How to get environment in Symfony2

In the controller use:

$this->get('kernel')->getEnvironment()

How to make a Symfony2 Twig Extension

I couldn’t find a decent tutorial online that explained twig extensions in a simple way so for those of you in need here is a step by step guide on how to create a twig extension for Symfony2.

The first thing to know is the difference between twig global, filter and functions (or just how the look in twig templates).

Global

{{ global_variable }}

Filter

{{ 'some sort of text'|filter }}

Function

{% function('some variable or text') %}

If you want more information look here:
http://twig.sensiolabs.org/doc/templates.html

For the following steps remember to change the ‘Bundle’ and ‘NameBundle’ to your bundles values. Also note that the following code is just for creating filters.

Step 1: Create the filter

Create a file Bundle/NameBundle/Extension/MyTwigExtension.php and use the following code inside it.

<?php
namespace Bundle\NameBundle\Extension;
use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\KernelInterface;
class MyTwigExtension extends \Twig_Extension
{
    public function getFilters()
    {
        return array(
            'uppercase_first_letter' => new \Twig_Filter_Method($this, 'uppercase_first_letter'),
            'var_dump' => new \Twig_Filter_Function('var_dump')
        );
    }

    function uppercase_first_letter($var){
        return ucwords($var);
    }

    public function getName()
    {
        return 'recensus_twig_extension';
    }
}

So I’ve created two filters that I can use in my twig templates, uppercase_first_letter and var_dump. var_dump is already a function within php so that just works without having to create the method within the MyTwigExtension class. uppercase_first_letter require me to create a public method within the class.

Notice the different classes used, Twig_Filter_Method for a custom methods and Twig_Filter_Function for a php method.

Step 2: Register with config

Then you need to add the following code to the bottom of the config file (/app/config/config.yml).

services:
    anywordyouwant.twig.extension.mytwigextension:
        class: Bundle\NameBundle\Extension\MyTwigExtension
        tags:
            -  { name: twig.extension }

Step 3: Use the filters

Inside your twig templates

{{ 'what ever you want'|uppercase_first_letter }}

How to ipconfig/flush dns on Mac OSX

On Lion (Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6, or 10.7)

dscacheutil –flushcache

On Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger

lookupd –flushcache

Diary of a Startup: Create a startup for £14

Date: 2012-01-07
This post is the first in a series discussing my new startup, proudly named recensus.com (latin for review). So after spending about 24 hours trying to find a .com domain name I was happy with here were my steps.

1. Domain Registration
Registered the domain name with 123-reg.co.uk. I choose them because they are reasonably priced and you get control over the DNS records which they don’t charge you extra for and they haven’t gone down in. (Cost: £12)

2. Setup Cloudflare
Cloudflare.com is an amazing service that give you a DNS server which blocks spam, protects against security attacks, caches content using a CDN and a lot of other features. Well worth the free price tag, takes about 10 minutes to setup, I only wish they gave you the nameservers at the beginning of the setup and they had Google App’s DNS settings as a one click button. (Cost: free)

3. Setup Google Apps
Just in case you don’t know Google App’s give you Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Sites and Google Docs all under your own domain (free for up to 10 users). Again well worth the free price tag (although you have to look hire for the free version), just don’t forget to setup the subdomains. (Cost: free)

4. Setup Webspace and Upload Holding Page
I’ve got my own server (well Welford Media Ltd has) and I’ve just created a new domain and uploaded my holding page. If you haven’t got hosting you could go to Hostpapa.co.uk and click install wordpress, then download a coming soon template (see http://www.net-kit.com/12-free-attractive-themes-templates-for-coming-soon-pages/ or http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/coming-soon-templates-tutorials/). (Cost: £2 per month)

5. Signup to MailChimp
Mailchimp enables you to send out tracked email newsletters to subscribers and they have a free account which give you 2000 subscribers! After signing up put the signup form on your website. (Cost: free)

That’s the easy bit done, now i’ve just got build the app, do the sales and marketing, convert leads and make money. Also if possible get funding, find mentors and hire staff.

Sendmail on Ubuntu

Install Sendmail on Ubuntu

I also need my php applications to be able to send our email using the mail function. Therefore I need to install sendmail and enable it in my php.ini file.
Install Sendmail

apt-get install sendmail

Check its working

ps -aux | grep sendmail

Change php.ini

replace
;sendmail_path =
with
sendmail_path =  /usr/sbin/sendmail

Config Sendmail

sudo sendmailconfig

Change your host files

homename
/etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost myhostname