Seattle skyline

Next to this event I have some time off to go to Olympic National Park; roam downtown Seattle and have a look on how the American Dream is lived. Or do you have to be asleep to believe it?

The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it.
- George Carlin

Hang around for photos! :-)

Developing:
First of a snippet from the input Makefile:

######################################
# m builds
+m #executable
    @All #target
        files 	= m\*.m
	out	= bin\mx\Image.mx
	package = Image

    @AllToRepository
	files 	= m\*.m
	out	= bin\sql\ImageRep.sql
	target 	= Repository

    @AllToTsql
	files 	= m\*.m
	out	= bin\sql\ImageTsql.sql
	target	= Tsql10

After specifying the input file, we continue..

• Create MGrammar to parse Makefile to a graph.
• Compile MGrammar to Mgx or MgxResource to use in the runtime.
• Build a runtime: at first I wanted to build a runtime in Intellipads scriptengine (IronPython), but I encountered errors on DynamicParser.Parse(), which I couldn’t resolve. Since IronPython was no use for me at the moment, I used the .NET 3.5 Console Application (mmake.exe <executable>.<target>) to parse the graph and execute the build command with the proper parameters from the graph.
• Create a new Minibuffer command in IronPython which takes a <executable>.<target> as parameter (eg m.All). A new process will be created to call mmake.exe m.All and its stdout will be redirected to a new BufferView in Intellipad.

Python Magic

FindHelper.py

from Microsoft.Intellipad.Host import HostWindow
from System.Windows import MessageBox, MessageBoxButton, MessageBoxImage
from System.Diagnostics import Process, ProcessStartInfo
from System.IO import Directory, Path
...
def BuildImpl(activeView, target):
    filePath = GetFriendlyFilePath(activeView.Buffer.Uri.AbsolutePath)    

    if filePath.find("Makefile") >= 0:
        hostWindow = HostWindow.GetHostWindowForBufferView(activeView)
        buildBuffer = Common.BufferManager.GetBuffer(System.Uri('transient://build'))
        Common.Clear(buildBuffer)

        view = Common.GetView(hostWindow, buildBuffer)
        if view is None:
            hostWindow.ShowInRoot(buildBuffer, 40.0)

        fileDir = Path.GetDirectoryName(filePath)
        (exitCode, stdout, stderr) = RunBuildCommand("mmake", fileDir, target)
        Common.Write(buildBuffer, stdout + "\n" + stderr)
    else:
        message = "Error: Makefile needs to be in the active buffer."
        MessageBox.Show(message, IntellipadMessageBoxTitle , MessageBoxButton.OK,
 MessageBoxImage.Information)

def GetFriendlyFilePath(fileUri):
    path = str(fileUri).replace('%20', ' ')
    return path.replace('/', '\\')

def RunBuildCommand(cmd, pwd, args):
    processStartInfo = ProcessStartInfo()
    processStartInfo.WorkingDirectory = pwd
    processStartInfo.FileName = cmd
    processStartInfo.Arguments = args
    processStartInfo.UseShellExecute = False
    processStartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = True
    processStartInfo.RedirectStandardError = True

    process = Process()
    process.StartInfo = processStartInfo
    process.Start()
    process.WaitForExit()

    stdout = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd()
    stderr = process.StandardError.ReadToEnd()
    return process.ExitCode, stdout, stderr

MiniBufferCommandSetup.py

def Build(target):
        FindHelper.BuildImpl(MiniBufferHelper.GetActiveView(), target)

Running the Makefile:
When I use Intellipad to work on my grammars and models, I have the following directory setup:

Now open up the Makefile in Intellipad:
Note: All paths specified in the Makefile are relative to the path of the Makefile.

Hit Ctrl+/ to bring up the Minibuffer and type: Build(’<executable>.<target>’)
Note: Intellipad needs to know what directory the Makefile is in, so the Makefile buffer should be active (selected) before bringing up the Minibuffer.

Command will run and output to a new BufferView:

Download:

• Sample project directory (Makefile and samples from Oslo SDK 1.0 for sample builds).
• mmake (1 runtime, 1 mgx and 2 .py): Extract archive in %PATH_TO_OSLO_SDK%\Bin

Install notes:

• Add %PATH_TO_OSLO_SDK%\Bin to system var: PATH
• Backup .py files in case Intellipad stops working: FindHelper.py and MiniBufferCommandSetup.
  %PATH_TO_OSLO_SDK%\Bin\Intellipad\FindHelper.py
  %PATH_TO_OSLO_SDK%\Bin\Intellipad\Components\Microsoft.Intellipad.Scripting\PrivateScripts
• Write permission errors on %PATH_TO_OSLO_SDK%: fix directory settings.

What’s next?

• Hyperlinks on buildtargets in Intellipad: click to compile.
• Resolving IronPython issues with DynamicParser.Parse().
• Build a horizontal DSL instead of a vertical DSL for Makefiles.

Bugs and errors:
Post bugs or suggestions in the comments or drop me a line via email. :-)

References:

• http://blogs.msdn.com/Intellipad/
• http://www.ironpython.info/index.php/Contents
• http://www.sellsbrothers.com/news/showTopic.aspx?ixTopic=2256

I’ve defined the way I’d like to create my blogs, posts and blogrolls in a textual way:

Blog
    With Title OsloBlog
    Section Posts
        Post With Title MGrammar And Desc MGrammar
        Post With Title Quadrant And Desc Quadrant
    End Section
    Section Blogroll
        Link With Title Oslo And Url http://microsoft.com
        Link With Title Michael And Url http://michaelwolbert.nl
    End Section
End Blog
Blog
    With Title MichaelBlog
    Section Posts
        Post With Title Avanade And Desc Ava
        Post With Title Testing123 And Desc Testing123456789
    End Section
End Blog

With our grammar (parser) we can now create projections of our textual DSL:

Blog[
    Title[
      "MichaelBlog"
    ],
    Sections[
      Posts[
        Post[
          Title[
            "Avanade"
          ],
          Desc[
            "Ava"
          ]
        ],
        Post[
          Title[
            "Testing123"
          ],
          Desc[
            "Testing123456789"
          ]
        ]
      ]
    ]
  ]

Next step would be to push this projections to Oslo’s repository (just a plain ol’ SQL 2008 database), so a runtime can access it. We could also create a runtime which uses a set of classes to parse our textual DSL directly to the runtime. But that will be covered later on.

See this Intellipad screenshot for the textual DSL, the MGrammar and the projections (from L to R).

Some nice samples can be found in the “M” Language Gallery. Especially Natural Language Dates has some good pointers to get started.

This week the Innovasia program will be finished with a symposium on our findings in India and on outsourcing in particulair. The new Innovasia website contains a lot of info on our visit to Bangalore for people who are interested or would like to follow the same program next year.

Besides Innovasia, I have been very busy preparing for my intern at Avanade to graduate next semester. Avanade is a joint-venture between Accenture (80%) and Microsoft (20%). Its Dutch office is based in Almere: near Amsterdam. The topic of the project will be focused on model-driven software development using domain specific languages (DSLs). This will be done in Microsoft’s newest platform called Microsoft Oslo. I’m very excited about learning these subjects, because it seems they have become very popular over the years. I’m completely new to this, at least it hasn’t been teached by my university. The start of this intern will be around the 1st of February. I’ll keep you posted!

The holiday was also quite good! :-) Tijmen Ruizendaal and I decided to celebrate NYE somewhere different than our hometown Utrecht. Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Pisa, Prague, Copenhagen, Berlin.. train, bus, plane.. we really didn’t know where and how to go. We probably waited way to long because flighttickets skyrocketed and traintickets became very scarce. Suddenly we had this thought of getting there without the need of paid transportation: hitchhiking! We decided to go to Copenhagen by the thumb, what a ride and what a stay! :-) I still have to grab some of the photos (not that much) of my camera and upload them to Flickr. Keep around, I’ll upload them soon!

PS. Unfortunately my Flickr account has reached its quota, so I’ll be posting the last photos when I get back.

Thursday November 6
We drove for one hour to get to the Biological Zoo which is situated at the border of Bangalore. For €2 we had a ticket for the zoo and a safari ride! The safari ride was pretty boring, the captive animals were ofcourse just like humans very dull at 40 degrees Celsius.

Cow & garbage

Friday November 7
Friday we had our first appointment at the R&D centre of HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited). We had a brief introduction about the core business and afterwards about the development cycle of their new products. Each year a dozen of patents are claimed by this company, extreme!

Currently HUL is working on a waterpurifier which runs without any powersource. Since a lot of the Indian population does not have direct access to clean drinkingwater this is one heck of a great product! This device will approximitly cost $30 without filters. The filters have to be replaced every 1500 litres and will cost about $5. Affordable drinkingwater for all!

HUL interior, got to love this

At the end of the day we had an appointment with Rutger from Nexus Novus at a luxurious hotel. Two years ago he moved from the Netherlands to India to set up a business based in Bangalore. He told us a variety of things about entrepreneurship in foreign countries: helpful tips&tricks! Afterwards we went to a club called Kosmo where we drank a couple of beers and moved our hips from right to left!

Chat&drinks

Buddha at Kosmo

Saturday November 8
This day we got out of bed pretty early because we had to make a long bus drive, at least that’s what they said. ;-) We arrived 40 minutes to early at Wipro, a company which has its corebusiness primarily in IT. This company is a big player on the global IT market. Today Wipro has 93.000 employees!

Wipro Technologies is the No 1 provider of integrated business, technology and process solutions on a global delivery platform.

The campus is a great place to work and relax. In terms of work Wipro has many intern trainingcourses in the different fields of expertises. Relaxing can be achieved by practicing tennis, basketball, cricket or having a dip in the swimming pool.

By night we went to a James Bond party at a bar in one of the most luxurious hotels in the region. There we were with 6 of us having a drink next to the swimming pool. :-P

Sunday November 9
OCC (Open Coffee Club) is a session where fresh entrepreneurs (starters) come and have a chat with each other: solving problems, having feedback on their products, networking etc. In my opinion this was one of the most interesting sessions we had so far because this showed us how people are starting their businesses in Bangalore.

At OCC I met with Pranav Bhasin, who has set up a social networking website called Lifeblob. Lifeblob plots your life on a horizontal timescale by using third party data from other social networking websites. See my Lifeblob timescale:

In the evening there was a small surprise for us: … Karaokebar!!!

Yesterday we had a meeting with all the students and our teacher at the conferenceroom of one of the hotels. The topic was about the book we will be writing in the course of this program. The book has the workingtitle: “Howto successfully outsource to India”. More will follow as we gather information from companies we will visit in the upcoming days.

Conferenceroom: 'The Last Supper'-style

Yesterday we moved to a new hotel like I mentioned in one of my previous posts. Cheaper, bigger, better food etc..

Bart is chilling in our new and improved room

In the evening we enjoyed dinner on the roof of a 13-story building. The view on top was absolutly fabulous! This restaurant & lounge bar is the typcial place for expats and upperclass citizens to have a drink or a damn delicious meal. We were with 8 people and had to pay 5500 rupies all together, which is about like €90.. mad!

13th floor exterior

13th floor interior

13th floor roofview

I’m running a bit behind schedule updating this blog, but it will work out!

We went to one of the main shopping streets to have dinner. After 15 minutes of bargaining with the rickshawdriver we had a pretty wild ride to this area of the city. Roads do have lanes, but in this city no one cares. Just keep honking..

Rickshawcruisin'

Our meal was served on bananaleaves and tasted great! I had panbaked lamb with a dozen of green peppers for starters. I also needed a litre beer to cope with the taste.

Lamb and peppers

At 23:00 bars, restaurants and clubs close, so we had nothing else to do than heading back to the hotel..

The streets

The streets

In front of the hotel

First shots (see Flickr for more):

*Sleeping*