Deleting non-empty folders from Mac Terminal

If you try to delete a non-empty folder from Terminal on your Mac with

rmdir folder-name

you will get the following error:

rmdir: folder-name: Directory not empty.

The command you want to use is:

rm -r folder-name

How to rename directories through Terminal

I keep having to rename files and directories in locations outside the purview of my user account. Moving directories into, say, the WebServer folder is easy enough: Mac will ask you for your admin credentials. But, I have not found an easy (read: non-Terminal) way of renaming directories or files once you moved them. So, here is how to do it in the Terminal:

sudo mv -f [original name of the directory] [new name of the directory]

SqlDataReader.GetSqlType() of column

I ran into an interesting problem today that required me to identify the SqlType of any given column, so that I could do special processing where appropriate. It normally wouldn't be such a big deal, because you can call GetType(i) to learn whether it's a string, boolean, DateTime, etc. However, there are some types that need to be differentiated further: for example, money and numbers in SQL might both map to the same .NET type.

Continue reading "SqlDataReader.GetSqlType() of column"

Lambda Expressions

Lambda expressions are a new construct in C# 3.0 that provide a more concise way of writing anonymous methods (which were introduced in C# 2.0). Lambda expressions are especially useful in LINQ statements but can be used any place anonymous methods are.

Continue reading "Lambda Expressions"

Cisco VPN Error 51: Unable to communicate with the VPN subsystem

This error plagues me around every three weeks when I open up my Cisco VPN client on my Mac. The fix for this is straight-forward:

  1. Quit CiscoVPN,
  2. Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal), and
  3. Type in the following command:
sudo /System/Library/StartupItems/CiscoVPN/CiscoVPN restart

Type in your password when it asks you for it, and Terminal should restart CiscoVPN, at which point the error should go away.

Free Template: Coxswain

Regular readership knows that I take long absences from this blog. Hopefully, today marks the end of it -- until the next time.

Anyway, I had some free time so I thought I would create a template.

Download and enjoy!

Plastic Blast Wallpaper

Mashed together a couple of different tutorials and came up with this. The zip file has 1600x1200 and 1200x900 versions.

Download Plastic Blast

Glassy Signs

Wow! That was the longest short break that I ever had in my life!

Anyway, to commemorate my five-month break, I decided to release a set of glassy signs coming in two sizes: 500x300 and 100x78.

Enjoy!

Download Glassy Signs

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