Below I will cover how to use the Models in the Skoot PHP framework. First a little about Skoot:

This small but powerful PHP “micro” framework is a result from another project. I started using a “micro” framework called NiceDog, NiceDog is a very cool little one file framework that is super simple to use and get started with. It lacks the basic needs such as a database layer and theme helpers but it’s great to use for projects that don’t need a full framework with all the bells and whistles.

The name Skoot comes from my dog “Skooter” he’s a little black MinPin. The Skoot framework adds the basic database layer and layout functions into NiceDog making it more powerful and giving you a big jump start on any small project.

Let’s Start

Looking into the basic setup the “welcome” controller we will see no reference to the model in any way. We can simple do that by building a construct:

function Welcome(){
		$this->UsersModel = new User();
	}

Above we are making a call to the Users model from the welcome controller. You can now access any of your model actions from “$this->UserModel->ACTION”. Let look at how to make sure the model is usable and of correct setup.

The Model

Below is how to construct a model in Skoot PHP framework:

<?php
class Users extends M {
   function test(){
      echo "Test";
   }
}

All models extend the class “M”, just like controllers extend “C”.

Now lets make a call to the model from the controller:

function index(){
   $this->UsersModel->test();
}

The above output would be “Test”.

Don’t have Skoot?

• Get Skoot!
• Skoot Docs

The initial components being released through this project include the code that powers our Cloud Files (available today) and Cloud Servers (expected available late 2010). This project will also incorporate technology provided by other open-source projects. We expect to be joined by leaders in the technology industry and others to drive a deployable totally open cloud solution through this project.

Why is Rackspace doing this? Historically, most cloud offerings have been built on proprietary or closed platforms that create lock-in and make migration difficult. With OpenStack, any interested party – including our peers, Solution Partners and customers – will be able to collaborate with us to author, improve and expand OpenStack technologies.

Overview

• What the software does: The goal of OpenStack is to allow any organization to create and offer cloud computing capabilities using open source software running on standard hardware. OpenStack Compute is software for automatically creating and managing large groups of virtual private servers. OpenStack Storage is software for creating redundant, scalable object storage using clusters of commodity servers to store terabytes or even petabytes of data.
• Who it’s for: Institutions and service providers with physical hardware that they’d like to use for large-scale cloud deployments. (Additionally, companies who have specific requirements that prevent them from running in a public cloud.)

View it all at OpenStack…

Prior to Cluster Compute Instances for Amazon EC2, organizations with advanced HPC needs have been required to fund expensive, in-house compute clusters by purchasing dedicated, purpose-built hardware. As a result, the demand for high-performance cluster computing often exceeds the capacity of many organizations, and many projects are cut altogether or wait in long queues to access shared resources. With Cluster Compute Instances, businesses and researchers now have access to the high-performance computing capabilities they need with pay-as-you-go pricing, the ability to scale on-demand, and no upfront investments.

Cluster Compute Instances provide similar functionality to other Amazon EC2 instances but have been specifically engineered to provide high-performance compute and network capability. Cluster Compute Instances provide more CPU than any other Amazon EC2 instance. Customers can also group Cluster Compute Instances into clusters allowing applications to get the low-latency network performance required for tightly coupled, node-to-node communication (typical of many HPC applications). Cluster Compute Instances also provide significantly increased network throughput making them well suited for customer applications that need to perform network-intensive operations. Depending on usage patterns, applications can see up to 10 times the network throughput of the largest current Amazon EC2 instance types.

Learn more about the new Cluster Compute instances for Amazon EC2 at aws.amazon.com/ec2

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require 'NiceDog.php';
R('')->controller('MyController')->action('index')->on('GET');
class MyController extends C {
    function index(){
        echo $this->render('views/index.php');
    }
}
run();

You can now access the above by using http://local/mycontroller/

You may also add layouts to the mix by using:

$this->layout= "MyLayout.php";

To allow the routes to work, you will need to add the following to your vhosts or .htaccess file.

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?url=$1 [QSA,L]
</IfModule>

So if your looking for a mico php framework you may want to checkout Nice Dog.

Load the helper

You can load this helper in the controller, but if you plan on using this in other controllers it may be best to put it in your autoload file under config.

This helper is loaded using the following code:

$this->load->helper('path');

The following functions are available:

set_realpath()

Checks to see if the path exists. This function will return a server path without symbolic links or relative directory structures. An optional second argument will cause an error to be triggered if the path cannot be resolved.

$directory = '/etc/passwd';
echo set_realpath($directory);
// returns "/etc/passwd"
 
$non_existent_directory = '/path/to/nowhere';
echo set_realpath($non_existent_directory, TRUE);
// returns an error, as the path could not be resolved 
 
echo set_realpath($non_existent_directory, FALSE);
// returns "/path/to/nowhere"

Using HTTPS is easy – just change your cloudfront.net links to use https:// instead of http://, and Amazon CloudFront will serve your content using HTTPS. By default, Amazon CloudFront will accept requests over both the HTTP and the HTTPS protocols. However, if you always want your content encrypted when transmitted, you can configure Amazon CloudFront to require HTTPS for all requests for your content and not allow requests made over the regular HTTP protocol. For HTTPS requests, Amazon CloudFront will also use HTTPS to retrieve your object from Amazon S3, so your object is encrypted whenever it is transmitted.

Pricing for HTTPS requests start at $0.01 per 10,000 requests. As always, you will pay only for what you actually use with the service.

Amazon is also announcing today that we’ve reduced our pricing for regular HTTP requests by 25%: prices for HTTP requests now start at $0.0075 per 10,000 requests, letting you save on content that doesn’t require HTTPS. We’re always looking for ways to reduce our costs, and we’re happy that we can pass these savings on to our customers. These lower prices will apply for all usage starting on June 1, 2010.

Finally, Amazon has opened a new edge location in New York City, adding to the existing US East Coast locations. We’re excited that this location will help make performance even better for users requesting your content from New York and the northeast United States.

You can read more about Amazon CloudFront, HTTPS delivery, and view pricing information on the Amazon CloudFront detail page.

First if you plan on using this often you may want to place this in your autoload under the config folder. Below is how you would load it in the controller itself.

$this->load->helper('directory');

Now you have access to the directory_map function, this function reads the directory path specified in the first parameter and builds an array representation of it and all its contained files.

$map = directory_map('/myfiles/');

Note: Paths are almost always relative to your main index.php file.

Sub-folders contained within the directory will be mapped as well. If you wish to map only the top level directory set the second parameter to true (boolean):

$map = directory_map('/myfiles/', TRUE);

By default, hidden files will not be included in the returned array. To override this behavior, you may set a third parameter to true (boolean):

$map = directory_map('/myfiles/', FALSE, TRUE);

Each folder name will be an array index, while its contained files will be numerically indexed. Here is an example of a typical array:

Array
(
   [libraries] => Array
   (
       [0] => benchmark.html
       [1] => config.html
       [database] => Array
       (
             [0] => active_record.html
             [1] => binds.html
             [2] => configuration.html
             [3] => connecting.html
             [4] => examples.html
             [5] => fields.html
             [6] => index.html
             [7] => queries.html
        )
       [2] => email.html
       [3] => file_uploading.html
       [4] => image_lib.html
       [5] => input.html
       [6] => language.html
       [7] => loader.html
       [8] => pagination.html
       [9] => uri.html
)

Codeigniter is a great framework, i use it in most all my projects. The easiest way I found to get started with Codeigniter is to use a book like CodeIgniter 1.7
from Amazon.

In the past few weeks, Amazon RDS has added new features that further reduce the management burden of running highly available and reliable MySQL databases:

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Of our communities, CodeIgniter benefits the most directly from these changes. The adoption of a new VCS and new internal development tools allows us to not only be more effective in CodeIgniter’s development, but also enables us to give you more and to interact more directly with you.

Source to CI2: http://bitbucket.org/ellislab/codeigniter/

When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you’re really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you’re in the right state of mind?

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