http://bittermonk.com/ The personal weblog of Brian McElaney Copyright 2006 Thu, 29 Dec 2006 22:09:23 -0500 So now we have a two tables, one full of category names and ids and one which relates those ids to left and right values which supposedly match up to positions on a tree. This is generally the part where most people start to cry about difficult math and SQL queries... but in Celko we trust my children so let's go over the queries we'll be using. http://bittermonk.com/index.php#8 http://bittermonk.com/index.php CMS, MySQL, Category Management Thu, 29 Dec 2006 22:09:23 -0500 One of the wonderfully frustrating things about my job is that I get to learn constantly. While I enjoy being able to learn, my lessons usually come from frustrating experiences. For instance, I learned that you need to use PHP's 'mysqli' function to connect to the database if you want to use a stored procedure. I learned this after about two and a half hours trying to make my first procedure work with PHP's 'mysql_connect.' I learned about PHP's 'ctype' and 'real_exception' functions about a week after wasting an evening building a bunch of functions to do the same thing in REGEX. I learned about the glory that is shell access to MySQL after months wasted time trying (and often failing) to push SQL files into databases through phpMyAdmin (if you've never had the experience... spare yourself.). On the MPTT project, I learned there is more to getting your table structures right than simply naming columns. So here's how I set up my tables for this project AFTER trying the wrong way. (twice). http://bittermonk.com/index.php#7 http://bittermonk.com/index.php CMS, MySQL, Category Management Fri, 22 Dec 2006 20:48:23 -0500 In my last entry we went over the what (I want a category management system that can scale out quickly, deeply, and allow me to perform common operations quickly on data that doesn't always fit in a nice neat little tree.) and the why (because the chicks dig it)… of an MPTT category system. Before we start dealing with how, I'd like to cover something I wanted to keep in mind throughout the project. http://bittermonk.com/index.php#6 http://bittermonk.com/index.php CMS, MySQL, Category Management Tue, 17 Oct 2006 20:53:23 -0500 So I am going to develop a CMS from scratch. I know… crazy. I think I have some ideas that are a significant improvement over what's out there, however. But before I start getting fancy, I need to build the core pieces that will make up the system. First up is a category management system. http://bittermonk.com/index.php#5 http://bittermonk.com/index.php CMS, MySQL, Category Management Fri, 06 Oct 2006 01:29:23 -0500 So I recently moved to Secane - which has been great being as how I don't call my parent's living room home anymore. Only problem is that apparentl it is easier (and cheaper) to catch an internet connection in Third World Africa than Secane, PA. Just a quick update and we'll slide right back into play. http://bittermonk.com/index.php#4 http://bittermonk.com/index.php Site News, CMS Sun, 24 Sep 2006 01:29:23 -0500 You can't research current trends in sharing information on the internet without coming across the concept of Microformats. I first heard about them from Joe, an intern at E-Ink from Carnegie Mellon University. It was one of those conversations where you nod intelligently at the time as though you have a clue and then run home to read up after the fact. http://bittermonk.com/index.php#3 http://bittermonk.com/index.php Microformats Sun, 03 Sep 2006 01:29:23 -0500 Those of you paying attention may have noticed me playing with layouts and graphics over the last few days on Bittermonk. The experience has taught me a few things. http://bittermonk.com/index.php#2 http://bittermonk.com/index.php Site News Wed, 30 Aug 2006 22:50:23 -0500 And with that, the site changed. For those of you who are reading through RSS, if you came over to the site you'd see that the old content has been stripped and the design dropped. Clean slate. Maybe you're wondering why? http://bittermonk.com/index.php#1 http://bittermonk.com/index.php Site News Sun, 27 Aug 2006 16:36:23 -0500