How to make admin plugin contribution show headers and footers.

**mikeel100** · 20 Aug 2015, 08:07 PM

I am working on a plugin contribution for handling data feeds from admin.

Using: Zencart 1.5.4 loaded via FTP 6 months ago, GoDaddy with the highest available version of PHP/MYSQL, and easypopulate and UPS are the only plugins I have installed. All sideboxes are disabled for my online catalog.

Sorry, can't post the URL to my admin area for you to look at...

How do I make the plugin wrap into the admin area with admin headers and footers showing? Are there any files I need to include or require to make sure security is maintained and error reporting works like it is supposed to?

My plugin is PHP/PDO/MYSQL based...if that matters. Could the PDO db connection from my program be causing the headers and footers to disappear? The PDO connection is using the db connection info from Zencart admin/includes/configure.php I.E. -

PHP Code:


$XXXhostXXX = DB_SERVER;

$XXXuserXXX = DB_SERVER_USERNAME;

$XXXdbXXX = DB_DATABASE;

$XXXpassXXX = DB_SERVER_PASSWORD;

I have successfully created a link in the admin/tools, the link opens my plugin, and my plugin is working through admin; however, it does not show up with the admin headers and footers.

I have "required" application_top.php, application_bottom.php, application_footer, and copied the html document type through the end of the header tag from another plugin into my main plugin page. I know application_top.php is working because my db connection is coming through that one.

I also completed many searches in the forums to try and find an answer but I can't find anything matching this issue. I have read the help file for creating and making a plugin contribution.

Thanks.

Mike Little
Jest Country Stuff
http://jestcountrystuff.com

**balihr** · 20 Aug 2015, 08:23 PM

It's not just application_top that you need to include... Here's how I do admin pages:

Code:

<?php
require_once('includes/application_top.php');
?>
<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html <?php echo HTML_PARAMS;?>>
<head>
	<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=<?php echo CHARSET; ?>">
	<title>My Admin Page</title>
	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="includes/stylesheet.css">
	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="includes/cssjsmenuhover.css" media="all" id="hoverJS">
    <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css" />
<?php include(DIR_WS_INCLUDES.'htmlarea.php'); ?>
<script language="javascript" src="includes/menu.js"></script>
<script language="javascript" src="includes/general.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
  <!--
  function init()
  {
    cssjsmenu('navbar');
    if (document.getElementById)
    {
      var kill = document.getElementById('hoverJS');
      kill.disabled = true;
    }
  }
  // -->
</script>

</head>
<body onLoad="init()" >

<!-- header //-->
<?php require(DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'header.php');
require(DIR_WS_CLASSES . 'currencies.php');
$currencies = new currencies();

?>
<!-- header_eof //-->

<?php

// YOUR PHP CODE HERE

?>
<!-- body //-->
<table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2">
  <tr>
<!-- body_text //-->
    <td width="100%" valign="top"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2">
    
    YOUR HTML HERE
    
    </td>
    

<!-- body_text_eof //-->
  </tr>
</table>
<!-- body_eof //-->

<!-- footer //-->
<?php require(DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'footer.php'); ?>
<!-- footer_eof //-->
<br>
</body>
</html>
<?php require(DIR_WS_INCLUDES . 'application_bottom.php'); ?>

It should work...

**mikeel100** · 21 Aug 2015, 03:10 AM

...and it did. Thanks for your help.

A little more work on the layout and reporting and I should contribute soon.

Thanks again.

**mikeel100** · 21 Oct 2015, 11:07 PM

Ran into another issue...my admin plugin is timing out while I am actively using it.

Is there some way to update the admin timer to stop this from happening?

Also, when my plugin times out, it does not take me back to the login page...just a white screen. And, when I log back in, I have to refresh the page to get my plugin to show back up.

How do I get it to go back to the admin login when it times out?

How do I make the page refresh upon relogging in?

Thanks.

**balihr** · 26 Oct 2015, 05:35 PM

Almost impossible to say...

First of all, a blank screen indicates a php parsing error - check your error logs. Next, is the plugin using AJAX? Are you sure you're using valid code? I've just had some similar problems with using AJAX in the admin and had to modify the code to get it working...

If everything is working properly, you should not get kicked out, and if you do, it should trigger the standard Zen Cart functions to take you back to the page you originated from. So, I'm assuming you have some errors in your code...

**mc12345678** · 27 Oct 2015, 01:26 PM

Addtionally, is your plugin posting any data/have forms? If so, are you using the ZC form function of zen_draw_form such that the securitytoken is incorporated?

**mikeel100** · 27 Oct 2015, 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by mc12345678

Addtionally, is your plugin posting any data/have forms? If so, are you using the ZC form function of zen_draw_form such that the securitytoken is incorporated?

I do have a form that for processing updates on my webstore. 8 dropdowns, 7 text inputs, and 5 different submits.

I have not used the zen_draw form...probably the reason for the timeout.

I am not sure how to implement the token...will have to look at some other plugins to see if I can figure it out. Is there an article that describes the implementation?

My code actually uses the native zencart configure file to get db connection info. My db connection is done through a PDO and all of my code is PDO.

Thanks for the insight!

**mc12345678** · 27 Oct 2015, 09:49 PM

Originally Posted by mikeel100

I do have a form that for processing updates on my webstore. 8 dropdowns, 7 text inputs, and 5 different submits.

I have not used the zen_draw form...probably the reason for the timeout.

I am not sure how to implement the token...will have to look at some other plugins to see if I can figure it out. Is there an article that describes the implementation?

My code actually uses the native zencart configure file to get db connection info. My db connection is done through a PDO and all of my code is PDO.

Thanks for the insight!

If you review the includes/functions/html_output.php file (or admin equivalent) and look at the zen_draw_form function, you will see that it self invokes the security token... So, kind of get a two birds with one stone effect if you use the ZC version (as well as never have to self code the form html again if that "format" were to ever change.) There is also the function zen_hide_session_id in the same file which is what you would want to invoke for hard coded forms that are using application_top, etc...

**mc12345678** · 27 Oct 2015, 10:05 PM

I also found ths post in the FAQ about forms and the security token... Somewhat an indirect route to understand, but there are many tools to discover this type of thing. The forum being one, comparing source code of a rendered page being another, looking at existng program code, etc... While somewhat "dated" there is also the docs available at http://zen-cart.com/docs. Look at the bottom of the list and will see there are links which nclude ZC 1.5.x... Not 100% accurate, but a great start for finding a ZC function that does the basic work for you.

https://www.zen-cart.com/content.php...rying-to-login

**lhungil** · 27 Oct 2015, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by mikeel100

I do have a form that for processing updates on my webstore. 8 dropdowns, 7 text inputs, and 5 different submits.

I have not used the zen_draw form...probably the reason for the timeout.

I am not sure how to implement the token...will have to look at some other plugins to see if I can figure it out. Is there an article that describes the implementation?

My code actually uses the native zencart configure file to get db connection info. My db connection is done through a PDO and all of my code is PDO.

Thanks for the insight!

Any reason why you are not using the Zen Cart functions and classes?

Some examples: using the class query_factory (global instance stored in variable $db) for database connections, using the function bindVars (in class query_factory) to help sanitize / escape data going into the database, the functions in html_output.php such as zen_draw_form and zen_draw_input_field, etc?

There are some slightly older phpdocs available in the first link posted by mc12345678. You can also generate your own from the Zen Cart 1.5.4 source code (or just search / review the source code). A good IDE should also provide you with autocomplete for all functions (with phpdoc references included) available in Zen Cart.

As for examples, Zen Cart out-of-box includes a fair number of admin pages. These would be a good place to start looking to familiarize oneself with how Zen Cart admin pages are currently constructed (and commonly used code and functions).

Another source of examples are other "plugins" available from this website. If you are looking for admin pages specifically, just select "admin tools" from the list and pick one of the plugins designed for the same version of Zen Cart as you are using / targeting.

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