Monthly Archives: August 2008

Aug 28

Automated unit testing in PHP using PHPUnit

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As part of the ZendFramework excercise I am following the author describes some automated testing process for the Framework modules as we build them. He talks about using the PHPUnit testing software which is available here http://www.phpunit.de/. This allows a developer to write automated tests for his objects as he develops and greatly improves the security of the code. The installation manual is here http://www.phpunit.de/pocket_guide/index.en.php which describes how to install and run the product.

Couple of things you need to know before setting this up for the i5 Continue reading →

Aug 27

Installing a MySQL interface

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I am in the throws of going through a tutorial which shows how to set up and use the ZendFramework. It comes as part of a book I found which goes into some detail about the ZendFramework but in a much more readable (understandable?) method than the documentation. Once I have been through the book and if I find it is very useful I will post a link to it on the blog. Not sure yet how good it is but early indications are it is pretty thorough and well put together. One of the requirements of the tutorial is the use of the MySQL database, as this is optionally installed with ZendCore. I wanted to install the interface I like to use for MySQL which is phpMyAdmin. The alternative method which is available using the QP2TERM or qsh and calling the mysql binary is pretty clunky and not easy to use, phpMyAdmin is a great alternative and easy to install. Continue reading →

Aug 26

5250 emulation screen within WSDC

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I was trawling through the iNetwork forums and found this link to an open source emulator plug in for WSDC. http://www.taskforce-it.de/downloads/TN5250J_Manual.pdf. It installed in a few minutes and configured just as easily as the manual stated. Having requested a single IDE for both IBM and PHP and not getting a result, the next thing was to install it in the Zend Eclipse IDE to see how it worked in there. Continue reading →

Aug 26

Rewrite Problem solved

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Sometimes you just have to read the documentation to find out what you did wrong! The ZendFramework uses a concept which pushes all requests through the index.php page in the root directory, this in turn calls the Controller functions to determine how the request is to be handled (yes I made that a lot simpler than it is, but having read through the documentation a number of times it still blows my mind and I cant simplify enough to make sense, so read the docs!). For this to work you have to set up a Rewrite rule which will turn all requests to the URL into a request for /index.php. After reviewing my configs for a previous setup I thought I had it worked out, unfortunately it took a bit more reading of the Apache manuals to figure out why it didn’t. Continue reading →

Aug 26

PHP application modernization project stalled but ongoing

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Hi

Well I had hoped to be a bit further along with the project to enhance my Software Manager Product with a PHP interface using the 5250 bridge, but a couple of things are bogging me down at the moment. Firstly the documentation available and the examples need a bit of work to be able Continue reading →

Aug 22

Ensure you change the Z5250DEMO User Profile

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I was reviewing the code for the 5250 bridge demo when I came across an issue which should be looked into immediately. One thing the i5 is known for is being secure, the addition of a user profile which allows a user to gain access to the system by a third party application is not normal. I would suggest if you have installed the Zend 5250 Bridge Demo’s that you take the following actions to ensure your system is not compromised. Continue reading →

Aug 19

Oops need to add another Virtual Host! If you want to see the Zendcore initial page

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As part of the setup for NameVirtualHost delivery of my websites I forgot to add a VirtualHost directive for the initial page shown when you simply enter http://serverip:80/. This causes the apache server to return the information found in the initial VirtualHost container we had defined. This was pointing to our new Software Packaging Manager instance so we got the sign on page even though we went through a different port initially. To fix this Continue reading →

Aug 19

The modernization project is underway.

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We have started to build out the panels for the initial modernization of the Software Packaging Manager Product. This product is used internally to package all of our products as IBM Licensed Program Product’s. The menu design we have chosen is based on the code we generated for our companies website and uses JavaScript to manage the sublinks. Hera are a couple of screen shots we have of the progress so far Continue reading →

Aug 15

Receiver Change schedule

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A question which is asked of us many times is how often should you change the journal receiver when you are using RAP as your availability solution. Obviously the longer you leave the receiver before changing it the more data RAP will have to apply at once when it is eventually changed. Our recommendation is to Continue reading →