Magento - Tips and Tricks

Saturday, September 7, 2013

W3Schools PHP Quiz

W3Schools PHP Quiz

1. What does PHP stand for?
You answered:PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
Correct Answer!

2. PHP server scripts are surrounded by delimiters, which?
You answered:<?php…?>
Correct Answer!

3. How do you write "Hello World" in PHP
You answered:echo "Hello World";
Correct Answer!

4. All variables in PHP start with which symbol?
You answered:$
Correct Answer!

5. What is the correct way to end a PHP statement?
You answered:;
Correct Answer!

6. The PHP syntax is most similar to:
You answered:Perl and C
Correct Answer!

7. How do you get information from a form that is submitted using the "get" method?
You answered:$_GET[];
Correct Answer!

8. When using the POST method, variables are displayed in the URL:
You answered:False
Correct Answer!

9. In PHP you can use both single quotes ( ' ' ) and double quotes ( " " ) for strings:
You answered:True
Correct Answer!

10. Include files must have the file extension ".inc"
You answered:False
Correct Answer!

11. What is the correct way to include the file "time.inc" ?
You answered:<?php include "time.inc"; ?>
Correct Answer!

12. What is the correct way to create a function in PHP?
You answered:function myFunction()
Correct Answer!

13. What is the correct way to open the file "time.txt" as readable?
You answered:fopen("time.txt","r");
Correct Answer!

14. PHP allows you to send emails directly from a script
You answered:True
Correct Answer!

15. What is the correct way to connect to a MySQL database?
You answered:mysqli_connect(host,username,password,dbname);
Correct Answer!

16. What is the correct way to add 1 to the $count variable?
You answered:$count++;
Correct Answer!

17. What is a correct way to add a comment in PHP?
You answered:/*…*/
Correct Answer!

18. PHP can be run on Microsoft Windows IIS(Internet Information Server):
You answered:True
Correct Answer!

19. In PHP, the die() and exit() functions do the exact same thing.
You answered:True
Correct Answer!

20. Which one of these variables has an illegal name?
You answered:$my-Var
Correct Answer!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

W3Schools SQL Quiz

W3Schools SQL Quiz

1. What does SQL stand for?
You answered:Structured Query Language
Correct Answer!

2. Which SQL statement is used to extract data from a database?
You answered:SELECT
Correct Answer!

3. Which SQL statement is used to update data in a database?
You answered:UPDATE
Correct Answer!

4. Which SQL statement is used to delete data from a database?
You answered:DELETE
Correct Answer!

5. Which SQL statement is used to insert new data in a database?
You answered:INSERT INTO
Correct Answer!

6. With SQL, how do you select a column named "FirstName" from a table named "Persons"?
You answered:SELECT FirstName FROM Persons
Correct Answer!

7. With SQL, how do you select all the columns from a table named "Persons"?
You answered:SELECT * FROM Persons
Correct Answer!

8. With SQL, how do you select all the records from a table named "Persons" where the value of the column "FirstName" is "Peter"?
You answered:SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Peter'
Correct Answer!

9. With SQL, how do you select all the records from a table named "Persons" where the value of the column "FirstName" starts with an "a"?
You answered:SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName LIKE 'a%'
Correct Answer!

10. The OR operator displays a record if ANY conditions listed are true. The AND operator displays a record if ALL of the conditions listed are true
You answered:True
Correct Answer!

11. With SQL, how do you select all the records from a table named "Persons" where the "FirstName" is "Peter" and the "LastName" is "Jackson"?
You answered:SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName='Peter' AND LastName='Jackson'
Correct Answer!

12. With SQL, how do you select all the records from a table named "Persons" where the "LastName" is alphabetically between (and including) "Hansen" and "Pettersen"?
You answered:SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName BETWEEN 'Hansen' AND 'Pettersen'
Correct Answer!

13. Which SQL statement is used to return only different values?
You answered:SELECT DISTINCT
Correct Answer!

14. Which SQL keyword is used to sort the result-set?
You answered:ORDER BY
Correct Answer!

15. With SQL, how can you return all the records from a table named "Persons" sorted descending by "FirstName"?
You answered:SELECT * FROM Persons ORDER BY FirstName DESC
Correct Answer!

16. With SQL, how can you insert a new record into the "Persons" table?
You answered:INSERT INTO Persons VALUES ('Jimmy', 'Jackson')
Correct Answer!

17. With SQL, how can you insert "Olsen" as the "LastName" in the "Persons" table?
You answered:INSERT INTO Persons (LastName) VALUES ('Olsen')
Correct Answer!

18. How can you change "Hansen" into "Nilsen" in the "LastName" column in the Persons table?
You answered:UPDATE Persons SET LastName='Nilsen' WHERE LastName='Hansen'
Correct Answer!

19. With SQL, how can you delete the records where the "FirstName" is "Peter" in the Persons Table?
You answered:DELETE FROM Persons WHERE FirstName = 'Peter'
Correct Answer!

20. With SQL, how can you return the number of records in the "Persons" table?
You answered:SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Persons
Correct Answer!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Magento: Store locator in Magento using Google Map API

First you need to create a custom module with single model (one model-one table).
Suppose Bd_Storelocator is a custom module and Storelocator is a model,
Then use following code in any phtml file as
<?php
$requireData = Mage::getModel('storelocator/storelocator')->getStore();
//print_r($requireData->getData());
$markers = "";
$messages = "";
foreach ($requireData as $data) {
    $markers .= '{lat:' . $data["latitude"] . ',lng:' . $data["longitude"] . ',name:' . '"' . $data["storename"] . '"},';
    $messages .= "'" . addslashes($data["storename"]) . "<br/ >" . addslashes($data["address"]) . "<br />" . $data["telephone"] . "', ";    }
$markers1 = rtrim($markers, ",");
$messages1 = rtrim($messages, ", ");
?>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?sensor=false"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
    var map;
    google.maps.event.addDomListener(window, "load", initialize);
    function initialize() {
        var map = new google.maps.Map(document.getElementById("map_canvas"), {
            mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP,
            disableAutoPan: false,
            streetViewControl: false
        });
        var markers = [<?php echo $markers1; ?>];
        var widt = document.body.offsetWidth;
        document.getElementById("map_canvas").width = widt+"px";
        for (index in markers) {
            if(Number(index) != index) break;
            addMarker(markers[index],map,index);
        }
        var bounds = new google.maps.LatLngBounds();
        for (index in markers) {
            if(Number(index) != index) break;
            var data = markers[index];
            bounds.extend(new google.maps.LatLng(data.lat, data.lng));
        }
        // Don't zoom in too far on only one marker
        if (bounds.getNorthEast().equals(bounds.getSouthWest())) {
            var extendPoint1 = new google.maps.LatLng(bounds.getNorthEast().lat() + 0.01, bounds.getNorthEast().lng() + 0.01);
            var extendPoint2 = new google.maps.LatLng(bounds.getNorthEast().lat() - 0.01, bounds.getNorthEast().lng() - 0.01);
            bounds.extend(extendPoint1);
            bounds.extend(extendPoint2);
        }
        map.fitBounds(bounds);
    }
    function addMarker(data,map,index) {
        // Create the marker
        //var image = '<?php //print $base_url . '/' . $themePath . '/images/drupal.png' ?>';
        var marker = new google.maps.Marker({
            position: new google.maps.LatLng(data.lat, data.lng),
            map: map,
            //icon: image,
            title: data.name
        });
        attachSecretMessage(marker,index,map)

    }
    function attachSecretMessage(marker,number,map) {
        var message = [<?php echo $messages1; ?>];

        var infowindow = new google.maps.InfoWindow({
            content: message[number],
            size: new google.maps.Size(50,50)
        });
        google.maps.event.addListener(marker, 'click', function() {
            infowindow.open(map,marker);
           jQuery("#showinfo").html(message[number]);

        });
    }
</script>
<div class="mapBlock">
    <div id="map_canvas" style="height: 473px;">
    </div>
</div>
<div id="showinfo">

</div>

Adding a Google Map to your website

Use following code

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <style>
      #map_canvas {
        width: 500px;
        height: 400px;
      }
    </style>
    <script src="http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?sensor=false"></script>
    <script>
      function initialize() {
        var map_canvas = document.getElementById('map_canvas');
        var map_options = {
          center: new google.maps.LatLng(44.5403, -78.5463),
          zoom: 8,
          mapTypeId: google.maps.MapTypeId.ROADMAP
        }
        var map = new google.maps.Map(map_canvas, map_options)
      }
      google.maps.event.addDomListener(window, 'load', initialize);
    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="map_canvas"></div>
  </body>
</html>

Friday, August 16, 2013

Magento : How to cache custom data into Magento

Use following code in configuration file as
<global>
    <cache>
        <types>
            <namespace_module module="namespace_module" translate="label description">
                <label>Your modules cache label</label>
                <description>Description of your modules cache</description>
                <tags>YOUR_MODULES_CACHE_TAGS</tags>
            </namespace_module>
        </types>
    </cache>
</global>
Then create a model class file witha variable and a method as
const CACHE_TAG_NAMESPACE_MODULE = 'YOUR_MODULES_CACHE_TAGS';
$cacheGroup = 'namespace_module';
$useCache = Mage::app()->useCache($cacheGroup);
if (true === $useCache) {
    // Cache is active
   $cacheId = "unique_name";
   if ($cacheContent = Mage::app()->loadCache($cacheId)) {
   $html = $cacheContent;
   return $html;
   }else{

   try {
       $cacheContent = $html;
       $tags = array(model::CACHE_TAG_NAMESPACE_MODULE);
       $lifetime = Mage::getStoreConfig('core/cache/lifetime');
       Mage::app()->saveCache($cacheContent, $cacheId, $tags, $lifetime);
        } catch (Exception $e) {
       // Exception = no caching
       Mage::logException($e);
   }
   return $html;
   }
} else {
    // Cache is not active
   return $html;
}

Also we can following code for clean the cache
Mage::app()->removeCache($cacheId);

By default Magento uses its file system to save cache (files located in the directory var/cache/).
Another option is the database, which is slower then the files option mostly because the database is a heavily used resource for Magento instances anyway. Then there are storage schemes that use RAM (which are much faster), e.g. APC (shared memory) or memcached (a networked caching server) or Redis.

The Magento cache is organized by tags, this means you have cache entries which belongs to a cache group.

APC is an opcode cache for PHP. It is a framework for caching and optimizing PHP code. APC also serves as a user cache. APC cache is stored in memory where performance gains over file system cache are huge.
There following step to configure APC in Magento
1. Install php5-apc package (like sudo apt-get install php5-apc)
2. Edit and configure setting in apc.ini
3. Add the following code between the global tags in app/etc/local.xml.
<global>
<cache>
<backend>apc</backend>
<prefix>mystore_</prefix>
</cache>
</global>

There following step to configure Memcache as a Fast Backend in Magento
1. Install Memcache as a PHP extension (apt-get install memcached )
2. And enable it in your php.ini
3. Add the following code between the global tags in app/etc/local.xml.
<cache>
<backend>memcached</backend>

<memcached>

<servers>

<server>
<host><![CDATA[127.0.0.1]]></host>
<port><![CDATA[11211]]></port>
<persistent><![CDATA[1]]></persistent>
</server>
</servers>
<compression><![CDATA[0]]></compression>
<cache_dir><![CDATA[]]></cache_dir>
<hashed_directory_level><![CDATA[]]></hashed_directory_level>
<hashed_directory_umask><![CDATA[]]></hashed_directory_umask>
<file_name_prefix><![CDATA[]]></file_name_prefix>
</memcached>
</cache>

There following step to configure Redis as a Fast Backend in Magento
1. Install redis (2.4+ required)
2. Install phpredis
3. Install the magento extension “Cm_Cache_Backend_Redis”
4. Add the following code between the global tags in app/etc/local.xml.
<cache>
<backend>Zend_Cache_Backend_Redis</backend> <slow_backend>database</slow_backend> <slow_backend_store_data>0</slow_backend_store_data> <auto_refresh_fast_cache>0</auto_refresh_fast_cache>
<backend_options>
<server><![CDATA[127.0.0.1]]></server>
<port><![CDATA[11211]]></port>
<database>database</database>
<use_redisent>0</use_redisent>  <automatic_cleaning_factor>0</automatic_cleaning_factor> 
</backend_options>
</cache>

Monday, July 29, 2013

Magento : Install Magento 1.7.0.2 With Sample Data By SSH

mkdir myproject
cd myproject
wget http://www.magentocommerce.com/downloads/assets/1.7.0.2/magento-1.7.0.2.tar.gz
wget http://www.magentocommerce.com/downloads/assets/1.6.1.0/magento-sample-data-1.6.1.0.tar.gz
tar -zxvf magento-1.7.0.2.tar.gz
tar -zxvf magento-sample-data-1.6.1.0.tar.gz
mv magento-sample-data-1.6.1.0/media/* magento/media/
mv magento-sample-data-1.6.1.0/magento_sample_data_for_1.6.1.0.sql magento/data.sql
mv magento/* magento/.htaccess .
chmod o+w var var/.htaccess app/etc
chmod -R o+w media
mysql -h localhost -u -p myproject_db < data.sql
chmod 755 mage
./mage mage-setup.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Magento : Create/Collocate Magento System Configuration

First create a blank module with following files
etc/modules/Bd_Systemconfigdemo.xml
Bd/Systemconfigdemo/etc/config.xml

Then create a system.xml file in Bd/Systemconfigdemo/etc/system.xml with following code
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <tabs>
        <demo_tab translate="label" module="systemconfigdemo">
            <label>Demo Tab</label>
            <sort_order>0</sort_order>
        </demo_tab>
    </tabs>
    <sections>
        <demo_section translate="label" module="systemconfigdemo">
        <label>Demo Section</label>
        <tab>demo_tab</tab>
        <frontend_type>text</frontend_type>
        <sort_order>0</sort_order>
        <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
        <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
        <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                    <groups>
                      <demo_group translate="label">
                    <label>Demo Group</label>
                    <frontend_type>text</frontend_type>
                    <sort_order>0</sort_order>
                    <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
                    <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
                    <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                       <fields>
                          <demo_field1 translate="label">
                            <label>Demo Field1</label>
                            <frontend_type>text</frontend_type>
                            <sort_order>0</sort_order>
                            <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
                            <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
                            <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                            <comment>first</comment>
                          </demo_field1>
                          <demo_field2 translate="label">
                            <label>Demo Field2</label>
                            <frontend_type>select</frontend_type>
                            <source_model>adminhtml/system_config_source_yesno</source_model>
                            <sort_order>0</sort_order>
                            <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
                            <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
                            <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                            <comment>second</comment>
                          </demo_field2>
                       </fields>
                       </demo_group>
                    </groups>
        </demo_section>
    </sections>
</config>

And adminhtml.xml with following code
<?xml version="1.0"?>
    <config>
        <acl>
            <resources>
                <admin>
                    <children>
                        <system>
                            <children>
                                <config>
                                    <children>
                                        <demo_section translate="title" module="systemconfigdemo">
                                            <title>Demo Section Section</title>
                                            <sort_order>0</sort_order>
                                        </demo_section>
                                    </children>
                                </config>
                            </children>
                        </system>
                    </children>
                </admin>
            </resources>
        </acl>
    </config>