Change log?

Mithoron · Guest

With so many different mod's out there, many authors are posting change logs such that you don't have to totally replace a file with another to make one mod work...and resulting in another stopping to work.

For example, this mod alters the base admin.php file; however, many of the NSN scripts and other mods do as well. It starts to get cumbersome to manually edit these each time a new mod comes out so that the others are not broken as overwritting the file causes them to break.

Is it possible to list the changes made to the base files such that people can edit them appropriately?

Thanx!

Raven · Posted: Sat May 03, 2003 2:05 pm

When I get a mod from somewhere, I run a compare utility against what I already have installed at my site and proceed accordingly. I understand both sides. Some of us are very involved in several sites and don't always have the time to do 'change' logs. I publish change logs if it is my original stuff, but if you have a heavily hacked site then a change log on a module that you've already hacked isn't going to help you much, because I may or may not have hacked the original mod. It could get really crazy and cumbersome.

I recommend just running your own change/compare/diff utility against either the original or your current copy and go from there.

Cakepro · Guest

Mithoron posted the exact question I wanted to ask.

Can you recommend a "change/compare/diff utility" so I can do just that? I do alot of the NSN modifications to files too, and this would be an ideal way for me to figure out exactly what's different in programs who do not include changelog files.

Thanks,
Sherri

Raven · Posted: Sun May 04, 2003 8:54 pm

I use Textpad as my editor and it provides one. I also just read about a windoz one called windiff (I think) and it's free from MS. Of course on linux you can use the diff command. HTH

Cakepro · Guest

Hi Gaylen ~

I installed your News-module-allows-ordering hack and it works great!

Whenever I modify a file, such as admin.php, I always rename the old one something like admin_pre_news_mod_ordering.php and then upload the modified one with the correct name. Luckily, the only modification I had ever made before to my admin.php file was to install an event calendar, and the changest that the calendar author made to the admin.php file was very well documented. I took your admin.php file and modified it with the calendar information. Which brings me to my point (finally!)...

Before your admin.php file was uploaded on my server, whenever I went into the Administration view of my site, all of the blocks on the right side of the page were cut off, and the administration panel encompassed the middle and right sides of the page. Now that I've applied your hack, the right blocks remain and the administration panel and all its content is squished into the middle. Can you tell me what had made that change and how I can change it back?

Thank you for the recommendation. WinDiff is not free, and TextPad offers a free trial, so I downloaded it. I definitely prefer EditPlus for editing but it doesn't have a compare command...go figure. Anyway, it doesn't do me any good to compare files when the lines that need to be added to an existing file have to be placed somewhere specific and I don't have a clue where to put them.

So, may I please suggest for the php newbies like me, if in the future you do more awesome hacks, that you test it on vanilla/unhacked/unmodified phpnuke files and document your changes? I know that's pretty bold of me to ask you to do this being that you have done this wonderful thing without charge and for the most part, it's thankless, but nonetheless I wanted to make this little suggestion for the users of your excellent hacks.

Thank you,
Sherri

Raven · Posted: Mon May 05, 2003 4:55 am

Now how can I resist this Embarassed

? I'll see what I can do Wink

To answer your question about the right blocks, I prefer that. I use 1280x1024 so I used $index=1 in the admin.php file. Just change it back to $index=0 or delete it altogether.

sharlein · Posted: Mon May 05, 2003 10:09 am

Another compare/diff is CSDiff, and it is free!!!!!!!(for non-commerial use)

Mithoron · Hangin' Around Joined: May 05, 2003 Posts: 34

Well, I was hoping for the authors to actually post the changes they've made to the file. After even a year, with upgrades from 5.5, to 60, to 6.5 in all its beta forms, and all the mods and personal changes, there are quite a few changes to my base files. Using a compare utility it's almost impossible to see what was removed because of some other utility or the new mod I am trying to implement.

Right now, between Event Calendar, NSN Groups, and a few others, my admin.php and module.php files have about 25 changes to them each...some are rather obvious as to what module they belong to, whereas others after all this time I have no clue. Embarassed

I use DiffDoc for my changes...but it still is a bit cumbersome to figure out some of the changes, hehehe.

Raven · Posted: Mon May 05, 2003 7:59 pm

OK! I will take responsibility for my little corner of this nuked world Laughing

. I will try to get a change log out within the next 2 weeks or so.. Sorry, but I've got vacation on the horizon and I am pretty swamped right now, but I will.

Thanks for all the GREAT feedback!

Mithoron · Hangin' Around Joined: May 05, 2003 Posts: 34

Hehehe, thanx Gaylen!

A few other authors are also doing the same...and it's really appreciated by those of us who are code-deficient Wink

Guest · Posted: Tue May 06, 2003 7:52 am

Hey ~ vacation takes priority over everything! Wink

Go recharge your internal batteries so you can come back here and continue to do great stuff.

Thanks for telling me how to get the page back to how it was. Having the right blocks show is actually quite handy (I just had to get used to it).

Thanks!
~ Sherri

Guardian2003 · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 5:52 am

I use a utility called, co-incidentally 'Compare It' - free to and works like a charm!
For editing, I use Crimson Editor - another freebie!

Raven · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:43 am

Thanks for the reminder! I have been using Compare-It for several years. I don't know why I didn't mention it! Senior moment I guess Bang Head