ZigBee?

'ZigBee' is a protocol which is developed to send and receive small amounts of data in between hostile Radio Frequency environments. ZigBee protocol is suitable and designed to be used by small, low power embeded devices such as sensors to transfer small amounts of data. 

Following are the advantages of using Zig Bee protocol.

1. Standard based
2. Low cost devices available
3. Has the ability to use globally
4. Reliable and self healing
5. Supports large number of nodes (up to 65,000 nodes per network)
6. Easy to deploy
7. provides long battery life.
8. Secure (128 bit AES encription)
9. Support multiple network topologies (ex: mesh, point to point, point to multipoint)
10. Collision avoidance, retries and acknowledgements is available
11. Low latency

A ZigBee network has the following components;

• ZigBee coordinator  - This is responsible for initializing managing and maintaining the network.
• ZigBee router - This is responsible for controlling the message routing between the nodes.
• ZigBee end device - This is the end point of a ZigBee network.

Image source : http://www.sena.com/products/industrial_zigbee/zigbee_summary.php

ZigBee can be utilized many business applications. Some of the examples can be mentioned as home automation, industrial plant monitoring and vehicle traffic monitoring etc.

Following is a figure which well describes the functionality of a Zig Bee network.

Image Source : http://www.sensor-networks.org/index.php?page=1129929946

What is the importance of a Document Map?

This is how we add a document map to our word document in word 2007.

Go to 'View' ribbon. Navigate to 'Show/Hide' panel and select 'Document Map'.    

So the document map will then be available in a left side panel of our word document.

In document map we have two basic views. Those are the

• Document Map &
• Thumbnail View  

The 'Document Map' will list down all the headings and sub headings in the left panel and the view can also be changed according to preferences. And the thumbnail view will provide an image of each page of our document in the left panel.

Sometimes we wonder why we need a document map which is like another TOC when we already have a TOC in our document.

But which is important in document maps is that it provides a guidance to our word document.

A document map will be really necessary when we are writing  huge word documents and need to add things to different sections and update separate sections in our word document time to time. So then we don't need to travel pages one by one or travel to TOC to find the section each and every time when we need an update.  

Styles in Word need to be utilized in order to obtain the real usage of a document map. Otherwise the document map will look as another copy of our word document.

And the other most vital usage from the document map is that, we can find some formatting errors in our document very easily. For an example lets say that we have applied styles to our document. And the heading styles appear in our document map. Suddenly after updating things in the document, lets say we see normal texts, numbering and captions appearing in the document map. That means our formatting has changed due to some updates in the document. So prior to any DISASTROUS situation, we are able to find that our document formatting has changed . Otherwise what we will encounter issues in our updated TOC.

So we can always use a document map to do our documenting in an easier way.

Adding Cross References (In MS Word 2007)

Adding cross references might not seem useful until you need alteration to a huge document. Even though it is a small document adding cross references will reduce future redoing.

Lets think that you are righting a document and it has about 10 to 15 figures. So you have added the 'captions' using word's captions. Then you have several places where you have added references to those images and those are not cross referenced. Now you need to add a new chapter in between previous ones. So then you'll have to go to the chapters which are below to the added new chapter and change figure reference's chapter number. Or if you have added figures in between the previous figures of the same chapter then you will have to go changing all the figure numbers. Add another time... Do the changes again...Lot of redoing will be there. 

So you can avoid this by cross referencing. This can not only done to the figures, but also to the tables,equations etc.  

This is how the cross referencing is added. I have explained it using Word 2007.

1. First click on the place where you need to add cross referencing. Go to 'References' ribbon, 'Captions' panel and click on cross-reference.

2. Cross References window will pop up.

3.You have multiple choices. Can add references to any element which can be selected from the 'Reference type' drop down.

4.Lets add a cross reference to a figure. Then select the entity that you need to insert reference to from the 'Insert reference to drop down'.

5.Then Select your figure which needs a reference. This can be selected from the 'For which caption' field box.
6.Click on 'Insert' and you're done. The reference will appear at the selected place.

What is SNMP and SNMP Trap?

First lets see what SNMP stands for. It's Simple Network Management Protocol. It is developed with the intention to manage growing elements in the internet. Why it is called Simple is that, it has only five types of messages. And the other fact is that it can rely on a connection-less or unsupervised network link.

SNMP is based on the Manager and Agent model. So that it's Manager provides interface between a human Network Manager and the Managing System while the Agent provides interface between the Manager and  Physical Devices which are being managed. 

SNMP trap is one of the five message types being used in SNMP protocol. The five types of messages that the SNMP trap is using are as follows.

1. GET
2. GET-NEXT
3. GET RESPONSE
4. SET
5. TRAP

GET and GET-NEXT messages are sent by an SNMP Manager to the Agent. Upon the arrival of those messages, the Agent will send a GET RESPONSE message to the manager. SET is for requesting variable changes remotely. 

And at last comes the TRAP. This message type is quite different from the other messages. This message will allow an Agent to send messages to SNMP Manager spontaneously. Usually an SNMP trap is used by an Agent to aleart their Manager about a problem that they experienced.

Following diagram simply illustrates how an SNMP Trap works. 

Image Courtesy : http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk648/tk362/technologies_tech_note09186a0080094aa5.shtml

More information on SNMP Trap can be obtained from the following link:
http://www.dpstele.com/dpsnews/techinfo/snmp/snmp_trap_basics.php

Does appeal to read always created along with sophisticated writing?

When we come across technical documents, we often try to keep them very very professional. So we unknowingly add very sophisticated words to maintain the standard of the document. 

Following are some points which I could come up with reading and writing documents.


#1
The document we are writing is not for showing off our language proficiency but for another human being  to read and understand . So if we forget this point then, ultimately the document will be futile as the reader wont be able to figure the things out. Or sometimes the content might make the reader bored.

Therefore I think that when ever we are writing a document, that document need to be written in a very simple way. For that we can avoid  lengthier sentences with sophisticated words.

#2

Sometimes we add too much of elaborated words to fill up the paragraphs or to present the document with some professionality. This could sometimes make the reader confused or could deviate the reader from the 'point of knowledge'.

#3

There is another important point to consider. That is the value of images in a document. Sometimes a document with thousand words can be replaced and described by a single image. And at another time, an image can be used at the places where we are unable to explain something. Above all, an image will make our document visually appealing to the reader. The image that we are using should not always be a very technical one such as a screenshot or a part of the real scenario. Instead we can use a conceptually relevant image with some text, which can give an idea about the content  of the page. This could even be some graphic image. 

The use of images and the value of them for technical documents is nicely explained at the "I'd rather be writing" blog. There the writer states that 'words combined with images result in incredibly appealing documents. 

Following is the URL for the blog post. 

http://idratherbewriting.com/2011/10/10/visually-appealing-documents-combine-text-with-images/

#4

Another thing to consider when writing is the font type and style. In writing, we tend to use fonts with smaller sizes and styles which are unclear. This happens knowingly or unknowingly. But this could make reading very uncomfortable.

So my conclusion is that the appeal to read does not always come along with sophisticated writing.

Image courtesy : http://languagearts.pppst.com/writingprocess.html

Adding different headers and footers to different pages - in Word 2007

First of all you need to add the section breaks, so that you can clearly add different headers and footers for different sections.

This is the way to add section breaks to your document.

Click on the page that you want to END a section.

Go to Page Layout ribbon and select Breaks from Page Setup panel.

Select Next Page from the option tiles.

Now you have sectioned your document.

You can check whether you have done your task correctly. For this purpose, click on each page. Then examine the bottom right of your word document. So you can see the section you are in. 

I'm in Section: 2. See below.

Now you can start to add and edit your headers and footers. I'll give an example to add different headers. Adding different footers are done similarly.

Go to Insert ribbon, find Header panel and select Edit Header.
Try to add a general header, so that it will appear in every section you have created.

Go to Page Layout ribbon. From the Page Setup panel, click on the little arrow with the square.

You will land at the page setup window. Go to Layout tab in the Page Setup window.

You can select Different first page check box from the headers and footers and choose From this point forward to separately add a header to the document.

Or else here is a more clear way. You can click on the header in each section and select This Section from the Layout tab at the Page Setup window.

Now you can modify your header according to the sections you have already created. Click on the header in each section and edit the header accordingly. And remember to deselect the Link to Previous button before editing the header for each section.

So now you have completed the task !!!

Adding Executable Buttons to PDFs

You can use Adobe Acrobat 8 or 9 to work with buttons. I have used images related to Adobe Acrobat 8 in this post.

Initially you need to complete your document in MS Word and convert it to a PDF. If you are facing problems in converting your word document with Adobe Acrobat, then simply use the pdf converter plugin downloaded from Microsoft site to complete this task.

Open your pdf document and follow the steps below.

Go to Tools--> Forms --> Button Tool

Draw a rectangle or square at the place where you need to have the button on pdf document.

The Button property box will appear when the drawing is finished.

Properties in General tab

Give a unique name to button Name, which is going to be the identifier for the button. Remember that this is not going to be the button label. 

Tooltip can be used to add a caption to the button. So that, the Tooltip will be displayed when the mouse is pointed to the created button. 

In Form Field there are options to select, for visibility (Visible, Hidden, Hidden but printable, visible but doesn't print options are available) of the created button. 

In Orientation you can change the point of reference of the button.  

Properties in Appearance tab

Border Color, Line Thickness, Fill Color and Line Style properties can be modified using the Borders and Colors panel. 

Text panel can be used to adjust the Font Size, Text Color and Font type of the text appear in the label.

You can use non for Border Color and Fill Color and proceed without other modifications, if you are willing to use a text field or image available in the pdf document itself.

Properties in Options tab

In Options tab, we can set the Layout of the button. The selections available for Layout are as follows.

Label Only, Icon Only, Icon top label bottom, Label top icon bottom, Icon left label right, Label left icon right, Label over icon.

• Use Icon Only, and proceed to Actions, if you need to use the already available text in the document. 
• Use Label Only if you are not using the available text, but creating a text for the button using Label field.
• Use Label Over Icon, if you are planning to add an Icon image to your button and a Label description as well. 
• Other available selections can be used according to the preferences as well.

Behavior of the button can be selected from the Behavior drop down. Different States will be available under State for different behaviors.

Edit the label field available at Label to set text to the button.  Use Choose Icon button to browse and add a button image.

The button icon will display inside the field for icon as below.

Properties in Actions tab

Actions tab can be used to add actions for each and every mouse trigger.

Use Select Trigger to choose a trigger and Select Action to set a suitable action. Add button can be used to add required actions after selecting an action.

For an example choose Mouse Down as the Select Trigger and Go to a page view as the Select action. Click on Add button so that a window giving instructions to set the link will appear. Use scroll, zoom or select tools to select the target. So that when you click on the created button, you’ll be directed to the target.

Following is a simple button created in the pdf document.

Working With Adobe LiveCycle Designer

Adobe live cycle designer is usually used to create 'forms'. You can use your own form or you can use templates and modify them according to your needs. 

It is very easy to create forms for varying needs using Adobe LiveCyle Designer. I have experienced creating 'forms' using Adobe LiveCycle Designer available with Adobe Acrobat 8 and 9. So I can say it for sure that these two versions can support you with creating Adobe 'forms'.

So lets start to create a form. I am going to give examples using Adobe Acrobat 9. Whether it is Acrobat 8 or 9, you have two options to create a 'form'.

1. Using available templates.
2. Start with your own.

Click on 'New form Template' to start from a template. You will get a whole lot of templates to choose one from.Look at the list in the window below.

Select the template you want and click next to proceed. You will be taken through the available steps where you get a place to insert all the company details and ultimately creating the required form. 

You can even set the email address to forward the form, a print button to facilitate printing as shown in the window below. And lot more things after  template creation as well

Click on Finish to finish the creation.

So now you got your 'form' and you can even customize it according to your needs. Here you can see the Design view.

Click on the Preview PDF tab to preview the PDF. You will be getting a view as below.

Then you can go again to the Design tab and use Object Library as shown below to to do modifications to your 'form'. You can drag and drop objects from the object library.

You can edit the gragged and dropped objects as well. For that, first of all you have to click on the object you want to edit. Ex: Radio Button. Then go to View --> Object Editor

You will get the following view. In Adobe 8, you wont get this view. Instead you will get a nice Object Property window to proceed with editing.

So now do the changes to the objects according to your wish. Add or remove objects and try to land in your desired form.

Central Authentication Service(CAS)

CAS is a trusted way of authenticating a user. CAS provides an enterprise single sign-on protocol for a web.

What is a single sign-on protocol?

A single sign on protocol allows a user to enter a user name password once and gain access to multiple applications or systems.  So CAS enables a user of several applications to log in once, providing credentials and use all the applications or modules. From the application's side, this eliminates multiple prompts which are needed when user switches from one application to the other. 

A single sign on protocol operates very strictly with the applications which are being accessed by a web browser. It operates in a nice way.

Lets say there is a request to access a web resource which is using single-sign on. This request is initially being obstructed by a component in the web browser, or by the resource/application it self. So then what happens is that, the unauthenticated users are diverted to an authentication service and returned only after a successful authentication. 

Following are the advantages of using CAS

• CAS has a centralized user login implementation and experience.
• The application pool which uses the central authentication service does not know the password of the user so that there exist less opportunity for a password to be exposed by a weak application.
• CAS offers features for proxy authentication as well.
• Ability to enforce uniform enterprise authentication and authorization policies across a system is another advantage.
• End to end user audit sessions to improve security reporting and auditing is another benefit.
• Application developers are at ease as they are relieved from understanding and implementing identity security  in applications.

Image courtesy : https://confluence.ucdavis.edu/confluence/display/IETP/About+CAS

Creating Table of Content in Word 2007

Most of the time the writers start to think about adding a Table of Contents(ToC) at the completion of the document. It is not a good thing to practice. I was used to do this in past. I faced a lot of troubles since I planned at the end and ended up with adding tables and content separately. 

We need to apply built in Styles or our own creations (user defined styles) to the document as the initial step, before adding a Table of Contents. So that we have a structure and also we  are aware of the text that is going to be appeared on our ToC. 

So start the below steps when your ready with your document.

1. Click on the page to add table of contents.Go to References tab and locate Table of Contents panel.

2. Click on Table of Contents

3. You will get a menu with built in ToCs. If you have your own preferences, then these built in ToCs might not be useful to you.Still there is an option for you.  Click on Insert Table of Contents to start customizing your own.

 
Table of contents tab will be open for you to edit fields once you have selected Insert Table of Contents option.

4. Change Show levels field to increase or decrease the number of heading levels to be appeared on your ToC. The Print Preview will change accordingly, giving an idea on the ToC's appearance.

5. Use Options button to open Table of Contents Options.

If you want to remove a particular heading from the Available styles  then click on relavent TOC level text boxes and delete it. Then assign the TOC level numbers to the preferred TOC level fields.

 6. Use Modify button to change the font style appearing on the ToC. We can modify each ToC level by selecting each TOC.

 After doing all the modifications click on OK and the Table of Content will appear at the selected page.

Then what you have to do when you have updated your document with new content.Simply right click on your table of contents and select on Update field. Select from the options; Update page numbers only or Update entire table according to the requirement.

Adding Cross References to Figures - in Word 2007

A Cross Reference in a word document assist us in adding a reference to a figure or any other object(headings, bookmarks, captions, numbered paragraphs, tables, footnotes, end notes) located in our document through a paragraph text.

Eg: Find the related diagram in Figure 2.1 on page 13. 

In above example, the highlighted fields are the cross references in the paragraph text. If we use cross reference in Word, then Word will do automatic updates to the cross references. So that we don't need to go to each and every reference and edit them, if we have added or deleted new objects. 

To cross reference a figure , follow the below steps.

1. Select the caption of the figure
2. Go to References ribbon
3. Locate the Captions panel
4. Click on Cross Reference. But don't Insert the cross reference until the below steps are followed.




5. Then click on the paragraph to add a cross reference.
6. Edit the fields in  Cross-Reference dialog box.

7. Choose the Reference type from the drop down.

As we are adding a cross reference to a figure select Figure. 

8. Then select the preferred option from Insert reference to: drop down.

If you need to add the cross reference with only the figure label and number, then select Only label and number or choose the desired from the available options.

9. Then select the object that we want to refer in the paragraph text from For which caption. 

10. Click on Insert. The caption will be added to the paragraph text. 

Adding captions to figures - in Word 2007

Adding captions to a quite a lot of images and formatting them one at a time is a very time consuming task. Instead of doing so, we can use MS Word's built in functions.

Lets first try to insert a caption with a preferred formatting to an image. Follow the steps below.

Tips : Always use the Insert-->Picture method to insert a picture to a word document in order to avoid any hassles. I was used to drag and drop or copy and paste an image from a image folder which gave me a lot of troubles. But now using the correct method and I'm hassle free.      

1. Select the picture
2. Go to References ribbon
3. Locate Captions panel
4. Click on Insert Caption

You will get the following Caption dialog box.

Change the Label to suite your requirement. It can be a Figure, Table, Equation or anything you want. You can add whatever you want by using New Label.

Position will let you define the placement of the caption.

More options for numbering the figure is available at Numbering. Use Include Chapter Number to add chapter numbers to the figure as well.

So do the changes according to your wish and proceed. The caption will be available along with the image. Apply Styles to the caption if you want to change the formatting.