~azzar1/unity/add-show-desktop-key

<p>In order to make this as simple as possible, we will be using tabs, not spaces. We enforce 4 (four) spaces for one tab - therefore you need to set your tab width within your editor to 4 spaces. Make sure that when you <strong>save</strong> the file, it's saving tabs and not spaces. This way, we can each have the code be displayed the way we like it, without breaking the layout of the actual files.</p>

103

<p>Tabs in front of lines are no problem, but having them within the text can be a problem if you do not set it to the amount of spaces every one of us uses. Here is a short example of how it should look like:</p>

104

105

106

{TAB}$mode{TAB}{TAB}= request_var('mode', '');

107

{TAB}$search_id{TAB}= request_var('search_id', '');

108

</pre></div>

109

110

<p>If entered with tabs (replace the {TAB}) both equal signs need to be on the same column.</p>

111

112

<h3>Linefeeds:</h3>

113

<p>Ensure that your editor is saving files in the UNIX format. This means lines are terminated with a newline, not with a CR/LF combo as they are on Win32, or whatever the Mac uses. Any decent editor should be able to do this, but it might not always be the default. Know your editor. If you want advice on Windows text editors, just ask one of the developers. Some of them do their editing on Win32.</p>

114

115

<a name="fileheader"></a><h3>1.ii. File Header</h3>

116

117

<h4>Standard header for new files:</h4>

118

<p>This template of the header must be included at the start of all phpBB files: </p>

119

120

121

/**

122

123

* @package {PACKAGENAME}

124

* @version $Id: $

125

126

* @license http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php GNU Public License

127

128

129

</pre></div>

130

131

<p>Please see the <a href="#locations">File Locations section</a> for the correct package name.</p>

132

133

<h4>Files containing inline code:</h4>

134

135

<p>For those files you have to put an empty comment directly after the header to prevent the documentor assigning the header to the first code element found.</p>

136

137

138

/**

139

* {HEADER}

140

141

142

/**

143

144

{CODE}

145

</pre></div>

146

147

<h4>Files containing only functions:</h4>

148

149

<p>Do not forget to comment the functions (especially the first function following the header). Each function should have at least a comment of what this function does. For more complex functions it is recommended to document the parameters too.</p>

150

151

<h4>Files containing only classes:</h4>

152

153

<p>Do not forget to comment the class. Classes need a separate @package definition, it is the same as the header package name. Apart from this special case the above statement for files containing only functions needs to be applied to classes and it's methods too.</p>

154

155

<h4>Code following the header but only functions/classes file:</h4>

156

157

<p>If this case is true, the best method to avoid documentation confusions is adding an ignore command, for example:</p>

158

159

160

/**

161

* {HEADER}

162

163

164

/**

165

* @ignore

166

167

Small code snipped, mostly one or two defines or an if statement

168

169

/**

170

* {DOCUMENTATION}

171

172

class ...

173

</pre></div>

174

175

<a name="locations"></a><h3>1.iii. File Locations</h3>

176

177

<p>Functions used by more than one page should be placed in functions.php, functions specific to one page should be placed on that page (at the bottom) or within the relevant sections functions file. Some files in <code>/includes</code> are holding functions responsible for special sections, for example uploading files, displaying "things", user related functions and so forth.</p>

178

179

<p>The following packages are defined, and related new features/functions should be placed within the mentioned files/locations, as well as specifying the correct package name. The package names are bold within this list:</p>

180

181

<ul>

182

<li><strong>phpBB3</strong><br />Core files and all files not assigned to a separate package</li>

183

<li><strong>acm</strong><br /><code>/includes/acm</code>, <code>/includes/cache.php</code><br />Cache System</li>

184

<li><strong>acp</strong><br /><code>/adm</code>, <code>/includes/acp</code>, <code>/includes/functions_admin.php</code><br />Administration Control Panel</li>

185

<li><strong>dbal</strong><br /><code>/includes/db</code><br />Database Abstraction Layer.<br />Base class is <code>dbal</code>

186

<ul>

187

<li><code>/includes/db/dbal.php</code><br />Base DBAL class, defining the overall framework</li>

188

<li><code>/includes/db/firebird.php</code><br />Firebird/Interbase Database Abstraction Layer</li>

189

<li><code>/includes/db/msssql.php</code><br />MSSQL Database Abstraction Layer</li>

190

<li><code>/includes/db/mssql_odbc.php</code><br />MSSQL ODBC Database Abstraction Layer for MSSQL</li>

191

<li><code>/includes/db/mysql.php</code><br />MySQL Database Abstraction Layer for MySQL 3.x/4.0.x</li>

192

<li><code>/includes/db/mysql4.php</code><br />MySQL4 Database Abstraction Layer for MySQL 4.1.x/5.x</li>

193

<li><code>/includes/db/mysqli.php</code><br />MySQLi Database Abstraction Layer</li>

194

<li><code>/includes/db/oracle.php</code><br />Oracle Database Abstraction Layer</li>

195

<li><code>/includes/db/postgres.php</code><br />PostgreSQL Database Abstraction Layer</li>

196

<li><code>/includes/db/sqlite.php</code><br />Sqlite Database Abstraction Layer</li>

197

</ul>

198

</li>

199

<li><strong>diff</strong><br /><code>/includes/diff</code><br />Diff Engine</li>

200

<li><strong>docs</strong><br /><code>/docs</code><br />phpBB Documentation</li>

201

<li><strong>images</strong><br /><code>/images</code><br />All global images not connected to styles</li>

202

<li><strong>install</strong><br /><code>/install</code><br />Installation System</li>

203

<li><strong>language</strong><br /><code>/language</code><br />All language files</li>

204

<li><strong>login</strong><br /><code>/includes/auth</code><br />Login Authentication Plugins</li>

205

<li><strong>VC</strong><br /><code>/includes/captcha</code><br />CAPTCHA</li>

206

<li><strong>mcp</strong><br /><code>mcp.php</code>, <code>/includes/mcp</code>, <code>report.php</code><br />Moderator Control Panel</li>

207

<li><strong>ucp</strong><br /><code>ucp.php</code>, <code>/includes/ucp</code><br />User Control Panel</li>

208

<li><strong>utf</strong><br /><code>/includes/utf</code><br />UTF8-related functions/classes</li>

209

<li><strong>search</strong><br /><code>/includes/search</code>, <code>search.php</code><br />Search System</li>

210

<li><strong>styles</strong><br /><code>/styles</code>, <code>style.php</code><br />phpBB Styles/Templates/Themes/Imagesets</li>

211

</ul>

212

213

</div>

214

215

216

217

218

</div>

219

220

<hr />

221

222

<a name="code"></a><h2>2. Code Layout/Guidelines</h2>

223

224

225

226

227

228

229

<p>Please note that these Guidelines applies to all php, html, javascript and css files.</p>

230

231

<a name="namingvars"></a><h3>2.i. Variable/Function Naming</h3>

232

233

<p>We will not be using any form of hungarian notation in our naming conventions. Many of us believe that hungarian naming is one of the primary code obfuscation techniques currently in use.</p>

234

235

<h4>Variable Names:</h4>

236

<p>Variable names should be in all lowercase, with words separated by an underscore, example:</p>

237

238

239

<p><code>$current_user</code> is right, but <code>$currentuser</code> and <code> $currentUser</code> are not.</p>

240

</div>

241

242

<p>Names should be descriptive, but concise. We don't want huge sentences as our variable names, but typing an extra couple of characters is always better than wondering what exactly a certain variable is for. </p>

243

244

<h4>Loop Indices:</h4>

245

<p>The <em>only</em> situation where a one-character variable name is allowed is when it's the index for some looping construct. In this case, the index of the outer loop should always be $i. If there's a loop inside that loop, its index should be $j, followed by $k, and so on. If the loop is being indexed by some already-existing variable with a meaningful name, this guideline does not apply, example:</p>

246

247

248

for ($i = 0; $i < $outer_size; $i++)

249

{

250

for ($j = 0; $j < $inner_size; $j++)

251

{

252

foo($i, $j);

253

}

254

}

255

</pre></div>

256

257

<h4>Function Names:</h4>

258

<p>Functions should also be named descriptively. We're not programming in C here, we don't want to write functions called things like "stristr()". Again, all lower-case names with words separated by a single underscore character. Function names should preferably have a verb in them somewhere. Good function names are <code>print_login_status()</code>, <code>get_user_data()</code>, etc. </p>

259

260

<h4>Function Arguments:</h4>

261

<p>Arguments are subject to the same guidelines as variable names. We don't want a bunch of functions like: <code>do_stuff($a, $b, $c)</code>. In most cases, we'd like to be able to tell how to use a function by just looking at its declaration. </p>

262

263

<h4>Summary:</h4>

264

<p>The basic philosophy here is to not hurt code clarity for the sake of laziness. This has to be balanced by a little bit of common sense, though; <code>print_login_status_for_a_given_user()</code> goes too far, for example -- that function would be better named <code>print_user_login_status()</code>, or just <code>print_login_status()</code>.</p>

265

266

<h4>Special Namings: </h4>

267

<p>For all emoticons use the term <code>smiley</code> in singular and <code>smilies</code> in plural.</p>

268

269

<a name="codelayout"></a><h3>2.ii. Code Layout</h3>

270

271

<h4>Always include the braces:</h4>

272

<p>This is another case of being too lazy to type 2 extra characters causing problems with code clarity. Even if the body of some construct is only one line long, do <em>not</em> drop the braces. Just don't, examples:</p>

273

274

<p class="bad">// These are all wrong. </p>

275

276

277

if (condition) do_stuff();

278

279

if (condition)

280

do_stuff();

281

282

while (condition)

283

do_stuff();

284

285

for ($i = 0; $i < size; $i++)

286

do_stuff($i);

287

</pre></div>

288

289

<p class="good">// These are all right. </p>

290

291

if (condition)

292

{

293

do_stuff();

294

}

295

296

while (condition)

297

{

298

do_stuff();

299

}

300

301

for ($i = 0; $i < size; $i++)

302

{

303

do_stuff();

304

}

305

</pre></div>

306

307

<h4>Where to put the braces:</h4>

308

<p>This one is a bit of a holy war, but we're going to use a style that can be summed up in one sentence: Braces always go on their own line. The closing brace should also always be at the same column as the corresponding opening brace, examples:</p>

309

310

311

if (condition)

312

{

313

while (condition2)

314

{

315

...

316

}

317

}

318

else

319

{

320

...

321

}

322

323

for ($i = 0; $i < $size; $i++)

324

{

325

...

326

}

327

328

while (condition)

329

{

330

...

331

}

332

333

function do_stuff()

334

{

335

...

336

}

337

</pre></div>

338

339

<h4>Use spaces between tokens:</h4>

340

<p>This is another simple, easy step that helps keep code readable without much effort. Whenever you write an assignment, expression, etc.. Always leave <em>one</em> space between the tokens. Basically, write code as if it was English. Put spaces between variable names and operators. Don't put spaces just after an opening bracket or before a closing bracket. Don't put spaces just before a comma or a semicolon. This is best shown with a few examples, examples:</p>

341

342

<p>// Each pair shows the wrong way followed by the right way. </p>

343

344

345

$i=0;

346

$i = 0;

347

348

if($i<7) ...

349

if ($i < 7) ...

350

351

if ( ($i < 7)&&($j > 8) ) ...

352

if ($i < 7 && $j > 8) ...

353

354

do_stuff( $i, 'foo', $b );

355

do_stuff($i, 'foo', $b);

356

357

for($i=0; $i<$size; $i++) ...

358

for ($i = 0; $i < $size; $i++) ...

359

360

$i=($j < $size)?0:1;

361

$i = ($j < $size) ? 0 : 1;

362

</pre></div>

363

364

<h4>Operator precedence:</h4>

365

<p>Do you know the exact precedence of all the operators in PHP? Neither do I. Don't guess. Always make it obvious by using brackets to force the precedence of an equation so you know what it does. Remember to not over-use this, as it may harden the readability. Basically, do not enclose single expressions. Examples:</p>

366

367

<p class="bad">// what's the result? who knows. </p>

368

369

$bool = ($i < 7 && $j > 8 || $k == 4);

370

</pre></div>

371

372

<p class="bad">// now you can be certain what I'm doing here.</p>

373

374

$bool = (($i < 7) && (($j < 8) || ($k == 4)));

375

</pre></div>

376

377

<p class="good">// But this one is even better, because it is easier on the eye but the intention is preserved</p>

378

379

$bool = ($i < 7 && ($j < 8 || $k == 4));

380

</pre></div>

381

382

<h4>Quoting strings:</h4>

383

<p>There are two different ways to quote strings in PHP - either with single quotes or with double quotes. The main difference is that the parser does variable interpolation in double-quoted strings, but not in single quoted strings. Because of this, you should <em>always</em> use single quotes <em>unless</em> you specifically need variable interpolation to be done on that string. This way, we can save the parser the trouble of parsing a bunch of strings where no interpolation needs to be done.</p>

384

<p>Also, if you are using a string variable as part of a function call, you do not need to enclose that variable in quotes. Again, this will just make unnecessary work for the parser. Note, however, that nearly all of the escape sequences that exist for double-quoted strings will not work with single-quoted strings. Be careful, and feel free to break this guideline if it's making your code easier to read, examples:</p>

385

386

<p class="bad">// wrong </p>

387

388

$str = "This is a really long string with no variables for the parser to find.";

389

390

do_stuff("$str");

391

</pre></div>

392

393

<p class="good">// right</p>

394

395

$str = 'This is a really long string with no variables for the parser to find.';

396

397

do_stuff($str);

398

</pre></div>

399

400

<p class="bad">// Sometimes single quotes are just not right</p>

401

402

$post_url = $phpbb_root_path . 'posting.' . $phpEx . '?mode=' . $mode . '&amp;start=' . $start;

403

</pre></div>

404

405

<p class="good">// Double quotes are sometimes needed to not overcroud the line with concentinations</p>

406

407

$post_url = "{$phpbb_root_path}posting.$phpEx?mode=$mode&amp;start=$start";

408

</pre></div>

409

410

<p>In SQL Statements mixing single and double quotes is partly allowed (following the guidelines listed here about SQL Formatting), else it should be tryed to only use one method - mostly single quotes.</p>

411

412

<h4>Associative array keys:</h4>

413

<p>In PHP, it's legal to use a literal string as a key to an associative array without quoting that string. We don't want to do this -- the string should always be quoted to avoid confusion. Note that this is only when we're using a literal, not when we're using a variable, examples:</p>

414

415

<p class="bad">// wrong</p>

416

417

$foo = $assoc_array[blah];

418

</pre></div>

419

420

<p class="good">// right </p>

421

422

$foo = $assoc_array['blah'];

423

</pre></div>

424

425

<p class="bad">// wrong</p>

426

427

$foo = $assoc_array["$var"];

428

</pre></div>

429

430

<p class="good">// right </p>

431

432

$foo = $assoc_array[$var];

433

</pre></div>

434

435

<h4>Comments:</h4>

436

<p>Each complex function should be preceded by a comment that tells a programmer everything they need to know to use that function. The meaning of every parameter, the expected input, and the output are required as a minimal comment. The function's behaviour in error conditions (and what those error conditions are) should also be present - but mostly included within the comment about the output.<br /><br />Especially important to document are any assumptions the code makes, or preconditions for its proper operation. Any one of the developers should be able to look at any part of the application and figure out what's going on in a reasonable amount of time.<br /><br />Avoid using <code>/* */</code> comment blocks for one-line comments, <code>//</code> should be used for one/two-liners.</p>

437

438

<h4>Magic numbers:</h4>

439

<p>Don't use them. Use named constants for any literal value other than obvious special cases. Basically, it's ok to check if an array has 0 elements by using the literal 0. It's not ok to assign some special meaning to a number and then use it everywhere as a literal. This hurts readability AND maintainability. The constants <code>true</code> and <code>false</code> should be used in place of the literals 1 and 0 -- even though they have the same values (but not type!), it's more obvious what the actual logic is when you use the named constants. Typecast variables where it is needed, do not rely on the correct variable type (PHP is currently very loose on typecasting which can lead to security problems if a developer does not have a very close eye to it).</p>

440

441

<h4>Shortcut operators:</h4>

442

<p>The only shortcut operators that cause readability problems are the shortcut increment <code>$i++</code> and decrement <code>$j--</code> operators. These operators should not be used as part of an expression. They can, however, be used on their own line. Using them in expressions is just not worth the headaches when debugging, examples:</p>

443

444

<p class="bad">// wrong </p>

445

446

$array[++$i] = $j;

447

$array[$i++] = $k;

448

</pre></div>

449

450

<p class="good">// right </p>

451

452

$i++;

453

$array[$i] = $j;

454

455

$array[$i] = $k;

456

$i++;

457

</pre></div>

458

459

<h4>Inline conditionals:</h4>

460

<p>Inline conditionals should only be used to do very simple things. Preferably, they will only be used to do assignments, and not for function calls or anything complex at all. They can be harmful to readability if used incorrectly, so don't fall in love with saving typing by using them, examples:</p>

461

462

<p class="bad">// Bad place to use them</p>

463

464

($i < $size && $j > $size) ? do_stuff($foo) : do_stuff($bar);

465

</pre></div>

466

467

<p class="good">// OK place to use them </p>

468

469

$min = ($i < $j) ? $i : $j;

470

</pre></div>

471

472

<h4>Don't use uninitialized variables.</h4>

473

<p>For phpBB3, we intend to use a higher level of run-time error reporting. This will mean that the use of an uninitialized variable will be reported as a warning. These warnings can be avoided by using the built-in isset() function to check whether a variable has been set - but preferably the variable is always existing. For checking if an array has a key set this can come in handy though, examples:</p>

474

475

<p class="bad">// Wrong </p>

476

477

if ($forum) ...

478

</pre></div>

479

480

<p class="good">// Right </p>

481

482

if (isset($forum)) ...

483

</pre></div>

484

485

<p class="good">// Also possible</p>

486

487

if (isset($forum) && $forum == 5)

488

</pre></div>

489

490

<p>The <code>empty()</code> function is useful if you want to check if a variable is not set or being empty (an empty string, 0 as an integer or string, NULL, false, an empty array or a variable declared, but without a value in a class). Therefore empty should be used in favor of <code>isset($array) && sizeof($array) > 0</code> - this can be written in a shorter way as <code>!empty($array)</code>.</p>

491

492

<h4>Switch statements:</h4>

493

<p>Switch/case code blocks can get a bit long sometimes. To have some level of notice and being in-line with the opening/closing brace requirement (where they are on the same line for better readability), this also applies to switch/case code blocks and the breaks. An example:</p>

494

495

<p class="bad">// Wrong </p>

496

497

switch ($mode)

498

{

499

case 'mode1':

500

// I am doing something here

501

break;

502

case 'mode2':

503

// I am doing something completely different here

504

break;

505

}

506

</pre></div>

507

508

509

510

switch ($mode)

511

{

512

case 'mode1':

513

// I am doing something here

514

break;

515

516

case 'mode2':

517

// I am doing something completely different here

518

break;

519

520

default:

521

// Always assume that the case got not catched

522

break;

523

}

524

</pre></div>

525

526

<p class="good">// Also good, if you have more code between the case and the break </p>

527

528

switch ($mode)

529

{

530

case 'mode1':

531

532

// I am doing something here

533

534

break;

535

536

case 'mode2':

537

538

// I am doing something completely different here

539

540

break;

541

542

default:

543

544

// Always assume that the case got not catched

545

546

break;

547

}

548

</pre></div>

549

550

<p>Even if the break for the default case is not needed, it is sometimes better to include it just for readability and completeness.</p>

551

552

<p>If no break is intended, please add a comment instead. An example:</p>

553

554

<p class="good">// Example with no break </p>

555

556

switch ($mode)

557

{

558

case 'mode1':

559

560

// I am doing something here

561

562

// no break here

563

564

case 'mode2':

565

566

// I am doing something completely different here

567

568

break;

569

570

default:

571

572

// Always assume that the case got not catched

573

574

break;

575

}

576

</pre></div>

577

578

<a name="sql"></a><h3>2.iii. SQL/SQL Layout</h3>

579

580

<h4>Common SQL Guidelines: </h4>

581

<p>All SQL should be cross-DB compatible, if DB specific SQL is used alternatives must be provided which work on all supported DB's (MySQL3/4/5, MSSQL (7.0 and 2000), PostgreSQL (7.0+), Firebird, SQLite, Oracle8, ODBC (generalised if possible)).</p>

582

<p>All SQL commands should utilise the DataBase Abstraction Layer (DBAL)</p>

583

584

<h4>SQL code layout:</h4>

585

<p>SQL Statements are often unreadable without some formatting, since they tend to be big at times. Though the formatting of sql statements adds a lot to the readability of code. SQL statements should be formatted in the following way, basically writing keywords: </p>

586

587

588

$sql = 'SELECT *

589

<-one tab->FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . '

590

<-one tab->WHERE a = 1

591

<-two tabs->AND (b = 2

592

<-three tabs->OR b = 3)

593

<-one tab->ORDER BY b';

594

</pre></div>

595

596

<p>Here the example with the tabs applied:</p>

597

598

599

$sql = 'SELECT *

600

FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . '

601

WHERE a = 1

602

AND (b = 2

603

OR b = 3)

604

ORDER BY b';

605

</pre></div>

606

607

<h4>SQL Quotes: </h4>

608

<p>Double quotes where applicable (The variables in these examples are typecasted to integers before) ... examples: </p>

609

610

<p class="bad">// These are wrong.</p>

611

612

"UPDATE " . SOME_TABLE . " SET something = something_else WHERE a = $b";

613

614

'UPDATE ' . SOME_TABLE . ' SET something = ' . $user_id . ' WHERE a = ' . $something;

615

</pre></div>

616

617

<p class="good">// These are right. </p>

618

619

620

'UPDATE ' . SOME_TABLE . " SET something = something_else WHERE a = $b";

621

622

'UPDATE ' . SOME_TABLE . " SET something = $user_id WHERE a = $something";

623

</pre></div>

624

625

<p>In other words use single quotes where no variable substitution is required or where the variable involved shouldn't appear within double quotes. Otherwise use double quotes.</p>

626

627

<h4>Avoid DB specific SQL: </h4>

628

<p>The "not equals operator", as defined by the SQL:2003 standard, is "<>"</p>

629

630

<p class="bad">// This is wrong.</p>

631

632

$sql = 'SELECT *

633

FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . '

634

WHERE a != 2';

635

</pre></div>

636

637

<p class="good">// This is right. </p>

638

639

$sql = 'SELECT *

640

FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . '

641

WHERE a <> 2';

642

</pre></div>

643

644

<h4>Common DBAL methods: </h4>

645

646

<h4>sql_escape():</h4>

647

648

<p>Always use <code>$db->sql_escape()</code> if you need to check for a string within an SQL statement (even if you are sure the variable cannot contain single quotes - never trust your input), for example:</p>

649

650

651

$sql = 'SELECT *

652

FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . "

653

WHERE username = '" . $db->sql_escape($username) . "'";

654

</pre></div>

655

656

<h4>sql_query_limit():</h4>

657

658

<p>We do not add limit statements to the sql query, but instead use <code>$db->sql_query_limit()</code>. You basically pass the query, the total number of lines to retrieve and the offset.</p>

659

660

<p><strong>Note: </strong> Since Oracle handles limits differently and because of how we implemented this handling you need to take special care if you use <code>sql_query_limit</code> with an sql query retrieving data from more than one table.</p>

661

662

<p>Make sure when using something like "SELECT x.*, y.jars" that there is not a column named jars in x; make sure that there is no overlap between an implicit column and the explicit columns.</p>

663

664

<h4>sql_build_array():</h4>

665

666

<p>If you need to UPDATE or INSERT data, make use of the <code>$db->sql_build_array()</code> function. This function already escapes strings and checks other types, so there is no need to do this here. The data to be inserted should go into an array - <code>$sql_ary</code> - or directly within the statement if one or two variables needs to be inserted/updated. An example of an insert statement would be:</p>

667

668

669

$sql_ary = array(

670

'somedata' => $my_string,

671

'otherdata' => $an_int,

672

'moredata' => $another_int

673

);

674

675

$db->sql_query('INSERT INTO ' . SOME_TABLE . ' ' . $db->sql_build_array('INSERT', $sql_ary));

676

</pre></div>

677

678

<p>To complete the example, this is how an update statement would look like:</p>

679

680

681

$sql_ary = array(

682

'somedata' => $my_string,

683

'otherdata' => $an_int,

684

'moredata' => $another_int

685

);

686

687

$sql = 'UPDATE ' . SOME_TABLE . '

688

SET ' . $db->sql_build_array('UPDATE', $sql_ary) . '

689

WHERE user_id = ' . (int) $user_id;

690

$db->sql_query($sql);

691

</pre></div>

692

693

<p>The <code>$db->sql_build_array()</code> function supports the following modes: <code>INSERT</code> (example above), <code>INSERT_SELECT</code> (building query for <code>INSERT INTO table (...) SELECT value, column ...</code> statements), <code>MULTI_INSERT</code> (for returning extended inserts), <code>UPDATE</code> (example above) and <code>SELECT</code> (for building WHERE statement [AND logic]).</p>

694

695

696

697

<p>The <code>$db->sql_in_set()</code> function should be used for building <code>IN ()</code> and <code>NOT IN ()</code> constructs. Since (specifically) MySQL tend to be faster if for one value to be compared the <code>=</code> and <code><></code> operator is used, we let the DBAL decide what to do. A typical example of doing a positive match against a number of values would be:</p>

698

699

700

$sql = 'SELECT *

701

FROM ' . FORUMS_TABLE . '

702

WHERE ' . $db->sql_in_set('forum_id', $forum_ids);

703

$db->sql_query($sql);

704

</pre></div>

705

706

<p>Based on the number of values in $forum_ids, the query can look differently.</p>

707

708

<p class="good">// SQL Statement if $forum_ids = array(1, 2, 3);</p>

709

710

711

SELECT FROM phpbb_forums WHERE forum_id IN (1, 2, 3)

712

</pre></div>

713

714

<p class="good">// SQL Statement if $forum_ids = array(1) or $forum_ids = 1</p>

715

716

717

SELECT FROM phpbb_forums WHERE forum_id = 1

718

</pre></div>

719

720

<p>Of course the same is possible for doing a negative match against a number of values:</p>

721

722

723

$sql = 'SELECT *

724

FROM ' . FORUMS_TABLE . '

725

WHERE ' . $db->sql_in_set('forum_id', $forum_ids, <strong>true</strong>);

726

$db->sql_query($sql);

727

</pre></div>

728

729

<p>Based on the number of values in $forum_ids, the query can look differently here too.</p>

730

731

<p class="good">// SQL Statement if $forum_ids = array(1, 2, 3);</p>

732

733

734

SELECT FROM phpbb_forums WHERE forum_id <strong>NOT</strong> IN (1, 2, 3)

735

</pre></div>

736

737

<p class="good">// SQL Statement if $forum_ids = array(1) or $forum_ids = 1</p>

738

739

740

SELECT FROM phpbb_forums WHERE forum_id <strong><></strong> 1

741

</pre></div>

742

743

<p>If the given array is empty, an error will be produced.</p>

744

745

<h4>sql_build_query():</h4>

746

747

<p>The <code>$db->sql_build_query()</code> function is responsible for building sql statements for select and select distinct queries if you need to JOIN on more than one table or retrieving data from more than one table while doing a JOIN. This needs to be used to make sure the resulting statement is working on all supported db's. Instead of explaining every possible combination, i will give a short example:</p>

748

749

750

$sql_array = array(

751

'SELECT' => 'f.*, ft.mark_time',

752

753

'FROM' => array(

754

FORUMS_WATCH_TABLE => 'fw',

755

FORUMS_TABLE => 'f'

756

757

758

'LEFT_JOIN' => array(

759

array(

760

'FROM' => array(FORUMS_TRACK_TABLE => 'ft'),

761

'ON' => 'ft.user_id = ' . $user->data['user_id'] . ' AND ft.forum_id = f.forum_id'

762

)

763

764

765

'WHERE' => 'fw.user_id = ' . $user->data['user_id'] . '

766

AND f.forum_id = fw.forum_id',

767

768

'ORDER_BY' => 'left_id'

769

);

770

771

$sql = $db->sql_build_query('SELECT', $sql_array);

772

</pre></div>

773

774

<p>The possible first parameter for sql_build_query() is SELECT or SELECT_DISTINCT. As you can see, the logic is pretty self-explaining. For the LEFT_JOIN key, just add another array if you want to join on to tables for example. The added benefit of using this construct is that you are able to easily build the query statement based on conditions - for example the above LEFT_JOIN is only necessary if server side topic tracking is enabled; a slight adjustement would be:</p>

775

776

777

$sql_array = array(

778

'SELECT' => 'f.*',

779

780

'FROM' => array(

781

FORUMS_WATCH_TABLE => 'fw',

782

FORUMS_TABLE => 'f'

783

784

785

'WHERE' => 'fw.user_id = ' . $user->data['user_id'] . '

786

AND f.forum_id = fw.forum_id',

787

788

'ORDER_BY' => 'left_id'

789

);

790

791

if ($config['load_db_lastread'])

792

{

793

$sql_array['LEFT_JOIN'] = array(

794

array(

795

'FROM' => array(FORUMS_TRACK_TABLE => 'ft'),

796

'ON' => 'ft.user_id = ' . $user->data['user_id'] . ' AND ft.forum_id = f.forum_id'

797

)

798

);

799

800

$sql_array['SELECT'] .= ', ft.mark_time ';

801

}

802

else

803

{

804

// Here we read the cookie data

805

}

806

807

$sql = $db->sql_build_query('SELECT', $sql_array);

808

</pre></div>

809

810

<a name="optimizing"></a><h3>2.iv. Optimizations</h3>

811

812

<h4>Operations in loop definition: </h4>

813

<p>Always try to optimize your loops if operations are going on at the comparing part, since this part is executed every time the loop is parsed through. For assignments a descriptive name should be chosen. Example:</p>

814

815

<p class="bad">// On every iteration the sizeof function is called</p>

816

817

for ($i = 0; $i < sizeof($post_data); $i++)

818

{

819

do_something();

820

}

821

</pre></div>

822

823

<p class="good">// You are able to assign the (not changing) result within the loop itself</p>

824

825

for ($i = 0, $size = sizeof($post_data); $i < $size; $i++)

826

{

827

do_something();

828

}

829

</pre></div>

830

831

<h4>Use of in_array(): </h4>

832

<p>Try to avoid using in_array() on huge arrays, and try to not place them into loops if the array to check consist of more than 20 entries. in_array() can be very time consuming and uses a lot of cpu processing time. For little checks it is not noticable, but if checked against a huge array within a loop those checks alone can be a bunch of seconds. If you need this functionality, try using isset() on the arrays keys instead, actually shifting the values into keys and vice versa. A call to <code>isset($array[$var])</code> is a lot faster than <code>in_array($var, array_keys($array))</code> for example.</p>

833

834

835

<a name="general"></a><h3>2.v. General Guidelines</h3>

836

837

<h4>General things:</h4>

838

<p>Never trust user input (this also applies to server variables as well as cookies).</p>

839

<p>Try to sanitize values returned from a function.</p>

840

<p>Try to sanitize given function variables within your function.</p>

841

<p>The auth class should be used for all authorisation checking.</p>

842

<p>No attempt should be made to remove any copyright information (either contained within the source or displayed interactively when the source is run/compiled), neither should the copyright information be altered in any way (it may be added to).</p>

843

844

<h4>Variables: </h4>

845

<p>Make use of the <code>request_var()</code> function for anything except for submit or single checking params. </p>

846

<p>The request_var function determines the type to set from the second parameter (which determines the default value too). If you need to get a scalar variable type, you need to tell this the request_var function explicitly. Examples:</p>

847

848

<p class="bad">// Old method, do not use it</p>

849

850

$start = (isset($HTTP_GET_VARS['start'])) ? intval($HTTP_GET_VARS['start']) : intval($HTTP_POST_VARS['start']);

851

$submit = (isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['submit'])) ? true : false;

852

</pre></div>

853

854

<p class="good">// Use request var and define a default variable (use the correct type)</p>

855

856

$start = request_var('start', 0);

857

$submit = (isset($_POST['submit'])) ? true : false;

858

</pre></div>

859

860

<p class="bad">// $start is an int, the following use of request_var therefore is not allowed</p>

861

862

$start = request_var('start', '0');

863

</pre></div>

864

865

<p class="good">// Getting an array, keys are integers, value defaults to 0</p>

866

867

$mark_array = request_var('mark', array(0));

868

</pre></div>

869

870

<p class="good">// Getting an array, keys are strings, value defaults to 0</p>

871

872

$action_ary = request_var('action', array('' => 0));

873

</pre></div>

874

875

<h4>Login checks/redirection: </h4>

876

<p>To show a forum login box use <code>login_forum_box($forum_data)</code>, else use the <code>login_box()</code> function.</p>

877

878

<p>The <code>login_box()</code> function can have a redirect as the first parameter. As a thumb of rule, specify an empty string if you want to redirect to the users current location, else do not add the <code>$SID</code> to the redirect string (for example within the ucp/login we redirect to the board index because else the user would be redirected to the login screen).</p>

879

880

<h4>Sensitive Operations: </h4>

881

<p>For sensitive operations always let the user confirm the action. For the confirmation screens, make use of the <code>confirm_box()</code> function.</p>

882

883

<h4>Altering Operations: </h4>

884

<p>For operations altering the state of the database, for instance posting, always verify the form token, unless you are already using <code>confirm_box()</code>. To do so, make use of the <code>add_form_key()</code> and <code>check_form_key()</code> functions. </p>

885

886

add_form_key('my_form');

887

888

if ($submit)

889

{

890

if (!check_form_key('my_form'))

891

{

892

trigger_error('FORM_INVALID');

893

}

894

}

895

</pre></div>

896

897

<p>The string passed to <code>add_form_key()</code> needs to match the string passed to <code>check_form_key()</code>. Another requirement for this to work correctly is that all forms include the <code>{S_FORM_TOKEN}</code> template variable.</p>

898

899

900

<h4>Sessions: </h4>

901

<p>Sessions should be initiated on each page, as near the top as possible using the following code:</p>

902

903

904

$user->session_begin();

905

$auth->acl($user->data);

906

$user->setup();

907

</pre></div>

908

909

<p>The <code>$user->setup()</code> call can be used to pass on additional language definition and a custom style (used in viewforum).</p>

910

911

<h4>Errors and messages: </h4>

912

<p>All messages/errors should be outputed by calling <code>trigger_error()</code> using the appropriate message type and language string. Example:</p>

913

914

915

trigger_error('NO_FORUM');

916

</pre></div>

917

918

919

trigger_error($user->lang['NO_FORUM']);

920

</pre></div>

921

922

923

trigger_error('NO_MODE', E_USER_ERROR);

924

</pre></div>

925

926

<h4>Url formatting</h4>

927

928

<p>All urls pointing to internal files need to be prepended by the <code>$phpbb_root_path</code> variable. Within the administration control panel all urls pointing to internal files need to be prepended by the <code>$phpbb_admin_path</code> variable. This makes sure the path is always correct and users being able to just rename the admin folder and the acp still working as intended (though some links will fail and the code need to be slightly adjusted).</p>

929

930

<p>The <code>append_sid()</code> function from 2.0.x is available too, though does not handle url alterations automatically. Please have a look at the code documentation if you want to get more details on how to use append_sid(). A sample call to append_sid() can look like this:</p>

931

932

933

append_sid("{$phpbb_root_path}memberlist.$phpEx", 'mode=group&amp;g=' . $row['group_id'])

934

</pre></div>

935

936

<h4>General function usage: </h4>

937

938

<p>Some of these functions are only chosen over others because of personal preference and having no other benefit than to be consistant over the code.</p>

939

940

<ul>

941

<li>

942

<p>Use <code>sizeof</code> instead of <code>count</code></p>

943

</li>

944

<li>

945

<p>Use <code>strpos</code> instead of <code>strstr</code></p>

946

</li>

947

<li>

948

<p>Use <code>else if</code> instead of <code>elseif</code></p>

949

</li>

950

<li>

951

<p>Use <code>false</code> (lowercase) instead of <code>FALSE</code></p>

952

</li>

953

<li>

954

<p>Use <code>true</code> (lowercase) instead of <code>TRUE</code></p>

955

</li>

956

</ul>

957

958

<h4>Exiting</h4>

959

960

<p>Your page should either call <code>page_footer()</code> in the end to trigger output through the template engine and terminate the script, or alternatively at least call the <code>exit_handler()</code>. That call is necessary because it provides a method for external applications embedding phpBB to be called at the end of the script.</p>

961

962

</div>

963

964

965

966

967

</div>

968

969

<hr />

970

971

<a name="styling"></a><h2>3. Styling</h2>

972

973

974

975

976

977

<h4>General things</h4>

978

<p>Templates should be produced in a consistent manner. Where appropriate they should be based off an existing copy, e.g. index, viewforum or viewtopic (the combination of which implement a range of conditional and variable forms). Please also note that the intendation and coding guidelines also apply to templates where possible.</p>

979

980

<p>The outer table class <code>forumline</code> has gone and is replaced with <code>tablebg</code>.</p>

981

<p>When writing <code><table></code> the order <code><table class="" cellspacing="" cellpadding="" border="" align=""></code> creates consistency and allows everyone to easily see which table produces which "look". The same applies to most other tags for which additional parameters can be set, consistency is the major aim here.</p>

982

<p>Each block level element should be indented by one tab, same for tabular elements, e.g. <code><tr></code> <code><td></code> etc., whereby the intendiation of <code><table></code> and the following/ending <code><tr></code> should be on the same line. This applies not to div elements of course.</p>

983

<p>Don't use <code><span></code> more than is essential ... the CSS is such that text sizes are dependent on the parent class. So writing <code><span class="gensmall"><span class="gensmall">TEST</span></span></code> will result in very very small text. Similarly don't use span at all if another element can contain the class definition, e.g.</p>

984

985

986

987

</pre></div>

988

989

<p>can just as well become:</p>

990

991

992

</pre></div>

993

994

<p>Try to match text class types with existing useage, e.g. don't use the nav class where viewtopic uses gensmall for example.</p>

995

996

<p>Row colours/classes are now defined by the template, use an <code>IF S_ROW_COUNT</code> switch, see viewtopic or viewforum for an example.</p>

997

998

<p>Remember block level ordering is important ... while not all pages validate as XHTML 1.0 Strict compliant it is something we're trying to work too.</p>

999

1000

<p>Use a standard cellpadding of 2 and cellspacing of 0 on outer tables. Inner tables can vary from 0 to 3 or even 4 depending on the need.</p>

1001

1002

<p><strong>Use div container/css for styling and table for data representation.</strong></p>

1003

1004

<p>The separate catXXXX and thXXX classes are gone. When defining a header cell just use <code><th></code> rather than <code><th class="thHead"></code> etc. Similarly for cat, don't use <code><td class="catLeft"></code> use <code><td class="cat"></code> etc.</p>

1005

1006

<p>Try to retain consistency of basic layout and class useage, i.e. _EXPLAIN text should generally be placed below the title it explains, e.g. <code>{L_POST_USERNAME}<br /><span class="gensmall">{L_POST_USERNAME_EXPLAIN}</span></code> is the typical way of handling this ... there may be exceptions and this isn't a hard and fast rule.</p>

1007

1008

<p>Try to keep template conditional and other statements tabbed in line with the block to which they refer.</p>

1009

1010

<p class="good">this is correct</p>

1011

1012

1013

<tr>

1014

1015

</tr>

1016

1017

</pre></div>

1018

1019

<p class="good">this is also correct:</p>

1020

1021

1022

<tr>

1023

1024

</tr>

1025

1026

</pre></div>

1027

1028

<p>it gives immediate feedback on exactly what is looping - decide which way to use based on the readability.</p>

1029

1030

</div>

1031

1032

1033

1034

1035

</div>

1036

1037

<hr />

1038

1039

<a name="templating"></a><h2>4. Templating</h2>

1040

1041

1042

1043

1044

1045

<h4>File naming</h4>

1046

<p>Firstly templates now take the suffix ".html" rather than ".tpl". This was done simply to make the lifes of some people easier wrt syntax highlighting, etc.</p>

1047

1048

<h4>Variables</h4>

1049

<p>All template variables should be named appropriately (using underscores for spaces), language entries should be prefixed with L_, system data with S_, urls with U_, javascript urls with UA_, language to be put in javascript statements with LA_, all other variables should be presented 'as is'.</p>

1050

1051

<p>L_* template variables are automatically tried to be mapped to the corresponding language entry if the code does not set (and therefore overwrite) this variable specifically. For example <code>{L_USERNAME}</code> maps to <code>$user->lang['USERNAME']</code>. The LA_* template variables are handled within the same way, but properly escaped to be put in javascript code. This should reduce the need to assign loads of new lang vars in Modifications.

1052

</p>

1053

1054

<h4>Blocks/Loops</h4>

1055

<p>The basic block level loop remains and takes the form:</p>

1056

1057

1058

markup, {loopname.X_YYYYY}, etc.

1059

1060

</pre></div>

1061

1062

<p>A bit later loops will be explained further. To not irretate you we will explain conditionals as well as other statements first.</p>

1063

1064

<h4>Including files</h4>

1065

<p>Something that existed in 2.0.x which no longer exists in 3.0.x is the ability to assign a template to a variable. This was used (for example) to output the jumpbox. Instead (perhaps better, perhaps not but certainly more flexible) we now have INCLUDE. This takes the simple form:</p>

1066

1067

1068

1069

</pre></div>

1070

1071

<p>You will note in the 3.0 templates the major sources start with <code></code> or <code></code>, etc. In 2.0.x control of "which" header to use was defined entirely within the code. In 3.0.x the template designer can output what they like. Note that you can introduce new templates (i.e. other than those in the default set) using this system and include them as you wish ... perhaps useful for a common "menu" bar or some such. No need to modify loads of files as with 2.0.x.</p>

1072

1073

1074

<p>A contentious decision has seen the ability to include PHP within the template introduced. This is achieved by enclosing the PHP within relevant tags:</p>

1075

1076

1077

1078

echo "hello!";

1079

1080

</pre></div>

1081

1082

<p>You may also include PHP from an external file using:</p>

1083

1084

1085

1086

</pre></div>

1087

1088

<p>it will be included and executed inline.<br /><br />A note, it is very much encouraged that template designers do not include PHP. The ability to include raw PHP was introduced primarily to allow end users to include banner code, etc. without modifying multiple files (as with 2.0.x). It was not intended for general use ... hence <a href="http://www.phpbb.com">www.phpbb.com</a> will <strong>not</strong> make available template sets which include PHP. And by default templates will have PHP disabled (the admin will need to specifically activate PHP for a template).</p>

1089

1090

<h4>Conditionals/Control structures</h4>

1091

<p>The most significant addition to 3.0.x are conditions or control structures, "if something then do this else do that". The system deployed is very similar to Smarty. This may confuse some people at first but it offers great potential and great flexibility with a little imagination. In their most simple form these constructs take the form:</p>

1092

1093

1094

1095

markup

1096

1097

</pre></div>

1098

1099

<p>expr can take many forms, for example:</p>

1100

1101

1102

1103

markup

1104

1105

</pre></div>

1106

1107

<p>This will output the markup if the S_ROW_COUNT variable in the current iteration of loop is an even value (i.e. the expr is TRUE). You can use various comparison methods (standard as well as equivalent textual versions noted in square brackets) including (<code>not, or, and, eq, neq, is</code> should be used if possible for better readability):</p>

1108

1109

1110

== [eq]

1111

!= [neq, ne]

1112

<> (same as !=)

1113

!== (not equivalent in value and type)

1114

=== (equivalent in value and type)

1115

> [gt]

1116

< [lt]

1117

>= [gte]

1118

<= [lte]

1119

&& [and]

1120

|| [or]

1121

% [mod]

1122

! [not]

1123

1124

1125

1126

1127

1128

<< (bitwise shift left)

1129

>> (bitwise shift right)

1130

| (bitwise or)

1131

^ (bitwise xor)

1132

& (bitwise and)

1133

~ (bitwise not)

1134

is (can be used to join comparison operations)

1135

</pre></div>

1136

1137

<p>Basic parenthesis can also be used to enforce good old BODMAS rules. Additionally some basic comparison types are defined:</p>

1138

1139

1140

even

1141

odd

1142

div

1143

</pre></div>

1144

1145

<p>Beyond the simple use of IF you can also do a sequence of comparisons using the following:</p>

1146

1147

1148

1149

markup

1150

1151

markup

1152

1153

1154

1155

1156

markup

1157

1158

markup

1159

1160

</pre></div>

1161

1162

<p>Each statement will be tested in turn and the relevant output generated when a match (if a match) is found. It is not necessary to always use ELSEIF, ELSE can be used alone to match "everything else".<br /><br />So what can you do with all this? Well take for example the colouration of rows in viewforum. In 2.0.x row colours were predefined within the source as either row color1, row color2 or row class1, row class2. In 3.0.x this is moved to the template, it may look a little daunting at first but remember control flows from top to bottom and it's not too difficult:</p>

1163

1164

1165

<table>

1166

1167

1168

1169

1170

1171

<td>HELLO!</td>

1172

</tr>

1173

</table>

1174

</pre></div>

1175

1176

<p>This will cause the row cell to be output using class row1 when the row count is even, and class row2 otherwise. The S_ROW_COUNT parameter gets assigned to loops by default. Another example would be the following: </p>

1177

1178

1179

<table>

1180

1181

1182

1183

1184

1185

1186

1187

1188

1189

<td>hello!</td>

1190

</tr>

1191

</table>

1192

</pre></div>

1193

1194

<p>This will output the row cell in purple for the first two rows, blue for rows 2 to 5, green for rows 5 to 10 and red for remainder. So, you could produce a "nice" gradient effect, for example.<br /><br />What else can you do? Well, you could use IF to do common checks on for example the login state of a user:</p>

1195

1196

1197

1198

markup

1199

1200

</pre></div>

1201

1202

<p>This replaces the existing (fudged) method in 2.0.x using a zero length array and BEGIN/END.</p>

1203

1204

<h4>Extended syntax for Blocks/Loops</h4>

1205

1206

<p>Back to our loops - they had been extended with the following additions. Firstly you can set the start and end points of the loop. For example:</p>

1207

1208

1209

1210

markup

1211

1212

</pre></div>

1213

1214

<p>Will start the loop on the third entry (note that indexes start at zero). Extensions of this are:

1215

1216

<code>loopname(2)</code>: Will start the loop on the 3rd entry<br />

1217

<code>loopname(-2)</code>: Will start the loop two entries from the end<br />

1218

<code>loopname(3,4)</code>: Will start the loop on the fourth entry and end it on the fifth<br />

1219

<code>loopname(3,-4)</code>: Will start the loop on the fourth entry and end it four from last<br />

1220

</p>

1221

1222

<p>A further extension to begin is BEGINELSE:</p>

1223

1224

1225

1226

markup

1227

1228

markup

1229

1230

</pre></div>

1231

1232

<p>This will cause the markup between <code>BEGINELSE</code> and <code>END</code> to be output if the loop contains no values. This is useful for forums with no topics (for example) ... in some ways it replaces "bits of" the existing "switch_" type control (the rest being replaced by conditionals).</p>

1233

1234

<p>Another way of checking if a loop contains values is by prefixing the loops name with a dot:</p>

1235

1236

1237

1238

1239

markup

1240

1241

1242

markup

1243

1244

</pre></div>

1245

1246

<p>You are even able to check the number of items within a loop by comparing it with values within the IF condition:</p>

1247

1248

1249

1250

1251

markup

1252

1253

1254

markup

1255

1256

</pre></div>

1257

1258

<p>Nesting loops cause the conditionals needing prefixed with all loops from the outer one to the inner most. An illustration of this:</p>

1259

1260

1261

1262

{firstloop.MY_VARIABLE_FROM_FIRSTLOOP}

1263

1264

1265

{firstloop.secondloop.MY_VARIABLE_FROM_SECONDLOOP}

1266

1267

1268

</pre></div>

1269

1270

<p>Sometimes it is necessary to break out of nested loops to be able to call another loop within the current iteration. This sounds a little bit confusing and it is not used very often. The following (rather complex) example shows this quite good - it also shows how you test for the first and last row in a loop (i will explain the example in detail further down):</p>

1271

1272

1273

1274

1275

<strong>{l_block1.L_TITLE}</strong>

1276

1277

1278

1279

1280

1281

1282

1283

1284

<li><a href="{folder.U_FOLDER}">{folder.FOLDER_NAME}</a></li>

1285

1286

1287

</ul>

1288

1289

1290

1291

1292

1293

1294

1295

<li>

1296

1297

<strong>{l_block1.l_block2.L_TITLE}</strong>

1298

1299

<a href="{l_block1.l_block2.U_TITLE}">{l_block1.l_block2.L_TITLE}</a>

1300

1301

</li>

1302

1303

</ul>

1304

1305

<a class="nav" href="{l_block1.U_TITLE}">{l_block1.L_TITLE}</a>

1306

1307

1308

</pre></div>

1309

1310

<p>Let us first concentrate on this part of the example:</p>

1311

1312

1313

1314

1315

markup

1316

1317

<a class="nav" href="{l_block1.U_TITLE}">{l_block1.L_TITLE}</a>

1318

1319

1320

</pre></div>

1321

1322

<p>Here we open the loop l_block1 and doing some things if the value S_SELECTED within the current loop iteration is true, else we write the blocks link and title. Here, you see <code>{l_block1.L_TITLE}</code> referenced - you remember that L_* variables get automatically assigned the corresponding language entry? This is true, but not within loops. The L_TITLE variable within the loop l_block1 is assigned within the code itself.</p>

1323

1324

<p>Let's have a closer look to the markup:</p>

1325

1326

1327

1328

1329

1330

1331

1332

1333

1334

1335

1336

1337

<li><a href="{folder.U_FOLDER}">{folder.FOLDER_NAME}</a></li>

1338

1339

1340

</ul>

1341

1342

1343

1344

1345

1346

1347

1348

</pre></div>

1349

1350

<p>The <code></code> statement clearly checks a global variable and not one within the loop, since the loop is not given here. So, if S_PRIVMSGS is true we execute the shown markup. Now, you see the <code></code> statement. The exclamation mark is responsible for instructing the template engine to iterate through the main loop folder. So, we are now within the loop folder - with <code></code> we would have been within the loop <code>l_block1.folder</code> automatically as is the case with l_block2:</p>

1351

1352

1353

1354

1355

1356

1357

1358

<li>

1359

1360

<strong>{l_block1.l_block2.L_TITLE}</strong>

1361

1362

<a href="{l_block1.l_block2.U_TITLE}">{l_block1.l_block2.L_TITLE}</a>

1363

1364

</li>

1365

1366

</ul>

1367

1368

1369

1370

</pre></div>

1371

1372

<p>You see the difference? The loop l_block2 is a member of the loop l_block1 but the loop folder is a main loop.</p>

1373

1374

<p>Now back to our folder loop:</p>

1375

1376

1377

1378

1379

1380

1381

<li><a href="{folder.U_FOLDER}">{folder.FOLDER_NAME}</a></li>

1382

1383

1384

</ul>

1385

1386

</pre></div>

1387

1388

<p>You may have wondered what the comparison to S_FIRST_ROW and S_LAST_ROW is about. If you haven't guessed already - it is checking for the first iteration of the loop with <code>S_FIRST_ROW</code> and the last iteration with <code>S_LAST_ROW</code>. This can come in handy quite often if you want to open or close design elements, like the above list. Let us imagine a folder loop build with three iterations, it would go this way:</p>

1389

1390

1391

1392

<li>first element</li> <span class="comment"></span>

1393

<li>second element</li> <span class="comment"></span>

1394

<li>third element</li> <span class="comment"></span>

1395

</ul> <span class="comment"></span>

1396

</pre></div>

1397

1398

<p>As you can see, all three elements are written down as well as the markup for the first iteration and the last one. Sometimes you want to omit writing the general markup - for example:</p>

1399

1400

1401

1402

1403

1404

</ul>

1405

1406

<li><a href="{folder.U_FOLDER}">{folder.FOLDER_NAME}</a></li>

1407

1408

</pre></div>

1409

1410

<p>would result in the following markup:</p>

1411

1412

1413

1414

<li>second element</li> <span class="comment"></span>

1415

</ul> <span class="comment"></span>

1416

</pre></div>

1417

1418

<p>Just always remember that processing is taking place from up to down.</p>

1419

1420

<h4>Forms</h4>

1421

<p>If a form is used for a non-trivial operation (i.e. more than a jumpbox), then it should include the <code>{S_FORM_TOKEN}</code> template variable.</p>

1422

1423

1424

1425

1426

<input type="reset" value="{L_RESET}" name="reset" class="button2" /&gt 

1427

<input type="submit" name="action[add_warning]" value="{L_SUBMIT}" class="button1" /&gt

1428

{S_FORM_TOKEN}

1429

</fieldset&gt

1430

</form&gt

1431

</pre></div><br />

1432

</div>

1433

1434

1435

1436

1437

</div>

1438

1439

<hr />

1440

1441

1442

1443

<a name="charsets"></a><h2>5. Character Sets and Encodings</h2>

1444

1445

1446

1447

1448

1449

1450

1451

1452

<h4>What are Unicode, UCS and UTF-8?</h4>

1453

<p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Character_Set">Universal Character Set (UCS)</a> described in ISO/IEC 10646 consists of a large amount of characters. Each of them has a unique name and a code point which is an integer number. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode">Unicode</a> - which is an industry standard - complements the Universal Character Set with further information about the characters' properties and alternative character encodings. More information on Unicode can be found on the <a href="http://www.unicode.org/">Unicode Consortium's website</a>. One of the Unicode encodings is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTF-8">8-bit Unicode Transformation Format (UTF-8)</a>. It encodes characters with up to four bytes aiming for maximum compatability with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII">American Standard Code for Information Interchange</a> which is a 7-bit encoding of a relatively small subset of the UCS.</p>

1454

1455

<h4>phpBB's use of Unicode</h4>

1456

<p>Unfortunately PHP does not faciliate the use of Unicode prior to version 6. Most functions simply treat strings as sequences of bytes assuming that each character takes up exactly one byte. This behaviour still allows for storing UTF-8 encoded text in PHP strings but many operations on strings have unexpected results. To circumvent this problem we have created some alternative functions to PHP's native string operations which use code points instead of bytes. These functions can be found in <code>/includes/utf/utf_tools.php</code>. They are also covered in the <a href="http://area51.phpbb.com/docs/code/">phpBB3 Sourcecode Documentation</a>. A lot of native PHP functions still work with UTF-8 as long as you stick to certain restrictions. For example <code>explode</code> still works as long as the first and the last character of the delimiter string are ASCII characters.</p>

1457

1458

<p>phpBB only uses the ASCII and the UTF-8 character encodings. Still all Strings are UTF-8 encoded because ASCII is a subset of UTF-8. The only exceptions to this rule are code sections which deal with external systems which use other encodings and character sets. Such external data should be converted to UTF-8 using the <code>utf8_recode()</code> function supplied with phpBB. It supports a variety of other character sets and encodings, a full list can be found below.</p>

1459

1460

<p>With <code>request_var()</code> you can either allow all UCS characters in user input or restrict user input to ASCII characters. This feature is controlled by the function's third parameter called <code>$multibyte</code>. You should allow multibyte characters in posts, PMs, topic titles, forum names, etc. but it's not necessary for internal uses like a <code>$mode</code> variable which should only hold a predefined list of ASCII strings anyway.</p>

1461

1462

1463

// an input string containing a multibyte character

1464

$_REQUEST['multibyte_string'] = 'Käse';

1465

1466

// print request variable as a UTF-8 string allowing multibyte characters

1467

echo request_var('multibyte_string', '', true);

1468

// print request variable as ASCII string

1469

echo request_var('multibyte_string', '');

1470

</pre></div>

1471

1472

<p>This code snippet will generate the following output:</p>

1473

1474

1475

Käse

1476

K??se

1477

</pre></div>

1478

1479

<h4>Unicode Normalization</h4>

1480

1481

<p>If you retrieve user input with multibyte characters you should additionally normalize the string using <code>utf8_normalize_nfc()</code> before you work with it. This is necessary to make sure that equal characters can only occur in one particular binary representation. For example the character Å can be represented either as <code>U+00C5</code> (LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE) or as <code>U+212B</code> (ANGSTROM SIGN). phpBB uses Normalization Form Canonical Composition (NFC) for all text. So the correct version of the above example would look like this:</p>

1482

1483

1484

$_REQUEST['multibyte_string'] = 'Käse';

1485

1486

// normalize multibyte strings

1487

echo utf8_normalize_nfc(request_var('multibyte_string', '', true));

1488

// ASCII strings do not need to be normalized

1489

echo request_var('multibyte_string', '');

1490

</pre></div>

1491

1492

<h4>Case Folding</h4>

1493

1494

<p>Case insensitive comparison of strings is no longer possible with <code>strtolower</code> or <code>strtoupper</code> as some characters have multiple lower case or multiple upper case forms depending on their position in a word. The <code>utf8_strtolower</code> and the <code>utf8_strtoupper</code> functions suffer from the same problem so they can only be used to display upper/lower case versions of a string but they cannot be used for case insensitive comparisons either. So instead you should use case folding which gives you a case insensitive version of the string which can be used for case insensitive comparisons. An NFC normalized string can be case folded using <code>utf8_case_fold_nfc()</code>.</p>

1495

1496

<p class="bad">// Bad - The strings might be the same even if strtolower differs</p>

1497

1498

1499

if (strtolower($string1) == strtolower($string2))

1500

{

1501

echo '$string1 and $string2 are equal or differ in case';

1502

}

1503

</pre></div>

1504

1505

<p class="good">// Good - Case folding is really case insensitive</p>

1506

1507

1508

if (utf8_case_fold_nfc($string1) == utf8_case_fold_nfc($string2))

1509

{

1510

echo '$string1 and $string2 are equal or differ in case';

1511

}

1512

</pre></div>

1513

1514

<h4>Confusables Detection</h4>

1515

1516

<p>phpBB offers a special method <code>utf8_clean_string</code> which can be used to make sure string identifiers are unique. This method uses Normalization Form Compatibility Composition (NFKC) instead of NFC and replaces similarly looking characters with a particular representative of the equivalence class. This method is currently used for usernames and group names to avoid confusion with similarly looking names.</p>

1517

1518

</div>

1519

1520

1521

1522

1523

</div>

1524

1525

<hr />

1526

1527

<a name="translation"></a><h2>6. Translation (<abbr title="Internationalisation">i18n</abbr>/<abbr title="Localisation">L10n</abbr>) Guidelines</h2>

1528

1529

1530

1531

1532

1533

1534

<a name="standardisation"></a><h3>6.i. Standardisation</h3>

1535

1536

<h4>Reason:</h4>

1537

1538

<p>phpBB is one of the most translated open-source projects, with the current stable version being available in over 60 localisations. Whilst the ad hoc approach to the naming of language packs has worked, for phpBB3 and beyond we hope to make this process saner which will allow for better interoperation with current and future web browsers.</p>

1539

1540

<h4>Encoding:</h4>

1541

1542

<p>With phpBB3, the output encoding for the forum in now UTF-8, a Universal Character Encoding by the Unicode Consortium that is by design a superset to US-ASCII and ISO-8859-1. By using one character set which simultaenously supports all scripts which previously would have required different encodings (eg: ISO-8859-1 to ISO-8859-15 (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Thai, Hebrew, Arabic); GB2312 (Simplified Chinese); Big5 (Traditional Chinese), EUC-JP (Japanese), EUC-KR (Korean), VISCII (Vietnamese); et cetera), this removes the need to convert between encodings and improves the accessibility of multilingual forums.</p>

1543

1544

<p>The impact is that the language files for phpBB must now also be encoded as UTF-8, with a caveat that the files must <strong>not contain</strong> a <acronym title="Byte-Order-Mark">BOM</acronym> for compatibility reasons with non-Unicode aware versions of PHP. For those with forums using the Latin character set (ie: most European languages), this change is transparent since UTF-8 is superset to US-ASCII and ISO-8859-1.</p>

1545

1546

<h4>Language Tag:</h4>

1547

1548

<p>The <abbr title="Internet Engineering Task Force">IETF</abbr> recently published <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4646">RFC 4646</a> for tags used to identify languages, which in combination with <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4647">RFC 4647</a> obseletes the older <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3066">RFC 3006</a> and older-still <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1766">RFC 1766</a>. <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4646">RFC 4646</a> uses <a href="http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2</a>, <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a>, <a href="http://www.unicode.org/iso15924/iso15924-codes.html">ISO 15924</a> and <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm">UN M.49</a> to define a language tag. Each complete tag is composed of subtags which are not case sensitive and can also be empty.</p>

1549

1550

<p>Ordering of the subtags in the case that they are all non-empty is: <code>language</code>-<code>script</code>-<code>region</code>-<code>variant</code>-<code>extension</code>-<code>privateuse</code>. Should any subtag be empty, its corresponding hyphen would also be ommited. Thus, the language tag for English will be <code>en</code> <strong>and not</strong> <code>en-----</code>.</p>

1551

1552

<p>Most language tags consist of a two- or three-letter language subtag (from <a href="http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2</a>). Sometimes, this is followed by a two-letter or three-digit region subtag (from <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a> or <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm">UN M.49</a>). Some examples are:</p>

1553

1554

1555

<caption>Language tag examples</caption>

1556

<thead>

1557

<tr>

1558

<th scope="col">Language tag</th>

1559

<th scope="col">Description</th>

1560

<th scope="col">Component subtags</th>

1561

</tr>

1562

</thead>

1563

<tbody>

1564

<tr>

1565

1566

<td>English</td>

1567

<td><code>language</code></td>

1568

</tr>

1569

<tr>

1570

1571

<td>Masai</td>

1572

<td><code>language</code></td>

1573

</tr>

1574

<tr>

1575

1576

<td>French as used in Canada</td>

1577

<td><code>language</code>+<code>region</code></td>

1578

</tr>

1579

<tr>

1580

1581

<td>English as used in the Isle of Man</td>

1582

<td><code>language</code>+<code>region</code></td>

1583

</tr>

1584

<tr>

1585

1586

<td>Chinese written with Simplified script</td>

1587

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1588

</tr>

1589

<tr>

1590

1591

<td>Chinese written with Traditional script as used in Hong Kong</td>

1592

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>

1593

</tr>

1594

<tr>

1595

1596

<td>German as used in Austria with 1996 orthography</td>

1597

<td><code>language</code>+<code>region</code>+<code>variant</code></td>

1598

</tr>

1599

</tbody>

1600

</table>

1601

1602

<p>The ultimate aim of a language tag is to convey the needed <strong>useful distingushing information</strong>, whilst keeping it as <strong>short as possible</strong>. So for example, use <code>en</code>, <code>fr</code> and <code>ja</code> as opposed to <code>en-GB</code>, <code>fr-FR</code> and <code>ja-JP</code>, since we know English, French and Japanese are the native language of Great Britain, France and Japan respectively.</p>

1603

1604

<p>Next is the <a href="http://www.unicode.org/iso15924/iso15924-codes.html">ISO 15924</a> language script code and when one should or shouldn't use it. For example, whilst <code>en-Latn</code> is syntaxically correct for describing English written with Latin script, real world English writing is <strong>more-or-less exclusively in the Latin script</strong>. For such languages like English that are written in a single script, the <a href="http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry"><abbr title="Internet Assigned Numbers Authority">IANA</abbr> Language Subtag Registry</a> has a "Suppress-Script" field meaning the script code <strong>should be ommitted</strong> unless a specific language tag requires a specific script code. Some languages are <strong>written in more than one script</strong> and in such cases, the script code <strong>is encouraged</strong> since an end-user may be able to read their language in one script, but not the other. Some examples are:</p>

1605

1606

1607

<caption>Language subtag + script subtag examples</caption>

1608

<thead>

1609

<tr>

1610

<th scope="col">Language tag</th>

1611

<th scope="col">Description</th>

1612

<th scope="col">Component subtags</th>

1613

</tr>

1614

</thead>

1615

<tbody>

1616

<tr>

1617

1618

<td>English written in Braille script</td>

1619

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1620

</tr>

1621

<tr>

1622

1623

<td>English written in Deseret (Mormon) script</td>

1624

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1625

</tr>

1626

<tr>

1627

1628

<td>Serbian written in Latin script</td>

1629

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1630

</tr>

1631

<tr>

1632

1633

<td>Serbian written in Cyrillic script</td>

1634

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1635

</tr>

1636

<tr>

1637

1638

<td>Mongolian written in Mongolian script</td>

1639

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1640

</tr>

1641

<tr>

1642

1643

<td>Mongolian written in Cyrillic script</td>

1644

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1645

</tr>

1646

<tr>

1647

1648

<td>Mongolian written in Phags-pa script</td>

1649

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1650

</tr>

1651

<tr>

1652

1653

<td>Azerbaijani written in Cyrillic script as used in Azerbaijan</td>

1654

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>

1655

</tr>

1656

<tr>

1657

1658

<td>Azerbaijani written in Latin script as used in Azerbaijan</td>

1659

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>

1660

</tr>

1661

<tr>

1662

1663

<td>Azerbaijani written in Arabic script as used in Iran</td>

1664

<td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>

1665

</tr>

1666

</tbody>

1667

</table>

1668

1669

<p>Usage of the three-digit <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm">UN M.49</a> code over the two-letter <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a> code should hapen if a macro-geographical entity is required and/or the <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a> is ambiguous.</p>

1670

1671

<p>Examples of English using marco-geographical regions:</p>

1672

1673

1674

<caption>Coding for English using macro-geographical regions</caption>

1675

<thead>

1676

<tr>

1677

<th scope="col">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2 + ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</th>

1678

<th scope="col" colspan="2">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2 + UN M.49 (Example macro regions)</th>

1679

</tr>

1680

</thead>

1681

<tbody>

1682

<tr>

1683

<td><dl><dt><code>en-AU</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Australia</strong></dd></dl></td>

1684

<td rowspan="2"><dl><dt><code>en-053</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Australia & New Zealand</strong></dd></dl></td>

1685

<td rowspan="3"><dl><dt><code>en-009</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Oceania</strong></dd></dl></td>

1686

</tr>

1687

<tr>

1688

<td><dl><dt><code>en-NZ</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>New Zealand</strong></dd></dl></td>

1689

</tr>

1690

<tr>

1691

<td><dl><dt><code>en-FJ</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Fiji</strong></dd></dl></td>

1692

<td><dl><dt><code>en-054 </code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Melanesia</strong></dd></dl></td>

1693

</tr>

1694

</tbody>

1695

</table>

1696

1697

<p>Examples of Spanish using marco-geographical regions:</p>

1698

1699

1700

<caption>Coding for Spanish macro-geographical regions</caption>

1701

<thead>

1702

<tr>

1703

<th scope="col">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2 + ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</th>

1704

<th scope="col" colspan="2">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2 + UN M.49 (Example macro regions)</th>

1705

</tr>

1706

</thead>

1707

<tbody>

1708

<tr>

1709

<td><dl><dt><code>es-PR</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>Puerto Rico</strong></dd></dl></td>

1710

<td rowspan="3"><dl><dt><code>es-419</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>Latin America & the Caribbean</strong></dd></dl></td>

1711

<td rowspan="4"><dl><dt><code>es-019</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>the Americas</strong></dd></dl></td>

1712

</tr>

1713

<tr>

1714

<td><dl><dt><code>es-HN</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>Honduras</strong></dd></dl></td>

1715

</tr>

1716

<tr>

1717

<td><dl><dt><code>es-AR</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>Argentina</strong></dd></dl></td>

1718

</tr>

1719

<tr>

1720

<td><dl><dt><code>es-US</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>United States of America</strong></dd></dl></td>

1721

<td><dl><dt><code>es-021</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>North America</strong></dd></dl></td>

1722

</tr>

1723

</tbody>

1724

</table>

1725

1726

<p>Example of where the <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a> is ambiguous and why <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm">UN M.49</a> might be preferred:</p>

1727

1728

1729

<caption>Coding for ambiguous ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 regions</caption>

1730

<thead>

1731

<tr>

1732

<th scope="col" colspan="2"><code>CS</code> assignment pre-1994</th>

1733

<th scope="col" colspan="2"><code>CS</code> assignment post-1994</th>

1734

</tr>

1735

</thead>

1736

<tbody>

1737

<tr>

1738

1739

<dl>

1740

<dt><code>CS</code></dt><dd><strong>Czechoslovakia</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>

1741

<dt><code>200</code></dt><dd><strong>Czechoslovakia</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>

1742

</dl>

1743

</td>

1744

1745

<dl>

1746

<dt><code>CS</code></dt><dd><strong>Serbian & Montenegro</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>

1747

<dt><code>891</code></dt><dd><strong>Serbian & Montenegro</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>

1748

</dl>

1749

</td>

1750

</tr>

1751

<tr>

1752

<td>

1753

<dl>

1754

<dt><code>CZ</code></dt><dd><strong>Czech Republic</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>

1755

<dt><code>203</code></dt><dd><strong>Czech Republic</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>

1756

</dl>

1757

</td>

1758

<td>

1759

<dl>

1760

<dt><code>SK</code></dt><dd><strong>Slovakia</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>

1761

<dt><code>703</code></dt><dd><strong>Slovakia</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>

1762

</dl>

1763

</td>

1764

<td>

1765

<dl>

1766

<dt><code>RS</code></dt><dd><strong>Serbia</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>

1767

<dt><code>688</code></dt><dd><strong>Serbia</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>

1768

</dl>

1769

</td>

1770

<td>

1771

<dl>

1772

<dt><code>ME</code></dt><dd><strong>Montenegro</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>

1773

<dt><code>499</code></dt><dd><strong>Montenegro</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>

1774

</dl>

1775

</td>

1776

</tr>

1777

</tbody>

1778

</table>

1779

1780

<h4>Macro-languages & Topolects:</h4>

1781

1782

<p><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4646">RFC 4646</a> anticipates features which shall be available in (currently draft) <a href="http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/">ISO 639-3</a> which aims to provide as complete enumeration of languages as possible, including living, extinct, ancient and constructed languages, whether majour, minor or unwritten. A new feature of <a href="http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/">ISO 639-3</a> compared to the previous two revisions is the concept of <a href="http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/macrolanguages.asp">macrolanguages</a> where Arabic and Chinese are two such examples. In such cases, their respective codes of <code>ar</code> and <code>zh</code> is very vague as to which dialect/topolect is used or perhaps some terse classical variant which may be difficult for all but very educated users. For such macrolanguages, it is recommended that the sub-language tag is used as a suffix to the macrolanguage tag, eg:</p>

1783

1784

1785

<caption>Macrolanguage subtag + sub-language subtag examples</caption>

1786

<thead>

1787

<tr>

1788

<th scope="col">Language tag</th>

1789

<th scope="col">Description</th>

1790

<th scope="col">Component subtags</th>

1791

</tr>

1792

</thead>

1793

<tbody>

1794

<tr>

1795

1796

<td>Mandarin (Putonghau/Guoyu) Chinese</td>

1797

<td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code></td>

1798

</tr>

1799

<tr>

1800

1801

<td>Yue (Cantonese) Chinese</td>

1802

<td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code></td>

1803

</tr>

1804

<tr>

1805

1806

<td>Mandarin (Putonghau/Guoyu) Chinese written in Simplified script</td>

1807

<td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1808

</tr>

1809

<tr>

1810

1811

<td>Mandarin (Putonghau/Guoyu) Chinese written in Traditional script</td>

1812

<td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code>+<code>script</code></td>

1813

</tr>

1814

<tr>

1815

1816

<td>Minnan (Hoklo) Chinese written in Latin script (POJ Romanisation) as used in Taiwan</td>

1817

<td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>

1818

</tr>

1819

</tbody>

1820

</table>

1821

1822

<a name="otherconsiderations"></a><h3>6.ii. Other considerations</h3>

1823

1824

<h4>Normalisation of language tags for phpBB:</h4>

1825

1826

<p>For phpBB, the language tags are <strong>not</strong> used in their raw form and instead converted to all lower-case and have the hyphen <code>-</code> replaced with an underscore <code>_</code> where appropriate, with some examples below:</p>

1827

1828

1829

<caption>Language tag normalisation examples</caption>

1830

<thead>

1831

<tr>

1832

<th scope="col">Raw language tag</th>

1833

<th scope="col">Description</th>

1834

<th scope="col">Value of <code>USER_LANG</code><br />in <code>./common.php</code></th>

1835

<th scope="col">Language pack directory<br />name in <code>/language/</code></th>

1836

</tr>

1837

</thead>

1838

<tbody>

1839

<tr>

1840

1841

<td>British English</td>

1842

1843

1844

</tr>

1845

<tr>

1846

1847

<td>German as used in Austria</td>

1848

1849

1850

</tr>

1851

<tr>

1852

1853

<td>Spanish as used in Latin America & Caribbean</td>

1854

1855

1856

</tr>

1857

<tr>

1858

1859

<td>Cantonese written in Traditional script as used in Hong Kong</td>

1860

1861

1862

</tr>

1863

</tbody>

1864

</table>

1865

1866

1867

1868

<p>The <code>iso.txt</code> file is a small UTF-8 encoded plain-text file which consists of three lines:</p>

1869

1870

<ol>

1871

<li><code>Language's English name</code></li>

1872

<li><code>Language's local name</code></li>

1873

<li><code>Authors information</code></li>

1874

</ol>

1875

1876

<p><code>iso.txt</code> is automatically generated by the language pack submission system on phpBB.com. You don't have to create this file yourself if you plan on releasing your language pack on phpBB.com, but do keep in mind that phpBB itself does require this file to be present.</p>

1877

1878

<p>Because language tags themselves are meant to be machine read, they can be rather obtuse to humans and why descriptive strings as provided by <code>iso.txt</code> are needed. Whilst <code>en-US</code> could be fairly easily deduced to be "English as used in the United States", <code>de-CH</code> is more difficult less one happens to know that <code>de</code> is from "<span lang="de">Deutsch</span>", German for "German" and <code>CH</code> is the abbreviation of the official Latin name for Switzerland, "<span lang="la">Confoederatio Helvetica</span>".</p>

1879

1880

<p>For the English language description, the language name is always first and any additional attributes required to describe the subtags within the language code are then listed in order separated with commas and enclosed within parentheses, eg:</p>

1881

1882

1883

<caption>English language description examples for iso.txt</caption>

1884

<thead>

1885

<tr>

1886

<th scope="col">Raw language tag</th>

1887

<th scope="col">English description within <code>iso.txt</code></th>

1888

</tr>

1889

</thead>

1890

<tbody>

1891

<tr>

1892

1893

<td>British English</td>

1894

</tr>

1895

<tr>

1896

1897

<td>English (United States)</td>

1898

</tr>

1899

<tr>

1900

1901

<td>English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>

1902

</tr>

1903

<tr>

1904

1905

<td>German</td>

1906

</tr>

1907

<tr>

1908

1909

<td>German (Switzerland, 1996 orthography)</td>

1910

</tr>

1911

<tr>

1912

1913

<td>Swiss German (1996 orthography)</td>

1914

</tr>

1915

<tr>

1916

1917

<td>Mandarin Chinese (Simplified, Mainland China)</td>

1918

</tr>

1919

<tr>

1920

1921

<td>Cantonese Chinese (Traditional, Hong Kong)</td>

1922

</tr>

1923

</tbody>

1924

</table>

1925

1926

<p>For the localised language description, just translate the English version though use whatever appropriate punctuation typical for your own locale, assuming the language uses punctuation at all.</p>

1927

1928

<h4>Unicode bi-directional considerations:</h4>

1929

1930

<p>Because phpBB is now UTF-8, all translators must take into account that certain strings may be shown when the directionality of the document is either opposite to normal or is ambiguous.</p>

1931

1932

<p>The various Unicode control characters for bi-directional text and their HTML enquivalents where appropriate are as follows:</p>

1933

1934

1935

<caption>Unicode bidirectional control characters & HTML elements/entities</caption>

1936

<thead>

1937

<tr>

1938

<th scope="col">Unicode character<br />abbreviation</th>

1939

<th scope="col">Unicode<br />code-point</th>

1940

<th scope="col">Unicode character<br />name</th>

1941

<th scope="col">Equivalent HTML<br />markup/entity</th>

1942

<th scope="col">Raw character<br />(enclosed between '')</th>

1943

</tr>

1944

</thead>

1945

<tbody>

1946

<tr>

1947

1948

1949

<td>Left-to-Right Mark</td>

1950

1951

1952

</tr>

1953

<tr>

1954

1955

1956

<td>Right-to-Left Mark</td>

1957

1958

1959

</tr>

1960

<tr>

1961

1962

1963

<td>Left-to-Right Embedding</td>

1964

1965

1966

</tr>

1967

<tr>

1968

1969

1970

<td>Right-to-Left Embedding</td>

1971

1972

1973

</tr>

1974

<tr>

1975

1976

1977

<td>Pop Directional Formatting</td>

1978

1979

1980

</tr>

1981

<tr>

1982

1983

1984

<td>Left-to-Right Override</td>

1985

1986

1987

</tr>

1988

<tr>

1989

1990

1991

<td>Right-to-Left Override</td>

1992

1993

1994

</tr>

1995

</tbody>

1996

</table>

1997

1998

<p>For <code>iso.txt</code>, the directionality of the text can be explicitly set using special Unicode characters via any of the three methods provided by left-to-right/right-to-left markers/embeds/overrides, as without them, the ordering of characters will be incorrect, eg:</p>

1999

2000

2001

<caption>Unicode bidirectional control characters iso.txt</caption>

2002

<thead>

2003

<tr>

2004

<th scope="col">Directionality</th>

2005

<th scope="col">Raw character view</th>

2006

<th scope="col">Display of localised<br />description in <code>iso.txt</code></th>

2007

<th scope="col">Ordering</th>

2008

</tr>

2009

</thead>

2010

<tbody>

2011

<tr>

2012

2013

<td>English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>

2014

<td dir="ltr">English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>

2015

<td class="good">Correct</td>

2016

</tr>

2017

<tr>

2018

2019

<td>English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>

2020

<td dir="rtl">English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>

2021

<td class="bad">Incorrect</td>

2022

</tr>

2023

<tr>

2024

2025

<td>English (Australia & New Zealand)<code>U+200E</code></td>

2026

<td dir="rtl">English (Australia & New Zealand)‎</td>

2027

<td class="good">Correct</td>

2028

</tr>

2029

<tr>

2030

2031

<td><code>U+202A</code>English (Australia & New Zealand)<code>U+202C</code></td>

2032

<td dir="rtl">‪English (Australia & New Zealand)‬</td>

2033

<td class="good">Correct</td>

2034

</tr>

2035

<tr>

2036

2037

<td><code>U+202D</code>English (Australia & New Zealand)<code>U+202C</code></td>

2038

<td dir="rtl">‭English (Australia & New Zealand)‬</td>

2039

<td class="good">Correct</td>

2040

</tr>

2041

</tbody>

2042

</table>

2043

2044

<p>In choosing which of the three methods to use, in the majority of cases, the <code>LRM</code> or <code>RLM</code> to put a "strong" character to fully enclose an ambiguous punctuation character and thus make it inherit the correct directionality is sufficient.</p>

2045

<p>Within some cases, there may be mixed scripts of a left-to-right and right-to-left direction, so using <code>LRE</code> & <code>RLE</code> with <code>PDF</code> may be more appropriate. Lastly, in very rare instances where directionality must be forced, then use <code>LRO</code> & <code>RLO</code> with <code>PDF</code>.</p>

2046

<p>For further information on authoring techniques of bi-directional text, please see the W3C tutorial on <a href="http://www.w3.org/International/tutorials/bidi-xhtml/">authoring techniques for XHTML pages with bi-directional text</a>.</p>

2047

2048

<h4>Working with placeholders:</h4>

2049

2050

<p>As phpBB is translated into languages with different ordering rules to that of English, it is possible to show specific values in any order deemed appropriate. Take for example the extremely simple "Page <em>X</em> of <em>Y</em>", whilst in English this could just be coded as:</p>

2051

2052

2053

...

2054

'PAGE_OF' => 'Page %s of %s',

2055

/* Just grabbing the replacements as they

2056

come and hope they are in the right order */

2057

...

2058

</pre></div>

2059

2060

<p>… a clearer way to show explicit replacement ordering is to do:</p>

2061

2062

2063

...

2064

'PAGE_OF' => 'Page %1$s of %2$s',

2065

/* Explicit ordering of the replacements,

2066

even if they are the same order as English */

2067

...

2068

</pre></div>

2069

2070

<p>Why bother at all? Because some languages, the string transliterated back to English might read something like:</p>

2071

2072

2073

...

2074

'PAGE_OF' => 'Total of %2$s pages, currently on page %1$s',

2075

/* Explicit ordering of the replacements,

2076

reversed compared to English as the total comes first */

2077

...

2078

</pre></div>

2079

2080

<a name="writingstyle"></a><h3>6.iii. Writing Style</h3>

2081

2082

<h4>Miscellaneous tips & hints:</h4>

2083

2084

<p>As the language files are PHP files, where the various strings for phpBB are stored within an array which in turn are used for display within an HTML page, rules of syntax for both must be considered. Potentially problematic characters are: <code>'</code> (straight quote/apostrophe), <code>"</code> (straight double quote), <code><</code> (less-than sign), <code>></code> (greater-than sign) and <code>&</code> (ampersand).</p>

2085

2086

<p class="bad">// Bad - The un-escapsed straight-quote/apostrophe will throw a PHP parse error</p>

2087

2088

2089

...

2090

'CONV_ERROR_NO_AVATAR_PATH'

2091

=> 'Note to developer: you must specify $convertor['avatar_path'] to use %s.',

2092

...

2093

</pre></div>

2094

2095

<p class="good">// Good - Literal straight quotes should be escaped with a backslash, ie: \</p>

2096

2097

2098

...

2099

'CONV_ERROR_NO_AVATAR_PATH'

2100

=> 'Note to developer: you must specify $convertor[\'avatar_path\'] to use %s.',

2101

...

2102

</pre></div>

2103

2104

<p>However, because phpBB3 now uses UTF-8 as its sole encoding, we can actually use this to our advantage and not have to remember to escape a straight quote when we don't have to:</p>

2105

2106

<p class="bad">// Bad - The un-escapsed straight-quote/apostrophe will throw a PHP parse error</p>

2107

2108

2109

...

2110

'USE_PERMISSIONS' => 'Test out user's permissions',

2111

...

2112

</pre></div>

2113

2114

<p class="good">// Okay - However, non-programmers wouldn't type "user\'s" automatically</p>

2115

2116

2117

...

2118

'USE_PERMISSIONS' => 'Test out user\'s permissions',

2119

...

2120

</pre></div>

2121

2122

<p class="good">// Best - Use the Unicode Right-Single-Quotation-Mark character</p>

2123

2124

2125

...

2126

'USE_PERMISSIONS' => 'Test out user’s permissions',

2127

...

2128

</pre></div>

2129

2130

<p>The <code>"</code> (straight double quote), <code><</code> (less-than sign) and <code>></code> (greater-than sign) characters can all be used as displayed glyphs or as part of HTML markup, for example:</p>

2131

2132

<p class="bad">// Bad - Invalid HTML, as segments not part of elements are not entitised</p>

2133

2134

2135

...

2136

'FOO_BAR' => 'PHP version < 4.3.3.<br />

2137

Visit "Downloads" at <a href="http://www.php.net/">www.php.net</a>.',

2138

...

2139

</pre></div>

2140

2141

<p class="good">// Okay - No more invalid HTML, but "&quot;" is rather clumsy</p>

2142

2143

2144

...

2145

'FOO_BAR' => 'PHP version &lt; 4.3.3.<br />

2146

Visit &quot;Downloads&quot; at <a href="http://www.php.net/">www.php.net</a>.',

2147

...

2148

</pre></div>

2149

2150

<p class="good">// Best - No more invalid HTML, and usage of correct typographical quotation marks</p>

2151

2152

2153

...

2154

'FOO_BAR' => 'PHP version &lt; 4.3.3.<br />

2155

Visit “Downloads” at <a href="http://www.php.net/">www.php.net</a>.',

2156

...

2157

</pre></div>

2158

2159

<p>Lastly, the <code>&</code> (ampersand) must always be entitised regardless of where it is used:</p>

2160

2161

<p class="bad">// Bad - Invalid HTML, none of the ampersands are entitised</p>

2162

2163

2164

...

2165

'FOO_BAR' => '<a href="http://somedomain.tld/?foo=1&bar=2">Foo & Bar</a>.',

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...

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</pre></div>

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<p class="good">// Good - Valid HTML, amperands are correctly entitised in all cases</p>

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...

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'FOO_BAR' => '<a href="http://somedomain.tld/?foo=1&amp;bar=2">Foo &amp; Bar</a>.',

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...

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</pre></div>

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<p>As for how these charcters are entered depends very much on choice of Operating System, current language locale/keyboard configuration and native abilities of the text editor used to edit phpBB language files. Please see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode#Input_methods">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode#Input_methods</a> for more information.</p>

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<h4>Spelling, punctuation, grammar, et cetera:</h4>

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<p>The default language pack bundled with phpBB is <strong>British English</strong> using <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/">Cambridge University Press</a> spelling and is assigned the language code <code>en</code>. The style and tone of writing tends towards formal and translations <strong>should</strong> emulate this style, at least for the variant using the most compact language code. Less formal translations or those with colloquialisms <strong>must</strong> be denoted as such via either an <code>extension</code> or <code>privateuse</code> tag within its language code.</p>

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</div>

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</div>

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<hr />

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<a name="changes"></a><h2>7. Guidelines Changelog</h2>

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<h3>Revision 1.31</h3>

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<ul>

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<li>Added add_form_key and check_form_key. </li>

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</ul>

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<h3>Revision 1.24</h3>

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<ul>

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<li>Added <a href="#translation">5. Character Sets and Encodings</a> section to explain the recommended treatment of strings in phpBB.</li>

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</ul>

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<h3>Revision 1.16</h3>

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<ul>

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<li>Added <a href="#translation">6. Translation (<abbr title="Internationalisation">i18n</abbr>/<abbr title="Localisation">L10n</abbr>) Guidelines</a> section to explain expected format and authoring considerations for language packs that are to be created for phpBB.</li>

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</ul>

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<h3>Revision 1.11-1.15</h3>

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<ul>

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<li>Various document formatting, spelling, punctuation, grammar bugs.</li>

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</ul>

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<h3>Revision 1.9-1.10</h3>

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<ul>

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<li>Added sql_query_limit to <a href="#sql">2.iii. SQL/SQL Layout</a>.</li>

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</ul>

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<h3>Revision 1.8</h3>

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<ul>

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<li>Some adjustements to wordings</li>

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<li>Updated paragraph <a href="#locations">1.iii. File Locations</a> to reflect recent changes</li>

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<li>Extended paragraph <a href="#codelayout">2.ii. Code Layout</a>.</li>

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<li>Added sql_in_set and sql_build_query explanation to <a href="#sql">2.iii. SQL/SQL Layout</a>.</li>

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<li>Updated paragraph <a href="#styling">3. Styling</a>.</li>

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<li>Updated paragraph <a href="#templating">4. Templating</a> to explain loop checking, loop breaking and other changes we recently made.</li>

2237

</ul>

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<h3>Revision 1.5</h3>

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<ul>

2242

<li>Changed General function usage paragraph in <a href="#general">2.v. General Guidelines</a></li>

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</ul>

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</div>

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</div>

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<hr />

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<a name="disclaimer"></a><h2>8. Copyright and disclaimer</h2>

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<p>This application is opensource software released under the <a href="http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php">GPL</a>. Please see source code and the docs directory for more details. This package and its contents are Copyright (c) 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 <a href="http://www.phpbb.com/">phpBB Group</a>, All Rights Reserved.</p>

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</div>

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</div>

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<div class="version"> $Id: coding-guidelines.html,v 1.36 2007/11/18 15:37:17 naderman Exp $ </div>

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</div>

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</div></div>

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<div>

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</div>

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</body>

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</html>

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