Robert Mullaney's Blog

Reset Gallery3 Admin Password using phpMyAdmin

Robert Mullaney — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:05:05 +0000

Just a quote note in case I need to find it again later…

If you forgot your admin password for Gallery3 by Menalto, open the users table via phpMyAdmin and replace the existing encrypted password with the following.

$P$DyhWrqfmMF/XKPf3CtPn0pIQDZpQKu

Now, you can log in using 12345 as the password. Make sure you change this immediately after logging back in!

Horizontal icon (footer) layout for Facebook chat contacts window… kind of like the Mac OSX app bar

Robert Mullaney — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:01:04 +0000

If you came here looking for the code, that will be a bit further down the road. Here is the plan…

Take this…

Note: The above screen has my hide offline users mod applied

And make it look more like this…

This is a “for fun” project and will be completed as time permits. So check back soon for progress updates.

Hide offline contacts from Facebook chat

Robert Mullaney — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:42:21 +0000

If you’re like me, you stay logged into Facebook throughout the day. I work online so this is not uncommon.

One thing I have always hated is that there are no preferences for how you want to filter that list. Personally I find it pointless to show you offline contacts in an instant chat interface. I know some people use it to leave messages, but I am not one of them.

Assuming you know how to modify your browser’s custom style sheet, this is all you need to add and those offline users will no longer be visible!

.fbChatOrderedList li.item,
.fbChatOrderedList li.separator {
    display: none !important;
}
.fbChatOrderedList li.active,
.fbChatOrderedList li.mobile {
    display: block !important;
}

Feel free to post questions, comments or even improvements.

IMPROVED: Open all external links in a new window using jQuery

Robert Mullaney — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:29:21 +0000

In the original post I covered how to use jQuery to automatically make external links open in a new window. The method however was slightly flawed in my opinion since…

It did not check form action attributes
It assumed ANY link starting with “http[s]://” was external

Here is my new and improved method for making all external site links open in a new window. It now includes form tags, one less selector for secure and non-secure link urls, AND excludes any of those which link to an internal page where the full url may have been specified.

$('a[href*="://"], form[action*="://"]').not($('a[href*="://'+location.host+'"]')).attr('target','_blank');

A quick breakdown…

a[href*="://"] and form[action*="://"] matches the elements where a full url has been specified
.not($(‘a[href*="://'+location.host+'"]‘)) excludes all matched items that include the current host (eg: http://www.robertmullaney.com/)
finally we update the target attribute of the the remaining links open in a new window

Why this is important:

Once you have a user on your site, the worst thing you can do is send them away. Also, you will easily annoy them if all links open in new windows and cause them to leave anyhow. This way, only the links that pull them away from site site are opened in new windows. When they are done on the external sites, they close the browser and there your site remains.

Calculate the total height of child elements of a clipped (overflow: hidden) parent tag

Robert Mullaney — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:41:19 +0000

Ever have an element with clipped content and wanted to know the total height of the elements contained therein? I have a client who wants the height of the main content to be clipped to a preset height (don’t ask me why). Which means I need to dynamically add a “read more” link to expand the container and show all the content.

Well, here’s how you calculate the combined height of the children with jQuery…

HTML


    content
content
content

    content
content
content

    content
content
content
    content
content
content

    content
content
content

    content
content
content

JavaScript

var totalHeight = 0;
$("#container").children().each(function(){
    totalHeight += $(this).outerHeight(true); // true = include margins
});
alert("Total Height: " + totalHeight + "px");

Result

Total Height: 360px

All you have to do is loop over each child element inside the parent element, adding its outerHeight (which includes margins, borders and padding) to the totalHeight variable.

Remove www prefix from domain using PHP

Robert Mullaney — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:47:49 +0000

I see this question a lot and usually it comes down to getting the current host name for use with cookies. Lets say I want to make a domain-wide cookie, that does not include the standard www prefix such as www.robertmullaney.com. In order for the cookie to work with or without the www prefix, it needs to become ‘.robertmullaney.com’.

preg_replace('/^www\./i', '.', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'])

Now, some of you may be looking for a way to determine the top-level domain for something like this.subdomain.robertmullaney.com. That is not an easy solution (since many TLDs have multiple suffixes like .co.uk). If that’s what you’re looking for, check back later and see if I have come up with a good solution… that one’s tricky.

Happy New Year 2012

Robert Mullaney — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:19:07 +0000

I’d like to wish all of my visitors and fellow coders a happy and prosperous new year. Keep checking out my blog in 2012 for some new sections included but not limited to java, c++ and iphone/android app development. This should be a good year.

Calculator: Convert Xbox Live Microsoft Points (MSP) to USD

Robert Mullaney — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:02:22 +0000

Here is a calculator (requires JavaScript) to convert Xbox Live Microsoft Points into USD (dollars) and vice versa.

Simply enter an amount into either field and the conversion is automatic.

PS: If you leech my code, at least link to me for credit

My HTML5 base template (skeleton file) with jQuery from Google CDN

Robert Mullaney — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:09:24 +0000

Below is the standard HTML5 template I start most of my projects with. It includes the latest 1.x version of jQuery, jQuery UI, and the desired jQuery UI theme. It also has a conditional comment that checks to see if the current browser older than IE9 and includes HTML5Shiv to make sure new elements are rendered properly in older IE browsers.

While I don’t claim this is the best skeleton HTML5 template, I think it is a very solid foundation to start from





Untitled

PHP: Incrementing/decrementing a numeric string that has letter (alpha) prefixes

Robert Mullaney — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:02:49 +0000

I see this question quite a bit in programming discussions and forums. I’ll be linking to this post from now on to avoid re-posting the same replies every time someone asks.

String Value: XYZ123

Desired Result: XYZ124

The majority of solutions I have read regarding this problem require splitting the string or using regular expressions to manipulate the numeric portion. The overhead for complex solutions for such a simple problem are simply overkill. The example below shows the easiest way to increment the string and requires minimal overhead…

$str = 'XYZ123';
echo $str++; // Output: XYZ124

It couldn’t be any easier. To decrement, simply modify the ‘++’ operator as follows…

$str = 'XYZ123';
echo $str--; // Output: XYZ122

Now, if your numeric string ends with a letter, this method will perform differently than you might expect.

$str = '123ABC';
echo $str++; // Output: 123ABD

Here as an example performed using a for loop.

A990 35A991 35A992 35A993 35A994 35A995 35A996 35A997 35A998 35A999 35B000 35B001 35B002 35B003 35B004 35B005
?>

Note: Since we exceeded the upper limit of the numeric portion, the preceding alpha character ‘A’ is incremented to ‘B’ (in red above). Be sure you understand this behavior before implementing this method.

Feel free to comment if you have any questions.

Bookmarklet: Submit a login form using javascript within a bookmark

Robert Mullaney — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:38:41 +0000

If you’re like me, you have many bookmarks to administration areas that require authentication. For you, this script is a priceless time-saver.

Let’s say your login page has a form similar to the following…


    Username: 
    Password:

Some logins simply cannot be stored in the browser’s password system. So, to save you the extra effort of manually logging in on each visit to such pages, create a bookmark that automatically logs you into the system.

Here’s the code to submit that form using a bookmarklet…

Red text indicates what should be changed…

javascript:'http://yourdomain.com/login.php">user" value="yourusername">pass" value="yourpassword">
'

As long as you have a basic understanding of HTML forms and JavaScript, you should be able to modify the above code to suit your specific needs

Warning: Since your username and password are stored in plain-text within the bookmark, you should never implement this script on a computer or device accessible by other users.

jQuery Add Bookmark to Favorites Script

Robert Mullaney — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:40:43 +0000

Here is a quick example of how to use jQuery along with traditional browser sniffing techniques to create a dynamic “Bookmark Us” link.

Google CDN (latest 1.x version, theme)…



1/themes/blitzer/jquery-ui.css" />

The javascript…

$(function() {
    $('').dialog({
        modal: true,
        autoOpen: false,
        buttons: {
            Ok: function() {
                $(this).dialog('close');
            }
        }
    });
    var faveMetaKey = (navigator.appVersion.indexOf('Mac') != -1) ? 'CMD' : 'CTRL';
    var faveLetter = 'D';
    var faveText = 'Bookmark Us';
    if ($.browser.opera) {
        $('#addBookmark').attr('rel', 'sidebar');
        if (parseInt($.browser.version, 10) < 9) {
            faveLetter = 'T';
            $('#addBookmark').text(faveText + ' (' + faveMetaKey + '+' + faveLetter + ')');
        }
    } else if (/konqueror/.test(navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase())) {
        faveLetter = 'B';
        $('#addBookmark').text(faveText + ' (' + faveMetaKey + '+' + faveLetter + ')');
    } else if (window.external || window.sidebar) {
        $('#addBookmark').text(faveText);
    }
    $('#addBookmark').click(function(event) {
        event.preventDefault();
        if (window.external) { // IE
            window.external.AddFavorite(window.location.href, document.title);
        } else if (window.sidebar) { // FireFox
            window.sidebar.addPanel(document.title, window.location.href, '');
        } else {
            if ($.browser.opera && parseInt($.browser.version, 10) >= 9) {
                // do nothing (added rel="sidebar" above)
            } else {
                $('#dialog').dialog('option', 'title', faveText);
                $('#dialog').html('Press ' + faveMetaKey + '+' + faveLetter + ' to ' + faveText + '.');
                $('#dialog').dialog('open');
            }
        }
    });
});

The HTML anchor (link)…

Bookmark Us (CTRL + D)

You can see from the HTML above that we set our link using generic defaults in case the user’s browser doesn’t process the script correctly.

In our JavaScript, we first add a generic dialog to the DOM in case automated bookmarks are not supported. Next we set our defaults: faveMetaKey, faveLetter key, and faveText. Only the rel=”sidebar” attribute is required for this to work with Opera, but we also have to check the Opera version to re-assign the letter key for older versions. The check for Konqueror was required since it uses a letter key that no other browser is known to use. Then, if we know that automated bookmarking is allowed, we can just omit the key combination since the link should work (IE & FF).

Now for our almighty click() function. First, we kill the event with preventDefault(). Then we do our conditional checks for Internet Explorer and FireFox (both of which can be automated). If all else fails, we make sure it’s not Opera 9+, then tell the user which key combination to press within the jQuery-UI Dialog.

Let me know if you run into any browser/OS combinations with which this method fails. Try to limit concerns regarding browser versions to those released within the last 5 years, thanks

I would also appreciate feedback regarding key combinations not included in my script. I’m pretty sure I covered them all, but one can never be sure.

Easily prevent Flash of Unstyled Content (FOUC) with jQuery

Robert Mullaney — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:27:27 +0000

I have a project which uses jQuery UI for tables (formatting), buttons, tabs, etc. Even though my local resources and remotely hosted ones are saved in the browser’s cache, I still have situations where a FOUC (Flash of Unstyled Content) occurs.

Here is a simple solution…

$(function() {
    $('body').hide();
    $(window).load(function(){
        $('body').show();
    });
});

Adjust the selector to your needs of course

Make the jQuery UI Datepicker use a jQuery Button

Robert Mullaney — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:35:06 +0000

It has been bugging me for some time that the datepicker widget uses a normal button unless you tell it to use an image. Seeing that we are using the jQuery-UI framework, it makes sense to me that the button should be styled as such. After playing with the selectors and trying it a few different ways, here is how I made that boring datepicker button become a jQuery-UI button (with calendar icon).

$(function() {
    $('input[name="some_date_field"]').datepicker({
        showOn: 'button'
    });
    $('button.ui-datepicker-trigger').button({
        text: false,
        icons: {
            primary: 'ui-icon-calendar',
            secondary: ''
        }
    });
});

Note: Since my datepicker button was displayed inside a jQuery-UI Dialog, some extra CSS rules were required to make it look right. You may not need them, but if you end up with a huge unsightly button, adjust the following rules.

button.ui-datepicker-trigger {
    font-size: 65% !important;
    vertical-align: top !important;
    margin-left: 3px !important;
}

Comments and questions are always welcome

Submit ajax form in jQuery-UI Dialog with Enter Key

Robert Mullaney — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 08:34:49 +0000

This question is posted quite a bit and nobody seems to be able to provide a good solution that won’t behave questionably. So here’s my take on it…

$('').appendTo('body').dialog({
    autoOpen: false,
    modal: true,
    closeOnEscape: true,
    buttons: {
        OK: function() {
            $.ajax({
                type: 'POST',
                url: 'save.php',
                data: $('#myDialog :input').serialize(),
                error: function(xml, status, error) {
                    $('#myDialog').html('Error Code: '+status+'
Explanation: '+error+'');
                }
            });
        },
        Cancel: function() {
            $(this).dialog('close');
        }
    },
    open: function() {
        $(this).html('').load('form.php');
    },
    focus: function() {
        $(':input', this).keyup(function(event) {
            if (event.keyCode == 13) {
                $('.ui-dialog-buttonpane button:first').click();
            }
        });
    }
});

Note: You can also trigger the event on any element (not just form fields) by using $(this) as the selector.

That’s it, enjoy

Change CodeIgniter’s Form_validation error delimiters globally!

Robert Mullaney — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 07:22:53 +0000

I have seen this question all over the web and am surprised that nobody has actually offered such a simple solution.

Anyway, here is a quick, simple and painless way to set CodeIgniter’s error delimiters (used by the Form_validation library) one time for your entire application. Create “application/libraries/MY_Form_validation.php” with the following contents…

class MY_Form_validation extends CI_Form_validation {
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
        $this->_error_prefix    = ' ';
        $this->_error_suffix    = '';
    }
}

No more setting the delimiters every time you load the Form_validation library!

You can still override the new delimiters by using
$this->form_validation->set_error_delimiters()
in your controllers as needed.

Note: If you’re curious about the HTML I used above, it was adapted from the jQueryUI – Themeroller page source.

Easily load multiple views with CodeIgniter

Robert Mullaney — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 15:57:29 +0000

It is not uncommon to load a common header, footer and other views in each controller. While this can be achieved like so…

$this->load->view('header', $header_data);
$this->load->view('content', $content_data);
$this->load->view('footer', $footer_data);

I wanted the ability to do the same thing with a single line of code. So I decided to extend the core Loader library by creating “application/core/MY_Loader.php” with the following code…

class MY_Loader extends CI_Loader {
    /**
     * Load Multiple Views
     *
     * This function is used to load multiple "view" files.  It has three parameters:
     *
     * 1. An array of the "view" file to be included.
     * 2. An associative array of data to be extracted for use in the views.
     * 3. TRUE/FALSE - whether to return the data or load it.  In
     * some cases it's advantageous to be able to return data so that
     * a developer can process it in some way.
     *
     * @access   public
     * @param    mixed
     * @param    array
     * @param    bool
     * @return   mixed
     */
    function multiview($view = array(), $vars = array(), $return = FALSE)
    {
        $return_value = '';
        if (is_array($view)) {
            foreach ($view as $current_index => $current_view) {
                $current_vars = $vars;
                if (is_array($vars[$current_index])) {
                    $current_vars = $vars[$current_index];
                }
                $result = $this->view($current_view, $current_vars, $return);
                if (is_string($result)) {
                    $return_value .= $result;
                }
            }
            return $result;
        } else {
            return $this->view($view, $vars, $return);
        }
    }
}
/* End of file MY_Loader.php */
/* Location: ./application/core/MY_Loader.php */

Now I can load multiple views with a single call…

$this->load->multiview(array('header','content','footer'), array($header_data, $content_data, $footer_data));

Or simplify the call with all of the data combined (though CI technically does this in the core Loader anyhow).

$this->load->multiview(array('header','content','footer'), $combined_data);

Feel free to use my example in your own project or post up some questions/comments below

Disable browser cache easily with CodeIgniter

Robert Mullaney — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:50:23 +0000

I have a project where users are validated by session data. When the user logs out I destroy the session and redirect them to the log-in page, but this does not prevent them from clicking the browser’s “back” button, in which case they still see the data.

My first solution was to set headers with PHP’s header() function. Then I decided to use CodeIgniter’s setheader() function from the Output library (no real difference, just using CI methods when possible). Finally, I decided the best way to do this would be to extend the Output library itself. This way I am not repeating multiple function calls in each controller. Here is end-result…

Create MY_Output.php in “application/libraries” containing the following code…

set_header('Expires: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 05:00:00 GMT');
        $this->set_header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, max-age=0');
        $this->set_header('Cache-Control: post-check=0, pre-check=0', FALSE);
        $this->set_header('Pragma: no-cache');
    }

}

/* End of File */

Now, all you have to do is call the method with the following code before you send any data to the browser.

$this->output->nocache();

I usually place this in my controller’s constructor for pages where user validation is required.

Happy coding

Reset fields to default values using jQuery

Robert Mullaney — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:27:05 +0000

Have you ever wanted to reset only fields in a particular section of the form without resetting all of the fields?

Here is how you can achieve this with jQuery

$('#reset_address').click(function (event) {
 event.preventDefault();
 $('#address_details :input').each(function() {
  if ($(this).is('select')) {
   $(this).val($(this).find('option[selected]').val());
  } else {
   $(this).val(this.defaultValue);
  }
 });
});

#address_details represents a

within my

. When the user clicks the #reset_address link I revert the fields within the

(not the entire form) back to their original values.

Note: defaultValue is a core JavaScript property. A conditional check for and </em> fields.</p> </article> <article> <h1>My ultimate .htaccess file for CodeIgniter 2.0</h1> <p>Robert Mullaney — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:53:52 +0000</p> <pre>#Initialize mod_rewrite RewriteEngine On RewriteBase / #Force "www" subdomain RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L] #Re-route forbidden urls RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^(system|application).* [OR] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?/$1 [L] #Re-route urls if file/directory does not exist RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?/$1 [L]</pre> </article> </main></body></html>