MySQL in Leopard

Many people have been reporting issues with MySQL under Leopard with this error:

mysqld: Can't create/write to file '/var/folders/2F/2FtguLeuG1ibx1X9tbDS0E+++TI/-Tmp-/ibYWBjEU' (Errcode: 13)
071204 11:15:48  InnoDB: Error: unable to create temporary file; errno: 13

I have discovered a fix for this particular issue. First, in the Terminal, go into your MySQL root directory (mine is /usr/local/mysql). Then type these commands:

sudo mkdir tmp
sudo chown _mysql:wheel tmp
sudo chmod 755 tmp

This will create a temporary directory that MySQL will use. Now we have to make sure MySQL knows about this new location for temporary information, so open up your my.cnf and add this line:

tmpdir=/usr/local/mysql/tmp

(Where the path after the equals sign is the path to your tmp directory).

After this, restart MySQL and all should run fine.

RGB Converter 2.2 Released

I have just updated RGB Converter to version 2.2. There’s relatively few changes involved. The first is a long-standing request to remove the gradient highlight over the color swatch so that there isn’t confusion over the hue. Secondly, a small drawing issue occurred under Leopard would cause the green RGB triad field to be moved to the next line.

Enjoy.

The Bug Back-Log

If you’ve taken a look at the bug tracker recently, you’ll see quite a few bugs back-logged. I’m not ignoring them (I still check out each individual report when it’s posted or updated), and if the bug is critical I’ll, of course, fix it. But at the moment I’m focusing completely on finishing the rewrite of ISSO. My time is extraordinarily limited so things are taking a lot longer than expected, but I’m really excited to start work on Bugdar 2.0. Before I can get there, though, ISSO needs to be finished. Here’s a little update on what’s left to do for ISSO:

API

The API module is what I’m currently focusing on. The error system is getting an overhaul to use PHP5’s exception system instead of trigger_error(). Furthermore, the validation system is being rewritten to work with the new error system.

Db

Both MySQL and MySQLi modules are done and have complete unit tests. I still need to update the PostgreSQL module, however, because I don’t have Postgres on my laptop yet.

Graph

The graphing module, which has yet to be used in an application, is being removed. Instead, I have started a new project called WebFreeChart to take the place of it.

Pagination

I have yet to unit test and update the pagination module. This will pretty much stay the same, though instead of using templates (whose names are hard-coded), I’ll switch to hooks and callbacks.

Printer

The printer classes are used to generate the green-styled interface for admin control panels and the like. I have already rewritten the classes but I am unhappy with them because they’re so verbose to use. I’m now thinking of ditching it for XML-based (maybe even XSLT) generators. There’d be various XML tags for the existing classes and methods to generate form elements with the proper markup. This would separate the presentation from the logic, while still not having to worry about styling and direct HTML.

I hope to finish these things off soon to get working on Bugdar 2.0, but because my time is so limited, I really can’t give an ETA. I’ll try to keep posting updates so you’re aware of what’s going on.

ViewSVN Prematurely EOL’d

ViewSVN has been end-of-life’d and I will no longer be developing it. This is due simply to the fact that as of noon PDT today, dev.bluestatic.org went offline (and thus my Subversion repository host). In preparation for this, I’ve moved almost all my projects to Git repositories (which do not require any special server to host).

So ViewSVN never made it out of the beta phase, which is a shame because I feel it had a lot of potential. I’ll be converting the repository from SVN to Git (so that the repository history is accessible and open for forking if people desire to do so) and uploading it shortly. However, as I said above, active development of ViewSVN has ceased and will likely not continue, especially with how content with Git I am.

Helvetica is the Neue Thing

Web font selection is terrible. So terrible it’s frustrating. This site was previously all typeset in Trebuchet MS, which is a very interesting typeface. It’s a humanist typeface and it can convey modernity with a hint of playfulness. The reason why the entire site was typeset in a single face was that nothing really blends well with it. However, a single typeface hinders readability, so I decided to find new fonts.

A modern trend in web typography is to set the body text in a small-sized Verdana and headlines in Georgia. So this, naturally, was my first choice. Almost immediately it became clear to me that a serif font does not fit the design aesthetics of the site: it’s too formal. However, as my palette was limited, I decided I would try some other serif fonts. To get around the limitations of the web, I wrote a PHP script that received a string of text as a GET parameter and would take in a font and use the GD functions to return a PNG image that could be used on a page. I tried this with a variety of fonts, and while it did work, I was unsatisfied with load times and the anti-aliasing quality (plus it only confirmed that serif fonts did not work with the site).

I then started playing around again with the few web safe fonts I have access to and I settled on an interesting combination: Verdana for the headlines and (hopefully) Helvetica Neue for the body text. Unfortunately, not all people have the Helvetica Neue so it will have to degrade to Helvetica, or worse yet, it’s knock-off cousin, Arial. But this font combination works well. Verdana is a blocky (when used large) font that has large, strong, open letter forms. Helvetica on the other hand, is a narrow, rounded, and light font. So while the two fonts are both sans serif, they generate enough contrast that mitigates this similarity.

This marks only the second “major” change to the site’s design in over a year. I’ve decided to take a new approach with the site: instead of drastically changing the site every few months, incrementially make subtle changes where necessary. This font change I do think was necessary and should increase readability. The previous change was reducing the size of the header and lightening the page background, both of which also increased readability. (See a common theme here?). This approach forces you to think about your site in a different way, and instead of trying to tear down all your previous work, it helps build upon it, only tinkering with the portions that need fixing.

Apart from that, some of the sites internals have changed. Namely, the download system has been rewritten (it used to generate ZIP and TAR packages on the fly, but I have changed it to now just stream pre-made packages to reduce server load and so that I can ensure the quality of the packages). Also, I added a section to the site on source repositories, and I cleaned up the contact form.