Hooks in Action Helpers

Following on from the discussion on Zend Framework Action Helpers, let's talk about hooks within them. Hooks are a feature of action helpers that allow you to automatically run code at certain points in the dispatch cycle. Specifically, there are two hook functions available for action helpers: preDispatch(): runs before the action function is called postDispatch(): runs after the action function has completed These allow you to ensure that some functionality is always run for… continue reading.

Posted on 5 November 2008 in Zend Framework 1

Using Action Helpers in Zend Framework

When you have some functionality that needs to be shared across multiple controllers, one method is to use action helpers. Action helpers are very powerful and contain hooks to automatically run when you need them too, but you can ignore all that if you don't need it. The first thing you need to do is decide where to put them. The latest default project structure document recommends using a sub folder from your controllers directory.… continue reading.

Posted on 31 October 2008 in Zend Framework 1

Where is php ?

A question came up on the phpwomen channel today about how to find the path to php executable for use in cron scripts. The answer that came back very quickly to use which or whereis. It turns out that the server in question is a shared host with a control panel for access to cron and ftp to upload your files. A test proved that shell_exec() wasn't going to work too. After discussing it for… continue reading.

Posted on 17 October 2008 in PHP

PHPNW08 schedule posted

From one conference to another one. On the 22nd November 2008, the PHPNW08 conference in Manchester takes place and I'm speaking! My talk is entitled "First steps with Zend Framework" and it will cover an introduction to ZF and then walk through building an MVC application using the Zend Framework. There are lots of interesting talks scheduled so far. They look aimed at a wide and I want to see every one. If you are… continue reading.

Posted on 26 September 2008 in Conferences

ZendCon 08

I'm now back from ZendCon which was the most intense conference I've ever been too. I arrived late Saturday evening and after dropping off the stuff at my hotel, I walked the mile or so to the conference hotel to meet up with some #phpc people. I didn't stay in the Hyatt as it was too expensive for me. The walk took a little longer than I expected as I kept walking the wrong way,… continue reading.

Posted on 21 September 2008 in Conferences

Uninstalling MySQL on Mac OS X Leopard

To uninstall MySQL and completely remove it (including all databases) from your Mac do the following: Use mysqldump to backup your databases to text files! Stop the database server sudo rm /usr/local/mysql sudo rm -rf /usr/local/mysql* sudo rm -rf /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/My* edit /etc/hostconfig and remove the line MYSQLCOM=-YES- rm -rf ~/Library/PreferencePanes/My* sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/mysql* sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/MySQL* sudo rm -rf /private/var/db/receipts/*mysql* The last three lines are particularly important as otherwise,… continue reading.

Posted on 11 September 2008 in Computing, Database

PHPNW Conference

There's a new UK PHP conference coming in November. PHPNW08 will take place on 22nd November 2008 which is a Saturday so there's no excuses not to go! To select the talks that will be presented, a Call for Papers has been announced with a deadline of 21st September 2008. From my reading of the website, this is a developer-centric conference and so if you have something to say about current PHP technologies and development… continue reading.

Posted on 4 September 2008 in Conferences

Busy

I'm kind of neglecting this blog at the moment. Sorry. I was away last week and I'm head down into editing Zend Framework in Action. It's amazing how many details the technical proof reader and our copy editor have found. The book is going to be so much better as a result. I need to go through each suggestion though and ensure that the meaning hasn't changed and to implement the suggested technical changes. When… continue reading.

Posted on 4 August 2008 in Me

Recursion

PHPWomen are running an article contest at the moment. All you have to do is write an article for the Best Practices forum and you could win a Zend Studio for Eclipse license and a a 1-year subscription to Linux Pro magazine! Obviously, never one to miss an opportunity to win free swag, I've entered with an article on recursion. Now it's your turn. Write a article on a best practice when coding PHP, but… continue reading.

Posted on 16 July 2008 in Around the web, PHP

Notes on Zend_Cache

Recently I needed to speed up a legacy project that makes a lot of database calls to generate each page. After profiling, I discovered that 90% of the database calls returned data that rarely changed, so decided to cache these calls. One of the nice things about Zend_Framework is that its use-at-will philosophy means that you can use any given component with minimal dependencies on the rest of the framework code. In my case, I… continue reading.

Posted on 11 July 2008 in Zend Framework 1