I wanted to access a php file on my localhost using the following code:

$fp = fopen("http://localhost/test/export.php", "r");

but got a [function.fopen] php warning:

Warning: fopen(http://localhost/test/export.php) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond. in C:\wamp\www\test\export.php on line 11

I also tried adding “@” before the fopen, but still got the same php warnings

$fp = @fopen("http://localhost/test/export.php", "r");

So instead I tried fsockopen instead, but got another smiliar warning:

Warning: fsockopen() [function.fsockopen]: unable to connect to http://localhost/test/export.php (Unable to find the socket transport “http” – did you forget to enable it when you configured PHP?) in C:\wamp\www\test\export.php on line 11

Now for the solution:

I came across a solution which worked for me on the wampserver forum:

I think I just found the solution here: bugs.php.net

It seems by changing ‘localhost’ to ‘127.0.0.1′ it works!

So, changing the code to look like this actually works:

$fp = fopen("http://127.0.0.1/test/export.php", "r");

Strange, but true. Thanks to anarchitecton!!!

I was recently building a web application where I was using Smarty, which is a really lightweight templating engine and I would definitely recommend using it instead of Flexy (part of PEAR) as the documentation is almost ten times as good and it doesn’t rely on a massive PHP library like PEAR.

The Google Map API plugin for Smarty has been around for a few years now and the latest release is version 2.5 which was released in September 2007.

It is really easy to use and if you are familiar with the way Smarty works, then you’ll be laughing!! There is some detailed documentation on phpinsider.com, so if you need any help then I would suggest this page.

All you need to get going is the following:

1. Latest version of Smarty(obviously)
2. The Google Map API class plugin
3. A Google Map API key

It is really configurable and is very easy to integrate into existing Smarty templates, so why not give it a try…here is a demo.

Each browser interprets code differently, so when one writes code which renders correctly in one browser it doesn’t necessarily render as well in another browser. The thorn in all web developer’s sides is good old Internet Explorer 6 or IE6. One can build a webpage which looks fantastic in the world’s best browser Firefox (yes I am biased ) and then look at it in IE6 and it will most probably have layout issues.

There are numerous tricks and hacks to get web-pages looking good in IE6, so one just learns to deal with how bad the browser is.

So, what’s the real issue?

Just to re-enforce how bad the browser actually is, I was recently told about how Internet Explorer (all versions) have a built in default error page which will always be displayed even if you have added a customized error page to your web project.

What it boils down to is that if your custom error page is less than 512 bytes, it will never be rendered in IE. I seriously could not believe it when I saw the article by Jeff Starr, but it’s true. So, some Microsoft employee specifically wrote code to do this…one has to ask why? I mean seriously, what was the logic behind this decision? What a bunch of jokers!!!

To make matters worse, there even settings for this in the Windoze registry which differ according to the type of error….craziness!!

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\ErrorThresholds
Error - threshold (default)
400 - 512 bytes
403 - 256 bytes
404 - 512 bytes
405 - 256 bytes
406 - 512 bytes
408 - 512 bytes
409 - 512 bytes
410 - 256 bytes
500 - 512 bytes
501 - 512 bytes
505 - 512 bytes


Useless tip of the day: Ensure that your custom error pages have enough useless content in them to make them larger than 512 bytes

G3 Global is a SAP Channel Partner specialising in the implementation of SAP ERP solutions in the Media industry.

The old site was built using static php pages, had a dated design and was disjointed in a few areas. So, we set out to improve the site by putting more emphasis on our products, the introduction of a fresh design, a flatter hierarchy, a blog, and an events section.

The design was done by “Andy, the chief coffee drinker” at Caffeinehit Ltd . I have to say that he did a great job after lots of Starbucks Grande latte’s and a few design workshops in our offices.

I did the implementation of the site and for those of you that care…yes the geeks , I used wordpress as the CMS solution along with a number of plugins which I either downloaded and hacked or wrote myself.

Overall I really enjoyed working on the site and I think it has been well received by the rest of the company. Now all we need to do is get everyone blogging…so I’m going to have to answer questions like – “what’s a blog?”, “how do i put a list into a post?”…blah, blah, blah

Besides Andy, thanks also go out to Chris and Drew for their hard work and guidance. Good effort lads!

One of the things I have been working on is a FAQ section for a web portol. To implement this I have used the following components and controls:

1. A basepage
2. A standard mxml Tree contol ()
3. A custom ItemRenderer
4. A custom DataDescriptor
5. A function which is executed upon creation (creationComplete=”initTree()”)

The focus of this tutorial is however on Item 3, a custom ItemRenderer. So here goes…

Firstly the data structure that I am using is a standard xml file which has categories, an answer and a question, I have included an exmaple below:

< ? xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
< faq xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
< category>
< nameGuidance
< item>
< question>What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?
< answer>42
< /item>

Secondly, the Tree control has a number of paramaters which need to be included to get the desired result:

< mx:Tree id="myTree"
styleName="faqList"
wordWrap="true"
itemClick="tree_itemClick(event);"
width="100%" height="100%"
top="20"
dataDescriptor="{new TreeDataDescriptor()}"
itemRenderer="renderers.TreeRenderer"
creationComplete="initTree()"
/>

I will try to cover the dataDescriptor, itemClick and creationComplete in other posts, but for the time being, the ItemRenderer works something like this:

• It is important to include the if (super.data) logic otherwise the application will through errors because it’s referring to an object with a null value.
• In the data method, I have set all parents (depth == 1) to have a bold style otherwise the nodes should just have normal font weight.
• In the updateDisplayList:
  1. I firstly remove the disclosure icons from all nodes
  2. Add some default text styling to nodes, which sets the selected node back to its original styling after it was selected
  3. Then if a 2nd level node is either highlighted (isItemHighligthed) or selected (isItemSelected) I change styling, display the disclosure icon and adjust the position of the disclosure icon
     (super.disclosureIcon.x = super.width – 50;).
• Note: The moving the position of the icon is relatively simple, but I had difficulty finding information on the web about how to do this, so I’m hoping this will help someone out ther. This particular example moves the disclsure icon 50px inside the right hand border of the Tree control

package com.g3global.ipp.view.components.renderers
{
import mx.collections.*;
import mx.controls.treeClasses.*;
import mx.controls.listClasses.ListBase;

}
}
}
}

So that’s about it. Unfortunately I can’t link to a working demo of this feature because it is part of a much bigger application which is being built for a client.

Hats off to everybody involved in the new release! It has truly become a fantastic blogging platform and although I have always been a huge advocate for Wordpress, this release makes it much easier for me to convince people how good it actually is.

The usability of the admin interface is so slick and easy to use that I have completely fallen in love with it. So, if you’re using another blogging platform do yourself a favour and get Wordpress installed – I guarantee that you won’t look back.

Below is the screencast of some of the new functionality – it’s awesome!!

I am always on the look out for new training routes to cycle and I recently came across the route finder on BikeRadar.com. Once one becomes a member of the site one is able to add new cycling routes which are then displayed publicly on the website. It seems to be a pretty popular as there are loads of good routes available, all of which have been added by avid cyclists…brilliant!

The search tool is easy to use and once you have entered a few keywords for a route, a list of possible results is displayed. I recently did a search for a ride from London to Windsor as this is what I got:

Once you click on one of the listed routes you get taken to a page which has a google map embedded in it with the route neatly mapped out. Here is a picture of the route:

Apart from being a great place to find new routes, BikeRadar is a great place to find out anything about cycling. The site has the latest cycling news, reviews, tips, training programs and loads more. It is just a great place for information about cycling and has been bookmarked in my delicious account.

Keep up the good work guys!

Even though I am a huge Firefox fan, I am fully aware that the majority of internet users still use Internet Explorer. What makes this statistic even scarier is that about a third of these users are using IE6 or IE5.

Now as a web developer, I spend a lot of my time building user interfaces (UI) and if I am going to be taken seriously by anyone, my work has to look good in all browsers. So, this causes a number of headaches when trying to get a site looking good in IE6 because of its lack of support for certain CSS rules.

I have got two machines at the moment, one of which is running Ubuntu and the other has Windows Vista on it. While I was still on Windows XP I used to use multiple IE’s so that I could get my sites looking good in all the browsers. However multiple IE’s doesn’t work on Vista, so I have felt a bit stranded for the last few months and had to resort to virtual machines with Virtual Box.

There is however a new browser application called IETester which allows you to have multiple tabs open in different IE versions – just brilliant!! I use the IE Tab plugin for Firefoxwhich allows Firefox tabs to render like IE7, but with IETester one is able to view all the versions of IE, even IE8…which is pretty cool.

Although this is a pretty good scenario, it would be much better if everyone started using Firefox, but there is more chance of a global financial recession and a black American president…wait, those things have already happened, so maybe there is a chance

Again I know that I’m generalising here, but so often I find that if a person has an IT problem they expect it to be fixed for free…wtf?? I mean, if I have a problem with my tooth I still have to pay a dentist, even if I know the dude, so why should IT professionals be expected to provide a service free of charge.

Look, I don’t mind doing someone a favour here or there, especially if they are a relative or close friend and I know that the favour will be returned someday, but for some person who’s a friend of a friend to ask for that sort of help is pushing it.

I am just venting my anger here, which I am entitled to do as this is my blog, so if I’ve offended anyone then go and read something else on the web

After having a really great experience whilst signing a new contract, I decided to do a bit more research about the company and what they have on offer. It seems that they have got a really good pricing strategy and also have a free basic version which is ideal for small companies and startups.

They also have some big names using the software and seem to have great recommendations from all of their users.

So, if you’re looking for a simple way to get a contract signed without having to worry about the ball aches of printing contracts, faxing, couriering etc etc, then give Echosign a try!