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CakePHP: Dynamically adding a javascript in the header

eMac — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:27:38 +0000

Since cake 1.2, there is already an implementation to dynamically add (or include) a javascript file in the header. This is done in case you need to include a new js file in the header on one of your modules. This will prevent putting the code in the default layout and loading unnecessary javascript files in the header.

link('nameofjstoadd',false); ?>

This is called in the default.ctp using ‘$scripts_for_layout’ directive inside the header.

Easy installation of Last.fm client on Ubuntu Hardy Heron

eMac — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:58:37 +0000

To install the last.fm client on the latest Ubuntu hardy heron, simply run this on the terminal:

$ sudo apt-get install lastfm

As simple as that.

Ubuntu Hardy Heron: Making java plugin work in firefox beta 5

eMac — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:40:34 +0000

This is a quick fix to make your firefox load java when accessing java enabled sites. Simply do this in the terminal:

$ cd /usr/lib/firefox-3.0b5/plugins $ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so

Web service: Integrating Third-party applications with your custom application

eMac — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 09:47:48 +0000

There comes a time when a developer is faced with a situation where there is a need to integrate third party applications (e.g Wordpress, Drupal, VBulletin, Joomla, Mambo, etc) with another third party application or even a custom built application. I myself is always faced with such situations and based on my experience, the implementation of web service is still the best option rather than hacking through codes of these applications.

One such scenario is when I was asked to use VBulletin’s membership system (using the ‘users’ table) and integrate it with Wordpress, the most popular blogging engine. Since the requirement is to use the VBulletin’s users table, the best option I can think of is to implement a web service on VBulletin. I started the project by creating a SOAP server using NuSOAP (our server farm is all on PHP4) which queries the database of VBulletin directly. Below is an example of a web service that I created for the project:

This web service will then be consumed by any other third-party applications. Let’s say ws_CheckMember for example checks the validity of the user in VBulletin’s users database. It returns 0 if the username doesn’t exist, 1 if it exists but password is not correct, and 3 if the username and password are both correct.

Next step is to create a plugin for Wordpress to override the login process. What I did is create the plugin and override the wp_login function in the pluggable.php file. Just copy and paste the entire function and customize it as a web service client. In my case, I just need to get the user’s details (username, password, and email) from VBulletin and insert it into the Wordpress’ users table upon logging in. This will make the overall wordpress process (write and manage contents, ACL, comments) smooth as it is without the integration.

On the long run, this implementation will also make the upgrading of these third-party applications easy and possible since there are no codes modified in the core. Also take note that this integration can be implemented even when your applications are hosted on different servers. That’s the beauty of web service.

Error in Visual Editor for the Illacrimo theme (Widget version)

eMac — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:27:57 +0000

For those who are curious on how to fix the problem of the Illacrimo theme not displaying the visual editor when writing new contents on the wordpress admin panel. Here is a quick solution that works:

1. Edit your functions.php file inside the Illacrimo theme folder with a text editor like notepad.
2. Remove the extra ?> between the // Widget Settings and /* Plugin Name: Recent Comments
3. Voila! Your Illacrimo should work by now!