either the snapin's display is inconsistant with the removable storage service or it has no enabled device associated with it. Do you have any way of looking up error 1058?98.77.184.11 (talk) 18:40, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

The "sc<server>config[service name]<option1><option2>" message appears when the sc command is typed incorrectly. Make sure you type the command exactly as I have shown it above (spacing and all), because I typed it correctly. And the net-start command won't work unless the sc command is typed correctly.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 19:12, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

YOU ARE RIGHT I didn't see that there was a space between the equal sign and the first double quotes. I did it again with the space in and it said: Reply 1: ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS Reply 2: The Removable Storage service is starting

        The Removable Storage service was started successfully

Now I'll go try to do the backup again and get back to you with how it turned out. Thank you ever so much.98.77.196.221 (talk) 21:47, 5 July 2010 (UTC) I got to the Backup and Restore Wizard's screen 3. Type=file can't be changed. Place=D:\ is given. Browse led to D and I was unable to create a new folder error 16389. No matter what name I entered in the name slot, with or without the .bkf it said "The backup file name could not be used. Please insure that it is a valid path and you have sufficient access.98.77.196.221 (talk) 22:09, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

After some research, it appears that the backup utility cannot save files to CDs or DVDs. If you'd like to save your backups to a CD or DVD, then you may have to back them up first to your hard drive, and then burn the files in that folder to a CD or DVD.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 22:31, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for that information Best Dog Ever. I'll go do that now and get back to you on (hopefully) completion.98.77.194.107 (talk) 15:08, 7 July 2010 (UTC) I created a backup (.bkp) file and tried to burn it to the DVD using Windows Media Player. It kept saying put a disc in even when I had a disc in and it kept ejecting the disc. I did have the backup file of photos in My Pictures. What did you mean by "back them up first to your hard drive"? Are they in the wrong place to be used? I also tried using the Backup utility and still got the same error even though it had a .bkf

Not a problem. I haven't used Windows Media Player to burn disks, but you can just copy and paste the files to the disk, instead. In other words, you can insert a blank disk, then go to My Computer and then browse the disk, then paste the backup files you copied earlier. Then, go to File --> Write these files to CD.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 07:07, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

I've tried EVERYTHING. I give up! I am going to have to buy a new disc driver.98.77.196.152 (talk) 20:17, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

most common keyboard type nowadays? (USB or PS/2)

What's the most common keyboard type nowadays, USB or PS/2? --Belchman (talk) 22:37, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

New USB keyboards outnumber PS/2 keyboards two to one.^[2] Many new computers don't even have PS/2 ports. If you buy your computer straight from the manufacturer, you're almost certain to get a USB keyboard with it. I'm not sure what the ratio is for all computers (both new and used), though.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 23:25, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm in IT and echo Best Dog Ever. We have not bought a computer with a PS/2 port for like....3+ years? --mboverload@ 23:29, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

On the other hand, in my experience, all the computers I've bought up till even a couple of months ago, did have PS/2 keyboard ports; but they all come with USB keyboards now. Comet Tuttle (talk) 04:39, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

We're buying only Dell business machines. What do you use? --mboverload@ 05:23, 5 July 2010 (UTC)