PHP header 200 Status Not Being Sent

I'm having a real mare with this PHP site I am working at the moment. Having constant configuration problems - grrr!

I am using a .htaccess file to handle the a 404 (ErrorDocument 404 /404.php). It's used to handle friendly URLs mainly. One of the other things I use it for is allowing JavaScript files to be PHP processed before they are served to the browser. This is dead useful as I can modify and customise the scripts where required.

Anyway...
In the code I use header("HTTP/1.1 200 OK") and in nearly all instances that works fine. Except for when it is processing the the JavaScript files. After massive annoyance and trying loads of different things, it turns out there is a bug in PHP 5. As they suggest at the bottom, the workaround is:

header("Status: 200 OK");

Fixed!

Add a Border to a Panel Using .NET Compact Framework

After spending quite some time working out how to add a border round a panel control in the .NET compact framework, I finally got it working. It's pretty easy to be honest.

VB.NET

Using g As Graphics = e.Graphics
    Using p As New Pen(Color.Black, 1)
        g.DrawRectangle(p, 0, 0, MyPanel.Width - 1, MyPanel.Height)
    End Using
End Using

C#

Using (Graphics g = e.Graphics) {
    Using (Pen p = New Pen(Color.Black, 1)) {
        g.DrawRectangle(p, 0, 0, MyPanel.Width - 1, MyPanel.Height);
    }
}

You need to make sure that this code is put in the Paint event of your panel.

HSBC API: PayerTxnId is not in a valid base64 encoding

That pesky HSBC API caused me a lot of grief when I first had to set it up on a client site. For various reasons I ended up using the XML method of performing the transaction.

Anyway...
Having recently implemented the 3D secure (Payer Authentication Specification (PAS)) I was getting a PayerTxnId 'LOADS_OF CHARS' is not in a valid  base64 encoding. The PayerTxnId is pulled from the posted data from HSBC. It comes from the XID field.

It took me a while to spot it and, to be honest, I thought I would have to contact HSBC technical support yet again (who , by the by, are very good). But I did spot it! There was a space in the string. I swapped that out for a + and hey presto, the HSBC API processed it just fine.

Block IP Addresses on Windows Server 2003

A big thank you goes out to CodeHill today for allowing me to find out how to easily block IP addresses with built-in Windows server functionality.

The idea is that you create an IP Security Policy on the server and add each IP, range or subnet to it. Perfect :)

Unicode Characters in an Email Subject using PHP and PEAR

I've been working on a PHP site recently where I have had to cater for all languages and more importantly Unicode languages.

So after quite a lot of messing about and hunting around I found that I needed to do the following with the subject:

if (function_exists("mb_internal_encoding"))
 mb_internal_encoding("UTF-8");
if (function_exists("mb_encode_mimeheader"))
 $subject = mb_encode_mimeheader($subject, "UTF-8", "B", "\n");

Obviously if you know if the mb_* functions are available, then you can do away with the if statements.

This works using the PEAR Mail_Mime library. I haven't tested it with the built-in PHP mail function. I would assume it does not work.

How To Reset an Identity Column in MSSQL / SQL Server

Something I often find myself needing to do is reset the identity column on auto incrementing field in MS SQL / SQL Server.

There are a couple of ways of doing it:

1. If you are emptying the table, instead of using a DELETE, use a TRUNCATE. That will automatically reset the identity.
2. The ID can be set to a specific number by using DBCC CHECKIDENT([TABLE_NAME], RESEED, n). Where n is the number that is to be set.

If you already have data in the table and you want to make sure that the sequence is followed, then use this:

DBCC CHECKIDENT([TABLE_NAME], RESEED, 0)
DBCC CHECKIDENT([TABLE_NAME], RESEED)

Android: Starts in Car Mode

When I turn on my HTC Desire android phone, the device is automatically in car mode. I get a notification item allowing me turn it off, so that does the job. But I couldn't find any way of stopping it starting automatically.

Now if like me, you couldn't find the "dock" app (that seems to be mentioned all over the Internet) anywhere you need to do following:

1. From the home screen: Menu > Settings > Search > Searchable Items
2. Make sure the Settings options is checked
3. Press the physical search key (usually a magnifying glass)
4. Click the Google logo and choose Settings
5. Type car
6. Choose Dock
7. Make sure the Auto-launch option is un-checked

Hey presto!

Android version: 2.2

Compressing JPG/JPEG Images

If you need to compress and reduce the disk footprint and reduce bandwidth use, then check out JPEGmini. They are managing a 5 times reduction in the size of images!

Asus EEE Pad Transformer Quick Review 2

Following on from my original Asus EEE Pad Transformer quick review, I thought I would write another quick one. I hadn't long had the tablet when I did the first one and I have now had it for a sensible amount of time and have used it for what I had planned.

I had planned to use it not only as a browser for home use (for which it is superb), but also as a tool for when I need to work remotely.

My biggest gripe when I first got it was the lag when typing with the keyboard docked and using the browser. Typing with the keyboard in all other applications is fine. It's fine with Polaris Office and it has an excellent response time. I installed Dolphin Browser which is far superior and the gesture action is pretty useful too. The lag wasn't anywhere near as bad and the general usability of the browser (when using the blogger blogging interface for example) was much better. There is still lag, but I put that down to the speed at which the device/browser can process JavaScript. As typing into in non-JS based box is fine and there is no lag.

I also installed a different movie player. The pre-installed one will only play certain types of files - which for the most part is nether use nor ornament! I am currently using MoboPlayer.

The battery lasts really well. With it's current use it lasts around a week. It is left on stand-by all the time. It gets used one day a week for a working day - not constantly, but a reasonable amount and is used adhoc in the evenings for email checking, twitter, etc.

The reality is, that I still really can't pick fault with it. I will be away on Holiday for two weeks soon, so that will be a real good test of it's usability and battery life. Especially as we are likely to get through a 13 episode season of something or other...

How to Export Scheduled Tasks on Windows Server 2003

If you need to export your scheduled tasks from Windows, like I have just needed to, use this from the command prompt:

schtasks /query /FO CSV /V >sched_tasks.csv

This will output to a comma-delimited file with all the tasks in it to the current folder called sched_tasks.csv.

The "SendUsing" Configuration Value is Invalid

I recently moved a VBScript script from one server to another. The new server did not have an SMTP server on it. When I ran the script (which emailed) I got a The "SendUsing" Configuration Value is Invalid error. Having already spent sometime recently using VBScript to email via Gmail, it was an easy fix for me. I specified the server and port and off it went!

Dim objMessage

Set objMessage = CreateObject("CDO.Message")
objMessage.Subject = "MY_SUBJECT"
objMessage.From = "FROM_ADDRESS_SAME_AS_USER_NAME"
objMessage.To = "TO_ADDRESS"
objMessage.TextBody = "MY_MESSAGE"

objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusing") = 2
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserver") = "IP_OR_NAME_OF_SERVER"
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserverport") = 25
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Update

out = objMessage.Send
Set objMessage = Nothing

CSS Colour Chart

Not being a designer type chappy I often find it hard to work out what colours to use and then what their colour code is. While I was on my Internet travels the other day I found this little gem with a whole load of colour codes on it: http://www.somacon.com/p142.php

While you're at it ColorPic is another sweet little tool, to grab colour that yuu can see on screen.

woff 404 Font Not Found

I noticed recently that a site I work on that uses a woff font was getting a 404 not found error in Chrome. It was also giving a Resource interpreted as Font but transferred with MIME type application/octet-stream. I spent ages hunting around the forums and found no solution to it.

The fact that I was getting a 404 was the oddest thing and made me think that IIS wasn't serving the font correctly (it was being used by the browser none the less). So I went about checking to see what .woff MIME type was set in IIS. The local computer had no MIME Type handling for .woff so I added it (Right-click > Properties > MIME Types... Extension: .woff and Type: application/x-font-woff). That didn't fix it :(

I right-clicked the Default Web Site > Properties > HTTP Headers > MIME Types... and added the new extension there also (Extension: .woff and Type: application/x-font-woff). Reloaded the page and the warning and error had gone - happy days!

Update...
Thanks to the comment below added by RyanonRails, here is an example web.config (http://pastie.org/4081017):

<system.webServer>
    <httpErrors errorMode="Detailed" />
    <staticContent>
      <mimeMap fileExtension=".coffee" mimeType="coffeescript" />
      <mimeMap fileExtension=".woff" mimeType="application/x-font-woff" />
    </staticContent>
  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

How to Share Files on Blogspot / Blogger

I keep needing to find a way of sharing files through Blogspot / Blogger that isn't costly and is dead easy - well I think I've found it - boxify.me. This is a great service, that requires no registration, is free and there is no quota - superb!

All you literally need to do is is click the "Start sharing for free" button and hey presto you're off! By default you get given a crazy link to use, but you can click the "rename" link at the top and choose something more suitable (http://boxify.me/box/techygypo).

So here's a link to my first file: http://uploads.boxify.me/7831/techygypo.png

And here's the file in question

Thank you boxify.me - stunning work!

Quick Review of Asus EEE Pad Transformer

Well, I've not long opened my new Asus EEE Pad Transformer and so far everything is really sweet with it! My major gripe at the moment is the lag between the docked keyboard and the browser - it's shockingly slow!

That aside, the tablet iteself is really nice and the on-sreen keyboard works with no lag :) The docked keyboard randomly makes you go somewhere else on the screen (especially in the browser) and I keep end up typing something in the address bar - well annoying!

I can pretty much second what everybody else has said on their reviews of this device - and honestly - it is really nice. I purchased it to use it as a work tool as well an internet browser. So TeamViewer is on and working a treat on the nice 10.1" screen.

I'll no doubt put more details with how I get on with this as time goes by...but for now, it's play time!

Sending Email using VBScript via Google Apps Mail / GMail

Following on from my previous post Sending Email using ASP.NET via Google Apps Mail / GMail, I have needed to send an email via GMail / Google Apps using VBScript. So here it is...

Dim objMessage

Set objMessage = CreateObject("CDO.Message")
objMessage.Subject = "MY_SUBJECT"
objMessage.From = "FROM_ADDRESS_SAME_AS_USER_NAME"
objMessage.To = "TO_ADDRESS"
objMessage.TextBody = "MY_MESSAGE"

objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusing") = 2
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserver") = "smtp.gmail.com"
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserverport") = 465
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpauthenticate") = 1
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpusessl") = true
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusername") = "MY_USER_NAME"
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Item( _
"http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendpassword") = "MY_PASSWORD"
objMessage.Configuration.Fields.Update

out = objMessage.Send
Set objMessage = Nothing

Linux / Unix Commands

Found myself the last few days having to use a lot of Unix commands and have been using this site to help me with commands and syntax: http://www.computerhope.com/unix.htm#04

How To Enumerate / Iterate an Enum

I often find myself needing to iterate/enumerate an enum. It's dead easy, but seem to always forget! What a fool ;)

Anyway, here ya go...

Public Enum MyEnum
    Jim = 0
    Bob = 1
End Enum

For Each e As MyEnum in [Enum].GetValues(GetType(MyEnum))
    Console.Write(String.Concat(e.ToString(), "=", Int32.Parse(e)))
Next

The GetValues method is quite useful as you can also get stuff like the length from it:
[Enum].GetValues(GetType(MyEnum)).Length.

The C# is pretty much the same just that [Enum] has no square brackets around it.

Auto Trimming - Whitespace Removal in SQL Server/MSSQL

I got really angry about this one yesterday as I can't see one possible reason why this "feature" would be required.

If you run this script, the whitespace padded string is also returned along with the unpadded string.

CREATE TABLE #t ([col1] varchar(100))

INSERT INTO #t ([col1]) VALUES ('hello')
INSERT INTO #t ([col1]) VALUES ('hello     ')

SELECT '''' + [col1] + '''', LEN([col1]), DATALENGTH([col1])
FROM #t

SELECT * FROM #t WHERE [col1] = 'hello'
SELECT * FROM #t WHERE [col1] = 'hello     '

DROP TABLE #t

How can this possibly be right? If I want 'hello     ' to be returned, then return 'hello     ' not 'hello'. These are two very different strings!

Peoples arguments are why would want to save that and other such silly statements. My philosophy is, if I can think of it, it will happen! I can think of many cases where it would be beneficial to have the padding - dealing with old systems or external systems over which control is not possible.

Now I know that SQL Server does this stupid thing, I can account for it - but seriously - why?? It's stupid!

Oh and ANSI_PADDING - makes no odds!

Clear / Remove Recent Projects in Visual Studio

For those of you still unlucky enough to be using Visual Studio 6 out there this is how to clear the recent Visual Basic projects from the recent projects list:

1. Run regedit from Start > Run
2. Go to KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualBasic\6.0\RecentFiles
3. Delete or change the paths as necessary

For more recent versions of Visual Studio, clear the recent project list by doing this.