Don’t Forget Your SiteCatalyst Utility Functions!

Have you ever tried to use a new plug-in and found it did not work? You were probably missing a utility function. Utility functions are designed to work with SiteCatalyst plug-ins. There are 6 utility functions that are commonly used. They are apl, p_c, p_gh, split, replace, and join.

These functions do things like join elements of an array into a string delimiter by a string, replaces characters in a string, splits a string on a specific character, append a value to any delimited lists, and more. THese utility functions are referenced by several standard plug-ins.

Here’s how I do it. I take all these utility functions and wrap them all up in one neat package, and include this as one of my standard plug-ins to add when creating a s_code file. This way not thing is missed, nothing is forgotten and all of my plug-ins will work no problem.

Here’s what it looks like:

/*
 * Utility Functions: apl, p_c, p_gh, split, replace, join
 */
s.apl=new Function("L","v","d","u",""
+"var s=this,m=0;if(!L)L='';if(u){var i,n,a=s.split(L,d);for(i=0;i<a."
+"length;i++){n=a[i];m=m||(u==1?(n==v):(n.toLowerCase()==v.toLowerCas"
+"e()));}}if(!m)L=L?L+d+v:v;return L");
s.p_c=new Function("v","c",""
+"var x=v.indexOf('=');return c.toLowerCase()==v.substring(0,x<0?v.le"
+"ngth:x).toLowerCase()?v:0");
s.p_gh=new Function(""
+"var s=this;if(!s.eo&&!s.lnk)return '';var o=s.eo?s.eo:s.lnk,y=s.ot("
+"o),n=s.oid(o),x=o.s_oidt;if(s.eo&&o==s.eo){while(o&&!n&&y!='BODY'){"
+"o=o.parentElement?o.parentElement:o.parentNode;if(!o)return '';y=s."
+"ot(o);n=s.oid(o);x=o.s_oidt}}return o.href?o.href:'';");
s.split=new Function("l","d",""
+"var i,x=0,a=new Array;while(l){i=l.indexOf(d);i=i>-1?i:l.length;a[x"
+"++]=l.substring(0,i);l=l.substring(i+d.length);}return a");
s.repl=new Function("x","o","n",""
+"var i=x.indexOf(o),l=n.length;while(x&&i>=0){x=x.substring(0,i)+n+x."
+"substring(i+o.length);i=x.indexOf(o,i+l)}return x");
s.join = new Function("v","p",""
+"var s = this;var f,b,d,w;if(p){f=p.front?p.front:'';b=p.back?p.back"
+":'';d=p.delim?p.delim:'';w=p.wrap?p.wrap:'';}var str='';for(var x=0"
+";x<v.length;x++){if(typeof(v[x])=='object' )str+=s.join( v[x],p);el"
+"se str+=w+v[x]+w;if(x<v.length-1)str+=d;}return f+str+b;");

I just make sure that is block is included in every s_code file. Then I am assured that every plug-in I use can find the correct utility function it needs to work properly.

Enjoy!

Popularity: 5% [?]