If OpenVPN client breaks DNS configuration

Sometimes, Linux OpenVPN client changes DNS configuration and then <VPN server domain> becomes unreachable so you get error messages like:

RESOLVE: Cannot resolve host address: <VPN server domain here> (Name or service not known)

On initial connection you see this output in the console:

dhcp-option DNS <IP here>
dhcp-option DOMAIN <VPN server domain here>
/sbin/ip route add <IP here>/32 via <IP here>

systemd-resolve --status command shows this:

Global

         DNS Servers: <IP from above here>

          DNS Domain: <domain here>

...

cat /etc/resolv.conf command shows new DNS configuration by OpenVPN:

...

search <domain here>

To resolve this issue, just remove this new line from /etc/resolv.conf with an editor, e.g.

sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf

or delete the line with sed:

sudo sed -i.bak '/<domain>/d' /etc/resolv.conf

or restore from a backup but be aware that the file could really be a link, e.g. 

resolv.conf -> /run/resolvconf/resolv.conf

UPDATE: resolv.conf is most likely dynamically generated instead of a static file.

E.g. in Ubuntu check your NetworkManager configuration:

sudo NetworkManager --print-config

if there's

dns=systemd-resolved

then edit settings in

/run/resolvconf/interface/systemd-resolved

and update

sudo resolvconf -u

In my case there was also

/run/resolvconf/interface/tun0.openvpn

file (created by OpenVPN) which can be safely deleted to avoid interference:

sudo rm /run/resolvconf/interface/tun0.openvpn

The DNS settings should be back to normal now, if not, you may need to run

service networking restart

I have this function defined in .bash_aliases which fixes DNS configuration before connecting via OpenVPN:

vpn_fixed_dns() {
    echo "Fixing resolv.conf"
    echo "nameserver 127.0.0.53" | sudo tee /run/resolvconf/interface/systemd-resolved >/dev/null
    sudo rm /run/resolvconf/interface/tun0.openvpn
    echo "Running sudo resolvconf -u"
    sudo resolvconf -u
    cat /etc/resolv.conf
    echo "Running sudo openvpn"
    sudo openvpn --script-security 2 --config /etc/openvpn/config/config.ovpn

}

Apply button in Jasper reports doesn't work

You may encounter a weird problem when "Apply" button to run a report in Jasper server doesn't do anything and there's no error in the Jasper log.
In my case the reason for that was missing user attribute which was referenced in the report, e.g. for report parameter LoggedInUserAttribute_regionId, the corresponding user attribute regionId was not set.

How to get to the correct position of a syntax error in postgresql

Sometimes position of a syntax returned by PostgreSQL is not correct. You try to go to the specified position in a query (in any text editor) and it shows something totally unrelated. Probably this is due to comments or new lines or something else. And with large queries it can be frustrating to look through it all for some really simple mistake.

In order to get the correct position you will need to execute the query in PostgreSQL's own pgAdmin III tool. The position number will still be incorrectly reported but the cursor will be automatically moved to the position of an error cause. Handy!

"Error:null" when clicking the "Read Fields" button in the Query Editor

Sometimes the "Error:null" error  appears after clicking the "Read Fields" button in the Query Editor or after autorefresh. One of the causes for this can be usage of literal parameters like $P!{param} in the query which the editor cannot calculate at the time. Just delete the parameter temporarily and restore it after "read fields" completes.

How to detect if Jasper Reports output was generated by a scheduled run

Sometimes it is necessary to have some conditional logic in case a report is being run by a scheduler. In this case it is possible to use _ScheduledTime parameter from the built-in REPORT_PARAMETERS_MAP map.

Example expression:

$P{REPORT_PARAMETERS_MAP}.get("_ScheduledTime") == null ? "Normal" : "Scheduled"

Concatenate full name in reverse order with comma and optional title

Sometimes it is preferrable to output full name as a single field/column like
<last_name>, <title> <first_name>
where title and first name are both optional (as occurs in the real world). Because of the different combinations where title and/or first name are null there should be some conditional logic with concatenation. But you can do correct concatenation in a single expression using the fact that coalesce(right(title,0),', ') will return empty string when title is not null and  separator', ' otherwise:

select 
trim(
upper(family_name) || coalesce(', ' || title || ' ', '') || coalesce(coalesce(right(title,0),', ') || given_names, '')
) as person_name 
from person

Move cursor to specific text in Word VBA

Sometimes it's necessary to replace placeholders (e.g. <content_placeholder1>) in a Word document with some generated or imported content using VBA macro. Just replacing the placeholder text via Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll  will not move a cursor, you need to do it as a separate step like below:

Sub moveToPlaceholder(tableName As String)

    Dim placeholderText As String

    placeholderText = "<" & tableName & ">"
    
    ' first find
    With Selection.Find
      .Text = placeholderText
      .Forward = True
      .Wrap = wdFindContinue
      .Format = False
      .MatchCase = False
      .MatchWholeWord = False
      .MatchWildcards = False
      .Execute
    End With
    
    ' now move cursor at the
    Selection.EndKey Unit:=wdLine
    
    ' now replace
    With Selection.Find
      .Text = placeholderText
      .Replacement.Text = ""
      .Forward = True
      .Wrap = wdFindContinue
      .Format = False
      .MatchCase = False
      .MatchWholeWord = False
      .MatchWildcards = False
      .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
    End With
  
End Sub