Archive for the ‘Training & Workshops’ Category

Project raised exception class “EReadError” invalid value for property

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013

We were working with Lazarus 0.9.30 on Windows. Then after a few edits on a pretty large project, we suddenly got the following error on trying to compile and run.

Project raised exception class “EReadError” invalid value for property

Ideally this would suggest that you are trying to assign a value to a property that is not compatible. But in our case it was different.

The cause of the problem and its solution…

Usually when you double-click a text box on the form, it creates a default event with code for the OnChange event. Since this was not needed, the code for the OnChange event was removed (by hand) as a means of cleaning up.

But the IDE did not take care of the rest of the clean up. i.e., In the properties window for the text box, the OnChange event was still referring to the code. So we had to manually do this as well by deleting that reference in the properties window.

And the moment we did this, it compiled just fine.

First, we hope that you find this useful in debugging your code that brings up this error. Second, if you’ve encountered this error for a different reason, we’d like to hear about that.

Please confine yourself to the identical error. If you have any question apart from this, please use our forum.

Happy coding!

How to learn web development for free… Again!

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

Due to the results produced in the past and the birth of more professional web developers we’re doing this yet again!!!

Did you ever imagine than you could get a full training course worth LKR.20,000/- at absolutely no cost? Well, it’s proven true by us. What’s more, you even get to put on your record, 4 months of work experience along with your newly gained skills!

So why wait another moment..? Now’s the time to get to the top!

What you learn

  1. How to design websites using (x)html + CSS
  2. How to build interactive web applications using PHP and MySQL (LAMP/WAMP). And for those who don’t know, PHP is the world’s most popular web development platform.
  3. Client-side scripting using Java Script. It needs no introduction – JavaScript is clearly the best and first choice for secure and fast client-end browser programming, with least resources.
  4. Introduction to object oriented programming techniques. That’s right, like you’ve been doing in C++ and Java… But this time it’s PHP.
  5. Introductory graphics using InkScape + Gimp. Ever since we got this wonderful combination of super-easy and useful programs, we’ve never seen the color of Photoshop at work.
  6. Joomla – Yes, you may have heard of it. The world’s most popular open-source CMS (Content Management System)
  7. CodeIgniter. With a lot done to ease the life of the programmer, CodeIgniter takes you ahead by leaps and bounds, exclamation

So why is this free…?

We realised the demand for folks with the skill-set above, and also discovered the severe shortage of experts with real skills. Of course there are thousands of courses available by various institutions, but whether they succeed in delivering to meet the demands is questionnable.

As a software company, Marha Online has been faced with this dilemmna of finding the right skills. We don’t like programmers who take above skills as salt and pepper. Rather, we want them to have it as their main dish. So we decided that the best way to go about this would be to train our future staff. Thus the training program was born.

So what we do is give you the full training and hope that you’ll work with us for at least 4 months. That’s our pay-off. After that you’re either free to go, or you may be absorbed as a member of our full-time/part-time staff.

Of course this does not mean that you must work for us. You may also get the training and go your way. But here’s the deal… If you do leave us soon after training, you owe us the cost of training. Now isn’t that being reasonable…? We’re sure you’d agree that this is the best deal in town.

Here’s how to get the FREE program…

You must have the following attributes in order to qualify:

  • Know at least one programming language well
  • Have a liking AND general skill towards creating programs/algorithms
  • Have an elementary understanding of working with any one database system (eg: Ms-Access, MySQL, etc)
  • Be willing to learn at a fast pace
  • You must be residing in Sri Lanka during the training period AND 5 months after it
  • You must be honest, committed and punctual
  • You must NOT be employed as we will need your services afterwards

Well, if you’re not in the above category and you’d still like to discuss your training at the same level, please do get in touch with us.

Still want to go through? Read on…

  1. You take a small written test based on algorithms and computer literacy
  2. If you pass you get selected for training
  3. During training, you have a chance of working on real-projects
  4. After training, you MUST commit to work for Marha Online for 4 months.
  5. After 4 months, you are free to go or continue as a member of the staff or work as a freelancer

Commencement: Friday 21st December 2012
Days/Times: Friday – Monday 8.00AM – 10.00AM during training. Post-training work experience will be full-time – 9.00AM – 5.00PM

Contact: Mr. Khalid – 0722.980.688 between 7.00AM and 8:30PM

Learn web development for FREE

Monday, August 27th, 2012

Are you interested in a career as a web developer? Here’s your chance to learn it for free in a real classroom, by an expert.

What you learn

  1. How to design websites using (x)html + CSS
  2. How to build interactive web applications using PHP and MySQL (LAMP/WAMP)
  3. Client-side scripting using Java Script
  4. Introduction to object oriented programming techniques
  5. Introductory graphics using InkScape + Gimp

What you need to be eligible…

You must have the following attributes in order to qualify:

  • Know at least one programming language well
  • Have a liking AND general skill towards creating programs/algorithms
  • Have a general literacy of working with databases (eg: Ms-Access, MySQL, etc)
  • Be willing to learn at a fast pace
  • You must be residing in Sri Lanka during the training period AND 5 months after it

Here’s the deal…

  1. You take a small written test based on algorithms and computer literacy
  2. If you pass you get selected for training
  3. During training, you have a chance of working on real-projects
  4. After training, you MUST commit to work for Marha Online for 4 months.
  5. After 4 months, you are free to go or continue as a member of the staff or work as a freelancer

Note: This is a full-time training program and you are required to put in your full effort and commitment during the entire period.

Commencement: Sooner the better
Days/Times: 9.00AM – 5.00PM

Contact: Mr. Khalid – 0722.980.688 between 7.00AM and 8:30PM

Mastering LAMP development

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

First, it is nice to see our past participants making great progress in software development. Well done to all of you!

Now in this batch I hope to introduce CodeIgniter and Joomla. So it’s going to be a little more hectic than usual – smiles…

For those of you who are new to this, read on to find out what you can do after successfully completing this programme.

In short, it’s about converting your skills into cash!

Do the following attributes describe you?

  • You are either an ambitious school-leaver, undergraduate, or post-graduate student keen in taking up software development as a career
  • You are clever at problem-solving and simply enjoy it
  • You like to design websites and web applications

If you belong to any of the above groups, you definitely need to take advantage of this training programme. It’s not just a programme – it’s rigorous, fast-paced and work-oriented.

What is offerred…

  1. Intensive training on building PHP applications/websites.
  2. A thorough grounding on working with MySQL database servers – this includes writing SQL and working with PHPMyadmin.
  3. Client-side scripting using JavaScript, with an introduction to JQuery.
  4. Working with OOP techniques, and introduction to CodeIgniter and Joomla
  5. Introduction to graphics with InkScape and Gimp
  6. Comprehensive coverage of XHTML + CSS
  7. Hands-on activities and training, based on real-world projects.
  8. Introduction to working with the Ubuntu OS

What happens after training?

Those who successfully complete this programme will be:

  • able to instantly apply to programmers’ positions at leading organisations.
  • able to do freelance work, even by staying at home.
  • eligible to work as on-call developers with Marha Online, or be suitable for fixed employment positions with us when there are openings.

Commencement: 20th June, 2011 – reserve your place now!

Course duration: 30 sessions x 3 hours each.

Schedule: Mon, Tue, Thu – 9:00AM to 12:00 noon.

Eligibility: you need to have ALL of the following:

  1. Be very comfortable with learning in English.
  2. Be at least 16 years old.
  3. Have a basic knowledge of working with computers. Priority will be given to those who demonstrate their programming abilities.
  4. Be WELL-DISCIPLINED, committed, honest and hard-working.
  5. Be a self-starter who can take a little instructions and use his/her initiative to complete a task.
  6. Have basic math skills and ‘intelligent’ problem solving skills.
  7. You also must have your own laptop.

Restrictions: This is NOT for those busy people who are already in any kind of full-time work.

How to apply:

If you’re interested in pursuing this programme, simply send an email telling us about yourself, to: info@marhaonline.com, or call 0722.980.688 for any clarification.

Happy learning!

TWENTY seconds from you…

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

In order to better understand customer needs, we’re trying to see what Operating system YOU use MOST.

Please participate in this poll and let us serve you better.

Thank you

What's your most used Operating System

View Results

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New language workshops

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Finally, after a lot of brainstorming and evaluations, we’ve decided to put Visual Basic into our books of history. Thanks to the Mono platform and Apache servers, we now have more choice with ‘cross-platform’ languages and tools.

So with this in focus, we’re directing our language training workshops to the following:

  1. C/C++ : This is primarily based on the G++ compiler. And the availability of this compiler on nearly all platforms makes it possible to compile the code with little or no change for various Operating Systems (OSs).
    Once you’re ready with the basics, you can move on to GUI coding with various platforms like CodeBlocks, for example.
  2. Mono (C#) : Want to develop .net apps on Linux? This is the way to go. You can easily take Windows projects to Linux and vice versa with (often) zero change.
  3. PHP+MySQL : I don’t think anyone needs to know the benefits of using this superb combination of tools for web-based apps. In reality, it doesn’t have to be web-based applications. We’ve built systems running on LANs over browsers. They can be nearly anything from Accounting to Payroll and so on…
  4. Pascal : We mean FreePascal for obvious reasons. A very few people know the power of Pascal because of the ‘VB hype’. But in reality, once you get the grip of Pascal (which is probably the easiest language to learn), you can move on to Lazarus, and build Delphi-style applications.

Should you need to attend any of our workshops in the above areas, please feel free to contact us.

Happy learning