Re: AMATEUR PROGRAMMER NEEDS HELP WITH SERIALIZATION - C# Discussion Boards

Re: AMATEUR PROGRAMMER NEEDS HELP WITH SERIALIZATION

12-Jun-08 12:13

Hey Tom!
Sure my 32 bit stuff is fine. Just like a Model T Ford. Sooner or later I will get beaten if I don't keep up.
By the way, it ain't a "wonder program". It's the result of many years of very hard work.
I read the King's English just fine but words like "extensibility" and "com object" are just jargon to me...
If I were to say "Quitters stretching out with a big ML should be included in your exotics" is my jargon and may not mean a thing to you.
The difference is -- I know when to use my jargon and when not to.
When the title of the post has the word "amateur" in it - it might mean that someone doesn't understand the jargon.
Of course, it is my choice whether to continue with C# or not. I was hoping for some help. I didn't get it.
All I did was get chastised.
Not one person explained to me why a 27mb file should become over 400mb. Not one.
Oh, if you're wondering about my "wonder program" you can find it on TVG.COM under "TVG PICKS\Free Handicapping Info".
So, C# and Bill Gates can go to the same place.

I'll re-write in c++ much as I hate it.
bigchump

carbon_golem12-Jun-08 11:31

carbon_golem

12-Jun-08 11:31

bigchump wrote:

Going wrong? I don't think so.

Going wrong with the C#. Nobody is disputing the performance of your other program. Sheesh.

bigchump wrote:
I never liked c++ and hate to use it but I'm becoming desperate and need some advice in the King's ENGLISH I can understand.

Granted the link I sent you is a mildly technical post, but I think it's the direction you should take. I suggest reading through it again and try to make some sense of it. I don't think there's an easier answer with the performance you want. I appreciate your plight here, but you'll have to take the bull by the horns and make a better attempt at learning how to use the language. If you don't have reference material, I highly suggest getting CLR via C# by Jeffrey Richter, and Programming Visual C# 2005: The Language by Donis Marshall.

If you posted the code that's loading the data from the binary file, it may be useful.

Scott P

“It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.”
-Edsger Dijkstra

bigchump12-Jun-08 12:31

Re: AMATEUR PROGRAMMER NEEDS HELP WITH SERIALIZATION

12-Jun-08 12:31

Hi Carbon:
"Going wrong with the C#. Nobody is disputing the performance of your other program. Sheesh."

Brother, I think you're missing the point. When should a 32 bit app outperform a 64????????

Somethings gotta be wrong somewhere. Maybe my head's screwed on sideways. That's a possibility I don't discount.
I PORTED ALL MY APPS TO C# AND ONLY ONE IS CAUSING THIS MISERY.
When I say all, I mean over 14 different apps and only one doesn't work properly.
Even the one with problems works OK just EXTREMELY SLOW. But slow is a killer in my business.
What I need is a way to read/write structs/classes to file without the MAJOR OVERHEAD.

sorry if I sounded hostile - I just need some help without any wisecracks..
bigchump

bigchump12-Jun-08 12:53

Re: AMATEUR PROGRAMMER NEEDS HELP WITH SERIALIZATION

12-Jun-08 12:53

"If you posted the code that's loading the data from the binary file, it may be useful."
Here's the code but the problem is not loading data but the SIZE of the file that is created.

public void DeSerializeNow()
{
header c1=new header(); //change to header - horse - results
horse[] c2=new horse[29];
Stream s=File.Open(@"C:\baduga\manure.tmp",FileMode.Open);
BinaryFormatter b=new BinaryFormatter();
while(true)
{
try
{
c1=(header)b.Deserialize(s);
label1.Text+=c1.track+" "+c1.poly+" "+c1.entries+" "+c1.par2f+" "+c1.par4f+" "+c1.par6f+" "+c1.parspeed+"\n";
for(int y=0;y<c1.entries;y++)
{
c2[y]=(horse)b.Deserialize(s);
label1.Text+=c2[y].post+",";
}
label1.Text+="\n";
}
catch
{
s.Close();
break;
}
}
}
Note the label stuff is just for debugging - it ain't used in real life...
thanx
bigchump

Michael Schubert12-Jun-08 20:47

Michael Schubert

12-Jun-08 20:47

bigchump wrote:
run about 3000 "if" statements

Are they all in one function? Could you post a code snippet with 10-20 of these statements?

Re: AMATEUR PROGRAMMER NEEDS HELP WITH SERIALIZATION

#realJSOP12-Jun-08 10:52

#realJSOP

12-Jun-08 10:52

If you're not an expert after 20 years of doing it, you should hire someone.

"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

Re: AMATEUR PROGRAMMER NEEDS HELP WITH SERIALIZATION

bigchump12-Jun-08 12:37

Re: AMATEUR PROGRAMMER NEEDS HELP WITH SERIALIZATION

12-Jun-08 12:37

OK John,
If you can make my 64bit C# app run faster than my c++ 32 bit one you can write your own ticket.
LITERALLY--
bichump

Simon P Stevens12-Jun-08 22:01

Simon P Stevens

12-Jun-08 22:01

Hi,

I've read the rest of this thread, and hopefully I understand what your problem is. As far as I can tell, your main problem is the size of the file created by your program. (Please correct me if I am wrong)

Firstly, I suspect you are using XML serialization, this will likely explain the size. Can you post the code you use to create the file, and a small sample (just a few lines) from an output file so I can take a look at what's going on.

If my guess is correct, and you are using XML serialization, you might consider using binary serialization instead. This will almost certainly drastically reduce the size of the saved file. If you're not sure how to do this, post your code and I'll point out what needs to be changed.

Simon

Simon

Re: AMATEUR PROGRAMMER NEEDS HELP WITH SERIALIZATION

bigchump13-Jun-08 5:33

Re: AMATEUR PROGRAMMER NEEDS HELP WITH SERIALIZATION

13-Jun-08 5:33

Hi Simon!
Yes, the file size is at least 16x larger than it should be!
I am using binary serialization as far as I know.
I already tried using char arrays (like the original app) instead of strings.
That doesn't help at all.
Here's the start of the code that writes the first small class:
public void SerializeNow()
{
header c=new header();
Stream s=File.Open(@"C:\baduga\manure.tmp",FileMode.Append);
BinaryFormatter b=new BinaryFormatter();
FileStream hread=new FileStream(@"c:\baduga\races.txt",FileMode.Open); //read races.txt
StreamReader hread1=new StreamReader(hread);
string temp;
string[] t=new string[1435];
int a=0,x=0,y;
while((temp=hread1.ReadLine())!=null)
{
if(temp.StartsWith("JJGENDRACE"))
{
c.entries=a;
b.Serialize(s,c);
for(y=0;y<c.entries;y++)>
{
b.Serialize(s,h[y]);
}
a=x=0;
}
else
{
t[x]=temp;
if(t[x]=="") t[x]="0";
x++;
if(x==1435)
{
if(a==0)
{
c.track=t[0];
c.date=t[1];
c.race=t[2];
c.distance=int.Parse(t[5].Trim('-'));
c.distanceD=c.distance/220;
c.surface=t[6];
c.type=t[8];
c.sex=t[9];
c.formtype=t[10];
c.purse=int.Parse(t[11]);
c.purseD=c.purse/5000;
if(c.purseD>50) c.purseD=50;
c.claimprice=int.Parse(t[12]);
c.trackrecord=float.Parse(t[14]);
c.simulT=t[20];
c.simulR=t[21];
c.breed=t[22];
c.poly=t[24];
c.par2f=int.Parse(t[213]);
c.par4f=int.Parse(t[214]);
c.par6f=int.Parse(t[215]);
c.parspeed=int.Parse(t[216]);
c.parLf=int.Parse(t[217]);
}

Simon P Stevens15-Jun-08 23:34

Simon P Stevens

15-Jun-08 23:34

With serialzation, all public members of the object are serialized. Is this what you want? If you have some members you don't want to be serialized you can mark them with attributes to prevent this.

Check that your problem is not with your code logic. Step through carefully and check that you aren't accidently serializing more than you meant too. (Like the same object twice).

If you switch to xml serialization you can look at the data and check that only the correct stuff is there. Then once your happy with the data being outputed, switch back to binary again.

Comments on the code (Numbers indicate line in code I'm talking about):
1) The for loop here is incomplete. I'm assuming you just want to loop through all objects in the array h, buy maybe more code is missing.
2) the variable a is never assigned a value other than 0. What is it's purpose?
3) For every line read in that starts with JJGENDRACE you are serializing the whole of the array h. I don't know whats in this array as you haven't included it's defination or population code, but why are you serializing the same array every time? This will be a huge waste of space if you are just serializing the same data over and over again.

General comment: The variable names c, s, b, t, a, x and y are not very useful. If you used more descriptive veriable names that would help other people to read your code.

        public void SerializeNow()
        {
            header c = new header();
            Stream s = File.Open(@"C:\baduga\manure.tmp", FileMode.Append);
            BinaryFormatter b = new BinaryFormatter();
            FileStream hread = new FileStream(@"c:\baduga\races.txt", FileMode.Open); //read races.txt
            StreamReader hread1 = new StreamReader(hread);
            string temp;
            string[] t = new string[1435];
            int a = 0, x = 0, y;
            while ((temp = hread1.ReadLine()) != null)
            {
                if (temp.StartsWith("JJGENDRACE"))
                {
2)                  c.entries = a;
                    b.Serialize(s, c);
1)                  for (y = 0; y
                    {
3)                      b.Serialize(s, h[y]);
                    }
                    a = x = 0;
                }
                else
                {
                    t[x] = temp;
                    if (t[x] == "")
                        t[x] = "0";
                    x++;
                    if (x == 1435)
                    {
                        if (a == 0)
                        {
                            c.track = t[0];
                            c.date = t[1];
                            c.race = t[2];
                            c.distance = int.Parse(t[5].Trim('-'));
                            c.distanceD = c.distance / 220;
                            c.surface = t[6];
                            c.type = t[8];
                            c.sex = t[9];
                            c.formtype = t[10];
                            c.purse = int.Parse(t[11]);
                            c.purseD = c.purse / 5000;
                            if (c.purseD > 50)
                                c.purseD = 50;
                            c.claimprice = int.Parse(t[12]);
                            c.trackrecord = float.Parse(t[14]);
                            c.simulT = t[20];
                            c.simulR = t[21];
                            c.breed = t[22];
                            c.poly = t[24];
                            c.par2f = int.Parse(t[213]);
                            c.par4f = int.Parse(t[214]);
                            c.par6f = int.Parse(t[215]);
                            c.parspeed = int.Parse(t[216]);
                            c.parLf = int.Parse(t[217]);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }

Simon

Webservice question

johland12-Jun-08 5:42

12-Jun-08 5:42

For some reason it seems that I've got difficulties to understand the logic of the web service:

I need that a webpage or an application on client side will validate user's details (username, password). Validation is through db that seats on a server application. I want that the procedure will be:
calling a validation method through web service that will use the server's db. I understand how to connect the client or the website to the web service but don't understand how the web service connects to the server to use his db (or to call a function on the server that will do that).

Can someone help please?

thanks
y

Christian Graus12-Jun-08 6:05

12-Jun-08 6:05

IF it's a webpage, use AJAX, you can't call a webservice from the client. Unless you want to do it from the server, of course.

The webservice uses a standard mechanism to make requests via HTTP. It's all hidden from you, that's kind of the point.

Christian Graus

Please read this if you don't understand the answer I've given you

"also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )

johland12-Jun-08 6:37

12-Jun-08 6:37

thanks Christian,
but to sharpen my misunderstanding :
if i want to use a function that on my server with an application that seats in the client computer :
1.i need a webrefference to the webservice in my client's application to create an instance of it right?
2. the webservice shld have a method that invokes method on the server

so how do i connect to the method on the server with the webservice (using a dll?)

sorry if i'm all upside down ...

Christian Graus12-Jun-08 6:40

12-Jun-08 6:40

johland wrote:
need a webrefference to the webservice in my client's application to create an instance of it right?

Correct.

johland wrote:
the webservice shld have a method that invokes method on the server

Well, every method that is marked as such in the webservice, invokes a method on the server. Automatically. .NET hides those details from you, so you call the method and create class instances as if they were local, and the framework handles the job of making calls to the webservice and getting the result. The only difference is you need to anticipate exceptions that can occur if the framework cannot find the webservice to call.

Christian Graus12-Jun-08 6:36

12-Jun-08 6:36

If you don't like my answer, ask more questions so I understand where the problem is.

johland12-Jun-08 7:09

12-Jun-08 7:09

i think my first problem is phrasing Smile | :)

do these steps are right?

1.i want to use a method that seats on my server with another application
2.so i'm creating a webservice that call that method
this webservice will be part of the server solution so it will have access to the server db.
3.i want the client app to use this webservice so i add webreference to the client app and create instance of it and use its methods.

did i get it?

.

Christian Graus12-Jun-08 7:26

12-Jun-08 7:26

I was commenting on how my response got a 1/bad answer vote. If it wasn't you, then fair enough, but it seemed likely to me that it was.

Yes, you got it right. The framework handles all the messy stuff for you.

johland12-Jun-08 10:02

How to find some value in HashTable ?

12-Jun-08 10:02

sorry...didnt even noticed this feature exsits

Yanshof12-Jun-08 5:08

Yanshof

12-Jun-08 5:08

I using System.Collections.HashTable to keep some information about my database.
The information that i collect in my HashTable is -
1. string ( as the key )
2. other string ( as the value )

my problem is that i want to scan the HashTable and when the value string is equal to some parameter i want to stop my scan and check the string key value.

How can i do it ?

Thanks for the help.

Re: How to find some value in HashTable ?

Christian Graus12-Jun-08 5:11

Re: How to find some value in HashTable ?

12-Jun-08 5:11

By iterating over the Keys collection.

Brady Kelly12-Jun-08 5:38

Brady Kelly

12-Jun-08 5:38

You can iterate the keys collection, and then retrieve and check the value for each key, reacting when you find your sought after value.

Write to PDF file

Verghese12-Jun-08 5:03

Verghese

12-Jun-08 5:03

Hi friends........I've created a database application using C# and MS-Access........& the database part is working fine.........now is it possible to print the report directly to a PDF file from an Access database instead of using Crystal Report..........pls reply back asap..........THANKS Confused | :confused:

Thanks

Re: Write to PDF file

Christian Graus12-Jun-08 5:10