Blank admin page & other wierd problems

[BradWaite]

I just fired up osCMAX for the first time the other day. I've used osC for a number of years, even wrote one of the mods used in MAX (USPS Methods).

I was disappointed to say the least, when my brand new install seemed broken in all sorts of places. When logging in (why can't we put the default admin login info on the last step of the installation script?), my store asked me to "Choose an action...", but there were no actions to choose from.

Then I tried manually creating an account and got PHP errors. This seemed odd in a supposedly production-ready suite. I certainly hadn't had any of these problems with the stock osC. When I was troubleshooting the issue with create_account.php, I noticed parts of the script were using the short PHP open tag: '<?' instead of '<?PHP' to start a code block. I fixed those and the script worked.

I figured that if that page was published with the short open tag, then there's probably a ton of other pages with the same problem. I turned on short_open_tag in php.ini and everything works fine now.

short_open_tag is OFF by default in a standard php install. Why is osCMAX using them?

[michael_s]

The default admin password has always been and will always be:

email: admin@localhost.com
pw: admin

This is explained in the README file included in the download. The default administrator account has full privileges, and if you login using it, there is not an issue.

Regarding the short open tag, no reason for this other than the original coders of the mods in question used them. We have not done a lot of housecleaning in the code yet, but it is on the list of things to do. osCMax 2 is still a RC release, so there are a few issues like this that will be fixed when it is out of RC.

The other reason (I know not a good one, but I am being honest) is that nobody else in the several years of osCMax being available has ever once posted about it. I bet that it has caused more than one headache though.

I did a quick search through the codebase, and found 43 instances of the short open tag in 13 of osCMax's files. A good text editor can replace all of them in a few seconds, if you don't want to wait for the next release of osCMax.

[BradWaite]

Originally Posted by msasek

The default admin password has always been and will always be:

email: admin@localhost.com
pw: admin

This is explained in the README file included in the download. The default administrator account has full privileges, and if you login using it, there is not an issue.

I found it, eventually. I did read the README, just not the README_osCMAX_2_0.txt. I'm suggesting that it be added to the text on the last installation page and to the installation online manual. From what I can tell, it's a *very* common request. If it's that common, it must mean that the methods currently in use to inform people aren't working. Instead of getting upset at people for not finding it, why not make it easier for them to find? (Yes, I know the README's there for a reason, but my point is still valid.)

Originally Posted by msasek

Regarding the short open tag, no reason for this other than the original coders of the mods in question used them. We have not done a lot of housecleaning in the code yet, but it is on the list of things to do. osCMax 2 is still a RC release, so there are a few issues like this that will be fixed when it is out of RC.

The other reason (I know not a good one, but I am being honest) is that nobody else in the several years of osCMax being available has ever once posted about it. I bet that it has caused more than one headache though.

That's surprising. Since the default install of php4+ doesn't enable that option, I'm amazed more people haven't complained. That's one of the reasons why I posted - hopefully to save people the hours it took me to isolate the problem.

Originally Posted by msasek

I did a quick search through the codebase, and found 43 instances of the short open tag in 13 of osCMax's files. A good text editor can replace all of them in a few seconds, if you don't want to wait for the next release of osCMax.

It's a tad easier to turn on the flag in php.ini and restart httpd, but I agree - it'd be a rather simple fix with sed/perl/whatever.

[jpf]

We could also use OSC/OSC MAX coders and people to post errors and fixes.... Login into the BUGTRACKER. BULK changes can be submit to Micheal or myself.