Bounds Test v2.1.1 Released

An update to my “on-screen ruler” utility for Windows, Bounds Test, is now available.

This point release addresses an issue where if the Bounds Test window was resized to its minimum height (25px), it could no longer be resized by dragging the middle of the window.  (The problem was that the regions along the top and bottom edges of the window that were defined to perform “resize” operations when dragged were so large that they left no room in the middle of the window for the “move” operation.)

Download it here: Bounds Test v2.1.1 (16k).  It’s also available on my Windows utilities page.

Bounds Test v2.1.0 Released

A new point release of my “on-screen ruler” utility for Windows, Bounds Test, is now available. 

Bounds Test displays a semi-transparent window on your screen which can be resized, and shows at all times its own current size.  This is useful to:

• Determine how much of a particular web page or other application page a user running at a particular screen resolution (say, 1024x768) would be able to view without scrolling;
• Quickly get a rough idea of the size in pixels of another window or other on-screen object.

Significant updates in this release:

• Added an “Always On Top” feature (accessible from the right-click context menu).
• Added a set of size preset buttons for widescreen resolutions.
• Improved the draw algorithm, greatly reducing "flicker" of the tick marks along the edges as the window is being resized.
• Increased the “drag area” of the edges of the form, making the form easier to resize.

Download it here: Bounds Test 2.1.0 (16k).  You can also always get the latest copy from my utilities page.  Enjoy!

JBoss – Pause at startup until debugger is attached

A tidbit I picked up today at ATG developer training: It’s possible to configure JBoss to pause at startup until a debugger is attached. To do this, specify suspend=y in JAVA_OPTS. (This can be done in <jbossdir>\bin\run.bat.) For example, the relevant line from the run.bat I’m using in the training class:

set JAVA_OPTS=-Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=8787,server=y,suspend=y %JAVA_OPTS%

With this setting, JBoss will automatically resume startup when it detects that a debugger (e.g. Eclipse) has been attached.

This is useful to be able to debug things that occur while JBoss is starting up.