BB Code Enhancements - Validate matching quote BBCode tags.

Quotes Validation

I created this modification to help alleviate the need to edit posts that have invalid/mismatched QUOTE tags. For a busy forum, correcting bad QUOTE tags can become a big problem for your moderators.

Messages (new or edited) rejected by this mod will return the member to the post submission form with the phrase: "One or more of [quote] tags are missing or mismatched. All posts are required to have proper matching quotes."

I have been running it on my board for a month or so without problems. It may run on versions older then 3.8, but I have not tested that.

I have created a number of mods for my board, this is the first one I have released!

--RayJ

NOTE: Plugin works on vBulletin version 4

Description
Check new and edited posts for valid/matching open and close [quote] BBCode tags.
*Should* work with any number of nested or included quote tags.

Details
1 Product XML with 3 Plugins, 2 Phrases, 5 Settings, and 0 Queries
1 File/Class
No template modifications.

Files
class_verifyquotes.php
install.txt
license.txt
license-vqbc_rayj2009.txt
v1.3 = product-vqbc_rayj2009_1-3.xml
v1.2 = product-vqbc_rayj2009_1-2.xml
v1.1 = product-vqbc_rayj2009_1-1.xml
v1.0 = product-vqbc_rayj2009.xml

Upgrading
v1.0-v1.1 :
Upload class_verifyquotes.php file to the /includes/ directory
import product-vqbc_rayj2009_v1-1.xml (Allow Overwrite)
v1.(0/1)-v1.2 :
Upload class_verifyquotes.php file to the /includes/ directory
import product-vqbc_rayj2009_v1-2.xml (Allow Overwrite)
v1.(0/1/2)-v1.3 :
Upload class_verifyquotes.php file to the /includes/ directory
import product-vqbc_rayj2009_v1-3.xml (Allow Overwrite)

History
1.0

Initial Version

1.1
Added plugin: newpost_preview
Added setting: Auto Preview Mode.

If active, the system will automatically put you in preview mode, and display the error message in the post area, when QUOTE mismatches are found.

Added phrase: To display CSS around "in post" error message.
Bug Fix: versions v1.0 and v1.1 (Note: fix already applied to all versions)

Memory leak causes download dialog for all browsers (for large posts). Download quotes_validation_bugfix.zip (contains: class_verifyquotes.php) and upload it. Fixes all previously installed versions.

1.2
Added Option: Style (CSS) for error message
Added Option: Bad Quotes Error Message

This will let you edit the Error Message and CSS that controls the output without having to edit the phrase directly. I left the original phrase code in place so that it will not get wiped out when you upgrade. You will have to search for the phrase (vqbc_bad_quotes_error) and copy it to the new setting.

Changed the phrase that displays the "in post" error message to work with the new options.
1.3
Bug Fix: Removed recursion and complex regular expressions. These were causing issues with large posts.
Added Option: Ignored Tags (allows you to add tags to be ignored during validation, note: noparse is always ignored)

Notes
PHP 5.0+ required.

If you are still using PHP 4 (you should upgrade). Or you can edit the class_verifyquotes.php file and remove all public and private keywords (before each function). Then edit the product-vqbc_rayj2009_v1-1.xml file and remove the PHP 5.0 dependency line.

[Max Taxable]

Originally Posted by raywjohnson

True. Thanks. I will to some testing on version 4 to see what I can find out.

--RayJ

Yes I was merely pointing out in a subtle way, that to expect a add-on that is coded for version 3.8, to work without flaw on a version 4 installation, is not reasonable.

[Joe Blow]

Further info:

It was core dumping with with signal 4 when one of the regexp functions was called on the string.

[raywjohnson]

Originally Posted by Joe Blow

Further info:

Yep. I found the same problem while testing. I will be working on a fix today.

The issue is that due to the recursion, it runs out of memory when crunching through large posts. I thought I had a fix for that already, but simply failed to take into account text before and after any quoted text. So a 5k post with 10 nested quotes causes 10 PHP recursive calls. The regex is also recursive!

I have re conceptualized the functionality and may have come up with a fast and efficient solution.

I hope to upload the newest version later today.

--RayJ

[raywjohnson]

Alrighty then!

Found a good solution. Version 3 does not use recursion at all. I also added an extra check to make sure the class file (class_verifyquotes.php) exists. So if the file gets deleted or renamed, your board will not go down (i.e. show a blank page).

I also added the ability to remove tags (other than just "noparse") prior to validation.

I tested it in VB4 and it worked fine.

Everyone should upgrade to version 3 of this plugin.

Standing by for bug reports!

--RayJ

[ozzy47]

Originally Posted by raywjohnson

Alrighty then!

Found a good solution. Version 3 does not use recursion at all. I also added an extra check to make sure the class file (class_verifyquotes.php) exists. So if the file gets deleted or renamed, your board will not go down (i.e. show a blank page).

I also added the ability to remove tags (other than just "noparse") prior to validation.

I tested it in VB4 and it worked fine.

Everyone should upgrade to version 3 of this plugin.

Standing by for bug reports!

--RayJ

Just to be clear, this will still work in 3.8.x series? Not that I use this, just so the people that do know.

[raywjohnson]

Originally Posted by ozzy47

Just to be clear, this will still work in 3.8.x series? Not that I use this, just so the people that do know.

Yes. Thanks for reminding me. It is still developed on and for VB3.8.

--RayJ

[Black Tiger]

Sorry but I've got a problem on 3.8.7 with 1.3 so I think it's buggy, because this problem does not occur with version 1.2.

I've got vbulletin 3.8.7 pl3 running. When I use version 1.3 and try to make a new post, I don't get the in between lines saying that my thread is being posted, but I just get a white screen, nothing more.

When I use version 1.2 the problem is gone and I can post again.

How can this be fixed?

[raywjohnson]

When you upgraded to 1.3, did you upload the class_verifyquotes.php file to the /includes/ directory? Each version must use its own class_verifyquotes.php file.

--RayJ

[Black Tiger]

No I didn't because it said:

v1.(0/1/2)-v1.3 : just import product-vqbc_rayj2009_v1-3.xml (Allow Overwrite)

So I thought that was not necessary.

Thank you for the quick support, I'm going to change it now!

[raywjohnson]

No worries. And thank you for the feedback. I will fix the instructions!

-RayJ