Apex Data Loader for Mac, Linux and Unix

Salesforce had the foresight to code the Apex Data Loader (ADL) in Java, which is a cross-platform tool that should work on any computer that has a JRE installed. This implies that the ADL should work on all OS's, not just on Windows.

Force 201 made a great post about running ADL with a GUI, but I just wanted to know how to run the ADL in batch mode from a command line (so that I can script the process).

It turns out to be as easy as the following:

1. Download and install the Apex Data Loader on a Windows computer.
2. Copy the files in "%ProgramFiles%\salesforce.com\Apex Data Loader apiVersion" to the desired directory on the target computer or server. Use binary mode for data transfer when applicable.
3. Setup the batch mode configuration files as you normally would. This generally includes config.properties and process-conf.xml.
4. Look at "\bin\encrypt.bat" to figure out how to create an encrypted password if you need one.
5. Look at the last few lines of "\bin\process.bat" in the folder to figure out what syntax to use to run ADL via the command line.

For example, with ADL 22.0 on Linux, I can change to the base directory containing all of the ADL files and run this command:
java -cp DataLoader.jar -Dsalesforce.config.dir=conf com.salesforce.dataloader.process.ProcessRunner process.name=classMeetingExtractProcess

classMeetingExtractProcess is the id of one of my beans defined in process-conf.xml.

Removing ^M Characters from File with vi

So, I transferred a file from Windows to a Unix server, and when I opened the file with vi (not vim) on my server, I was confronted with endless ^M characters.

How do I get rid of these characters?

Basically, after some fumbling around on the internet, I determined that I needed to use the following command.

:1,$s/^M//g

To type the ^M character, press Ctrl+V for the ^ and then Ctrl+M to get the M afterward. vi apparently does not recognize the ranged specified by %, so I had to use 1,$ instead.

Deleting Characters (a.k.a. Backspacing) through SSH in PuTTY

I've been annoyed consistently by a quirk with SSH, PuTTY, Unix and sudo where pressing the backspace character prints a ^? on the terminal instead of deleting the previous character. Then, to my amazement today, I stumbled upon a way to delete characters through SSH in PuTTY without messing with any terminal configurations!

To delete characters, all one has to do is press either...

• Shift+Backspace; or
• Right Arrow

I assume this works with Terminal in Mac OS X or Linux as well, but I have not yet tried. Gone are the days now when I have to retype a 80+ character command just because of a single, silly typo...

How to Fix Backspace in SSH Session to Unix ksh Terminal

I've been annoyed for a while now by the fact that when I start an SSH session to a AIX server that uses KornShell (ksh), my backspace key no longer deletes the character immediately preceding the cursor.

Luckily, I came across a forum thread that gave a solution for this annoyance.

"KSH Terminal Settings"
http://www.unix.com/unix-dummies-questions-answers/25310-ksh-terminal-settings.html

What I found out was that I could start the SSH session and then type the command stty erase ^H, which would enable me to delete correctly both within the SSH session and in my native Mac OS X Terminal after I ended the session.

The only (possible) problem is: Now that I've changed the erase character on the server, it appears to have "stuck". So, I hope other people who are accessing the server don't suddenly find that their backspace keys have now stopped working...