DarC Horizons.com

FINALLY!

Didn’t think I was coming back did ya? Well I squeezed in some time and got some stuff done that was way overdue. The changelog is below and I also added a “upcoming” section to give you an idea of some things that are in the works. As usual you can pick it up off SourceForge or the DarC Horizons code repo.

Let me know if you come up with any problems. Sorry this took so long.
-darc

v0.11 - 2008.02.20
———————
* Added password change utility so users can change their own passwords… how did I miss that?
* Removed static paths pointing to webroot/php/. I think I’ve caught and removed all the static paths left over from my poor practices days : )
* Removed use of the $table_name variable. This should prevent accidental breakage.
* Fixed the ability to view meeting minutes (view_minutes.php). I had an unassigned variable that was breaking it.
* Changed link colors to a deep scarlet… pretty, eh? The default blue was making my eyes bleed.
* Formatted all code with PHP-Eclipse’s built-in formatter. Looks much cleaner now.
* Changed “include()” to “include_once()” where necessary.
* Added “Apply for Membership” link to the front page. This has been around forever, just not easily accessible.
* Added “Pledge” to list of statuses.
* Made slight CSS changes on input elements.

Upcoming:
– Add ability for admins to force users to change their password on next login
– Add a system for uploading/viewing class notes, worksheets, and tests

So about those Gsys updates I promised…

I’m working full time now for Acxiom which is going well, I even have time to work on Gsys in the evenings. However… I took a second job as a freelance PHP developer to help out a friend (and make some cash : ) which completely took over that free time. I expect to finish up this project within a week, take a break for a few days, THEN dive back into Gsys. There are many things that need to be one as far as new features, optimization of old features, and some bug squashing.

So, Gsys isn’t dead (tell your religious friends), just hanging out in the background while I finish up this side job.

On an unrelated note, now that I’ve got a full time job I’ve finally been able to afford a motorcycle which I’ve been wanting for years. I got a 2007 Kawasaki Ninja-500R 498CC 4-stroke parallel twin 8 valve DOHC engine, liquid cooled, 6 speed… nice

-darc

The newest version is available and the amount of updates is crazy. A lot of new functionality was added (or enhanced), not to mention overall beautification (almost everything is styled now, crazy isn’t it?).

As always you can pick it up at http://gsys.sf.net or locally at http://www.darchorizons.com/gsys/source/Gsys-v0.10.tar.gz
See the changelog below for more info:

v0.1 - 2006.01.13
——————–
* Added/updated a basic comment header on every file.
* Removed deprecated code from various spots (sorry for the vagueness, just did it as I came across it)
* Styled (almost) every page - credit: Marty
* Added ability to post and order T-shirts through Gsys
* Converted add_payment.php to self posting, self contained form.
* Added ‘misc’ellaneous data table to database (keyed on label)
* Added ability to mark payments as early which will add a predetermined early payment amount to the transaction (amount taken from misc. table)
* Added treasury/set_early_amount.php to allow treasurer to set the amount for early payment credits
* Fixed ‘treasury_functions.php?cat=user_transaction_list’ to sort descending by date and calculate balance correctly (like user_transactions.php)
* Added ‘news’ table to database for posting articles to news ticker (news ticker which doesn’t exist yet)
* Fixed an if/else problem in do_buy_shirt.php
* Added php/user_registration.php to allow users to apply for access (access granted/denied by admin, see below)
* Added admin/approve_users.php to allow admin to approve/deny users applying for site access
* Updated php/do_authuser.php to check if users are approved by admin before logging in (rejects on pending and denied users)
* Changed alignment of displayed data on multiple pages to improve readability
* Fixed a static path in php/do_authuser.php which point to (wwwroot)/php - now uses dynamic path
* Added stipulation on php/phone_list.php to only display active members and pledges
* Created a (crappy) generic Gsys banner… check out my skills
* Added success and error CSS classes for reporting results to users

Well, finals are done and all my projects are turned in… now it’s time to work on Gsys.

Expect some pretty crazy updates in the next month (until I start classes again : ). I got my test box set up tonight and installed the latest version (0.73) and during the install noticed that I buggered up part of the SQL file at some point. You’ll need to set your admin password manually because I don’t know what the hell it’s set to. *SUPPOSED* to be admin/admin, but it doesn’t work on a clean install so I set the pw to ‘admin’ manually and the hash is a lot shorter than the one in the SQL file. Could have something to do with different server setups (cause I could have sworn I fixed this in the past)?

I’d heartily encourage anyone looking at Gsys to *NOT INSTALL AT THIS TIME*
—>Wait for v0.8<—-

It will be worth the wait. Marty’s done some great things as far as implementing and touching up the functionality that I had written a (extremely small) code base for. Such as:
1) Calendar system
2) Intrasite messaging
3) T-shirt purchasing system

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.
Have a good holiday,
-darc
darc[-at-]darchorizons.com

Marty found a ton of bugs while setting up Gsys for the LA Tech Kappa Sigma’s ~ so he helped me fix them. One (major) problem was that I had included the SQL file from v0.05 and earlier which didn’t work at all with v0.07 due to several updates & expansions. There were several other bugs we killed, but I can’t remember them all at the moment ~ I’ll post them in the next Changelog. He also updated the calendar & message functionality, so it’s actually useful now.

Also, Marty is designing Gsys graphics! Which is awesome because I’ll never get around to it… (I hate graphic design). He also prettied up a lot of the pages (and even put HTML tags on them : ).
Due to all of the above (bug killing and beautification) I will release v0.08 very soon (I’ll post news when it’s up on Sourceforge).

Much thanks to Marty.
Selah,
-darc

I released v0.07 last week ~ forgot to post it here though. It’s also not in the local repository (yet) - but it is on Sourceforge.

Changelog:
v0.07 - 2006.08.29
——————–
* Brother management tools developed (add, delete, edit) - credit: ParaXoN
* Added a new table to store meeting minutes (meeting_minutes)
* Updated the SQL installation file to reflect the database change
* Added appropriate management tools for meeting minutes (add, delete, edit). See: admin/minutes_man.php
* Bundled TinyMCE for adding and editing minutes
* Included the images & CSS developed by Marty for my chapter site to make things less ugly… customize it as you see fit. Some day I’ll make a generic “Gsys” theme so you don’t have to see “Kappa Sigma - Omicron Gamma” (since that’s probably not you). Personally, I *hate* web design so if someone else wants to do it, that’d be great (it’s not my top priority).

Though I wasn’t ready to release v0.06 because I haven’t had any time to work on it (due to the day job), some really (REALLY) stupid bugs prompted me to release this quick revision.

You can pick it up on Sourceforge or the mirror on DarC Horizons.

I had two people interested in the project notify me that they just couldn’t get it to work. So, I did a full, clean install myself and I’ll be damned if they weren’t right.

Here’s the changelog:

v0.06 - 2006.08.14
——————–
* Removed hard link to brother_home.php on password fail in ‘php/do_authuser.php’
* Fixed database field that was too short to hold password hash (stupid me)
* Fixed hard linked (and missing) menu/nav include

Don’t even bother with v0.05 ~ it’s inherently broken because of contributions of another developer that I didn’t notice, therefore, didn’t include in the package.

In v0.07 I may actually include graphics (oooooo, wouldn’t that be crazy?). I have some that a friend/brother developed specifically for our chapter that look smashing. However, they clearly identify the system as only being Kappa Sigma ~ Omicron Gamma, which I’m sure not everyone is : )
Going back to school may just be in the incentive I need to create the graphics (I *hate* graphic design… with a passion).

Let me know if you find more bugs ~ I’m happy to kill them.

Thanks to ParoXon and Jordan for spotting/confirming/testing these!
-darc

I’ve had v0.05 of Gsys done for a long time, just now got around to posting it tho.
I’m going to try to work on the port of Gsys into the newly propsed framework for integration into the new project tonight.

v0.05 - 2006.06.18
——————–
* Removed a derived data field from the financial table (balance_after_transaction)
* Added 2 points of precision to all monetary amounts (balances)
* Updated pages that show transactions to compute balance on the fly, not use derived data field
* Added basic code to build a calendar system on
* Added basic code to build message system on (like intrasite email)

-darc

It has been proposed to incorporate Gsys, most notably the financial/treasury sections (which are the best developed, and the original purpose of the project) into a larger project which plans to be a complete Greek management system ~ which is what Gsys was starting to turn in to.

However, the entity this offer comes from already has multiple developers and is well organized (much more so than the coding sprees implemented by me with no assistance). Not only will this change improve the future of Gsys through incorporation into a larger project with multiple developers, it will also improve Gsys itself by requiring it be written in a more standard format, and more closely inspected for portability, security, and efficiency.

In the short discussions I’ve had with the new project head, it looks like we have the talent and drive to make a killer open source application.

NOTE:
I made 2 (and added a 3rd later) requests before agreeing to this:

1) Don’t let it die - if the project should be abandoned at a later date for any reason it will be turned over to me (I was given an assurance this will not happen, but should the unexpected happen, I will be granted control of the project).
2) Credit for the work I do - This is standard open source practice, my payment is the credit of my work. Plus, it will help my job applications when I graduate to have a badass project that I have contributed to : )
3) The project will remain Open Source. I almost didn’t think about this until I was conversing with the new project lead over IM, but he assured me the project will remain Open Source.

Stay tuned for more updates, I’ll be adapting Gsys’s financial/treasury functions to the new framework shortly (I’m working fulltime so it may take longer than it used to - no more 18hr coding sprees [at least not until I return to school : ]).

For more information, visit the new project wiki:
http://stsg.socialduties.org

E-mail me if you have questions.
Selah,
-darc
darc[-at-]darchorizons.com

Been a long time since I’ve updated this page.
After leaving school for the summer I was without internet access for almost 3 weeks (OMG!) and now I’m working on catching up on everything I’d neglected.
I also just started a full time internship in the IT department at FedEx so I no longer have free time during the day (and can’t stay up until 5 when I have to be at work at 8 : )

On the up side, I had almost finished the next revision of Gsys before I left school AND I got an offer a few days back from someone who wants to help me develop (thank you god). I’ll post the details when we get them ironed out.

Until next time,
Selah,
-darc

Get it from SourceForge

or, I suppose you can get it from around here on DarC Horizons

Changelog below.

v0.04 - 2006.04.04
——————–
* Commented all files (briefly)
* Structured the code for readability (finally took the time to indent correctly : )
* Fixed search bug in do_brother_search.php that was displaying pledges
* Fixed search bug in pledge_roster.php that was displaying encrypted, BLOB data as text

I made a few changes, bugfixes, and additions over the past few weeks.

Changelog:
v0.03 - 2006.03.26
———————
* Added ability to view individual user’s transactions instead of having to sort through full transaction list.
* Added a pagination for the transaction list, 40 results per page
* Updated setup_account.php to allow users to change almost all their information
* Fixed bug in individual user transaction list that was changing the user’s session variable (and leading to all kinds of crazy errors)

Available from the darchorizons and Sourceforge project pages, links at the top.
-DarC

I released v0.02 about a week ago.

Sorry for the delay, but I’ve been swamped at school and sick to top it all off : p

I fixed several bugs and added some new features too, here’s the changelog:

v0.02
———————
* Added a display_balance.php include and call it on brother_home.php to display current user’s balance.
* Added default administrator account for helping setup Gsys after install
* Added ability to edit previously posted transactions
* Added ability to delete previously posted transactions
* Added treasury/user_transactions.php where normal users can check what charges/payments posted to their account, and when, by who, and for what reason.
* Improved SQL efficiency - In some areas I was having to do two SQL queries to get all the information needed, I added a ‘pin_num’ session variable and reduced it to one.
* Fixed bug in treasury_functions.php (cat=add_specific) that made charges be positive instead of negative.
* Fixed bug in treasury_functions.php (cat=balance_list) that was miscalculating total member debt

I’ve had one person contact me about assisting in development which would be great.
-DarC

In the past few days I’ve addressed a few minor bugs and added a new feature.

Bug 1:
treasury_functions.php&cat=add_specific was adding positive charges when they should have been negative - can’t have that, can we : )

Bug 2:
treasury_functions.php&cat=balance_list was calculating a total of all balances and displaying that as total debt, this is obviously wrong. It now only adds to total debt if a user’s balance is < zero.

New Feature:
Created includes/display_balance.php which simply outputs the current user's balance. In the future I may transform that into a function that returns a balance based on a username parameter passed to it.

Notification:
In the Gsys SQL file for setting up your database I added a default administrator account so you don't have to work directly with the dbase, you can use the Gsys web interface for setting up your members (currently by adding pledges, then initiating. I'll have a member addition form up soon).

Gsys Sourceforge page or the DarC Horizons mirror
Selah,
-DarC

It may be ugly as I haven’t done much interface work (been hung up on backend functionality) but what’s there works… as far as I’ve tested : )

You can pick it up on the Gsys Sourceforge page or get it from the DarC Horizons mirror

I also added a Gsys page on DarC Horizons with general information, but most news/updates will be posted right here and on the Sourceforge project page.

-DarC
2006.02.16