Flex Utility Class for Removing Namespaces

I should have added this code to my previous post on clearing namespaces out of XML. Instead of editing that post, which was plenty long, I am opting to just post the class and usage example here. A link to the sample project, and its source code, located at the end of the post.

Utility Class

public class NamespaceRemover
{
 public static const NAME:String = "NamespaceRemover";

 public function NamespaceRemover(){}
 
 public static function removeNamespaces( xml:XML ):XML
 {
  var cleanXML:XML;
  var xmlSource:String;
  
  xmlSource = xml.toXMLString();   
  xmlSource = xmlSource.replace(/<[^!?]?[^>]+?>/g, cleanXMLNamespaces);
  
  cleanXML = XML(xmlSource)
  
  return cleanXML;
 }
 
 private static function cleanXMLNamespaces(...rest):String
 {
     rest[0] = rest[0].replace(/xmlns[^"]+\"[^"]+\"/g, "");
     var attrs:Array = rest[0].match(/\"[^"]*\"/g);
     rest[0] = rest[0].replace(/\"[^"]*\"/g, "%attribute value%");
     rest[0] = rest[0].replace(/(<\/?|\s)\w+\:/g, "$1");
     while (rest[0].indexOf("%attribute value%") > 0)
     {
         rest[0] = rest[0].replace("%attribute value%", attrs.shift());
     }
     return rest[0];
 }
 
}

I decided to make both of the methods in this class static. This way it can be used as a class, without instantiation (see Usage sample below). I didn't see any reason to waste the extra typing needed to create an instance of the class and then invoke the method to remove namespaces.

Usage
The following code snippet is from a recent PureMVC-Flex application on which I am working (slightly altered for readability, etc.).

import NamespaceRemover;
private function reportHistoryReceived( evt:ResultEvent ):void
{
 var dsReport:XMLList;
 var reportHistoryXML:XMLList;
 var xml:XML;
 var item:XML;
 var reportHistory:ReportHistory;
 var acReportHistory:ArrayCollection = new ArrayCollection();
 
 xml = NamespaceRemover.removeNamespaces( evt.result[0] as XML );
 dsReport = xml..*::DsReport;
 reportHistoryXML = dsReport.children();   
 
 for each( item in reportHistoryXML )
 {
 // build up an ArrayCollection of ReportHistory objects 
  reportHistory = new ReportHistory();
  reportHistory.Field0 = item.Field0;
  reportHistory.Field1 = item.Field1;
  // add to AC
  acReportHistory.addItem( reportHistory );
 } 
 
 // send a notification, passing the AC along for the ride
 sendNotification( ApplicationFacade.REPORT_HISTORY_RECEIVED, acReportHistory );
}

I've created and uploaded a sample application that utilizes a free stock quote web service. The sample has source code enabled (right-click on the app's web page and select View Source). It's available at: http://www.baddogsconsulting.com/projects/namespaceremover/.

Please note that I am using a free web service and, sometimes, it goes offline/down. The Web Service I'm using is:
http://www.webservicex.net/stockquote.asmx?wsdl

You can download the code, change the line with this WSDL location to any other one you want, and recompile the application if you so desire.

Also note that the Get Quote button will not be enabled unless the WSDL loads. If it doesn't enable, the Web Service must still be unavailable (all web services at this site have been taking a while to load this morning, Thursday, May 7). Of course, the purpose was less of "using it" and more to show the source code for an example application using the NnamespaceRemove utility.

Comments

Craig Kaminsky

You may, if you wish, download the source code from:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/oss-projects/namespace.remover.flex.app.zip

Mayur Kaul

Great function...helped me a lot...

Stephane Schittly

Thanks!!! Really helpful ;)

ColdFusion Email Verification Utility

Yesterday, I spent a little time helping a fellow CF coder with a problem he had verifying email addresses. In short, he needed to check that an email address actually exists before their system allows a user to register for their services.

It was one of those questions that made me realize I often need or want to do the same thing but never bothered to explore a solution (hello, laziness!). So, I decided to get off my proverbial ass and help him with this issue.

The result was a decent function, which I submitted to CFLib.org yesterday, but don't know if/when it will be available. I've also revised it a good bit since my submission to CFLib (if it gets published, I'll update it immediately).

Function Overview
The function takes the email address as a parameter, checks it, first, with CF's IsValid() method and then calls a Web Service (ValidateEmail) at www.webservicex.net to verify the email.

Once complete, a structure is returned with the following keys:

emailStatus -- boolean value indicating whether or not the email passed validation and verification
message -- string containing a user-friendly note about theprocess
resultCode -- string set to valid (all good), invalid (fails either validation or verification), or fail (Web Service fails)
wsdl -- string with the Web Service used
attemptTime -- date set to the moment when the Web Service call was made

CFSCRIPT Function


 /**
  * Verifies the existence of an email address by checking the provided email address against the ValidateEmail web service.
  * 
  * @param emailaddress  string containing the email address to test
  * @return struct (emailResult: true/false; message: String; resultCode:String; wsdl:String; attemptTime:Date  )
  * @author Craig Kaminsky (www.baddogsconsulting.com)
  * @version 1, May 7, 2009
  */
 function verifyEmail( emailaddress )
 {
  // setup local vars
  var email_address = Trim( emailaddress );
  var results = StructNew();
  var validationResponse = "";
  var ws = "";
  // add the default keys and values for returned struct 
  results.wsdl = "http://www.webservicex.net/ValidateEmail.asmx?wsdl";
  results.attemptTime = Now();
  // setup the web service
  ws = createObject( "webservice", results.wsdl );
  // before we proceed to call the web service, let's make sure it's a properly formatted email
  if( IsValid( "email", email_address ))
  {
   // setup some exception handling just in case the Web Service is down, etc.
   try
   {
    validationResponse = ws.IsValidEmail( Email=email_address );
   }
   catch( Any err )
   {
    results.emailResult = false;
    results.message = "Web Service response error: " + err.Message;
    results.resultCode = "fail";
    // exit the function and return the results struct
    return results;
   }   
   // check the response from the web service
   if( Trim( validationResponse ) is "YES" )
   {
    results.emailResult = true;
    results.message = "Email address passed validation and verification.";
    results.resultCode = "valid";
   }
   else
   {
    results.emailResult = false;
    results.message = "Email address passed validation but failed verification.";
    results.resultCode = "invalid";
   }
  }
  else
  {
   results.emailResult = false;
   results.message = "Email address failed validation. It is not properly formatted.";
   results.resultCode = "invalid";
  } 
  // and return the struct
  return results;
 }

The function tested successfully on CF7 or higher and Railo 3 and higher.

You may download the script in a Zip archive from:
www.baddogsconsulting.com/projects/emailverifier/verifyEmail.cfm.zip.

I also have a CFC version of this function as well. If you're interested, let me know and I can add it to this post or send to you.

Comments

asava samuel

Here is a good .net component to verify email addresses:
http://www.kellermansoftware.com/p-37-net-email-validation.aspx

Craig Kaminsky

@Jason: if you feel like it, check out the zip archive I finally uploaded to S3. It's a bit more enhanced email verification utility.

I'll try a couple of hotmail emails today, debugging the process, and see if I come up with some errors, too. Thanks!

Craig Kaminsky

New repo for projects:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/oss-projects/email.verification.cfml.zip

Jason

hi mate, im trying with your email verification tool but somehow my hotmail address is considered invalid?

I supposed its a problem with the web service rather than your script.

Thanks for the tool.

Craig Kaminsky

@anon: yes, I will!! I had an issue with my previous host and took both of my sites off their servers since they were jacking up the prices (by almost double!).

If you want, please send me an email (imageaid at gmail dot com) and I can send you the zip archive now (rather than waiting for me to upload).

Anonymous

I am sorry, but I was interested in your ajax e-mail verification tool, and was wondering if you could make it downloadable again? Thank you for your generosity!

Craig Kaminsky

@pgpguy: sorry about that. moving sites and such around and have had little time to take care of it this summer. I uploaded a set zip file to:
http://www.baddogsconsulting.com/projects/email.verification.cfml.zip

Thanks!
Craig

pgpguy

Craig- can't get to the imageaid.net url. Is there another way to reach the cfc?

Thanks again for a great bit of code!

Craig Kaminsky

The original function I wrote, which is but a skeleton of the above is on CFlib: http://www.cflib.org/udf/verifyEmail I hope to update it shortly (not sure of the process).

In the meantime, I implemented a basic Ajax interface for using this function (in its CFC version). You can try it at:
http://www.imageaid.net/projects/emailverifier/index.html

I also added a Zip archive of the files used so that the code can be download, edited, etc. The download link is at the bottom of the above page.

Craig Kaminsky

This comment has been removed by the author.

Craig Kaminsky

@gary: thanks, very much. It's funny that you mentioned an Ajax implementation. My CFC version that I mention is for just that reason! I'm setting it up as a mini-project and will be uploading it shortly. If you're interested, check back Friday (5/8) for the download link.

Gary Fenton

Cool. This web service actually asks the mail server if the mailbox exists. The others I've come across only ping the mail server which doesn't check for invalid mailbox names.

This would work really well as an ajax thing, so while a user is filling out the next text field (postal address or whatever) your function can be called to check the email address (which takes 2 to 10 secs) and then alert the user if there's a problem.

Good find, and good new CF lib. Thanks.

Zen Coding. An Incredible Time-Saving Utility for Eclipse and TextMate

The new Zen Coding project is a must for web developers. The quick story is that the Zen Coding project greatly reduces the amount of HTML code one needs to write for many, many common tasks. The developers have a bundle for TextMate and Eclipse Monkey scripts that work in Aptana and several other Eclipse editors (and, with a very minor edit, CFEClipse, too).

Here's a text-based sample of what it does for us developer.

Type the following in a file:

div#header

Then, press ALT+E and the resulting output is:

And that's just the start.

Next, type this:

p*s

And you get this:

The list goes on and on. It's an incredible time saver, in my opinion.

They have some videos, which are kind of amusing with the 'jammin' tunes :)! Here are the links:
Screencast for Aptana
Screencast for TextMate

Aptana/Eclipse Installation
Installing the scripts to work in Aptana is easy but I never dealt with Eclipse Monkey scripts so I had to ask. If you're like me and unfamiliar with Eclipse Monkey (i.e., scripting Eclipse), here's what you do.

Create a new project in Eclipse (I called mine Zen Coding)
Add a folder called 'scripts' (must be plural)
Copy the Zen Coding files (from the Google Code repo) to the scripts folder
Refresh your workspace or restart Eclipse/Aptana

That's it!

Enable for CFEclipse
To make Zen Coding available in all editors (i.e., CFEclipse), you need to make one small edit to the file called Expand Abbreviation.js (in the scripts folder).

Go to line 24 and change it from this:

var editor_type = zen_coding.getEditorType();

To this:

var editor_type = zen_coding.getEditorType() | 'html';

Refresh the workspace or restart Eclipse/Aptana and you're good to go. You can now use Zen Coding techniques/time-savers in all Eclipse editors.

The developer has tested in PDT PHP Editor, Spket IDE, Ant Editor. You can see the Aptana Forum thread on this topic here:
http://forums.aptana.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8713&p=32938#p32938

Flex Utility Class for Removing Namespaces

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Craig Kaminsky

Flex Utility Class for Removing Namespaces

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