Ionic Framework / UI Router: Remove a query parameter from the URI

I've been working with Ionic Framework for most of the year and finally launched the alpha version of my project. I've enjoyed working with it, but like everything you'll run into something that makes you bang your head on the desk for a few days. The most recent case of this was trying to remove a parameter from the URI.

If a user needs to reset their password I send them a URI that looks something like this.
http://this.that/login?resetKey=1234

After the user finishes the steps to reset I want to clean up the URI so if they hit the refresh button it doesn't trigger the reset process again.
http://this.that/login

I had the worse time finding an answer on google. After a few days of digging through UI Router documentation I finally found a combination that worked.

First you need to inject the $state param into your controller. We'll use the go method and redirect to the current URI using the current router name. The current route name can be accessed through the $state.current.name property. Next we need to specify the parameter we want to remove from the URI. We'll use an object with the key as the param name and the value will be null. Lastly we don't want to trigger the route again so we'll set the notify property to false.

The final command looks like this.

$state.go($state.current.name,{'resetKey': null},{'notify': false});

Such a simple command. So much digging. UGH!

Zend Framework 2: Using mysql functions in SQL classes

The built in ZF2 classes for sql queries have been wonderful to use. I like that it takes care of escaping data and saves you from messy string all over your codebase. I ran into a problem when trying to do something "complex".

Here is an example of the SQL I was trying to write.

INSERT into `table` SET `col1` = FROM_UNIXTIME(?)

When I tried running this the mysql method was quoted

`FROM_UNIXTIME(?)`

I started digging around and found an extra class required if you want to use functions in the escaped data spot. It's called an expression. Here is how they're used in the insert class.

$insert->into($tableName)
       ->values([`col` => new \Zend\Db\Sql\Expression("FROM_UNIXTIME(?)","?", [\Zend\Db\Sql\Expression::TYPE_VALUE])]);

Now the function won't be quoted and the value can be safely escaped when execute is run.


Here's some documentation on how expressions are used in a where clause.

Zend Framework 2.x Learn ZF2 by Example: Protecting our Pages - Authentication type

I'm starting to implement authentication on my web app and I ran into a problem with the example in the book.

The example on page 146 uses MD5 as a encryption scheme.

$adapter = new DbAdapter($db,
                         'users',
                         'login',
                         'password',
                         'MD5(password)');

The adapter builds a simple SQL query that will check the table, match the user name and password then let you know if it's valid. The problem lies in the 5th parameter. When I tried to match an account I know works it kept saying the account wasn't valid. After digging into the documentation I found the 5th parameter wasn't configured right. It should be 'MD5(?)'.

$adapter = new DbAdapter($db,
                         'users',
                         'login',
                         'password',
                         'MD5(?)');

After the change the auth adapter works perfectly. Hope this helps save you some time.

Zend Framework 2.x Learn ZF2 by Example : Unable to render template

Getting to the MVC portion of the book and ran into an error. On page 59 it shows you how to manually include a template to aid debugging. I ran into this error when trying to see my changes.

Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Zend\View\Exception\RuntimeException' with message 'Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer::render: Unable to render template "debug/layout/sidebar"; resolver could not resolve to a file' in /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/View/Renderer/PhpRenderer.php:498 Stack trace: #0 /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/View/View.php(205): Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer->render(Object(Zend\View\Model\ViewModel)) #1 /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/Mvc/View/Http/DefaultRenderingStrategy.php(102): Zend\View\View->render(Object(Zend\View\Model\ViewModel)) #2 [internal function]: Zend\Mvc\View\Http\DefaultRenderingStrategy->render(Object(Zend\Mvc\MvcEvent)) #3 /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/EventManager/EventManager.php(468): call_user_func(Array, Object(Zend\Mvc\MvcEvent)) #4 /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframe in /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/View/Renderer/PhpRenderer.php on line 498

Page 58 talks about the way templates are included. The middle of the page shows a config option called 'template_path_stack'. This is the path the PhpRender uses to find manually included templates. There is a similar line in the Application module.config.php. I thought this would be imported into the master config but that didn't happen. You have to add this.

Zend Framework 2.x Learn ZF2 by Example : Error creating Debug module

I'm rewriting part of my website with Zend Framework 2 because I want to use something more mature and flexible than something I wrote years ago. I picked up the book Learn ZF2 by Example because it was rated well. The intro gets your feet wet and eases you in. I got stuck when trying to reproduce the steps to create a new module using ZFTool.

On page 28 under Automatic Module Creation they want you to download a tool that will help with creating new modules. I'm not sure if the instructions are old but it not work. Running the command will give you the following error

Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Zend\ModuleManager\Exception\RuntimeException' with message 'Module (ZFTool) could not be initialized.' in /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/ModuleManager/ModuleManager.php:189
Stack trace:
#0 /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/ModuleManager/ModuleManager.php(163): Zend\ModuleManager\ModuleManager->loadModuleByName(Object(Zend\ModuleManager\ModuleEvent))
#1 /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/ModuleManager/ModuleManager.php(90): Zend\ModuleManager\ModuleManager->loadModule('ZFTool')
#2 [internal function]: Zend\ModuleManager\ModuleManager->onLoadModules(Object(Zend\ModuleManager\ModuleEvent))
#3 /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/EventManager/EventManager.php(468): call_user_func(Array, Object(Zend\ModuleManager\ModuleEvent))
#4 /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/ in /Volumes/zend_framework/learnzf2/vendor/zendframework/zendframework/library/Zend/ModuleManager/ModuleManager.php on line 189

Your path will vary, but the error is the same. Searching google didn't give me a good answer. The ZFTool page has instructions on how to install the it using composer. When the install finished I ran the command php vendor/bin/zf.php create module Debug and the new module was created.

I hope this saves you some time.