SYNERGY-E-NEWS
News and Updates for Synergy/DE Developers

March 11, 2013

"GO! Just go [to the Synergy DevPartner Conference]!"

Read what attendees at last year's conference said

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Synergy/DE Tech Tip

Unable to create VTX14.so files for MySQL on Linux

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Quiz

Synergy/DE pros, see if you can answer this special St. Patty's day question!

Take Quiz

 

IP-based licensing makes its debut in Synergy/DE version 10

Find out what the new IP-based License Manager means for you  

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Synergex holiday reminder

We will be closed Friday, March 29, in observance of Good Friday

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Platform News

Read a selection of recent articles

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twitter.com/synergyde

 

Synergy DevPartner Conference
"GO! Just go [to the Synergy DevPartner Conference]!"

Read what attendees at last year's conference said

  • “One of the best conferences I’ve attended.” (Keith Hill, James Briggs)
  • “My goals were met and beyond.” (Carl Wysocki, WorkWise, Inc.)
  • “I wish I could attend every conference! The contacts I made and the information I was able to absorb from other attendees were invaluable.” (Cindy Elsen, Reinhart Foodservice)
  • “I learn and see how much is possible with the newer versions of Synergy. I would recommend it to all developers.” (Nick Donofrio, City Line Distributors)

This is just a small sampling of the testimonials from attendees at least year’s DevPartner Conference. And this year’s conference promises to deliver even more valuable information about the latest features in Synergy/DE, including extensive hands-on tutorials so you can try out the latest technologies for yourself.
The 2013 conference will take place in Bristol, UK, June 18-20, and in Providence, RI, June 25-27. Visit the conference website to get all of the exciting details!


IP-based licensing makes its debut in Synergy/DE version 10

Find out what the new IP-based License Manager means for you  

In version 10, Synergy/DE License Manager server on Windows uses sockets (TCP/IP) to communicate instead of pipes. This change was required for Windows 8 support, but it applies to all versions of Windows. Although all new installations and upgrades will use sockets, version 10 License Manager will still accept connections from older license clients using pipes.

When Synergy/DE is installed with server licensing, it sets the License Manager port to 2380. We recommend you use this default port if at all possible. But if you already have a service on 2380 that just won’t budge, you can change the port after installation using the lmu command line utility with the -po option. (The port cannot be changed during installation.) Bear in mind, though, that if you change the port on the license server, you must also set a non-default port on all the license clients. For new clients, you can do this during installation by adding a colon and port number to the end of the license server name (e.g., Rabbit:5555). On an upgrade, however, the existing license server name and the default port are used, which means that when you start up a Synergy application on that client, it will search in vain for its License Manager, and then return an error. If this happens, you must update the port on the client after installation, either from the Synergy Configuration Program or the command line.

Although in most cases the switch to IP-based licensing will be transparent, a few of you may need to make some adjustments to your licensing configuration. One issue could be the license server name. Prior to version 10, the license server was specified simply by server name (e.g., Rabbit). In version 10, you can specify the license server by either IP address or DNS name (except when there is a Backup License Server in the picture; then DNS name is required). Depending on how DNS is configured on your network, you may be able to use the same shortened form of the  DNS name (e.g., Rabbit) that you have used in the past, or you  may need to use the full name (e.g., Rabbit.WidgetMaster.loc). If the full name is required, you’ll need to update the server name on all license clients. Depending on how many license clients you have, it might just be easier to reconfigure your DNS!

Another potential issue affects only companies where there is a firewall between the license server and the license clients. This is a highly unlikely scenario since network licensing is supported only within a local area network, but should it apply to you, you’ll need to configure your firewall to allow communication on the port that License Manager is using, just as you would for any other communication through a firewall. Note that some client machines, although they are within your corporate firewall, might be running Windows Firewall, which could cause this problem. In this case, the simplest solution is to turn off Windows Firewall.

In support of IP-based licensing, we have enhanced the synxfpng utility by adding an option to ping License Manager server (synxfpng -s). If you are having connectivity issues, such as slow connections or no connection at all, this is a good place to start your troubleshooting effort, because it will report errors to help you diagnose the problem.

You can find out more about the new IP-based licensing in Chapter 2 of the version 10 Installation Configuration Guide (ICG) and in the License Manager release notes (REL_LM.TXT). For details on using synxfpng with License Manger, see Chapter 3 of the ICG. You may also want to review “Network Requirements (TCP/IP) for Client/Server” in Chapter 1 of the ICG.

For most of you, the switch to IP-based licensing will be a non-event and your licensing life will go on much as it always has. But if you get stuck or have questions, just call your Developer Support representative to straighten things out.

Go to the Synergy/DE 10.1 website for more information about Synergy/DE 10.1.

Download Synergy/DE 10.1 now.


Synergy/DE tech tip

Unable to create VTX14.so files for MySQL on Linux

Question

I am trying to create the VTX14.so database driver so I can connect to a MySQL database, but when I run the sqlunixbld program, select MySQL, and then run makessqlsrv, I get the following errors, and the VTX14.so file isn't created. What could cause this?
 
../lib/ssql_libs: line 13: MYSQL_HOME: command not found
 
/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lmysqlclient
 
Answer

This is caused by an incorrecty constructed path for Linux in versions of Synergy/DE prior to 9.5.1b. The path is in ssql_libs, which is a script that's created in the /connect/lib directory when you run sqlunixbld. This issue was fixed in Synergy/DE 9.5.1b. If you are running an earlier version, you’ll need to make a small adjustment.
 
First, make sure that MYSQL_HOME is correctly set to the MySQL installation location. Then, in the ssql_libs script (which was created when you ran sqlunixbld), locate this line:

DBLIB="-L$(MYSQL_HOME)/lib -lmysqlclient"

and remove the parentheses, so it looks like this:

DBLIB="-L$MYSQL_HOME/lib -lmysqlclient"

The parentheses change how the logical works, causing it to be treated as a command. Once you’ve updated the script, just run makessqlsrv. Don't run sqlunixbld again! If you do, it will generate a new ssql_libs script, overwriting the one you just corrected.

Quiz

Synergy/DE pros, see if you can answer this special St. Patty's day question!

For St. Patrick's Day, we'll use the following function to help us choose a libation:

function select_irish_beer, a static record stats ,a7 ;YYYYMMD seed1 ,d5, -1 ;DHHMM seed2 ,d5 ;SSuuu ,a3 ;uuu record rand ,d5 literal beer ,[3]a*, "Harp", "Guinness", "Murphy's" proc if (seed1 < 0) begin stats = %datetime() while (seed1 > 32767) seed1 -= 32767 while (seed2 > 32767) seed2 -= 32767 end randm(rand, seed1, seed2) freturn beer[rand / (32767 / 3) + 1] end

As you can see, this function randomly chooses between Harp, Guiness, and Murphy's, deriving its initial random seed from the current date and time. What is the probability (to six digits) that the function will return "Murphy's"?

a. 0.333333
b. 0.333313
c. 0.333374
d. 0.000061

 Click to read the answer


Platform News

Read a selection of recent articles

Windows

Second wave of Windows 8 client promotions coming soon
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9237198/Second_wave_of_Windows_8_client_promotions_coming_soon?taxonomyId=89

Windows 'Blue' rumors fly fast and furious
http://www.infoworld.com/t/microsoft-windows/windows-blue-rumors-fly-fast-and-furious-213510

IE reborn: Internet Explorer 10 arrives on Windows 7 http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-3514_7-57571231/ie-reborn-internet-explorer-10-arrives-on-windows-7/

Microsoft releases next-generation Office 365 for business http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2013/Feb13/02-27OfficeCommercialGAPR.aspx

Cloud

The wisdom of clouds
http://www.itproportal.com/2013/02/14/wisdom-clouds/

Microsoft Azure beats out Amazon Web Services in cloud service performance test
http://www.itproportal.com/2013/02/22/microsoft-azure-beats-out-amazon-web-services-in-cloud-service-performance-test/

Unix

Unix: Under the spell of magic numbers
http://www.itworld.com/operating-systems/344491/unix-under-spell-magic-numbers

Red Hat ships Enterprise Linux 6.4, opens up Hadoop plug in for big data
http://www.zdnet.com/red-hat-ships-enterprise-linux-6-4-opens-up-hadoop-plug-in-for-big-data-7000011630/

OpenVMS

2013 OpenVMS Boot Camp – March 18-21
http://www.connect-community.org/?2013VMSBootCamp


Synergex holiday reminder

We will be closed Friday, March 29, in honor of Good Friday

If you anticipate needing our assistance on this day, please let us know.