Web Design and ColdFusion Blog

ColdBox - SagePay VSP Driect Plugin

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:09:00 +0100

Now I am getting more to grips with CB I have recreated an ecommerce site using the framework. I have also created my first simple plugin for the Coldbox Framework that allows you to integrate SagePay VSP Direct payment system in your website. It seems to work very well the site I used it on has been running the new plugin for few days, taking transactions with no errors. (I really should not test this stuff on my clients, I did ask first, don't worry!)

In case you don't know, SagePay VSP Direct is a method of processing a transaction through the Sage Pay gateway using server to server communication with the customer remaining on your website throughout the whole process.

This plugin will setup, send and handle the response from their gateway. You will need an understanding of Sagepay and a SSL cert to use this plugin. Sage Pay only support UK merchants at the moment!

I will be adding some example of the handler, checkout forms, and cart to a zip download soon at the moment all I have included the plugin CFC code below.

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First Coldbox Plugin, HELP?

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:03:00 +0100

So, my first attempt at a ColdBox Plugin works, however I cannot help but feel I could have done it better/right. You see, I know the theory of OOP it's in my nightmares as student, but applying it practically in CF is still a learning experience.

I have posted my code below. Encapsulation is the key I think, you see I am coming outside of the CFC to put back in 'SagePayURLStruct'

So my question is, how to I setup the 'setEnvironment' function in the CFC so it accessible inside the CFC, only the CFC and without going outside the CFC? For example could this be done using the init(). Could it be called on create component, so its accessible in the CFC itself after creation?

I would really welcome any feedback here, rip it to pieces it's the only way I learn! :)

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CFIMAGE WRITETOBROWSER no alt tag!

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:20:00 +0100

Just a quick post on using 'CFIMAGE' with the action 'WRITETOBROWSER'. I noticed something which is not documented in the livedocs. When using the above tag I viewed the sourced code it outputted to the browser and it gave a completely empty alt tag, not good for accessibility! So I looked in the livedocs to see it there was an attribute for missing 'alt', but nothing!

Just out of pure boredom I added alt="something" to the CFIMAGE tag and guess what? No errors, could it have worked? Yes it did! Infact any normal image attribute seemed to work on CFIMAGE such as border="0" etc.

OK, so this is weak attempt at a blog post but it has me thinking, do Adobe not document such things often or maybe just because its common sense. Well either way I like it when things just work.

ColdBox and Viewlets

Sun, 31 May 2009 22:34:00 +0100

The ColdBox Framework is fast becoming enjoyable to work with, which came as a surprise for me. Having now completed 4 projects in CB I have decided to start writing up on some of my experiences so far.

The first write-up starts at the beginning! By that I mean things I found useful when first starting a CB project. Its not a deep read into CB just some random stuff that helped me out when first starting with the Framework.

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Follow me on Twitter - glynjackson

Sun, 31 May 2009 22:10:00 +0100

I tried, I really did! I didn't want to get pulled into the world of Twitter but I was just missing too much within the CF community. I mean who is really interested in reading my random crap, but I am now finding other peoples random crap strangely addictive!

Anyway, if you DO want to read 'my random crap' then you now can. My user name is glynjackson see you there!

Sage Pay CFC

Thu, 28 May 2009 16:43:00 +0100

Below is a quick update on the old 'protx.cfc' now 'sagepay.cfc'. It's a little messy and there are a few things I would have done different if I had more time, but I didn't. I wanted to share will you my new CFC because as you may know Sage Pay don't seem to have a ColdFusion VSP Direct integration Kit anymore! Anyhow below will help jump start anyone wanting to integration the gatway using the VSP Direct service they offer.

First make sure you have read their integration guides @ sagepay.com and you will need have a test or simulation account to test first. If you don't have one you can sign up for a free simulation account here. You can get a live account by clicking here.

Download the sagepay.cfc (.rar file 3KB)

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RC9 UK/Europe Version of Cupcake Download

Thu, 07 May 2009 20:35:00 +0100

Are you in the UK and still waiting for your OTA update from version 1.1 to 1.5?

If you are and don't want to wait, like me, then you can download the official update and manually install it yourself [LINK BROKEN]. I know I am impatient but if you're still reading this so are you.

Warning I recommend you have full battery if you do this!

First download the file above to your desktop and rename the zip file to 'update' and place the file in the root of your phones Micro SD card. You can do this by mounthing your SD card while its attached to the computer.
After the files are copied, unmount your phone and turn it off.
Restart the phone by holding the Home+End keys down together.
Wait and an icon screen will appear, nothing will happen, you now need to open your keypad and to view options hit Alt+L. This will display the log
Now press Alt+S to begin the update.
Rename it from signed-kila-ota-115247-prereq.TC4-RC19+RC28.zip to update.zip, and place it in the root of your Micro SD card.
Once it finishes, just follow the onscreen instructions and press Home+Back to finish.

Enjoy cupcake

Do I stop supporting IE6?

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:10:00 +0100

Cross browser compatibility has always been a pain for me, I spend hours at the end of every project tweaking and writing hacks to combat IE6's lack of support for current standards in HTML markup and CSS etc.

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New Protx (Sage Pay) VSP Direct URL's

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:49:00 +0100

If you are using my CFC for Protx VSP Direct Integration (now sage pay) you will need to change the live and testing URL's. SagePay told us that the old Live URL's would still work, however the way they are just forwarding in the system means they don't work correctly with CFHTTP calls. The replacement code with the new URL's is below.



  
  
  
   
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "Verify", "false");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "PurchaseURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/Simulator/VSPDirectGateway.asp");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "RefundURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/Simulator/VSPServerGateway.asp?Service=VendorRefundTx");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "ReleaseURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/Simulator/VSPServerGateway.asp?Service=VendorReleaseTx");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "RepeatURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/Simulator/VSPServerGateway.asp?Service=VendorRepeatTx");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "callbackURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/Simulator/VSPDirectCallback.asp");

  
  
    
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "Verify", "false");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "PurchaseURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/gateway/service/vspdirect-register.vsp");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "RefundURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/gateway/service/refund.vsp");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "ReleaseURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/gateway/service/release.vsp");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "RepeatURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/gateway/service/repeat.vsp");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "callbackURL", "https://test.sagepay.com/gateway/service/direct3dcallback.vsp");

    
  
  
  
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "Verify", "false");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "PurchaseURL", "https://live.sagepay.com/gateway/service/vspdirect-register.vsp");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "RefundURL", "https://live.sagepay.com/gateway/service/refund.vsp");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "ReleaseURL", "https://live.sagepay.com/gateway/service/release.vsp");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "RepeatURL", "https://live.sagepay.com/gateway/service/repeat.vsp");
 StructInsert(GatewaySettings, "callbackURL", "https://live.sagepay.com/gateway/service/direct3dcallback.vsp");

Protx rebrands now it's Sage Pay

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:52:00 +0100

Protx, the UK's leading payment gateway provider as you may well be aware was purchased by Sage last year. Well another change, as of the 21st of April Protx will be rebranded as 'Sage Pay'. Since the buyout I must comment that Sage Pay (Protx) support and their services have improved significantly.

As we are Sage Pay partners we will still be offering the same services as before and customers who use our services will not have to do a thing! Your API and SalesMaxx Cart will be updated for you. For anyone who is not with us or is a developer remember to change your logos. No news yet about the VSP Direct URL's, I assume they will still work and they will let us know if they change them also.

Hopefully this change means in the future we could have closer integration with Sage itself, although you can now use Sage Pay within Sage, the other way, in as always has been a little more tricky.

ColdEXT Helps With Consistency!

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:26:00 +0100

This week I found a gem and cannot put it down, I want to tell everyone! Justin Carter just made my use of the EXTJS library a lot clearer with his ColdExt tags. Everyone else seems to know about this already, but I didn't and just wanted to sing its praises.

I have a current application that uses EXT 1 and over the next 2 months I will be making major updates using EXT 2.0+ and this will really come in handy.

You cannot do everything with these tags and I have hit a few limitations but from what I can tell it's still a work in progress and if something is missing, you can use script directly within the tags so it does not really matter.

For me ColdExt looks like it will help me keep consistency with EXT 2.0 a little better than before, keep up the great work Justin Carter and if you read this, thanks for sharing!

SalesMaxx v4 screen shots using a mix of ColdExt

Google launches Street View in UK

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:09:00 +0100

Almost one year and a whole fleet of modified camera cars crawling 22,000+ miles of British roads, Google have released 'Street View UK'

Street View already launched in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain and Italy went online for the UK late on the 18th of March.

So far the major cities that have been covered are... London, Edinburgh, Leeds, Bradford, Cambridge, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby, Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Swansea, York, Newcastle, Dundee, Southampton, Norwich and Scunthorpe, with plans to expand these over time.

UK developers now have whole new market to target themselves, allowing them to use the open-source architecture to build new applications they necessary did not have access to before

RC9 UK update for the G1

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:57:00 +0100

Long waiting and much overdue but it finally looks like the RC9 update for the G1 is being rolled out for the UK market. So far only a hand full of UK G1 users seem to of had the update and T-Mobile tech support have stated this is because of testing but everyone should have it over the next few weeks.

However Germany had the same RC9 EU update we are due to get for weeks now with no reported problems so I don't understand the logic behind it.

You may be looking forward to the improvement and bug fixes the update will bring such as finally being allowed to empty the trash! However don't get to excited we are still not equal with the RC33 USA counterpart, we will not be having the voice dial functions it has been taken out due to it not understanding the Queens English!

Mura: Creating Nice Friendly URL's and remove Site ID

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:36:00 +0100

The good people who created Mura have already provided a number of ways to rewrite URL's but if you have never done this within Sava finding the correct information on their website can be tedious. Below is a step by step guide taken from various posts and the readme file within the Sava download.

These instructions work on Coldfusion 8 server, I have not tested it on anything else so I don't want to comment on the other methods. For more information download Sava or visit the Sava website

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SEO Myths: the ones I hate the most!

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:05:00 +0100

There are plenty of professions that have their own set of myths, search engine optimisation (SEO) is one area that has lots. We all have a job to do, but every time someone sells one of these SEO myths it reflects badly on the rest of us. It's hard enough in today's current climate without having to convince clients that we are not just another con artist out to make a quick buck. The fact is after helping to create many successful websites I know there is no magic spells, just good standards, good content and lots of hard work.

SEO is a valid arrow to most web development firms bow but it's littered with myths and the misinformed. Here is list of common myths I often hear...

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