From merlyn at stonehenge.com  Wed Nov  1 07:39:16 2006
From: merlyn at stonehenge.com (Randal L. Schwartz)
Date: 01 Nov 2006 07:39:16 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] app_running status to perl
In-Reply-To: <6.2.5.6.2.20061031220527.04d74808@peterbenjamin.com>
References: <p06230906c16dc91b12f9@[192.168.1.100]>
	<6.2.5.6.2.20061031220527.04d74808@peterbenjamin.com>
Message-ID: <86u01jmb17.fsf@blue.stonehenge.com>

>>>>> "Peter" == Peter Benjamin <pete at peterbenjamin.com> writes:

Peter> At 07:49 PM 10/31/2006, David Heayn wrote:
>> I'm currently trying to check if firefox is running before I edit 
>> pref files with perl (mac 10).

Peter> This should work, and be portable as well.

Peter> my @so = `ps aux`;
Peter> my @firefox = grep( //, @so );

Did you mean to put something in those //?  Doesn't make sense otherwise.

-- 
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<merlyn at stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
Perl/Unix/security consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc.
See PerlTraining.Stonehenge.com for onsite and open-enrollment Perl training!

From merlyn at stonehenge.com  Wed Nov  1 07:41:04 2006
From: merlyn at stonehenge.com (Randal L. Schwartz)
Date: 01 Nov 2006 07:41:04 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] app_running status...
In-Reply-To: <6.2.5.6.2.20061031215913.04d74578@peterbenjamin.com>
References: <p06230907c16dcb3d92ef@[192.168.1.100]>
	<6.2.5.6.2.20061031215913.04d74578@peterbenjamin.com>
Message-ID: <86psc7may7.fsf@blue.stonehenge.com>

>>>>> "Peter" == Peter Benjamin <pete at peterbenjamin.com> writes:

Peter> Otherwise, pipe it to a temp file.

There is nothing to be gained, and a lot to be lost, from such a maneuver.

Please don't suggest suboptimal strategies.

-- 
Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095
<merlyn at stonehenge.com> <URL:http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/>
Perl/Unix/security consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc.
See PerlTraining.Stonehenge.com for onsite and open-enrollment Perl training!

From pete at peterbenjamin.com  Wed Nov  1 10:31:02 2006
From: pete at peterbenjamin.com (Peter Benjamin)
Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2006 10:31:02 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] app_running status...
In-Reply-To: <86psc7may7.fsf@blue.stonehenge.com>
References: <p06230907c16dcb3d92ef@[192.168.1.100]>
	<6.2.5.6.2.20061031215913.04d74578@peterbenjamin.com>
	<86psc7may7.fsf@blue.stonehenge.com>
Message-ID: <6.2.5.6.2.20061101101048.047fd398@peterbenjamin.com>

Such a friendly list this morning.
A reply is called for that explains
the approached used in my first reply.

At 07:41 AM 11/1/2006, Randal L. Schwartz wrote:
>Please don't suggest suboptimal strategies.

The question of using 'system', to me, indicated the poster
was not familiar with perl's ability to invoke commands, and
a complete review of techniques for capturing stdout was a
benefit to not just the poster, but all mungers, so it had
to be included to be comprehensive.

A comprehensive overview (a brief one as perl completely documents
these methods) was, imo, called for, without giving away the
entire algorithm, in order for the poster to have some work
to do themselves.

As far as providing the poster with a single highly optimal
solution, I have to ask why on earth is it necessary to check
if firefox is running?  That is just so odd, that before giving
the 'best' solution, one would have to know the project's criteria,
as it seems a different approach might be more optimal.  So, why
even attempt to suggest an optimal approach in that situation.

As far the most optimal solution, do it in C where there are
OS library functions one can call, instead of invoking perl's
ability to invoke outside processes, which would cut the CPU 
cycles in half for the task.


>>>>>> "Peter" == Peter Benjamin <pete at peterbenjamin.com> writes:
>
>Peter> Otherwise, pipe it to a temp file.
>
>There is nothing to be gained, and a lot to be lost, from such a maneuver.

For a beginning perl programmer who needs to see the actual data in
order to fix bugs in the code, having an actual date time stamped
file to view, especially of messy 'ps aux', which can be hundreds of
lines, including other matching lines that should be discarded, like
if someone is grepping 'firefox' at the time the perl runs...

In a lightly loaded computer, there is so little to be lost...
where programmer time has become more valuable than writing
efficient code (something I still can not break my habit for
doing).

In some situations such an audit trail method is a firm requirement, 
not necessarily in this situation, so it is a valuable technique.

But most compelling is a subsequent asynchronous process
needing access to the 'identical' snapshot for further processing.



From pete at peterbenjamin.com  Wed Nov  1 10:10:41 2006
From: pete at peterbenjamin.com (Peter Benjamin)
Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2006 10:10:41 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] app_running status to perl
In-Reply-To: <86u01jmb17.fsf@blue.stonehenge.com>
References: <p06230906c16dc91b12f9@[192.168.1.100]>
	<6.2.5.6.2.20061031220527.04d74808@peterbenjamin.com>
	<86u01jmb17.fsf@blue.stonehenge.com>
Message-ID: <6.2.5.6.2.20061101100819.04f96ee8@peterbenjamin.com>

At 07:39 AM 11/1/2006, Randal L. Schwartz wrote:
>Peter> my @so = `ps aux`;
>Peter> my @firefox = grep( //, @so );
>
>Did you mean to put something in those //?  Doesn't make sense otherwise.

lol.  And the "if(scalar(@firefox)>0){foreach(@firefox){if(/???/){do_something)}}
but I thought I would leave something to the poster to figure out.




From lapm at veggiechinese.net  Wed Nov  1 14:41:21 2006
From: lapm at veggiechinese.net (William Yardley)
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 14:41:21 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] app_running status...
In-Reply-To: <86psc7may7.fsf@blue.stonehenge.com>
References: <p06230907c16dcb3d92ef@[192.168.1.100]>
	<6.2.5.6.2.20061031215913.04d74578@peterbenjamin.com>
	<86psc7may7.fsf@blue.stonehenge.com>
Message-ID: <20061101224121.GA19976@mitch.veggiechinese.net>

On Wed, Nov 01, 2006 at 07:41:04AM -0800, Randal L. Schwartz wrote:
> Peter Benjamin <pete at peterbenjamin.com> writes:

> > Otherwise, pipe it to a temp file.
 
> There is nothing to be gained, and a lot to be lost, from such a maneuver.
> 
> Please don't suggest suboptimal strategies.

I would suggest plonking Mr. Benjamin before you waste more time
responding.

w


From davidmailinglist at cloudgraphics.com  Wed Nov  1 19:27:26 2006
From: davidmailinglist at cloudgraphics.com (David Heayn)
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 19:27:26 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] app_running status...
In-Reply-To: <p06230907c16dcb3d92ef@[192.168.1.100]>
References: <p06230907c16dcb3d92ef@[192.168.1.100]>
Message-ID: <p06230902c16f1485bd35@[192.168.1.101]>

I don't have to use Applescript as a shell command.

>system("osascript -e 'tell app \"System Events\" to count processes
>whose name is \"firefox-bin\"'")

I'm only using a not so portable line because it's the closest to a 
running function I have yet. I'm merely looking for insight using an 
outside scripting language in perl, or working with piping shell 
outputs to a variable.


David Heayn * http://www.cloudgraphics.com * (213)925.3283

From davidmailinglist at cloudgraphics.com  Mon Nov  6 06:33:00 2006
From: davidmailinglist at cloudgraphics.com (David Heayn)
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2006 06:33:00 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] app_running status...and the answer is!
In-Reply-To: <6.2.5.6.2.20061101101048.047fd398@peterbenjamin.com>
References: <p06230907c16dcb3d92ef@[192.168.1.100]>
	<6.2.5.6.2.20061031215913.04d74578@peterbenjamin.com>
	<86psc7may7.fsf@blue.stonehenge.com>
	<6.2.5.6.2.20061101101048.047fd398@peterbenjamin.com>
Message-ID: <p06230902c174b4b83b40@[192.168.1.100]>

>
>A comprehensive overview (a brief one as perl completely documents
>these methods) was, imo, called for, without giving away the
>entire algorithm, in order for the poster to have some work
>to do themselves.

Rightly so. I almost gave up on my own thread because I was looking 
for a subject line as I've posted. I know the perl people tend to be 
more guru than the raging C# or javascript crowd and there's always 
insight here. (I apologize for the delay, I was away on business.)

I'm clutching my knuckles as if they can't be bloodied. A few books 
gave me some insight into my horrendous assumption. Many thanks to 
the camel book, and the little camel book.


Filehandles worked


open(COMMAND, "ps -U user |") or die "Can't run program: $!\n";
while(<COMMAND>) {
     $shell_output .= $_;
}
close(COMMAND);

	unless ($shell_output =~ /firefox/)
[snip]


I got ridiculous and thought perl would handle arrogance.




>As far the most optimal solution, do it in C where there are
>OS library functions one can call, instead of invoking perl's
>ability to invoke outside processes, which would cut the CPU
>cycles in half for the task.

I'm not really there yet. The final script checks if firefox is 
running, does a quick cookie file edit, then exits. I realize there 
is a cookie manager in ff. However, I need any and all web sites to 
set cookies while browsing (to prevent manual intervention). A daily 
and nightly cleanup then happens, only if ff isn't in use.

I learned some important concepts.

David Heayn * http://www.cloudgraphics.com * (213)925.3283

From Todd.Cranston-Cuebas at Ticketmaster.com  Tue Nov  7 12:48:27 2006
From: Todd.Cranston-Cuebas at Ticketmaster.com (Todd Cranston-Cuebas)
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2006 12:48:27 -0800 
Subject: [LA.pm] LA.pm Tech Talk: 11-28-06: Peter Scott: Talking to Managers
Message-ID: <71D28C8451BFD5119B2B00508BE26E640D403F12@pasmail3.office.tmcs>

After receiving rave reviews from the crowds at the Pittsburgh Perl
Workshop, we're pleased to present a repeat performance of...

  Peter Scott's

   Talking to Managers 
Plan to stay afterward to get a bite in a local restaurant. 

A somewhat whimsical yet practical look at how to bridge the chasm that
separates geeks from managers. What gets in our way of promoting Perl to the
suits, and what can we do about it? 

Info about the presenter:

Peter Scott is the author of Perl Medic
<http://pghpw.org/schedule/talking_to_managers.html> and Perl Debugged. He
has worked in software development since 1981 and with Perl since 1992. A
graduate of Cambridge University, he runs a business teaching Perl and
designing enterprise infrastructures, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as
a major client. He has taught at OSCON, YAPC, and on the Perl Whirl.

Date / Time :
  Tuesday, November 28, 2006; 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m
 Peter has graciously offered to give this presentation during a one-night
stop-over in lovely LA,
so please try your best to arrive on time for this talk. 

Location:
Ticketmaster Corporate Headquarters
8800 W. Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Practical information you should know....

Please arrive a few minutes early if you can. I realize that traffic can be
difficult in LA but we're going to start as close to 7:00 p.m. as possible.
Ticketmaster is located on the southeast corner of Sunset Blvd. and Palm
Avenue. At night, it is hard to see the 8800 number on our red brick
building so be careful you don't drive past. Parking is off of Palm Avenue.
Please see the map link below for our location. When you arrive, please pull
into our parking structure below our building unless you like getting
parking tickets ;)  Please proceed to the guard's desk and a Ticketmaster
representative will bring you to a conference room for this event. 

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q
<http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=8800+w.+sunset+blvd.+west+hollywood,
+ca&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=34.092934,-118.380542&spn=0.025482,0.054245>
&hl=en&q=8800+w.+sunset+blvd.+west+hollywood,+ca&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=34.092934,-
118.380542&spn=0.025482,0.054245

RSVP Please

Finally, if you plan to attend, please RSVP to the link below. It is very
helpful for us to know how many people will arrive so we can make the
necessary plans.

 <http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/tcc at ticketmaster.com/techtalk-112806>
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/tcc at ticketmaster.com/techtalk-112806   

If you have any other questions, you can contact me directly.

Todd Cranston-Cuebas
310-360-2436
 <mailto:tcc at ticketmaster.com> tcc at ticketmaster.com

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From lapm at veggiechinese.net  Tue Nov 21 18:07:58 2006
From: lapm at veggiechinese.net (William Yardley)
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:07:58 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] more PG jobs
Message-ID: <20061122020758.GB25914@mitch.veggiechinese.net>

Don't reply to me!! See reply address below.

We have some more jobs open in our tech group (all at our offices in
Westwood). Also, we're usually looking for good perl programmers, so
send your r?sum? to our jobs address even if you don't see anything
you're qualified for below or at:
 http://www.pricegrabber.com/about.php/about=jobs

Web Applications Engineering Manager
====================================

 Our systems are the core of the PriceGrabber.com enterprise - we build
 the engine that drives a great user interface and experience!  Our
 success is based on hiring talented people and we are seeking a full
 time Web Applications Engineering Manager to help us develop innovative
 web applications running on a Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP.  The Web
 Applications Engineering Manager will report to the VP of Technology
 and lead the Web Development Team.
 
 Responsibilities:
 * Leading the design and timely implementation of technical projects.
 * Improving the reusability and modularity of the web applications code
   base.
 * Enforce best software engineering processes and practices.
 * Supervising, mentoring, and participating in career development of the
   engineering team.
 * Recruiting new talent as needed.

 Required Skills:
 * Proven experience leading a team of software engineers.
 * Strong technical background in database driven, web-based applications
   running on open source platforms.
 * Knowledge of Perl/PHP, SQL, CSS and DHTML a plus.
 * Ability to handle multiple competing priorities in a fast-paced
   environment.
 * Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

 To express interest in this position, please send resume to
 jobs at pricegrabber.com and write "Web Applications Engineering Manager" in
 the subject line.

Configuration/Release Engineer
==============================

 We are seeking a full-time software engineer to work on a framework to
 release and test software written in Perl and PHP, operating in a
 Linux, Apache, and MySQL environment.
 
 Responsibilities:
 
 * Manage the weekly release process with the ability to make minor
   daily updates.
 * Manage the platform which will run functional, regression,
   performance, load and stress tests.
 
 Qualifications:
 * 3+ years experience in software engineering, test engineering and/or
   configuration management.
 * Solid experience with software configuration management systems such 
   as CVS or Subversion.
 * Solid experience writing and maintaining test automation scripts.
 * Good knowledge of relational databases and Perl.
 * Knowledge of PHP a plus.
 * Ability to work in a Linux shell environment.
 * Ability to work collaboratively in a shared code environment.
 * Good communication skills.
 * BS in Computer Science or related field a plus.
 
 To express interest in this position, please send resume to
 jobs at pricegrabber.com and write "Configuration/Release Engineer" in the
 subject line.

Quality Assurance Engineer
==========================

 We are seeking a full-time Quality Assurance engineer to test software
 written in Perl and PHP, operating in a Linux, Apache, and MySQL
 environment. This person would be responsible for designing, building
 and maintaining a platform to run functional, regression, performance,
 load and stress tests.

 Qualifications:
 * 1 - 3 years experience in software engineering, test engineering
   and/or configuration management.
 * Experience with software configuration management systems such as
   CVS or Subversion.
 * Experience writing and maintaining test automation scripts.
 * Good knowledge of relational databases and Perl.
 * Knowledge of PHP and Javascript a plus.
 * Ability to work in a Linux shell environment.
 * Ability to work collaboratively in a shared code environment.
 * Good communication skills.
 * BS in Computer Science or related field a plus.

 To express interest in this position, please send resume to
 jobs at pricegrabber.com and write "Quality Assurance Engineer" in the subject
 line.

General info...

PriceGrabber.com, an Experian company, is a leading online comparison
shopping service that helps over 21.2 million consumers quickly and
effectively find the products they are seeking and provides research,
services, sellers, and prices prior to making a purchase decision.

PriceGrabber.com, a rapidly growing, highly profitable, Internet company
founded in 1999, was recently named the 5th fastest growing technology
company nationwide by the Deloitte Fast 500 and has received numerous
other industry awards.


From Todd.Cranston-Cuebas at Ticketmaster.com  Mon Nov 27 10:00:44 2006
From: Todd.Cranston-Cuebas at Ticketmaster.com (Todd Cranston-Cuebas)
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 10:00:44 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] Reminder: LA.pm Tech Talk: 11-28-06: Peter Scott: Talking	
	to Managers
Message-ID: <71D28C8451BFD5119B2B00508BE26E640D40405E@pasmail3.office.tmcs>

Just a quick reminder that Peter Scott will be presenting tomorrow evening.
If you haven't already RSVP'd, I would appreciate it if you would click the
link below to do so. It really helps with planning ;)

Thanks!
 
Todd


  _____  

From: losangeles-pm-bounces+tcc=ticketmaster.com at pm.org
[mailto:losangeles-pm-bounces+tcc=ticketmaster.com at pm.org] On Behalf Of Todd
Cranston-Cuebas
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 12:48 PM
To: losangeles-pm at pm.org
Subject: [LA.pm] LA.pm Tech Talk: 11-28-06: Peter Scott: Talking to Managers
Importance: High


After receiving rave reviews from the crowds at the Pittsburgh Perl
Workshop, we're pleased to present a repeat performance of...

  Peter Scott's

   Talking to Managers 
Plan to stay afterward to get a bite in a local restaurant. 

A somewhat whimsical yet practical look at how to bridge the chasm that
separates geeks from managers. What gets in our way of promoting Perl to the
suits, and what can we do about it? 

Info about the presenter:

Peter Scott is the author of Perl Medic
<http://pghpw.org/schedule/talking_to_managers.html> and Perl Debugged. He
has worked in software development since 1981 and with Perl since 1992. A
graduate of Cambridge University, he runs a business teaching Perl and
designing enterprise infrastructures, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as
a major client. He has taught at OSCON, YAPC, and on the Perl Whirl.

Date / Time :
  Tuesday, November 28, 2006; 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m
 Peter has graciously offered to give this presentation during a one-night
stop-over in lovely LA,
so please try your best to arrive on time for this talk. 

Location:
Ticketmaster Corporate Headquarters
8800 W. Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Practical information you should know....

Please arrive a few minutes early if you can. I realize that traffic can be
difficult in LA but we're going to start as close to 7:00 p.m. as possible.
Ticketmaster is located on the southeast corner of Sunset Blvd. and Palm
Avenue. At night, it is hard to see the 8800 number on our red brick
building so be careful you don't drive past. Parking is off of Palm Avenue.
Please see the map link below for our location. When you arrive, please pull
into our parking structure below our building unless you like getting
parking tickets ;)  Please proceed to the guard's desk and a Ticketmaster
representative will bring you to a conference room for this event. 

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q
<http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=8800+w.+sunset+blvd.+west+hollywood,
+ca&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=34.092934,-118.380542&spn=0.025482,0.054245>
&hl=en&q=8800+w.+sunset+blvd.+west+hollywood,+ca&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=34.092934,-
118.380542&spn=0.025482,0.054245

RSVP Please

Finally, if you plan to attend, please RSVP to the link below. It is very
helpful for us to know how many people will arrive so we can make the
necessary plans.

 <http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/tcc at ticketmaster.com/techtalk-112806>
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/tcc at ticketmaster.com/techtalk-112806   

If you have any other questions, you can contact me directly.

Todd Cranston-Cuebas
310-360-2436
 <mailto:tcc at ticketmaster.com> tcc at ticketmaster.com

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From rspier at pobox.com  Tue Nov 28 23:57:35 2006
From: rspier at pobox.com (Robert Spier)
Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:57:35 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] dinner with brian d foy
Message-ID: <8764cyit1s.wl_rs@pobox.com>



brian d foy (http://www252.pair.com/comdog/) will be in town on
Monday, December 18th...  lets do dinner!  (We had dinner with him
last year too.)

Please RSVP to me if you think you'd be attending so we can size the
place appropriately.

Location TBD, but likely to be in the Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena area,
as brian is based in Pasadena on this trip.

-R

From rspier at pobox.com  Thu Nov 30 22:45:59 2006
From: rspier at pobox.com (Robert Spier)
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 22:45:59 -0800
Subject: [LA.pm] Todd taking the reins
Message-ID: <87ac28gllk.wl_rs@pobox.com>


FYI-

I've handed over the official reins of the LA.pm to Todd
Cranston-Cuebas.  He's been organizing the technical meetings for the
past year, and has been involved in the group for much longer.

Todd is very interested in the future of Perl in the Los Angeles area.
He's done a great job organizing the tech talks this year.

I'm handing things over because I haven't had the time in the past few
months to organize things properly.  Since I couldn't give it the
attention and energy it deserved, I felt it was best to give it to
someone who could.

Let Todd or I know if you have any questions.

-R