Mick Redman

Thursday, 19 July 2012

Simple PDO Class

For some reason, maybe it was my first (negative) introduction to OOP through C++, I've always hated those (::) double colons. So, when I started to look at PHP Data Objects (PDO), although it seemed like a good idea, I couldn't get over the fact that I was opening myself up to using static class and methods with all the syntax which goes with it.

So I started to create a simple database class which made use of PDO, which would be a little friendlier to call. Humble beginnings these. First I created an ini file for all the settings, which looks something like this:

DB_TYPE = mysql
DB_HOST = localhost
DB_USERNAME = jimmy
DB_PASSWORD = password
DB_NAME = testdb

Then, I created the database class which called the ini file thus:

<?php
class database
{
private $config;
private $connection;
private $pdoString;
function __construct()
{
$this->config = (object) parse_ini_file('config.ini', true);
$this->pdoString = $this->config->DB_TYPE;
$this->pdoString .= ':dbname='.$this->config->DB_NAME;
$this->pdoString .= ';host='.$this->config->DB_HOST;
$this->connection = new PDO($this->pdoString, $this->config->DB_USERNAME, $this->config->DB_PASSWORD);
}

public function query($q)
{
return $this->connection->query($q);
}

function __destruct()
{
$this->connection = NULL;
}
}
?>
Finally, I created a calling page to see how it ran:

<?php
require_once 'database.class.php';
$db = new database;
$arr = $db->query('SELECT * FROM users');
foreach($arr as $row)
{
echo $row['username'].'<br />';
}
?>
It's a start.

Friday, 13 July 2012

OOP PHP RSS Reader

This is a simple RSS Reader which allows you to add multiple feeds. It also sorts the results before returning them to the calling page.
The calling page would look something like this:

<?php
require_once 'rss.class.php';
$addr1 = 'http://feeds.bbci.co.uk/sport/0/football/rss.xml';
$addr2 = 'http://feeds.howtogeek.com/HowToGeek';
$addr3 = 'http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheEdTechie';
$rss = new rss;
$rss->addFeed($addr1);
$rss->addFeed($addr2);
$rss->addFeed($addr3);
$arr = $rss->getFeed();
foreach($arr as $row)
{
echo $row->title.'-'.$row->pubDate.'<br />';
}
?>

So, here's the RSS Reader class:

<?php
class rss
{
public $addr = NULL;
private $outArr = Array();
function __construct($addr = NULL)
{
$this->addr = $addr != NULL ? $addr : $this->addr;
if($this->addr)
{
return $this->addFeed();
}
}

function addFeed($addr = NULL)
{
$this->addr = $addr != NULL ? $addr : $this->addr;
$rss = simplexml_load_file($this->addr);
$this->outArr = array_merge($this->outArr, $rss->xpath('/rss//item'));
}

function getFeed()
{
usort($this->outArr, function ($x, $y)
{
if (strtotime($x->pubDate) == strtotime($y->pubDate)) return 0;
return (strtotime($x->pubDate) > strtotime($y->pubDate)) ? -1 : 1;
});
return $this->outArr;
}
}
new rss;
?>

Wednesday, 11 July 2012

HTML5 Audio Slideshow

Here, I've created a slideshow which syncs with a piece of audio. You can add different types of image and you can set the position in the audio when the image/slide appears. All free for you to play with.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1">
<title>HTML5 Audio Slideshow</title>

<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/reset.css" />
<style>
audio img
{
display:none;
}
#display_meta
{
width:300px;
min-height:225px;
}
</style>
<script src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script>
<script>
google.load("jquery", "1");
google.load("jqueryui", "1");
</script>
</head>
<body>
<br />
<img id="display_meta" src="1.png" /><br />
<audio id="greeting" controls="controls">
<source src="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17154625/greeting.ogg" type="audio/ogg" />
<img src="jimmy.png" data-seconds="2" />
<img src="johnnie.png" data-seconds="4" />
<img src="julie.png" data-seconds="6" />
</audio>
<script>
var allImages = new Array(3);
var inc = 0, foundie = 0;
$('audio img').each(function()
{
allImages[inc] = new Array(3);
allImages[inc][0] = $(this).attr('src');
allImages[inc++][1] = $(this).data('seconds');
});
(function()
{
var displayTime = function()
{
var rVer = Math.round(greeting.currentTime);
foundie = giveBackImageName(rVer);
if(foundie != 0)
{
document.getElementById('display_meta').src = foundie;
}
}

var giveBackImageName = function(vr)
{
for (var i = 0; i < allImages.length; i++)
{
if(allImages[i][1] == vr)
{
return allImages[i][0];
}
}
return 0;
}
$('#greeting').bind('timeupdate', displayTime);
})();
</script>
</body>
</html>

Thursday, 28 June 2012

OOP PHP POST handler in 2 parts

Actually, I'm wrong before I've even started. The class I give you below will also handle GET requests too. I've described it in 2 parts. The first is some HTML and jQuery which can be used to test the class. Then there is the class itself.

The HTML delivers a form with an input field and submit button. It also contains a jQuery call to the POST handler. Here, I pass the method within the class which will be called to handle the data. Then I pass the data. In this case, the contents of the input field. Finally, An alert catches any data coming back from the class.

The POST handler accepts the POST request as and converts it into an object. It checks to see if a method has been called and that the method exists. If so, the method is invoked. If not, an error message is returned.

Enjoy!

The HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Post test</title>
<style>
body
{
font-family:Sans-serif;
line-height:1.5em;
}
</style>
<script src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script>
<script>
google.load("jquery", "1");
google.load("jqueryui", "1");
</script>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<label for="myname">Type your name</label>
<input type="text" name="myname" id="myname" />
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>
<script>
(function()
{
$('form').submit(function()
{
$.post('posthandler.php',
{
method:'getContent',
myname:$(this).find('#myname').val()
}, function(data)
{
alert(data)
});
return false;
});
})();
</script>
</body>
</html>

The Class

<?php
class posthandler
{
private $postObject;
function __construct($p)
{
$this->postObject = (object) $p;
if($this->postObject->method && (method_exists($this, $this->postObject->method)))
{
$evalStr = '$this->'.$this->postObject->method.'();';
eval($evalStr);
}
else
{
echo 'Invalid method supplied';
}

}
function getcontent()
{
echo $this->postObject->myname;
}
}
new posthandler($_POST);
?>

Monday, 28 May 2012

Tabs using Twitter Bootstrap

I had been trying to search out a real world example of how tabs worked in Twitter Bootstrap and found that, by far, most examples missed some crucial elements. Below, I have supplied some code to paste into your Twitter Bootstrap site which you can play with.

<div class="row">
<div class="span16">
<div class="tabbable" id="usernav">
<ul class="nav nav-tabs">
<li class="active"><a href="#home" data-toggle="tab">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="#jobs" data-toggle="tab">Jobs</a></li>
</ul>
<div class="tab-content">
<div class="tab-pane active" id="home">
This is my home content.
</div>
<div class="tab-pane" id="jobs">
This is the jobs section.
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Friday, 9 March 2012

A bit off the wall but who cares

This post won't appeal the the majority of people who follow my blogs, but here goes just the same.

If you type organic culture into the Google search bar, you get results which include fabrics from bamboo, pro-biotic foods, crops and gardening etc. Or to put it another way, semi-structures derived and evolved from existing natural materials.

I was having a conversation with a colleague this morning. We were talking about a system which requires someone to produce something (new) and then receive approval and feedback. The people who submit the products are also the people who will be approving/disapproving other people's products.

Let's just image for a moment that it's you who have been working long and hard on a product with all the best intentions. You are hoping to gain some credibility for your efforts. You send it out for approval. The feedback is negative, in places, missing the point that you have taken time and care to convey.

How likely are you to provide positive feedback to the next product you review?
How likely are you to provide positive feedback to the next product from the person who gave your work negative feedback?

Most organisations have a culture. An organisation I once worked for have a very positive, mutually supportive culture. As time went by, this culture was organically shifted to one which treated new ideas and efforts as an opportunity to pour scorn and score short term points.

Once this type of culture takes hold, it's a bit like fabrics from bamboo, pro-biotic foods, crops and gardening etc. Very difficult to untangle or remove, but for us who wish better for our working lives and for our organisations, we must. And we must replace it with a culture which gets behind something good, works with the originator and builds upon it to create excellence. Only then do we deserve and pat on the back.

Monday, 5 March 2012

Multiple inheritance through PHP using traits

I actually took this code from http://php.net. Multiple inheritance has always been a bit dodgy for me in PHP. This is an excellent example of how to use traits to achieve it.

<?php
trait Hello {
public function sayHello() {
echo 'Hello ';
}
}

trait World {
public function sayWorld() {
echo ' World';
}
}

class MyHelloWorld {
use Hello, World;
public function sayExclamationMark() {
echo '!';
}
}

$o = new MyHelloWorld();
$o->sayHello();
$o->sayWorld();
$o->sayExclamationMark();>
?>