For me, this is a bad thing since I won’t have internet for another week. This feature can be disabled. Open Terminal and type (or copy/paste) the following:

sudo tmutil disablelocal

A reboot is going to be required before this take effect.

If you ever want to re-enable it, you would open Terminal again and type:

sudo tmutil enablelocal

Once again, a reboot is going to be re

One of the most annoying things I have found is that MSSQL doesn’t have an offset like MySQL does. Offsets are great for pagination. If you have 1000 records and you want to pull 200 records at at time, you would limit the number of records to 200 (TOP 200). But how do you get to page two? That’s where offset comes in. Let’s says you want to get the top X records, but offset by Y records. Without offset, the only decent way I could think of to do pagination was to pull the top 400 and in the PHP code I split off the first 200 records that I don’t need. That gets pretty ugly if there are 10k records and you are displaying 10 records at a time. By the last page, your query is taking way to long to return results when you aren’t using 99% of them.

All that being said, I am working on a project built with Codeigniter that connects to a MSSQL database. Codeigniter has some pretty good DB libraries so most things work just fine. My two big problems are offset and batch insert and batch update (more on batch in a later post). We don’t want to go into the Codeigniter system directory and start changing things as we see fit. If we dod that, we can never update Codeigniter at a later date. The answer is to overload, or extend, the Codeigniter database driver. What we have to do is extend a function in the system/core/Loader.php file. To do this, in application/core/ create a file named MY_Loader.php. Just to reiterate, this file goes in application/core/ NOT application/libraries/ If you have changed the subclass_prefix config value to something other than MY_ then you will need to rename the file accordingly. Next, copy/paste the code below into the file you just created.

<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');
 
class MY_Loader extends CI_Loader {
 
	public function database($params = '', $return = FALSE, $active_record = NULL)
	{
		// Grab the super object
		$CI =& get_instance();
 
		// Do we even need to load the database class?
		if (class_exists('CI_DB') AND $return == FALSE AND $active_record == NULL AND isset($CI->db) AND is_object($CI->db))
		{
			return FALSE;
		}
 
		require_once(BASEPATH.'database/DB.php');
 
		$db = DB($params, $active_record);
 
		// Load extended DB driver
		$custom_db_driver = config_item('subclass_prefix').'DB_'.$db->dbdriver.'_driver';
		$custom_db_driver_file = APPPATH.'core/'.$custom_db_driver.'.php';
 
		if (file_exists($custom_db_driver_file))
		{
			require_once($custom_db_driver_file);
 
			$db = new $custom_db_driver(get_object_vars($db));
		}
 
		// Return DB instance
		if ($return === TRUE)
		{
			return $db;
		}
 
		// Initialize the db variable. Needed to prevent reference errors with some configurations
		$CI->db = '';
		$CI->db =& $db;
	}
 
}

The above code is pretty much the same thing found in system/core/Loader.php with some changes to make it look in application/core/ for your extensions to the database drivers. If there aren’t any database extensions, no big deal. It will continue on like normal.

So the next thing we have to do is create a file named MY_DB_mssql_driver.php in application/core/ Again, this file goes in application/core/ NOT application/libraries/ and if you have changed the subclass_prefix config value to something other than MY_ then you will need to rename the file accordingly. In my case, I am extending the MSSQL database driver so my file is named MY_DB_mssql_driver.php. If you are extending the MySQL driver, then you would name it MY_DB_mysql_driver.php. Next, copy/paste the following code into the MY_DB_mssql_driver.php file you just created

<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');
 
class MY_DB_mssql_driver extends CI_DB_mssql_driver {
 
	/**
	 * Limit string
	 *
	 * Generates a platform-specific LIMIT clause
	 *
	 * @param	string	the sql query string
	 * @param	integer	the number of rows to limit the query to
	 * @param	integer	the offset value
	 * @return	string
	 */
	function _limit($sql, $limit, $offset)
	{
		if ( ! $offset)
		{
			$i = $limit;
 
			return preg_replace('/(^\SELECT (DISTINCT)?)/i','\\1 TOP '.$i.' ', $sql);
		}
 
		if (count($this->ar_orderby) > 0)
		{
			$ordeR_by  = "ORDER BY ";
			$ordeR_by .= implode(', ', $this->ar_orderby);
 
			if ($this->ar_order !== FALSE)
			{
				$ordeR_by .= ($this->ar_order == 'desc') ? ' DESC' : ' ASC';
			}
 
			$sql = preg_replace('/(\\'. $ordeR_by .'\n?)/i','', $sql);
			$sql = preg_replace('/(^\SELECT (DISTINCT)?)/i','\\1 row_number() OVER ('.$ordeR_by.') AS rownum, ', $sql);
 
			return "SELECT * \nFROM (\n" . $sql . ") AS A \nWHERE A.rownum BETWEEN (".($offset + 1).") AND (".($offset + $limit).")";
		}
 
		else
		{
			echo 'Query must have an order_by clause in order to be offset.';
		}
	}
 
}

The above code is a direct copy/paste from the code Kyle Johnson on is Codeigniter forum post. All it does is check if an offset is being passed. If there is, then it builds a subquery to create the offset. If the offset is not defined or is 0, then it does the normal function does.

The only thing you have to do now is run your application. There shouldn’t be any additional changes to any libraries or to your SQL calls.

Again, the files for this post have been committed to Github.

Soon to come though, at some point I want to switch away from WordPress and build this site on PyroCMS. PyroCMS is build on Codeigniter, which I love and know try well. So maybe I can build some plugins for it after I switch over. I’m also learning Backbone.js and Node.js so that should be interesting. Eventually I’ll post code also.

1. Open the PDF that needs a signature with Preview.
2. Click the Annotate tab to display the annotate toolbar.
3. Select the Signature button.
4. If you do not have a signature loaded already, click Create Signature from Built-In iSight…. If you already have one loaded, skip to step 7
   
5. In the Signatures tab, click Create Signature…
6. Sign your name to a white piece of paper and hold it up to your iSight camera.
7. Click Accept when your signature is positioned correctly inside the preview area.
   
8. With the Signature button selected (it should be blue), click and drag where you want to place your signature.

First of all, you have to create a library that will extend CodeIgniter’s library. Create a new file named MY_Form_validation.php and put it in the application/libraries/ directory. Here is what that library will look like:

<?php  if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');
 
class MY_Form_validation extends CI_Form_validation {
 
	protected $CI;
 
	function __construct()
	{
		parent::__construct();
 
		$this->CI =& get_instance();
	}
}

The first validation method I used for a project where the user would enter a fraction and I didn’t really want to convert a decimal to a fraction. So I just created a validation method.

/**
 * Fraction
 *
 * @access  public
 * @param   string  $str
 * @return  bool
 */
public function fraction($str)
{
	$this->CI->form_validation->set_message('fraction', 'The %s field must be a valid fraction.');
 
	return ( ! preg_match("/^(\d++(?! */))? *-? *(?:(\d+) */ *(\d+))?.*$/", $str)) ? FALSE : TRUE;
}

Usage example:

$this->form_validation->set_rules('screen_size', 'Screen Size', 'fraction');

This was a fun validation to make. When a user signs up or is changing their password, their password must be PCI compliant. For a password to be PCI compliant, it must meet the following:
1) Must be between 6 and 99 characters in length
2) Must not contain two consecutively repeating characters
3) Must contain at least one upper-case letter
4) Must contain at least one lower-case letter
5) Must contain at least one number
6) Must contain at least one special character

Please note that the validation message is really long. You may want to simplify it a little before using it

/**
 * PCI compliance password
 *
 * @access  public
 * @param   $str
 * @return  bool
 */
public function pci_password($str)
{
	$special = '!@#$%*-_=+.';
 
	$this->CI->form_validation->set_message('pci_password', 'For PCI compliance, %s must be between 6 and 99 characters in length, must not contain two consecutively repeating characters, contain at least one upper-case letter, at least one lower-case letter, at least one number, and at least one special character ('.$special.')');
 
	return (preg_match('/^(?=^.{6,99}$)(?=.*[0-9])(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*['.$special.'])(?!.*?(.)\1{1,})^.*$/', $str)) ? TRUE : FALSE;
}

Usage example:

$this->form_validation->set_rules('password', 'Password', 'pci_password');

CodeIgniter already has a validation method for required. But I needed one to be required if a different field had a value. A couple weeks later I needed to have method to make a field required if another field had a certain value.

/**
 * Required if another field has a value (related fields) or if a field has a certain value
 *
 * @access  public
 * @param   string  $str
 * @param   string  $field
 * @return  bool
 */
public function required_if($str, $field)
{
	list($fld, $val) = explode(',', $field, 2);
 
	$this->CI->form_validation->set_message('required_if', 'The %s field is required.');
 
	// $fld is filled out
	if (isset($_POST[$fld]))
	{
		// Must have specific value
		if ($val)
		{
			// Not the specific value we are looking for
			if ($_POST[$fld] == $val AND ! $str)
			{
				return FALSE;
			}
		}
 
		return TRUE;
	}
 
	return FALSE;
}

Usage example:

$this->form_validation->set_rules('bar', 'Bar', 'required_if[foo]'); // required if field 'foo' has a value
$this->form_validation->set_rules('foobar', 'Foo Bar', 'required_if[foo,bar]'); // required if field 'foo' has a value of 'bar'

There are a lot of examples of this validation floating around. It requires that a value being passed has a unique value in the database. This one also takes into account the database prefix.

/**
 * Unique
 *
 * @access	public
 * @param	string
 * @param	field
 * @return	bool
 */
public function unique($str, $field)
{
	list($table, $column) = explode(',', $field, 2);
 
	$this->CI->form_validation->set_message('unique', 'The %s that you requested is already in use.');
 
	$query = $this->CI->db->query("SELECT COUNT(*) AS dupe FROM {$this->CI->db->dbprefix($table)} WHERE {$column} = '{$str}'");
	$row = $query->row();
 
	return ($row->dupe > 0) ? FALSE : TRUE;
}

Usage example:

$this->form_validation->set_rules('email', 'Email', 'unique[DBTABLE,DBFIELD]');	// DBTABLE is the database table and DBFIELD is the database field to validation against

I took the previous validation a step further so that the field value must be unique in the database EXCEPT for a certain record ID. This one is really good for if you have an existing user in the system and they are updating their profile. You want to make sure that their email address is unique. If you run the previous unique validation it will fail because the email address is already in use by the user currently being edited. So we need to exclude that users ID from the validation. This one also takes into account the database prefix.

/**
 * Unique except. Check if a specific value is in use except when the value is attached to a specific row ID
 *
 * @param	string
 * @param	field
 * @return	bool
 */
public function unique_exclude($str, $field)
{
	list($table, $column, $fld, $id) = explode(',', $field, 4);
 
	$this->CI->form_validation->set_message('unique_exclude', 'The %s that you requested is already in use.');
 
	$query = $this->CI->db->query("SELECT COUNT(*) AS dupe FROM {$this->CI->db->dbprefix($table)} WHERE {$column} = '$str' AND {$fld} <> {$id}");
	$row = $query->row();
 
	return ($row->dupe > 0) ? FALSE : TRUE;
}

Usage example:

$this->form_validation->set_rules('email', 'Email', 'unique[DBTABLE,DBFIELD,IDFIELD,ID]');	// DBTABLE is the database table, DBFIELD is the database field, IDFIELD is the primary key for the table, and ID is the unique ID for the user

Inline-block is very powerful. It is very useful for horizontal lists and even makes vertical alignment work properly. Unfortunately, it’s supported pretty poorly. *cough*Internet Explorer*cough*

Older versions of Firefox support inline-block with a special “-moz” tag. But not the one you think. It uses ‘-moz-inline-stack’ instead of ‘-moz-inline-block’. And when I say older versions I mean anything before version 4 I believe. So really, you don’t have to add it if you don’t want to. I don’t. But if you keep it, make sure ‘display:-moz-inline-stack’ comes BEFORE ‘display:inline-block’ so newer versions of Firefox can use the standard style.

IE supports inline-block, but only for elements that are natively inline, such as span and strong. When ‘zoom: 1′ is set, it triggers hasLayout and magically IE supports inline-block. The *property is an IE hack that does not get run for non-IE browsers.

So, without further adieus, cross-browser inline-block support:

.myStyle {
	display: -moz-inline-stack;  /* optional */
	display: inline-block;
	zoom: 1;  /* triggers hasLayout for IE */
	*display: inline;  /* target IE7 only */
}

XML is probably the most common place to add a static block. You find whatever block you want to add your static block into and you add something like:

<block type="cms/block" name="YOUR_BLOCK_ID" before="-">
	<action method="setBlockId"><block_id>YOUR_BLOCK_ID</block_id></action>
</block>

Adding a static clock through layout XML can be very useful if you need to add a static block to a sidebar on a single page for example instead of all pages.

<reference name="left">
	<block type="cms/block" name="YOUR_BLOCK_ID">
		<action method="setBlockId"><block_id>YOUR_BLOCK_ID</block_id></action>
	</block>
</reference>

Adding you static block through PHP may be the least common way. This, however, can be very useful if you want to define areas in your theme where a menu or a widgets could go. To add a static block in PHP you would use:

echo $this->getLayout()->createBlock('cms/block')->setBlockId('YOUR_BLOCK_ID')->toHtml();

Adding a static block through a short code is very powerful. It allows you to add a static block into a CMS page or even your products.

{{block type="cms/block" block_id="YOUR_BLOCK_ID"}}