August 2009 - Development - lists.drupal.org

export workflows
by David K Norman 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

Has anyone written an automated-ish workflow exporter yet so I can move workflows from development or staging to production without doing a complete reconfiguration or partial table export?

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API versus UX/AX releases?
by Chris Johnson 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

In the Views in Drupal 8 thread, Earnie Boyd mentioned something I do not recall having been suggested before (although it may have -- I just don't remember it). Earnie Boyd wrote: "There have been many releases focused on improving the API. The API has become a power horse for developers. What we need to strive for now is someone who wants to install a no fuss minimal configuration blog or wiki or whatever installation profile. I would like to see a focus for the inexperienced or non-technical person so that Drupal can become even more used than it is today. Have a short cycled D8 to make this focus where new or changed API only addresses this need. And if you feel that the only way to do that is put Views in core then fine do it but only if it is required to meet that goal. D9 can add/change the API as much as you like." What if we intentionally alternated Drupal releases like that on an on-going basis? What if the odd-numbered releases (D7, D9) where the long calendar period, major API changes, and the even-numbered releases (D8, D10) were shorter cycles, focusing on user experience (UX) and administrator/site-owner (AX) experience. That is, making it easier to use, fixing bugs, etc. Or alternatively, how about just alternating the length of the development cycles, regardless of the major focus of people's efforts (and interests)? That is, D7 and D9 would be intentionally longer cycles, and D8 and D10 would be intentionally shorter cycles? I think both would provide a variety of benefits. Your thoughts? ..chris

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How could everyone win and get Views in Drupal 8?
by Karoly Negyesi 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

I (that means I. Disclaimer: this is my idea. blame me.) would like to see -- Views in core. Without Merlin burning out. -- more shops contributing to core. The biggest deterrent currently IMO is that their work might or might not be accepted and even if gets in, it might be two years before they can use on a client site. -- the security team to only deal with releases that have automated testing so they have a good chance of their patches not breaking core. To achieve all this in one plan, I would like first to ask everybody who wants to contribute core to go to the Views queue and help out! Support requests, bug reports, many things are doable without being the Grand Master of Views. This has immediate returns in fixed bugs, or just a little bit less immediate with less load on Merlin resulting in better Views. But it does not take two years to get deployable results, not at all. And then, if we have brought down the Views queue to a managable size, then we should write tests for Views. Again, this is something a lot of people should be capable of even without knowing the innards of Views and usable right now even with Drupal 6 -- simpletest is backported. Once we have a lot of tests, we should commit them to core along with skeleton code that makes the tests pass. This is a radical but logical change to our core development model. Hopefully this can lead to many smaller patches striving to replace smaller pieces of skeleton code with real instead of few gigantic patches trying to get some major part of Views in core. We do not do anything else for Drupal 8. No other major API changes just tests for Views which are immediately and easily backportable to Drupal 7, once again allowing for immediately deployable code. Obviously there will be changes as our old and hardwired modules get partially replaced by Views. However, this plan would hopefully allow for a short Drupal 8 cycle instead of a year plus long one and when Drupal 8 gets released, the security team has an easier work. Another side benefit is that I can see people jumping over Drupal 6 completely with the D7CX movement quickly putting a deployable (I seem to like that word) Drupal 7 on the table. So relatively quickly (but still it gets more than two years) deprecating D6 wont be as bad. Also, as Drupal 8 won't break APIs as bad as usual, the contrib authors will have an easier job of maintaing D7 and D8 branches. Another benefit is that the usability folks can work on a stable platform so Drupal 8 can be even more usable than Drupal 7. I should list the drawbacks here but aside from a few crazy core developers (like little me) being a bit frustrated for being in a soft API freeze for Drupal 8, I can't see any. I will certainly be less frustrated over not being able to overhaul everything than I would be to being able to but working almost in isolation. There is a huge chasm between real world sites and core development and this would allow us to bridge.

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Updating to D6 change from db_next_id to serial columns
by Richard Morse 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

Hi! Yes, I know I'm a horrible person to only now be updating a module to D6. Please forgive me. I am porting a module to Drupal 6 which used the `db_next_id()` function to get primary keys for a table. I would like to switch over to using autoincrement/db sequences (ie, schema type of 'serial') for this table. However, I need to provide an upgrade path. I've done a number of Google and Drupal.org searches, I've looked at taxonomy.install and system.install, and I can't seem to find any examples of where a column was upgraded from an old D5-style int-with- db_next_id-value to a serial. Are there any examples? I'd rather use a "best practices" method than a roll-my-own method. If there are none, I'm assuming the proper way to do it is to rename the tables, find the max of the old primary key, create the new tables, insert bogus rows until I hit the max value, delete currently unused values, copy over the current data, and then delete the old tables? Thanks, Ricky The information in this e-mail is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed. If you believe this e-mail was sent to you in error and the e-mail contains patient information, please contact the Partners Compliance HelpLine at http://www.partners.org/complianceline . If the e-mail was sent to you in error but does not contain patient information, please contact the sender and properly dispose of the e-mail.

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Drupal 7 Reeducation
by Jeff Greenberg 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

I'd be interested in hearing opinions, on a % scale, of how much reeducation is needed to move from D6 to D7 in terms of the api, hooks, architecture, admin functions... for a D6 developer to be at the same level of capability with D7.

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Mapping aliases to menu items when having multiple aliases
by Olivier Jacquet 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

I'm looking for a way to create a module that allows you to map which url alias you want to associate with a specific menu entry when you have more than one alias associated with a system path. I've investigated this and cannot seem to find a way to implement it. The path module lets you create multiple url aliases for a node. The paths some-path and other-path can both be pointed to node/1. When someone creates a menu item and uses some-path to create it it's converted to node/1 and it is that path that is stored in the menu_links table. Then, in the case of the blocks generated by the menu module links are rendered through theme_menu_item_link() which calls l() which uses the first alias it finds and for the primary/secondary menu it's usualy theme('links', array()) which also results in a call to l(). In the former theme function you have access to the mlid but in the latter you haven't. This means there is no sane way to accomplish the functionality I want, I think. Does anyone have suggestions to accomplish this? The reason I want this is that I want to store context in the url alias, eg. context1/about and context2/about which point to the same node. This allows showing different blocks when navigating through a specific context. Maybe there is another way to achieve this? Note: I'm aware of duplicate content issues etc.

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Preview in Drupal
by Steven Surowiec 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

I'm currently working on a site and the client has insisted that being able to preview content is imperative. But, the preview must be within the front-end theme, not just spitting the fields at the top of the form as Drupal currently does (the site is being done in Drupal 5 and an upgrade to 6 is out of the question). The way we've done this in other CMSes is to setup a preview.domain.com sub-domain and then have that load the most recent drafts of all content, making preview very easy. I was thinking of using Drupal's revisions for this but could not find a way to save a revision without publishing it. So the way this would work would be if node A is at revision 1 and I hit the 'save draft' button it would save that content as revision 2, but wouldn't actually publish revision 2 until I later hit the 'publish' button. I have a few ideas to do this with some custom code but was wondering if anyone has ever had to implement a real preview in Drupal before and, if so, how you got it up and running? The biggest problem I keep running into with all my ideas is how to handle saving new content as a draft, so I'd be interested in hearing how this was done as well if anything special needed to be done for new content vs existing content.

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FW: Twitter is Suing me!!!
by Dean Collins 12 Aug '09

12 Aug '09

This isn't Drupal related but I figure several developers on this list have built apps for Twitter (or other 3rd party API's). Just found out a few hours ago I'm being sued by Twitter Feel free to tweet this link ( www.MyTwitterButler.com/I'm_Being_Sued <http://www.mytwitterbutler.com/I'm_Being_Sued> ) or forward on the link to any journalists you know. If you are on dig here's a dig link. http://digg.com/software/My_Twitter_Butler_I_m_Being_Sued Regards, Dean Collins dean(a)MyTwitterButler.com <mailto:dean@MyTwitterButler.com?subject=I'm%20being%20Sued> +1-212-203-4357 New York +61-2-9016-5642 (Sydney in-dial). +44-20-3129-6001 (London in-dial). ________________________________ From: Dean Collins Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 10:37 PM Subject: Twitter is Suing me!!! So not only are Twitter fighting battles with Russian hackers they are now fighting their own third party API developer community !! I received this email 30 minutes ago stating that Twitter is suing me?? Basically they feel that my application - www.MyTwitterButler.com <http://www.mytwitterbutler.com/> does the following. 1/ That anyone using the API to auto follow people are breaching the TOS?? 2/ That no one can use the word "Twitter" in their domain 3/ That somehow people might be confused my application is related to twitter even though every page is labeled "Copyright 2009 (c) My Twitter Butler - Not related in anyway to Twitter Inc, if I owned Twitter would i be spending my time building this app?? Is this the end for Twitter 3rd party developers? Have they forgotten that it was people like me who saw a need and built an application using the publicly defined Twitter API to add value to the Twitter ecosystem? I have asked Twitters lawyers for a conference call tomorrow to clear up 'WHY' they feel anyone using the twitter API to auto follow people is an illegal act and will be looking forward to their answers about 'WHY' the twitter API was built in the first place if they want to sue people for using it. www.MyTwitterButler.com/I'm_Being_Sued <http://www.mytwitterbutler.com/I'm_Being_Sued> Regards, Dean Collins dean(a)MyTwitterButler.com +1-212-203-4357 New York +61-2-9016-5642 (Sydney in-dial). +44-20-3129-6001 (London in-dial). FENWICK & WEST LLP SILICON VALLEY CENTER 801 CALI FORN IA STREET MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94041 TEL 650.988.8500 FAX 650.938.5200 WWW.FENWICK.COM August 11, 2009 KAREN WEBB VIA CERTIFIED MAIL AND EMAIL Dean Collins Attn: MyTwitterButler.com dean(a)cognation.net Re: Infringement of Twitter, Inc.'s Trademark Rights Dear Mr. Collins: EMAIL KWEBB(a)FENWICK.COM DIRECT DIAL (650) 335*7656 This firm represents Twitter, Inc. ("Twitter"), owner of the TWITTER trademark and the popular social networking and micro-blogging website at www.twitter.com. We are contacting you regarding your violation of Twitter's Terms of Service ("TOS") and spam rules, and your infringement of Twitter's trademark rights. Twitter has recently become aware that you have registered and are using the MyTwitterButler.com domain, where you advertise and offer for sale the "My Twitter Butler" software that facilitates aggressive and automatic following to Twitter users. On your website you also claim to have used the same aggressive following techniques. This activity violates Twitter's TOS and rules. In addition to the above violations, you are also infringing on Twitter's trademark rights by using the MyTwitterButler.com domain and the TWITTER trademark. As you are likely aware, Twitter's extensive and widespread use of its TWITTER trademark provides Twitter with strong and defensible rights in the mark, and has caused the mark to become well-known, if not famous, in today's online marketplace. Twitter owns trademark applications and registrations for its mark in the United States and numerous other countries for use in connection with its online services, which will provide Twitter with exclusive rights in the mark. Twitter has expended significant time and financial resources to build up the considerable customer recognition and goodwill related to its valuable TWITTER mark. In addition, in order to protect its investment and valuable intellectual property rights in its trademark, Twitter is required to prevent others from infringing or diluting the value of its brand. In light of the importance and distinctiveness of the mark and the strength of Twitter's legal rights to its valuable intellectual property, please be advised that Twitter is determined to take whatever steps are necessary to protect its rights in the mark. Having said that, at this time, we are willing to assume that you did not choose to misuse Twitter's trademark with the conscious intent of infringing Twitter's rights or trading off of Twitter's goodwill. Twitter is concerned, however, that your use of My Twitter Butler and the related domain may cause confusion in the marketplace by suggesting that you and your site are somehow affiliated with Twitter, or are endorsed, sponsored, or approved by Twitter, which would result in an infringement of Twitter's valuable trademark rights. In light of the above, we must demand that you immediately: 1. deactivate the MyTwitterButler.com website; 2. transfer the MyTwitterButler.com domain to Twitter; 3. comply with Twitter's TOS and rules, which includes stopping your aggressive and automatic following and offering techniques and software for others to aggressively or automatically follow; and 4. stop all use of the My Twitter Butler name, the TWITTER mark, or any other name, logo, or domain name that includes TWITTER or any confusingly similar term. Please respond to me no later than August 24, 2009, to confirm that you have complied with these demands and to obtain domain transfer instructions. Twitter is hopeful that this matter can be resolved quickly and amicably. If, however, you do not comply with these requests, Twitter will be forced to consider suspending your Twitter accounts and take such steps as it deems necessary to protect its intellectual property rights. We look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, KAW ________________________________ From: Karen Webb [mailto:KWebb@fenwick.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 8:55 PM To: de5ffa48513f2670-348777(a)privacy.no-ip.com; Dean Collins Subject: Letter re MyTwitterButler.com Dear Mr. Collins: Please see the attached letter. Sincerely, Karen Webb Karen A. Webb | Fenwick & West LLP 801 California St. | Mountain View, CA 94041 T: 650-335-7656 | F: 650-938-5200 kwebb(a)fenwick.com ------------------------------------------- IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice in this communication (including attachments) is not intended or written by Fenwick & West LLP to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. ------------------------------------------- ATTENTION: The information contained in this message may be legally privileged and confidential. It is intended to be read only by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed or by their designee. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are on notice that any distribution of this message, in any form, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and/or Fenwick & West LLP by telephone at (650) 988-8500 and delete or destroy any copy of this message.

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Re: [development] How could everyone win
by As If Productions 12 Aug '09

12 Aug '09

1. Views is too big for core 2. Views is too popular *not* to go into core 3. Views Lite should go into core 4. but there is no such thing Under these conditions, an install profile seems like the most expedient solution right now. Ultimately, I think core should use a lot of the logic (if not the literal code) that Earl has thrown into Views. But I feel that's a very long-term project. D9? At 10:04 AM 8/12/2009, Merlin wrote: >I don't want to sound like an asshole...but I am an asshole. You rock, you asshole! LVX TF --- As If Productions http://www.asifproductions.com Interactive Worlds and Immersive Obsessions

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Submit handler not getting called
by Nancy Wichmann 09 Aug '09

09 Aug '09

I have this coded in my form: $form['created_before'] = array( '#title' => t('created before'), '#type' => 'date', '#validate' => 'date_validate', '#submit' => 'cmf_date_submit', '#default_value' => array('year' => date('Y'), 'month' => 12, 'day' =>31), '#prefix' => '<div class="date-inline">', '#suffix' => '</div>', ); The validate function is being called, but the submit function is not. Yes, there is a form submit button. Why is the submit function not being called? Nancy E. Wichmann, PMP Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. -- Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.

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