Setting up Zend Framework from PEAR

Alright, so I’ve just changed my VPS provider because 1&1 are shit and my buddy Andy runs a good hosting gig http://www.theserve.com/. We’re running our stuff one one of his VPS’s until September and will more than likely move to a dedicated server once we move office. Any way!
One of the teething issues I have [...]

There has to be an easier way :(

So I’m working on a project, and I want to find all of the rows that don’t have a row in it’s related table using Zend_Db_Table_Select… Simple right? Not really . In theory this would be the query that I would write…
SELECT author.id FROM author LEFT JOIN project ON project.author_id = author.id WHERE project.author_id [...]

ZEND FRAMEWORK 1.10 IS OUT!

Zend Framework 1.10 is out, and with it a bunch of new features, and for once… the documentation is VERY helpful! For those having problems getting their head around Zend_Acl check out this tutorial… http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/learning.multiuser.authorization.html

Zend_Acl + Zend_Auth + Zend_Controller_Plugin = HAPPY!

Ok, so after playing around with Zend_Acl for what seems like forever I’ve finally cracked what feels like the perfect marriage between Zend_Acl, Zend_Auth and an application.
You may ask yourself, why the fuck is it so hard? The simple answer is this…
Zend_Acl was designed in such a way that it does not require any [...]

PHP Variable Variables

Whilst I don’t advocate assigning variable variables, there are times when you need to create variables in PHP dynamically.
What is a Variable Variable?
A variable variable is a variable that can be set dynamically. For instance the normal way to create a variable in PHP would be:

$foo = ‘bar’;

But what happens when you’re setting a variable [...]

Eclipse Shortcuts

Right clicking to create new table classes in Zend Studio for Eclipse can get very annoying. The best solution is to create shortcut for it. To do this:

open up preferences (cmd + , if you’re on a mac).
type in “keys” without the quotation marks.
to the right enter “Zend Table” into the “type filter text” [...]

Non-existant fields Zend_Db_Table_Abstract

I’d run into a problem in the Zend Table where when inserting data from a form, if a field didn’t exist in the database ZF would crap out with an exception. Having to unset posted variables I didn’t need, meant more typing, more typing meant more unnecessary code.
I found the easiest way to get around [...]

Agile Development

Working at Channel 4 I’ve been introduced to Agile Development, to sum it up in one sentence…
“It’s a way of working in a development team, where the specification for a project is constantly changing and the waterfall approach (you get a spec, build to it over a long period of time, get feedback and make [...]

Zend_Acl Db Storage

I’ve spent the last few hours trying to extend Zend_Acl_Role_Registry and Zend_Acl to support Db storage, when it just hit me what I’m actually trying to do, and a much easier way to do it!