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coding-guidelines.html
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0014 <title>phpBB3 • Coding Guidelines</title>
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0029 <a href="../index.php" id="logo"><img src="site_logo.gif" alt="" /></a>
0030 <h1>Coding Guidelines</h1>
0031 <p>Olympus coding guidelines document</p>
0032 <p style="display: none;"><a href="#start_here">Skip</a></p>
0033 </div>
0034
0035 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
0036 </div>
0037 </div>
0038
0039 <a name="start_here"></a>
0040
0041 <div id="page-body">
0042
0043 <!-- BEGIN DOCUMENT -->
0044
0045 <p>These are the phpBB Coding Guidelines for Olympus, all attempts should be made to follow them as closely as possible.</p>
0046
0047 <h1>Coding Guidelines</h1>
0048
0049 <div class="paragraph menu">
0050 <div class="inner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span>
0051
0052 <div class="content">
0053
0054 <ol>
0055 <li><a href="#defaults">Defaults</a>
0056 <ol style="list-style-type: lower-roman;">
0057 <li><a href="#editorsettings">Editor Settings</a></li>
0058 <li><a href="#fileheader">File Header</a></li>
0059 <li><a href="#locations">File Locations</a></li>
0060 </ol>
0061 </li>
0062 <li><a href="#code">Code Layout/Guidelines</a>
0063 <ol style="list-style-type: lower-roman;">
0064 <li><a href="#namingvars">Variable/Function Naming</a></li>
0065 <li><a href="#codelayout">Code Layout</a></li>
0066 <li><a href="#sql">SQL/SQL Layout</a></li>
0067 <li><a href="#optimizing">Optimizations</a></li>
0068 <li><a href="#general">General Guidelines</a></li>
0069 </ol>
0070 </li>
0071 <li><a href="#styling">Styling</a></li>
0072 <li><a href="#templating">Templating</a></li>
0073 <li><a href="#charsets">Character Sets and Encodings</a></li>
0074 <li><a href="#translation">Translation (<abbr title="Internationalisation">i18n</abbr>/<abbr title="Localisation">L10n</abbr>) Guidelines</a>
0075 <ol style="list-style-type: lower-roman;">
0076 <li><a href="#standardisation">Standardisation</a></li>
0077 <li><a href="#otherconsiderations">Other considerations</a></li>
0078 <li><a href="#writingstyle">Writing Style</a></li>
0079 </ol>
0080 </li>
0081 <li><a href="#changes">Guidelines Changelog</a></li>
0082 <li><a href="#disclaimer">Copyright and disclaimer</a></li>
0083 </ol>
0084
0085 </div>
0086
0087 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
0088 </div>
0089
0090 <hr />
0091
0092 <a name="defaults"></a><h2>1. Defaults</h2>
0093
0094 <div class="paragraph">
0095 <div class="inner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span>
0096
0097 <div class="content">
0098
0099 <a name="editorsettings"></a><h3>1.i. Editor Settings</h3>
0100
0101 <h4>Tabs vs Spaces:</h4>
0102 <p>In order to make this as simple as possible, we will be using tabs, not spaces. We enforce 4 (four) spaces for one tab - therefore you need to set your tab width within your editor to 4 spaces. Make sure that when you <strong>save</strong> the file, it's saving tabs and not spaces. This way, we can each have the code be displayed the way we like it, without breaking the layout of the actual files.</p>
0103 <p>Tabs in front of lines are no problem, but having them within the text can be a problem if you do not set it to the amount of spaces every one of us uses. Here is a short example of how it should look like:</p>
0104
0105 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0106 {TAB}$mode{TAB}{TAB}= request_var('mode', '');
0107 {TAB}$search_id{TAB}= request_var('search_id', '');
0108 </pre></div>
0109
0110 <p>If entered with tabs (replace the {TAB}) both equal signs need to be on the same column.</p>
0111
0112 <h3>Linefeeds:</h3>
0113 <p>Ensure that your editor is saving files in the UNIX format. This means lines are terminated with a newline, not with a CR/LF combo as they are on Win32, or whatever the Mac uses. Any decent editor should be able to do this, but it might not always be the default. Know your editor. If you want advice on Windows text editors, just ask one of the developers. Some of them do their editing on Win32.</p>
0114
0115 <a name="fileheader"></a><h3>1.ii. File Header</h3>
0116
0117 <h4>Standard header for new files:</h4>
0118 <p>This template of the header must be included at the start of all phpBB files: </p>
0119
0120 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0121 /**
0122 *
0123 * @package {PACKAGENAME}
0124 * @version $Id: $
0125 * @copyright (c) 2007 phpBB Group
0126 * @license http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php GNU Public License
0127 *
0128 */
0129 </pre></div>
0130
0131 <p>Please see the <a href="#locations">File Locations section</a> for the correct package name.</p>
0132
0133 <h4>Files containing inline code:</h4>
0134
0135 <p>For those files you have to put an empty comment directly after the header to prevent the documentor assigning the header to the first code element found.</p>
0136
0137 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0138 /**
0139 * {HEADER}
0140 */
0141
0142 /**
0143 */
0144 {CODE}
0145 </pre></div>
0146
0147 <h4>Files containing only functions:</h4>
0148
0149 <p>Do not forget to comment the functions (especially the first function following the header). Each function should have at least a comment of what this function does. For more complex functions it is recommended to document the parameters too.</p>
0150
0151 <h4>Files containing only classes:</h4>
0152
0153 <p>Do not forget to comment the class. Classes need a separate @package definition, it is the same as the header package name. Apart from this special case the above statement for files containing only functions needs to be applied to classes and it's methods too.</p>
0154
0155 <h4>Code following the header but only functions/classes file:</h4>
0156
0157 <p>If this case is true, the best method to avoid documentation confusions is adding an ignore command, for example:</p>
0158
0159 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0160 /**
0161 * {HEADER}
0162 */
0163
0164 /**
0165 * @ignore
0166 */
0167 Small code snipped, mostly one or two defines or an if statement
0168
0169 /**
0170 * {DOCUMENTATION}
0171 */
0172 class ...
0173 </pre></div>
0174
0175 <a name="locations"></a><h3>1.iii. File Locations</h3>
0176
0177 <p>Functions used by more than one page should be placed in functions.php, functions specific to one page should be placed on that page (at the bottom) or within the relevant sections functions file. Some files in <code>/includes</code> are holding functions responsible for special sections, for example uploading files, displaying "things", user related functions and so forth.</p>
0178
0179 <p>The following packages are defined, and related new features/functions should be placed within the mentioned files/locations, as well as specifying the correct package name. The package names are bold within this list:</p>
0180
0181 <ul>
0182 <li><strong>phpBB3</strong><br />Core files and all files not assigned to a separate package</li>
0183 <li><strong>acm</strong><br /><code>/includes/acm</code>, <code>/includes/cache.php</code><br />Cache System</li>
0184 <li><strong>acp</strong><br /><code>/adm</code>, <code>/includes/acp</code>, <code>/includes/functions_admin.php</code><br />Administration Control Panel</li>
0185 <li><strong>dbal</strong><br /><code>/includes/db</code><br />Database Abstraction Layer.<br />Base class is <code>dbal</code>
0186 <ul>
0187 <li><code>/includes/db/dbal.php</code><br />Base DBAL class, defining the overall framework</li>
0188 <li><code>/includes/db/firebird.php</code><br />Firebird/Interbase Database Abstraction Layer</li>
0189 <li><code>/includes/db/msssql.php</code><br />MSSQL Database Abstraction Layer</li>
0190 <li><code>/includes/db/mssql_odbc.php</code><br />MSSQL ODBC Database Abstraction Layer for MSSQL</li>
0191 <li><code>/includes/db/mysql.php</code><br />MySQL Database Abstraction Layer for MySQL 3.x/4.0.x</li>
0192 <li><code>/includes/db/mysql4.php</code><br />MySQL4 Database Abstraction Layer for MySQL 4.1.x/5.x</li>
0193 <li><code>/includes/db/mysqli.php</code><br />MySQLi Database Abstraction Layer</li>
0194 <li><code>/includes/db/oracle.php</code><br />Oracle Database Abstraction Layer</li>
0195 <li><code>/includes/db/postgres.php</code><br />PostgreSQL Database Abstraction Layer</li>
0196 <li><code>/includes/db/sqlite.php</code><br />Sqlite Database Abstraction Layer</li>
0197 </ul>
0198 </li>
0199 <li><strong>diff</strong><br /><code>/includes/diff</code><br />Diff Engine</li>
0200 <li><strong>docs</strong><br /><code>/docs</code><br />phpBB Documentation</li>
0201 <li><strong>images</strong><br /><code>/images</code><br />All global images not connected to styles</li>
0202 <li><strong>install</strong><br /><code>/install</code><br />Installation System</li>
0203 <li><strong>language</strong><br /><code>/language</code><br />All language files</li>
0204 <li><strong>login</strong><br /><code>/includes/auth</code><br />Login Authentication Plugins</li>
0205 <li><strong>VC</strong><br /><code>/includes/captcha</code><br />CAPTCHA</li>
0206 <li><strong>mcp</strong><br /><code>mcp.php</code>, <code>/includes/mcp</code>, <code>report.php</code><br />Moderator Control Panel</li>
0207 <li><strong>ucp</strong><br /><code>ucp.php</code>, <code>/includes/ucp</code><br />User Control Panel</li>
0208 <li><strong>utf</strong><br /><code>/includes/utf</code><br />UTF8-related functions/classes</li>
0209 <li><strong>search</strong><br /><code>/includes/search</code>, <code>search.php</code><br />Search System</li>
0210 <li><strong>styles</strong><br /><code>/styles</code>, <code>style.php</code><br />phpBB Styles/Templates/Themes/Imagesets</li>
0211 </ul>
0212
0213 </div>
0214
0215 <div class="back2top"><a href="#wrap" class="top">Back to Top</a></div>
0216
0217 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
0218 </div>
0219
0220 <hr />
0221
0222 <a name="code"></a><h2>2. Code Layout/Guidelines</h2>
0223
0224 <div class="paragraph">
0225 <div class="inner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span>
0226
0227 <div class="content">
0228
0229 <p>Please note that these Guidelines applies to all php, html, javascript and css files.</p>
0230
0231 <a name="namingvars"></a><h3>2.i. Variable/Function Naming</h3>
0232
0233 <p>We will not be using any form of hungarian notation in our naming conventions. Many of us believe that hungarian naming is one of the primary code obfuscation techniques currently in use.</p>
0234
0235 <h4>Variable Names:</h4>
0236 <p>Variable names should be in all lowercase, with words separated by an underscore, example:</p>
0237
0238 <div class="indent">
0239 <p><code>$current_user</code> is right, but <code>$currentuser</code> and <code> $currentUser</code> are not.</p>
0240 </div>
0241
0242 <p>Names should be descriptive, but concise. We don't want huge sentences as our variable names, but typing an extra couple of characters is always better than wondering what exactly a certain variable is for. </p>
0243
0244 <h4>Loop Indices:</h4>
0245 <p>The <em>only</em> situation where a one-character variable name is allowed is when it's the index for some looping construct. In this case, the index of the outer loop should always be $i. If there's a loop inside that loop, its index should be $j, followed by $k, and so on. If the loop is being indexed by some already-existing variable with a meaningful name, this guideline does not apply, example:</p>
0246
0247 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0248 for ($i = 0; $i < $outer_size; $i++)
0249 {
0250 for ($j = 0; $j < $inner_size; $j++)
0251 {
0252 foo($i, $j);
0253 }
0254 }
0255 </pre></div>
0256
0257 <h4>Function Names:</h4>
0258 <p>Functions should also be named descriptively. We're not programming in C here, we don't want to write functions called things like "stristr()". Again, all lower-case names with words separated by a single underscore character. Function names should preferably have a verb in them somewhere. Good function names are <code>print_login_status()</code>, <code>get_user_data()</code>, etc. </p>
0259
0260 <h4>Function Arguments:</h4>
0261 <p>Arguments are subject to the same guidelines as variable names. We don't want a bunch of functions like: <code>do_stuff($a, $b, $c)</code>. In most cases, we'd like to be able to tell how to use a function by just looking at its declaration. </p>
0262
0263 <h4>Summary:</h4>
0264 <p>The basic philosophy here is to not hurt code clarity for the sake of laziness. This has to be balanced by a little bit of common sense, though; <code>print_login_status_for_a_given_user()</code> goes too far, for example -- that function would be better named <code>print_user_login_status()</code>, or just <code>print_login_status()</code>.</p>
0265
0266 <h4>Special Namings: </h4>
0267 <p>For all emoticons use the term <code>smiley</code> in singular and <code>smilies</code> in plural.</p>
0268
0269 <a name="codelayout"></a><h3>2.ii. Code Layout</h3>
0270
0271 <h4>Always include the braces:</h4>
0272 <p>This is another case of being too lazy to type 2 extra characters causing problems with code clarity. Even if the body of some construct is only one line long, do <em>not</em> drop the braces. Just don't, examples:</p>
0273
0274 <p class="bad">// These are all wrong. </p>
0275
0276 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0277 if (condition) do_stuff();
0278
0279 if (condition)
0280 do_stuff();
0281
0282 while (condition)
0283 do_stuff();
0284
0285 for ($i = 0; $i < size; $i++)
0286 do_stuff($i);
0287 </pre></div>
0288
0289 <p class="good">// These are all right. </p>
0290 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0291 if (condition)
0292 {
0293 do_stuff();
0294 }
0295
0296 while (condition)
0297 {
0298 do_stuff();
0299 }
0300
0301 for ($i = 0; $i < size; $i++)
0302 {
0303 do_stuff();
0304 }
0305 </pre></div>
0306
0307 <h4>Where to put the braces:</h4>
0308 <p>This one is a bit of a holy war, but we're going to use a style that can be summed up in one sentence: Braces always go on their own line. The closing brace should also always be at the same column as the corresponding opening brace, examples:</p>
0309
0310 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0311 if (condition)
0312 {
0313 while (condition2)
0314 {
0315 ...
0316 }
0317 }
0318 else
0319 {
0320 ...
0321 }
0322
0323 for ($i = 0; $i < $size; $i++)
0324 {
0325 ...
0326 }
0327
0328 while (condition)
0329 {
0330 ...
0331 }
0332
0333 function do_stuff()
0334 {
0335 ...
0336 }
0337 </pre></div>
0338
0339 <h4>Use spaces between tokens:</h4>
0340 <p>This is another simple, easy step that helps keep code readable without much effort. Whenever you write an assignment, expression, etc.. Always leave <em>one</em> space between the tokens. Basically, write code as if it was English. Put spaces between variable names and operators. Don't put spaces just after an opening bracket or before a closing bracket. Don't put spaces just before a comma or a semicolon. This is best shown with a few examples, examples:</p>
0341
0342 <p>// Each pair shows the wrong way followed by the right way. </p>
0343
0344 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0345 $i=0;
0346 $i = 0;
0347
0348 if($i<7) ...
0349 if ($i < 7) ...
0350
0351 if ( ($i < 7)&&($j > 8) ) ...
0352 if ($i < 7 && $j > 8) ...
0353
0354 do_stuff( $i, 'foo', $b );
0355 do_stuff($i, 'foo', $b);
0356
0357 for($i=0; $i<$size; $i++) ...
0358 for ($i = 0; $i < $size; $i++) ...
0359
0360 $i=($j < $size)?0:1;
0361 $i = ($j < $size) ? 0 : 1;
0362 </pre></div>
0363
0364 <h4>Operator precedence:</h4>
0365 <p>Do you know the exact precedence of all the operators in PHP? Neither do I. Don't guess. Always make it obvious by using brackets to force the precedence of an equation so you know what it does. Remember to not over-use this, as it may harden the readability. Basically, do not enclose single expressions. Examples:</p>
0366
0367 <p class="bad">// what's the result? who knows. </p>
0368 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0369 $bool = ($i < 7 && $j > 8 || $k == 4);
0370 </pre></div>
0371
0372 <p class="bad">// now you can be certain what I'm doing here.</p>
0373 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0374 $bool = (($i < 7) && (($j < 8) || ($k == 4)));
0375 </pre></div>
0376
0377 <p class="good">// But this one is even better, because it is easier on the eye but the intention is preserved</p>
0378 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0379 $bool = ($i < 7 && ($j < 8 || $k == 4));
0380 </pre></div>
0381
0382 <h4>Quoting strings:</h4>
0383 <p>There are two different ways to quote strings in PHP - either with single quotes or with double quotes. The main difference is that the parser does variable interpolation in double-quoted strings, but not in single quoted strings. Because of this, you should <em>always</em> use single quotes <em>unless</em> you specifically need variable interpolation to be done on that string. This way, we can save the parser the trouble of parsing a bunch of strings where no interpolation needs to be done.</p>
0384 <p>Also, if you are using a string variable as part of a function call, you do not need to enclose that variable in quotes. Again, this will just make unnecessary work for the parser. Note, however, that nearly all of the escape sequences that exist for double-quoted strings will not work with single-quoted strings. Be careful, and feel free to break this guideline if it's making your code easier to read, examples:</p>
0385
0386 <p class="bad">// wrong </p>
0387 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0388 $str = "This is a really long string with no variables for the parser to find.";
0389
0390 do_stuff("$str");
0391 </pre></div>
0392
0393 <p class="good">// right</p>
0394 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0395 $str = 'This is a really long string with no variables for the parser to find.';
0396
0397 do_stuff($str);
0398 </pre></div>
0399
0400 <p class="bad">// Sometimes single quotes are just not right</p>
0401 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0402 $post_url = $phpbb_root_path . 'posting.' . $phpEx . '?mode=' . $mode . '&amp;start=' . $start;
0403 </pre></div>
0404
0405 <p class="good">// Double quotes are sometimes needed to not overcroud the line with concentinations</p>
0406 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0407 $post_url = "{$phpbb_root_path}posting.$phpEx?mode=$mode&amp;start=$start";
0408 </pre></div>
0409
0410 <p>In SQL Statements mixing single and double quotes is partly allowed (following the guidelines listed here about SQL Formatting), else it should be tryed to only use one method - mostly single quotes.</p>
0411
0412 <h4>Associative array keys:</h4>
0413 <p>In PHP, it's legal to use a literal string as a key to an associative array without quoting that string. We don't want to do this -- the string should always be quoted to avoid confusion. Note that this is only when we're using a literal, not when we're using a variable, examples:</p>
0414
0415 <p class="bad">// wrong</p>
0416 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0417 $foo = $assoc_array[blah];
0418 </pre></div>
0419
0420 <p class="good">// right </p>
0421 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0422 $foo = $assoc_array['blah'];
0423 </pre></div>
0424
0425 <p class="bad">// wrong</p>
0426 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0427 $foo = $assoc_array["$var"];
0428 </pre></div>
0429
0430 <p class="good">// right </p>
0431 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0432 $foo = $assoc_array[$var];
0433 </pre></div>
0434
0435 <h4>Comments:</h4>
0436 <p>Each complex function should be preceded by a comment that tells a programmer everything they need to know to use that function. The meaning of every parameter, the expected input, and the output are required as a minimal comment. The function's behaviour in error conditions (and what those error conditions are) should also be present - but mostly included within the comment about the output.<br /><br />Especially important to document are any assumptions the code makes, or preconditions for its proper operation. Any one of the developers should be able to look at any part of the application and figure out what's going on in a reasonable amount of time.<br /><br />Avoid using <code>/* */</code> comment blocks for one-line comments, <code>//</code> should be used for one/two-liners.</p>
0437
0438 <h4>Magic numbers:</h4>
0439 <p>Don't use them. Use named constants for any literal value other than obvious special cases. Basically, it's ok to check if an array has 0 elements by using the literal 0. It's not ok to assign some special meaning to a number and then use it everywhere as a literal. This hurts readability AND maintainability. The constants <code>true</code> and <code>false</code> should be used in place of the literals 1 and 0 -- even though they have the same values (but not type!), it's more obvious what the actual logic is when you use the named constants. Typecast variables where it is needed, do not rely on the correct variable type (PHP is currently very loose on typecasting which can lead to security problems if a developer does not have a very close eye to it).</p>
0440
0441 <h4>Shortcut operators:</h4>
0442 <p>The only shortcut operators that cause readability problems are the shortcut increment <code>$i++</code> and decrement <code>$j--</code> operators. These operators should not be used as part of an expression. They can, however, be used on their own line. Using them in expressions is just not worth the headaches when debugging, examples:</p>
0443
0444 <p class="bad">// wrong </p>
0445 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0446 $array[++$i] = $j;
0447 $array[$i++] = $k;
0448 </pre></div>
0449
0450 <p class="good">// right </p>
0451 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0452 $i++;
0453 $array[$i] = $j;
0454
0455 $array[$i] = $k;
0456 $i++;
0457 </pre></div>
0458
0459 <h4>Inline conditionals:</h4>
0460 <p>Inline conditionals should only be used to do very simple things. Preferably, they will only be used to do assignments, and not for function calls or anything complex at all. They can be harmful to readability if used incorrectly, so don't fall in love with saving typing by using them, examples:</p>
0461
0462 <p class="bad">// Bad place to use them</p>
0463 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0464 ($i < $size && $j > $size) ? do_stuff($foo) : do_stuff($bar);
0465 </pre></div>
0466
0467 <p class="good">// OK place to use them </p>
0468 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0469 $min = ($i < $j) ? $i : $j;
0470 </pre></div>
0471
0472 <h4>Don't use uninitialized variables.</h4>
0473 <p>For phpBB3, we intend to use a higher level of run-time error reporting. This will mean that the use of an uninitialized variable will be reported as a warning. These warnings can be avoided by using the built-in isset() function to check whether a variable has been set - but preferably the variable is always existing. For checking if an array has a key set this can come in handy though, examples:</p>
0474
0475 <p class="bad">// Wrong </p>
0476 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0477 if ($forum) ...
0478 </pre></div>
0479
0480 <p class="good">// Right </p>
0481 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0482 if (isset($forum)) ...
0483 </pre></div>
0484
0485 <p class="good">// Also possible</p>
0486 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0487 if (isset($forum) && $forum == 5)
0488 </pre></div>
0489
0490 <p>The <code>empty()</code> function is useful if you want to check if a variable is not set or being empty (an empty string, 0 as an integer or string, NULL, false, an empty array or a variable declared, but without a value in a class). Therefore empty should be used in favor of <code>isset($array) && sizeof($array) > 0</code> - this can be written in a shorter way as <code>!empty($array)</code>.</p>
0491
0492 <h4>Switch statements:</h4>
0493 <p>Switch/case code blocks can get a bit long sometimes. To have some level of notice and being in-line with the opening/closing brace requirement (where they are on the same line for better readability), this also applies to switch/case code blocks and the breaks. An example:</p>
0494
0495 <p class="bad">// Wrong </p>
0496 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0497 switch ($mode)
0498 {
0499 case 'mode1':
0500 // I am doing something here
0501 break;
0502 case 'mode2':
0503 // I am doing something completely different here
0504 break;
0505 }
0506 </pre></div>
0507
0508 <p class="good">// Good </p>
0509 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0510 switch ($mode)
0511 {
0512 case 'mode1':
0513 // I am doing something here
0514 break;
0515
0516 case 'mode2':
0517 // I am doing something completely different here
0518 break;
0519
0520 default:
0521 // Always assume that the case got not catched
0522 break;
0523 }
0524 </pre></div>
0525
0526 <p class="good">// Also good, if you have more code between the case and the break </p>
0527 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0528 switch ($mode)
0529 {
0530 case 'mode1':
0531
0532 // I am doing something here
0533
0534 break;
0535
0536 case 'mode2':
0537
0538 // I am doing something completely different here
0539
0540 break;
0541
0542 default:
0543
0544 // Always assume that the case got not catched
0545
0546 break;
0547 }
0548 </pre></div>
0549
0550 <p>Even if the break for the default case is not needed, it is sometimes better to include it just for readability and completeness.</p>
0551
0552 <p>If no break is intended, please add a comment instead. An example:</p>
0553
0554 <p class="good">// Example with no break </p>
0555 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0556 switch ($mode)
0557 {
0558 case 'mode1':
0559
0560 // I am doing something here
0561
0562 // no break here
0563
0564 case 'mode2':
0565
0566 // I am doing something completely different here
0567
0568 break;
0569
0570 default:
0571
0572 // Always assume that the case got not catched
0573
0574 break;
0575 }
0576 </pre></div>
0577
0578 <a name="sql"></a><h3>2.iii. SQL/SQL Layout</h3>
0579
0580 <h4>Common SQL Guidelines: </h4>
0581 <p>All SQL should be cross-DB compatible, if DB specific SQL is used alternatives must be provided which work on all supported DB's (MySQL3/4/5, MSSQL (7.0 and 2000), PostgreSQL (7.0+), Firebird, SQLite, Oracle8, ODBC (generalised if possible)).</p>
0582 <p>All SQL commands should utilise the DataBase Abstraction Layer (DBAL)</p>
0583
0584 <h4>SQL code layout:</h4>
0585 <p>SQL Statements are often unreadable without some formatting, since they tend to be big at times. Though the formatting of sql statements adds a lot to the readability of code. SQL statements should be formatted in the following way, basically writing keywords: </p>
0586
0587 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0588 $sql = 'SELECT *
0589 <-one tab->FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . '
0590 <-one tab->WHERE a = 1
0591 <-two tabs->AND (b = 2
0592 <-three tabs->OR b = 3)
0593 <-one tab->ORDER BY b';
0594 </pre></div>
0595
0596 <p>Here the example with the tabs applied:</p>
0597
0598 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0599 $sql = 'SELECT *
0600 FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . '
0601 WHERE a = 1
0602 AND (b = 2
0603 OR b = 3)
0604 ORDER BY b';
0605 </pre></div>
0606
0607 <h4>SQL Quotes: </h4>
0608 <p>Double quotes where applicable (The variables in these examples are typecasted to integers before) ... examples: </p>
0609
0610 <p class="bad">// These are wrong.</p>
0611 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0612 "UPDATE " . SOME_TABLE . " SET something = something_else WHERE a = $b";
0613
0614 'UPDATE ' . SOME_TABLE . ' SET something = ' . $user_id . ' WHERE a = ' . $something;
0615 </pre></div>
0616
0617 <p class="good">// These are right. </p>
0618
0619 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0620 'UPDATE ' . SOME_TABLE . " SET something = something_else WHERE a = $b";
0621
0622 'UPDATE ' . SOME_TABLE . " SET something = $user_id WHERE a = $something";
0623 </pre></div>
0624
0625 <p>In other words use single quotes where no variable substitution is required or where the variable involved shouldn't appear within double quotes. Otherwise use double quotes.</p>
0626
0627 <h4>Avoid DB specific SQL: </h4>
0628 <p>The "not equals operator", as defined by the SQL:2003 standard, is "<>"</p>
0629
0630 <p class="bad">// This is wrong.</p>
0631 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0632 $sql = 'SELECT *
0633 FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . '
0634 WHERE a != 2';
0635 </pre></div>
0636
0637 <p class="good">// This is right. </p>
0638 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0639 $sql = 'SELECT *
0640 FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . '
0641 WHERE a <> 2';
0642 </pre></div>
0643
0644 <h4>Common DBAL methods: </h4>
0645
0646 <h4>sql_escape():</h4>
0647
0648 <p>Always use <code>$db->sql_escape()</code> if you need to check for a string within an SQL statement (even if you are sure the variable cannot contain single quotes - never trust your input), for example:</p>
0649
0650 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0651 $sql = 'SELECT *
0652 FROM ' . SOME_TABLE . "
0653 WHERE username = '" . $db->sql_escape($username) . "'";
0654 </pre></div>
0655
0656 <h4>sql_query_limit():</h4>
0657
0658 <p>We do not add limit statements to the sql query, but instead use <code>$db->sql_query_limit()</code>. You basically pass the query, the total number of lines to retrieve and the offset.</p>
0659
0660 <p><strong>Note: </strong> Since Oracle handles limits differently and because of how we implemented this handling you need to take special care if you use <code>sql_query_limit</code> with an sql query retrieving data from more than one table.</p>
0661
0662 <p>Make sure when using something like "SELECT x.*, y.jars" that there is not a column named jars in x; make sure that there is no overlap between an implicit column and the explicit columns.</p>
0663
0664 <h4>sql_build_array():</h4>
0665
0666 <p>If you need to UPDATE or INSERT data, make use of the <code>$db->sql_build_array()</code> function. This function already escapes strings and checks other types, so there is no need to do this here. The data to be inserted should go into an array - <code>$sql_ary</code> - or directly within the statement if one or two variables needs to be inserted/updated. An example of an insert statement would be:</p>
0667
0668 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0669 $sql_ary = array(
0670 'somedata' => $my_string,
0671 'otherdata' => $an_int,
0672 'moredata' => $another_int
0673 );
0674
0675 $db->sql_query('INSERT INTO ' . SOME_TABLE . ' ' . $db->sql_build_array('INSERT', $sql_ary));
0676 </pre></div>
0677
0678 <p>To complete the example, this is how an update statement would look like:</p>
0679
0680 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0681 $sql_ary = array(
0682 'somedata' => $my_string,
0683 'otherdata' => $an_int,
0684 'moredata' => $another_int
0685 );
0686
0687 $sql = 'UPDATE ' . SOME_TABLE . '
0688 SET ' . $db->sql_build_array('UPDATE', $sql_ary) . '
0689 WHERE user_id = ' . (int) $user_id;
0690 $db->sql_query($sql);
0691 </pre></div>
0692
0693 <p>The <code>$db->sql_build_array()</code> function supports the following modes: <code>INSERT</code> (example above), <code>INSERT_SELECT</code> (building query for <code>INSERT INTO table (...) SELECT value, column ...</code> statements), <code>MULTI_INSERT</code> (for returning extended inserts), <code>UPDATE</code> (example above) and <code>SELECT</code> (for building WHERE statement [AND logic]).</p>
0694
0695 <h4>sql_in_set():</h4>
0696
0697 <p>The <code>$db->sql_in_set()</code> function should be used for building <code>IN ()</code> and <code>NOT IN ()</code> constructs. Since (specifically) MySQL tend to be faster if for one value to be compared the <code>=</code> and <code><></code> operator is used, we let the DBAL decide what to do. A typical example of doing a positive match against a number of values would be:</p>
0698
0699 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0700 $sql = 'SELECT *
0701 FROM ' . FORUMS_TABLE . '
0702 WHERE ' . $db->sql_in_set('forum_id', $forum_ids);
0703 $db->sql_query($sql);
0704 </pre></div>
0705
0706 <p>Based on the number of values in $forum_ids, the query can look differently.</p>
0707
0708 <p class="good">// SQL Statement if $forum_ids = array(1, 2, 3);</p>
0709
0710 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0711 SELECT FROM phpbb_forums WHERE forum_id IN (1, 2, 3)
0712 </pre></div>
0713
0714 <p class="good">// SQL Statement if $forum_ids = array(1) or $forum_ids = 1</p>
0715
0716 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0717 SELECT FROM phpbb_forums WHERE forum_id = 1
0718 </pre></div>
0719
0720 <p>Of course the same is possible for doing a negative match against a number of values:</p>
0721
0722 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0723 $sql = 'SELECT *
0724 FROM ' . FORUMS_TABLE . '
0725 WHERE ' . $db->sql_in_set('forum_id', $forum_ids, <strong>true</strong>);
0726 $db->sql_query($sql);
0727 </pre></div>
0728
0729 <p>Based on the number of values in $forum_ids, the query can look differently here too.</p>
0730
0731 <p class="good">// SQL Statement if $forum_ids = array(1, 2, 3);</p>
0732
0733 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0734 SELECT FROM phpbb_forums WHERE forum_id <strong>NOT</strong> IN (1, 2, 3)
0735 </pre></div>
0736
0737 <p class="good">// SQL Statement if $forum_ids = array(1) or $forum_ids = 1</p>
0738
0739 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0740 SELECT FROM phpbb_forums WHERE forum_id <strong><></strong> 1
0741 </pre></div>
0742
0743 <p>If the given array is empty, an error will be produced.</p>
0744
0745 <h4>sql_build_query():</h4>
0746
0747 <p>The <code>$db->sql_build_query()</code> function is responsible for building sql statements for select and select distinct queries if you need to JOIN on more than one table or retrieving data from more than one table while doing a JOIN. This needs to be used to make sure the resulting statement is working on all supported db's. Instead of explaining every possible combination, i will give a short example:</p>
0748
0749 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0750 $sql_array = array(
0751 'SELECT' => 'f.*, ft.mark_time',
0752
0753 'FROM' => array(
0754 FORUMS_WATCH_TABLE => 'fw',
0755 FORUMS_TABLE => 'f'
0756 ),
0757
0758 'LEFT_JOIN' => array(
0759 array(
0760 'FROM' => array(FORUMS_TRACK_TABLE => 'ft'),
0761 'ON' => 'ft.user_id = ' . $user->data['user_id'] . ' AND ft.forum_id = f.forum_id'
0762 )
0763 ),
0764
0765 'WHERE' => 'fw.user_id = ' . $user->data['user_id'] . '
0766 AND f.forum_id = fw.forum_id',
0767
0768 'ORDER_BY' => 'left_id'
0769 );
0770
0771 $sql = $db->sql_build_query('SELECT', $sql_array);
0772 </pre></div>
0773
0774 <p>The possible first parameter for sql_build_query() is SELECT or SELECT_DISTINCT. As you can see, the logic is pretty self-explaining. For the LEFT_JOIN key, just add another array if you want to join on to tables for example. The added benefit of using this construct is that you are able to easily build the query statement based on conditions - for example the above LEFT_JOIN is only necessary if server side topic tracking is enabled; a slight adjustement would be:</p>
0775
0776 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0777 $sql_array = array(
0778 'SELECT' => 'f.*',
0779
0780 'FROM' => array(
0781 FORUMS_WATCH_TABLE => 'fw',
0782 FORUMS_TABLE => 'f'
0783 ),
0784
0785 'WHERE' => 'fw.user_id = ' . $user->data['user_id'] . '
0786 AND f.forum_id = fw.forum_id',
0787
0788 'ORDER_BY' => 'left_id'
0789 );
0790
0791 if ($config['load_db_lastread'])
0792 {
0793 $sql_array['LEFT_JOIN'] = array(
0794 array(
0795 'FROM' => array(FORUMS_TRACK_TABLE => 'ft'),
0796 'ON' => 'ft.user_id = ' . $user->data['user_id'] . ' AND ft.forum_id = f.forum_id'
0797 )
0798 );
0799
0800 $sql_array['SELECT'] .= ', ft.mark_time ';
0801 }
0802 else
0803 {
0804 // Here we read the cookie data
0805 }
0806
0807 $sql = $db->sql_build_query('SELECT', $sql_array);
0808 </pre></div>
0809
0810 <a name="optimizing"></a><h3>2.iv. Optimizations</h3>
0811
0812 <h4>Operations in loop definition: </h4>
0813 <p>Always try to optimize your loops if operations are going on at the comparing part, since this part is executed every time the loop is parsed through. For assignments a descriptive name should be chosen. Example:</p>
0814
0815 <p class="bad">// On every iteration the sizeof function is called</p>
0816 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0817 for ($i = 0; $i < sizeof($post_data); $i++)
0818 {
0819 do_something();
0820 }
0821 </pre></div>
0822
0823 <p class="good">// You are able to assign the (not changing) result within the loop itself</p>
0824 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0825 for ($i = 0, $size = sizeof($post_data); $i < $size; $i++)
0826 {
0827 do_something();
0828 }
0829 </pre></div>
0830
0831 <h4>Use of in_array(): </h4>
0832 <p>Try to avoid using in_array() on huge arrays, and try to not place them into loops if the array to check consist of more than 20 entries. in_array() can be very time consuming and uses a lot of cpu processing time. For little checks it is not noticable, but if checked against a huge array within a loop those checks alone can be a bunch of seconds. If you need this functionality, try using isset() on the arrays keys instead, actually shifting the values into keys and vice versa. A call to <code>isset($array[$var])</code> is a lot faster than <code>in_array($var, array_keys($array))</code> for example.</p>
0833
0834
0835 <a name="general"></a><h3>2.v. General Guidelines</h3>
0836
0837 <h4>General things:</h4>
0838 <p>Never trust user input (this also applies to server variables as well as cookies).</p>
0839 <p>Try to sanitize values returned from a function.</p>
0840 <p>Try to sanitize given function variables within your function.</p>
0841 <p>The auth class should be used for all authorisation checking.</p>
0842 <p>No attempt should be made to remove any copyright information (either contained within the source or displayed interactively when the source is run/compiled), neither should the copyright information be altered in any way (it may be added to).</p>
0843
0844 <h4>Variables: </h4>
0845 <p>Make use of the <code>request_var()</code> function for anything except for submit or single checking params. </p>
0846 <p>The request_var function determines the type to set from the second parameter (which determines the default value too). If you need to get a scalar variable type, you need to tell this the request_var function explicitly. Examples:</p>
0847
0848 <p class="bad">// Old method, do not use it</p>
0849 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0850 $start = (isset($HTTP_GET_VARS['start'])) ? intval($HTTP_GET_VARS['start']) : intval($HTTP_POST_VARS['start']);
0851 $submit = (isset($HTTP_POST_VARS['submit'])) ? true : false;
0852 </pre></div>
0853
0854 <p class="good">// Use request var and define a default variable (use the correct type)</p>
0855 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0856 $start = request_var('start', 0);
0857 $submit = (isset($_POST['submit'])) ? true : false;
0858 </pre></div>
0859
0860 <p class="bad">// $start is an int, the following use of request_var therefore is not allowed</p>
0861 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0862 $start = request_var('start', '0');
0863 </pre></div>
0864
0865 <p class="good">// Getting an array, keys are integers, value defaults to 0</p>
0866 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0867 $mark_array = request_var('mark', array(0));
0868 </pre></div>
0869
0870 <p class="good">// Getting an array, keys are strings, value defaults to 0</p>
0871 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0872 $action_ary = request_var('action', array('' => 0));
0873 </pre></div>
0874
0875 <h4>Login checks/redirection: </h4>
0876 <p>To show a forum login box use <code>login_forum_box($forum_data)</code>, else use the <code>login_box()</code> function.</p>
0877
0878 <p>The <code>login_box()</code> function can have a redirect as the first parameter. As a thumb of rule, specify an empty string if you want to redirect to the users current location, else do not add the <code>$SID</code> to the redirect string (for example within the ucp/login we redirect to the board index because else the user would be redirected to the login screen).</p>
0879
0880 <h4>Sensitive Operations: </h4>
0881 <p>For sensitive operations always let the user confirm the action. For the confirmation screens, make use of the <code>confirm_box()</code> function.</p>
0882
0883 <h4>Altering Operations: </h4>
0884 <p>For operations altering the state of the database, for instance posting, always verify the form token, unless you are already using <code>confirm_box()</code>. To do so, make use of the <code>add_form_key()</code> and <code>check_form_key()</code> functions. </p>
0885 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0886 add_form_key('my_form');
0887
0888 if ($submit)
0889 {
0890 if (!check_form_key('my_form'))
0891 {
0892 trigger_error('FORM_INVALID');
0893 }
0894 }
0895 </pre></div>
0896
0897 <p>The string passed to <code>add_form_key()</code> needs to match the string passed to <code>check_form_key()</code>. Another requirement for this to work correctly is that all forms include the <code>{S_FORM_TOKEN}</code> template variable.</p>
0898
0899
0900 <h4>Sessions: </h4>
0901 <p>Sessions should be initiated on each page, as near the top as possible using the following code:</p>
0902
0903 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0904 $user->session_begin();
0905 $auth->acl($user->data);
0906 $user->setup();
0907 </pre></div>
0908
0909 <p>The <code>$user->setup()</code> call can be used to pass on additional language definition and a custom style (used in viewforum).</p>
0910
0911 <h4>Errors and messages: </h4>
0912 <p>All messages/errors should be outputed by calling <code>trigger_error()</code> using the appropriate message type and language string. Example:</p>
0913
0914 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0915 trigger_error('NO_FORUM');
0916 </pre></div>
0917
0918 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0919 trigger_error($user->lang['NO_FORUM']);
0920 </pre></div>
0921
0922 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0923 trigger_error('NO_MODE', E_USER_ERROR);
0924 </pre></div>
0925
0926 <h4>Url formatting</h4>
0927
0928 <p>All urls pointing to internal files need to be prepended by the <code>$phpbb_root_path</code> variable. Within the administration control panel all urls pointing to internal files need to be prepended by the <code>$phpbb_admin_path</code> variable. This makes sure the path is always correct and users being able to just rename the admin folder and the acp still working as intended (though some links will fail and the code need to be slightly adjusted).</p>
0929
0930 <p>The <code>append_sid()</code> function from 2.0.x is available too, though does not handle url alterations automatically. Please have a look at the code documentation if you want to get more details on how to use append_sid(). A sample call to append_sid() can look like this:</p>
0931
0932 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0933 append_sid("{$phpbb_root_path}memberlist.$phpEx", 'mode=group&amp;g=' . $row['group_id'])
0934 </pre></div>
0935
0936 <h4>General function usage: </h4>
0937
0938 <p>Some of these functions are only chosen over others because of personal preference and having no other benefit than to be consistant over the code.</p>
0939
0940 <ul>
0941 <li>
0942 <p>Use <code>sizeof</code> instead of <code>count</code></p>
0943 </li>
0944 <li>
0945 <p>Use <code>strpos</code> instead of <code>strstr</code></p>
0946 </li>
0947 <li>
0948 <p>Use <code>else if</code> instead of <code>elseif</code></p>
0949 </li>
0950 <li>
0951 <p>Use <code>false</code> (lowercase) instead of <code>FALSE</code></p>
0952 </li>
0953 <li>
0954 <p>Use <code>true</code> (lowercase) instead of <code>TRUE</code></p>
0955 </li>
0956 </ul>
0957
0958 <h4>Exiting</h4>
0959
0960 <p>Your page should either call <code>page_footer()</code> in the end to trigger output through the template engine and terminate the script, or alternatively at least call the <code>exit_handler()</code>. That call is necessary because it provides a method for external applications embedding phpBB to be called at the end of the script.</p>
0961
0962 </div>
0963
0964 <div class="back2top"><a href="#wrap" class="top">Back to Top</a></div>
0965
0966 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
0967 </div>
0968
0969 <hr />
0970
0971 <a name="styling"></a><h2>3. Styling</h2>
0972 <div class="paragraph">
0973 <div class="inner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span>
0974
0975 <div class="content">
0976
0977 <h4>General things</h4>
0978 <p>Templates should be produced in a consistent manner. Where appropriate they should be based off an existing copy, e.g. index, viewforum or viewtopic (the combination of which implement a range of conditional and variable forms). Please also note that the intendation and coding guidelines also apply to templates where possible.</p>
0979
0980 <p>The outer table class <code>forumline</code> has gone and is replaced with <code>tablebg</code>.</p>
0981 <p>When writing <code><table></code> the order <code><table class="" cellspacing="" cellpadding="" border="" align=""></code> creates consistency and allows everyone to easily see which table produces which "look". The same applies to most other tags for which additional parameters can be set, consistency is the major aim here.</p>
0982 <p>Each block level element should be indented by one tab, same for tabular elements, e.g. <code><tr></code> <code><td></code> etc., whereby the intendiation of <code><table></code> and the following/ending <code><tr></code> should be on the same line. This applies not to div elements of course.</p>
0983 <p>Don't use <code><span></code> more than is essential ... the CSS is such that text sizes are dependent on the parent class. So writing <code><span class="gensmall"><span class="gensmall">TEST</span></span></code> will result in very very small text. Similarly don't use span at all if another element can contain the class definition, e.g.</p>
0984
0985 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0986 <td><span class="gensmall">TEST</span></td>
0987 </pre></div>
0988
0989 <p>can just as well become:</p>
0990 <div class="codebox"><pre>
0991 <td class="gensmall">TEST</td>
0992 </pre></div>
0993
0994 <p>Try to match text class types with existing useage, e.g. don't use the nav class where viewtopic uses gensmall for example.</p>
0995
0996 <p>Row colours/classes are now defined by the template, use an <code>IF S_ROW_COUNT</code> switch, see viewtopic or viewforum for an example.</p>
0997
0998 <p>Remember block level ordering is important ... while not all pages validate as XHTML 1.0 Strict compliant it is something we're trying to work too.</p>
0999
1000 <p>Use a standard cellpadding of 2 and cellspacing of 0 on outer tables. Inner tables can vary from 0 to 3 or even 4 depending on the need.</p>
1001
1002 <p><strong>Use div container/css for styling and table for data representation.</strong></p>
1003
1004 <p>The separate catXXXX and thXXX classes are gone. When defining a header cell just use <code><th></code> rather than <code><th class="thHead"></code> etc. Similarly for cat, don't use <code><td class="catLeft"></code> use <code><td class="cat"></code> etc.</p>
1005
1006 <p>Try to retain consistency of basic layout and class useage, i.e. _EXPLAIN text should generally be placed below the title it explains, e.g. <code>{L_POST_USERNAME}<br /><span class="gensmall">{L_POST_USERNAME_EXPLAIN}</span></code> is the typical way of handling this ... there may be exceptions and this isn't a hard and fast rule.</p>
1007
1008 <p>Try to keep template conditional and other statements tabbed in line with the block to which they refer.</p>
1009
1010 <p class="good">this is correct</p>
1011 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1012 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN test --></span>
1013 <tr>
1014 <td>{test.TEXT}</td>
1015 </tr>
1016 <span class="comment"><!-- END test --></span>
1017 </pre></div>
1018
1019 <p class="good">this is also correct:</p>
1020 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1021 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN test --></span>
1022 <tr>
1023 <td>{test.TEXT}</td>
1024 </tr>
1025 <span class="comment"><!-- END test --></span>
1026 </pre></div>
1027
1028 <p>it gives immediate feedback on exactly what is looping - decide which way to use based on the readability.</p>
1029
1030 </div>
1031
1032 <div class="back2top"><a href="#wrap" class="top">Back to Top</a></div>
1033
1034 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
1035 </div>
1036
1037 <hr />
1038
1039 <a name="templating"></a><h2>4. Templating</h2>
1040 <div class="paragraph">
1041 <div class="inner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span>
1042
1043 <div class="content">
1044
1045 <h4>File naming</h4>
1046 <p>Firstly templates now take the suffix ".html" rather than ".tpl". This was done simply to make the lifes of some people easier wrt syntax highlighting, etc.</p>
1047
1048 <h4>Variables</h4>
1049 <p>All template variables should be named appropriately (using underscores for spaces), language entries should be prefixed with L_, system data with S_, urls with U_, javascript urls with UA_, language to be put in javascript statements with LA_, all other variables should be presented 'as is'.</p>
1050
1051 <p>L_* template variables are automatically tried to be mapped to the corresponding language entry if the code does not set (and therefore overwrite) this variable specifically. For example <code>{L_USERNAME}</code> maps to <code>$user->lang['USERNAME']</code>. The LA_* template variables are handled within the same way, but properly escaped to be put in javascript code. This should reduce the need to assign loads of new lang vars in Modifications.
1052 </p>
1053
1054 <h4>Blocks/Loops</h4>
1055 <p>The basic block level loop remains and takes the form:</p>
1056 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1057 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN loopname --></span>
1058 markup, {loopname.X_YYYYY}, etc.
1059 <span class="comment"><!-- END loopname --></span>
1060 </pre></div>
1061
1062 <p>A bit later loops will be explained further. To not irretate you we will explain conditionals as well as other statements first.</p>
1063
1064 <h4>Including files</h4>
1065 <p>Something that existed in 2.0.x which no longer exists in 3.0.x is the ability to assign a template to a variable. This was used (for example) to output the jumpbox. Instead (perhaps better, perhaps not but certainly more flexible) we now have INCLUDE. This takes the simple form:</p>
1066
1067 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1068 <span class="comment"><!-- INCLUDE filename --></span>
1069 </pre></div>
1070
1071 <p>You will note in the 3.0 templates the major sources start with <code><!-- INCLUDE overall_header.html --></code> or <code><!-- INCLUDE simple_header.html --></code>, etc. In 2.0.x control of "which" header to use was defined entirely within the code. In 3.0.x the template designer can output what they like. Note that you can introduce new templates (i.e. other than those in the default set) using this system and include them as you wish ... perhaps useful for a common "menu" bar or some such. No need to modify loads of files as with 2.0.x.</p>
1072
1073 <h4>PHP</h4>
1074 <p>A contentious decision has seen the ability to include PHP within the template introduced. This is achieved by enclosing the PHP within relevant tags:</p>
1075
1076 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1077 <span class="comment"><!-- PHP --></span>
1078 echo "hello!";
1079 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDPHP --></span>
1080 </pre></div>
1081
1082 <p>You may also include PHP from an external file using:</p>
1083
1084 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1085 <span class="comment"><!-- INCLUDEPHP somefile.php --></span>
1086 </pre></div>
1087
1088 <p>it will be included and executed inline.<br /><br />A note, it is very much encouraged that template designers do not include PHP. The ability to include raw PHP was introduced primarily to allow end users to include banner code, etc. without modifying multiple files (as with 2.0.x). It was not intended for general use ... hence <!-- w --><a href="http://www.phpbb.com">www.phpbb.com</a><!-- w --> will <strong>not</strong> make available template sets which include PHP. And by default templates will have PHP disabled (the admin will need to specifically activate PHP for a template).</p>
1089
1090 <h4>Conditionals/Control structures</h4>
1091 <p>The most significant addition to 3.0.x are conditions or control structures, "if something then do this else do that". The system deployed is very similar to Smarty. This may confuse some people at first but it offers great potential and great flexibility with a little imagination. In their most simple form these constructs take the form:</p>
1092
1093 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1094 <span class="comment"><!-- IF expr --></span>
1095 markup
1096 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1097 </pre></div>
1098
1099 <p>expr can take many forms, for example:</p>
1100
1101 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1102 <span class="comment"><!-- IF loop.S_ROW_COUNT is even --></span>
1103 markup
1104 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1105 </pre></div>
1106
1107 <p>This will output the markup if the S_ROW_COUNT variable in the current iteration of loop is an even value (i.e. the expr is TRUE). You can use various comparison methods (standard as well as equivalent textual versions noted in square brackets) including (<code>not, or, and, eq, neq, is</code> should be used if possible for better readability):</p>
1108
1109 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1110 == [eq]
1111 != [neq, ne]
1112 <> (same as !=)
1113 !== (not equivalent in value and type)
1114 === (equivalent in value and type)
1115 > [gt]
1116 < [lt]
1117 >= [gte]
1118 <= [lte]
1119 && [and]
1120 || [or]
1121 % [mod]
1122 ! [not]
1123 +
1124 -
1125 *
1126 /
1127 ,
1128 << (bitwise shift left)
1129 >> (bitwise shift right)
1130 | (bitwise or)
1131 ^ (bitwise xor)
1132 & (bitwise and)
1133 ~ (bitwise not)
1134 is (can be used to join comparison operations)
1135 </pre></div>
1136
1137 <p>Basic parenthesis can also be used to enforce good old BODMAS rules. Additionally some basic comparison types are defined:</p>
1138
1139 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1140 even
1141 odd
1142 div
1143 </pre></div>
1144
1145 <p>Beyond the simple use of IF you can also do a sequence of comparisons using the following:</p>
1146
1147 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1148 <span class="comment"><!-- IF expr1 --></span>
1149 markup
1150 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSEIF expr2 --></span>
1151 markup
1152 .
1153 .
1154 .
1155 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSEIF exprN --></span>
1156 markup
1157 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1158 markup
1159 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1160 </pre></div>
1161
1162 <p>Each statement will be tested in turn and the relevant output generated when a match (if a match) is found. It is not necessary to always use ELSEIF, ELSE can be used alone to match "everything else".<br /><br />So what can you do with all this? Well take for example the colouration of rows in viewforum. In 2.0.x row colours were predefined within the source as either row color1, row color2 or row class1, row class2. In 3.0.x this is moved to the template, it may look a little daunting at first but remember control flows from top to bottom and it's not too difficult:</p>
1163
1164 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1165 <table>
1166 <span class="comment"><!-- IF loop.S_ROW_COUNT is even --></span>
1167 <tr class="row1">
1168 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1169 <tr class="row2">
1170 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1171 <td>HELLO!</td>
1172 </tr>
1173 </table>
1174 </pre></div>
1175
1176 <p>This will cause the row cell to be output using class row1 when the row count is even, and class row2 otherwise. The S_ROW_COUNT parameter gets assigned to loops by default. Another example would be the following: </p>
1177
1178 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1179 <table>
1180 <span class="comment"><!-- IF loop.S_ROW_COUNT > 10 --></span>
1181 <tr bgcolor="#FF0000">
1182 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSEIF loop.S_ROW_COUNT > 5 --></span>
1183 <tr bgcolor="#00FF00">
1184 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSEIF loop.S_ROW_COUNT > 2 --></span>
1185 <tr bgcolor="#0000FF">
1186 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1187 <tr bgcolor="#FF00FF">
1188 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1189 <td>hello!</td>
1190 </tr>
1191 </table>
1192 </pre></div>
1193
1194 <p>This will output the row cell in purple for the first two rows, blue for rows 2 to 5, green for rows 5 to 10 and red for remainder. So, you could produce a "nice" gradient effect, for example.<br /><br />What else can you do? Well, you could use IF to do common checks on for example the login state of a user:</p>
1195
1196 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1197 <span class="comment"><!-- IF S_USER_LOGGED_IN --></span>
1198 markup
1199 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1200 </pre></div>
1201
1202 <p>This replaces the existing (fudged) method in 2.0.x using a zero length array and BEGIN/END.</p>
1203
1204 <h4>Extended syntax for Blocks/Loops</h4>
1205
1206 <p>Back to our loops - they had been extended with the following additions. Firstly you can set the start and end points of the loop. For example:</p>
1207
1208 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1209 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN loopname(2) --></span>
1210 markup
1211 <span class="comment"><!-- END loopname --></span>
1212 </pre></div>
1213
1214 <p>Will start the loop on the third entry (note that indexes start at zero). Extensions of this are:
1215 <br /><br />
1216 <code>loopname(2)</code>: Will start the loop on the 3rd entry<br />
1217 <code>loopname(-2)</code>: Will start the loop two entries from the end<br />
1218 <code>loopname(3,4)</code>: Will start the loop on the fourth entry and end it on the fifth<br />
1219 <code>loopname(3,-4)</code>: Will start the loop on the fourth entry and end it four from last<br />
1220 </p>
1221
1222 <p>A further extension to begin is BEGINELSE:</p>
1223
1224 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1225 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN loop --></span>
1226 markup
1227 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGINELSE --></span>
1228 markup
1229 <span class="comment"><!-- END loop --></span>
1230 </pre></div>
1231
1232 <p>This will cause the markup between <code>BEGINELSE</code> and <code>END</code> to be output if the loop contains no values. This is useful for forums with no topics (for example) ... in some ways it replaces "bits of" the existing "switch_" type control (the rest being replaced by conditionals).</p>
1233
1234 <p>Another way of checking if a loop contains values is by prefixing the loops name with a dot:</p>
1235
1236 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1237 <span class="comment"><!-- IF .loop --></span>
1238 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN loop --></span>
1239 markup
1240 <span class="comment"><!-- END loop --></span>
1241 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1242 markup
1243 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1244 </pre></div>
1245
1246 <p>You are even able to check the number of items within a loop by comparing it with values within the IF condition:</p>
1247
1248 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1249 <span class="comment"><!-- IF .loop > 2 --></span>
1250 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN loop --></span>
1251 markup
1252 <span class="comment"><!-- END loop --></span>
1253 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1254 markup
1255 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1256 </pre></div>
1257
1258 <p>Nesting loops cause the conditionals needing prefixed with all loops from the outer one to the inner most. An illustration of this:</p>
1259
1260 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1261 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN firstloop --></span>
1262 {firstloop.MY_VARIABLE_FROM_FIRSTLOOP}
1263
1264 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN secondloop --></span>
1265 {firstloop.secondloop.MY_VARIABLE_FROM_SECONDLOOP}
1266 <span class="comment"><!-- END secondloop --></span>
1267 <span class="comment"><!-- END firstloop --></span>
1268 </pre></div>
1269
1270 <p>Sometimes it is necessary to break out of nested loops to be able to call another loop within the current iteration. This sounds a little bit confusing and it is not used very often. The following (rather complex) example shows this quite good - it also shows how you test for the first and last row in a loop (i will explain the example in detail further down):</p>
1271
1272 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1273 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN l_block1 --></span>
1274 <span class="comment"><!-- IF l_block1.S_SELECTED --></span>
1275 <strong>{l_block1.L_TITLE}</strong>
1276 <span class="comment"><!-- IF S_PRIVMSGS --></span>
1277
1278 <span class="comment"><!-- the ! at the beginning of the loop name forces the loop to be not a nested one of l_block1 --></span>
1279 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN !folder --></span>
1280 <span class="comment"><!-- IF folder.S_FIRST_ROW --></span>
1281 <ul class="nav">
1282 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1283
1284 <li><a href="{folder.U_FOLDER}">{folder.FOLDER_NAME}</a></li>
1285
1286 <span class="comment"><!-- IF folder.S_LAST_ROW --></span>
1287 </ul>
1288 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1289 <span class="comment"><!-- END !folder --></span>
1290
1291 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1292
1293 <ul class="nav">
1294 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN l_block2 --></span>
1295 <li>
1296 <span class="comment"><!-- IF l_block1.l_block2.S_SELECTED --></span>
1297 <strong>{l_block1.l_block2.L_TITLE}</strong>
1298 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1299 <a href="{l_block1.l_block2.U_TITLE}">{l_block1.l_block2.L_TITLE}</a>
1300 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1301 </li>
1302 <span class="comment"><!-- END l_block2 --></span>
1303 </ul>
1304 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1305 <a class="nav" href="{l_block1.U_TITLE}">{l_block1.L_TITLE}</a>
1306 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1307 <span class="comment"><!-- END l_block1 --></span>
1308 </pre></div>
1309
1310 <p>Let us first concentrate on this part of the example:</p>
1311
1312 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1313 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN l_block1 --></span>
1314 <span class="comment"><!-- IF l_block1.S_SELECTED --></span>
1315 markup
1316 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1317 <a class="nav" href="{l_block1.U_TITLE}">{l_block1.L_TITLE}</a>
1318 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1319 <span class="comment"><!-- END l_block1 --></span>
1320 </pre></div>
1321
1322 <p>Here we open the loop l_block1 and doing some things if the value S_SELECTED within the current loop iteration is true, else we write the blocks link and title. Here, you see <code>{l_block1.L_TITLE}</code> referenced - you remember that L_* variables get automatically assigned the corresponding language entry? This is true, but not within loops. The L_TITLE variable within the loop l_block1 is assigned within the code itself.</p>
1323
1324 <p>Let's have a closer look to the markup:</p>
1325
1326 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1327 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN l_block1 --></span>
1328 .
1329 .
1330 <span class="comment"><!-- IF S_PRIVMSGS --></span>
1331
1332 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN !folder --></span>
1333 <span class="comment"><!-- IF folder.S_FIRST_ROW --></span>
1334 <ul class="nav">
1335 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1336
1337 <li><a href="{folder.U_FOLDER}">{folder.FOLDER_NAME}</a></li>
1338
1339 <span class="comment"><!-- IF folder.S_LAST_ROW --></span>
1340 </ul>
1341 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1342 <span class="comment"><!-- END !folder --></span>
1343
1344 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1345 .
1346 .
1347 <span class="comment"><!-- END l_block1 --></span>
1348 </pre></div>
1349
1350 <p>The <code><!-- IF S_PRIVMSGS --></code> statement clearly checks a global variable and not one within the loop, since the loop is not given here. So, if S_PRIVMSGS is true we execute the shown markup. Now, you see the <code><!-- BEGIN !folder --></code> statement. The exclamation mark is responsible for instructing the template engine to iterate through the main loop folder. So, we are now within the loop folder - with <code><!-- BEGIN folder --></code> we would have been within the loop <code>l_block1.folder</code> automatically as is the case with l_block2:</p>
1351
1352 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1353 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN l_block1 --></span>
1354 .
1355 .
1356 <ul class="nav">
1357 <span class="comment"><!-- BEGIN l_block2 --></span>
1358 <li>
1359 <span class="comment"><!-- IF l_block1.l_block2.S_SELECTED --></span>
1360 <strong>{l_block1.l_block2.L_TITLE}</strong>
1361 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1362 <a href="{l_block1.l_block2.U_TITLE}">{l_block1.l_block2.L_TITLE}</a>
1363 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1364 </li>
1365 <span class="comment"><!-- END l_block2 --></span>
1366 </ul>
1367 .
1368 .
1369 <span class="comment"><!-- END l_block1 --></span>
1370 </pre></div>
1371
1372 <p>You see the difference? The loop l_block2 is a member of the loop l_block1 but the loop folder is a main loop.</p>
1373
1374 <p>Now back to our folder loop:</p>
1375
1376 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1377 <span class="comment"><!-- IF folder.S_FIRST_ROW --></span>
1378 <ul class="nav">
1379 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1380
1381 <li><a href="{folder.U_FOLDER}">{folder.FOLDER_NAME}</a></li>
1382
1383 <span class="comment"><!-- IF folder.S_LAST_ROW --></span>
1384 </ul>
1385 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1386 </pre></div>
1387
1388 <p>You may have wondered what the comparison to S_FIRST_ROW and S_LAST_ROW is about. If you haven't guessed already - it is checking for the first iteration of the loop with <code>S_FIRST_ROW</code> and the last iteration with <code>S_LAST_ROW</code>. This can come in handy quite often if you want to open or close design elements, like the above list. Let us imagine a folder loop build with three iterations, it would go this way:</p>
1389
1390 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1391 <ul class="nav"> <span class="comment"><!-- written on first iteration --></span>
1392 <li>first element</li> <span class="comment"><!-- written on first iteration --></span>
1393 <li>second element</li> <span class="comment"><!-- written on second iteration --></span>
1394 <li>third element</li> <span class="comment"><!-- written on third iteration --></span>
1395 </ul> <span class="comment"><!-- written on third iteration --></span>
1396 </pre></div>
1397
1398 <p>As you can see, all three elements are written down as well as the markup for the first iteration and the last one. Sometimes you want to omit writing the general markup - for example:</p>
1399
1400 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1401 <span class="comment"><!-- IF folder.S_FIRST_ROW --></span>
1402 <ul class="nav">
1403 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSEIF folder.S_LAST_ROW --></span>
1404 </ul>
1405 <span class="comment"><!-- ELSE --></span>
1406 <li><a href="{folder.U_FOLDER}">{folder.FOLDER_NAME}</a></li>
1407 <span class="comment"><!-- ENDIF --></span>
1408 </pre></div>
1409
1410 <p>would result in the following markup:</p>
1411
1412 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1413 <ul class="nav"> <span class="comment"><!-- written on first iteration --></span>
1414 <li>second element</li> <span class="comment"><!-- written on second iteration --></span>
1415 </ul> <span class="comment"><!-- written on third iteration --></span>
1416 </pre></div>
1417
1418 <p>Just always remember that processing is taking place from up to down.</p>
1419
1420 <h4>Forms</h4>
1421 <p>If a form is used for a non-trivial operation (i.e. more than a jumpbox), then it should include the <code>{S_FORM_TOKEN}</code> template variable.</p>
1422 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1423 <form method="post" id="mcp" action="{U_POST_ACTION}">
1424
1425 <fieldset class="submit-buttons">
1426 <input type="reset" value="{L_RESET}" name="reset" class="button2" />
1427 <input type="submit" name="action[add_warning]" value="{L_SUBMIT}" class="button1" />
1428 {S_FORM_TOKEN}
1429 </fieldset>
1430 </form>
1431 </pre></div><br />
1432 </div>
1433
1434 <div class="back2top"><a href="#wrap" class="top">Back to Top</a></div>
1435
1436 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
1437 </div>
1438
1439 <hr />
1440
1441
1442
1443 <a name="charsets"></a><h2>5. Character Sets and Encodings</h2>
1444
1445 <div class="paragraph">
1446 <div class="inner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span>
1447
1448 <div class="content">
1449
1450
1451
1452 <h4>What are Unicode, UCS and UTF-8?</h4>
1453 <p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Character_Set">Universal Character Set (UCS)</a> described in ISO/IEC 10646 consists of a large amount of characters. Each of them has a unique name and a code point which is an integer number. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode">Unicode</a> - which is an industry standard - complements the Universal Character Set with further information about the characters' properties and alternative character encodings. More information on Unicode can be found on the <a href="http://www.unicode.org/">Unicode Consortium's website</a>. One of the Unicode encodings is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTF-8">8-bit Unicode Transformation Format (UTF-8)</a>. It encodes characters with up to four bytes aiming for maximum compatability with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII">American Standard Code for Information Interchange</a> which is a 7-bit encoding of a relatively small subset of the UCS.</p>
1454
1455 <h4>phpBB's use of Unicode</h4>
1456 <p>Unfortunately PHP does not faciliate the use of Unicode prior to version 6. Most functions simply treat strings as sequences of bytes assuming that each character takes up exactly one byte. This behaviour still allows for storing UTF-8 encoded text in PHP strings but many operations on strings have unexpected results. To circumvent this problem we have created some alternative functions to PHP's native string operations which use code points instead of bytes. These functions can be found in <code>/includes/utf/utf_tools.php</code>. They are also covered in the <a href="http://area51.phpbb.com/docs/code/">phpBB3 Sourcecode Documentation</a>. A lot of native PHP functions still work with UTF-8 as long as you stick to certain restrictions. For example <code>explode</code> still works as long as the first and the last character of the delimiter string are ASCII characters.</p>
1457
1458 <p>phpBB only uses the ASCII and the UTF-8 character encodings. Still all Strings are UTF-8 encoded because ASCII is a subset of UTF-8. The only exceptions to this rule are code sections which deal with external systems which use other encodings and character sets. Such external data should be converted to UTF-8 using the <code>utf8_recode()</code> function supplied with phpBB. It supports a variety of other character sets and encodings, a full list can be found below.</p>
1459
1460 <p>With <code>request_var()</code> you can either allow all UCS characters in user input or restrict user input to ASCII characters. This feature is controlled by the function's third parameter called <code>$multibyte</code>. You should allow multibyte characters in posts, PMs, topic titles, forum names, etc. but it's not necessary for internal uses like a <code>$mode</code> variable which should only hold a predefined list of ASCII strings anyway.</p>
1461
1462 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1463 // an input string containing a multibyte character
1464 $_REQUEST['multibyte_string'] = 'Käse';
1465
1466 // print request variable as a UTF-8 string allowing multibyte characters
1467 echo request_var('multibyte_string', '', true);
1468 // print request variable as ASCII string
1469 echo request_var('multibyte_string', '');
1470 </pre></div>
1471
1472 <p>This code snippet will generate the following output:</p>
1473
1474 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1475 Käse
1476 K??se
1477 </pre></div>
1478
1479 <h4>Unicode Normalization</h4>
1480
1481 <p>If you retrieve user input with multibyte characters you should additionally normalize the string using <code>utf8_normalize_nfc()</code> before you work with it. This is necessary to make sure that equal characters can only occur in one particular binary representation. For example the character Å can be represented either as <code>U+00C5</code> (LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE) or as <code>U+212B</code> (ANGSTROM SIGN). phpBB uses Normalization Form Canonical Composition (NFC) for all text. So the correct version of the above example would look like this:</p>
1482
1483 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1484 $_REQUEST['multibyte_string'] = 'Käse';
1485
1486 // normalize multibyte strings
1487 echo utf8_normalize_nfc(request_var('multibyte_string', '', true));
1488 // ASCII strings do not need to be normalized
1489 echo request_var('multibyte_string', '');
1490 </pre></div>
1491
1492 <h4>Case Folding</h4>
1493
1494 <p>Case insensitive comparison of strings is no longer possible with <code>strtolower</code> or <code>strtoupper</code> as some characters have multiple lower case or multiple upper case forms depending on their position in a word. The <code>utf8_strtolower</code> and the <code>utf8_strtoupper</code> functions suffer from the same problem so they can only be used to display upper/lower case versions of a string but they cannot be used for case insensitive comparisons either. So instead you should use case folding which gives you a case insensitive version of the string which can be used for case insensitive comparisons. An NFC normalized string can be case folded using <code>utf8_case_fold_nfc()</code>.</p>
1495
1496 <p class="bad">// Bad - The strings might be the same even if strtolower differs</p>
1497
1498 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1499 if (strtolower($string1) == strtolower($string2))
1500 {
1501 echo '$string1 and $string2 are equal or differ in case';
1502 }
1503 </pre></div>
1504
1505 <p class="good">// Good - Case folding is really case insensitive</p>
1506
1507 <div class="codebox"><pre>
1508 if (utf8_case_fold_nfc($string1) == utf8_case_fold_nfc($string2))
1509 {
1510 echo '$string1 and $string2 are equal or differ in case';
1511 }
1512 </pre></div>
1513
1514 <h4>Confusables Detection</h4>
1515
1516 <p>phpBB offers a special method <code>utf8_clean_string</code> which can be used to make sure string identifiers are unique. This method uses Normalization Form Compatibility Composition (NFKC) instead of NFC and replaces similarly looking characters with a particular representative of the equivalence class. This method is currently used for usernames and group names to avoid confusion with similarly looking names.</p>
1517
1518 </div>
1519
1520 <div class="back2top"><a href="#wrap" class="top">Back to Top</a></div>
1521
1522 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
1523 </div>
1524
1525 <hr />
1526
1527 <a name="translation"></a><h2>6. Translation (<abbr title="Internationalisation">i18n</abbr>/<abbr title="Localisation">L10n</abbr>) Guidelines</h2>
1528
1529 <div class="paragraph">
1530 <div class="inner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span>
1531
1532 <div class="content">
1533
1534 <a name="standardisation"></a><h3>6.i. Standardisation</h3>
1535
1536 <h4>Reason:</h4>
1537
1538 <p>phpBB is one of the most translated open-source projects, with the current stable version being available in over 60 localisations. Whilst the ad hoc approach to the naming of language packs has worked, for phpBB3 and beyond we hope to make this process saner which will allow for better interoperation with current and future web browsers.</p>
1539
1540 <h4>Encoding:</h4>
1541
1542 <p>With phpBB3, the output encoding for the forum in now UTF-8, a Universal Character Encoding by the Unicode Consortium that is by design a superset to US-ASCII and ISO-8859-1. By using one character set which simultaenously supports all scripts which previously would have required different encodings (eg: ISO-8859-1 to ISO-8859-15 (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Thai, Hebrew, Arabic); GB2312 (Simplified Chinese); Big5 (Traditional Chinese), EUC-JP (Japanese), EUC-KR (Korean), VISCII (Vietnamese); et cetera), this removes the need to convert between encodings and improves the accessibility of multilingual forums.</p>
1543
1544 <p>The impact is that the language files for phpBB must now also be encoded as UTF-8, with a caveat that the files must <strong>not contain</strong> a <acronym title="Byte-Order-Mark">BOM</acronym> for compatibility reasons with non-Unicode aware versions of PHP. For those with forums using the Latin character set (ie: most European languages), this change is transparent since UTF-8 is superset to US-ASCII and ISO-8859-1.</p>
1545
1546 <h4>Language Tag:</h4>
1547
1548 <p>The <abbr title="Internet Engineering Task Force">IETF</abbr> recently published <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4646">RFC 4646</a> for tags used to identify languages, which in combination with <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4647">RFC 4647</a> obseletes the older <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3066">RFC 3006</a> and older-still <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1766">RFC 1766</a>. <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4646">RFC 4646</a> uses <a href="http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2</a>, <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a>, <a href="http://www.unicode.org/iso15924/iso15924-codes.html">ISO 15924</a> and <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm">UN M.49</a> to define a language tag. Each complete tag is composed of subtags which are not case sensitive and can also be empty.</p>
1549
1550 <p>Ordering of the subtags in the case that they are all non-empty is: <code>language</code>-<code>script</code>-<code>region</code>-<code>variant</code>-<code>extension</code>-<code>privateuse</code>. Should any subtag be empty, its corresponding hyphen would also be ommited. Thus, the language tag for English will be <code>en</code> <strong>and not</strong> <code>en-----</code>.</p>
1551
1552 <p>Most language tags consist of a two- or three-letter language subtag (from <a href="http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2</a>). Sometimes, this is followed by a two-letter or three-digit region subtag (from <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a> or <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm">UN M.49</a>). Some examples are:</p>
1553
1554 <table summary="Examples of various possible language tags as described by RFC 4646 and RFC 4647">
1555 <caption>Language tag examples</caption>
1556 <thead>
1557 <tr>
1558 <th scope="col">Language tag</th>
1559 <th scope="col">Description</th>
1560 <th scope="col">Component subtags</th>
1561 </tr>
1562 </thead>
1563 <tbody>
1564 <tr>
1565 <td><code>en</code></td>
1566 <td>English</td>
1567 <td><code>language</code></td>
1568 </tr>
1569 <tr>
1570 <td><code>mas</code></td>
1571 <td>Masai</td>
1572 <td><code>language</code></td>
1573 </tr>
1574 <tr>
1575 <td><code>fr-CA</code></td>
1576 <td>French as used in Canada</td>
1577 <td><code>language</code>+<code>region</code></td>
1578 </tr>
1579 <tr>
1580 <td><code>en-833</code></td>
1581 <td>English as used in the Isle of Man</td>
1582 <td><code>language</code>+<code>region</code></td>
1583 </tr>
1584 <tr>
1585 <td><code>zh-Hans</code></td>
1586 <td>Chinese written with Simplified script</td>
1587 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1588 </tr>
1589 <tr>
1590 <td><code>zh-Hant-HK</code></td>
1591 <td>Chinese written with Traditional script as used in Hong Kong</td>
1592 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>
1593 </tr>
1594 <tr>
1595 <td><code>de-AT-1996</code></td>
1596 <td>German as used in Austria with 1996 orthography</td>
1597 <td><code>language</code>+<code>region</code>+<code>variant</code></td>
1598 </tr>
1599 </tbody>
1600 </table>
1601
1602 <p>The ultimate aim of a language tag is to convey the needed <strong>useful distingushing information</strong>, whilst keeping it as <strong>short as possible</strong>. So for example, use <code>en</code>, <code>fr</code> and <code>ja</code> as opposed to <code>en-GB</code>, <code>fr-FR</code> and <code>ja-JP</code>, since we know English, French and Japanese are the native language of Great Britain, France and Japan respectively.</p>
1603
1604 <p>Next is the <a href="http://www.unicode.org/iso15924/iso15924-codes.html">ISO 15924</a> language script code and when one should or shouldn't use it. For example, whilst <code>en-Latn</code> is syntaxically correct for describing English written with Latin script, real world English writing is <strong>more-or-less exclusively in the Latin script</strong>. For such languages like English that are written in a single script, the <a href="http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry"><abbr title="Internet Assigned Numbers Authority">IANA</abbr> Language Subtag Registry</a> has a "Suppress-Script" field meaning the script code <strong>should be ommitted</strong> unless a specific language tag requires a specific script code. Some languages are <strong>written in more than one script</strong> and in such cases, the script code <strong>is encouraged</strong> since an end-user may be able to read their language in one script, but not the other. Some examples are:</p>
1605
1606 <table summary="Examples of using a language subtag in combination with a script subtag">
1607 <caption>Language subtag + script subtag examples</caption>
1608 <thead>
1609 <tr>
1610 <th scope="col">Language tag</th>
1611 <th scope="col">Description</th>
1612 <th scope="col">Component subtags</th>
1613 </tr>
1614 </thead>
1615 <tbody>
1616 <tr>
1617 <td><code>en-Brai</code></td>
1618 <td>English written in Braille script</td>
1619 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1620 </tr>
1621 <tr>
1622 <td><code>en-Dsrt</code></td>
1623 <td>English written in Deseret (Mormon) script</td>
1624 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1625 </tr>
1626 <tr>
1627 <td><code>sr-Latn</code></td>
1628 <td>Serbian written in Latin script</td>
1629 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1630 </tr>
1631 <tr>
1632 <td><code>sr-Cyrl</code></td>
1633 <td>Serbian written in Cyrillic script</td>
1634 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1635 </tr>
1636 <tr>
1637 <td><code>mn-Mong</code></td>
1638 <td>Mongolian written in Mongolian script</td>
1639 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1640 </tr>
1641 <tr>
1642 <td><code>mn-Cyrl</code></td>
1643 <td>Mongolian written in Cyrillic script</td>
1644 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1645 </tr>
1646 <tr>
1647 <td><code>mn-Phag</code></td>
1648 <td>Mongolian written in Phags-pa script</td>
1649 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1650 </tr>
1651 <tr>
1652 <td><code>az-Cyrl-AZ</code></td>
1653 <td>Azerbaijani written in Cyrillic script as used in Azerbaijan</td>
1654 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>
1655 </tr>
1656 <tr>
1657 <td><code>az-Latn-AZ</code></td>
1658 <td>Azerbaijani written in Latin script as used in Azerbaijan</td>
1659 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>
1660 </tr>
1661 <tr>
1662 <td><code>az-Arab-IR</code></td>
1663 <td>Azerbaijani written in Arabic script as used in Iran</td>
1664 <td><code>language</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>
1665 </tr>
1666 </tbody>
1667 </table>
1668
1669 <p>Usage of the three-digit <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm">UN M.49</a> code over the two-letter <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a> code should hapen if a macro-geographical entity is required and/or the <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a> is ambiguous.</p>
1670
1671 <p>Examples of English using marco-geographical regions:</p>
1672
1673 <table summary="Examples for English of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 vs. UN M.49 code">
1674 <caption>Coding for English using macro-geographical regions</caption>
1675 <thead>
1676 <tr>
1677 <th scope="col">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2 + ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</th>
1678 <th scope="col" colspan="2">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2 + UN M.49 (Example macro regions)</th>
1679 </tr>
1680 </thead>
1681 <tbody>
1682 <tr>
1683 <td><dl><dt><code>en-AU</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Australia</strong></dd></dl></td>
1684 <td rowspan="2"><dl><dt><code>en-053</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Australia & New Zealand</strong></dd></dl></td>
1685 <td rowspan="3"><dl><dt><code>en-009</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Oceania</strong></dd></dl></td>
1686 </tr>
1687 <tr>
1688 <td><dl><dt><code>en-NZ</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>New Zealand</strong></dd></dl></td>
1689 </tr>
1690 <tr>
1691 <td><dl><dt><code>en-FJ</code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Fiji</strong></dd></dl></td>
1692 <td><dl><dt><code>en-054 </code></dt><dd>English as used in <strong>Melanesia</strong></dd></dl></td>
1693 </tr>
1694 </tbody>
1695 </table>
1696
1697 <p>Examples of Spanish using marco-geographical regions:</p>
1698
1699 <table summary="Examples for Spanish of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 vs. UN M.49 code">
1700 <caption>Coding for Spanish macro-geographical regions</caption>
1701 <thead>
1702 <tr>
1703 <th scope="col">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2 + ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</th>
1704 <th scope="col" colspan="2">ISO 639-1/ISO 639-2 + UN M.49 (Example macro regions)</th>
1705 </tr>
1706 </thead>
1707 <tbody>
1708 <tr>
1709 <td><dl><dt><code>es-PR</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>Puerto Rico</strong></dd></dl></td>
1710 <td rowspan="3"><dl><dt><code>es-419</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>Latin America & the Caribbean</strong></dd></dl></td>
1711 <td rowspan="4"><dl><dt><code>es-019</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>the Americas</strong></dd></dl></td>
1712 </tr>
1713 <tr>
1714 <td><dl><dt><code>es-HN</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>Honduras</strong></dd></dl></td>
1715 </tr>
1716 <tr>
1717 <td><dl><dt><code>es-AR</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>Argentina</strong></dd></dl></td>
1718 </tr>
1719 <tr>
1720 <td><dl><dt><code>es-US</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>United States of America</strong></dd></dl></td>
1721 <td><dl><dt><code>es-021</code></dt><dd>Spanish as used in <strong>North America</strong></dd></dl></td>
1722 </tr>
1723 </tbody>
1724 </table>
1725
1726 <p>Example of where the <a href="http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2</a> is ambiguous and why <a href="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm">UN M.49</a> might be preferred:</p>
1727
1728 <table summary="Example where the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 is ambiguous">
1729 <caption>Coding for ambiguous ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 regions</caption>
1730 <thead>
1731 <tr>
1732 <th scope="col" colspan="2"><code>CS</code> assignment pre-1994</th>
1733 <th scope="col" colspan="2"><code>CS</code> assignment post-1994</th>
1734 </tr>
1735 </thead>
1736 <tbody>
1737 <tr>
1738 <td colspan="2">
1739 <dl>
1740 <dt><code>CS</code></dt><dd><strong>Czechoslovakia</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>
1741 <dt><code>200</code></dt><dd><strong>Czechoslovakia</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>
1742 </dl>
1743 </td>
1744 <td colspan="2">
1745 <dl>
1746 <dt><code>CS</code></dt><dd><strong>Serbian & Montenegro</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>
1747 <dt><code>891</code></dt><dd><strong>Serbian & Montenegro</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>
1748 </dl>
1749 </td>
1750 </tr>
1751 <tr>
1752 <td>
1753 <dl>
1754 <dt><code>CZ</code></dt><dd><strong>Czech Republic</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>
1755 <dt><code>203</code></dt><dd><strong>Czech Republic</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>
1756 </dl>
1757 </td>
1758 <td>
1759 <dl>
1760 <dt><code>SK</code></dt><dd><strong>Slovakia</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>
1761 <dt><code>703</code></dt><dd><strong>Slovakia</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>
1762 </dl>
1763 </td>
1764 <td>
1765 <dl>
1766 <dt><code>RS</code></dt><dd><strong>Serbia</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>
1767 <dt><code>688</code></dt><dd><strong>Serbia</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>
1768 </dl>
1769 </td>
1770 <td>
1771 <dl>
1772 <dt><code>ME</code></dt><dd><strong>Montenegro</strong> (ISO 3166-1)</dd>
1773 <dt><code>499</code></dt><dd><strong>Montenegro</strong> (UN M.49)</dd>
1774 </dl>
1775 </td>
1776 </tr>
1777 </tbody>
1778 </table>
1779
1780 <h4>Macro-languages & Topolects:</h4>
1781
1782 <p><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4646">RFC 4646</a> anticipates features which shall be available in (currently draft) <a href="http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/">ISO 639-3</a> which aims to provide as complete enumeration of languages as possible, including living, extinct, ancient and constructed languages, whether majour, minor or unwritten. A new feature of <a href="http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/">ISO 639-3</a> compared to the previous two revisions is the concept of <a href="http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/macrolanguages.asp">macrolanguages</a> where Arabic and Chinese are two such examples. In such cases, their respective codes of <code>ar</code> and <code>zh</code> is very vague as to which dialect/topolect is used or perhaps some terse classical variant which may be difficult for all but very educated users. For such macrolanguages, it is recommended that the sub-language tag is used as a suffix to the macrolanguage tag, eg:</p>
1783
1784 <table summary="Examples of macrolanguages used with sub-language subtags">
1785 <caption>Macrolanguage subtag + sub-language subtag examples</caption>
1786 <thead>
1787 <tr>
1788 <th scope="col">Language tag</th>
1789 <th scope="col">Description</th>
1790 <th scope="col">Component subtags</th>
1791 </tr>
1792 </thead>
1793 <tbody>
1794 <tr>
1795 <td><code>zh-cmn</code></td>
1796 <td>Mandarin (Putonghau/Guoyu) Chinese</td>
1797 <td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code></td>
1798 </tr>
1799 <tr>
1800 <td><code>zh-yue</code></td>
1801 <td>Yue (Cantonese) Chinese</td>
1802 <td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code></td>
1803 </tr>
1804 <tr>
1805 <td><code>zh-cmn-Hans</code></td>
1806 <td>Mandarin (Putonghau/Guoyu) Chinese written in Simplified script</td>
1807 <td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1808 </tr>
1809 <tr>
1810 <td><code>zh-cmn-Hant</code></td>
1811 <td>Mandarin (Putonghau/Guoyu) Chinese written in Traditional script</td>
1812 <td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code>+<code>script</code></td>
1813 </tr>
1814 <tr>
1815 <td><code>zh-nan-Latn-TW</code></td>
1816 <td>Minnan (Hoklo) Chinese written in Latin script (POJ Romanisation) as used in Taiwan</td>
1817 <td><code>macrolanguage</code>+<code>sublanguage</code>+<code>script</code>+<code>region</code></td>
1818 </tr>
1819 </tbody>
1820 </table>
1821
1822 <a name="otherconsiderations"></a><h3>6.ii. Other considerations</h3>
1823
1824 <h4>Normalisation of language tags for phpBB:</h4>
1825
1826 <p>For phpBB, the language tags are <strong>not</strong> used in their raw form and instead converted to all lower-case and have the hyphen <code>-</code> replaced with an underscore <code>_</code> where appropriate, with some examples below:</p>
1827
1828 <table summary="Normalisation of language tags for usage in phpBB">
1829 <caption>Language tag normalisation examples</caption>
1830 <thead>
1831 <tr>
1832 <th scope="col">Raw language tag</th>
1833 <th scope="col">Description</th>
1834 <th scope="col">Value of <code>USER_LANG</code><br />in <code>./common.php</code></th>
1835 <th scope="col">Language pack directory<br />name in <code>/language/</code></th>
1836 </tr>
1837 </thead>
1838 <tbody>
1839 <tr>
1840 <td><code>en</code></td>
1841 <td>British English</td>
1842 <td><code>en</code></td>
1843 <td><code>en</code></td>
1844 </tr>
1845 <tr>
1846 <td><code>de-AT</code></td>
1847 <td>German as used in Austria</td>
1848 <td><code>de-at</code></td>
1849 <td><code>de_at</code></td>
1850 </tr>
1851 <tr>
1852 <td><code>es-419</code></td>
1853 <td>Spanish as used in Latin America & Caribbean</td>
1854 <td><code>en-419</code></td>
1855 <td><code>en_419</code></td>
1856 </tr>
1857 <tr>
1858 <td><code>zh-yue-Hant-HK</code></td>
1859 <td>Cantonese written in Traditional script as used in Hong Kong</td>
1860 <td><code>zh-yue-hant-hk</code></td>
1861 <td><code>zh_yue_hant_hk</code></td>
1862 </tr>
1863 </tbody>
1864 </table>
1865
1866 <h4>How to use <code>iso.txt</code>:</h4>
1867
1868 <p>The <code>iso.txt</code> file is a small UTF-8 encoded plain-text file which consists of three lines:</p>
1869
1870 <ol>
1871 <li><code>Language's English name</code></li>
1872 <li><code>Language's local name</code></li>
1873 <li><code>Authors information</code></li>
1874 </ol>
1875
1876 <p><code>iso.txt</code> is automatically generated by the language pack submission system on phpBB.com. You don't have to create this file yourself if you plan on releasing your language pack on phpBB.com, but do keep in mind that phpBB itself does require this file to be present.</p>
1877
1878 <p>Because language tags themselves are meant to be machine read, they can be rather obtuse to humans and why descriptive strings as provided by <code>iso.txt</code> are needed. Whilst <code>en-US</code> could be fairly easily deduced to be "English as used in the United States", <code>de-CH</code> is more difficult less one happens to know that <code>de</code> is from "<span lang="de">Deutsch</span>", German for "German" and <code>CH</code> is the abbreviation of the official Latin name for Switzerland, "<span lang="la">Confoederatio Helvetica</span>".</p>
1879
1880 <p>For the English language description, the language name is always first and any additional attributes required to describe the subtags within the language code are then listed in order separated with commas and enclosed within parentheses, eg:</p>
1881
1882 <table summary="English language description examples of iso.txt for usage in phpBB">
1883 <caption>English language description examples for iso.txt</caption>
1884 <thead>
1885 <tr>
1886 <th scope="col">Raw language tag</th>
1887 <th scope="col">English description within <code>iso.txt</code></th>
1888 </tr>
1889 </thead>
1890 <tbody>
1891 <tr>
1892 <td><code>en</code></td>
1893 <td>British English</td>
1894 </tr>
1895 <tr>
1896 <td><code>en-US</code></td>
1897 <td>English (United States)</td>
1898 </tr>
1899 <tr>
1900 <td><code>en-053</code></td>
1901 <td>English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>
1902 </tr>
1903 <tr>
1904 <td><code>de</code></td>
1905 <td>German</td>
1906 </tr>
1907 <tr>
1908 <td><code>de-CH-1996</code></td>
1909 <td>German (Switzerland, 1996 orthography)</td>
1910 </tr>
1911 <tr>
1912 <td><code>gws-1996</code></td>
1913 <td>Swiss German (1996 orthography)</td>
1914 </tr>
1915 <tr>
1916 <td><code>zh-cmn-Hans-CN</code></td>
1917 <td>Mandarin Chinese (Simplified, Mainland China)</td>
1918 </tr>
1919 <tr>
1920 <td><code>zh-yue-Hant-HK</code></td>
1921 <td>Cantonese Chinese (Traditional, Hong Kong)</td>
1922 </tr>
1923 </tbody>
1924 </table>
1925
1926 <p>For the localised language description, just translate the English version though use whatever appropriate punctuation typical for your own locale, assuming the language uses punctuation at all.</p>
1927
1928 <h4>Unicode bi-directional considerations:</h4>
1929
1930 <p>Because phpBB is now UTF-8, all translators must take into account that certain strings may be shown when the directionality of the document is either opposite to normal or is ambiguous.</p>
1931
1932 <p>The various Unicode control characters for bi-directional text and their HTML enquivalents where appropriate are as follows:</p>
1933
1934 <table summary="Table of the various Unicode bidirectional control characters">
1935 <caption>Unicode bidirectional control characters & HTML elements/entities</caption>
1936 <thead>
1937 <tr>
1938 <th scope="col">Unicode character<br />abbreviation</th>
1939 <th scope="col">Unicode<br />code-point</th>
1940 <th scope="col">Unicode character<br />name</th>
1941 <th scope="col">Equivalent HTML<br />markup/entity</th>
1942 <th scope="col">Raw character<br />(enclosed between '')</th>
1943 </tr>
1944 </thead>
1945 <tbody>
1946 <tr>
1947 <td><code>LRM</code></td>
1948 <td><code>U+200E</code></td>
1949 <td>Left-to-Right Mark</td>
1950 <td><code>&lrm;</code></td>
1951 <td>'‎'</td>
1952 </tr>
1953 <tr>
1954 <td><code>RLM</code></td>
1955 <td><code>U+200F</code></td>
1956 <td>Right-to-Left Mark</td>
1957 <td><code>&rlm;</code></td>
1958 <td>'‏'</td>
1959 </tr>
1960 <tr>
1961 <td><code>LRE</code></td>
1962 <td><code>U+202A</code></td>
1963 <td>Left-to-Right Embedding</td>
1964 <td><code>dir="ltr"</code></td>
1965 <td>'‪'</td>
1966 </tr>
1967 <tr>
1968 <td><code>RLE</code></td>
1969 <td><code>U+202B</code></td>
1970 <td>Right-to-Left Embedding</td>
1971 <td><code>dir="rtl"</code></td>
1972 <td>'‫'</td>
1973 </tr>
1974 <tr>
1975 <td><code>PDF</code></td>
1976 <td><code>U+202C</code></td>
1977 <td>Pop Directional Formatting</td>
1978 <td><code></bdo></code></td>
1979 <td>'‬'</td>
1980 </tr>
1981 <tr>
1982 <td><code>LRO</code></td>
1983 <td><code>U+202D</code></td>
1984 <td>Left-to-Right Override</td>
1985 <td><code><bdo dir="ltr"></code></td>
1986 <td>'‭'</td>
1987 </tr>
1988 <tr>
1989 <td><code>RLO</code></td>
1990 <td><code>U+202E</code></td>
1991 <td>Right-to-Left Override</td>
1992 <td><code><bdo dir="rtl"></code></td>
1993 <td>'‮'</td>
1994 </tr>
1995 </tbody>
1996 </table>
1997
1998 <p>For <code>iso.txt</code>, the directionality of the text can be explicitly set using special Unicode characters via any of the three methods provided by left-to-right/right-to-left markers/embeds/overrides, as without them, the ordering of characters will be incorrect, eg:</p>
1999
2000 <table summary="Effect of using Unicode bidirectional control characters within iso.txt">
2001 <caption>Unicode bidirectional control characters iso.txt</caption>
2002 <thead>
2003 <tr>
2004 <th scope="col">Directionality</th>
2005 <th scope="col">Raw character view</th>
2006 <th scope="col">Display of localised<br />description in <code>iso.txt</code></th>
2007 <th scope="col">Ordering</th>
2008 </tr>
2009 </thead>
2010 <tbody>
2011 <tr>
2012 <td><code>dir="ltr"</code></td>
2013 <td>English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>
2014 <td dir="ltr">English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>
2015 <td class="good">Correct</td>
2016 </tr>
2017 <tr>
2018 <td><code>dir="rtl"</code></td>
2019 <td>English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>
2020 <td dir="rtl">English (Australia & New Zealand)</td>
2021 <td class="bad">Incorrect</td>
2022 </tr>
2023 <tr>
2024 <td><code>dir="rtl"</code> with <code>LRM</code></td>
2025 <td>English (Australia & New Zealand)<code>U+200E</code></td>
2026 <td dir="rtl">English (Australia & New Zealand)‎</td>
2027 <td class="good">Correct</td>
2028 </tr>
2029 <tr>
2030 <td><code>dir="rtl"</code> with <code>LRE</code> & <code>PDF</code></td>
2031 <td><code>U+202A</code>English (Australia & New Zealand)<code>U+202C</code></td>
2032 <td dir="rtl">‪English (Australia & New Zealand)‬</td>
2033 <td class="good">Correct</td>
2034 </tr>
2035 <tr>
2036 <td><code>dir="rtl"</code> with <code>LRO</code> & <code>PDF</code></td>
2037 <td><code>U+202D</code>English (Australia & New Zealand)<code>U+202C</code></td>
2038 <td dir="rtl">‭English (Australia & New Zealand)‬</td>
2039 <td class="good">Correct</td>
2040 </tr>
2041 </tbody>
2042 </table>
2043
2044 <p>In choosing which of the three methods to use, in the majority of cases, the <code>LRM</code> or <code>RLM</code> to put a "strong" character to fully enclose an ambiguous punctuation character and thus make it inherit the correct directionality is sufficient.</p>
2045 <p>Within some cases, there may be mixed scripts of a left-to-right and right-to-left direction, so using <code>LRE</code> & <code>RLE</code> with <code>PDF</code> may be more appropriate. Lastly, in very rare instances where directionality must be forced, then use <code>LRO</code> & <code>RLO</code> with <code>PDF</code>.</p>
2046 <p>For further information on authoring techniques of bi-directional text, please see the W3C tutorial on <a href="http://www.w3.org/International/tutorials/bidi-xhtml/">authoring techniques for XHTML pages with bi-directional text</a>.</p>
2047
2048 <h4>Working with placeholders:</h4>
2049
2050 <p>As phpBB is translated into languages with different ordering rules to that of English, it is possible to show specific values in any order deemed appropriate. Take for example the extremely simple "Page <em>X</em> of <em>Y</em>", whilst in English this could just be coded as:</p>
2051
2052 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2053 ...
2054 'PAGE_OF' => 'Page %s of %s',
2055 /* Just grabbing the replacements as they
2056 come and hope they are in the right order */
2057 ...
2058 </pre></div>
2059
2060 <p>… a clearer way to show explicit replacement ordering is to do:</p>
2061
2062 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2063 ...
2064 'PAGE_OF' => 'Page %1$s of %2$s',
2065 /* Explicit ordering of the replacements,
2066 even if they are the same order as English */
2067 ...
2068 </pre></div>
2069
2070 <p>Why bother at all? Because some languages, the string transliterated back to English might read something like:</p>
2071
2072 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2073 ...
2074 'PAGE_OF' => 'Total of %2$s pages, currently on page %1$s',
2075 /* Explicit ordering of the replacements,
2076 reversed compared to English as the total comes first */
2077 ...
2078 </pre></div>
2079
2080 <a name="writingstyle"></a><h3>6.iii. Writing Style</h3>
2081
2082 <h4>Miscellaneous tips & hints:</h4>
2083
2084 <p>As the language files are PHP files, where the various strings for phpBB are stored within an array which in turn are used for display within an HTML page, rules of syntax for both must be considered. Potentially problematic characters are: <code>'</code> (straight quote/apostrophe), <code>"</code> (straight double quote), <code><</code> (less-than sign), <code>></code> (greater-than sign) and <code>&</code> (ampersand).</p>
2085
2086 <p class="bad">// Bad - The un-escapsed straight-quote/apostrophe will throw a PHP parse error</p>
2087
2088 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2089 ...
2090 'CONV_ERROR_NO_AVATAR_PATH'
2091 => 'Note to developer: you must specify $convertor['avatar_path'] to use %s.',
2092 ...
2093 </pre></div>
2094
2095 <p class="good">// Good - Literal straight quotes should be escaped with a backslash, ie: \</p>
2096
2097 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2098 ...
2099 'CONV_ERROR_NO_AVATAR_PATH'
2100 => 'Note to developer: you must specify $convertor[\'avatar_path\'] to use %s.',
2101 ...
2102 </pre></div>
2103
2104 <p>However, because phpBB3 now uses UTF-8 as its sole encoding, we can actually use this to our advantage and not have to remember to escape a straight quote when we don't have to:</p>
2105
2106 <p class="bad">// Bad - The un-escapsed straight-quote/apostrophe will throw a PHP parse error</p>
2107
2108 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2109 ...
2110 'USE_PERMISSIONS' => 'Test out user's permissions',
2111 ...
2112 </pre></div>
2113
2114 <p class="good">// Okay - However, non-programmers wouldn't type "user\'s" automatically</p>
2115
2116 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2117 ...
2118 'USE_PERMISSIONS' => 'Test out user\'s permissions',
2119 ...
2120 </pre></div>
2121
2122 <p class="good">// Best - Use the Unicode Right-Single-Quotation-Mark character</p>
2123
2124 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2125 ...
2126 'USE_PERMISSIONS' => 'Test out user’s permissions',
2127 ...
2128 </pre></div>
2129
2130 <p>The <code>"</code> (straight double quote), <code><</code> (less-than sign) and <code>></code> (greater-than sign) characters can all be used as displayed glyphs or as part of HTML markup, for example:</p>
2131
2132 <p class="bad">// Bad - Invalid HTML, as segments not part of elements are not entitised</p>
2133
2134 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2135 ...
2136 'FOO_BAR' => 'PHP version < 4.3.3.<br />
2137 Visit "Downloads" at <a href="http://www.php.net/">www.php.net</a>.',
2138 ...
2139 </pre></div>
2140
2141 <p class="good">// Okay - No more invalid HTML, but "&quot;" is rather clumsy</p>
2142
2143 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2144 ...
2145 'FOO_BAR' => 'PHP version &lt; 4.3.3.<br />
2146 Visit &quot;Downloads&quot; at <a href="http://www.php.net/">www.php.net</a>.',
2147 ...
2148 </pre></div>
2149
2150 <p class="good">// Best - No more invalid HTML, and usage of correct typographical quotation marks</p>
2151
2152 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2153 ...
2154 'FOO_BAR' => 'PHP version &lt; 4.3.3.<br />
2155 Visit “Downloads” at <a href="http://www.php.net/">www.php.net</a>.',
2156 ...
2157 </pre></div>
2158
2159 <p>Lastly, the <code>&</code> (ampersand) must always be entitised regardless of where it is used:</p>
2160
2161 <p class="bad">// Bad - Invalid HTML, none of the ampersands are entitised</p>
2162
2163 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2164 ...
2165 'FOO_BAR' => '<a href="http://somedomain.tld/?foo=1&bar=2">Foo & Bar</a>.',
2166 ...
2167 </pre></div>
2168
2169 <p class="good">// Good - Valid HTML, amperands are correctly entitised in all cases</p>
2170
2171 <div class="codebox"><pre>
2172 ...
2173 'FOO_BAR' => '<a href="http://somedomain.tld/?foo=1&amp;bar=2">Foo &amp; Bar</a>.',
2174 ...
2175 </pre></div>
2176
2177 <p>As for how these charcters are entered depends very much on choice of Operating System, current language locale/keyboard configuration and native abilities of the text editor used to edit phpBB language files. Please see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode#Input_methods">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode#Input_methods</a> for more information.</p>
2178
2179 <h4>Spelling, punctuation, grammar, et cetera:</h4>
2180
2181 <p>The default language pack bundled with phpBB is <strong>British English</strong> using <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/">Cambridge University Press</a> spelling and is assigned the language code <code>en</code>. The style and tone of writing tends towards formal and translations <strong>should</strong> emulate this style, at least for the variant using the most compact language code. Less formal translations or those with colloquialisms <strong>must</strong> be denoted as such via either an <code>extension</code> or <code>privateuse</code> tag within its language code.</p>
2182
2183 </div>
2184
2185 <div class="back2top"><a href="#wrap" class="top">Back to Top</a></div>
2186
2187 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
2188 </div>
2189
2190 <hr />
2191
2192 <a name="changes"></a><h2>7. Guidelines Changelog</h2>
2193 <div class="paragraph">
2194 <div class="inner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span>
2195
2196 <div class="content">
2197
2198 <h3>Revision 1.31</h3>
2199
2200 <ul>
2201 <li>Added add_form_key and check_form_key. </li>
2202 </ul>
2203
2204 <h3>Revision 1.24</h3>
2205
2206 <ul>
2207 <li>Added <a href="#translation">5. Character Sets and Encodings</a> section to explain the recommended treatment of strings in phpBB.</li>
2208 </ul>
2209
2210 <h3>Revision 1.16</h3>
2211
2212 <ul>
2213 <li>Added <a href="#translation">6. Translation (<abbr title="Internationalisation">i18n</abbr>/<abbr title="Localisation">L10n</abbr>) Guidelines</a> section to explain expected format and authoring considerations for language packs that are to be created for phpBB.</li>
2214 </ul>
2215
2216 <h3>Revision 1.11-1.15</h3>
2217
2218 <ul>
2219 <li>Various document formatting, spelling, punctuation, grammar bugs.</li>
2220 </ul>
2221
2222 <h3>Revision 1.9-1.10</h3>
2223
2224 <ul>
2225 <li>Added sql_query_limit to <a href="#sql">2.iii. SQL/SQL Layout</a>.</li>
2226 </ul>
2227
2228 <h3>Revision 1.8</h3>
2229
2230 <ul>
2231 <li>Some adjustements to wordings</li>
2232 <li>Updated paragraph <a href="#locations">1.iii. File Locations</a> to reflect recent changes</li>
2233 <li>Extended paragraph <a href="#codelayout">2.ii. Code Layout</a>.</li>
2234 <li>Added sql_in_set and sql_build_query explanation to <a href="#sql">2.iii. SQL/SQL Layout</a>.</li>
2235 <li>Updated paragraph <a href="#styling">3. Styling</a>.</li>
2236 <li>Updated paragraph <a href="#templating">4. Templating</a> to explain loop checking, loop breaking and other changes we recently made.</li>
2237 </ul>
2238
2239 <h3>Revision 1.5</h3>
2240
2241 <ul>
2242 <li>Changed General function usage paragraph in <a href="#general">2.v. General Guidelines</a></li>
2243 </ul>
2244
2245
2246 </div>
2247
2248 <div class="back2top"><a href="#wrap" class="top">Back to Top</a></div>
2249
2250 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
2251 </div>
2252
2253 <hr />
2254
2255 <a name="disclaimer"></a><h2>8. Copyright and disclaimer</h2>
2256
2257 <div class="paragraph">
2258 <div class="inner"><span class="corners-top"><span></span></span>
2259
2260 <div class="content">
2261
2262 <p>This application is opensource software released under the <a href="http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php">GPL</a>. Please see source code and the docs directory for more details. This package and its contents are Copyright (c) 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 <a href="http://www.phpbb.com/">phpBB Group</a>, All Rights Reserved.</p>
2263
2264 </div>
2265
2266 <div class="back2top"><a href="#wrap" class="top">Back to Top</a></div>
2267
2268 <span class="corners-bottom"><span></span></span></div>
2269 </div>
2270
2271 <!-- END DOCUMENT -->
2272
2273 <div id="page-footer">
2274 <div class="version"> $Id$ </div>
2275 </div>
2276 </div></div>
2277
2278 <div>
2279 <a id="bottom" name="bottom" accesskey="z"></a>
2280 </div>
2281
2282 </body>
2283 </html>
2284