Software

Adobe Dreamweaver Cleanup

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I used Adobe Dreamweaver for probably close to a decade. I have since moved on to VSCode, but I still maintain several old sites built with Dreamweaver. Since no one in our organization uses Dreamweaver I finally decided it was time to remove the extra directories and files associated with Dreamweaver. This involved cleaning up both the server and my local Mac.

Following are instructions for removing Adobe Dreamweaver directories and files from a Windows server and a local Mac. I recommend logging and reviewing what’s being cleaned up before deleting, but if Danger is your middle name feel free to skip it.

Server Side (Windows)

Note: Server Side instructions assumes you are running the command(s) from the directory you want to clean up.

Directories (_baks,_notes,_mm,MMWIP)

Log all occurrences of the directories to c:\directories-log.txt

for /d /r . %d in (_baks,_notes,_mm,MMWIP) do @if exist "%d" echo "%d" > c:\directories-log.txt

Delete all occurrences of the directories

for /d /r . %d in (_baks,_notes,_mm,MMWIP) do @if exist "%d" rd /s/q "%d"

Files (*.LCK)

Log all occurrences of the files to c:\files-log.txt

dir /s/b *.LCK > c:\files-log.txt

Delete all occurrences of the files

del /f *.LCK

Local (Mac OSX)

Note: Local instructions assume you are running the command(s) on a directory you want to clean up located in /Users/developer/website

Directories (_baks,_notes,_mm,MMWIP)

Log all occurrences of the directories to ~/log.txt

find /Users/developer/website -name '_notes' -o -name '_baks' -o -name '_mm' -type d > ~/directories-log.txt

Unlock all files in the directories (to avoid “Operation not permitted” error on locked files)

find /Users/developer/website -name '_notes' -o -name '_baks' -o -name '_mm' -type d | xargs chflags -R nouchg

Delete all occurrences of the directories

find /Users/developer/website -name '_notes' -o -name '_baks' -o -name '_mm' -type d | xargs rm -rf

Files (*.LCK)

Log all occurrences of the files to ~/files.txt

find /Users/developer/website -name '*.LCK' -type f > ~/files-log.txt


Delete all occurrences of the files

find /Users/developer/website -name '*.LCK' -type f | xargs rm -rf

App Store Software – What the Description Really Means

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I buy a lot of software.  A LOT OF SOFTWARE.  The following is my tongue-in-cheek assessment of App Store software descriptions.

Gorgeous / Stunning Graphics

We have a graphic artist.  We think her work is awesome.  Lots of companies have awesome graphic artists.  Many times they are pretty much as awesome.

Feature Rich

Our app is really complex.  We put a whole bunch of stuff into it.  Unfortunately the Pareto principle (80/20 Rule) likely applies.

Minimalist

Our app is really sparse.  We <3 Getting Real.  This may or may not be good for you depending on what we consider essential.

Our most awesome version to date

Our last version had bugs / was less than awesome.

Frequent Updates

See “Our most awesome version to date”.

Winner of the Blah Blah Blah Award

If it’s not an Oscar or a Grammy… well ok, if it’s not an Oscar be suspicious.

CS4 Beta – Subversion integration does not support file:// protocol

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CS4 Beta has no love for svn file:// protocol

I was really excited to see that CS4 was integrating Subversion.¬† In fact it was the main reason I downloaded the CS4 Beta.¬† At my office I am the only programmer and you’ll have to trust me when I say my only option (for a wide variety of reasons beyond my control) is Subversion on my local machine’s file system and not as a Subversion Server.

Sadly, here is the error message that tipped me off that the file:// protocol was not a possibility:

You have entered non-matching protocols. Please check your settings.

I’m not the only one hoping for Adobe to add support.¬† Check this post as well.¬† If anyone knows of or hears about this getting changed in future releases please drop me a note.

Boot Camp + XP SP1 Disc = :-(

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I do some .NET work on a project where the developers all use Visual Studio. A few weeks ago I foolishly tried to install it onto Virtual PC on my Powerbook G4. Total no-go. The installation took hours and the program locked up indefinitely the first time I tried to run it.

So, I took the plunge last week and decided to load XP onto the new family iMac using Boot Camp. A slight (deal breaker) problem arose though as I was preparing for installation. I was disappointed to discover that the XP cd that came with our PC was SP1 and therefore not compatible with Boot Camp.

A few minutes of googling, however, revealed a process known as “slipstreaming” whereby you can download SP2, merge it with your SP1 files and burn the result to a new cd that will work with Boot Camp. At first glance the process seemed pretty involved, but ultimately it proved fairly simple to follow. Here is where I found it.

I did it one snag though…

The ultimate goal of the process is a bootable XP cd. The result of my slipstreaming, however, produced 722 MB of files, which is just barely too large to burn to cd (Note: the size of your slipstream depends on how much extra crap came on your SP1 cd). So, what could be trimmed from my project? I deleted the SBSI folder, which in it’s own words is:

“Microsoft (r) Windows XP Professional Step by Step Interactive is a multimedia, self-paced training product that uses a combination of simulations and informative topics to create an easy and flexible learning environment.”

Problem solved. Sliptream cd installed XP like a charm to the iMac.

Leopard has no love for Belkin Flip

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I no longer love you

One of my favorite little pieces of hardware that is not an iPod or an iPhone, or anything else “i” is my Belkin Flip. It’s a handy little device that allows me to “flip” back and forth between two machines (including audio) with the press of a button. This little gadget has, or should I say “had” created a world of harmony for me allowing my pc and mac to share the same monitor and keyboard with minimal effort. Then I upgraded to Leopard.

I can count on one finger the number of times my mac has “crashed” in two years. Leopard + Flip = crash * every time you hit the button.

An email to Belkin support yielded the following direct quote:

“We are sorry to tell you that it is a compatible issue the Flip is compatible with MAC OS but since Leopard is the new OS.”

Hmmm… so… what exactly does this mean? How about a formal announcement Belkin?