book

Pro Drupal 7 for Windows Developlers

by Brian Travis

March 2011

Intermediate to advanced

452 pages

10h 11m

English

Apress

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1.1. What is a CMS?1.1.1. Content Management on the Web1.1.2. Open Source Content Management Tools1.2. The LAMP Stack1.3. The Drupal Core1.4. Security1.5. Content Types1.6. Contributed Modules1.7. Themes1.8. The Drupal Design Philosophy1.9. Database1.10. Forms1.11. Security1.12. Menus and Paths1.13. Users, Roles, and Permissions1.14. Summary
2.1. The Drupal Page Lifecycle2.1.1. Configuration Bootstrap2.1.2. Page Cache Bootstrap2.1.3. Database Bootstrap2.1.4. Variable Bootstrap2.1.5. Session Bootstrap2.1.6. Page Header Bootstrap2.1.7. Language Bootstrap2.1.8. Full Bootstrap2.2. Menu Handler2.2.1. Drupal vs. the .NET Page Lifecycle2.3. Menus2.3.1. The Menu Tree2.4. Theming2.5. Summary
3.1. PHP3.1.1. Just Enough PHP Syntax3.1.1.1. Scripting Blocks3.1.1.2. Comments3.1.1.3. Types3.1.1.4. Strings3.1.1.5. Operators3.1.1.6. Conditional Statements3.1.1.7. Objects3.1.1.8. Arrays3.1.1.9. Loops3.1.1.10. Functions3.1.1.11. Exceptions3.1.2. Drupal Coding Conventions3.1.2.1. Control Structures3.1.2.2. Function Calls3.1.2.3. Function Declarations3.1.2.4. Arrays3.1.3. Naming Conventions3.1.4. Doxygen3.2. MySQL3.2.1. MySQL vs. SQL Server3.2.2. Enterprise Data3.3. Summary
4.1. Drupal as a Standard Service4.2. Installing Drupal for Yourself4.2.1. Apache Configuration4.2.2. Database4.2.3. Site Configuration4.2.4. Clean URLs4.3. Visual Studio4.3.1. Drupal Project4.3.2. Debugging4.4. Summary

5.1. Blocks5.2. Modules5.3. Hooks5.4. Forms5.4.1. Form Validate Hook5.4.2. Form Submit Hook5.4.3. XML Data Source5.4.4. Helper Functions5.4.5. Building the Block5.5. Menus5.6. Summary
6.1. Creating Content6.1.1. Creating Content6.2. WYSIWYG Editing6.3. Custom Content6.4. Permissions6.4.1. Users and Roles6.4.1.1. Adding a Role6.4.2. Programming Permissions6.4.2.1. The Permission Hook6.4.2.2. Access Hook6.5. Attached Fields6.5.1. Form Alter6.5.2. Accessing Fields6.5.3. Updating Field Information6.6. Summary
7.1. The Theme Layer7.2. Subtheme Creation7.3. Theme Debugging Tools7.4. CSS Classes7.5. The Theme Function7.5.1. The Theme Hook7.6. Templates7.6.1. The HTML Template7.6.2. Template Variables7.6.3. Page Rendering7.6.4. Template Interaction7.6.5. Other Templates7.6.6. Template Specificity7.7. Summary
8.1. Getting Started8.2. Testing Fundamentals8.2.1. Test-Driven Development8.3. Developing Tests8.3.1. Developing a Unit Test Harness8.3.2. Web Testing8.3.2.1. Assign a Block to a Region8.3.2.2. Getting a Page8.3.2.3. Changing the User Profile8.3.2.4. Testing Administration Values8.3.2.5. Negative Tests8.4. Code Coverage8.5. Summary
9.1. Data Abstraction9.1.1. The Database API9.2. Programming Against the Database API9.3. Static Queries9.3.1.9.3.1.1. Prefixing9.3.1.2. Placeholders9.3.1.3. Fetching Result Sets9.4. Dynamic Queries9.4.1. Dynamic Select Query9.4.1.1. Simple Select Query9.4.1.2. Joins9.4.1.3. Fields9.4.1.4. The Distinct Property9.4.1.5. Expressions9.4.1.6. Ordering9.4.1.7. Grouping9.4.1.8. Ranges and Limits9.4.1.9. Counting9.4.1.10. Query Alteration9.4.2. Dynamic Insert Query9.4.2.1. Multi-Insert Form9.4.3. Dynamic Update Query9.4.4. Dynamic Delete Query9.4.5. Dynamic Merge Query9.4.5.1. Expressions9.4.6. Conditional Clauses9.4.6.1. Nested Conditionals9.4.6.2. Null Values9.4.7. Error Handling9.4.8. Transactions9.5. Summary
10.1. The .info File10.2. The .install File10.2.1. Building the .install File10.2.1.1. The Enable and Install Hooks10.2.1.1.1. The Install Hook10.2.1.1.2. The Enable Hook10.2.1.1.3. Module Changes10.2.1.2. The Disable and Uninstall Hooks10.2.1.2.1. The Disable Hook10.2.1.2.2. The Uninstall Hook10.2.1.3. The Update Hook10.2.1.3.1. Creating an Update10.2.1.3.2. Updating Your System10.3. Delivering your Module10.3.1. Documentation10.4. Summary
A.1. WAMP StackA.2. Development EnvironmentsA.3. WampServerA.4. Visual Studio and VS.PhpA.5. IIS and SQL ServerA.5.1. Summary and CaveatA.6. DrushA.6.1. Installing DrushA.6.2. Running DrushA.7. Summary
B.1. 960 Grid SystemB.2. Designing in PhotoshopB.3. Omega Sub-ThemeB.3.1. Creating your Omega Sub-ThemeB.3.2. Mapping Photoshop to OmegaB.3.3. Configuring ZonesB.3.4. BlocksB.3.5. Content GenerationB.4. Theming with CSSB.4.1. Theming with ImagesB.4.2. CSS PositioningB.4.3. Template FileB.5. Summary
C.1. Core Template VariablesC.2. SimpleTest ReferenceC.3. Install HooksC.4. Schema APIC.4.1. Schema API ClassesC.4.2. Schema API Functions and MethodsC.4.3. Schema HookC.5. GlobalsC.6. Field CRUD APIC.7. Field Attach APIC.8. Drush ReferenceC.9. Summary

Overview

Drupal is a powerful and flexible open source framework for content management. As an open-source community-driven environment, Drupal has attracted mostly Linux and Macintosh programmers. Until now, that is.

Drupal 7 incorporates features that make it compatible with Windows servers and Windows development tools. The new version opens the doors for Windows developers to build Drupal sites, including custom modules, all without leaving Visual Studio. Many enterprises are in need of a secure, high-quality web solution that integrates seamlessly with their back-end systems. And many of these back-end systems are in enterprises and powered by Windows servers. Naturally, these organizations have developers who focus on Windows development tools. This book provides a bridge to Drupal for Windows developers by speaking their language.

It starts with the Drupal page model, which Windows programmers can contrast against the ASP.NET page model. The book then describes the various features of Drupal: the hook model, theming, roles, caching, and the data abstraction layer that lays the foundation for integration with enterprise-level databases and external systems. Pro Drupal 7 for Windows Developers focuses on topics important for the programmer who is new to Drupal:

Quick up-to-speed introduction to Drupal for developers so that they can get over that critical learning curve.
A "just enough" introduction to the important features of Drupal, including the page model, the hook architecture, the theming layer, and custom module development.
Step-by-step tutorials on building, testing, and deploying custom modules for internal use or for sharing with the Drupal community.