This Week in Dev: Reg Ex!

Reg Ex - Nerd Superpower! Click for the XKCD comic.

This week’s big hit: Regular Expressions!  As part of an automated software update a config file needs to have a specific option listed within it.  Normally this is something we’d do manually but now it’s being rolled out to all of our deployed boxes the loving human touch needs to be replaced with cold calculating automation.

Enter our man Reg.  Reg is a little O.C.D. and speaks a very odd language.  After a little coaxing we began to understand Reg a little more and put him to task.  Now Reg is a clever fellow but lacks common sense.  We have to spell everything out for him in great detail.  Once he’s got the idea though OH the things he can do!  He’s roaming around through config files, editing lines, adding lines, calming walking away if his services are not needed.  

Thus far, in testing, he’s been reliably and accurately modding a MySQL config file.  Of course I’ll be a little anxious when the first updates roll out as this really isn’t something that can go wrong (clients tend to become upset when upgrades bork their systems) but it all looks good and really helps us squeeze more out of the hardware of ours out in the world fending for itself.

Next up: SVN!  Seems we’ve not been using SVN in the most efficient (read: correct) way, resulting in the odd “Where the frak has my goram code gone?!”.  Gathering a nice, clean, working base copy of code and throwing a new master into the Thunderdome.  From there we’ll actually branch a development copy *gasp* and, wait for it, regularly commit code to it and spy conflicts before it’s too late!  Wonders will never cease.