Jami's Blog

iPhone Cocos2d: Use UIView as background of Cocos2d

2010-08-23T21:08:00.000+08:00

This came from a blog called "Not Now Nigel", unfortunately it was removed. I'm salvaging this helpful code from there.

Using a hello world cocos2d template, add the following property to your ____AppDelegate.h:

UIView *overlay;

@property (nonatomic, retain) UIView *overlay;

in the ____AppDelegate.m, synthesize the overlay:

@synthesize overlay;

then replace the contents of:

- (void) applicationDidFinishLaunching:(UIApplication*)application

{

window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];

if(![CCDirector setDirectorType:kCCDirectorTypeDisplayLink])

[CCDirector setDirectorType:kCCDirectorTypeNSTimer];

CCDirector *director = [CCDirector sharedDirector];

[director setDeviceOrientation:kCCDeviceOrientationPortrait];

[director setDisplayFPS:YES];

[director setAnimationInterval:1.0/60];

EAGLView *glView = [EAGLView viewWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds] pixelFormat:kEAGLColorFormatRGBA8 depthFormat:0 preserveBackbuffer:NO];

[director setOpenGLView:glView];

[glView setMultipleTouchEnabled:YES];

glView.opaque = NO;

glClearColor(0.0f,0.0f,0.0f,0.0f);

glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT);

overlay = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];

overlay.opaque = YES;

overlay.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];

[overlay addSubview: glView];

[window addSubview:overlay];

[window makeKeyAndVisible];

// Sets landscape mode

// [director setDeviceOrientation:kCCDeviceOrientationLandscapeLeft];

// Turn on display FPS

// [director setDisplayFPS:YES];

[CCTexture2D setDefaultAlphaPixelFormat: kTexture2DPixelFormat_RGBA8888];

[director runWithScene: [HelloWorld scene]];

}

In your scene.m, just initialize your UIView (or view controller) then insert the subview as the back-most subview for overlay. For example:

MyNewController *cont = [[MyNewController alloc] init];

cont.wantsFullScreenLayout = YES;

MyAppDelegate *delegate = (MyAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate];

[delegate.overlay insertSubview:cont.view belowSubview:[[CCDirector sharedDirector] openGLView]];

The glView for cocos2d should not be transparent with the UIView you just placed in the background.

iPhone: Implement Swipe-to-Delete in UITableView

2010-08-02T15:19:00.000+08:00

Make sure your controller is a delegate of your table view:

Implement this in your controller:

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView commitEditingStyle:(UITableViewCellEditingStyle)editingStyle forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

[tableView beginUpdates];

if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete) {

/* delete your entry here */

[tableView deleteRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:indexPath, nil] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade];

}

[tableView endUpdates];

}

Also make sure that your method numberOfRowsInSection reflects the change in data.

iPhone: Sort NSMutableArray of Custom Objects by Property

2010-08-02T15:10:00.000+08:00

Bookmark.h

//

// Bookmark.h

// Mapjack

//

// Created by Benjamin Rafael F. Intal on 8/2/10.

// Copyright 2010 __MyCompanyName__. All rights reserved.

//

#import

@interface Bookmark : NSObject {

NSString *name;

NSString *address;

NSString *position;

}

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *address;

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *position;

@end

Bookmark.m

//

// Bookmark.m

// Mapjack

//

// Created by Benjamin Rafael F. Intal on 8/2/10.

// Copyright 2010 __MyCompanyName__. All rights reserved.

//

#import "Bookmark.h"

@implementation Bookmark

@synthesize name;

@synthesize address;

@synthesize position;

- (id) initWithCoder: (NSCoder *)coder

{

self = [[Bookmark alloc] init];

if (self != nil)

{

self.name = [coder decodeObjectForKey:@"name"];

self.address = [coder decodeObjectForKey:@"address"];

self.position = [coder decodeObjectForKey:@"position"];

}

return self;

}

- (void) encodeWithCoder: (NSCoder *)coder

{

[coder encodeObject:name forKey:@"name"];

[coder encodeObject:address forKey:@"address"];

[coder encodeObject:position forKey:@"position"];

}

@end

Somewhere in the controller, declare your NSMutableArray of Bookmark objects (or any other objects), then sort using: In this sample, I sorted using the name property

// Sort the bookmarks by name

NSSortDescriptor *firstDescriptor =

[[[NSSortDescriptor alloc]

initWithKey:@"name"

ascending:YES

selector:@selector(localizedCaseInsensitiveCompare:)] autorelease];

NSArray * descriptors =
[NSArray arrayWithObjects:firstDescriptor, nil];

NSArray * sortedArray =
[localBookmarks sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:descriptors];

iPhone: Save / Load NSMutableArray of Custom Object from NSUserDefaults

2010-08-02T15:06:00.000+08:00

Bookmark.h

// Bookmark.h

// Mapjack

// Created by Benjamin Rafael F. Intal on 8/2/10.

#import

@interface Bookmark : NSObject {

NSString *name;

NSString *address;

NSString *position;

}

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *address;

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *position;

@end

Bookmark.m

// Bookmark.m

// Mapjack

// Created by Benjamin Rafael F. Intal on 8/2/10.

#import "Bookmark.h"

@implementation Bookmark

@synthesize name;

@synthesize address;

@synthesize position;

- (id) initWithCoder: (NSCoder *)coder

{

self = [[Bookmark alloc] init];

if (self != nil)

{

self.name = [coder decodeObjectForKey:@"name"];

self.address = [coder decodeObjectForKey:@"address"];

self.position = [coder decodeObjectForKey:@"position"];

}

return self;

}

- (void) encodeWithCoder: (NSCoder *)coder

{

[coder encodeObject:name forKey:@"name"];

[coder encodeObject:address forKey:@"address"];

[coder encodeObject:position forKey:@"position"];

}

@end

Retrieve procedure in controller:

localBookmarks = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

// Load from prefs

NSUserDefaults *currentDefaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];

NSData *dataRepresentingSavedArray = [currentDefaults objectForKey:@"bookmarks"];

if (dataRepresentingSavedArray != nil) {

NSArray *oldSavedArray = [NSKeyedUnarchiver unarchiveObjectWithData:dataRepresentingSavedArray];

if (oldSavedArray != nil)

localBookmarks = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithArray:oldSavedArray];

else

localBookmarks = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

}

Save procedure in controller:

NSUserDefaults *currentDefaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];

[currentDefaults setObject:[NSKeyedArchiver archivedDataWithRootObject: localBookmarks] forKey:@"bookmarks"];

[currentDefaults synchronize];

Helpful Python Methods

2009-02-02T03:49:00.000+08:00

import os

def getFreeSpace(path):
# Gets the number of free bytes in the given path

st = os.statvfs(path)

return st.f_bsize * st.f_bavail

def getFileSize(filepath):

# Gets the size of the file in bytes

try:

st = os.stat(filepath)

except IOError:

print "Failed to get size of", filepath

else:

return st[6]

Disable Image Dragging in Firefox 3

2009-01-07T15:11:00.000+08:00

Put this line inside the image tag:

onmousedown="if (event.preventDefault) { event.preventDefault(); }"

Counting Files Recusively In Linux

2009-01-07T14:18:00.000+08:00

Just change the .mp3 extension below.

$ ls -1R | grep -i .*.mp3 | wc -l

Performing / Managing Background Jobs in Linux

2009-01-06T23:10:00.000+08:00

To perform processes in the background in Linux, use the command screen (instead of the session-tied-up nohup).

Screens are terminal sessions which can be detached (placed in the background) and reattached (placed in the foreground). When detached, these screens still run and can be brought back again for use in future connections.

Command list:

screen -list

Displays all the running screens and their socknames

screen -S

Creates a new screen with as the name instead of a generated one

screen -r

Reattaches a detached screen

When a screen is attached, you can either use..

Ctrl+A then Ctrl+D to detach the current screen, or

Ctrl+D to terminal the screen.

Connecting to CVS Using Alternate Port With SSH Tunneling

2009-01-06T22:42:00.000+08:00

Create / Modify the file ~/.ssh/config and add the lines:

Host 123.123.123.123
Port 56789

Then use the following connection string in bash:

$ cvs -d :ext:username@123.123.123:/home/devel/cvs ...

IE Blocks IFrame Session Cookies

2008-11-09T11:41:00.000+08:00

I had trouble persisting session data between two transitioning pages in an iframe in IE (7+ i think). The page in the iframe and the parent page (containing the iframe) are in two different domains.

For the browser to allow the cookie in PHP, just add:

header('P3P:CP="IDC DSP COR ADM DEVi TAIi PSA PSD IVAi IVDi CONi HIS OUR IND CNT"');

Source:

http://adamyoung.net/IE-Blocking-iFrame-Cookies

Bug: Zend Framework 1.5.1-1.5.3 Zend_Rest_Client

2008-07-30T16:57:00.000+08:00

When contacting the Rest Server via the Zend_Rest_Client's get() method, you will get errors when passing a string argument that's roughly 500+ characters long.

The code:
$client = new Zend_Rest_Client($restServer);
// $arg1 has 1000 length
$result = $client->MyMethod($arg1, $arg2)->get();

would yield:

string '

Invalid Method Call to MyMethod. Requires 2, 1 given.
failed' (length=242)

You can get the data sent back from contacting the rest server by dumping the variable $data before line 43 in Zend/Rest/Client/Result.php (ZF 1.5.3):
var_dump($data);

Fix:
Use the method post() instead of get().

Virtualbox: Mounting Shared Directories in Guest Linux from Windows Host

2008-07-27T23:15:00.000+08:00

In Virtualbox:
1. Start the linux guest, click on the Devices menu 'Install Guest Additions...,'
2. this would mount a media drive in linux, run this as root:

root# ./media/cdrom0/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

3. Reboot linux.
4. From the Devices menu, choose 'Shared Folders...,' and add any folder or drive, make sure that the 'Make Permanent' checkbox is ticked.
e.g. Add 'C:\' with the name 'C_DRIVE'
5. (unsure) Run: (nothing should happen after this)

root# modprobe vboxvfs

6. Create the directory to mount the shared folder on:

root# mkdir /mnt/c

7. Run:

root# mount.vboxsf C_DRIVE /mnt/c

8. To mount this every time linux boots, edit the file /etc/rc.local and put the following line at the start:

mount.vboxsf C_DRIVE /mnt/c

Sources:
http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=5851&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

Internetworking a Vista Host with a Linux Guest in a Virtualbox

2008-07-27T18:33:00.000+08:00

By default, in virtualbox, the guest virtual machine could connect to the host. You need to configure virtualbox and windows in order for the host to connect to the guest.

in Virtualbox:
1. Go to the network settings of the linux virtual machine,
2. there should be an existing adapter - adapter 0: NAT; create another one,
3. add a new Host Interface by clicking the 'plus' icon near the list,
4. In the 'Attached to' setting, select 'Host Interface,'
5. select the created interface in the 'Interface Name' setting.
Don't start the virtual machine yet.

in Windows:
1. Go to the Network Connections in the Control Panel,
2. the created host interface (in step 3 above) should appear here, check its settings,
3. assign it these values:
IP = 10.0.0.1
Mask = 255.255.255.0
Gateway = 10.0.0.1

in Virtualbox:
1. Turn on the linux virtual machine,
2. use the created host interface as the network adapter,
3. check the network settings, and assign it to have a static IP with these values:
IP = 10.0.0.2
Mask = 255.255.255.0
Gateway = 10.0.0.1

Sources:
http://bits2share.netsons.org/2008/05/31/virtualbox-connect-to-guest-system-from-host-system/
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/User_HOWTOS

Fix for bug imagick.so in libWand.so.9 in PHP5 in Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron)

2008-07-27T16:14:00.000+08:00

After installing Apache2, PHP5 and the php5-imagemagick packages, I got an error in PHP when starting Apache2.

in /var/log/apache2/error.log:
PHP Warning: PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library '/usr/lib/php5/20060613+lfs/imagick.so' - libWand.so.9: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory in Unknown on line 0.

According to some sources in the net, this is an old bug which can be fixed by installing the package libmagick9-dev (even though I currently have libmagick10 installed already)

List of Windows Operating System Version Numbers

2008-07-13T22:16:00.000+08:00

Version Platform ID Major Version Minor Version
Win 95 1 4 0
Win 98 1 4 10
Win ME 1 4 90
Win NT 3.51 2 3 51
Win NT 4.0 2 4 0
Win 2000 2 5 0
Win XP 2 5 1
Win 2003 2 5 2
Win Vista 2 6 0
Win CE 3 ? ?

Sources:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189249
http://www.go4expert.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1472
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q158238&id=158238&SD=MSKB

Add A Virtual Host in Apache in Vista

2008-07-02T17:31:00.000+08:00

1. Open C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache/conf/httpd.conf

2. Add the following lines:

    
        DocumentRoot "C:/Path/To/Directory"
        ServerName MyServer
        DirectoryIndex index.php
        
            Options FollowSymLinks
            AllowOverride All
            Order allow,deny
            Allow from all
            AddType text/html .php
            AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php

3. Open the file C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (this is a text file with no extension).
4. Add the following lines at the bottom:

127.0.0.1 MyServer


5. Restart Apache.

Smart Sweep in Inq7.net

2006-02-14T16:04:00.000+08:00

We got published in Philippine Inquirer! hehe! Check out the article here!