Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 June 1

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June 1

Displaying UML on the net

is there a program that renders UML graphics in html? (they need to be clickable) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.168.0.151 (talk) 04:58, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

It's not UML, but doxygen does something along those lines with class hierarchies. --Sean 12:35, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

yeah, that is in the direction. I'll take a look on that. 217.168.3.246 (talk) 14:19, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Sonar 6

Hi, I bought the Sonar 6 music program a little while ago, and kind of gave up on it after hours of trying to figure out how to work the program. I have my roland synthesizer connected to it, with speakers connected to it. I installed the preamp and set up the midi-cables like it says in the instructions, but I can't get the program to play from the PC (thought it plays through speakers connected to my synthesizer) and can't even get vocals to get recorded into it at all! There is nothing wrong with the mic or the cables...was wondering if there was anything else I can check. The people at customer support weren't very supportive, so I have turned here for some advice. Can anyone help?! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.22.57.231 (talk) 07:03, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

You might want to check the volume levels settings on your computer. I assume it's a Windows computer, so double-click on the speaker icon in the system tray (typically in the lower, right corner). You can go to Options + Properties and make sure that every type of volume setting is turned on under Playback. Then go through each volume type and make sure Mute is NOT checked, the slider is all the way up, and the Balance setting is in the middle. (If all the volume settings don't fit in the panel at once, try increasing the screen resolution or only display a portion at a time.) Next go back to Options + Properties, select Recording, and repeat the process. StuRat (talk) 02:55, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Pre - "Art of Computer Programming" topics

What should you already known before you start to read the Art of Computer Programming of Knuth?217.168.0.192 (talk) 14:53, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

You don't need too much. He's pretty straightforward, a clear writer, a clear thinker. Just jump on in; if you get totally lost, that'll be more informative about what you should read up on, rather than a list of prerequisites. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 16:09, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

From the preface :

a) Some idea of how a stored-program digital computer works; not necessarily the electronics, rather the manner in which instructions can be kept in the machine's memory and successively executed.
b) An ability to put the solutions to problems into such explicit terms that a computer can "understand" them. [...]
c) Some knowledge of the most elementary computer techniques such as looping (performing a set of instructions repeatedly), the use of subroutines, and the use of indexed variables.
d) A little knowledge of common computer jargon -- "memory," "registers," "bits," "floating point," "overflow," "software." Most words not defined in the text are given brief definitions in the index at the close of each volume.
These four prerequisites can perhaps be summed up into athe single requirement that the reader should have already written and tested at least, say, four programs for at least one computer.
[...]
The material has been organized so that persons with no more than a knowledge of high-school algebra may read it, skimming briefly over the more mathematical portions; yet a reader who is more mathematically inclined will learn about many interesting mathematical techniques related to discrete mathematics.

(Any typos mine.) He later goes on to say that a good knowledge of calculus should be sufficient for the majority of the mathematics portions. (The ones he previously mentioned you could skim over.) APL (talk) 16:33, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

lexmark cartridge reset

Hi i have been searching for days on how to restet my lexmark No 33 and 31 ink cartridges with no joy can anyone please help its a lexmark P915 printer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mat30m (talk • contribs) 14:54, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

What exactly do you mean by "resetting" them? --saxsux (talk) 09:15, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Web Formatting with HTML or CSS?

I'm writing a story (the same one) for pseudo-publication online, and have run into a bit of an issue. I'm very knowledgeable and conscientious (Read: OCD) of formatting, and pay slightly rigorous attention to style guides. For example, for fully justified text, I generally only allow hyphenation of line breaks twice consecutively. All of this sounds needlessly trivial, except that I use OpenOffice.org which allows me to set most of these minor settings to occur automatically. However, for the "web", is it possible to set such niceties to occur automatically (via CSS or something?) or would I need to do it all manually? If it's not possible, is there some other open-source program or language or something that would allow me to? Because while I like being "correct" (and as a college student, such trivialities usually require me to be a perfectionist) it's just not worth it if I have to do it all manually. As an afterthought, are there any reputable style guides specifically for websites that are used in lieu of sophisticated software or editorial staff?

Deshi no Shi (talk) 18:39, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

If you could be more specific about which "niceties" you'd like to occur, I can try help you come of with the CSS to do those things. - SigmaEpsilon → ΣΕ

Automatic hyphenation, indentation, spacing control (double/single), kerning (though I doubt this is possible?), tabs (based on inches or relativity to the rest of the text), control of non-breaking characters (spaces, hyphens, etc.) Deshi no Shi (talk) 20:01, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

This is a very common problem with moving from print to web. For hyphenation - forget it for now. The web doesn't hyphenate. If you are concerned about it, you'll need to learn to program JavaScript for all popular web browsers and add hyphenation on the fly whenever text is loaded or the page is resized. Even then, you are assuming the person has JavaScript running - which many people opt to turn off. For justified text, it is possible with CSS, but not all browsers support it. Tabbing in inches is possible with CSS - but what the web browser considers to be an "inch" is a bit vague and rarely equal to an inch. Using "Ems" is far more likely to get something relative to the text. The main root of the problem is that you don't appear to realize that the text will layout differently for every person that views it. There may be 23 words on the first line of text when you view it on your computer. On mine, there may be 54. Your letters may be 0.13" wide. Mine may be 0.24" wide. The same goes for everything else. Your line spacing will be different than mine. Your kerning will be different than mine. Your entire font will be different than mine. It all boils down to the web being a "markup language". Basically, you are suggesting how the page should look. My web browser can accept the suggestions, ignore the suggestions, or treat the suggestions in an entirely different way than you expect. -- kainaw™ 21:26, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Hyphens can be done by inserting a soft hyphen, but not all web browsers support them (the normally reliable Firefox doesn't, for example). Sizes can be defined in terms of pixels or em-spaces. Kerning will be available when CSS 3 is released.[1] But kainaw is right - the web doesn't work like this. You can request that I display it your way, but I may decide to have a stupidly large font size, to ignore your colors in favor of high-contrast black-and-white, or I may be using a screen reader or lynx. Follow the reccomendations of the Web Accessibility Initiative and everyone will be happy. --h2g2bob (talk) 21:59, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Am I missing something? If you already use OOo, you could create PDF copies of your documents for the 'paper-like' feel. Of course, you would be assuming that the person has a pdf viewer/reader but you will have done something to help PDF proliferate. Kushal (talk) 03:28, 2 June 2008 (UTC)