TimWeb

Having changed to a 64-bit development machine at work recently I ran in to an Oracle error while trying to generate files using CodeSmith. This error was ORA-06413: Connection Not Open. Assuming it was a connection string error, as I had not ran this particular generation in some time and it was likely that the server or username/password had changed, I proceeded to test the connection from SQL Developer. Success!

After ruling out that the connection was indeed valid I did a quick Google search for the error message. After a few clicks I discovered a very well known (has been around for a few years) Oracle issue; When executing an Oracle command from an application with parentheses or equals — ‘(‘ or ’)’ or ‘=’ — in the path then the specified error message is thrown.

In this particular case CodeSmith had been installed under C:\Program Files (x86)\CodeSmith\ which was causing Oracle to fail. The quickest work around was to simply move CodeSmith from the Program Files (x86) path e.g. in to C:\CodeSmith\. However; there is a patch (5383042) for Oracle 10g, which I believe is also applied to Oracle 11G.

For those of you ‘lucky’ enough to have already updated to the new Windows 7 then you have probably already noticed the major changes to the task bar. Good or bad, you decide. Personally, I like some of the new functionality that it provides but I also enjoy a slim task bar — similar to that of Vista. Fortunately Microsoft provided a “Use small icons” option in the task bar properties (right-click the task bar and select properties) which makes the task bar a similar size to that of Vista.

Changing the task bar to use small icons, however, does not fix the fact that Windows Live Messenger likes to constantly take up a space in the task bar even when the window is not open. Since there does not currently appear to be an option in Windows Live Messenger to display the program in the system tray, instead of on the task bar, we need to use a simple work around.

First, close any current Windows Live Messenger instances. Then open your start menu and locate the Windows Live Messenger shortcut. Right-click the shortcut and select properties. Switch to the Compatibility tab and check “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and select Window Vista (Service Pack 2)”. Now start Windows Live Messenger and problem solved. You should now see the Windows Live Messenger icon in the system tray. As you would on Vista, XP, etc.