text:
The dude next to me, getting his eyebrows done, was flinching too.
I keep saying that I'm going to make my own laundry detergent, too, but after the failed dishwasher detergent experiment, I'm not so eager. I keep saying I'm going to Twitter, but it doesn't happen. Maybe someday...it would be helpful to have others encouraging my purchases. ;) (And I enjoyed your guest post today!)ReplyDelete
you didn't tell me you THREADED???!!! So, did you hate it? Will you never do it again?! Say it isn't so! But aren't your eyebrows are perfect and delicious???ReplyDelete
WOW to Starbucks! That's amazing and shocking and awesome all at the same time.ReplyDelete
Way to go Starbucks! Love that cup!!! :)ReplyDelete
I love that Starbuck's cup! :)ReplyDelete
Hi, I've been making my own laundry detergent for a while and I love it. The use the Dugger's recipe. The only place I've been able to find everything in once place is Fry's (Krogers). Don't know if you have one of those there.ReplyDelete
I just bought the same brand of the lip balm for shaving lotion. Completely random, because I had never seen it before and decided to try it. It's called vanilla bliss-love it!ReplyDelete
Don't give up on threading. It does hurt to begin with but the more you go the less it hurts.
I am going today actually with my two threading buddies. We go every two weeks. :)
It changed my life.
that t-shirt is perfect.
that S-bucks cup is even more perfect.
happy friday!
i think i may frame the cup.
for reals.
threading? i doubt it's available in KANSAS!
That cup!! Awesome.ReplyDelete
Awesome 10 randoms on your blog and hers! Fun facts... Now I am off to check into that chapstick...ReplyDelete
My most fav laundry detergent, like eva!ReplyDelete
I used to make my own detergent - although I don't anymore as I have to use a laundrymat - Albertson's is the only local store that carries Arm and Hammer Washing Soda . . . I actually called Arm and Hammer and checked :)
Also, that desk is awesome.
that is really a starbucks cup?! wowza. I thought it was a "starbucks-parody-knockoff-ish" cup from a Christian bookstore or something.
Now, *maybe* I will buy some drinks from Starbucks. I quit giving them my $ after I learned they suppored Planned Parenthood & I had had many a very liberal messgaes on cups.
I can't believe that's a real starbucks cup! I thought they were the anti-christ. Go figure. :)
I gave waxing a try and have the same feeling as you about threading....weird. ow. no thanks. :)
When I saw that ad, I thought "Wow, that baby looks like Janey!!"
I'm following you on Twitter now. For the record, I would have said a resounding yes to that desk too. Or no, and then ran over there and snatched it up for myself. Same difference.
I found that raspberry chipotle sauce at RALPHS yesterday! I celebrated by pouring it over cream cheese and gaining four pounds. I'm so happy. :)
So thrilled your guest post brought me TO your blog!ReplyDelete
The desk is awesome!! Threading is awesome too it gets everything even those little blond ones. It does hurt as much as waxing but my skin appreciates threading so much more. And Meg I'm sure Kansas has it okc does in the mall no doubt!!ReplyDelete
On a Starbucks cup? Wow!
I love my eos sphere. I will cry the day I use it all up...and then run out & buy more. :)
Love EOS lip balm! I won one in a giveaway once and have been addicted to it ever since!ReplyDelete
1. Ugh...ouchy is right. Threading is icky.
2. I did make my own laundry detergent...Duggar recipe. Maybe the boys in our house sweat more than others, not sure, but it did NOT get the stinky out of our clothing to my liking. Disappointing :-( I am now using the Trader Joe detergent.
3. SO excited to try the lip balm. I love Burt's but can only use it @ work because my husband HATES the smell...so Burt and I have a covert relationship.
stealing the desk.ReplyDelete
Let me guess, Julie...no Borax or Fels Naptha?
I am honored you linked back to little ole me!
And that Starbucks cup is amazing. So nice to see God-breathed words--the TRUTH of God in peoples' palms.
I was getting tired of Ghandi.
I love this post. No comments on anything in particular, just thought I'd say it's my favorite one today. Have a great weekend. :)ReplyDelete
I've never fully considered making my own laundry detergent, but I am fully committed to Gain. I love its fresh smell--and there's a Gain fabric softener too.
Threading scares me. I'm proud of you.
Seeing your Starbucks cup with that quote surprised me and made me happy. And made me crave a vanilla latte (sorry, I do the hot stuff, hope we can still be friends, I do enjoy an iced coffee from time to time too). :)
Thanks for preaching the awesomeness that is vanilla almond milk. I bought some this week and really like it.
That school desk is FAB! There is no way you could have walked away from it. It needed you.
Oh my goodness. That Starbucks cup. That is so wonderful. Only in Orange County.ReplyDelete
I have to admit that I stole your Starbucks cup picture. Some days we just need to remember that.ReplyDelete
I'm over here from Ashley's blog. I'm a 30 something, youth pastor's wife too! Us girls gotsta stick together.
Your blog is so bright and cheerful! Glad to have found you! : )
Of all the things to make "homemade" for cleaning, I'm told laundry detergent never works. We've made fabric softener sheets, glass cleaner, and several natural things but never tried that.
Okay, so wondering on the shirt. Have you seen the movie "Bella", makes me a bit sad if it's referring to that tear-jerker.
Was that a recent Starbucks cup?? so cool . . . I knew they would come around. :)
Making my own laundry detergent does not sound appealing to me, but if it works and ends up saving me $$, I'll try it. But does it smell as good as my Tide with Downy??
What an amazing Starbucks cup! I would have loved to had my coffee in that one!ReplyDelete
My hair stylist said she didn't know how the threading brow girls can stay in business - it's very unsanitary that they can put that stuff in their mouths...since at a beauty salon, a licensed beautician can't even put a bobby pin in their mouths or they will lose their license!
I just made 3 jars of laundry soap tonight! My 2 year old helped me. We used the food processor (all the pieces were put in the dishwasher after I used it!) My clothes come out clean - and unscented for my allergy prone kids.
Here is the same recipe - with directions for a cute container.
Loving the randomness and that amazing cup quote from Starbucks. Two cheers to people who realize why in the world they are here. Thanks for sharing....and I keep saying I'll make my own detergent too...:)
Christene from Whipperberry.com
i love that starbucks cup!
Love, love, love the anti-Twilight shirt!ReplyDelete
Ok...just discovered your blog...can't wait till I have more time and can read back further than I did today! I love your design style...your humor...and am right there with you on your spray paint love affair! And I think you are doing good everyday and glorifying God with this little spot of yours!ReplyDelete
Omgoodness, I just bought some of that lip balm for $1 from my 'hood's garage sale and it's amazing! (Let me clarify: it was brand new, still in package; the lady is a buyer for a store and had tons of beauty products for cheap.) I love the Starbucks cup!ReplyDelete
I think your blog is wonderful, an inspiration. I gave you a blog award. Stop by to claim it!ReplyDelete
I'm so glad I popped over from We Have This Moment. I'm Loving everything about your blog. So cozy and warm and fun and adorable. :) I love that you love Jesus and that you have a beautiful family! I look forward to visiting again!
::I blog @ adorkable-me.blogspot.com
I stole that Starbucks cup picture to put on my facebook page...AWESOME and I hope you don't mind. Probably could have asked before I did it.ReplyDelete
really, r.w. on a starbucks cup. wow.
i'm going to go check out this product you are cheating on burt's bees with. curious.


text:
Iran's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has transferred lethal new munitions to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months, according to senior U.S. officials, in a bid to accelerate the U.S. withdrawals from these countries.
The Revolutionary Guard has smuggled rocket-assisted exploding projectiles to its militia allies in Iraq, weapons that have already resulted in the deaths of American troops, defense officials said. They said Iranians have also given long-range rockets to the Taliban in Afghanistan, increasing the insurgents' ability to hit U.S. and other coalition positions from a safer distance.
Such arms shipments would escalate the shadow competition for influence playing out between Tehran and Washington across the Middle East and North Africa, fueled by U.S. preparations to draw down forces from two wars and the political rebellions that are sweeping the region.
The U.S. is wrestling with the aftermath of uprisings against longtime Arab allies from Tunisia to Bahrain, and trying to leave behind stable, friendly governments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran appears to be trying to gain political ground amid the turmoil and to make the U.S. withdrawals as quick and painful as possible.
"I think we are likely to see these Iranian-backed groups continue to maintain high attack levels" as the exit date nears, Maj. Gen. James Buchanan, the U.S. military's top spokesman in Iraq, said in an interview. "But they are not going to deter us from doing everything we can to help the Iraqi security forces."
In June, 15 U.S. servicemen died in Iraq, the highest monthly casualty figure there in more than two years. The U.S. has attributed all the attacks to Shiite militias it says are are trained by the Revolutionary Guards, rather than al Qaeda or other Sunni groups that were the most lethal forces inside Iraq a few years ago.
In Afghanistan, the Pentagon has in recent months traced to Iran the Taliban's acquisition of rockets that give its fighters roughly double the range to attack North Atlantic Treaty Organization and U.S. targets. U.S. officials said the rockets' markings, and the location of their discovery, give them a "high degree" of confidence that they came from the Revolutionary Guard's overseas unit, the Qods Force.
U.S. defense officials are also increasingly concerned that Iran's stepped-up military activities in the Persian Gulf could inadvertently trigger a clash. A number of near misses involving Iranian and allied ships and planes in those waters in recent months have caused Navy officials to call for improved communication in the Gulf.
Iran's assertive foreign policy comes amid a growing power struggle between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Many of the president's closest aides have been detained on alleged corruption charges in recent weeks, raising questions as to whether Mr. Ahmadinejad will serve out his term.U.S. and European officials also say Iran has grown increasingly aggressive in trying to influence the political rebellions across the Middle East and North Africa. Tehran is alleged to have dispatched military advisers to Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad put down a popular uprising.
In recent months, according to U.S. officials, Iran has also increased its intelligence and propaganda activities in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen, countries where pro-U.S. leaders have either fallen or come under intense pressure.
Iranian officials denied in interviews and briefings this week that the Revolutionary Guard played any role in arming militants in Iraq and Afghanistan. They charged the U.S. with concocting these stories to justify maintaining an American military presence in the region.
"This is the propaganda of the Americans. They are worried because they have to leave Iraq very soon, according to the plan," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast. "They are better off going home and sorting out their own domestic problems."
Iranians officials have also accused the U.S. and Israel of interfering in Iranian affairs, including assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists and supporting opposition groups. The U.S. and Israel have denied this.
In recent weeks, Iran's leadership invited the presidents of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq to Tehran to discuss regional affairs. Senior Iranian officials made it clear during those meetings that they wanted an accelerated exit of American forces from the region.
"Americans want to have permanent bases in Afghanistan, and this is dangerous because the real security will not be established as long as the American military forces are present," Ayatollah Khamenei told Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week, according to Iranian state media.
Iraq has in recent years been a proxy battlefield for the U.S. and Iran. U.S. officials in Iraq said the Qods Force is training and arming three primary militias that have in recent months attacked U.S. and Iraqi forces. Kata'ib Hezbollah, or Brigades of the Party of God, is viewed as the one most directly taking orders from Revolutionary Guard commanders in Iran. Two others, the Promise Day Brigade and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, are offshoots of the Mahdi Army headed by the anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who currently lives in Iran.
Over the past six months, Kata'ib Hezbollah has escalated attacks on U.S. forces employing weapons called IRAMs, or improvised rocket-assisted munitions. The weapons are often propane tanks packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives and powered by rockets. Militiamen launch the weapons from the backs of flatbed trucks.
Kata'ib Hezbollah claimed credit for a June 6 IRAM attack that killed six American troops at Camp Victory, near Baghdad International Airport. This week, three more Americans were killed when an IRAM struck a desert base just a few miles from the Iranian border in Iraq's Wasit Province, according to U.S. officials.
"We believe the militias see themselves as in competition with each other," said Gen. Buchanan. "They want to claim credit for making us leave Iraq."
The U.S. believes Iranian involvement in Afghanistan is significantly lower than in Iraq. But U.S. officials said they have seen clear evidence that the Revolutionary Guard has transferred longer-range rockets to elements of the Taliban that significantly enhance their ability to target U.S. and other NATO forces.
In February, British forces intercepted a shipment of four dozen 122-millimeter rockets moving through Afghanistan's desolate Nimruz Province near the Iranian and Pakistan borders. The rockets have an estimated range of about 13 miles, more than double the distance of the majority of the Taliban's other rockets.
"It was the first time we've seen that weapon," said a senior U.S. defense official in Afghanistan. "We saw that as upping the ante a bit from the kind of support we've seen in the past."
U.S. officials stressed that most of Iran's influence in Afghanistan is channeled through "soft power"—business, aid and diplomacy. But these officials said the deployment of more U.S. and NATO forces along the Afghan-Iranian border as part of the Obama administration's Afghanistan "surge" appears to have raised Iran's sense of insecurity.
These officials said Iran's support for the Taliban appears to wax and wane in relation to how successful Washington and NATO appear to be in stabilizing Afghanistan. Shiite-majority Iran has traditionally viewed the Taliban, a Sunni group, with trepidation. The two sides nearly fought a war in 1998 after the Taliban executed Iranian diplomats based in the central Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
"They're supporting the Taliban because they want us out of here," said the U.S. official in Afghanistan. "If we're making gains, I can see them upping their support. If they're making gains, they'll probably stay quiet."
In large part because of the growing wariness over Iran's backing of Shiite militias in Iraq, the U.S. is considering altering its withdrawal plans from the country, say administration and defense officials.
All U.S. forces are due to depart at the end of the year, but senior American officials have hinted loudly that they would like Baghdad to ask the U.S. to keep a viable force in the country beyond that date. Some administration and military officials have talked about retaining 10,000 troops in Iraq.
Military officials and defense analysts cite Iran as a prime justification for extending the U.S. presence. They say Iran is trying to use its military, which is much more powerful than Iraq's, and Shiite proxy militias inside Iraq to pressure Baghdad to maintain close ties with Tehran.
Adm. William McRaven, the administration's nominee to lead Special Operations Command, told a Senate panel this week that he favors keeping a commando force in Iraq that would be available to counter threats.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Seattle School District is requesting a waiver (departure) from some City zoning regulations for the construction of a new Jane Addams K-8 @ Pinehurst. The District plans to demolish the existing school and construct a new Kindergarten thru 8th grade school including gym/commons, library, administrative offices, classrooms and other learning areas at 11530 12th Avenue. The School District is requesting modifications for increase lot coverage, greater than allowed height, less than required on-site parking spaces and on-street bus loading.
The process for considering this request includes hearings before an advisory committee composed of neighbors and School District and City representatives. The Committee will gather and evaluate public comment on the departure requests. It can recommend a waiver (departure) from some regulations and any relevant conditions to be applied to minimize its impacts on the surrounding neighborhood, or it can recommend denial. The Committee may make its recommendation following this meeting or hold up to two additional meetings prior to making its recommendation.
The Committee has been formed and will host its first public meeting on Thursday, March 13 at 6:30 pm at the Pinehurst Building (Library), 11530 12th Avenue NE.
The meeting will include a brief presentation on the requested modifications to development standards (zoning) that have been requested. Following this presentation, the Committee will consider its recommendations. An additional meeting may be held if the Committee concludes that more information is needed.
The public is invited to make comments at the meeting. Written comments may also be submitted to:
Steve Sheppard
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
700 5th Avenue, Suite 1700
P.O. Box 94649
Seattle, WA 98124-4649
For more information, call Steve Sheppard at 684-0302, or e-mail email@example.com.


text:
- Furniture
- Decor
- Jewelry
- Bags
- Clothing
- Kitchen
- Pets
- Our Story
$ 154.00
Collections: Clothing, Women's Clothing, Women's Swimwear
You are geometry. Geometry is the universe. All geometry is sacred. - - Inspired by the art of geometric shapes, this reversible suit is designed with four-way flex to fit your unique geometry. This suit features cheeky coverage in the back, a scoop neckline, and beautiful geometric artwork.
5% Donated to Bring Yoga To At-Risk Youth: For each sale, we donate 5% of profits to bring the sacred practice of yoga into incarcerated settings, teaching yoga to at-risk youth. The practice of yoga helps to quiet the mind, leading to better focus, less anxiety, and more self confidence.
Sizing Notes (swimwear size chart)
Our garments are all created from OEKO-Tex certified recycled PET, a fabric that is created by breaking down existing plastic that is currently clogging up our landfills and polluting our oceans. This certification ensures that our material is free of harmful and toxic chemicals. Our sustainability practices are rooted in a deep appreciation for our earth and the support it lends to all beings. Our team is made up of artists, vegans, and environmental protection activists. We believe in always making the sustainable and mindful choice when it comes to what you are putting in and on your body. This is more than an artisan brand. We believe our earth and our bodies must exist as one, and it is up to us to save the very mother that created us and supports us every day of our lives.


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A registered sex offender and convicted child rapist is being observed by South Carolina cops in the presumed deaths of two young women, including a New York teenager who disappeared while on spring break in Myrtle Beach nearly three years ago, Fox News just reported.
Each year, more than 1.5 million students go on spring break, spending $1 billion on their spring flings. According to a University of Wisconsin study, 75 percent of those college men and 43 percent of the women are daily intoxicated during that week. And 1 in 5 of those women and 3 in 4 of those men are on the hunt for sexual encounters.
But here's the news flash: So are sexual predators, and several of the top destinations for spring breaks have become hot spots for them. Any wonder why?
Remember this, too: More than one-third of people who commit sex offenses against youths are younger than 18. Seven percent of them are girls. More than 66 percent of rape victims between the ages of 18 and 29 claimed to have known their attacker. And according to the U.S. State Department, rapes "commonly but not exclusively occur at night or in the early morning hours, and often involve alcohol and the nightclub environment."
But if you think Americanized resorts south of the border are the way to go, think again. Tom Crosby, AAA Carolinas' vice president of communications, told Fox News, "We get a lot of people traveling to Cancun, but Mexico is the place with the most (safety) uncertainty."
Ross Thompson, co-founder of the travel safety company Mayday360, warned that the greatest hazard for U.S. college students in Cancun is that they "act like they are still in the U.S. and that the U.S. law will protect them. That's wrong, and that can add up to disaster."
Stratfor, a global intelligence company, just published its "Spring Break in Mexico 2013: Security Risks and Travel Tips," reporting: "While many people do travel to Mexico safely (approximately 150,000 U.S. citizens travel to the country each year), there is a misconception that cartels want to avoid interfering with the profitable tourism industry, or that they only target Mexican citizens. This simply is not true. … Many popular spring break locations foreigners perceive as having 'acceptable' levels of crime have experienced violence related to the drug wars raging in Mexico. Firefights between federal police or soldiers and gunmen armed with assault rifles have erupted without warning throughout Mexico, affecting mountain villages, large cities like Monterrey, and resort towns like Acapulco and Cancun."
According to the State Department, of the roughly 100,000 spring breakers who will travel to Mexico, "the vast majority" will enjoy their vacation, but "several may die, hundreds will be arrested, and still more will make mistakes that could affect them for the rest of their lives."
Stratfor says that if travel to Mexico is planned or necessary, visitors would be very wise to heed the following:
"–Do not drive at night.
"–Use only pre-arranged transportation between the airport and the resort or hotel.
"–If at a resort, plan on staying there; refrain from going into town, particularly at night.
"–If you do go into town (or anywhere off the resort property), do not accept a ride from unknown persons, do not go into suspicious-looking or run-down bars, do not wander away from brightly lit public places and do not wander on the beach at night.
"–Stop at all roadblocks.
"–Do not bring anything with you that you are not willing to have taken from you.
"–If confronted by an armed individual who demands the possessions on your person, give them up.
"–Do not bring ATM cards linked to your bank account (among other things, an ATM card can facilitate an express kidnapping.)
"–Do not get irresponsibly intoxicated.
"–Do not accept a drink from a stranger, regardless of your sex.
"–Do not make yourself a tempting target by wearing expensive clothing or jewelry.
"–Do not venture out alone, but bear in mind that being part of a group does not guarantee safety."
But maybe the best and wisest thing for us to do is simply to quit risking lives and limbs for a week of self-indulgent ecstasy.
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven C. McCraw has the best tip here: "Underestimating the violence in Mexico would be a mistake for parents and students. Our safety message is simple: Avoid traveling to Mexico during spring break and stay alive."
What I've learned about today's college-aged adults is that they are compassionate and want to better their world. So why not try one of the volunteer-based alternative spring break ideas mentioned on About.com's "Student Travel" page? And how about parents offer to pay for these life adventures rather than for those that place our kids at risk?
Conservation and home building projects with United Way or Habitat for Humanity are always looking for volunteers. Or check with local churches about their mission trips to rebuild lives or aid the poor inside or outside our country.
Regardless of your or your child's destination, when traveling within the U.S. and its territories, always search a five-mile radius for sex offenders and other criminals at online national registries and watchdog sites, such ashttp://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/registry: and: http://www.criminalpages.com.
There are more than 400,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S., so the worth of the national registry is obvious, but keep in mind that those lists are not exhaustive. And no list can offer protection from a first offense, so don't ignore your conscience and instincts.
I'm not trying to be an alarmist; I'm just tired of people staring at common sense and discarding it like a joker from a deck of cards.
You know the saying, "If you play with fire, you get burned." It's also good to remember that a spark neglected can rage into an inferno.
Time to wake up, America! Times are changing.
Just because it's spring break doesn't mean sexual predators and criminals take the week off. Fire takes no holiday.
Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook's "Official Chuck Norris Page." He blogs at: http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com.


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César-Auguste Franck (December 10, 1822 - November 8, 1890) was born in Liège. As early as the 16th century, his ancestors had displayed artistic inclinations, and both César and his brother Joseph showed musical ability at a young age. These were seized upon by their father, who insisted they enter Liège Conservatoire. Still only 11, César emerged from the Conservatoire with honors, ready to embark on a career as an adolescent keyboard virtuoso, together with the older brother who was a fine violinist. After provincial tours, the father moved the entire family to Paris so that both boys could attend the Paris Conservatoire. César progressed rapidly and was ready to attempt the Prix de Rome when his father withdrew him so that he and his brother could go on tour and earn money. By this time, César was composing prolifically (chiefly to provide himself and his brother music to perform) and by the age of 12 had already completed at least two piano concertos. Even at this stage his compositions showed a command of form and technique, hinting at the heights that his mature works would achieve.
By 1846 Franck was tiring of the life of a professional pianist, despite his father's attempts to drive him on. Now in his mid-twenties, he was ready to assert his independence. He became engaged to the daughter of a well known actress and the two were married in 1848 during the chaos of the revolution. His family was scandalized by the marriage, but César settled with his wife in Paris, where he earned a living as an organist, choirmaster and private tutor while continuing to compose. It was only after 20 years of such toil that he received in 1872 the appointment as organ professor at the Paris Conservatoire. An entirely unworldly and straightforward man, Franck's lack of cunning and inability to ingratiate himself with those in power were probably responsible for such a long delay in the recognition of his undoubted talents.
By 1873 he was busy composing the oratorio Les Beatitudes, the first of his mature works which is still regularly performed today. His teaching career continued uninterrupted and in time he came to be more highly regarded by talented pupils such as Vincent d'Indy, Ernst Chausson and Pierre de Bréville than any other teacher at the Conservatoire; although he was nominally in charge of organ lessons only, his broad interest in music and deep understanding of composition equipped him to impart more information to talented and inquisitive students than their own backward-looking composition professors.
Yet Franck gained little or no recognition for the stream of mature compositions now issuing from his pen. A private concert at his home in 1879 was virtually ignored by his peers. During the 1880s he composed his greatest orchestral masterpieces, including the two symphonic poems, Le Chasseur Maudit (1882) and Les Djinns (1884), his famous Symphonic Variations (1885), the Symphony in D minor (1886-88) and Psyché (1887-88), as well as the brilliant Violin Sonata in A Major (1886), but none of this music was performed until another private concert in 1887, which was organized by his students in an effort to publicize their mentor's talents, but the ill-rehearsed concert was a failure. Similarly, when his symphony received a premiere in 1889 from the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, it was doomed before it was even played: the orchestra had no interest in the music and performed it badly, and the subscribers who supported the Society's events expressed little desire to hear the work again.
In 1890 he achieved an unexpected success: the Ysaÿe Quartet performed his String Quartet in D and it receives positive reviews – the first of his long career as a composer. Yet he was to achieve no more, for in the spring of that year he was knocked down by an omnibus in Paris, receiving injuries to his side. After a short period of recuperation he declared himself fit and returned to work. However, his injuries were clearly not repaired and a few months later he developed pleurisy, quickly succumbing in his weakened state. At his death he remained still largely unrecognized, many of his greatest late works unperformed and unknown to all but his closest friends and loyal students. It was a former student of his, Charles Bordes, who wrote a compelling biography of his mentor which did much to turn the tide of public opinion in Franck's favor.
The mature works of his last two decades display the kind of melodic shape, harmonic construction and overall atmosphere which can be traced back to his long employment as organist/composer for Saint Clotilde Basilica in Paris. Franck was one of the first composers to aim at creating music which sustains a meditative mood without being histrionic or melodramatic: this is best exemplified by his masterpiece, the Symphonic Variations, in which the listener can virtually hear the composer improvising his variations at a church organ, especially at the crucial shift from major to minor midway through the piece. Such a strong individualist either creates a broad school of imitators and acolytes, or stands apart from the mainstream; Franck's music, though widely admired in the decades after his death, led to no school, as "Debussyism" was to do within ten years of Franck's demise. However, his influence on the succedeing generation of composers was extremely wide: among his pupils were Henri Duparc, Guillaume Lekeu, Guy Ropartz, Paul Dukas, Gabriel Pierné, Alexandre Guilmant and Albéric Magnard.
In addition to the works already mentioned, his organ music demands attention, partly for the clue it gives to his overall output, but also for the special nature of the late compositions. Franck's organ music appeared at a time when organ music in France was becalmed and of little interest; his raising of its standards left a legacy built on later by Frenchmen such as Charles-Marie Widor and Olivier Messiaen. His Six Pieces (1862) contained in embryo many of the musical ideas he later developed, while the Three Pieces (1878) and his last completed compositions, Three Organ Chorales (1890), are masterly expositions, the chorales for the most part using the variation form to excellent effect and exude a wonderfully mystic, almost transcendental, air. They are outstanding works which should be placed among his orchestral and chamber pieces in any summary of his best compositions.


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|SQL*Module for Ada Programmer's Guide
Release 8.0
This chapter describes SQL standard Module Language, including Oracle's extensions to standard Module Language. It discusses the following topics:
This chapter does not cover the use of SQL*Module to provide interfaces to stored procedures. See Chapter 3, "Accessing Stored Procedures" for information about calling stored procedures from a host application.
A module is a single file that contains
The easiest way to see how a module is constructed is to look at an example. The small module below contains a cursor declaration, procedures that open and close the cursor, and a procedure that uses the cursor to fetch data from the familiar EMP table. Two consecutive dashes (- -) begin a comment, which continues to the end of the line. Case is not significant.
-- the preamble (contains three clauses) -- MODULE EXAMPLE1_MOD -- Define a module named example1_mod. LANGUAGE Ada -- The procedures are compiled into -- Ada, and called from an -- Ada application. AUTHORIZATION SCOTT/TIGER -- Use Scott's tables. -- His password is "tiger" -- (the password does not have to -- be specified in the module file). -- Declare a cursor for a SELECT statement that -- fetches four columns from the EMP table. -- dept_number will be specified -- in the procedure that opens the cursor. DECLARE cursor1 CURSOR FOR SELECT ename, empno, sal, comm FROM emp WHERE deptno = :dept_number -- Define a procedure named "open_cursor1" to open the cursor. -- After the procedure name is a comma-separated parameter list -- enclosed in ()'s. PROCEDURE open_cursor1 ( :dept_number INTEGER, SQLCODE); OPEN cursor1; -- The "fetch_emp_data" procedure gets data from the cursor. -- SQLCODE will return as 100 when there -- is no more data. PROCEDURE fetch_emp_data ( :empno INTEGER, :empname VARCHAR2(10), :sal REAL, :commission REAL, :comm_ind SMALLINT, SQLCODE); -- the SQL command is a FETCH on the cursor FETCH cursor1 INTO :empname, :empno, :sal, :commission INDICATOR :comm_ind; -- Define a procedure to close the cursor. PROCEDURE close_cursor1 (SQLCODE); CLOSE cursor1; -- Connect to a database PROCEDURE do_connect ( :dbname VARCHAR2(12), :username VARCHAR2(12), :passwd VARCHAR2(12), SQLCODE); CONNECT TO :dbname USER :username USING :passwd; -- Disconnect PROCEDURE do_disconnect (SQLCODE); DISCONNECT CURRENT;
In this example, the LANGUAGE clause (in the second line of the module) specifies "Ada". This module will be compiled into Ada code. For SQL*Module, this clause is optional. When present, it is, in effect, a comment.
When SQL*Module compiles this module, it transforms the procedures into Ada language procedures that open the cursor and call library routines to fetch the data. SQL*Module also generates a package specification file, which must be compiled into the Ada library and referenced in the host application using a with context clause. See Chapter 5, "Running SQL*Module" in this Guide for information on running SQL*Module, and Chapter 6, "Demonstration Programs" for information about Ada specification files.
To complete the example, a short Ada program that calls the procedures defined in the module file in "An Example Module" on page 2-2 follows.
-- Include TEXT_IO,SQL_STANDARD and EXAMPLE1_MOD package specs. with SQL_STANDARD, TEXT_IO, EXAMPLE1_MOD; use SQL_STANDARD; -- Define the main procedure. procedure EXAMPLE1_DRV is -- Instantiate new packages for I/O on SQL_STANDARD datatypes. package STD_INT_IO is new text_io.integer_io(SQL_STANDARD.INT); use STD_INT_IO; package SQLCODE_IO is new text_io.integer_io(SQL_STANDARD.SQLCODE_TYPE); use SQLCODE_IO; package STD_FLOAT_IO is new text_io.float_io(SQL_STANDARD.REAL); use STD_FLOAT_IO; -- Begin with declarations of all program variables, -- including parameters for the module procedures. SERVICE_NAME : string(1..12) := "INST1_ALIAS "; USERNAME : string(1..12) := "SCOTT "; PASSWORD : string(1..12) := "TIGER "; DEPT_NUMBER : SQL_STANDARD.INT; EMPLOYEE_NUMBER : SQL_STANDARD.INT; EMPLOYEE_NAME : string(1..10); SALARY : SQL_STANDARD.REAL; COMMISSION : SQL_STANDARD.REAL; COMM_IND : SQL_STANDARD.SMALLINT; SQLCODE : SQL_STANDARD.SQLCODE_TYPE; LENGTH : integer; CONNECT_ERROR : exception; SQLCODE_ERROR : exception; begin -- Call a module procedure to connect -- to the Oracle server. EXAMPLE1_MOD.DO_CONNECT (SERVICE_NAME, USERNAME, PASSWORD, SQLCODE); -- Test SQLCODE to see if the connect succeeded. if SQLCODE /= 0 then raise CONNECT_ERROR; end if; TEXT_IO.NEW_LINE(2); -- Get an input value from user to use -- in opening the cursor. TEXT_IO.PUT("Enter department number: "); STD_INT_IO.GET(DEPT_NUMBER); TEXT_IO.NEW_LINE; -- Call the module procedure to open the cursor. -- You open the cursor using the input parameter (dept_number). EXAMPLE1_MOD.OPEN_CURSOR1(DEPT_NUMBER, SQLCODE); -- If SQLCODE indicates error, call exception handler. if SQLCODE < 0 then raise SQLCODE_ERROR; end if; TEXT_IO.PUT_LINE("Employee ID Number Salary Commission"); TEXT_IO.PUT("----------------------------------------"); -- Call the FETCH procedure in a loop, to get -- the employee data. loop EXAMPLE1_MOD.FETCH_EMP_DATA (EMPLOYEE_NUMBER, EMPLOYEE_NAME, SALARY, COMMISSION, COMM_IND, SQLCODE); TEXT_IO.NEW_LINE; -- When SQLCODE = 100, no more rows to fetch. exit when SQLCODE = 100; -- When SQLCODE less than 0, an error occurred. if SQLCODE < 0 then raise SQLCODE_ERROR; end if; TEXT_IO.PUT(string(EMPLOYEE_NAME)); STD_INT_IO.PUT(EMPLOYEE_NUMBER, WIDTH => 9); STD_FLOAT_IO.PUT(SALARY, FORE => 6, AFT => 2, EXP => 0); if COMM_IND = 0 then STD_FLOAT_IO.PUT(COMMISSION, FORE => 9, AFT => 2, EXP => 0); else TEXT_IO.PUT(" Null"); end if; end loop; TEXT_IO.NEW_LINE(2); -- Call the procedure to close the cursor. EXAMPLE1_MOD.CLOSE_CURSOR1(SQLCODE); -- Call the procedure to disconnect. EXAMPLE1_MOD.DO_DISCONNECT(SQLCODE); -- Handle the error exception. exception when SQLCODE_ERROR => TEXT_IO.NEW_LINE(2); TEXT_IO.PUT("Error fetching data, SQLCODE returns "); PUT(SQLCODE); TEXT_IO.NEW_LINE(2); when CONNECT_ERROR => TEXT_IO.PUT("Connect failure to " & string(SERVICE_NAME)); TEXT_IO.NEW_LINE(2); end EXAMPLE1_DRV;
This example demonstrates several important points about SQL*Module:
This section is an informal guide to Module Language syntax, including Oracle's extensions to the language. See Appendix B to this Guide for a formal description of Module Language syntax.
A module is contained in a single file and consists of
The preamble is a set of clauses at the beginning of a module file that describes the module. The clauses are
The MODULE clause gives a name to the module. The argument is the module name, which must be a legal SQL identifier.
Note: A SQL identifier is a string containing only the 26 letters A through Z, the digits 0 through 9, and the underscore ("_"). The identifier must start with a letter, and cannot be longer than 30 characters (18 characters to comply with the SQL89 standard). You can use lowercase letters (a..z), but a SQL identifier is not case sensitive. So, the identifiers "THIS_IDENTIFIER" and "this_identifier" are equivalent. The characters'$' and'#' are also allowed in a SQL identifier, but you should avoid using them, as they have special meaning in many languages and operating systems.
The module name must be supplied. The module name must be the same as the name of the Ada library unit that you use when you store the Ada-compiled output in your Ada library.
The LANGUAGE clause specifies the target language. It takes one argument - the language name, which must be Ada (case is not significant).
The LANGUAGE clause is optional in SQL*Module. See Chapter 5, "Running SQL*Module" for more information about running SQL*Module.
The AUTHORIZATION clause is required. This clause can determine, or help to determine, the database and schema that SQL*Module uses at compile time.
The argument to the AUTHORIZATION clause can take one of four forms:
- scott
- scott/tiger
scott@{instance_alias | net8_connection_string} }
- scott/tiger@{instance_alias | net8_connection_string}
The instance_alias is an alias containing a database name defined in the tnsnames.ora file. For more information, talk to your database administrator, or see the manual Net8 Administrator's Guide.
If you do not include the password in the AUTHORIZATION clause, you can specify it when you run SQL*Module, using the USERID command line option. If you do not specify a USERID value that contains a password, SQL*Module prompts you for a password. If a database name is not supplied, SQL*Module connects using the default database for the specified user.
Note: For security reasons, omit the password in the SQL*Module or in any configuration file. You will be prompted for the password at runtime.
An application that calls module procedures is in effect submitting SQL cursor declarations and SQL statements to Oracle for processing at runtime. The application runs with the privileges of the user executing the application, not the schema specified either in the AUTHORIZATION clause or at runtime, when the Module Language code was compiled by SQL*Module.
So, when the application is executed, the user must be able to connect to the database using the same schema as that specified when the modules were compiled, in order to guarantee access to all database objects referenced in the modules.
When a query can return multiple rows of data, you must declare a cursor for the statement. There are two different kinds of cursor that you can use in Module Language. You can declare an ANSI-standard cursor in your module file, and write module language procedures to OPEN the cursor, FETCH from it, and CLOSE it. Or, you can use a cursor variable. Cursor variables are described in "Cursor Variables" on page 3-9.
Using a cursor, you retrieve data one row at a time using the SQL FETCH command. Standard cursors are established in Module Language using the DECLARE CURSOR statement.
Note: The cursor name is a SQL identifier; it is not a procedure name. So, the cursor name does not need to be a valid Ada identifier.
The SQL statement in a DECLARE CURSOR clause must not include an INTO clause. The INTO clause is used in the FETCH command in the procedure that references the cursor.
You cannot use parameters when you declare a standard cursor. A placeholder is used instead. Placeholders in a cursor declaration must correspond by name to the parameters in the procedure that opens the cursor.
Note the way the variable dept_number is used in the following module fragment, taken from the example used earlier in this chapter:
DECLARE cursor1 CURSOR FOR SELECT ename, empno, sal, comm FROM emp WHERE deptno = :dept_number PROCEDURE open_cursor1 (:dept_number INTEGER, SQLCODE); OPEN cursor1;
The cursor declaration is NOT terminated with a semicolon. If you do so, SQL*Module generates a syntax error.
Caution: If the application consists of several modules, a cursor cannot be declared in one module, then referenced in another. Nevertheless, cursor names must be unique across all modules in the application.
A procedure definition consists of a
The procedure name is a SQL identifier, and should also be a legal Ada identifier. Procedure names must be unique in the application.
Each procedure in a module must have a distinct name. The procedure name space extends over all modules of an application, so when the application uses more than one module, each procedure must still have a distinct name.
The parameter list contains one or more formal parameters. Each parameter must have a distinct name, which is a SQL identifier. One of the parameters must be a status parameter: SQLSTATE or SQLCODE. It can appear anywhere in the parameter list. You can include both. See "Status Parameters" on page 2-17 for more information about status parameters.
In SQL89 Module Language, you defined a procedure using the syntax
PROCEDURE proc_name <param_1> <datatype_1> <param_2> <datatype_2> SQLCODE; <sql_statement>;
where <param_n> is a formal parameter name and <datatype_n> is a SQL datatype. Following the SQL92 standard, SQL*Module allows the syntax
PROCEDURE proc_name ( :<param_1> <datatype_1>, :<param_2> <datatype_2>, SQLSTATE | SQLCODE ); <sql_statement>;
where the parameter list is surrounded by parentheses, and parameters are separated by commas.
Note: You cannot mix SQL89 and SQL92 syntax. If you separate the elements of the parameter list using commas, you must also place parentheses around the parameter list.
When SQL*Module generates the output procedures, the formal parameters appear with the same names, and in the same order, as they appear in the module procedure. You can use the parameter access conventions appropriate for the Ada language when calling the output procedure from the application. Thus Ada programmers can use named parameter association in place of, or in addition to, positional parameter association.
Table 2-1 lists the SQL and Oracle datatypes that you can use in a module parameter list.For more information about arrays, see "Arrays as Procedure Arguments" on page 4-9.
SQL Datatype
single character
character string of length L bytes
approximate numeric
exact numeric, no fractional part
approximate numeric
exact numeric, no fractional part, equal to or smaller in range than INTEGER
Oracle Datatype
variable-length character string of length L bytes
SQL*Module Datatypes:
cursor variable type
task context
Arrays of SQL Datatypes shown above. N is the number of elements.
CHARACTER can be abbreviated CHAR. INTEGER can be abbreviated INT.
The SQL standard for Module Language allows the use of only a subset of the SQL datatypes for Ada.
Note: All parameters for Module Language procedures must be scalars, arrays, or strings. Records and access types are not supported.
Module Language supports the following SQL statement:
The DELETE and UPDATE commands may be either searched (the normal mode) or positioned (using the WHERE CURRENT OF <cursor_name> clause). You can use the OPEN command only for ANSI-standard cursors. You must open cursor variables on the Oracle Server, using PL/SQL code.
In general, Module Language is not case sensitive. You can enter keywords and identifiers in any mixture of uppercase and lowercase. Case is significant, however, in character string literals.
Text in a module file is free form. White space (spaces, tabs, and new lines) can be placed anywhere in the file to improve readability. The only exception to this is that identifiers, keywords, and string literals cannot be continued to a new line.
The maximum length of a line in a module is 512 characters.
SQL*Module allows comments in a module file. You can place comments anywhere that white space can appear, except in string literals.
There are two comment styles: SQL-style comments and C-style comments. A SQL-style comment starts with two consecutive dashes, which can appear anywhere on a line, and ends at the end of the line. For example:
-- This is a SQL(or Ada)style comment. -- For multiline comments, you must place the comment -- dashes on each line.
A C-style comment begins with a slash immediately followed by an asterisk (/*), and ends at the next occurrence of an asterisk immediately followed by a slash (*/). C-style comments can span more than one line. C-style comments cannot be nested.
The following example demonstrates the C-style comment:
/* * This comment style is often used to * introduce a procedure. */
You use indicator parameters to set the null/not null status of another (associated) parameter, or to "indicate" if a column value retrieved on a query was null. In the module procedure parameter list, an indicator parameter always has a SMALLINT type. In the SQL statement, the indicator parameter follows the associated parameter, with no comma separation. The SQL92 standard allows the keyword INDICATOR to be used to separate the indicator parameter and its associated parameter.
In the following example, grade_indic is an indicator parameter:
PROCEDURE get_grade ( :grade REAL, :grade_indic SMALLINT, :class_number INTEGER, :student_id INTEGER, SQLCODE); SELECT grade INTO :grade INDICATOR :grade_indic FROM enrollment WHERE class_no = :class_number AND student_id = :student_id;
Following the SQL89 standard, the SELECT statement above would be written without the INDICATOR keyword, as follows:
SELECT grade INTO :grade :grade_indic FROM enrollment WHERE class_no = :class_number AND student_id = :student_id;
SQL*Module allows both uses of indicator parameters.
When an indicator parameter is returned from a procedure (an OUT parameter), as in the query example above, its returned value has the following meanings:
The Oracle column or expression is null. The value of the associated parameter (grade in this example) is indeterminate.
Oracle assigned a column or expression value to the associated parameter.
> 0
For character data, Oracle passed a truncated column value in the associated parameter. The value of the indicator parameter shows the original length of the value in the database column.
When indicator parameters are passed as IN parameters, you must set the value in your Ada program. A value of -1 means that Oracle will assign null to the column (regardless of the value of the associated parameter), and a value of zero or greater means that Oracle will use the value of the associated parameter in the UPDATE or INSERT command. Positive values greater than zero have no special meaning; they are equivalent to zero.
Caution: If you try to assign a null to a database column that has the NOT NULL constraint, an Oracle error is returned at runtime.
The following code fragment shows an Ada driver that calls a Module Language procedure with a null indicator parameter value:
with SQL_STANDARD; procedure DRV is SQLCODE : SQL_STANDARD.SQLCODE_TYPE; EMPLOYEE : string(1..10) := "SCOTT "; COMMISSION : SQL_STANDARD.REAL := 2000.0; COMM_IND : SQL_STANDARD.SMALLINT := -1; begin . . . UPDATE_COMMISSION(EMPLOYEE, COMMISSION, COMM_IND, SQLCODE); . . . end;
The corresponding Module Language procedure is:
PROCEDURE update_commission ( :employee_name VARCHAR2(10), :commission REAL, :comm_ind SMALLINT, SQLCODE); UPDATE emp SET comm = :commission INDICATOR :comm_ind WHERE ename = :employee_name;
In this example, the parameter commission with a value of 2000.0 is passed to the update_commission procedure. But, since the indicator parameter is set to -1, employee Scott's commission is set to null in the EMP table.
There are two special status parameters: SQLSTATE and SQLCODE. The status parameters return values to the calling Ada application that show if
You can place either one or both of the status parameters anywhere in the parameter list. They are always shown last in this Guide, but that is just an informal coding convention. The status parameters are not preceded by a colon, and they do not take a datatype specification. You cannot directly access the status parameters in the SQL statement in the procedure; they are set by SQL*Module.
SQLSTATE is the preferred status parameter; SQLCODE is retained for compatibility with older standards.
For more information about the status parameters and the values they return, see "Error Handling" on page 4-2.
SQL*Module compile time error messages have the MOD prefix. The codes and messages are listed in Oracle8 Messages.
The connect statement associates a program with a database, and sets the current connection. The syntax of the command is shown in the following syntax diagram. Key words, which you must spell exactly as shown, are in upper case; tokens you supply are in lower case. If a clause is optional, it is shown off the main path, which flows to from left to right. For a more complete discussion of syntax diagrams, see Appendix B, "Module Language Syntax".
A db-env (database environment) is a Net8 connect string or instance-alias. The conn-name (connection name) is optional. For multiple connections, you must specify the connection names. You can omit it if you will only use a single connection. The USING clause is optional. A passwd is the password..
Connecting as DEFAULT results in a connection to Oracle using either TWO_TASK (if it applies to your operating system) or ORACLE_SID and the account specified by the parameter os_authent_prefix in your file init.ora. The optional token passwd is the password.
The ANSI SQL92 standard does not allow db-env to be optional. This is an Oracle extension (which will be flagged by the FIPS option) which enables a connection to the default server as a specific user.
You must use Net8 in SQL*Module applications. Note that passwd can only be a variable and not a character string literal. All other variables can be either a character string literal or a variable previously defined, preceded by ":".
Here is a illustative code fragment from a module named demo.mad, which contains the following procedure to do a connect:
... PROCEDURE ora_connect (:dbid VARCHAR2(14), :dbname VARCHAR2(14), :uid VARCHAR2(14), :pwd VARCHAR2(14), SQLCODE); CONNECT TO :dbid AS :dbname USER :uid USING :pwd; ...
An Ada application can contain these statements to do the connect:
... pwd : constant string := "tiger"; ... DEMO.ORA_CONNECT("inst1","RMT1","scott",PWD,SQLCODE); if SQLCODE /= 0 then ...
For more information, see the Net8 Administrator's Guide and the Oracle8 Administrator's Guide.
The set connection statement sets the current connection. Its syntax is:
SET CONNECTION { connection-name | DEFAULT }
DEFAULT is a special case of the connection-name, '/', at the current ORACLE_SID.
The disconnect command ends an association between an application and a database environment. It can be summarized as:
DISCONNECT { connection-name | ALL | CURRENT | DEFAULT}
The full ANSI semantics are not followed. Instead of raising an exception condition if the connection has an active transaction, the transaction is (implicitly) rolled back and the connection(s) disconnected.
DISCONNECT ALL only disconnects connections which are established by SQLLIB (that is, by SQL*Module).
DISCONNECT DEFAULT and DISCONNECT connection-name terminate only the specified connection.
DISCONNECT CURRENT terminates the connection regarded by SQLLIB as the "current connection" (either the last connection established or the last connection specified in a SET CONNECTION statement).
After the current connection is disconnected, you must execute a set connection or a connect statement to establish a new current connection. Then you can execute any statement that requires a valid database connection.
You must explicitly commit or roll back the current transaction before disconnecting. If you do not commit the transaction before disconnecting, or if the program exits before committing, the current transaction is automatically rolled back.
Here is an example of two procedures from the module demo.mad illustrating the disconnect command:
... PROCEDURE ora_disconnect (:dbname VARCHAR2(14), SQLCODE) ; DISCONNECT :dbname; ... PROCEDURE ora_commit(SQLCODE); COMMIT WORK;
these procedures are called from your application as follows:
A required commit command was executed using the procedure ora_commit (which is also in the file demo.mad) just before the disconnect. .
Starting with release 8.0, multi-tasking Ada programs are supported by SQL*Module. The new commands that you use in a multi-tasking program are described in the following sections:
This command initializes the process for later use with Ada tasks. It must be called prior to the creation of any Ada tasks. It is:
The datatype, SQL_CONTEXT, is used to support multi-tasking applications. It points to SQLLIB's runtime context. You pass the context as a parameter to SQL*Module procedures. If it is passed, then it indicates which SQLLIB runtime context will be used for execution. If no SQL_CONTEXT parameter is passed, then SQL*Module uses the global runtime context of SQLLIB.
For example, here is a procedure that uses SQL_CONTEXT:
PROCEDURE seldept (:ctx SQL_CONTEXT, :dno INTEGER, SQLCODE); SELECT deptno INTO :dno FROM emp WHERE dname = 'SALES';
In this example, the select statement will use the runtime context pointed to by the variable ctx. ctx must have been previously allocated in a CONTEXT ALLOCATE statement. Note that you never reference the SQL_CONTEXT variable directly. It appears only in the code that SQL*Module generates.
This command allocates storage in memory for a SQLLIB runtime context that is used to support multi-tasking. An example is:
CONTEXT ALLOCATE :ctxvar;
ctxvar is of type SQL_CONTEXT. If sufficient storage is available, ctxvar will contain the address of the runtime context. Otherwise, ctxvar will be zero and an error will be returned in the provided status variables.
CONTEXT FREE frees all storage associated with the SQLLIB runtime context. It does not disconnect any active connection. Prior to deallocating the runtime context, you must execute the DISCONNECT command for each active connection.
The CONTEXT FREE statement always succeeds and ctxvar is zero after execution. If the context is ctxvar, then, an example is:
CONTEXT FREE :ctxvar;
Here is part of a module, adademo.mad:
PROCEDURE enable_threads (SQLCODE); ENABLE THREADS; PROCEDURE allocate_context (:ctx SQL_CONTEXT, SQLCODE); CONTEXT ALLOCATE :ctx; PROCEDURE free_context (:ctx SQL_CONTEXT, SQLCODE); CONTEXT FREE :ctx; PROCEDURE disconn_db (:ctx SQL_CONTEXT, :dbname VARCHAR2(14), SQLCODE); DISCONNECT :dbname;
these procedures are called as follows:
with ADADEMO; -- Declare contexts CTX1, CTX2 ... ADADEMO.ENABLE_THREADS(SQLCODE): ADADEMO.ALLOCATE_CONTEXT(CTX1, SQLCODE); ADADEMO.ALLOCATE_CONTEXT(CTX2, SQLCODE); -- Spawn tasks that process data: ...
An example of explicitly disconnecting and freeing contexts is:
-- After processing data: ... ADADEMO.DISCONN_DB(CTX1, DBNAM1); ADADEMO.DISCONN_DB(CTX2, DBNAM2); ADADEMO.FREE_CONTEXT(CTX1); ADADEMO.FREE_CONTEXT(CTX2);


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With the release of Bento 4, Filemaker's consumer-oriented database application offers vastly improved printing features, making it possible to create and print mailing labels without any Address Book voodoo or other parlor tricks. But Bento handles these printing tasks in a fashion far different from any other application that you may be using.
Setup: Unlike most database applications, which require you to create some kind of label document and then merge your data into that document, Bento handles the layout and merging of data from within the application's print dialog.
Printing mailing labels
When you select File->Print in Bento, you now have two options: Print Table/Form… (Command-P) and Print Labels… (Shift-Command-P). Selecting the latter opens a print dialog that provides all usual the print options, but you'll also see three tabs' Setup, Layout, and Appearance' that you use to configure Bento to print your labels.
Before you select the label printing option you first need to select the Bento collection (under Libraries) that contains the data you want to appear on the label.
Once the print dialog is open, select the Setup tab and you'll see five text fields you can use to type your own text or add fields from your Bento database. To begin adding merge data, place your cursor in one of the text fields and then using the Insert Field button select the fields that you want to have appear on your label. As you add each field, make sure you add spaces between each one.
Just below the five fields is a checkbox titled Address Labels. If the collection you are using is based on the Bento collection that displays your Mac's Address Book app data, putting a check in this box automatically inserts address information into your labels. Once checked, you can choose from the Address List pulldown menu whether you want to use a contact's home address, work address, or some other address. You also have options for adding images to your labels and for printing only the contacts you have selected in your Bento collection.
Layout: Bento's Layout tab is where you select a predefined Avery or DYMO label, but it's also where you can define your own labels if Bento doesn't offer the specific label that you need.
If you're using a standard Avery label your options are simple and fairly obvious. Find the Avery label number for your labels and then select that number from the list. If your label isn't in Bento's list of available labels, you can select the Define Custom and create your own template based on measurements provided with your labels.
When you select Define Custom… you first have to create a name for your custom label template and then enter the measurements into one of the eight available fields used to define the label's margins, how many rows and columns of labels there are, and whether your labels have gutters (spaces) between them. Once you've entered your measurement information the label you create will always be available for reuse.
Appearance: Bento's Appearance tab offers you several options for changing the way that your labels look when they're printed. You can adjust fonts, font sizes, and colors using the Appearance tab. Selecting the Print Label Border checkbox will print a light outline around each label, helping you make sure that your custom labels will work the way you expect them to.
Printing Forms
Whether you're printing a form or table, Bento offers the same set of options for the way your data appears when printed, most of which are designed to make your printed data look attractive and not like a screenshot of your Bento database.
Under the Print section you have the option of printing only the records you currently have selected in your database, all the currently displayed records or, if you're printing a form instead of a table, you can print a blank form. Also, if you're printing forms, you may choose to print only one record per page. The Print Labels button switches you from the Table/Form print dialog to the Label print dialog.
The Options section of the print dialog is used to define what your printed document will look like and what metadata information is printed along with your forms and tables. The Don't print background option removes all of the background color from your printed form, which, beyond making your forms look cleaner, will save you a significant amount of toner or ink.
Include title banner places the name of the Bento collection you're printing above every record that's printed. Include page numbers, date, and time adds a footer to every page you print and inserts the selected information. Fit to width is only available when you print a table; it shrinks the width of your table so that it does not span more than one printed page. The Show field labels and borders checkboxes reveal or remove the names and lines used to help define your data when working in your Bento database.
Bento 4's improved print options make the process of printing labels, tables, and forms more fun and makes the output derived from your information nicer to look at and easier to interpret.
[Jeffery Battersby is a regular contributor to Macworld. Get more Jeff than you want on the Revenge of the Fanboy! podcast and on his blog.]


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|Rating Preview
|Fun Factor
|Single Player
The term 'sandbox gameplay,' describing open-ended and expansive game worlds with a considerably higher level of freedom than typical gaming experiences has become somewhat of a buzzword as of late. The sub-genre was arguably pioneered by Grand Theft Auto 3, with many games copying or modifying the hugely successful formula that made that game so popular; a game with a large world to explore where the central plot takes place around a series of 'missions'. However, it's with considerable bravado that Crackdown has dared to be different, placing the protagonist in the large and detailed Pacific City and tasking them with wiping out gang leaders one by one. The game simply advises the player on the order in which to tackle these boss characters, however it's left entirely up to their judgment, giving the game a feeling of complete freedom that is largely unparalleled by similar titles in the genre. However, this lack of a set structure is both the game's unique selling point and it's main flaw. Without a visible path to follow, the game can feel disjointed in parts and even incomplete at times.
Perhaps indicative of the nature of the gameplay is the storyline. The game has an extremely simple plot; Pacific City is gripped in a state of total anarchy; law enforcement is at an all-time low and organized crime is ruling the streets. Enter 'The Agency,' a monolithic organization that has taken upon itself to restore order within the city, using genetically engineered 'Agents' to tackle crime as an effective one man army. These agents have the ability to increase their five core skills through continued usage of weaponry and explosives, displays of athletic and physical prowess and competent driving skills. When you are killed in action, rather than dying and simply respawning with no explanation, an agent's personality and abilities are transferred into a new body allowing you to continue your crime fighting activities indefinitely. The game consists of the central island that houses The Agency and three surrounding island districts, each one home to a different gang. Each gang has six key members and a kingpin, and it's up to the player in which order they assassinate them. Weakening the kingpin's defenses by taking out his underlings is advised but not necessary, and once all three gangs have been completely disposed of, the game reaches it's ending. The ending however, is disappointing and feels rushed but in a game so devoid of an engaging plot it's not really a hindrance more so an annoyance.
Explosions are extremely satisfying in Crackdown
The plot is however unimportant and serves merely as an excuse for the gameplay, throwing you into a relatively large and expansive cityscape with just you and your own abilities for protection. If you follow the game's advice on which order to take out the gang members, the learning curve is structured pretty well, the first few bosses perched atop the roofs of low buildings with only a small number of guards for protection. While these do provide the player with a fairly challenging experience at low skill ranks, they are far from difficult, slowly easing the player into the regular routine of assaulting a gang stronghold and what it entails. While these assaults vary throughout the game, the basic formula remains the same; enter that particular gang member's stronghold, take out their guards, assassinate them and escape. That's not to say it becomes monotonous though, the game mixes it up enough to keep it feeling fresh at least for the entire duration of the first play-through. One particular highlight is towards the end of the third island (presuming that one is defeating the gang members in the advised order) where the player is given a choice of either storming in all guns blazing, making their way up the spiral lobby towards the top of the skyscraper structure or opting to take an elevator at the risk of leaving behind the guards on the lower levels. Of course, you could also just climb the outside of the building if your agility is high enough and go straight for your target but this can often result in death unless suitably prepared.
The RPG element of the game is fairly well managed, as mentioned you possess five core skills that you can improve in a variety of ways; firearms effectiveness is increased by gunning down enemies, similarly physical strength is leveled up by beating thugs down with your raw strength, however picking up and throwing objects or bodies at criminals also serves to increase this skill. Explosives is increased by either firing an explosive weapon at criminals, akin to the firearms attribute or, interestingly enough, through using explosive items to your advantage such as oil barrels or ammunition crates. Your driving and agility skills are governed differently, however. While you can increase your driving by running down gangsters, you can also complete 'road races', which are simply just checkpoint races, similar to the way you can increase your agility. 'Rooftop races' are very similar to road races but as the name would suggest, take place around high points around the city. Bringing in a collector aspect are also 'agility orbs' which serve as another method of increasing this skill. There are a total of 500 to collect and this can become time consuming, but it's by no means laborious and it will probably keep the completists playing the game happy. As well as this, there are stunt markers which you can jump through in a vehicle to increase your driving skill and 'Hidden Orbs'. Similar to hidden packages from the Grand Theft Auto series, there are 300 of these orbs and when collected they give a small boost to all five of your core skills.
Look familiar, GTA Fans?
While you can play through the game without experiencing the co-operative element, it's ill advised to overlook this feature. It feels clumsily implemented, however; when a player requests to join your game in progress, your game saves and then exits to connect to the other user before putting you both back into the game afresh. The overall experience is fun and doesn't suffer from too many latency issues, despite the sheer scope of the game's world. The co-op is basically the same as the single player mode but with a few small attractions sprinkled throughout; rocket tag, checkpoint challenges (which typically involve scouring the entire city high and low in a race to get to a faraway checkpoint before your partner) and the ability to play rooftop and road races competitively. A major let down is that when the other player leaves the game, it again exits and pushes you back into single player. A seamless, transitional experience would have been preferred but the actual playability of the co-operative mode is such that it makes up for this easily.
Visually, this title stands out in stark contrast to other games in the genre. It at first appears to be cel-shaded but is given an oddly unique appearance by texturing the characters and objects with more detail than most games using this graphical stylization. It's pleasing to look at and feels right in accordance with the extraordinary nature of the gameplay. The draw distance is very impressive too, as even in one corner of the map; a lot of the city is visible, albeit less detailed. The frame rate rarely drops noticeably and isn't a concern.
In terms of sound effects, the game excels, with satisfying explosions, gunshots and engine noises. However, one element of the audio side of the game really grinds; the announcer. Persistent in telling you what you've heard hundreds of times before; even if you've played the game for an extensive period of time, the game will still advise you that you can jump through stunt markers to increase your driving ability. This feature gets annoying quickly and an option to toggle the voice would have been appreciated. The music that plays in the car is nothing special and to most, unrecognizable. Not to say it's particularly bad but in the rare times you find yourself in a vehicle you probably won't end up paying attention to the music and so it feels wasted.
Crackdown is by no means a bad game; on the contrary, it's actually rather good. It has an addictive quality and enough replay value to keep you busy for a while; however it's hard not to feel short changed by a game that could have been so much more than it is. As it is, it feels ever-so-slightly rushed but not overly disappointing. It's worth buying if you enjoy the sandbox genre, but if your thing is more structured or story-led gameplay this title probably won't grasp you.


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Retiring Boomers Need Minimum $240K Saved for Medical Expenses
With health-care costs steadily rising, it's no wonder that many retirees will need to set aside more savings than originally planned to cover medical expenses in their golden years. Couples who retire in 2012 will need almost a quarter of a million dollars, an average of $240,000, to cover health-care needs after leaving the workforce, according to a new study by Fidelity. Here's the really scary part: Most soon-to-be retirees don't even have this much saved in their total retirement account.
"We are all in collective denial," says Ken Kamen, managing director of The Mercadien Group and president of Mercadien Asset Management. "Everything happening in health care today is viewed through a political lens, and everyone is waiting for this 'Aha!, health care is fixed!' answer so they can start planning for the future. The fact is, you're going to need a lot of money to cover medical expenses in retirement, and you can't sit around waiting for that magic solution."
Regardless of the fate of health-care reform, Kamen says retirees on Medicare will have to spend more money to have the same level of health care they enjoyed during their working life.
"You're going to have to use your dollars to get back to what you're used to having," he says. "A lot of doctors don't take Medicare or else they only take private-pay clients. You'll have to pay out of pocket if you want anything beyond what Medicare covers. Medicare will give you health insurance, but it doesn't do a lot for quality of life."
When it comes to quality of life, Jason Hwang, an internal medicine physician and director of the Innosight Institute says the majority of a retiree's medical expenses will go towards home health care and nursing homes, neither are covered by Medicare.
"People tend not to think about things like home health care or assisted living facilities until they need them," says Hwang. "I've seen so many elderly couples go bankrupt because they didn't have long-term care insurance and they weren't prepared for those end-of-life expenses."
However, Hwang points out that long-term care expenses aren't the only reason for rising health costs among retirees. Health-care costs have risen for all age groups, and for people with certain health-risk factors, the price of care has increased at an even higher rate.
"If you're overweight, if you're a smoker, all of these things can add to how much money you're going to need if things go wrong," says Hwang. "Of course, some things can be purely the genetic lottery; medical problems can run in families. But employers and insurance companies already penalize people for things like smoking and obesity, and that's only going to continue."
Sunit Patel, a senior vice president at Fidelity Benefits Consulting says that things like diagnostic technologies and pharmaceutical services now help patients increase their life span, but these breakthroughs have also pushed up health-care costs. When Fidelity first began conducting the study in 2002, the estimate of how much couples would need for medical expenses stood at $160,000. An average annual increase of 6% brought the figure to its current level.
"It is very likely that health care trends will continue to increase at a faster rate than the growth of other metrics such as GDP or income growth," says Patel. "How much is debatable and very important to individuals. Each year that medical costs exceed income growth for an individual, they are forced to reallocate their spending and savings profile."
For people who aren't in high health risk categories, Kamen says to "look up the genetic tree" to estimate how much might be needed for medical expenses once they leave the work force.
"There's no such thing as 'average' health, so there really can't be such a thing as an average amount of money needed to cover expenses. If someone needs a hip replacement, knee surgery, or a heart bypass, that's going to be a much different experience from someone who only takes an aspirin every day and lives to be 100," says Kamen. "But if you look to your family tree, you can see if something bad is coming your way. If it is, then the budget for that should take a prominent place in your planning."
Unfortunately, most people in the workforce don't begin saving for retirement medical expenses until their 50s, according to Kamen. Occasionally, it will take a medical disaster before people "wake up" and realize they need to set aside funds for health care.
"People really don't spend too much time thinking about their medical future in their 30s and 40s," Kamen says. "Forget about the 20-somethings. It's hard to get them to take $50 out of their paycheck every month because they feel immortal. But life shouldn't get in the way if you're seriously planning for medical care."
Patel says that even though $240,000 is a big number, the healthier you are, the less you'll have to spend. Although it sounds simple, sometimes it's easier said than done.
"Become a better consumer who focuses on quality and cost when purchasing health care, improve your diet, increase the amount of exercise you get and manage the conditions you have," Patel says.
But no matter your current level of health, Kamen says never to let other financial goals get in the way of planning for medical care.
"It always shocks people when I say we need to set aside money for medical expenses," he says. "People are always thinking about their boat, their golf course, and I have to haircut their dreams by about $2,000 a month once they answer questions about their health. What good is being able to live on a golf course if you can't afford the rotator cuff surgery you need in order to play? You have to fit in those expenses so you can live the life you want to have."


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EIN Presswire | Newsmatics
How to Solve the 5-Trillion Dollar Student Loan Crisis
News provided byEIN Presswire
Sep 23, 2022, 7:00 AM ET
Senate Candidate Nevada - Barry Cameron Lindemann
Nevade US Senate Candidate Barry Cameron Lindemann proposes utilizing the Fed Funds rate to lower student loan payments to ensure reasonable debt levels.
Am I saying it's government's fault? Mostly."LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES, September 23, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- No person takes on student loan debt with the idea that they will default on their loan. It's just the opposite. People believe that with their new education they will be able to pay their student loan debt and all the other bills which life incurs on their path to great success.
— Barry Cameron Lindemann
Ponder a few things regarding your student loan. If you graduate in a poorly preforming economy, how are you supposed to become gainfully employed? If you are not gainfully employed in this poorly preforming economy, how are you to repay your student loan debt? Also, who or what is responsible for the poorly preforming economy? If you cannot pay the debt what are the penalties? Who or what sets your interest rate, and who or what owns your loan?
The answer almost always has to do with government, its action, or the lack thereof.
Here's an observation: student loan debt balloons when easy money from the government assuages institutions from competing for students. The government keeps lending no matter what (sounds like the real estate crisis of 2008), and tuition costs are not being kept in check by competition.
The current idea of forgiving student debt is bad (it hurts me to say as I still have student debt from 2015). All it will do is add more debt to the national balance sheet and drive the US deeper into recession, or worse.
Immediately, the government should take these steps to make student loan repayments manageable.
1.) 98% of all student loan funds are borrowed from or owned by the federal government. This is analogous to major banks borrowing money from the government for their lending business. Unlike the major banks, you nor I, get to borrow money at the Fed Funds rate of 3.25% (as this is being written). The government should not be finding ways to steal from former students who are emerging to a poor job market by slapping them with a 7% interest rate when the borrower could be at the Fed Funds Rate of 3.25%. Smaller payments make for a manageable life in economic downturns and inflationary periods. This is what the government should do for us.
2.) Penalties on student loan borrowers should be forgiven. All penalties. The government is eternal. As long as the loan is paid during the amortization period no penalties should apply. All amortization periods should be 20 years or greater.
3.) No borrower should pay more than the principal and interest on the loan. Once a borrower has made enough payments to repay the principal and interest, the loan should be noted as "paid off". To keep the government in check, the government should NOT be allowed access to any interest generated from your payments until the loan is paid in full.
Government organizing itself for profit is really what is going on. That is wrong. Bad government policy creates a bad economy into which students descend after graduation. Then students are penalized for not being able to become gainfully employed, and suffer the penalties associated with nonpayment of the student loan debt.
Am I saying it's government's fault? Mostly. Make the payment terms reasonable. Government isn't a banker and need not make a profit. Government is perpetual.
Barry Cameron Lindemann
US Senate Candidate 2022 Nevada
Barry Cameron Lindemann
Barry Lindemann Senate Seat
+1 702-741-9950
email us here
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NOTE: This content is not written by or endorsed by "WDAF", its advertisers, or Nexstar Media Inc.


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Found 7 results
Filters: Author is Murray, Kevin A [Clear All Filters]
Low complexity domains of the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 form amyloid fibrils. Nat Commun. 14, 2379(2023)
Extended β-Strands Contribute to Reversible Amyloid Formation.. ACS Nano. 16, 2154-2163(2022)
Identifying amyloid-related diseases by mapping mutations in low-complexity protein domains to pathologies. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 29, 529-536(2022)
Inhibition of amyloid formation of the Nucleoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. bioRxiv. 10.1101/2021.03.05.434000(2021)
Structure-based inhibitors halt prion-like seeding by Alzheimer's disease-and tauopathy-derived brain tissue samples. J Biol Chem. 294, 16451-16464(2019)
Atomic structures of corkscrew-forming segments of SOD1 reveal varied oligomer conformations. Protein Sci. 10.1002/pro.3391(2018)
Inhibiting amyloid-β cytotoxicity through its interaction with the cell surface receptor LilrB2 by structure-based design.. Nat Chem. 10.1038/s41557-018-0147-z(2018)


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Save Johnson Valley OHV - Specific Plan
(NOTE: A DONATION PAGE POPS UP AFTER YOU SIGN, PLEASE DO NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO CONTRIBUTE TO IPETITIONS, CLOSE THE PAGE, YOUR SIGNATURE HAS BEEN RECORDED) Petition to Preserve Johnson Valley OHV through De-Designation of a PORTION of Sheephole Wilderness Area and Cleghorn Valley Wilderness area. We, the undersigned petitioners by affixing our signatures, do Urge and Encourage the Command Staff at the 29 Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center located at Twentynine Palms in California, to pursue an Alternate Course of action to any westward expansion into the Johnson Valley OHV in their quest to enlarge the 29 Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center located at Twentynine Palms in California. Instead, we ask that an Easterly expansion that includes a portion of the Sheephole Wilderness Area and Cleghorn Valley Wilderness area be the primary areas of interest as this direction best meets the needs of the Military, The vast array of Johnson Valley OHV Stakeholders, and the persons in the Surrounding Communities. Eastward expansion will take into account and meet the needs of the Military by lack of conflicting air space with Commercial Aircraft using the Los Angeles Basin Flight Path. Further, it will retain the intact nature of the Johnson Valley OHV which serves the needs of thousands of Stakeholders including but not limited to 4x4 Enthusiasts, Motorcycle and Quad Enthusiasts, Rock hounds, The Movie Industry, Amateur Rocketeers, and Various Sanctioning Bodies for Offroad Racing. The Surrounding Communities will continue to enjoy the boost to their local economies by the attraction to, and the use of, the Johnson Valley OHV by the Stakeholders. It is further encouraged that particular attention be paid to the plan laid out by San Bernardino County First District Supervisor, Brad Mitzelfelt in which he questions the inclusion of parts of these Wilderness Areas due to their previous usage as military training grounds in his letter to Deputy State Director, James Peterson, and the fact they were never included in any formal Wilderness Study plans. Below is the excerpt from this letter- I also offer the following proposal for the consideration by the Senator as a means of facilitating the Marines Corps expansion. It would serve multiple purposes. First, it would facilitate the expansion toward an area with little conflict with the desert residents. Second, it would save the BLM's largest public OHV area for continued use, thus not displacing it to areas that should not be used and preventing trespass. Third, if adjusted to a realistic extent, it could potentially provide a largely suitable training area, plus an energy production area, remote from both sensitive resources and population, plus reduce potential conflict with public recreational use of the public lands. The proposal described below, at its maximum extent, would remove less than 170,000 acres from wilderness, and as I have indicated elsewhere, would not sacrifice any land resources that truly have wilderness values. 1. Adjust and de-designate portions of the Sheephole Mountains (Area #21) in an (A) configuration, eliminate the northern portion, north of the township like between 2 North and 3 North. In a (B) configuration the eastern two-thirds could be removed, leaving in the Sheephole Mountains as wilderness. A line drawn southeasterly from the corner of T2N R12E, T2N R13E, T3N R12E and T3N R13E, to State Highway 62 at its northern point corner would accommodate both the Marine Corps expansion and renewable energy development siting. Except for the mountainous area to the southwest side, the area likely should never have been included in the National Wilderness System. While technically roadless, it was a tank training area during World War II (near the Iron Mountain Divisional Camp), and again, I believe, during Operation Desert Strike in 1964. The impacts from past activity had rendered the area "not suitable" in the published Wilderness Reports, but for reasons known only to the CDPA authors, it was included as Wilderness. 2. De-designate the Cadiz Dunes (Area #24). This small dune system, if removed from wilderness, in lieu of some of the new areas to be included, there would be a balancing, which would also facilitate the USMC expansion to the east, and create a "whole" area for their training activity. This area, like the eastern part of the Sheephole Wilderness, was never recommended suitable by BLM's inventory, and more importantly, was not deemed of sufficient value or naturalness to be recommended over other dune systems in the region such as Kelso. In fact, when wilderness inventory was done, it was not deemed to have wilderness character and thus was not even a Wilderness Study Area (WSA), and thus was not even addressed as part of the form and published Wilderness Report. It too, was part of the general military training in WWII and probably again in the 1960's. I cannot speculate why it was even included in the 1994 CDPA, and its de-designation now, to provide an appropriate eastern boundary for the Marine Corps training, seems appropriately in the National interest. (see link labeled "San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelts letter to Dianne Feinstien office" to the right for full letter) We feel this is the best course of action in that it solidly meets the needs of all concerned. Should this proposal be found acceptable to the Marine Corps, then this petition in its entirety will be sent to each Congressman and Senator who's constituency is represented.
San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelts letter to Dianne Feinstien Office:


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Pregnancy and Maternity Leave
- Send Email
Students and the Maternity Protection Act
The Maternity Protection Act applies to all women who are employed. As an employer, RWTH must adhere to the maternity leave guidelines for women who are employed or doing an internship at the University.
Since January 1, 2018, the Maternity Protection Act also applies to students if the institution, here: RWTH, specifies the place, time, and process of the courses. It also applies if students are required to complete a mandatory internship as part of their university course. These regulations are stipulated in Section 1, Para. 2, No. 8 of the Maternity Protection Act – MuSchG.
You can find further information on the current Maternity Protection Act on the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth – BMFSFJ website and in the current guidelines.
Announcing Pregnancy
In principle, students announce they are pregnant or breastfeeding on a voluntary basis.
According to Section 15, Para. 1 of the Maternity Protection Act, students should inform the University of their pregnancy and due date as soon as this is established. Further, they should inform the University promptly if they are breastfeeding.
In accordance with the protection provisions of the Maternity Protection Act, we can only advise you individually and protect you from possible risks during your studies if you announce your pregnancy early on. Please contact the Registrar's Office directly for these matters. The Registrar's Office uses this form to record the information. Please include suitable proof, for example a copy of your maternity card, a medical certificate, or a certificate from a midwife. To announce your pregnancy, the Registrar's Office will then fill out this form.
The Registrar's Office will then inform the Occupational and Radiation Protection Staff Unit at RWTH and the Cologne District Government. The University is obliged to do the following according to Section 27 of the Maternity Protection Act: forward the name of the pregnant or breastfeeding student, the pregnancy and the due date, as well as the result of the risk assessment, detailed below, to the Cologne District Government. This information will be treated confidentially and may not be passed on to third parties without express authorization.
Students at the Faculty of Medicine can find additional information, in German, on the Faculty's website. We recommend you contact the coordinator for your cohort.
Please note that if you have a work contract, for example as a student assistant, you should also inform your employer about your pregnancy so that the protective provisions of the Maternity Protection Act can apply.
Risk Assessment
Once you have informed the University of your pregnancy or the fact that you are breastfeeding, a risk assessment will be carried out in order to protect you as best as possible from any possible dangers and to arrange appropriate protective measures. This is in accordance with Section 10, Para. 2 of the Maternity Protection Act. Dr. Wolf and Ms. Delavarian from the Occupational Safety and Radiation Protection Staff Unit are responsible for this. You also have the opportunity to seek advice there on whether further measures to adapt your working conditions are possible or recommended.
Exams and Courses
It is for you to decide whether you would like to take part in a course or an examination.
If you decide to do so while on maternity leave, this is usually possible from the perspective of study and examination law. Please note, however, that for certain courses or exams, the extent of your participation may be limited or not at all possible due to the associated risks for you or your child, for example biology or chemistry practicals where hazardous substances have to be used.
For compulsory courses and examinations, you can waive the requirement to take maternity leave before and after childbirth, since these are not binding for you. Maternity leave usually lasts six or eight weeks – for exceptions, please consult the Maternity Protection Act. You may continue actively studying if you expressly declare this to the university.
If you register for an examination or appear for an examination, you are implicitly expressing your intention to waive the period of maternity leave for this examination and no written declaration is required. You can revoke this declaration at any time for future exams, but not retroactively.
Due to the pregnancy, you may also de-register from an examination until the day of the examination, i.e. until the morning before the start of the examination.
You may decide if you would like to participate in voluntary courses and examinations for such courses and may therefore do so without providing a further declaration.
Pregnant and breastfeeding students are generally not allowed to work at the university from 10pm to 6am. During the period from 8pm to 10pm and on Sundays and public holidays, pregnant or breastfeeding students may only work if:
- they have expressly agreed to,
- it is necessary for their studies,
- it does not pose a risk to the pregnant woman or the child.
For work on Sundays and public holidays, students are granted an alternative day of rest in the week where they are guaranteed an uninterrupted night's rest of at least 11 hours.
You can revoke the declaration according to No. 1 at any time with effect for the future.
If you have any questions regarding changes to the curriculum, please contact your departmental advisor, or, for students at the Faculty of Medicine, you should contact your cohort coordinator.
Semester Leave
During pregnancy and for the care of a child who is not of school age, parents can apply for up to six semesters of leave per child. If both parents wish to take leave, they must divide these six semesters between themselves.
According to Section 48, Para. 5 Hochschulgesetz – Higher Education Act, it is also possible for parents to take exams during the semester of leave.
Please note that no BAföG is paid for semesters of leave, however you may still use the bus and train ticket during the semester.
Family Card
RWTH students with children can apply for a family card at the Registrar's Office. This card is intended to help students balance family and student life better. Parents with this card are given preferential consideration when choosing courses. You can also use the card to apply for a childcare allowance at the Family Service of the Equal Opportunities Office. On the Family Card page you will find information on how to apply and on the offers of relief associated with the family card.
Advising Services
If you have any further questions about pregnancy and parenthood during your studies, you can contact the Family Service of the Equal Opportunities Office or the Student Advice Center. Students at the Faculty of Medicine can contact their cohort coordinator, while all other students can contact their relevant departmental advisor.


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DevExtreme v23.1 is now available.
Explore our newest features/capabilities and share your thoughts with us.
This demo shows the side-by-side stacked bar series that allows you to visualize data as bars stacked in different groups. This series type is useful when you compare values of an individual series with the total values of groups.
The side-by-side stacked bar chart contains series with the same argument field. In this demo, the data source array consists of the objects with the same field structure. Assign the
state field to the argumentField property of the commonSeriesSettings object to specify the common argument for the series. Then, define the series array of objects. In each object, specify the valueField property and use the stack property to group the series in stacks depending on the stack property values.
Use the verticalAlignment and horizontalAlignment properties of the legend object to specify the legend layout.
The customizeLegend function allows you to change the order, text, and visibility of legend items. This demo uses the array.splice method in the customizeItems function to sort the legend items. If you want to customize the legend border, use properties collected in the border object.
To distribute all legend items between multiple columns (in a vertically-oriented legend) or rows (in a horizontally-oriented legend), specify the columnCount or rowCount property, respectively.
To configure tooltips in the chart, use the tooltip object. To enable the tooltips, assign true to the enabled property of this object.
To allow users to export your side-by-side stacked bar chart into a PNG, JPEG, PDF, and SVG file or print the chart, set the export.enabled property to true. Since the export functionality is enabled in this demo, you can click the hamburger button in the chart to invoke a drop-down menu with export and print commands.


text: The services of shark killer Ace Hunter have been engaged by his brother Jake, the head of a West Coast crime ring. The gig: kill the black-finned shark that swallowed a valuable diamond during a gang transaction. Enlisted to keep an eye on Ace is Jake's girlfriend, Jasmine. But Ace and Jasmine's relationship deepens with the threats from a rival crime boss: bring the diamond to him or die. Soon, loyalties will shift, and Ace will learn that trusting in blood is for suckers. Now, it's crime boss against crime boss, brother against brother, and man against nature, as Ace strives to rescue Jasmine, save his own life, and track down the great black-finned shark that will be the greatest challenge of his career.