function $_GET(q,s) {
s = s ? s : window.location.search;
var re = new RegExp('&'+q+'(?:=([^&]*))?(?=&|$)','i');
return (s=s.replace(/^?/,'&').match(re)) ? (typeof s[1] == 'undefined' ? '' : decodeURIComponent(s[1])) : undefined;
}


Credit goes to Online Aspect

Previously my code for an input field would have used a lot of nested inline if statements to determine which variable to fill the field with. It might have looked something like this:

echo '<input type="text" name="email" value="' . (($_POST['email']) ? $_POST['email'] : (($user['email']) ? $user['email'] : 'Email') . '" />';

The code above would show the posted email address first, and if that’s not present defer to one from the database. If neither of those are present then it would display a label, “Email” in this case.

That’s a nightmare to manage, and it looks nasty. So I wrote a function called postOrNot($post, $other) which simplified the inline if statement a touch. If the first variable was present, it was displayed, if not then it would display the 2nd.

With the introduction of “func_get_args()” to the function it can handle any number of arguments, falling over to each one in turn, and finally returning false if none are present.

function ifelse(){
if(func_num_args() < 2) trigger_error("ifelse() requires 2 or more arguements", E_USER_ERROR);
else {
$args = func_get_args();
foreach($args as $arg){
if($arg) return $arg;
}
return false;
}
}

It's a function that I use pretty much every day and saves me lines and lines of code.

3 Posts in the first 2 days of my new site, and then silence… this seems to indicate that I am not cut out for blogging. I shall however persist, and today’s very short post shall contain 2 things, a link to the tools from the old mousepilot website, and a list of future posts which I shall complete.

So, the link. At 3DPixel.net we combined my two very simple tools from the old site along with a couple of others and created our tools website 3dpx.net. Mainly just as a place where things we use every day can reside, but also as a tool for anyone else to use.

….and now the list:

1. Complaining post about the complete lack of consideration and awareness in society, particularly focusing on muppets in Sainsburies and plebs on the road
2. Tutorial on how to right a funky jquery/php application to upload, resize and crop images
3. Complaining post about benefits

I swear to the gods of beer and pizza, that I’ll update again soon

As usual, their article is an amalgamation of many many sources and very comprehensive. Wide support for attribute selectors is particularly good news as it means no more damn id’s on inputs! Psuedo classes look particularly useful for lots of things, but support for odd/even in table rows is pretty cool. Columns, Shadows (text and background), Border Images, Word Wrap are all very cool, but what I’m bowled over to see is multiple layered backgrounds. It’s a feature I’ve craved for so long, but honestly never expected to see, AND IT’S HERE!

At the time, I don’t think I really considered the implications this would have to future designs, but 2 projects down the line, I have to say THANK GOD. I feel like a coder reborn (cheesy I know), I’ve rediscovered the joys of transparency, inline-blocks, and padding that doesn’t make me want to tear my own face off.

I’m also actually taking the time to look into CSS3, now that there’s actually a chance I’ll use it. Rounded corners are a godsend!

So I’d encourage any other coders out there to follow in the footsteps of 3DPixel, Facebook, Apple.. and numerous other big name websites, and lets kill it off for good!

The CSS3 spec gives us access to rounded corners without the need for images and loads of xhtml.  Just add the following to the appropriate <div>.  I’ve absolutely no idea whether this works in IE7+ but I suspect it doesn’t and as it’s for my personal blog, I don’t care.  Internet Explorer users deserve to look at shitty looking pages tbh :p

-moz-border-radius: 5px;
-webkit-border-radius: 5px;