I ♥ Alfred: Code execution extensions

ExtensionI’m a really big fan of Alfred, and lately I’ve found it really useful for running tiny little snippets of code — whether it’s to quickly URL decode a string, or remind myself of how C integer-to-float conversion behaves, I find myself using these little extensions I put together quite frequently.

Here’re two workflows I use to run PHP code (one which just executes it and shows the result in Growl, and one which copies the result to the clipboard), and a workflow that runs a snippet of C code. Of course, it wouldn’t take much to make workflows for many other languages, too.

Alfred 2 workflows

Now with live results! Hit enter to copy result to clipboard.

Run C Code.alfredworkflow

Run PHP Code.alfredworkflow

Older, Alfred 1 extensions:

Execute PHP Code.alfredextension

Execute PHP Code, Copy Result.alfredextension

Run C code.alfredextension

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An Xcode 4 template to create universal static libraries

I’ve created an Xcode 4 project template to create universal (armv6, armv7 and simulator) static libraries for iOS, based on Adam Martin’s script:

iOS-Universal-Library-Template

The existing static library template provided with Xcode only builds one architecture, which is not particularly suitable for distribution. A number of people have created scripts to create universal libraries, which require some mucking around with Xcode target settings to use.

This template draws on this work to provide all that is required to produce universal libraries – just select the ‘Universal Static Library’ type in the New Project/New Target dialog, and you’re all set.

Universal static library

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Seamlessly manage portrait and landscape view controller layouts

A headache-inducing scenario: I’m working on a view controller, and I realise that in order to support landscape and portrait modes, I’m going to need to provide two different layouts.

So, I create two different views within the nib, one portrait, one landscape, each with the same view hierarchy, but with a different layout.

When the orientation changes, I set self.view to the appropriate view. I initialise both views on load, and keep both of them synced to properly reflect the app’s state — basically, I’m double-handling everything, which bloats my code and increases the chance I’ll make a mistake.

So, here’s an easier way: Rather than maintaining two separate view hierarchies and switching between them when the orientation changes, why not just change the layout of one single view hierarchy? The only changes between the portrait and landscape views are layout changes, so if we can extract just the layout information from each view, then we don’t have to worry about maintaining both view hierarchies.

Basically, we’re talking about using each view version as a layout template only.

That’s what TPMultiLayoutViewController class does. It’s a drop-in UIViewController subclass that automatically manages switching between different view layouts for portrait and landscape orientations, without the need to maintain view state across two different view hierarchies.

It works by defining portraitView and landscapeView outlets which it traverses upon loading the nib. It matches each subview element to its counterpart in the other layout (based on tag, target/action, title, etc.), and stores just the layout attributes of each element.

Then, when the orientation changes, the view hierarchy is traversed and these layouts are applied to each subview.

To use it,

  1. Set the superclass for your view controller to TPMultiLayoutViewController.
  2. In Interface Builder, create two different views: one for portrait orientation, and one for landscape orientation.
  3. Attach your portrait orientation root view to the “portraitView” outlet, and the landscape orientation root view to the “landscapeView” outlet.
  4. Attach one of the views (whichever you prefer) to the “view” outlet, and connect any actions and outlets from that view.

Grab it from the TPMultiLayoutViewController GitHub repository, and let me know what you think.

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Post Grabber sniffs out POST data, generates curl scripts

Post Grabber screenshotEvery now and then I find myself needing to automate some web requests, either to download using something a little more robust than a web browser, scrape some web content, or to maintain a session. That automation can be a bit of a pain if there’s a form submission involved, because it means opening up the page source, finding the form and any connected javascript code, and figuring out what fields are submitted.

A little utility I just put together does that for you: Post Grabber detects POST data and generates an equivalent “curl” command that can be used in shell or Automator scripts.

Post Grabber works with its own internal browser, so it can intercept POST submissions directly. That means it works with HTTPS, unlike the traditional web sniffer approach.

Download the app, or see the source on GitHub.

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