Jun 09

CakePHP - Some controller functions

CakePHP No Comments »

Interacting with your views:

set($variable, $value);
string $variable;
mixed $value;

The principal use of this function is to extract data from a controller and transfer it to a view.
It can be used to transfer single values, whole arrays and so on etc. The moment you utilize set(), the variable can be accessed in your view: doing set(name, john) in your controller makes the variable name available in the view.

validateErrors() - displays the number of all the errors produced by an unsuccessful save.
validate() - this function is used to validate a model data respecting the rules of validation defined in to the model.

render($action, $layout, $file) - this function may not always be needed because render is called by default when every controller action ends, so the view specific to your action is rendered. On the other side, you can call this function to render the view anywhere in the controller code.

Jun 07

CakePHP - About Controllers

CakePHP No Comments »

The role of a controller is that of administering the logic for a special section of your application. In general controllers are utilized in administering the logic for only one model. To take as an example if you were to make up a website that directs a rental-library, you could use a BooksController and a RentalController to administer both your rentals and your books.
Note that in Cake Controller names are only plural.

The controllers of your application are classes that extends the Cake ApplicationController class, which also extends a core Controller class. Controllers may comprise many kinds of actions: functions that are utilized in your web application to show off data in views.

ApplicationController class can be described in /app/appController.php and it may include methods that are distributed among controllers. It itself extends the Controller class which is a standardized in Cake Library.

A controller has an action as it’s single functionality. The Dispatcher directs it automatically if any incoming page request details in routes configuration. Going back to our example with the rental-library, our BooksController is supposed to include the view(), rent(), and search() actions.
The controller should be situated in /app/controllers/bookscontroller.php and include:

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. class BooksController extends AppController{
  2.   function view($id)
  3.   {
  4.     //logic here...
  5.   }
  6.   function rent($customer_id, $video_id)
  7.   {
  8.     //logic here...
  9.   }
  10.   function search($query)
  11.   {
  12.     //logic here...
  13.   }
  14. }

You should be capable to access these actions using the example URLs:
http://www.yourwebsite.com/books/view/Tom-Sawyer
http://www.yourwebsite.com/books/rent/12332/B-213ed
http://www.yourwebsite.com/books/search/Mark+Twain

The data displayed on this pages can be easily formated from the views area, for example for the rent() action we will have: /app/views/books/rent/index.thtml and so on.

May 05

Very common DTDs

Xhtml/CSS No Comments »

Despite writing a good valid code and a valid CSS for your webpage, if you don’t specify the right DOCTYPE or you won’t specify it at all meaning that your page will be rendered in quirks mode and it can behave strange displaying visual errors that can be very unpredictable damaging your layout.
Bellow is a list with the most common DTDs I in my developing process respectively for HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0 Transitional, XHTML 1.0 Strict.

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
  2. "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
  3.  
  4. <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
  5. "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
  6.  
  7. <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
  8. "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

 

Apr 20

Back again writing on my blog

General No Comments »

Hi there, I've been busy for a while but now I'm back writing on my blog and hope to have more time from now on to do it.

Mar 28

Busy this days

General No Comments »

Unfortunately, I was very busy last few days and I couldn't write something in my blog. I will be busy until the end of this week and then I can come with new stuff to write about.

Mar 17

CakePHP: upload and resize images

CakePHP 18 Comments »

I searched on Google for a code example of how to upload and resize an image using CakePHP and I didn't get to much results on this, so I decided to make it on my own way. First of all I created the /foto/ directory in the webroot (app/webroot) and inside it other 2 directories, one for the uploaded image /big/ (this is the big version of the image) and one for the image that will be resized /small/ (this can be the thumbnail), be sure that they have write permissions.

Now create a component called image.php and inside it you will have the code that will handle getting the file extension and resizing the uploaded image (app/controllers/components/image.php):

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. class ImageComponent extends Object
  2. {
  3.    function resize_img($imgname,$size)
  4.    {
  5.       //Header("Content-Type: image/jpeg");
  6.       $img_src = ImageCreateFromjpeg ($imgname);
  7.       $true_width = imagesx($img_src);
  8.       $true_height = imagesy($img_src);
  9.  
  10.       if ($true_width>=$true_height)
  11.       {
  12.         $width=$size;
  13.         $height = ($width/$true_width)*$true_height;
  14.       }
  15.       else
  16.       {
  17.        // $height=$size;
  18.        $width=$size;
  19.        $height = ($width/$true_width)*$true_height;
  20.        // $width = ($height/$true_height)*$true_width;
  21.       }
  22.         $img_des = ImageCreateTrueColor($width,$height);
  23.         imagecopyresampled ($img_des, $img_src, 0, 0, 0, 0, $width, $height, $true_width, $true_height);
  24.         return $img_des;
  25.     }
  26.  
  27.     function getFileExtension($str) {
  28.  
  29.         $i = strrpos($str,".");
  30.         if (!$i) { return ""; }
  31.         $l = strlen($str) - $i;
  32.         $ext = substr($str,$i+1,$l);
  33.         return $ext;
  34.     }
  35. }

Now let's see the view that will show the input type file element and the form (app/views/controller_name/upload.thtml):

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. <form method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" action="<?php echo $this->webroot;?>images/add">
  2.     <p>
  3.        <p>Image: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <?php echo $html->file('Image/name1', array('size' => '40'))?>
  4.     </p>
  5.     <p>
  6.         <?php echo $html->submit('Upload image'); ?>
  7.     </p>
  8. </form>


At the end comes the last part and the "hardest", when comes to write the controller code (app/controllers/images_controller.php):

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. class ImagesController extends AppController {
  2. var $components = array("Image"); // here is the image component that we described above
  3.  
  4. function add(){
  5.  
  6. if (strlen($this->data['Image']['name1']['name'])>4){
  7.  
  8.                    $error = 0;
  9.                    $uploaddir1 = "foto/big"; // the /big/ directory
  10.                    $uploaddir2 = "foto/small"; // the /small/ directory with resized images
  11.                    $filetype = $this->Image->getFileExtension($this->data['Image']['name1']['name']);
  12.                    $filetype = strtolower($filetype);
  13.  
  14.                    if (($filetype != "jpeg")  && ($filetype != "jpg"))
  15.                    {
  16.                     // verify the extension
  17.                     $error=1;
  18.                    }
  19.                    else
  20.                    {
  21.                     $imgsize = GetImageSize($this->data['Image']['name1']['tmp_name']); // image size
  22.                    }
  23.                    if (($imgsize[0]> 800) || ($imgsize[1]> 600)){
  24.                      // verify to see if the image exceds 800 x 600 px
  25.                      unlink($this->data['Image']['name1']['name']); // delete the image in case is to big
  26.                      $error=1;
  27.                     }
  28.                     if ($error==0){
  29.  
  30.                       // here is generated an unic id for the image name
  31.                       $stamp = strtotime ("now");
  32.                       $orderid = $stamp;
  33.                       $orderid = str_replace(".", "", $orderid);
  34.                       $id_unic = $orderid;
  35.                       $temp = $id_unic;
  36.                       settype($temp,"string");
  37.                       $temp.= ".";
  38.                       $temp.=$filetype;
  39.                       $newfile = $uploaddir1 . "/$temp";
  40.                     if (is_uploaded_file($this->data['Image']['name1']['tmp_name']))
  41.                     {
  42.                         if (!copy($this->data['Image']['name1']['tmp_name'],"$newfile"))
  43.                         {
  44.                             print "Error Uploading File1.";
  45.                             exit();
  46.                         }
  47.                     }
  48.                     $newfile2 = $uploaddir2 . "/$temp";
  49.  
  50.                      $picture_location=$newfile;
  51.                      $size=110; // the size for the resized image
  52.                      $img_des= $this->Image->resize_img($picture_location, $size); //here resizing
  53.                      imagejpeg($img_des,$newfile2,80);
  54.  
  55.                      // here you can have some code for example to insert in the database
  56.                      // Image uploaded
  57.                    }
  58.               }else{
  59.                       // Image not uploaded
  60.               }
  61.      }
  62. }

This is all.
This script above need to have GD installed on the server.

Mar 11

SWFIR - great way to style images

JavaScript No Comments »

SWFIR (swf Image Replacement), it is a great way to add some style to images inside a web page escaping from the limitations imposed by the HTML but respecting the standard design concepts. This is done using JavaScript and Flash. Using swfir is simple and you don't need any advanced knowledge about Flash or JavaScript. Just download the swfir_v1.zip and unzip it, then upload the 2 files (swfir.js and swfir.swf) from it to the same directory in your website. To make it work all you need to do is include the JavaScript file and then to choose the images that will be styled and features applied to them.
The .js file need to be included in the "head" of the document:

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. <script type="text/javascript" src="swfir.js"></script>

I will use some styling features to the following image:

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. <img src="picture.jpg" alt="Here is some alt text" id="pic2" />

To call swfIR at work you have to use something like:

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. <script type="text/javascript">
  2. window.onload = function(){
  3.   round = new swfir();
  4.   round.specify('src', 'swfir.swf');
  5.   round.specify('border-color', '#cccccc');
  6.   round.specify('border-width', '1');
  7.   round.specify('border-radius', '10');
  8.   round.specify('shadow-blur', '5');
  9.   round.swap("#pic2");
  10. }
  11. </script>

The code above need to be situated inside the "body" section. I used some parameters (there are more that can be used/tested) to style my "pic2" image.
The result is something like this:

Example

It works fine in Firefox 2.0 and IE 6.0, unfortunately on some cumputers with SP2 failed to run in IE 6.0, nut sure why but you can write to the SWFIR team.

Mar 07

I will fix the errors

General No Comments »

I see some errors in my blog caused by the code inserted in some examples, I have to find a way to fix this, maybe using a wordpress plugin to deal with the "plain text" code. Also it will help visitors to distinguish easier the post's text from the code examples.

Mar 06

CakePHP, Simple Contact Form, email sending

CakePHP 13 Comments »

In this post a I will show an example of a simple contact form which sends an email to a specified address, done using CakePHP.
The form has 3 fields: name, email address and message.
Firs of all let's see the "view" for the form displaying. It looks like this (app/views/controller_name/contact.thtml):

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. <?php if (isset($succes)){?> // $succes is the variable which is verified to see if email was sent
  2.      <p>The message has been sent.
  3.      <br />Thank you!
  4.      </p> // Message displayed if success
  5. <?php }else{?>
  6.      <form method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" action=”<?php echo $this->webroot;?>controllername/contact/”>
  7.      </form>
  8.  
  9. <?php if (isset($erroare)){?> // Verify if is an error and then display error message
  10.       <p>Please complete all fields!</p>
  11. <?}?>
  12.  
  13. <p>
  14.     Name: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<?php echo $html->input(’Page/name’, array(’size’ => ‘25′))?>
  15. </p>
  16.  
  17. <p>
  18.     Email: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<?php echo $html->input(’Page/email’, array(’size’ => ‘25′))?>
  19. </p>
  20.  
  21. <p>
  22.    Message: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <?php echo $html->textarea(’Page/message’, array(’cols’ => ‘40′, ‘rows’ => ‘10′))?>
  23. </p>
  24.  
  25. <p>
  26.    <?php echo $html->submit(’Send email’)?>
  27. </p>
  28. <p>
  29.    All fields have to be completed!
  30. </p>
  31. </form>
  32.  
  33. <?php }?>

Now we need a small component to verify the email address to be a valid one and also to contain the code necessary for the email sending. The component (app/controllers/components/email.php) is looking like this:

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. <?php
  2.  
  3. class EmailComponent extends Object
  4. {
  5.  
  6.     function email($email, $name, $message)
  7.     {
  8.       $f_mail = "name@domain.com";
  9.       $f_name = "WebMaster domain.com";
  10.       $f_message ="\nName : $name";   // start building the message
  11.       $f_message .="\n\nE-mail : $email";
  12.       $f_message .="\n\nMessage \n : $message";
  13.  
  14.       $headers = "From: www.domain.com <administrator@domain.com>\n";
  15.       $headers .= "X-Sender: <admin @domain.com>\n";
  16.       $headers .= "X-Mailer: PHP\n";
  17.       $headers .="Reply-To:$f_mail\n\n";
  18.      
  19.       $subject = "Message from your website domain.com";
  20.      
  21.       mail("$f_mail", "$subject", "$f_message",$headers); // send the email
  22.  
  23.     }
  24.  
  25.  
  26.     function validMail($email) // this function checks to see if the email supplied by the visitor is a valid one
  27.     {
  28.         $pattern="^[-_.[:alnum:]]+@((([[:alnum:]]|[[:alnum:]][[:alnum:]-]*[[:alnum:]])\.)+(ad|ae|aero|af|ag|ai|al|am|an|ao|aq|ar|arpa|as|at|au|aw|az|ba|bb|bd|be|bf|bg|bh|bi|biz|bj|bm|bn|bo|br|bs|bt|bv|bw|by|bz|ca|cc|cd|cf|cg|ch|ci|ck|cl|cm|cn|co|com|coop|cr|cs|cu|cv|cx|cy|cz|de|dj|dk|dm|do|dz|ec|edu|ee|eg|eh|er|es|et|eu|fi|fj|fk|fm|fo|fr|ga|gb|gd|ge|gf|gh|gi|gl|gm|gn|gov|gp|gq|gr|gs|gt|gu|gw|gy|hk|hm|hn|hr|ht|hu|id|ie|il|in|info|int|io|iq|ir|is|it|jm|jo|jp|ke|kg|kh|ki|km|kn|kp|kr|kw|ky|kz|la|lb|lc|li|lk|lr|ls|lt|lu|lv|ly|ma|mc|md|mg|mh|mil|mk|ml|mm|mn|mo|mp|mq|mr|ms|mt|mu|museum|mv|mw|mx|my|mz|na|name|nc|ne|net|nf|ng|ni|nl|no|np|nr|nt|nu|nz|om|org|pa|pe|pf|pg|ph|pk|pl|pm|pn|pr|pro|ps|pt|pw|py|qa|re|ro|ru|rw|sa|sb|sc|sd|se|sg|sh|si|sj|sk|sl|sm|sn|so|sr|st|su|sv|sy|sz|tc|td|tf|tg|th|tj|tk|tm|tn|to|tp|tr|tt|tv|tw|tz|ua|ug|uk|um|us|uy|uz|va|vc|ve|vg|vi|vn|vu|wf|ws|ye|yt|yu|za|zm|zw)|(([0-9][0-9]?|[0-1][0-9][0-9]|[2][0-4][0-9]|[2][5][0-5])\.){3}([0-9][0-9]?|[0-1][0-9][0-9]|[2][0-4][0-9]|[2][5][0-5]))$";
  29. // the regex for an email addres
  30.      
  31.      if(eregi($pattern, $email))
  32.         $ll=1;
  33.      else
  34.         $ll=0;
  35.      return $ll;
  36.     }
  37. }
  38.  
  39. ?>

And now becomes the logic part, the controller (app/controllers/controller_name.php):

PLAIN TEXT
PHP:
  1. <?php
  2.  
  3. class NameController extends AppController {
  4.  
  5.     var $uses = null;
  6.     var $components = array('Email');
  7.  
  8.     function contact(){
  9.  
  10.         $this->pageTitle = 'Contact';
  11.  
  12.         if (!empty($this->data))
  13.         {
  14.  
  15.           $email = $this->data['Page']['email'];
  16.           $name = $this->data['Page']['name'];
  17.           $message = $this->data['Page']['message'];
  18.  
  19.           $error = 0;
  20.  
  21.            // start filter vars
  22.           if(strlen(trim($email))<3)
  23.           {
  24.             $error=1;
  25.           }
  26.  
  27.           if(strlen(trim($message))<4)
  28.           {
  29.             $error=1;
  30.           }
  31.  
  32.          // verify email address
  33.           if( (strlen(trim($email))<3)||($this->Email->validMail($email)==0))
  34.           {
  35.             $error=1;
  36.           }
  37.  
  38.           if ($error==0)
  39.           {
  40.  
  41.             $this->Email->email($email, $name, $message);  //here is the email sent
  42.             $this->set('succes', 'The message was sent <br />Thank you!');
  43.             // setting "succes" variable for displaying if email was sent.
  44.  
  45.           }else
  46.           {
  47.             $this->set('error', 'Please complete all fields');
  48.             // this is in case of error
  49.           }
  50.  
  51.       }else{
  52.        
  53.       }
  54.  
  55.   }
  56.  
  57. }?>

 

Mar 03

About Linkbaiting

SEO No Comments »

One of the most “productive” way to attract visitors to your website / webblog relying on your content is to use a technique called linkbaiting.
Everything you need to do, to be able to use this feature, is to ensure that you wrote a good (unique) content on your website, a content that people will like and their attention will be caught in such manner that they will post a link towards your website.
This content you have is also called a possible “hook” for the visitor that will point a link to you. Through time there were some attempts to categorize this “hooks”, most encountered are:
- Informational Hooks – described as a content full with good information that can be usefull
- News Hooks – content related with fresh informations about some domains
- Hummor Hooks – funny content including jokes, pictures, movies
- Evil Hooks – means writing some bad things about a well known product / blogger / website, that sometimes can attract a lot of audience.
- Tool Hooks – creating a useful online tool that people will link to it.

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