Sometimes what seems like the easiest things are so convoluted in practice.  I needed to style the Grouping header in an AdvancedDataGrid when a given child node had a specific value for one of it's given variables.  More specifically, when a variable enabled had a boolean value of true, I wanted to show users that a child node was enabled, without having to open each parent node one at a time.

I figured that somewhere in the Grouping there would be way to do this, or maybe even a specific renderer for grouping headers, but there was nothing...and I really didn't see any example on doing this; so that's why I'm publishing my solution to the problem.

<>The solution is to use a styleFunction on the AdvancedDataGrid itself.  Then determine if you're looking at a parent or child node, Read on... Submit the first comment!

Finally updated my software, mostly out of necessity! The form spammers were getting to be a pain, so I made some modifications for unobtrusive form-spam catching.

I used a tactic, that doesn't work 100% of the time, but I'd say it's around 90%...and it does yield some false-positives, but you can review any messages it flags as spam. The method I used has an extra text field in the form, which is not displayed via CSS. Since most bots just fill in every possible field with their spamming links, this knows that most "people" would not be filling in this field. If there is content in it, it is considered spam. While you can see where the false-positives would come from, I feel this is less obtrusive to the majority of visitors than using a captcha-like system.

<>The "Subjects" Read on... Submit the first comment!

As it's probably no secret, I believe that Rails is the answer that so many web developers are looking for. Compared to programming in PHP, Rails is just fun...and you never feel like the project is getting out of hand.

However, there is still one issue that all web developers have to deal with, whether they're using PHP, ASP, JSP, or even Rails...the front end. That combination of (X)HTML, XML, CSS, and JavaScript. Now, the worst part isn't learning and knowing how to use those languages properly...it's knowing how to use them improperly to make real world browsers (specifically Internet Explorer) display your pages the way you intended them to.

<>Now I can, and have, gone on long tirades as to how I think all the browser vendors need to get their asses in gear and make their bRead on... Submit the first comment!

Well, at this point, no browser can pass the Acid3 test, however Apple is #1!!!

Apple's Safari 3.1 (stable release) scores a 75% (nightly build is at 93%), where Firefox is only scoring a 52% (nightly build is at 71%), and IE is trailing in the end with pitiful 12% (nightly build is at 17%).

(Look here for other results.)

Standards compliance is really a huge deal, and it's good to see that some companies take it very seriously, but upsetting to see that others seem to have simply given up. It'll still be interesting to see if M$ comes through on their promise of making standards compliance important in IE8. Their new slogan seems to be: maybe next time we'll get it right

Comments (1)

Another upgrade! We are now 0.6, and getting much closer to the initial vision of the blog site...with a few more cool updates (dynamic themes and settings, as well as some Ajax) coming in the next few months.

The three largest things coming to this release are: pagination in the admin interface for all types of content, static pages (for things like About Me), and static CSS color themes.

For details on the changes, see the CHANGELOG.

• ctBlog Version 0.6 (tgz)
• README
• CHANGELOG

The default password is: simple

Comments (3)

I have been approved to host my ctBlog project on SourceForge.net: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ctblog/

SourceForge offers many tools to developers, as well as a place to go to search for open source software; I'm very happy to be a part of it.

Submit the first comment!

I have created a publicly available demo of my ctBlog software, located at: http://ctblogdemo.zgoda.us/

Feel free to go there, and do whatever you want to play around with the app. Each night, I will reset the app back to it's original condition.

Please post any comments about the app here, and not at the demo site...since the demo will be cleared out nightly.

Submit the first comment!

I have submitted this project to SourceForge, to be a part of their large Open Source development community.

They said it could take between 1 and 3 business days to get approval...I guess if it gets approved. I think there is a good chance of being approved, since there is only one other Ruby on Rails application listed who's objective is purely blogging. (Getting back to how I think many blog applications are way over-bloated!)

I'll keep this updated, and if SourceForge accepts the project, I'll post the link under my Links.

Things are coming along quite nicely! Version 0.5 is complete!

There were quite a few bug fixes, including some testing done in IE (yuck).
The other main changes are the ability to preview an article before actually posting it, and to remove an article without actually deleting it.
The site owner is also now able to change various site-wide settings through the web interface, as opposed to a YAML file like before.

The default password is: simple

• ctBlog Version 0.5
• README
• CHANGELOG

Any and all feedback is appreciated!

It seems as though Microsoft has "decided that IE8 will, by default, interpret web content in the most standards compliant way it can."

If so, this is a really great thing...mostly for the web development community, but also for Internet Explorer users. Too many times have I had to sacrifice clean CSS files just to get layouts to display properly in IE.

Also, Microsoft getting behind web standards means that we should start to see improvements from other web browser developers to push their compliance even further. IE is, without a doubt, worse at displaying pages properly than Safari and Firefox, but hopefully they can give Apple and Mozilla a little friendly competition.

<> Now if they could only lock it down further... separate it from the OS... do away with ActiveX...Read on...

I have finished the next update to my Blog system. This is a pretty large update, with an image uploading system being the biggest change.

There is now a requirement to have the RMagick gem installed, which allows the system to create both a thumbnail and viewable image from the uploaded original image (which is also saved).

To see a list of all the changes, view the CHANGELOG.

Download ctBlog 0.4 ctBlog 0.4 ReadMe

The system is becoming quite usable, and friendly; but still needs a bit of work. I will continue the short iteration cycles, shorter than this last one (RMagick was a new experience for me).

<>

Deploying Rails 2.0.2 on Ubuntu Server 7.1 (Part 3)

<> This is the final part of a three part series on deploying Rails on Ubuntu Server. In the first part, I went over installing the server, and getting Rails up and running; including writing a very simple application, which we've used throughout the series. <>In the second pRead on...

<>

This is a continuation of my previous article. In this part I will go over installing, configuring, and having a Mongrel Cluster startup on boot.

Once again, I would greatly welcome any critical feedback if there are better methods to the ones I am showing.

<>

Install Mongrel and Mongrel Cluster

<> Read on...

<> The goal of this series of articles is to show how to deploy a production-level Rails server, using Ubuntu Server (I'm sure Debian will be fairly identical). This is the first in the series, and I will cover installing Ubuntu Server 7.1, installing and configuring Rails 2.0.2, and installing MySQL 5. After that, I will create a verRead on...

The next release of my blog app, ctBlog...on time too.

The major improvement is the administration end, but see the CHANGELOG for the full list of updates.

I will continue to work to improve the software, it is becoming more polished; and quite usable.

Still, you will need to know how to deploy a Ruby on Rails application in your environment, and check out the ReadMe for further information.

• Download ctBlog 0.3
• ctBlog 0.3 ReadMe

For questions, comments, etc...please refer to the ReadMe.

The second release of my blog app, ctBlog, only one week after the first!

The major improvement is comments, but see the CHANGELOG for the full list of updates.

The administration side is still messy! It's like a nice looking house, with tons of clutter on the inside. The next release will have a completely revamped admin side. Hopefully within a week, but maybe closer to two.

Still, you will need to know how to deploy a Ruby on Rails application in your environment, and check out the ReadMe for further information.

• Download ctBlog 0.2
• ctBlog 0.2 ReadMe

For questions, comments, etc...please refer to the readme.

The first release of my blog app, ctBlog, has been released and is available for download (for the daring).

You will need to know how to deploy a Ruby on Rails application in your environment, check out the readme for further information.

• Download ctBlog 0.1
• ctBlog 0.1 ReadMe

For questions, comments, etc...please refer to the readme.

Nothing like a class to get a kick in the butt to do something you've been meaning to work on for a while...I'm talking about creating a blog.

My problem was, in the past, I've tried all sorts of "blog" and CMS software...and there was one common element; they're all way to over-bloated! I wanted something simple, clean, and to the point. And I'd rather not go through someone else's code to figure out how it's all put together, when I'm perfectly capable of writing my own.

And on that subject, it has become almost a requirement for any Ruby on Rails programmer to (at some point) write their own blog software...and what better time than right after the release of Rails 2.0.

<>Also, on timing, here comes my Computers and Society class (IS511 from DePaul University), and one of the Read on... Submit the first comment!