Comments for PHP Starter http://phpstarter.net PHP Tips & Tools From Starters to Experts Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:45:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on Parse Weather Forecast Data (from the NDFD) in PHP by Andrew http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/parse-weather-forecast-data-from-the-ndfd-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-406 Andrew Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:45:44 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=348#comment-406 <p>Sean-</p> <p>That's interesting.  I had a similar issue because the arrays weren't aligning properly, causing the days to be off, and the forecasts were flipped - showing day for night and night for day.  It's hard to say why you are seeing night for both.  How are you processing the XML?  I assume you are doing it in ASP.NET, but can you post how you are getting the data from the XML to an object to use?</p> Sean-

That’s interesting.  I had a similar issue because the arrays weren’t aligning properly, causing the days to be off, and the forecasts were flipped – showing day for night and night for day.  It’s hard to say why you are seeing night for both.  How are you processing the XML?  I assume you are doing it in ASP.NET, but can you post how you are getting the data from the XML to an object to use?

]]> Comment on Parse Weather Forecast Data (from the NDFD) in PHP by Sean http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/parse-weather-forecast-data-from-the-ndfd-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-404 Sean Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:57:26 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=348#comment-404 I have this working in ASP.net, but I feel like the icons must be wrong because it sometimes shows nighttime icons for the day highs....  Am I somehow not matching these up right? Here's the page I'm referring to:  http://www.boatpittsburgh.com You can use the down arrow to expand the weather for the whole week... apparently on Monday and Tuesday it's forecast to be a solar eclipse all day long... O.o I have this working in ASP.net, but I feel like the icons must be wrong because it sometimes shows nighttime icons for the day highs….  Am I somehow not matching these up right?
Here’s the page I’m referring to:  http://www.boatpittsburgh.com
You can use the down arrow to expand the weather for the whole week… apparently on Monday and Tuesday it’s forecast to be a solar eclipse all day long… O.o

]]> Comment on Merge Image Layers in PHP by Andrew http://phpstarter.net/2009/07/merge-image-layers-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-403 Andrew Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:07:53 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=455#comment-403 <p>The file_get_contents() function does not work in all environments - only the ones that have <span class="term"> <em><tt class="parameter">allow_url_fopen</tt></em></span> set to true in the PHP configuration.  I have had more luck across hosting environments that way.</p> <p>If you are sure that allow_url_fopen will be enabled where you are using this, then ya, it would probably be easier than including the Snoopy class.</p> <p>Glad you find the articles useful! :)</p> The file_get_contents() function does not work in all environments – only the ones that have  allow_url_fopen set to true in the PHP configuration.  I have had more luck across hosting environments that way.

If you are sure that allow_url_fopen will be enabled where you are using this, then ya, it would probably be easier than including the Snoopy class.

Glad you find the articles useful! :)

]]> Comment on Merge Image Layers in PHP by Tim Barmann http://phpstarter.net/2009/07/merge-image-layers-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-402 Tim Barmann Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:51:53 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=455#comment-402 Hi Andrew, I very much appreciate your great work and your willingness to share it.  Question - why do you use the Snoopy class instead of something like PHP's file_get_contents() ? Thanks again, Tim Hi Andrew,
I very much appreciate your great work and your willingness to share it.  Question – why do you use the Snoopy class instead of something like PHP’s file_get_contents() ?
Thanks again,
Tim

]]> Comment on Dynamically Converting Text to an Image by Andrew http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/dynamically-converting-text-to-an-image/comment-page-1/#comment-401 Andrew Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:52:07 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=337#comment-401 <p>Alex -</p> <p>I was able to get the example <a href="../../../samples/337/test.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">working</a>.  Make sure you have the path to the font current.  When I had it set to the wrong path, PHP throws a warning and then uses the default font.  If you have warnings disabled, you may not notice that.  Run <code><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #0000bb;">error_reporting</span><span style="color: #007700;">(</span><span style="color: #0000bb;">E_ALL</span><span style="color: #007700;">);</span></span></code> before any other code to make sure you aren't hiding any warnings that are getting thrown.</p> <p>Hope this helps!</p> Alex -

I was able to get the example working.  Make sure you have the path to the font current.  When I had it set to the wrong path, PHP throws a warning and then uses the default font.  If you have warnings disabled, you may not notice that.  Run error_reporting(E_ALL); before any other code to make sure you aren’t hiding any warnings that are getting thrown.

Hope this helps!

]]> Comment on Dynamically Converting Text to an Image by alex turner http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/dynamically-converting-text-to-an-image/comment-page-1/#comment-400 alex turner Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:08:35 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=337#comment-400 this doesnt seem to be working for me - ive inputted the code in a php and created a test html file. Ive also selected the font by downloading the program and converting it to .gdf, but it still displays all text normally... this doesnt seem to be working for me – ive inputted the code in a php and created a test html file. Ive also selected the font by downloading the program and converting it to .gdf, but it still displays all text normally…

]]> Comment on Akismet Class/Library for Codeigniter by CodeIgniter Tutorials to Help You Get Started | KomunitasWeb http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/akismet-classlibrary-for-codeigniter/comment-page-1/#comment-398 CodeIgniter Tutorials to Help You Get Started | KomunitasWeb Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:12:09 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=301#comment-398 [...] Akismet Class/Library for Codeigniter – Don’t like spam? Of course. So get akismet rid your spam. [...] [...] Akismet Class/Library for Codeigniter – Don’t like spam? Of course. So get akismet rid your spam. [...]

]]> Comment on Parse Current Weather Conditions Data from the NWS in PHP by Andrew http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/parse-current-weather-conditions-data-from-the-nws-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-394 Andrew Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:40:55 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=386#comment-394 Hey Tim, I figured that this way, I would only have to parse the XML once on the data load rather than every time someone loads a page. Would this make a huge difference in the page load time? Probably not. Also, if the NWS made changes to their file structure, you would have to rewrite some PHP code anyway, so I figured it wouldn't be too much of a big deal to change some MySQL data fields while you are at it. Your method would probably work just as well - it's a matter of personal preference on what you would rather maintain. Hey Tim,

I figured that this way, I would only have to parse the XML once on the data load rather than every time someone loads a page. Would this make a huge difference in the page load time? Probably not. Also, if the NWS made changes to their file structure, you would have to rewrite some PHP code anyway, so I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a big deal to change some MySQL data fields while you are at it.

Your method would probably work just as well – it’s a matter of personal preference on what you would rather maintain.

]]> Comment on Parse Current Weather Conditions Data from the NWS in PHP by Tim Barmann http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/parse-current-weather-conditions-data-from-the-nws-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-393 Tim Barmann Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:30:29 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=386#comment-393 Sorry about using the wrong name, Andrew! Sorry about using the wrong name, Andrew!

]]> Comment on Parse Current Weather Conditions Data from the NWS in PHP by Tim Barmann http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/parse-current-weather-conditions-data-from-the-nws-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-392 Tim Barmann Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:02:48 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=386#comment-392 Hey Chris, Great work! I'm finding your tutorials very helpful. One question about the approach you took for caching. Rather than create fields in the MYSQL database to mirror those in the NWS current observation xml file, why not just create a big text field in the DB and store the xml in a single field? Another DB field could be the station id, and a third field could be the last updated time. Can you see any advantage/disadvantage to this approach? My thinking is that you don't have to worry about changing the database if the NWS decides to change the format of their current observations xml. Thanks again for your great work. Tim Hey Chris,
Great work! I’m finding your tutorials very helpful.
One question about the approach you took for caching. Rather than create fields in the MYSQL database to mirror those in the NWS current observation xml file, why not just create a big text field in the DB and store the xml in a single field? Another DB field could be the station id, and a third field could be the last updated time. Can you see any advantage/disadvantage to this approach? My thinking is that you don’t have to worry about changing the database if the NWS decides to change the format of their current observations xml.
Thanks again for your great work.
Tim

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