JomGenius Parameters

On this page:

• The JomGenius “core” object
  • inTimeSpan()
  • examples
  • info() and check()
  • examples
• The JomGenius “menu” object
  • info() and check()
  • examples
• The JomGenius “content” object
  • info() and check()
  • examples()
• The JomGenius “virtuemart” object
  • info() and check()
  • examples

JomGenius “core” object

Methods

The “core” object responds to three methods: inTimeSpan(), info(), and check().

inTimeSpan( string ) method

The inTimeSpan() method makes it easy to calculate whether the local time and/or day of the week and/or day of the month is between two days/dates and times. It’s great for timing parts of your site to be active at certain times on certain days.

You just need to give it a single string argument – the time period. It also needs to know the current time zone. This defaults to the current Joomla time zone, but you can set an alternative time zone in MetaTemplate "Parameters", that respects daylight savings time in the chosen locale.

You can even stack more than one time period into the same call, separated with semicolons (;).

The time period can be in any of the following forms:

Examples:

if ($core_genius->inTimeSpan( "mon; wed; fri") )    echo "It's either Monday, Wednesday or Friday";
if ($core_genius->inTimeSpan( "tue; thur" ) )       echo "It's either Tuesday or Thursday";
if ($core_genius->inTimeSpan( "sat - sat 12:00") )  echo "It's Saturday morning";
if ($core_genius->inTimeSpan( "sat 12:00 - sun" ) ) echo "It's Saturday afternoon or anytime Sunday";

info() and check() methods for “core”

The following parameters can be used to get information from the JomGenius “core” object.

e.g. $core_genius->info( "parameter" ) or $core_genius->check( "parameter = value")

Examples:

if ( $core_genius->check( "dayssincelastvisit > 30" ) )
        echo "Welcome back, haven't seen you for a while";
 
if ( $core_genius->check( "browserlanguage starts with fr" ) )
        echo "Bonjour!";
 
if ( $core_genius->check( "browser = ie" )
        and $core_genius->check( "browserversion <= 6" ) )
          echo "Please upgrade your browser!";
 
if ( $core_genius->info( "isloggedin" ) == true )
        echo "Welcome " . $core_genius->info( "userfullname");

JomGenius “menu” object

Methods

The “menu” object responds to two main public methods: info(), and check().

info() and check() methods for “menu”

The following parameters can be used to get information from the JomGenius “menu” object.

e.g. in $menu_genius->info( "parameter" ) or in $menu_genius->check( "parameter = value")

Examples:

if ( $menu_genius->check( "level = 0" ) )
        echo "We are on a top level menu item";
 
if ( $menu_genius->check( "menutype = some of mainmenu, topmenu" ) )
        echo "We're on a page on the main menu or top menu";
 
echo "The current menu item name is " . $menu_genius->info( "name" );
 
if ( $menu_genius->check( "some of parentitemids = 14" ) )
        echo "The current menu item is beneath menu item #14";
 
if ( $menu_genius->check( "parentitemid = 14" ) )
        echo "The current menu item is a direct child of menu item #14";

JomGenius “content” object

Methods

The “content” object responds to two main public methods: info(), and check().

info() and check() methods for “content”

The following parameters can be used to get information from the JomGenius “content” object. This object contains a lot of information about the currently-displayed article, category or section, when articles/categories/sections are being displayed.

e.g. in $content_genius->info( "parameter" ) or in $content_genius->check( "parameter = value")

Examples:

if ( $content_genius->check( "pagetype = frontpage" ) )
        echo "Welcome to our site";
 
if ( $content_genius->check( "article_created_age > " . 60*24*365 ) )
        echo "This article may be out of date";
 
// MetaTemplate rule to show different template for categories 3, 4, 5 and 7
if ( $content_genius->check( "category_id = 3, 4, 5, 7" ) ) return true;
 
if ( $content_genius->check( "article_hits > 1000" ) )
        echo "POPULAR";
 
// MetaTemplate rule to use different template for articles with certain keyword
if ( $content_genius->check( "article_metakeywords contains MYKEYWORD" ) )
        return true;
 
// MetaTemplate rule to use different template after the 1st page of an article
if ( $content_genius->check( "pagetype = article" )
     and $content_genius->check( "page_number > 0" ) )
        return true;
 
if ( $content_genius->info( "article_created_by" ) ==
     $core_genus->info( "userid" ) )
        echo "Welcome, article author!";

JomGenius “virtuemart” object

Methods

The “virtuemart” object responds to two main public methods: info(), and check().

info() and check() methods for “virtuemart”

The following parameters can be used to get information from the JomGenius “virtuemart” object. This object contains a lot of information about the currently-displayed product and/or category, all of the different page types in VirtueMart, information about the contents of the shopping cart, and about any vouchers that may have been redeemed.

The VirtueMart object is not automatically created for you in MetaMod/MetaTemplate/MetaTemplate Pro. You have to create it yourself, then check to see that it exists before you use it. This is because it won't allow itself to be created if VirtueMart is not installed in Joomla.

Note: There are some "gotchas" about some of these parameters when used by MetaTemplate (as opposed to MetaMod). MetaTemplate (& Pro) work at a very early stage of the generation of a page in Joomla. They operate before VirtueMart itself has had a chance to process the request. Therefore, some parameters such as those requesting the contents of the shopping cart, or whether or not a voucher has been redeemed, will not be updated by VirtueMart in time for these parameters to be calculated by JomGenius.

What happens then, is that JomGenius will appear to "lag" behind the actions of the shopper by one page view. The shopper may redeem a voucher, but on the page that appears directly afterwards, JomGenius will not have detected the voucher. One page later, JomGenius will detect the voucher for the first time.

MetaMod (and any other module using JomGenius) will not have this problem, because the modules get run only after VirtueMart has processed the form input.

Example of creation and usage:

$vm = JomGenius("virtuemart")
if ( $vm ) {
  echo "The VM page type is " . $vm->info("page_type");
}

The following parameters can be used in the VirtueMart "info" and "check" methods:
e.g. $vm->info( "parameter" ) or in $vm->check( "parameter = value")

Examples:

$vm = JomGenius("virtuemart"); // initialise object
if ( $vm->check( "pagetype = frontpage" ) )
        echo "Welcome to the front page of VirtueMart";
 
if ( $vm->check( "manufacturer_name = ACME Industries" ) )
        return 101; // in MetaMod: use module 101 for all ACME's products
 
// MetaTemplate rule to show different template products on special
if ( $vm->check( "is_product_special = true" ) ) return true;
 
// MetaTemplate rule to use different template when stock is low
if ( $vm->check( "product_in_stock < 10" ) ) return true;
 
// MetaTemplate rule to use particular template for products in cats 3-5
if ( $vm->check( "category_ids = 3,4,5" ) ) return true;