1. determines which taxonomy terms are associated with the current node such as a news item
2. combines these terms into a default View Argument for Term ID

The result is a list with nodes which match at least one of the terms. So if your node is linked to term A and B, the list will contain items linked to A or to B.

Versions used: Drupal 6.10 with Views 6.x-2.3

• Create a View
• Add a Field Node > Title
  • Remove the label and check: Link this field to its node
• If you like, add Sort criteria such as Node: Title with Sort order: Ascending
• Add an Argument Taxonomy > Term ID
  • Action to take if argument is not present: Provide default argument
  • Default argument type: PHP code

$node = node_load(arg(1));
if ($node->taxonomy) { // Does it have terms?
  foreach ($node->taxonomy as $term) {
    $terms[] = $term->tid;
  }
  return implode('+', $terms);
} else {
  return;
}

• Validator: Default Validator
• Allow multiple terms per argument: checked
• Reduce duplicates: checked

Versions used: Drupal 6.10 with Views 6.x-2.3

1. Create a View and add some fields and filters as you normally would, or open an existing view
2. Add a Page display
3. Optional: Set Basic Settings > Exposed form in Block to Yes to disconnect the search box from the View into a Block
4. Add a Filter Search > Search Terms
   • Click Expose
   • On empty input: Show all
   • Filter identifier: q (i.e. mysite/mypage?q=keyword)
   • Label: Filter by keyword
   • Optional: checked

At first I wrote some code to make it work, until I discovered I was duplicating code already present in Drupal. So in the end the solution turned out to be extremely simple as it is based on a small tweak in the menu_tree() function.

The code below generates a nested unsorted list (UL) which you can style in any way you like. You should be able to paste the code in any template.php file and see it working by calling print menu_tree_full(’primary-links’);.

<?php

function menu_tree_full($menu_name = 'navigation') {
  static $menu_output = array();

  if (!isset($menu_output[$menu_name])) {
    $tree = menu_tree_all_data($menu_name); // This is the tweak!
    $menu_output[$menu_name] = menu_tree_output($tree);
  }
  return $menu_output[$menu_name];
}

The problem with this is that it doesn’t really tell us the active trail to the menu; it shows which menu leafs are expanded, but if you have other branches expanded by default (in menu administration), then it’s not obvious how we can tell which is which using CSS. The next code fixes that by adding active and active-trail to the LI classes. It includes a slightly modified menu_tree_full().

function menu_tree_full($menu_name = 'navigation') {
  static $menu_output = array();

  if (!isset($menu_output[$menu_name])) {
    $tree = menu_find_active_trail(menu_tree_all_data($menu_name));
    $menu_output[$menu_name] = menu_tree_output($tree);
  }
  return $menu_output[$menu_name];
}

/**
 * Wrapper function
 */
function menu_find_active_trail(&$menu_tree) {
  $item = menu_get_item();
  _menu_find_active_trail($menu_tree, $item);
  return $menu_tree;
}
/**
 * Recursive function to find the active menu and the active trail in the given tree.
 */
function _menu_find_active_trail(&$menu_tree, $item) {
  $level_is_expanded = FALSE;
  foreach($menu_tree as &$menu_item) {
    $link = &$menu_item['link'];
    if ($link['href']==$item['href']) { // Found the exact location in the tree
      $link['active'] = TRUE;
      $link['in_active_trail'] = TRUE;
      return true;
    } else {
      if ($link['has_children']) {
        $result = _menu_find_active_trail($menu_item['below'], $item);
        $link['in_active_trail'] = $result;
        if ($result) $level_is_expanded = TRUE;
      }
    }
  }
  return $level_is_expanded;
}

First, the good part: in modules/menutrails/menutrails.module add the following function:

/**
 * Implementation of hook_views_pre_view()
 *
 * This will be invoked on every view request before the view is
 * themed, even if the view is cached
 */
function menutrails_views_pre_view(&$view, &$items) {
  if ($view->display_handler->display->display_plugin=='page') {
    drupal_set_breadcrumb(menutrails_get_breadcrumbs());
  }
}

Now, if you care to read it, the boring explanation.

The way MenuTrails works is by using the so-called Node API hook. This is called (although not directly nor exclusively) by node_load() - the registered “handler” of node content. You see, Drupal has a central registry of methods dealing with accessing and displaying content. One such handler is the node handler, but it is not the only one. Have a look at the menu_router table in the Drupal database for a list. The handler is chosen based on the path of the item.

If you define a view with a page and assign it a path, it gets its very own entry in the menu_router table, pointing to views_page() as the method that handles the display of the view. Node API is completely out of the picture for, I hope, obvious reasons.

The trick then, is to have MenuTrails respond to a different kind of hook - one that is actually invoked somewhere by the Views module. Lucky for us there are several, of which I have somewhat arbitrarily picked hook_views_pre_view(), which, according to the online Drupal documentation, is “called just before a view is themed. This is called even if the query is cached.”

It turns out this works just perfectly for our cause. Right now the snippet of code is as simple as I can make it. If you have any improvements, let me know.

I hope this saves someone a ton of work. It certainly cost me that to find this out, but it was a fruitful experience.

UPDATE system s SET s.status=0, s.throttle=0, s.bootstrap=0
WHERE filename = 'modules/update/update.module'

The statement above disables the update checks. This turned out to be the solution to the problem, because the Windows server I was installing on did not have Internet access! Good one to check before you start…

Oh, and the video is already 5 months old. We’re like waaaay behind the times here. Here it is:

Multi-Touch in Windows 7

Woof. 2,900 Euro’s! That means an FTIR Full-HD back projected table or wall is actuall, err.. cheaper! Well, you need to build it yourself of course, but there it is: motivation.

Now where did I put those IR leds…

The following is a cool example of the stuff the Finns can come up with. They took some “ordinary” LCD multitouch technology and added a nice twist: Modularity. Check out this website!

Meanwhile, Stantum remains awfully quiet after making a lot of ruckus about their SMK 15.4 development kit for multi-touch geeks like me. Show us the good stuff already! I’ve sent you my inquiry months ago. Sure you got some fancy mobile-phone multi-touch PMatrix, but I want the big one!

I realized some time ago that there’s no point in wasting good creative energy on building rear-projected multi-touch drafting tables when there’s all this multi-touch enabled hardware coming out from so many different vendors. The only gear I need now is for experimental purposes. The whole thing just reeks like undelivered promises…

The Stuff That Already Is

Dell mildly interested us with their Multi-touch Tablet demonstration back in November. The implementation was still shaky back then but it teaches us one important thing: Dell already has Multi-touch capable sensors in their Tablet PC’s, and they will probably be in the hands of thousands of consumers before I’ve even seen the thing from up close.

The reason that they’re into the game at all is due to one company: N-trig. They have a product demonstration online, although it shows that they have no idea how to exploit its power in software. There is very little connection between the gestures and the stuff happening on the screen, so why bother having to make the gestures on the screen at all? I could just get a Macbook Air if I wanted that…

The technology itself seems to work great. A good explanation of the N-trig DuoSense technology is on TechRepublic.

Another Tablet PC manufacturer is Lenovo/IBM who produces the Thinkpad laptops. I found that the Thinkpad X Series Tablet such as X60 and X61 already support multi-touch.

I say again. Where was I when this happened? X60 and X61 tablets are multi-touch capable. The last driver release is version 2.0.1.3 and dates December 2007. One of my best friends has a Thinkpad tablet and if I discover he has an X60 I’m going to smack him on the head for not mentioning this fact to me. I’ll be scouring the net for one soon…

Update: It turns out he has an X61 running Vista and he just recently got the Multi-touch driver update.

I’m not certain who delivers the technology used in the Lenovo screen as they reveal no third-party manufacturer. They DO claim a trademark on MultiTouch, however! Well if everybody claims MultiTouch as a trademark, why not me?

MultiTouch is a TouchDesk trademark

Nothing to it. I feel good about it already.