Vendavo Posts Record 2009 Bookings and Profits

Year 2009 was a good year:

Vendavo Posts Record 2009 Bookings and Profits

Not only for Vendavo, but also for us, JetMinds.

How to monitor connection pool in SAP NetWeaver Java AS

Another interesting day today. And another experience with SAP NetWeaver Java application server. Our application (Vendavo of course) suffered with intermittent database connection problems in one of the customer environments. Like in many other cases, also in this case Vendavo is deployed to SAP NetWeaver Java stack.

In the application log files we found next exception stack trace from SAP NetWeaver:

Caused by: com.sap.engine.services.dbpool.exceptions.BaseSQLException: ResourceException in method ConnectionFactoryImpl.getConnection(): com.sap.engine.services.connector.exceptions.BaseResourceException: Cannot get connection for 60 seconds. Possible reasons: 1) Connections are cached within SystemThread(can be any server service or any code invoked within SystemThread in the SAP J2EE Engine), 2) The pool size of adapter "productionPool" is not enough according to the current load of the system or 3) The specified time to wait for connection is not enough according to the pool size and current load of the system. In case 1) the solution is to check for cached connections using the Connector Service list-conns command, in case 2) to increase the size of the pool and in case 3) to increase the time to wait for connection property. In case of application thread, there is an automatic mechanism which detects unclosed connections and unfinished transactions. at com.sap.engine.services.dbpool.cci.ConnectionFactoryImpl.getConnection(ConnectionFactoryImpl.java:59) at com.vendavo.core.omi.JDBCHelper.getConnection(JDBCHelper.java:267) ... 36 more

More details about this exception can be found at help.sap.com.

After we verified that Oracle parameters PROCESSES and SESSIONS are set to sufficient values we came to conclusion that problem is in NetWeaver database connection pool, where the limits are hit. And that the most probable cause of the problem is connection leak. Somewhere database connections are not properly closed.

I found that SAP NetWeaver Java App server contains very nice connection pool monitor in its Visual Administrator. Real-time chart displays number of used / free connections in the pool.

We found that after a particular business action is invoked, limit of connections in the pool is hit almost immediately. Next figure shows that pool does not have any more free connections. All 100 connections are used.

We were able to find the code where the connection was not closed properly pretty quickly and the fix was easy. Next picture shows the same bussiness operation after we applied the fix:

I really appreciate the idea having the real-time connection pool monitor in Visual Administrator.

Btw. if you ever wondered where the connection pool is configured (maximum connections, initial connections etc.), it's in the Additional tab of the given data source in the Visual Administrator:

Visual Administrator / Server / Services / JDBC Connector / Resources / Data Source

Local SMTP server for testing of email notifications

Testing of the email notifications - i.e. tests that business application is sending appropriate emails to right people is pretty boring but important part of the development of business applications. Developers are tend to underestimate this part of functionality.

Btw. although this piece of work is usually very simple, there's very often a funny story linked to it. I can tell you several funny stories how hundreds of real users accross the globe were spammed from development environment with purchase orders, invitation to auctions or requirements for approval. This happened at least once in every company I worked for ;-)

The best idea is to setup local SMTP server and use it instead of corporate one. And of course be careful to not allow the test emails to be sent to real users.

Recently my colleague @nemecpav showed me this ultra-simple application called Antix SMTP Server for Developers. This application is so simple, that I was even not able to find a way to configure for example a port where SMTP is listening. But at the end, why do would I need to change it?

And this application does the job perfectly. Zero configuration, just run it. And its free.

It's running in a try, listening on SMTP port and behaves like a folder where all outgoing emails are placed. It's a folder, so you can switch views in an explorer-like manner.

You can open the outgoing emails in the email client to verify the content, headers etc.

And finally - you do not need to worry that your test email will reach the real users :-)

Signs - one from Flinstone's Irish pub in Aarhus

Oresund Bridge - Denmark - Sweden

Pic from my recent trip to Denmark.

Oresund Bridge, connection between Denmark and south of Sweden:

Picture taken from plane just before landing in Copenhagen.

Things I hate about Evernote

First of all, Evernote is a great note-taking and note-syncing application and I am using it on daily basis. I use Evernote to keep track of my work, projects, as a personal knowledge base, as a to-do list. What I really appreciate is that all notes are automatically synced with server, so first of all, all my notes are backed up and secondly, I am able to access them not not only from the client app on my laptop, but also from anywhere in the world using web site and what's even cooler, from my windows mobile phone. And by the way, Evernote is free.I find Evernote very useful, period. But Evernote (at least  EvernoteWindows client) has some glitches I really hate. I will blog about them. Hopefully Evernote will fix them one day.

#1 - You cannot do a search directly in a note editor (opened as a separate window)

Evernote's help recommends using 'search box', which is application-wide search across all notes or notes from a selected notebook):

This is fine, but what I really miss is a search focused only on selected note. Typically I have a couple of note editors opened as separate windows, hence directly accessible from windows taskbar). And very often I want to search only in one of them.

There is no way to do it. Actions such as Find (Ctrl+F) or F3 (Search), that are available huge majority of text editors is not here!

Guys @ Evernote, please add Find/Search into note editort! Thanks.

Ferrari Racing Days 2009 - Marc Gené in Ferrari F430

Ferrari Racing Days 2009 (Brno circuit) - Marc Gené driving Ferrari F430 Scuderia :

Long time ago F1 was fun too...

Why MotoGP is much better fun than F1

While browsing YouTube I came across this video from the MotoGP race in Spain this June 2009...I can't help myself but this the best race action I've ever seen in my life - Rossi vs. Lorenzo, team mates, identical bikes, Lorenzo's home race. Last two laps. This video is HQ and with a great audio:

Publish routes recorded with GPSCycleComputer on Google Maps

Publishing of routes recorded with GPSCycleComputer on Google Maps is super-easy (via Honza Koutnik).

1) save the recorded route as KML file
2) make the file available from internet (remember its URL)
3) go to Google Maps, use URL as a search-term in Search field:

MTB training recorded with GPSCycleComputer (track of MTB Podkrkonossky maraton)


View Larger Map

[Fun] Pro všechny z PSO

Tohle mi jako vtípek poslal kamarád... Věnováno všem, kteří jsou nebo během své kariéry byli součástí divize zvané PSO (Professional Services Organization, alias konzultanti):

GPS Cyclo Computer v praxi

Příští víkend se jede MTB Podkrkonošský maraton, na který se (po loňské absenci) opět chystám. Včera jsme jeli trochu potrénovat a projet trať.

V kapse camel bagu jsem si nechal běžet můj windows mobile telefon (MDA Compact III) s puštenou freeware aplikací GPS Cyclo Computer . GPS Cyclo Computer ukládá během cesty údaje o aktuální pozici a nadmořské výšce. Tyto údaje je pak možné vyexportovat v několika formátech do souboru.

Ja jsem vyzkoušel export do KML souboru (XML) a následovný import do Google Earth. Výsledek byl nad očekávání dobrý - check it out:

včerejší 42 km trénink

Detail z trasy - Lužany

Další detail z trasy - Byšičky

WTA Tennis Experience in Prague

Today I went to see the final game of the women's tennis tournament held in Prague - ECM Prague Open 2009, part of the Sony Ericsson WTA (women's professional) tour. And it was really good fun! At the end of the day I felt like I really would like to start playing tennis again (I used to play years ago, as a rookie of course ;)

See some pics below. To visit the gallery, follow next link: Photo gallery Prague Open 2009.

Sony Ericsson WTA - Prague Open 2009

Francesca Schiavone

Sybille Bammer

Pat Cash

and more... ;-)

I like the WinDirStat treemap charts

WinDirStat (Windows Directory Statistics) is a free tool that uses treemapping method to visualize the content of the disk drive.

WinDirStat is a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool for Microsoft Windows (all current variants).

I like treemap charts. They combine art with practicability and usefulness...

Firefox 3.5 consumes 100% CPU

After few minutes running Mozilla Firefox 3.5 the firefox.exe process starts to consume cca 100% of one CPU. Closing Firefox application does not help. The process firefox.exe is still there and still consuming cca 100% CPU of my Thinkpad (i.e. Task Manager presents total 50% as it's dual core).

Anyone else having same trouble?

Interview with Vendavo founder (Focus.com)

Vendavo founder and executive VP of marketing and biz development - Jamie Rapperport - inteviewed by Focus.com:

10 Questions for Price Optimization Experts Vendavo

Topics: Vendavo, rationalizing pricing, how it relates to CRM and what price optimization and management software mean for sales reps.

Follow-up on Twitter problem

Recently I blogged about a problem I am having with accessing Twitter (see Problem with Twitter) while connected via O2 ADSL here in Prague. I tried to contact Twitter support using email and I also opened a case in the GetSatisfaction system. No feedback (except one guy , O2 customer too, replying that he is having the same issue ).

The problem is obvious - my IP (or better IP range where my IP belongs to) is banned by someone...But who?


Today I contacted O2 support and after three calls I finally ended up on a line with a guy who seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about the possible issues (familiar with IP bans, black lists etc.) and suggested me a workaround. He suggested me to request for a fixed IP address, paid-service provided by O2, and so my IP changes and will be in different IP range than the current.

Now O2 called me again that they found that my IP is indeed on a black lists on "some" servers, and they are going to investigate why.

Anyway, I am about to try the workaround with the fixed IP address and let's see if I can open (after several weeks) the Twitter home page ;-)

Please unblock the Twitter for me, I am not living in Iran nor in China ! ;-)

Another interesting fact is that three out of three O2 people I talked to today (working in O2 Internet ADSL support team), haven't heard about the Twitter. I do not say it's wrong or so, but it's interesting and a bit surprising ;-)

Btw. I also found that O2 offers training to corporate customers on how to use social networks like Twitter and Facebook, Webex, and Second life (see one2one) ;-)

UPDATE: The workaround with the Fixed IP adress does not help. Original IP address was 83.208.91.xx, the new one (fixed IP) is 83.208.22.xx. Still I am not able to open the Twitter home! Grrrr!

C:\Data>tracert twitter.com

Tracing route to twitter.com [168.143.162.100]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 3 ms 2 ms 192.168.2.1
2 8 ms 7 ms 8 ms 194.228.196.34
3 10 ms 9 ms 10 ms 88.103.203.1
4 10 ms 11 ms 9 ms 80.188.33.245
5 11 ms 10 ms 10 ms 194.228.190.2
6 11 ms 10 ms 10 ms Xe7-1-3-0-grtprana1.red.telefonica-wholesale.net.10.16.84.in-addr.arpa [84.16.10.37]
7 142 ms 17 ms 44 ms Xe10-3-0-0-grtfraix2.red.telefonica-wholesale.net [213.140.49.114]
8 17 ms 18 ms 17 ms xe3-0-0-0-grtfraix3.red.telefonica-wholesale.net [84.16.14.162]
9 18 ms 18 ms 17 ms VERIO-5-1-0-grtfraix3.red.telefonica-wholesale.net [213.140.53.242]
10 33 ms 34 ms 33 ms p64-2-2-0.r23.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.49]
11 115 ms 105 ms 116 ms as-0.r21.asbnva01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.158]
12 184 ms 186 ms 175 ms as-3.r20.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.167]
13 283 ms 211 ms * xe-1-3.r02.mlpsca01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.61]
14 * 176 ms 181 ms 129.250.24.202
15 323 ms 175 ms 176 ms 128.121.150.245
16 185 ms 181 ms 181 ms 128.121.146.181
17 203 ms 247 ms 214 ms 168.143.162.100

Problem with Twitter

For more than week I am not able to use the Twitter when I am connected to internet via O2 ADSL here in Prague. I am not alone - friend of mine Mnagas has completely the same problem.
Each time I try to open the Twitter home page in a browser it ends up with the "Connection Interrupted" or "Network Timeout" error.
I spent some time investigating this issue, and found next:

• it is not a problem of DNS, domain resolves to the correct IP
• it's not a problem of my machine (friend of mine has same problem, I also verified that from other computers at home I got the same results)
• I had a chance to test O2 ADSL connection outside of Prague and there it works fine!
  
• other Twitter pages like Twitter Status, Twitter Blog work fine
• BUT pages Twitter Home or Twitter/boruvek always return the error...WTH?!
  

What shall I do? Am I only a victim of anti-spam / anti-DoS or IP-ban activity from Twitter side? I must say I am bit lost :-) What would you say? Is it a problem of O2? Twitter? :-)

I am quite annoyed. So far I found that only way people to complain about Twitter issues is the GetSatisfaction, which I think is a great support tool and idea, but I do not expect anyone to care about a n issue having single vote only (my question).

As I said I am a bit annoyed about this since I kind of started to like the twitter ;-)

The workaround I found to solve the twitter "withdrawal" is to use the TwitterGadget (Twitter widget for GMail or iGoogle) (via @janecek).

All other desktop twitter client apps (such as twhirl or similar) are facing same connection-problem as described above.

Vendavo available on Salesforce AppExchange

Exciting news about Vendavo has been revealed last week: Vendavo Enterprise Pricing Suite Now Available on the Force.com AppExchange from Salesforce.com (source: news.yahoo.com). Vendavo Pricing Suite (also offered by SAP as SAP Price and Margin Management) is now deployable directly within a widespread SalesForce CRM.

As a Solution Architect I have been working together with JetMinds on Vendavo implementation projects in EMEA since the very beginning of Vendavo in Europe and I see a big potential here.

This is another big step forward for Vendavo, after a great 7.0 release last year. I hope that 2009 will be succesfull year for Vendavo, beating 2008 records results, despite the difficult times...

Twikini - Twitter klient pro Windows Mobile

Asi nejsem jediný majitel Windows Mobile zařízení který vidí, že Windows Mobile platforma je tvůrci mobilních aplikací v poslední době de facto odstavená na vedlejší kolej. Prioty jsou jinde. Z toho plyne, že kvalitních Windows Mobile aplikací není moc a navíc vázne jejich distribuce. Z těch aplikací, které existují, je spousta nepoužitelných a nedotažených.

To mohu demonstrovat na jednoduchém příkladu aplikace - klienta pro službu Twitter.

Pokud vám totiž nestačí přístup na mobilní web twitteru (např. Opera Mini i Opera Mobile fungují pěkně na Windows Mobile) a zatoužíte po mobilní aplikaci, která usnadňuje používání funkcí twitteru a integruje například vkládání obrázků, GPS souřadnic nebo funkci zkracování URL (tinyURL apod.) nemáte moc na vybranou.

Alespoň soudě podle toho na které aplikace jsem narazil já:

Do dneška jsem vyzkoušel:

• ceTwit
• TinyTwitter
  
• a několik dalších které nedosahovaly kvalit předchozích, případně nefungovaly vůbec
  

Nebudu se rozepisovat o detailech, ale obě aplikace měly vělké nedostatky a funkcí poskrovnu. Například funkci která umožňuje publikovat fotku z mobilního telefonu spolu s tweetem uměl TinyTwitter až nedávno.

Tento týden jsem narazil na nový twitter klient pro Windows Mobile - Twikini od společnosti Trinket Software.

Zatím jsem s ním velice spokojen:

• je rychlý a úsporný (napsaný v C++)
• integruje TwitPic
• integruje TinyURL
• příjemný user interface, různá barevná schemata
• a další vychytávky

Takže doporučuju. Stahujte z Twikini download.

Btw. můj twitter nick je @boruvek.