First of all it’s another reinvention of wheel. This class is designed to provide quick access to any XML based RSS feed and it’s content. Usages are very simple and require only one line of code. Html rendering functionality is provided through separate pluggable widget rendering class which can be extended easily. SimpleXML is used by default to load and fetch feed url but can be used CURL using rayHttp class. All or any CURL options can be set for HTTP request. It can auto detect feed type and supports RSS 0.92, RSS 2.0 and Atom feeds.

Features:

- Read feeds content into an array
- Supports for RSS 0.92, RSS 2.0 and Atom feed
- Detect feed type automatically, also can be set manually.
- Support pluggable html widget rendering class
- Can render html widget through optional RayFeedWidget class or your own extended class.
- Easily configurable & can work without any configuration.
- Simple & Easy to use from anywhere in your application with a single line of code.
- Support Singleton pattern
- By default SimpleXML is used as http client,
- Support Custom CURL request, may be used to extends functionality through rayHttp class.
- Light Weight

Methods Available (This class provides):
- parse()
- getData()
- widget()

Class:

File: rayfeedreader.php

<?php

    /**
     * RayFeedReader
     *
     * SimpleXML based feed reader class. A very specific feed reader designed
     * to working with no or little configurations.
     *
     * - This class can read an rss feed into array from a given url.
     * - Also can render html widget with plugable RayFeedWidget Class.
     *
     * Supports following feed types:
     *  - RSS 0.92
     *  - RSS 2.0
     *  - Atom
     *
     * Configuration Options
     *  - array
     *      - url: (string)
     *          - feed url
     *
     *      - httpClient: (string)
     *          - default SimpleXML
     *          - value rayHttp or SimpleXML
     *
     *      - type: ([optional] string
     *          - auto detect
     *          - value rss or rss2 or atom
     *
     *      - widget: ([optional] string)
     *          - feed widget class name for rendering html
     *
     *      - rayHttp: (array)
     *          - only if httpClient is set to rayHttp
     *          - rayHttp Options if you want to modify rayHttml CURL options
     *          - generally not required.
     *
     *
     *
     *
     * @version 1.0
     * @author Md. Rayhan Chowdhury
     * @package rayFeedReader
     * @license GPL
     */
    Class RayFeedReader{

        /**
         * Self Instance for Singleton Pattern
         *
         * @var object
         * @access protected
         */
        static private  $__instance;

        /**
         * Instance of Parser Class.
         *
         * @var object Parser Class
         * @access protected
         */
        Protected       $_Parser;

        /**
         * Feed Url
         *
         * @var string feed url
         * @access protected
         */
        protected       $_url;

        /**
         * Runtime Options for reader
         *
         * @var array
         * @access protected
         */
        protected       $_options = array('rayHttp' => array());

        /**
         * Type of feed to be parsed.
         *
         * @var string
         * @access protected
         */
        protected       $_type = "rss";

        /**
         * HttpClient to be used for loading feed content.
         *
         *  - default SimpleXML
         *
         * @var string 'SimpleXML' or 'rayHttp'
         * @access protected
         */
        protected       $_httpClient = "SimpleXML";

        /**
         * Widget Class Name
         *
         * @var string
         * @access protected
         */
        protected       $_widget;

        /**
         * Parsed result data
         *
         * @var array
         * @access protected
         */
        protected       $_content;

        /**
         * Class construct
         *
         * @param array $options
         */
        function __construct($options = array()) {
            $this->setOptions($options);
        }

        /**
         * Get Instance of the class.
         *
         * @param array $options
         * @return object self instance.
         * @access public
         * @static
         */
        static function &getInstance($options = array()) {
            if (is_null(self::$__instance)) {
                self::$__instance = new self($options);
            }
            return self::$__instance;
        }

        /**
         * Set Options for the class
         *
         *
         * @param array $options
         * @return object self instance
         * @access public
         */
        function &setOptions($options) {
            if (!empty($options['url'])) {
                $this->_url = $options['url'];
            }

            if (!empty($options['type'])) {
                $this->_type = $options['type'];
            }

            if (!empty($options['httpClient'])) {
                $this->_httpClient = $options['httpClient'];
            }

            if (!empty($options['widget'])) {
                $this->_widget = $options['widget'];
            }

            $this->_options = array_merge($this->_options, $options);

            return $this;
        }

        /**
         * Parse feed contents into an array and return self object
         *
         * @return object self instance
         * @access public
         */
        function &parse() {
            /**
             * Get/load content
             */
             switch ($this->_httpClient) {
                 case 'SimpleXML':
                     $content = new SimpleXMLElement($this->_url, LIBXML_NOCDATA, true);
                     break;

                 case 'rayHttp':

                     $content = RayHttp::getInstance()->setOptions($this->_options['rayHttp'])->get($this->_url);

                     if (!empty($content)) {
                        $content = new SimpleXMLElement($content, LIBXML_NOCDATA);
                     }
                     break;
             }

             if (empty($content)) {
                 trigger_error("XML format is invalid or broken.", E_USER_ERROR);
             }

            /**
             * Detect Feed Type
             */

             if (empty($this->_type)) {

                    switch ($content->getName()) {
                        case 'rss':
                            foreach ($content->attributes() as $attribute) {
                                if ($attribute->getName() == 'version') {
                                    if ('2.0' == $attribute) {
                                        self::setOptions(array('type' => 'rss2'));
                                    } elseif (in_array($attribute, array('0.92', '0.91'))) {
                                        self::setOptions(array('type' => 'rss'));
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                            break;

                        case 'feed':
                            self::setOptions(array('type' => 'atom'));

                            break;
                    }

             }

             if (!in_array($this->_type, array('rss', 'rss2', 'atom'))) {

                  trigger_error("Feed type is either invalid or not supported.", E_USER_ERROR);

                  return false;
             }

            /**
             * Parse Feed Content
             */
            switch ($this->_type) {
                case 'rss':
                    $content = $this->parseRss($content);
                    break;

                case 'rss2':
                    $content = $this->parseRss2($content);
                    break;

                case 'atom':
                    $content = $this->parseAtom($content);
                    break;
            }

             if (empty($content)) {
                 trigger_error("No content is found.", E_USER_ERROR);
             }

             $this->_content = $content;

             return $this;

        }

        /**
         * Get Array of Parsed XML feed data.
         *
         * @return array parsed feed content.
         * @access public
         */
        function getData() {
            return $this->_content;
        }

        /**
         * Return html widget based rendered by widget class
         *
         *
         * @param array $options for html widget class
         * @return string html widget
         * @access public
         */
        function widget($options = array('widget' => 'brief')) {
            if (!empty($this->_widget) && !empty($this->_content)) {
                $Widget = new $this->_widget;

                return $Widget->widget($this->_content, $options);

             } else {
                 return false;
             }
        }

        /**
         * Parse feed xml into an array.
         *
         * @param object $feedXml SimpleXMLElementObject
         * @return array feed content
         * @access public
         */
        function parseRss($feedXml) {
            $data = array();

            $data['title'] = $feedXml->channel->title . '';
            $data['link'] = $feedXml->channel->link . '';
            $data['description'] = $feedXml->channel->description . '';
            $data['parser'] = __CLASS__;
            $data['type'] = 'rss';

            foreach ($feedXml->channel->item as $item) {
                $data['items'][] = array(
                                        'title' =>  $item->title . '',
                                        'link' =>   $item->link . '',
                                        'description' => $item->description . '',
                                    );
            }

            return $data;
        }

        /**
         * Parse feed xml into an array.
         *
         * @param object $feedXml SimpleXMLElementObject
         * @return array feed content
         * @access public
         */
        function parseRss2($feedXml) {
            $data = array();

            $data['title'] = $feedXml->channel->title . '';
            $data['link'] = $feedXml->channel->link . '';
            $data['description'] = $feedXml->channel->description . '';
            $data['parser'] = __CLASS__;
            $data['type'] = 'rss2';

            $namespaces = $feedXml->getNamespaces(true);
            foreach ($namespaces as $namespace => $namespaceValue) {
                $feedXml->registerXPathNamespace($namespace, $namespaceValue);
            }

            foreach ($feedXml->channel->item as $item) {
                $categories = array();
                foreach ($item->children() as $child) {
                    if ($child->getName() == 'category') {
                        $categories[] = (string) $child;
                    }
                }

                $author = null;
                if (!empty($namespaces['dc']) && $creator = $item->xpath('dc:creator')) {
                    $author = (string) $creator[0];
                }

                $content = null;
                if (!empty($namespaces['encoded']) && $encoded = $item->xpath('content:encoded')) {
                    $content = (string) $encoded[0];
                }

                $data['items'][] = array(
                                        'title' =>  $item->title . '',
                                        'link' =>   $item->link . '',
                                        'date' =>   date('Y-m-d h:i:s A', strtotime($item->pubDate . '')),
                                        'description' => $item->description . '',
                                        'categories' => $categories,
                                        'author' => array( 'name' => $author),
                                        'content' => $content,

                                    );

            }

            return $data;
        }

        /**
         * Parse feed xml into an array.
         *
         * @param object $feedXml SimpleXMLElementObject
         * @return array feed content
         * @access public
         */
        function parseAtom($feedXml) {
            $data = array();

            $data['title'] = $feedXml->title . '';
            foreach ($feedXml->link as $link) {
                    $data['link'] = $link['href'] . '';
                break;
            }

            $data['description'] = $feedXml->subtitle . '';
            $data['parser'] = __CLASS__;
            $data['type'] = 'atom';

            foreach ($feedXml->entry as $item) {
                foreach ($item->link as $link) {
                    $itemLink = $link['href'] . '';
                    break;
                }

                $categories = array();
                foreach ($item->category as $category) {
                    $categories[] = $category['term'] . '';
                }

                $data['items'][] = array(
                                        'title' =>  $item->title . '',
                                        'link' =>   $itemLink . '',
                                        'date' =>   date('Y-m-d h:i:s A', strtotime($item->published . '')),
                                        'description' => $item->summary . '',
                                        'content' => $item->content . '',
                                        'categories' => $categories,
                                        'author' => array('name' => $item->author->name . '', 'url' => $item->author->uri . ''),
                                        'extra' => array('contentType' => $item->content['type'] . '', 'descriptionType' => $item->summary['type'] . '')
                                    );
            }

            return $data;
        }

    }
?>

External feed widget class to get rendered html widget.

File: rayfeedwidget.php

<?php

    /**
     * Feed Widget Interface
     *
     * @version 1.0
     * @author Md. Rayhan Chowdhury
     * @package rayFeedReader
     * @license GPL
     */
    interface RayFeedWidget_Interface{
        /**
         * Public widget method
         *
         * @param <type> $data
         * @param  $options
         * @return string html
         */
        public function widget($data, $options = array());
    }

    /**
     * Widget Plugin Class for RayFeedReader
     *
     * Render html widget for feed reader based on options
     *
     * config options
     *  - array
     *      - widget:
     *          - optional string
     *          - value 'brief' or 'compact' or 'detail'
     *      - showTitle
     *          - boolean
     *          - whether add blog title or not.
     *
     * @version 1.0
     * @author Md. Rayhan Chowdhury
     * @package rayFeedReader
     * @license GPL
     */
    class RayFeedWidget implements RayFeedWidget_Interface{

        /**
         * HTML widget structure
         *
         * @var array
         * @access public
         */
        public $html = array('brief' => "<div class=\"feed-item feed-brief\">\n
                                            <div class=\"feed-item-title\">\n
                                                <h3><a href='%s'>%s</a></h3>\n
                                                <div class='feed-item-date'>%s</div>\n
                                            </div>\n
                                            <div class=\"feed-item-description\">%s</div>\n
                                        </div>",

                                'compact' => "<div class=\"feed-item feed-compact\">\n
                                    <div class=\"feed-item-title\">\n
                                        <h3><a href='%s'>%s</a></h3>\n
                                        <div class='feed-item-date'>%s</div>\n
                                    </div>\n
                                </div>",

                                'detail' => "<div class=\"feed-item feed-detail\">\n
                                    <div class=\"feed-item-title\">\n
                                        <h3><a href='%s'>%s</a></h3>\n
                                        <div class='feed-item-date'>%s</div>\n
                                    </div>\n
                                    <div class=\"feed-item-content\">%s</div>\n
                                </div>",
                            );

        /**
         * Return html widget based rendered by widget class
         *
         * @param  $data
         * @param  $options
         * @return 
         */
        function widget($data, $options = array('widget' => 'brief')) {
            switch ($options['widget']) {

                case 'compact':
                    return $this->widgetCompact($data, $options);
                    break;

                case 'detail':
                    return $this->widgetDetail($data, $options);
                    break;

                case 'brief':
                default:
                    return $this->widgetBrief($data, $options);
                    break;
            }
        }

        /**
         * Render feed widget with title and date only
         *
         * @param  $data
         * @param  $options
         * @return 
         */
        function widgetCompact($data, $options = array()) {
            if (empty($data['items'])) {
              return false;
            }

            $out = array();
            foreach ($data['items'] as $item) {
                if (empty($item['date'])) {
                    $item['date'] = '';
                }
                $out[] = sprintf($this->html['compact'], $item['link'], $item['title'], $item['date']);

            }

            $title = '';
            if (empty($options['showtitle'])) {
                $title = sprintf("<div class='feed-title'><h2>%s</h2><hr>%s</div>\n", $data['title'], $data['description']);
            }

            $out = "<div class='feed-container'>\n"  . $title . join(" \n", $out) . "</div>";

            return $out;
        }

        /**
         * Render feed widget with title, date & description
         *
         * @param  $data
         * @param  $options
         * @return 
         */
        function widgetBrief($data, $options = array()) {
            if (empty($data['items'])) {
              return false;
            }

            $out = array();

            foreach ($data['items'] as $item) {
                if (empty($item['date'])) {
                    $item['date'] = '';
                }

                if (empty($item['description'])) {
                        $item['description'] = $item['content'];
                }

                $out[] = sprintf($this->html['brief'], $item['link'], $item['title'], $item['date'], $item['description']);

            }

            $title = '';
            if (empty($options['showtitle'])) {
                $title = sprintf("<div class='feed-title'><h2>%s</h2><hr>%s</div>\n", $data['title'], $data['description']);
            }

            $out = "<div class='feed-container'>\n"  . $title . join(" \n", $out) . "</div>";

            return $out;
        }

        /**
         * Render blog widget with title, date & content
         *
         * @param  $data
         * @param  $options
         * @return 
         */
        function widgetDetail($data, $options = array()) {
            if (empty($data['items'])) {
              return false;
            }

            $out = array();
            foreach ($data['items'] as $item) {
                if (empty($item['date'])) {
                    $item['date'] = '';
                }
                if (empty($item['content'])) {
                    $item['content'] = $item['description'];
                }
                $out[] = sprintf($this->html['detail'], $item['link'], $item['title'], $item['date'], $item['content']);

            }

            $title = '';
            if (empty($options['showtitle'])) {
                $title = sprintf("<div class='feed-title'><h2>%s</h2><hr>%s</div>\n", $data['title'], $data['description']);
            }

            $out = "<div class='feed-container'>\n"  . $title . join(" \n", $out) . "</div>";

            return $out;
        }
    }
?>

Usage Example: some quick examples are given below to introduce you with the class and it’s methods.

File: example.php

<?php

    /**
     * Example Usage or RayFeedReader
     */

    require_once('rayfeedreader.php');   

    /**
     * get Instance
     */
    $reader1 = RayFeedReader::getInstance();
    $reader2 = RayFeedReader::getInstance($options);
    $reader3 = new RayFeedReader();
    $reader4 = new RayFeedReader($options);

    /**
     * get data from a feed url
     */
    $options = array('url' => 'http://example.com/feed');

    $feedData = RayFeedReader::getInstance($options)->parse()->getData();

    // Or options can be set anytime using setOptions method.
    $feedData = RayFeedReader::getInstance()->setOptions($options)->parse()->getData();

    /**
     * Get html widget
     */

    $options = array(
                        'url' => 'http://example.com/feed',
                        'widget' => 'RayFeedWidget',
                    );

    /**
     * Load rayFeedWidget class file
     */
    require_once('rayfeedwidget.php');

    $html = RayFeedReader::getInstance()->setOptions($options)->parse()->widget();

    // OR with widget options.
    $widgetOptions = array('widget' => 'detail', 'showTitle' => true);

    $html = RayFeedReader::getInstance()->setOptions($options)->parse()->widget($widgetOptions);

    /**
     * Full options
     */
    $options = array(
                        'url' => 'http://example.com/feed',
                        'widget' => 'RayFeedWidget',
                        'httpClient' => 'rayHttp',
                        'type' => 'atom',
                    );

    /**
     * Load rayHttp class file.
     */
    require_once("rayhttp.php");    

    /**
     * Html widget with full options
     */
    $html = RayFeedReader::getInstance()->setOptions($options)->parse()->widget();

    /**
     * Get Feed Data with full options
     */
    $feedData = RayFeedReader::getInstance($options)->parse()->getData();
?>

Please let me know if you find this class helpful for you..

Class Update:

An updated version of this class and example script are posted at PHPClasses.org, http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/package/5652.html. Please use class from PHPClasses.org for bug fixed latest version.

I have wrapped three static functions for converting multidimensional configuration data. It is very much useful when working with configuration data. I have used this class in one of my project to store arbitrary configuration data just like windows registry data.

File: rayarray.php

<?php
/**
* RayArray arrays utility class
*
* This class provides configuration array handling funcionalities,
* may be usefull when dealing with configuration data.
*
* Usage: using this class you can convert a multidimensional configuration
* array into a single dimension array ready to store into sql table/ flat file.
*
* methods available are
*  - shorten() - static
*  - unshorten() - static
*  - subarray() - static
*
* @package     raynux
* @subpackage  raynux.lab.array
* @version     1.0
* @author      Md. Rayhan Chowdhury
* @email       ray@raynux.com
* @website     www.raynux.com
* @license     GPL
*/
class RayArray{
/**
 * Shorten an multidimensional array into a single dimensional array concatenating all keys with separator.
 *
 * @example array('country' => array(0 => array('name' => 'Bangladesh', 'capital' => 'Dhaka')))
 *          to array('country.0.name' => 'Bangladesh', 'country.0.capital' => 'Dhaka')
 *
 * @param array $inputArray, arrays to be marged into a single dimensional array
 * @param string $path, Default Initial path
 * @param string $separator, array key path separator
 * @return array, single dimensional array with key and value pair
 * @access public
 * @static
 */
static public function shorten(array $inputArray, $path = null, $separator = "."){
   $data = array();
   if (!is_null($path)) {
      $path = $path . $separator;
   }

   if (is_array($inputArray)) {
      foreach ($inputArray as $key => &$value) {
         if (!is_array($value)) {
            $data[$path . $key] = $value;
         } else {
            $data = array_merge($data, self::shorten($value, $path . $key, $separator));
         }
      }
   }

   return $data;
}

/**
 * Unshorten a single dimensional array into multidimensional array.
 *
 * @example array('country.0.name' => 'Bangladesh', 'country.0.capital' => 'Dhaka')
 *          to array('country' => array(0 => array('name' => 'Bangladesh', 'capital' => 'Dhaka')))
 *
 * @param array $data data to be converted into multidimensional array
 * @param string $separator key path separator
 * @return array multi dimensional array
 * @access public
 * @static
 */
static public function unshorten($data, $separator = '.'){
   $result = array();

   foreach ($data as $key => $value){
      if(strpos($key, $separator) !== false ){
         $str = explode($separator, $key, 2);
         $result[$str[0]][$str[1]] = $value;
         if(strpos($str[1], $separator)){
            $result[$str[0]] = self::unshorten($result[$str[0]], $separator);
         }
      }else{
         $result[$key] = is_array($value)?  self::unshorten($value, $separator) : $value;
      }
   }
   return $result;
}

/**
 * Get part of array from a multidimensional array specified by concatenated keys path.
 *
 * @example
 *          path = "0.name"
 *          data =
 *          array(
 *                  array('name' => array('Bangladesh', 'Srilanka', 'India', 'Pakistan')),
 *                  array('help' => 'help.php'),
 *                  'test' => 'value',
 *                  10 =>
 *          false)
 *          will return array('Bangladesh', 'Srilanka', 'India', 'Pakistan')
 * @param string $path
 * @param array $data
 * @param string $separator path separator default '.'
 * @return mixed and return NULL if not found.
 * @access public
 * @static
 */
static public function subarray($path, &$data, $separator = '.') {
   if (strpos($path, $separator) === false) {
      if (isset($data[$path])) {
         return $data[$path];
      }
   } else {
      $keys = explode($separator, $path, 2);
      if (array_key_exists($keys[0], $data)) {
         return self::subarray($keys[1], $data[$keys[0]], $separator);
      }
   }
}
}
?>

Please drop me a line if you find this class useful or you have a different opinion.

This class is designed to provide quick http reqest method to access external website. A CURL alternative to php native file_get_contents method. It can work without any configuration and can be called anywhere is your application using singleton design pattern. Unlike other Http client class in php, this is lightweight, simple and easy to use and configure. If you need more functionality you can extend the class. CURL request is fully customizable through setCurlOptions() method.

This class is suitable for those project which is not built on a PHP Framework. Usually all frameworks provide a built in Http Client Object.

Features:

- General purpose http request class.
- Supports GET & POST request Method.
- For GET Request both CURL & PHP native file_get_contents are available.
- By default CURL is used for GET Request.
- Easily configurable & can work without any configuration.
- Simple & Easy to use from anywhere in your application with a single line of code.
- Request through CURL fully configurable with all possible curl options, so it’s up to you.
- Encode given URL Automatically, may be disabled.
- Supports POST requests with a user defined array or serialised string of form values.
- Supports GET requests with a user defined parameter array.
- Support Singleton pattern
- Support Custom CURL request, may be used to extends functionality.
- Light Weight

Methods Available (This class provides):

- get()
- post()
- curlExecute()
- encodeUrl()

Class:

File: rayhttp.php

<?php
/*	SVN FILE: $Id: rayhttp.php 113 2008-06-15 04:30:19Z rayhan $	 */
/**
 * HTTP Client Class.
 *
 * A basic HTTP Client desinged for php developer.
 * - CURL
 * - Native php method
 *
 *	PHP Version 5
 *
 *
 *	@copyright		Copyright 2006-2008, Md. Rayhan Chowdhury
 *	@package		raynux
 *	@subpackage		raynux.lab.http
 * 	@since			version 1.0
 *	@version		$Revision: 113 $
 * 	@modifiedby		$LastChangedBy: rayhan $
 *	@lastModified	$Date: 2008-06-15 10:30:19 +0600 (Sun, 15 Jun 2008) $
 *	@author			$Author: rayhan $
 *	@url			$HeadURL: http://localhost/svn/raynux/trunk/labs/rayhttp.php $
 *	@website		www.raynux.com
 *  @license 		GPL
 */

/**
 * HTTP Client Class.
 *
 * A basic HTTP Client desinged for php developer.
 * - CURL
 * - Native php method
 *
 *
 * @todo add utf-8 conversion.
 * @todo add plugins functionality
 *
 *
 * @package raynux
 * @subpackage raynux.lab.http
 * @version 1.0
 * @since version 1.0
 * @author Md. Rayhan Chowdhury
 */
class RayHttp{

	/**
	 * Hold runtime instance of self
	 *
	 * @var array of self instances
	 * @access private
	 * @static
	 */
	static private $__instances;

	/**
	 * Curl Instance
	 *
	 * @var object Curl instance
	 * @access protected
	 */
	protected 	$_curlInstance = null;

	/**
	 * Default configuration for the crawler.
	 *
	 * @var array
	 * @access private
	 */
	private 	$__defaultConfigs = array(
                    'client' => 'curl',
                    'encodeUrl' => true,
                    'curlOptions' => array(
                        CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER => 0,
                        CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => 1,
                        CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => 1,
                        CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
                        CURLOPT_USERAGENT => "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120121 Firefox/3.0.5",
                        CURLOPT_COOKIESESSION => 1,
                        CURLOPT_AUTOREFERER => 1,
                        CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 120,
                        CURLOPT_AUTOREFERER => 120,
                        CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 120,
                        CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
                        CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE => 'cookiefile',
                        CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR => 'cookiefile',
                    ),
                );

	/**
	 * Hold runtime configuration.
	 *
	 *
	 * @var array
	 * @access protected
	 */
	protected 	$_configs = array();

	/**
	 * Class Constructor
	 *
	 * @param array $configs
	 * @access public
	 * @return unknown
	 */
	function __construct($configs = array()){
		if (!empty($configs)) {
			$this->setOptions($configs);
		} else {
			$this->setOptions($this->__defaultConfigs);
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Configure the class.
	 *
	 * @param array $configs, configuration data.
	 * @return unknown
	 * @access public
	 */
	public function &setOptions($configs){
		$this->_configs = array_merge($this->__defaultConfigs, $configs);

		return $this;
	}

	/**
	 * Get Curl Instance.
	 *
	 * @return object curl instance
	 * @access protected
	 */
	protected function &_getCurlInstance() {
		if ($this->_curlInstance == null) {
			$this->_curlInstance = curl_init();
			$this->setCurlOptions($this->_configs['curlOptions']);
		}
		return $this->_curlInstance;
	}

	/**
	 * Set Curl Options from array
	 *
	 * @param array $options
	 * @return object | this
	 * @access public
	 */
	public function &setCurlOptions($options = array()) {
		$c = $this->_getCurlInstance();
		if (function_exists('curl_setopt_array')) {
			curl_setopt_array($c, $options);
		} else {
			foreach ($options as $key => $value) {
				curl_setopt($c, $key, $value);
			}
		}
		return $this;
	}

	/**
	 * Execute curl library function.
	 *
	 * @param string $url
	 * @param string $method, http method, 'get' or 'post'
	 * @param string|array $postFields, form data
	 * @return string | curl response object
	 * @access public
	 */
	public function curlExecute($url, $method = 'get', $postFields = null){
		$c = $this->_getCurlInstance();
		if ($method === 'get') {
			$this->setCurlOptions(array(CURLOPT_URL => $url,
                                        CURLOPT_POST => false,
                                        CURLOPT_HTTPGET => 1));

		} elseif ($method === 'post') {
			$this->setCurlOptions(array(CURLOPT_URL => $url,
                                        CURLOPT_POST => true,
                                        CURLOPT_HTTPGET => 0,
                                        CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => $postFields));

		} else {
			$this->setCurlOptions(array(CURLOPT_URL => $url));

		}
		return curl_exec($c);
	}

	/**
	 * Encode url with urlencode function for unencoded character.
	 *
	 * @param string $url urls to be encoded.
	 * @param string $callback function name as callback function, 'urlencode' or 'raw_urlencode'
	 * @return string encoded url.
	 * @access public
	 */
	public function encodeUrl($url, $callback = 'urlencode') {
		if ($pathOfset = strpos($url, '/', (strpos($url, '://') + 3))) {

			extract(parse_url($url));

			$path = implode('/', array_map($callback, explode('/', $path)));
			$url = substr($url, 0, $pathOfset) . $path;

			if (!empty($query)) {
				parse_str($query, $query);
				$query = http_build_query(array_map($callback, $query));
				$query = preg_replace('@(\=($|(&)))@is', '\3', $query);			// remove tailing = sign from empty variable.
				$url = $url . "?" . $query;
			}
		}

		return $url;
	}

    /**
     * Get Self Instance.
     *
     * @param string $name, name of the instance, default value is 'default'
     * @param array $configs, configuration array for the instance
     * @return object, self instance
	 * @access public
     * @static
     */
    static public function &getInstance($name = 'default', $configs = array()){
    	if (is_null(self::$__instances[$name])) {
    		self::$__instances[$name] = new self($configs);
    	}
    	return self::$__instances[$name];
    }

	/**
	 * Get url contents using GET MEthod.
	 *
	 * @param string $url
	 * @param string|array $getData, get data in serialized string or array format.
	 * @return string
	 * @access public
	 */
    public function get($url, $getData = null){
    	if (!is_null($getData)) {
    		if (is_array($getData)) {
    			$getData = http_build_query($getData);
    		}
    		if (strpos($url, '?') === false) {
    			$url .= '?';
    		}
    		$url .= $getData;
    	}

    	if ($this->_configs['encodeUrl']) {
    		$url = $this->encodeUrl($url);
    	}

    	if ($this->_configs['client'] === 'php') {
    		return file_get_contents($url);
    	}
    	return $this->curlExecute($url);
    }

    /**
     * Get URL contents using POST method.
     *
     * @param string $url
     * @param string|array $postData, form data in serialized string or array format.
     * @return string
     * @access public
     */
    public function post($url, $postData = null) {
    	if (is_array($postData)) {
    		$postData = http_build_query($postData);
    	}

    	if ($this->_configs['encodeUrl']) {
    		$url = $this->encodeUrl($url);
    	}

    	return $this->curlExecute($url, 'post', $postData);
    }
}

Usage Example:
File: example.php

<?php
/**
 * HTTP Client Class Example Script.
 *
 * Example of RayHttp Class Object.
 *
 *	PHP Version 5
 *
 *
 *	@copyright		Copyright 2006-2008, Md. Rayhan Chowdhury
 *	@package		raynux
 *	@subpackage		raynux.lab.http
 * 	@since			version 1.0
 *	@version		$Revision: 113 $
 * 	@modifiedby		$LastChangedBy: rayhan $
 *	@lastModified	$Date: 2008-06-15 10:30:19 +0600 (Sun, 15 Jun 2008) $
 *	@author			$Author: rayhan $
 *	@url			$HeadURL: http://localhost/svn/raynux/trunk/labs/example.php $
 *	@website		www.raynux.com
 *  @license 		GPL
 */

/**
 * Load the http client.
 */
require_once("rayhttp.php");

/**
 * METHOD GET.
 */

/**
 * Example 1
 *
 * using default configuration
 * default method is curl.
 * use as a singleton object.
 */
$content = RayHttp::getInstance()->get("http://google.com");
$content = RayHttp::getInstance()->get("http://google.com/search", array('q' => 'rayhttp'));
$content = RayHttp::getInstance()->get("http://google.com/search?q=rayhttp");

/**
 * Example 2
 *
 * using default configuration but using php native file_get_contetns method.
 * use as a singleton object.
 * static method.
 */
$content = RayHttp::getInstance()->setOptions(array('client' => 'php'))->get("http://google.com");
$content = RayHttp::getInstance()->setOptions(array('client' => 'php'))->get("http://google.com/search", array('q' => 'rayhttp'));
$content = RayHttp::getInstance()->setOptions(array('client' => 'php'))->get("http://google.com/search?q=rayhttp");

/**
 * Example 3
 *
 * Take Instance Of the object
 */
$http = new RayHttp();
$content = $http->get("http://google.com");
$content = $http->get("http://google.com/search", array('q' => 'rayhttp'));
$content = $http->get("http://google.com/search?q=rayhttp");

/**
 * METHOD POST.
 */

/**
 * Example 4
 *
 * using default configuration
 */
$content = RayHttp::getInstance()->post("http://example.com/", array('name' => 'rayhttp', 'location' => 'dhaka, bangladesh'));

/**
 * Multiple Instance & Configuration.
 */
RayHttp::getInstance('default', $configs);
RayHttp::getInstance('default2', $configs);

$http = RayHttp::getInstance(); // get default instance
$http2 = RayHttp::getInstance('default2'); // get default2 instance

$http3 = RayHttp::getInstance('default3', $configs); // get default 3 instance
$http3->setOptions($configs); // reconfigure default3 instance;

/**
 * Specify Proxy
 */
RayHttp::getInstance('c')->setCurlOptions(array(CURLOPT_PROXY => '172.19.79.1:3128'))->get("http://www.google.com");

Rate this class at phpclasses.org: http://www.phpclasses.org/rayhttpclient

manage chain:
# iptables -N new_chain				// create a chain
# iptables -E new_chain old_chain  		// edit a chain
# iptables -X old_chain				// delete a chain

redirecting packet to a user chain:
# iptables -A INPUT -p icmp -j new_chain

listing rules:
# iptables -L					// list all rules of all tables
# iptables -L -v				// display rules and their counters
# iptables -L -t nat				// display rules for a specific tables
# iptables -L -n --line-numbers			// listing rules with line number for all tables
# iptables -L INPUT -n --line-numbers		// listing rules with line number for specific table

manage rules:
# iptables -A chain				// append rules to the bottom of the chain
# iptables -I chain [rulenum]			// insert in chain as rulenum (default at the top or 1)
# iptables -R chain rulenum			// replace rules with rules specified for the rulnum
# iptables -D chain	rulenum			// delete rules matching rulenum (default 1)
# iptables -D chain				// delete matching rules

change default policy:
# iptables -P chain target			// change policy on chain to target
# iptables -P INPUT DROP			// change INPUT table policy to DROP
# iptables -P OUTPUT DROP			// change OUTPUT chain policy to DROP
# iptables -P FORWARD DROP			// change FORWARD chain policy to DROP

File: RayInstall.sh

# RayInstall.sh
#
# Ubuntu Intrepid & Hardy
#
# A very simple Bash Script file to automate installation of necessary
# softwares for PHP-MySQL development and desktop uses in a ubuntu box
#
# This may take several hours or even days depending on your internet connection speed.
#	It tooks 8 Hours for me with about 70-130 KBps of speed
#
# @uses Aplication -> Accesories -> Terminal
#		Now write following command "sudo sh ./RayInstall.sh" without quotes
#		and press enter button on your keyboard
#
# @author ray@raynuxcom
# @licence GPL

#
# For PHP-MySQL Based Development
#

# Install Apache version 2 web server
apt-get -y install apache2 apache2-doc

# Install PHP with necessary modules
apt-get -y install php5 libapache2-mod-php5 php5-cli
apt-get -y install php5-curl php5-dev php5-gd php5-gmp php5-imap php5-ldap php5-mcrypt php5-mhash php5-ming php5-odbc php5-pspell php5-snmp php5-sybase php5-tidy curl libwww-perl imagemagick

# Install MySQL Database server
apt-get -y install mysql-server php5-mysql mysql-gui-tools-common

#Restart apache
/etc/init.d/apache2 restart

# Install Webmin, A web based frontend for linux box.
apt-get -y install webmin

# Install Subversion & Rapidsvn a subversion gui client tools
apt-get -y install subversion subversion-tools libapache2-svn
apt-get -y install rapidsvn

#Restart apache
/etc/init.d/apache2 restart

#Install Doxygen, An documentation tools for PHP Application
apt-get -y install doxygen doxygen-gui doxygen-doc graphviz

# Install Phpmyadmin, A web based mysql administration tools
apt-get -y install phpmyadmin

# Install Java runtime for Eclipse PDT to work properly
apt-get -y install sun-java6-bin sun-java6-jdk sun-java6-jre

# Install Eclipse PDT
# Just download the pdt-all-in-one peckage from zend site
# http://downloads.zend.com/pdt/all-in-one/pdt-1.0.3.R20080603_debugger-5.2.14.v20080602-all-in-one-linux-gtk.tar.gz
# Unpack it in a suitable location.
# run eclipse/eclipse from the unpacked folder and you are done
# Now install Subclipse plugin using eclipse update tools

#
# Graphics, 2D and 3D Modeling Softwares & tools
#

# Install inkscape, An Illustrator alternative
apt-get -y install inkscape

# Install dia and graphical UML modeling tools
apt-get -y install dia

# Install Scribus, An alternative to Adobe Pagemaker
apt-get -y install scribus

# Install Cheese,  Webcam Software, a video and photo shoot application with cool effects for the GNOME desktop
apt-get -y install webcam cheese

# Install QCAD, and linux alternative to CAD Program.
apt-get -y install qcad

# Install Blender, Linux alternative for 3D Modeling
apt-get -y install blender

#
# Misc. Tools
#

# Install Wine, to run windows program
apt-get -y install wine

# Install XChm to read CHM Help file and Manual
apt-get -y install xchm

#
# Multimedia Players and codec
#

# Install GStreamer restricted codec to run mp3 and other media file
apt-get -y install gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad

# XMMS2 Media player
apt-get -y install xmms2 gxmms2

# Install vlc player, An alternative media player. Can play DVD file with title
apt-get -y install vlc vlc-plugin-*

# Install Amarok music player
apt-get -y install amarok

# Install k3b, A dvd burner application
apt-get -y install k3b

#
# Network and internet tools
#

# Install OpenSSH server to access your ubuntu box remotely
apt-get -y install openssh-server openssh-client

#Install gnome-network-admin, not available in default ubuntu 8.10
apt-get -y install gnome-network-admin

# Install Webhttrack, Website copier tools for linux
apt-get -y install webhttrack

# Install kopete instant messenger
apt-get -y install kopete

# install Internet Explorer in Ubuntu (Experimental)
apt-get -y install wine cabextract msttcorefonts

#run the following command manually to install IE
# wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
# tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
# cd ies4linux-*
# ./ies4linux

If you are using Ubuntu on your computer and want to automate the installation process utilising this script then perform the following steps:

• Create a file name RayInstall.sh in you home folder.
• Copy and paste the above code inside the the file and save it.
• Open a terminal window from Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal
• Write the following command
• sudo sh ./RayInstall.sh
• press Enter
• Now it will start installing all the softwares listed in the script and you may need to provide some information during installation process when needed.

This script may be helpful for newbies. If you have any comment or suggestion regarding this script please let me know as I am also a newbie in Ubuntu.

First you need to create a table in MySQL Database to store the image data. Log into you database and run the following sql command:
CREATE TABLE  `images` (
`id` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`name` varchar(100) default NULL,
`size` int(11) default NULL,
`type` varchar(20) default NULL,
`content` mediumblob,
PRIMARY KEY  (`id`)
) ENGINE=MyISAM;

Once the table have been created, we are ready to write codes. Now create a folder in you webserver named rayImg and create image.php and upload.php files inside the folder.

Open the image.php, copy and paste the following code and save it.

File: image.php

<?php
	/**
	 * Display image form database
	 *
	 * Retrive an image from mysql database if image id is provided.
	 *
	 * @example to display a image with image id 1, place <img src="image.php?id=1" > in your html file.
	 *
	 * @author Md. Rayhan Chowdhury
	 * @copyright www.raynux.com
	 * @license LGPL
	 */

	// verify request id.
	if (empty($_GET['id']) || !is_numeric($_GET['id'])) {
		echo 'A valid image file id is required to display the image file.';
		exit;
	}

	$imageId = $_GET['id'];

	//connect to mysql database
	if ($conn = mysqli_connect('localhost', 'root', 'root', 'test')) {
		$content = mysqli_real_escape_string($conn, $content);
		$sql = "SELECT type, content FROM images where id = {$imageId}";

		if ($rs = mysqli_query($conn, $sql)) {
			$imageData = mysqli_fetch_array($rs, MYSQLI_ASSOC);
			mysqli_free_result($rs);
		} else {
			echo "Error: Could not get data from mysql database. Please try again.";
		}
		//close mysqli connection
		mysqli_close($conn);

	} else {
		echo "Error: Could not connect to mysql database. Please try again.";
	}	

	if (!empty($imageData)) {
		// show the image.
		header("Content-type: {$imageData['type']}");
		echo $imageData['content'];
	}
?>

Now open the update.php, copy and paste the following code and save it.

File: upload.php

<?php
/**
 * Upload an image to mysql database.
 *
 *
 *
 * @author Md. Rayhan Chowdhury
 * @copyright www.raynux.com
 * @license LGPL
 */

// Check for post data.
if ($_POST && !empty($_FILES)) {
	$formOk = true;

	//Assign Variables
	$path = $_FILES['image']['tmp_name'];
	$name = $_FILES['image']['name'];
	$size = $_FILES['image']['size'];
	$type = $_FILES['image']['type'];

	if ($_FILES['image']['error'] || !is_uploaded_file($path)) {
		$formOk = false;
		echo "Error: Error in uploading file. Please try again.";
	}

	//check file extension
	if ($formOk && !in_array($type, array('image/png', 'image/x-png', 'image/jpeg', 'image/pjpeg', 'image/gif'))) {
		$formOk = false;
		echo "Error: Unsupported file extension. Supported extensions are JPG / PNG.";
	}
	// check for file size.
	if ($formOk && filesize($path) > 500000) {
		$formOk = false;
		echo "Error: File size must be less than 500 KB.";
	}

	if ($formOk) {
		// read file contents
		$content = file_get_contents($path);

		//connect to mysql database
		if ($conn = mysqli_connect('localhost', 'root', 'root', 'test')) {
			$content = mysqli_real_escape_string($conn, $content);
			$sql = "insert into images (name, size, type, content) values ('{$name}', '{$size}', '{$type}', '{$content}')";

			if (mysqli_query($conn, $sql)) {
				$uploadOk = true;
				$imageId = mysqli_insert_id($conn);
			} else {
				echo "Error: Could not save the data to mysql database. Please try again.";
			}

			mysqli_close($conn);
		} else {
			echo "Error: Could not connect to mysql database. Please try again.";
		}
	}
}
?>

<html>
	<head>
		<title>Upload image to mysql database.</title>
		<style type="text/css">
			img{
				margin: .2em;
				border: 1px solid #555;
				padding: .2em;
				vertical-align: top;
			}
		</style>
	</head>
	<body>
		<?php if (!empty($uploadOk)): ?>
			<div>
		  		<h3>Image Uploaded:</h3>
		  	</div>
			<div>
				<img src="image.php?id=<?=$imageId ?>" width="150px">
				<strong>Embed</strong>: <input size="25" value='<img src="image.php?id=<?=$imageId ?>">'>
			</div>

			<hr>
		<? endif; ?>

		<form action="<?=$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']?>" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" >
		  <div>
		  	<h3>Image Upload:</h3>
		  </div>
		  <div>
		  	<label>Image</label>
		  	<input type="hidden" name="MAX_FILE_SIZE" value="500000">
			<input type="file" name="image" />
		    <input name="submit" type="submit" value="Upload">
		  </div>
		</form>
	</body>
</html>

Replace line

mysqli_connect(‘localhost’, ‘root’, ‘root’, ‘test’)

with

mysqli_connect(‘your host’, ‘your username’, ‘your password’, ‘your database name’)

in both the file and save again.

You are done. Open upload.php from your browser and upload you desired image and view the uploaded image.

In both Fedora and Ubuntu this task includes two basic steps. These are:

• Enter into your existing hard disk linux system.
• Setup GRUB Boot Loader using GRUB program.

a. Enter into your existing hard disk linux system.

Fedora 7:

In fedora recovering grub is easy task as fedora automatically mount the existing system image to /mnt/sysimage in rescue mode.

1. Insert the fedora installation cd to boot from cd.
2. When the boot menu appear enter the rescue mode. A message will be prompt saying mounting the existing fedora system on /mnt/sysimage, click ok.
3. In rescue mode you will be in a shell
4. Enter the following command
   #chroot /mnt/sysimage
5. Now you are in your existing fedora operating system.

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS:

In ubuntu you will have to mount the existing system image manually.

1. Insert the ubuntu live cd and start a live session from cd.
2. open the terminal window
3. the following command will display currently mounted device or harddisk partitions
   #df -h
4. get the device name for /boot if exists or / (root) partition say /dev/sda9.
5. enter the following command
   #sudo mkdir ubuntu
#sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/sda9 ubuntu
6. If you have separate /usr partition say /dev/sda7 enter the following command too.
   #sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/sda7 ubuntu/usr

7. Enter the following command to mount /proc and /dev and change chroot.
   #sudo mount -t proc none ubuntu/proc
#sudo mount -o bind /dev/ ubuntu/dev
#sudo chroot ubuntu /bin/bash
8. Now you are in your existing ubuntu operating system.

b. Setup GRUB Boot Loader using GRUB program.

In grub you are mainly required to find the boot device and set the root to bood device.

1. Insert the ubuntu live cd and start a live session from cd.
   #grub
2. Find the existing boot device using following command. Which will out put something like (hd0,0) or (hd0,5) say (hdX,Y).
   #grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
3. Use the above output in the following two commands.
   #grub> root (hdX,Y)
#grub> setup (hdX)
#grub> quit
4. if everything is ok then you are done. just reboot the system.

This article is completely based on my current experience and I am still a newbie in linux environment. so there may have sevaral other options to do the same task.

Here is a single command what can solve the problem if you have internet connection.


# yum -y install gstreamer*


This command will automatically find, download and install the GStreamer mp3 codec for you. Then you can enjoy the mp3 song with your favorite music player.

You can download xmms one of the popular mp3 player on your fedora system. It is a Winamp alternative to linux. To install this software enter the following command.


# yum -y install xmms*


After installing xmms you will find the menu Application -> Sound & Video -> Audio Player to launch the xmms player.

After a fresh fedora installation I enter the following command in the shell. This command creates a wvdial configuration file for my modem.

# wvdialconf /etc/wvdial.conf

Now I need to modify some contents of wvdial.conf file. To do so I open the /etc/wvdial.conf using VI or other text editor. And replace the content of the file with the following text and save it.

[Dialer Defaults]
Modem = /dev/ttyACM0
Baud = 460800
Init1 = ATZ
Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0
ISDN = 0
Modem Type = USB Modem
Phone = *99#
Username = A
Password = B
Stupid Mode = 1

I make sure to set username = A, Password=B and Stupid Mode = 1 and do not modify the line

Modem = .....

as this is my device name (this line can very with your phone set). Now whenever I need to connect to internet I just enter the following command to the shell.

# wvdial

Thats all. Same way you can turn your mobile set to internet from fedora with no or little modification.

When you are commenting your code be careful to meet the commenting requirement/procedure so that those documentation software can understand your comment as a data.

Here is a simple example what Doxygen can easily parse for you.

    
/**
 * Class A.
 *
 * Class description.
 *
 * @example example here.
 * @todo to do here
 *
 * @package appname
 * @subpackage appname.subname
 * @author yourname
 * @since version 1.0
 */
class A extends Object{
	/**
	 * Enter description here...
	 *
	 * @var type
	 */
	var $member1;
	/**
	 * Enter description here...
	 *
	 * @param integer $param1
	 * @param string $param2
	 * @param array $param3 contains a array of data
	 * @return boolean
	 * @since version 2.0
	 */
	function doSomeThing($param1, $param2, $param3){
		return true;
	}
}
    

So if you follow the commenting technique carefully, you don’t have to white API of your own.