ci Tools

AsciiTable.com

WinDirStat - Windows Directory Statistics

SQL Server Management Studio

  • View DSI SQL tables
  • DSI Transaction Log
  • DSI Activities Log
  • TranPrint Print Queue
  • Et al
  • Analyze API performance
  • Create SQL jobs to collect metrics and archive data
  • Condition: Applies if you are using SQL Server for some of your DSI tables.

Autohotkey

  • Automation scripting language for Windows.
  • Free and open source.
  • Create keyboard shortcuts to enter text (or execute multiple keystrokes).
  • My favorite shortcuts:
  • Ctrl+D outputs the date in YYYYMMDD format.
  • Ctrl+L displays the length of the currently selected text.
  • Ctrl+Shift+L formats a plain list of values to be a SQL “IN” formatted list.
  • F12 runs a Python script that opens the last screenshot I took. (To be fair, Autohotkey can probably find and open the last screenshot by itself, but it was easier and fun for me to use Python.) Create hotstrings that expand to larger text (a.k.a. text expansion). My favorite hotstring: Typing “ds;” (without the quotes) expands to the current date in MM/DD/YYYY format. I give credit to AutoHotkey for making me more productive and making my life more fun.

JDE Tables (jdetables.com)

  • Free website.
  • Search a JDE table and view its columns.
  • Search a column and view its properties and the JDE tables it’s in.
  • Julian date converter.
  • Condition: Applies if you are using JD Edwards..

Python

  • Programming language.
  • Free and open source.
  • Analyze data.
  • For example, tabulate label printing volumes from print job files.
  • Retrieve, parse, and format data for presentation.
  • For example, create searchable html table of label printers (with details) from multiple server config files.
  • Call Python scripts from DSI’s Shell command.
  • For example, call a local machine API to retrieve scale weight output.
  • If you do not know Python, then I suggest you consider learning it for the following reasons:
  • It is fun.
  • It is awesome.
  • It is popular and getting more popular by the minute. (Read: More people you can talk about programming with.)
  • Knowing other programming languages helps broaden your view and increases your ability to leverage (and dare I say, hack) DSI Platform capabilities.

RDCMan

  • Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager
  • Last updated in August 2021. It had been a while since the last update before this.
  • Before this, RDCMan (Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection Manager) was no longer recommended by Microsoft, and I could not find an active download link for it (as of Dec 2020). Therefore, we should definitely consider an alternative.
  • Microsoft recommends using “in-box remote desktop client (MSTSC)” or “universal Remote Desktop client”. But I don’t think these are currently the right tools for me:
  • MSTSC seems to be a command line tool. (Don’t get me wrong. I really like the command line.)
  • “Universal Remote Desktop client” appears to refer to the “Microsoft Remote Desktop” program in the Microsoft Store, and (I think) I’ve had a user that had issues with it not allowing full use of connected server functionality (as of Fall 2020).
  • I’ve heard mRemote [1], while “not easy”, is a good option because it has features that are missing from RDCMan:
    • Modern/up-to-date.
    • Import/export (and therefore easy-to-share) settings and servers.
    • Connect to a server when the server is ready.

WinMerge

  • “WinMerge is an Open Source differencing and merging tool for Windows. WinMerge can compare both folders and files, presenting differences in a visual text format that is easy to understand and handle.” – WinMerge.org
  • Free and open source.
  • I have WinMerge installed on my laptop and mostly use it there.  I use WinMerge Portable when I want use WinMerge directly on a DSI Platform or other application server.  (That way, I don’t need to install it and worry about it interfering with the server software, I think.)

TestSockConn [1]

  • “TestSockConn is a simple Windows dialog application that can be used to verify that a particular host is available and listening on a particular port. It also verifies that a connection can be made from the current host. It is useful for testing a connection through a firewall.” – Progress.com
  • Can be used to confirm a DSI Platform server port is accessible.
  • Free lightweight utility.
  • Heads up about download trickiness… To download this utility:
    • Open a browser to the TestSockConn link.
    • Right-click on TestSockConn link on the website page, then click “Save link as…” on the dropdown menu that appears.
    • OR, you can right-click and “Save link as…” on this link: TestSockConn download link.

Simple TCP Listener [1]

  • “Enter a port to listen on and it will show incoming connections to that port. This can be useful if you are trying to setup connectivity through a firewall or a router.” – AllScoop.com
  • Can be used in conjunction with TestSockConn to confirm a DSI Platform server port is accessible.
  • Free lightweight utility.

Notes

  1. Thank you, Mike Boyd, who neither endorses nor opposes the use of these tools.