FutureLearn Begin Programming Week 3 Android game video

This is for the Week 3 element of the FutureLearn course Begin Programming.

Because I am not very good with video games, I have left the one point for hitting the ball, and five points for hitting the target.

This was recorded with the emulator's built in screen recorder, hence the odd resolution. 

Android SDK, Emulator and the Intel HAXM

Android SDK and the Intel HAXM

The Android SDK has an Android emulator that can emulate ARM and x86 based Android devices.
The build #AI-181.5540.7.32.5056338, built on October 9, 2018 dated October 2018 has an issue with ARM based emulation which prevents it from working.
The x86 emulation requires the availability of the Intel Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager.

This process will require you to go into the BIOS and make changes. It is possible to seriously break your computer if you make the wrong changes.

The Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager can be downloaded via the Android Studio SDK manager. It will say it has installed it, but it hides some installation issues.
Once you have "installed" it, on a Windows PC go to:
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\extras\intel\Hardware_Accelerated_Execution_Manager

First you need to check that your hardware is suitable to run HAXM.
Start a command prompt (type cmd in the search box).
Copy the file path from File Explorer and in the command prompt type CD .
Then paste the file path and press return.
Type dir and return.

The command window will show something similar to this:
22/11/2018  16:37    <DIR>          .
22/11/2018  16:37    <DIR>          ..
30/10/2018  16:47           108,792 haxm_check.exe
22/11/2018  16:38               225 haxm_silent_run.log
30/10/2018  16:47         2,937,888 intelhaxm-android.exe
30/10/2018  16:47             2,907 package.xml
30/10/2018  16:47             4,483 Release Notes.txt
30/10/2018  16:47             8,675 silent_install.bat
30/10/2018  16:47             2,274 silent_install_readme.txt
               7 File(s)      3,065,244 bytes
Type haxm_check.exe and return.
Hopefully the response will be:
VT support - yes
NX support - yes
If it is, then you can proceed. If not, you will have to wait for the ARM emulator to be fixed.
If you run the intelhaxm-android.exe program (right click and run as administrator) it will probably tell you it is installed.

What you need to do is uninstall it (close Android Studio if it is open).

Once it has been uninstalled, run intelhaxm-android.exe again and install it. It will probably tell you that the VT support is not enabled and roll back the installation. If it works, well done - nothing more to do.

To enable the VT support, you need to go into your computer’s BIOS or equivalent.

You will need to know how to get into the BIOS, this normally requires the machine to be restarted and then various buttons pressed.

It is a good idea to find out the access method before shutting your computer down.

HP laptops post 2011 generally require the Escape key to be repeatedly pressed after starting. From there follow the instructions.

Close everything down and shut down your computer.

Enact the arcane gestures required and go into the BIOS manager. Enable the VT (Virtualisation technology). Save and restart the machine.

Once you are logged in, go back to C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\extras\intel\Hardware_Accelerated_Execution_Manager
And run the intelhaxm-android.exe program as administrator.

This should allow you to set up an X86 emulator in the Android Studio and start it.

SQL delimited string to table function

Sometimes data suppliers do not make their data easy to separate. Other times you might want to split some other data up.

This SQL Table function will take a string comprising a list of substrings with a specified specified delimiter and returns a table containing the substrings

-- =============================================
-- Author: Technology Is Not Dull
-- Create date: 19/01/2016
-- Description: Takes a delimited string list and returns a table
-- =============================================
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[stringToTable]
(
@string VARCHAR(200),
@delimiter char(1)
)
RETURNS
@rettable TABLE
(
stringbit varchar(50)
)
AS
BEGIN
--***# select * from dbo.stringToTable(POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 3350; POTASSIUM CHLORIDE; SODIUM BICARBONATE; SODIUM CHLORIDE; SODIUM SULFATE ANHYDROUS',';')
DECLARE @start INT, @end INT
    SELECT @start = 1, @end = CHARINDEX(@delimiter, @string)
    WHILE @start < LEN(@string) + 1 BEGIN
        IF @end = 0
            SET @end = LEN(@string) + 1
     
        INSERT INTO @rettable (stringbit)
                  VALUES(SUBSTRING(@string, @start, @end - @start))
        SET @start = @end + 1
        SET @end = CHARINDEX(@delimiter, @string, @start)
     
    END
    RETURN
END
GO

Circuitverse - online digital logic simulator

Circuitverse is a free online digital logic simulator developed by students at IIIT Bangalore.

It allows the building of digital logic systems in the comfort of your own browser.

The user can select various input and output devices plus logic gates, wire them up and then test them.

The circuits can be saved, and images of the circuits produced. The circuits can be Public, which allows them to shared, useful for distance learning.

Previously saved circuits can be retrieved, but you need to click on the user name to get to the menu with the "My Circuits" option.

The developers say that though you could undertake a full CPU implementation, it is really designed for educational work.

It is certainly an interesting piece of software, and is happy running on a Raspberry Pi 3.

Circuitverse - image for something else

Circuitverse.org is an an online digital logic simulator that allows you to build digital circuits in your browser.

I will be coming back to this later, but I needed somewhere to host an image.

There are two circuits, the top right one is showing a plain NAND gate, the bottom one builds an OR gate from three NAND gates.

This is for the FutureLearn How Computers Work course, from the Raspberry Pi Foundation.