The main concept of this is first, put the file in the server, and then get the file from server and send it to the client. I’ve read somewhere that the part wherein you save the file to the server should be omitted. In theory, I agree with that person. The data to be uploaded to the server is already written on the Stream, why not just get that stream and send it as is to the client. Logically speaking, it seems easy to do. I’ve tried that but it seems that I did something wrong cause it wasn’t working.

Anyway, here’s what I did to upload and downloading a file using Struts.

public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse res) throws Exception {
HttpSession session = req.getSession(false);
ActionErrors errors = new ActionErrors();
ActionMessages messages = new ActionMessages();
String filename = "FileToBeUploaded.xls";
ServletContext context = getServlet().getServletContext();
//temporary folder's path
String tempDirName = context.getRealPath("temp");
String outFileName = tempDirName + File.separator + filename;
File outFile = new File(outFileName);
//-- prepare file.. In this case, it is POI's HSSFWorkbook
HSSFWorkbook wb = CreateExcel.getWorkbook();
// Check if temp directory is existing or not
if (!xlsFile.getParentFile().exists()) {
xlsFile.getParentFile().mkdirs();}
BufferedOutputStream bos = new BufferedOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(xlsFile));
wb.write(bos);
bos.flush();
bos.close(); bos = null;
// OR
OutputStreamWriter writer = new OutputStreamWriter(new BufferedOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(xlsFile)));
writer.write(data);
writer.flush(); writer.close; writer = null;
//-------
// If there's no problem
res.setContentType("application/octet-stream");
res.setHeader("Content-Disposition","attachment;" + " filename=" + filename);
res.setContentLength((int)outFile.length());
// Download file
BufferedOutputStream out = new BufferedOutputStream(res.getOutputStream());
BufferedInputStream in = new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream(outFile));
int c;
while ((c = in.read()) != -1){
out.write(c);
}
in.close(); out.flush(); out.close();
// Delete file after downloading
outFile.delete()
}

yesterday, me and some of my japanese colleagues were talking about relationships and settling down. one of them told me about makegumi (負け組). The real meaning of the word is “loser” like losing in Olympics or tournaments. But aside from this kind of meaning, he told me that if a person reaches the age above 30 years old, he/she is already considered makegumi.

I’m already 26 years old and sometimes I feel the pressure to get hitched soon. But I know, this kind of decision should not be done hastily. But hopefully, I wouldn’t be makegumi.

When I was doing some work for a client, I came across a requirement to set the textbox’s default IME settings into Japanese Hiragana. I know how to do that in a Windows Application using Visual Studio (since it’s integrated in the IDE), but in a Web Application.. I really didn’t have any idea how to do it. I searched the net and found how:

To set a textbox’s default IME to Japanese character (double-byte characters):
＜input type="text" name="ime_active_text" style="ime-mode:active"＞

To set it to Roman characters (single-byte characters):
＜input type="text" name="ime_inactive_text" style="ime-mode:inactive"＞

To disable the IME:
＜input type="text" name="ime_disable_text" style="ime-mode:disable"＞

It’s a bit hard developing in different languages using different databases. And most of the times, I forget the connection string that I should use.

The following three connection strings would probably be the strings that I’d use often:

Oracle
Data Source=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=MyHost)(PORT=MyPort))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=MyOracleSID)));User Id=myUsername;Password=myPassword;

SQL Server 2005 (Standard Security for .NET)
Data Source=myServerAddress;Initial Catalog=myDataBase;User Id=myUsername;Password=myPassword;

SQL Server 2000 (Standard Security for .NET)
Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;User ID=myUsername;Password=myPassword;

Another syntax is this:
Data Source=myServerAddress;Initial Catalog=myDataBase;User Id=myUsername;Password=myPassword;

If you’re looking for other connection strings, visit ConnectionStrings.com. They have connection strings not only for databases but also for other files such as Excel and Active Directory.

Currently at work, I’m doing an upgraded version of an in-house system. It was developed using MS Access, and now, they want a VB.NET 2.0 and SQL Server 2005 version.

One of the reports that I’ll use needs the date in Japanese format. [The Japanese date format uses eras. For example, we're in 2008; in japanese calendar, that's 平成20.] It took me some time to figure out how to do that.

So in order to do this, first, import System.Globalization. Then, get the DateTimeFormat of the Japanese Calendar with CultureInfo(“ja-JP”).DateTimeFormat. Don’t forget to set the calendar of the DateTimeFormat into JapaneseCalendar. Lastly, the format pattern of the year is “ggyy“, where gg stands for the kanji of the era, and the yy is for the year.

Here’s a sample source code:

Imports System.Globalization
Module Test
Sub Main()
Dim dtNow As Date = Date.Now
Dim jpnCalFormat As System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo = New CultureInfo("ja-JP").DateTimeFormat
jpnCalFormat.Calendar() = New JapaneseCalendar()
Dim jpnDate As String = dtNow.ToString("ggyy年MM月dd日", jpnCalFormat)
System.Console.WriteLine(jpnDate)
End Sub
End Module

Another way to do this is this:
Dim S As String = Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6.Format(Date.Now, "ggge年mm月dd日")

Welcome to the geeky side of me.

I’d be posting a wide genre of topics. From source codes to Japanese language. Things that I’m currently studying or something that I’ve discovered. Boring or interesting topics. Anything under the sun.