The future of 404 pages

I was astounded to see web pages using large-size-auto-playing-video at their landing page. They are awesome aside from draw backs  (it consumes large amount of bandwidth) they are cool and they convey message well . So I thought what if error messages would like fun too like their landing page or their about page , what if 404 messages would be videos 

How to read long BLOG

The secret to reading a long blog is to remove distractions. Distractions like ads , moving images or auto played videos are the best elements to keep out of focus in reading long post. 

The solution 

ZOOM In the PAGE.   

Zoom in until all you can see are the text that you want to read . Then you can now start reading the long post  part by part .  

Yii - Problem with Date Comparison

Do you ever encounter this problem
where you feel your code is right and should work yet still  you got nothing

Try using the quote string on your comparison
for example

$criteria->addCondition("date(date_created)  = \"$yourDate\"");

Like that..
hope you find this helpful

Yii - Calling Widget - PHPStorm Friendly

Old WAY
 
When I was just starting out. These code looks hideously cryptic and hard to understand .

  <?php $this->widget('zii.widgets.grid.CGridView', array(
/*'type'=>'striped bordered condensed',*/
'itemsCssClass'=>'table table-striped',
'dataProvider'=>$gridDataProvider,
'template'=>"{items}",
'columns'=>array(
array('name'=>'id', 'header'=>'#'),
array('name'=>'firstName', 'header'=>'First name'),
array('name'=>'lastName', 'header'=>'Last name'),
array('name'=>'language', 'header'=>'Language', 'type'=>'raw'),
array('name'=>'usage', 'header'=>'Usage', 'type'=>'raw'),

),
)); ?>

so I went experimenting on how to make these more readable and here is what I have found.


      $myGridview = new CGridView();
      $myGridview->itemsCssClass = 'table table-hover';
      $myGridview->dataProvider = $gridDataProvider;
      $myGridview->template = "{items}";
      $myGridview->columns = array(
          array('name'=>'id', 'header'=>'#'),
          array('name'=>'firstName', 'header'=>'First name'),
          array('name'=>'lastName', 'header'=>'Last name'),
          array('name'=>'language', 'header'=>'Language', 'type'=>'raw'),
          array('name'=>'usage', 'header'=>'Usage', 'type'=>'raw'),
      );
      $myGridview->init();
     echo $myGridview->run(); // to print the widget

yes the code looks longer than the first one , If you are using php storm as your IDE you can easily explore your widget's other attributes and functions.

How to implement REST using Yii

DONT YOU DARE LEAVE YII!

Don't jump in their wagon yet. Stay on the boat. Here is how to create REST API using Yii

I will be using yii version 1.15

its easy actually just paste these

       array('api/list', 'pattern'=>'api/<model:\w+>', 'verb'=>'GET'),
       array('api/view', 'pattern'=>'api/<model:\w+>/<id:\d+>', 'verb'=>'GET'),
       array('api/update', 'pattern'=>'api/<model:\w+>/<id:\d+>', 'verb'=>'PUT'),
       array('api/delete', 'pattern'=>'api/<model:\w+>/<id:\d+>', 'verb'=>'DELETE'),

in your main.php

here is my complete configuration

'rules'=>array(
       array('api/list', 'pattern'=>'api/<model:\w+>', 'verb'=>'GET'),
       array('api/view', 'pattern'=>'api/<model:\w+>/<id:\d+>', 'verb'=>'GET'),
       array('api/update', 'pattern'=>'api/<model:\w+>/<id:\d+>', 'verb'=>'PUT'),
       array('api/delete', 'pattern'=>'api/<model:\w+>/<id:\d+>', 'verb'=>'DELETE'),
'<controller:\w+>/<id:\d+>'=>'<controller>/view',
'<controller:\w+>/<action:\w+>/<id:\d+>'=>'<controller>/<action>',
'<controller:\w+>/<action:\w+>'=>'<controller>/<action>',
),


Now that you pasted that code. Create a ApiController.php file on your controllers folder.

heres the complete code of that file

class ApiController extends Controller
{
    // Members
    /**
     * Key which has to be in HTTP USERNAME and PASSWORD headers 
     */
    Const APPLICATION_ID = 'ASCCPE';
 
    /**
     * Default response format
     * either 'json' or 'xml'
     */
    private $format = 'json';
    /**
     * @return array action filters
     */
    public function filters()
    {
            return array();
    }
 
    // Actions
    public function actionList()
    {
    }
    public function actionView()
    {
    }
    public function actionCreate()
    {
    }
    public function actionUpdate()
    {
    }
    public function actionDelete()
    {
    }
}

And you are DONE!..

here an example code from my ApiController

    public function actionView()
    {
        // header('Content-Type: application/json');
        /*retrieve json string with contact id */
        if (class_exists($_GET['model'])) {
            $foundContact = new $_GET['model'];
            $criteria = new CDbCriteria;
            $criteria->compare("rec_id",$_GET['id']);
            $foundContact = $foundContact::model()->find($criteria);
            echo CJSON::encode($foundContact);
        }else{
            throw new CHttpException(404,"Sorry we cant find that contact");
        }


        /*return the full data*/
    }

Angular JS weird error

Uncaught Error: [$injector:nomod] http://errors.angularjs.org/1.2.21/$injector/nomod?p0=ljhnfkjkfnjksdnf

So I encountered these error today and only to find out the solution is just to include

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.0rc1/angular-route.min.js"></script>

then inject that module in your module like these

var app = angular.module('myapp', ['ngRoute']);

et viola ! error message gone!

PHP - exec() vs system() vs passthru()

I've learned from experience.

Similarities : They are all used to execute system commands

shell_exec()  - I will execute your command and return the full string of the result.

exec()  -  "shell_exec"  stop copying my feature... *works the same as shell_exec

system()    -  I will run your command but I will only return the last line . Please use me if you only                                  want a one liner output

passthru() - I will run your command and proceed immediately with the next line of code. The output                           will be sent to output buffer dont worry about me.