Is it possible to know if automated tools are used - jboss

Just wanted to know if it is possible to know from server that a webserver like Jboss is being accessd by a human being or by a automated tool from a remote system.

This is a huge question that many people have been trying to solve for years, and the problem is not specific to JBoss.
If the automated tool is "good intentioned" it would usually provide a distinctive "User-Agent" header in its requests, by which one easily knows "who's asking". But if the automated tool is trying to pretend to be a human, things can get complicated. That's why CAPTCHA was invented, for example (see a discussion here).
Usually this type of question is considered "not constructive" here, so you'd need to be more specific about your situation.
Please also note that JBoss is more of an "application server" than "webserver".

Related

org.apache.coyote.USE_CUSTOM_STATUS_MSG_IN_HEADER in Tomcat9

I'm upgrading from Tomcat8 to Tomcat9 and sendError does not pass the custom error message that I want to share with the consumer.
I read that sendError and org.apache.coyote.USE_CUSTOM_STATUS_MSG_IN_HEADER property is deprecated since Tomcat 8.5 but it seems like it works in Tomcat9 for some people.
Once this said then my main question is ... what is then the best way for a permanent solution on sending error messages when responding with error status code?
If the answer is that sendError is still compatible with Tomcat9 then my question is where this org.apache.coyote.USE_CUSTOM_STATUS_MSG_IN_HEADER should be configured? in which file? and in case it does not exists which is the code I need to add to the file to make it work? Because I found no entry in any of the files in my config directory for this property.
Thanks in advance
PS: I know that there are many posts for this topic but I'm afraid they are some old and/or some are based in Spring and this is not my case.
Amusingly sad question. As far as I can see, Tomcat developers feel that:
"because HTTP/2 doesn't support Reason",
"Reason is optional in HTTP/1.x and primarily intended for human use", and
"smart developer knows HTTP status codes already & doesn't need explanatory text"
They can just delete support for it.
From my perspective of protocol compatibility & systems integration, I think this is just astoundingly wrong. My perspective would be, that so long as HTTP/1.x is supported, all features of HTTP/1.x (whether a client "should rely" on these or not) should be supported.
My belief would be that it should be the overall system owner/ architect's decision -- encompassing the client & server applications, as well as Tomcat -- who makes the decision that they do or don't need Reason Codes.
Tomcat developers are not responsible for these overall systems and, from my perspective, should not be making decisions to delete commonly-expected features of protocols they claim to support which break what they are not responsible for.
However, that seems to be their decision.
http://literatejava.com/web/http-status-reason-broken-in-tomcat-9/

Getting up to speed on current web service design practices

I'm admittedly unsure whether this post falls within the scope of acceptable SO questions. If not, please advise whether I might be able to adjust it to fit or if perhaps there might be a more appropriate site for it.
I'm a WinForms guy, but I've got a new project where I'm going to be making web service calls for a Point of Sale system. I've read about how CRUD operations are handled in RESTful environments where GET/PUT/POST/etc represent their respective CRUD counterpart. However I've just started working on a project where I need to submit my requirements to a developer who'll be developing a web api for me to use but he tells me that this isn't how the big boys do it.
Instead of making web requests to create a transaction followed by requests to add items to the transaction in the object based approach I'm accustomed to, I will instead use a service based approach to just make a 'prepare' checkout call in order to see the subtotal, tax, total, etc. for the transaction with the items I currently have on it. Then when I'm ready to actually process the transaction I'll make a call to 'complete' checkout.
I quoted a couple words above because I'm curious whether these are common terms that everyone uses or just ones that he happened to choose to explain the process to me. And my question is, where might I go to get up to speed on the way the 'big boys' like Google and Amazon design their APIs? I'm not the one implementing the API, but there seems to be a little bit of an impedance mismatch in regard to how I'm trying to communicate what I need and the way the developer is expecting to hear my requirements.
Not sure wrt the specifics of your application though your general understanding seems ik. There are always corner cases that test the born though.
I would heed that you listen to your dev team on how things should be imolemented and just provide the "what's" (requirements). They should be trusted to know best practice and your company's own interpretation and standards (right or wrong). If they don't give you your requirement (ease-of-use or can't be easily reusable with expanded requirements) then you can review why with an architect or dev mgr.
However, if you are interested and want to debate and perhaps understand, check out Atlassian's best practice here: https://developer.atlassian.com/plugins/servlet/mobile#content/view/4915226.
FYI: Atlassian make really leading dev tools in use in v.large companies. Note also that this best-practices is as a part of refactoring meaning they've been through the mill and know what worked and what hasn't).
FYI2 (edit): Reading between the lines of your question, I think your dev is basically instructing you specifically on how transactions are managed within ReST. That is, you don't typically begin, add, end. Instead, everything that is transactional is rolled within a transaction wrapper and POSTed to the server as a single transaction.

Software to consolidate information flows into a company

At our company, we are looking at replacing a number of legacy systems that handle information from our customers into our company. Typical systems allow the user to drop an ftp file somewhere. This file will then be transformed by a number of programs and eventually end up in some kind of database. In total we have +30 different "systems" or applications that does this. And, it is more or less a mess.
We believe we lack a common system to manage these flows: triggered by upload or possible another event, register the data, create some sort of "job" (or process) from it, pass it through the variuos services/transformation programs it needs to go through, provide feedback to the customer, provide information about progress, etc to us, handle failures and so on. Sort of like Jenkins (/Hudson/CruiseControl/similar) but for information transformation jobs, rather than build jobs, and with a job beeing more of a "process instance" of a job, then the job itself (e.g. different data should trigger the job several times, running concurrently).
We are cabable of writing such software ourselves, but surely software as this exists(?) I have been googling around, and found that what we need ma possibly be "job scheduling" software or "business process management" software. However, these are all new domains for us, and I am quite uncertain to as what kind of software would fit our needs. It appears one could invest quite a deal of ressources into this type of software before
So, what I am looking for is pointers to what kind of software or systems that could solve the kind of needs we have. Preferably Open Source, Java based, running in a Java EE container or similar, but really, at this point, almost any pointer/hint will be welcomed :-)
Thanks in advance
P.S. I realise I may be out of scope for Stackexchange, but I have been unable to locate another forum where this kind of question might be answered, so I hope it is OK.
I know of the following products:
Redwood Cronacle (I worked with it 1994-1997 and it still runs). Purchase product. Oracle and C based. Strong in multiple server platforms. Embeddable.
Oracle E-business suite core. Purchase product. Oracle based. Strong for integration with the same ERP system. Weak for multiple server platforms.
Invantive Vision (I developed it :-). Purchase product. Oracle and Java based. Strong in integration with ETL (Pentaho open source). Weak for multiple server platforms. Embeddable.
Quartz Scheduler. Apache license. Java based. Worked with in 2004 or so. Strong focus on embedding.
Hi I don’t know if you will find that solution in open source or Java. It sounds like bespoke or custom software to me. I would advise you to search for a project management software developer with high level of IT and Data warehousing. Ask for bespoke and customized installations with a real time database. I think you will solve your problem with this.

How to write a spec for a website

As I'm starting to develop for the web, I'm noticing that having a document between the client and myself that clearly lays out what they want would be very helpful for both parties. After reading some of Joel's advice, doing anything without a spec is a headache, unless of course your billing hourly ;)
In those that have had experience,
what is a good way to extract all
the information possible from the
client about what they want their
website to do and how it looks? Good
ways to avoid feature creep?
What web specific requirements
should I be aware of? (graphic
design perhaps)
What do you use to write your specs in?
Any thing else one should know?
Thanks!
Ps: to "StackOverflow Purists" , if my question sucks, i'm open to feed back on how to improve it rather than votes down and "your question sucks" comments
Depends on the goal of the web-site. If it is a site to market a new product being released by the client, it is easier to narrow down the spec, if it's a general site, then it's a lot of back and forth.
Outline the following:
What is the goal of the site / re-design.
What is the expected raise in customer base?
What is the customer retainment goal?
What is the target demographic?
Outline from the start all the interactive elements - flash / movies / games.
Outline the IA, sit down with the client and outline all the sections they want. Think up of how to organize it and bring it back to them.
Get all changes in writing.
Do all spec preparation before starting development to avoid last minute changes.
Some general pointers
Be polite, but don't be too easy-going. If the client is asking for something impossible, let them know that in a polite way. Don't say YOU can't do it, say it is not possible to accomplish that in the allotted time and budget.
Avoid making comparisons between your ideas and big name company websites. Don't say your search function will be like Google, because you set a certain kind of standard for your program that the user is used to.
Follow standards in whatever area of work you are. This will make sure that the code is not only easy to maintain later but also avoid the chances of bugs.
Stress accessibility to yourself and the client, it is a big a thing.
More stuff:
Do not be afraid to voice your opinion. Of course, the client has the money and the decision at hand whether to work with you - so be polite. But don't be a push-over, you have been in the industry and you know how it works, so let them know what will work and what won't.
If the client stumbles on your technical explanations, don't assume they are stupid, they are just in another industry.
Steer the client away from cliches and buzz words. Avoid throwing words like 'ajax' and 'web 2.0' around, unless you have the exact functionality in mind.
Make sure to plan everything before you start work as I have said above. If the site is interactive, you have to make sure everything meshes together. When the site is thought up piece by piece, trust me it is noticeable.
One piece of advice that I've seen in many software design situations (not just web site design) relates to user expectations. Some people manage them well by giving the user something to see, while making sure that the user doesn't believe that the thing they're seeing can actually work.
Paper prototyping can help a lot for this type of situation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_prototyping
I'm with the paper prototyping, but use iplotz.com for it, which is working out fine so far from us.
It makes you think about how the application should work in more detail, and thus makes it less likely to miss out on certain things you need to build, and it makes it much easier to explain to the client what you are thinking of.
You can also ask the client to use iplotz to explain the demands to you, or cooperate in it.
I also found looking for client questionnaires on google a good idea to help generate some more ideas:
Google: web client questionnaire,
There are dozens of pdfs and other forms to learn from

Is it expected to disclose all the frameworks / open source software used in a project to a client

Taken aback to day when I was confronted about the use of validation code used from the Csla framework. It felt like I was reprimanded for not disclosing the use of the framework to the client.
Is this not the same as using libraries such as jQuery etc?
You absolutely should acknowledge what you're using, IMO.
Some clients may have particularly strict legal requirements (whether for legitimate reasons or not - they're the client, it's not up to you to judge their laywers) and detailing any third party software you're using to create a product for them seems only reasonable.
What reason could you have for not wanting to be open with your client?
This depends on the license of the open source code you are using. Many of them require to acknowledge the use in some credits section, others require you to redistribute the source code, etc. You should read the license and act accordingly.
It depends on the project and the kind of client and whatever contracts you had. However, for a typical consultant delivering code to a customer, I would say no it is very strange that you would be reprimanded for not bothering them with details such as the use of CSLA. That's pretty odd.
It is the same, I have a feeling that you would have been reprimanded for using jQuery as well. There are enterprises that frown upon the use of open source for various reasons.
They boil down to
The type of license and what does it force the user to do
The availability of support in some commercial form
The need to 'share-alike' the results
You should know what's your customer/employer's stance on this. If they don't have a stance, then you have to discuss on a case-by-case basis.
I usually tell people I use a lot of open source and, by seeing the response I get I know the path to follow. If they jump and scream at the mention of open source and the lack of support and whatnot, I just tend to ask for budget to buy commercial components or present good cases as to why the open source version of X is better than the commercial alternatives.
It very much depends on the type of project and the type of client. The real problem here is that you were surprised, which indicates non-alignment of expectations. How did the client motivate its interest in Csla specifically?
If your client needs to know or cares about which technology you use, then you should specify everything as part of the project documentation. If the choices are clearly described, then it is easier to have a discussion about them, if required. Documentation also gives you a way to ask (literally) for 'sign-off', if that is the way you work.
From your question it is not clear whether the problem was the choice of framework, or not having informed the customer.
Even on projects with minimal documentation, if the customer owns the code then I always deliver at least a High-level architecture document that includes the names and exact versions of every software component used, along with a brief description of what it is for and why it was selected. This is also the correct place to address any license issues.