First, we determine at which revision in the repository the updates began. We do this by referencing associated changesets inside Unfuddle (Side note; Unfuddle is a fantastic project management and source control tool that we recommend checking out.) Then, it’s just a matter of grabbing a diff from this changeset to the HEAD. From the command line, do (Where “XX” is, of course, the revision our changes start at. In doubt, we err on the side of more files than necessary.):

$> svn diff -r XX:HEAD --summarize>~/Desktop/diff.txt

This dumps a summary of the affected files into a text file on the desktop. From there we go down the list and compile our patch for the client. Easy.

When I looked into this further I found this line of code within the “run” function that executes on an interval:

if (mc_clip.getBytesTotal( ) < 0)
{
        // failed to load
        bool_isLoaded = false;
        clearInterval( int_interval );
        dispatchEvent( new Event( this, EVENT_FAILED ) );
}

To fix it, I simply added a counter. It now checks to see if getBytesTotal( ) returns negative 10 times before finally reporting EVENT_FAILED.

However, in IE, mc_clip.getBytesTotal( ) is returning a negative number - even though the clip exists and is still loading!

Updating this code to include a wait counter to make sure this the number is still negative after 10 tries seems to have fixed it.

if (mc_clip.getBytesTotal( ) < 0)
{
    if (int_wait > 10)
    {
        // failed to load
        bool_isLoaded = false;
        clearInterval( int_interval );
        dispatchEvent( new Event( this, EVENT_FAILED ) );
    }
    int_wait++;
}

The script works as a toggle to turn the setting on or off. So, run it once to show hidden files, then run it a second time to hide them again.

Just paste this into ScriptEditor and you’re good to go. For added automation “Save as…” as an application and drop it in your Applications folder.

try
	set toggle to do shell script "defaults read com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles"

	if toggle = "True" then
		do shell script "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles False"
	else
		do shell script "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles True"
	end if

	do shell script "killall Finder"
end try

Alternatively, you can just download the script here.

But, if you’re looking to send an email to someone of importance, and you’re not interested in throwing down some dirty words (but murder still passes through your moral filter), then Mr. McKay has come up with the perfect sentence to add onto the end of each email:
“I enjoy the massacre of ads. This sentence will slaughter ads without a messy bloodbath.”

The update addresses a small issue when the plugin was targeted to multiple elements or no elements at all. Updating to this version is recommended as it doesn’t change any features or break any previously existing functionality.

Head over here to read more about the plugin or go straight to the download page to pick it up.

1. View Source: http://www.fujinonbinos.com/
2. Google Earth screenshots: http://b3ta.com/links/355881
3. ????
4. Profit

blown = mind ? true : false;

After doing some research on the Google to find ways to get me started, I came up with the following as the fruit of my labor. Please note that the comments give reference to the articles that I utilized in building this validtor.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Based loosley on examples found in the following places:
//
// How to Validate a Date Range in Flex:
// (Basic idea for comparing a given date to a pre-defined range. This object did not meet my needs exactly so I used this as a starting point.)
// http://www.davidortinau.com/blog/how_to_validate_a_date_range_in_flex/
//
//
// How to Compare Two Dates in ActionScript 3:
// (Shows comparing dates as Numbers)
// http://userflex.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/as3-date-compare/
//
// Flex: How do you validate 2 password fields to make sure they match?
// (Shows how to get two fields to validate, makes use of the getValueFromSource() method.)
// http://stackoverflow.com/questions/508696/flex-how-do-you-validate-2-password-fields-to-make-sure-they-match
//
// Actionscript 3 - Fastest way to parse yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss to a Date object?
// (Ran into trouble on getting my dates to parse correctly given the yyyy-mm-dd format, this article pointed to a solution)
// http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3163/actionscript-3-fastest-way-to-parse-yyyy-mm-dd-hhmmss-to-a-date-object
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
package com.wg.utility
{
	import mx.validators.DateValidator;
	import mx.validators.ValidationResult;

	public class StartEndDateValidation extends DateValidator
	{
		private var _startDateSource:Object;
		private var _startDateProperty:String;

		public function StartEndDateValidation()
		{
			super();
		}

		public function set StartDateSource(value:Object): void
		{
			_startDateSource = value;
		}

		public function set StartDateProperty(value:String):void
		{
			_startDateProperty = value;
		}

		override protected function doValidation(value:Object):Array {
			// Create an array to return validator results
			var validatorResults:Array = new Array(); 

			// Call base doValidation() this assures EndDate (source) is correctly validated as a date.
			validatorResults = super.doValidation(value.enddate);

			// Return if validation has errors.
			if (validatorResults.length > 0) {
				return validatorResults;
			}

			if (String(value).length == 0) {
				return validatorResults;
			}

			// Use castDate to properly cast the date's text property into a Date object.
			var startDate:Date = castDate(value.startdate);
			var endDate:Date = castDate(value.enddate);
			var startDateTimeStamp:Number = startDate.getTime();
			var endDateTimeStamp:Number = endDate.getTime();

			if (endDateTimeStamp < startDateTimeStamp) {
				validatorResults.push(new ValidationResult(true, null, "Invalid Date Range", "End Date is before Start Date"));
				return validatorResults;
			}

			return validatorResults;

		}

		override protected function getValueFromSource():Object
		{
			var value:Object = {};
			value.enddate = super.getValueFromSource();

			if (_startDateSource && _startDateProperty) {
				value.startdate = _startDateSource[_startDateProperty];

			}
			return value;
		}

		private function castDate(dateString:String):Date {
		    if ( dateString == null )
		        return null;
		    if ( dateString.length != 10 && dateString.length != 19)
		        return null;

		    dateString = dateString.replace("-", "/");

		    return new Date(Date.parse( dateString ));
		}

	}
}

To implement this in my MXML, I needed to put in the following code. In my component declaration, I needed the following namespace so I could reference to it as a validator.

...

The fields I wanted to validate are illustrated in the following snippet below:

...

	


	

...

Make note in the above code that the format string for each field is "YYYY-MM-DD." I did this for ease of entry into my database. However, this tripped me up when trying to get an actual date object parsed in so I could use it for comparison. That is the reason for the function castDate() in the validator.

The validator array grouping I used for the component listed below shows how the validator references both the start date and the end date. The way this validator works is the validation is bound to the endDate field and the startDate is referenced by the attributes "StartDateSource" and "StartDateProperty." In addition, the endDate is also validated as a valid date by the standard DateValidator method. For validating the startDate field, I used a standard DateValidator reference.

Finally, the validation is executed (normally via a button click) with the following code:

	var results:Array = Validator.validateAll(validators);
	// if any of the fields were not valid
	if (results.length > 0) {
		return;
	}

Simply open the FLA, drag the movie clip in, and adjust its tint to change the color. Enjoy!

Download a zip file containing all 4 FLA’s here!

The jQuery UI Effects library had just what I was looking for, with only one problem. In order to use the desired effect I had to include over 100 kb of additional Javascript. My app was already pretty heavy on the client side so I sought a way to achieve the effect with as little cruft as possible.

So, after a little hacking around, I present the “Mini” UI Effects plugins. They are a set of plugins that are lightweight and attempt to offer a similar experience to the jQuery UI effects. For now there are just three basic effects, “Blink”, “Wiggle” and “Bob.” They are similar to the jQuery UI “Pulsate”, “Shake” and “Bounce” effects respectively.

Please feel free to download and use them in your own projects both commercial and personal alike. They have been tested to work in IE6+, Safari and Firefox.

Check out a demo and download the jQuery Mini UI plugins here. Let me encourage you to leave feedback in the comments. We’d love to hear of any experience using them (bugs or otherwise). Enjoy.

To do so just create an .htaccess file in your app’s root directory (likely next to the index.php in question) if one doesn’t already exist (OS X folks may have to use Terminal to work with .htaccess as it will be invisible). Then drop these rules into place:

<ifmodule mod_rewrite.c>
	Options +FollowSymLinks
	RewriteEngine On
	RewriteBase /

	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
	RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?/$1 [QSA,L]
</ifmodule>
<ifmodule !mod_rewrite.c>
	ErrorDocument 404 /index.php
</ifmodule>

Some frameworks require that you configure the base URL of the system, so don’t forget to do that too or your app will start acting wacky after this is in place.