Openmeetings use of country, state and country codes

I’ve been developing using openmeetings SOAP API for a little bit (on which I hope to post soon) and I spent a bit of time getting REALLY confused on where the user’s Country field comes from, what “states_id” is for the addNewUser service, what sort of input it expects, and where it’s stored.

Here it is:

States_id, from the SOAP API, defines the country and stores it in the table address.  (I suppose that makes sense.)  You can find it under the column state_id. This is how the user’s “Country” is defined in the user management gui (see below)om_country

But here’s where it gets weird.  You may have figured out that states_id expects a numerical input; however, this is NOT the standard E.164 three-digit country code that all of us can easily Google for.  Instead, the code is an index number corresponding to the country’s alphabetically organized row number in the Openmeetings table: state.  I think this is most likely a mistake, as the database contains all the Country Codes right there next to the id field, for seemingly, no reason at all.

So what to do?

For the time being, it’s pretty simple to get this working with this piece of information.  Simply enter the corresponding id number from the openmeetings table for states_id.  I’ve included the relevant columns below for reference:

mysql> select id, name from state;
+-----+------------------------------------------------------+
| id  | name                                                 |
+-----+------------------------------------------------------+
|   1 | Afghanistan                                          |
|   2 | Åland Islands                                        |
|   3 | Albania                                              |
|   4 | Algeria                                              |
|   5 | American Samoa                                       |
|   6 | Andorra                                              |
|   7 | Angola                                               |
|   8 | Anguilla                                             |
|   9 | Antigua and Barbuda                                  |
|  10 | Argentina                                            |
|  11 | Armenia                                              |
|  12 | Aruba                                                |
|  13 | Australia                                            |
|  14 | Austria                                              |
|  15 | Azerbaijan                                           |
|  16 | Bahamas                                              |
|  17 | Bahrain                                              |
|  18 | Bangladesh                                           |
|  19 | Barbados                                             |
|  20 | Belarus                                              |
|  21 | Belgium                                              |
|  22 | Belize                                               |
|  23 | Benin                                                |
|  24 | Bermuda                                              |
|  25 | Bhutan                                               |
|  26 | Bolivia                                              |
|  27 | Bosnia and Herzegovina                               |
|  28 | Botswana                                             |
|  29 | Brazil                                               |
|  30 | British Virgin Islands                               |
|  31 | Brunei Darussalam                                    |
|  32 | Bulgaria                                             |
|  33 | Burkina Faso                                         |
|  34 | Burundi                                              |
|  35 | Cambodia                                             |
|  36 | Cameroon                                             |
|  37 | Canada                                               |
|  38 | Cape Verde                                           |
|  39 | Cayman Islands                                       |
|  40 | Central African Republic                             |
|  41 | Chad                                                 |
|  42 | Channel Islands                                      |
|  43 | Chile                                                |
|  44 | China                                                |
|  45 | Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China     |
|  46 | Macao Special Administrative Region of China         |
|  47 | Colombia                                             |
|  48 | Comoros                                              |
|  49 | Congo                                                |
|  50 | Cook Islands                                         |
|  51 | Costa Rica                                           |
|  52 | Côte d'Ivoire                                        |
|  53 | Croatia                                              |
|  54 | Cuba                                                 |
|  55 | Cyprus                                               |
|  56 | Czech Republic                                       |
|  57 | Democratic People's Republic of Korea                |
|  58 | Democratic Republic of the Congo                     |
|  59 | Denmark                                              |
|  60 | Djibouti                                             |
|  61 | Dominica                                             |
|  62 | Dominican Republic                                   |
|  63 | Ecuador                                              |
|  64 | Egypt                                                |
|  65 | El Salvador                                          |
|  66 | Equatorial Guinea                                    |
|  67 | Eritrea                                              |
|  68 | Estonia                                              |
|  69 | Ethiopia                                             |
|  70 | Faeroe Islands                                       |
|  71 | Falkland Islands (Malvinas)                          |
|  72 | Fiji                                                 |
|  73 | Finland                                              |
|  74 | France                                               |
|  75 | French Guiana                                        |
|  76 | French Polynesia                                     |
|  77 | Gabon                                                |
|  78 | Gambia                                               |
|  79 | Georgia                                              |
|  80 | Germany                                              |
|  81 | Ghana                                                |
|  82 | Gibraltar                                            |
|  83 | Greece                                               |
|  84 | Greenland                                            |
|  85 | Grenada                                              |
|  86 | Guadeloupe                                           |
|  87 | Guam                                                 |
|  88 | Guatemala                                            |
|  89 | Guernsey                                             |
|  90 | Guinea                                               |
|  91 | Guinea-Bissau                                        |
|  92 | Guyana                                               |
|  93 | Haiti                                                |
|  94 | Holy See                                             |
|  95 | Honduras                                             |
|  96 | Hungary                                              |
|  97 | Iceland                                              |
|  98 | India                                                |
|  99 | Indonesia                                            |
| 100 | Iran, Islamic Republic of                            |
| 101 | Iraq                                                 |
| 102 | Ireland                                              |
| 103 | Isle of Man                                          |
| 104 | Israel                                               |
| 105 | Italy                                                |
| 106 | Jamaica                                              |
| 107 | Japan                                                |
| 108 | Jersey                                               |
| 109 | Jordan                                               |
| 110 | Kazakhstan                                           |
| 111 | Kenya                                                |
| 112 | Kiribati                                             |
| 113 | Kuwait                                               |
| 114 | Kyrgyzstan                                           |
| 115 | Lao People's Democratic Republic                     |
| 116 | Latvia                                               |
| 117 | Lebanon                                              |
| 118 | Lesotho                                              |
| 119 | Liberia                                              |
| 120 | Libyan Arab Jamahiriya                               |
| 121 | Liechtenstein                                        |
| 122 | Lithuania                                            |
| 123 | Luxembourg                                           |
| 124 | Madagascar                                           |
| 125 | Malawi                                               |
| 126 | Malaysia                                             |
| 127 | Maldives                                             |
| 128 | Mali                                                 |
| 129 | Malta                                                |
| 130 | Marshall Islands                                     |
| 131 | Martinique                                           |
| 132 | Mauritania                                           |
| 133 | Mauritius                                            |
| 134 | Mayotte                                              |
| 135 | Mexico                                               |
| 136 | Micronesia, Federated States of                      |
| 137 | Monaco                                               |
| 138 | Mongolia                                             |
| 139 | Montenegro                                           |
| 140 | Montserrat                                           |
| 141 | Morocco                                              |
| 142 | Mozambique                                           |
| 143 | Myanmar                                              |
| 144 | Namibia                                              |
| 145 | Nauru                                                |
| 146 | Nepal                                                |
| 147 | Netherlands                                          |
| 148 | Netherlands Antilles                                 |
| 149 | New Caledonia                                        |
| 150 | New Zealand                                          |
| 151 | Nicaragua                                            |
| 152 | Niger                                                |
| 153 | Nigeria                                              |
| 154 | Niue                                                 |
| 155 | Norfolk Island                                       |
| 156 | Northern Mariana Islands                             |
| 157 | Norway                                               |
| 158 | Occupied Palestinian Territory                       |
| 159 | Oman                                                 |
| 160 | Pakistan                                             |
| 161 | Palau                                                |
| 162 | Panama                                               |
| 163 | Papua New Guinea                                     |
| 164 | Paraguay                                             |
| 165 | Peru                                                 |
| 166 | Philippines                                          |
| 167 | Pitcairn                                             |
| 168 | Poland                                               |
| 169 | Portugal                                             |
| 170 | Puerto Rico                                          |
| 171 | Qatar                                                |
| 172 | Republic of Korea                                    |
| 173 | Republic of Moldova                                  |
| 174 | Réunion                                              |
| 175 | Romania                                              |
| 176 | Russian Federation                                   |
| 177 | Rwanda                                               |
| 178 | Saint Helena                                         |
| 179 | Saint Kitts and Nevis                                |
| 180 | Saint Lucia                                          |
| 181 | Saint Pierre and Miquelon                            |
| 182 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines                     |
| 183 | Samoa                                                |
| 184 | San Marino                                           |
| 185 | Sao Tome and Principe                                |
| 186 | Saudi Arabia                                         |
| 187 | Senegal                                              |
| 188 | Serbia                                               |
| 189 | Seychelles                                           |
| 190 | Sierra Leone                                         |
| 191 | Singapore                                            |
| 192 | Slovakia                                             |
| 193 | Slovenia                                             |
| 194 | Solomon Islands                                      |
| 195 | Somalia                                              |
| 196 | South Africa                                         |
| 197 | Spain                                                |
| 198 | Sri Lanka                                            |
| 199 | Sudan                                                |
| 200 | Suriname                                             |
| 201 | Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands                       |
| 202 | Swaziland                                            |
| 203 | Sweden                                               |
| 204 | Switzerland                                          |
| 205 | Syrian Arab Republic                                 |
| 206 | Taiwan, Republic of China                            |
| 207 | Tajikistan                                           |
| 208 | Thailand                                             |
| 209 | The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia            |
| 210 | Timor-Leste                                          |
| 211 | Togo                                                 |
| 212 | Tokelau                                              |
| 213 | Tonga                                                |
| 214 | Trinidad and Tobago                                  |
| 215 | Tunisia                                              |
| 216 | Turkey                                               |
| 217 | Turkmenistan                                         |
| 218 | Turks and Caicos Islands                             |
| 219 | Tuvalu                                               |
| 220 | Uganda                                               |
| 221 | Ukraine                                              |
| 222 | United Arab Emirates                                 |
| 223 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
| 224 | United Republic of Tanzania                          |
| 225 | United States of America                             |
| 226 | United States Virgin Islands                         |
| 227 | Uruguay                                              |
| 228 | Uzbekistan                                           |
| 229 | Vanuatu                                              |
| 230 | Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)                   |
| 231 | Viet Nam                                             |
| 232 | Wallis and Futuna Islands                            |
| 233 | Western Sahara                                       |
| 234 | Yemen                                                |
| 235 | Zambia                                               |
| 236 | Zimbabwe                                             |
+-----+------------------------------------------------------+

Anyway, hope that helps someone.

Oh one last interesting fact!

If you’re searching/grepping through the code, for the key word “address,” they spell it “adress”.  HOWEVER it is spelled “address” in the database in all instances I’ve seen so far.

Openmeetings use of country, state and country codes

How to check the health of one’s Hard Disk On Ubuntu

So if your hard disk health is of concern, here’s a quick way to figure out if there’s an issue.  I will assume (in this case) that the computer has no operating system, but the utility can be used even if it does.  Below is a step-by-step tutorial on how to test the health of your hard disk using an ubuntu live cd.

Here are the steps:

  1. Boot from your live cd.
  2. Now when you’re at your desktop you’ll want to bring up the terminal (see figure below).  Disk help
  3. Now with your terminal open you’ll need to install the disk utility we’ll be using.  So in the terminal, type:

    sudo apt-get install smartmontools

    smartmontools

  4. It’ll throw up a whole bunch of crazy computer stuff.  It’ll likely ask you if you want to install it (and a whole bunch of other packages) type y and hit enter.  See below:install smartmontools
  5. Very good, now let’s check to make sure your hard drive is coherent and uses S.M.A.R.T..  SMART stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology and basically stores info about your hard drive’s performance.  To make sure your hard drive is using it (it almost certainly is) go ahead and type:

    sudo smartctl -i /dev/sda

    Smart/dev/sda is the path to what is likely your primary hard disk.  This isn’t always the case, especially if you have multiple drives which could be sdb sdc or something else.  For those in that situation, I feel safe assuming that you know which one you’re after.

    1. If it’s available and enabled, you’re good to go.
    2. If it’s available but not enabled type

      sudo smartctl -s on /dev/sda

      and carry on.

    3. If it’s not available and therefore not enabled, this tutorial won’t be of much help to you.
  6. Now, time to test do a long test.  Place the computer somewhere where it won’t be disturbed and type:

    sudo smartctl -t long /dev/sda 

    The result will look something like below, wherein it will give you the amount of time it will take to make it happen.long test

  7. After waiting for the recommended amount of time, come back and type:

    sudo smartctl -l selftest /dev/sda

    and it wil give you the stats on its latest tests.  If those stats are blank, it just needs some more time.

That should give you all the info you need to determine if your drive is toast.

Good luck!

How to check the health of one’s Hard Disk On Ubuntu