eBux / eStore's Future

I'm sure people have all read about the 'ebux' being Trademarked in the USA & Canada.

First off, let me start off by saying that this really sucks. But it's really my own fault for not researching it before creating eBux / eStore. It will cause a lot of headaches I'm sure in the future.

SO if you have been following the progress at http://www.ps2hits.com/forums/ then you will notice that eStore is no longer in existance. Now before you start to cry, you would also have noticed that vBux / vStore is in place of the old eBux / eStore.

vBux / vStore v1.5.0 is up and running at the above test forums. Now I can not stress the magnitude of the testing thats needed before this version is released out in the wild to the public.

I'm doing everything I can to make it save as MUCH as possible. But there will be some things that you will have to resetup. I have done a lot of the conversion coding already. I must say that the conversion I've done so far is gearing up quite NICELY. I'm proud of the coding for the update, which I can say a lot, I am usually not proud of coding that I make, but it gets the job done normally as well.

I have added a revolutionary change to the forum table that all vB mod coders will take note of. I do not think that this was ever done before, if I am wrong, I apologize. I have added a "bitfield" to the forum table. Yes, just like the <bitfield inside of bitfield_xxx.xml for the Usergroups.

It took 4 plugins to do this and when v1.5.0 is released, we may see other hacks start to use settings like this. So what does this mean to you, the end user?? Instead of eBS using 11 fields inside of the forum table, vBS will only use 4 fields inside of the forum table, aka less data to cache and save. And now that the foundation is layed for this, I could add some more forum options that should make things interesting as well.

The fact is, vB.com could do some modifications to make this more streamlined in the future, check out the following code:

Inside admincp/forum.php

	foreach ($vbulletin->GPC['forum'] AS $varname => $value)
	{
		if ($varname == 'options')
		{
			foreach ($value AS $key => $val)
			{
				$forumdata->set_bitfield('options', $key, $val);
			}
		}
		else
		{
			$forumdata->set($varname, $value);
		}
	}

This code is inside the block where it checks $_POST['do'] == 'update'. Instead of checking if the varname is equal to options. They should check if the field type is a bitfield type. If they would check if the field was a bitfield and then run ->set_bitfield for the varname found, it would mean 1 less plugin and/or hack has to be done.

SO if you use a bitfield with the current vBulletin 3.5.4, it will save all of the fields as separate variable names. SO I have devised a very small chunk of code to do the following:

	// process all of the vbsforumoptions
	foreach($vbulletin->GPC['forum']['vbsforumoptions'] AS $key => $val)
	{
		// set this bitfield
		$forumdata->set_bitfield('vbsforumoptions', $key, $val);

		// unset the one set previously by vBulletin
		unset($forumdata->forum['vbsforumoptions'][$key]);
	}

With this, you can see my custom bitfield is named vbsforumoptions, and you will notice it does UNSET the previous one that is set by vBulletin, so it will function properly. vBulletin.com, if you could update that code in forum.php to allow mod makers to use bitfields, that would be great

Even if they do not add this ability in the future, the fact remains that the above code will work and it is fairly optimized.


So the bottom line........

When you see the coding for the new Product XML sheet for vBS. You might look at it and say "its HUGE", but in reality is quite small for a task of this magnitude. I have renamed all of the phrases, all of the template variables, all of the variables/tables/fields inside of the PHP files. Basically any and all reference to ebux/estore have been changed to vbux/vstore and the tables/fields have been changed to vbs_table or vbs_field to better recognize which fields are for use with the new vBS. It's a MUCH better organized system and should allow for much easier to understand core code to build addons for.

I know this post seems a little long winded, but its necessary for me to tell you that when the aftermath settles for vBux / vStore .... everyone will be coming out on TOP.

-CMX

[Ilovechase]

I am sorry about all the trademark stuff . I know vbux will be awesome and I am so excited to install it... I think I told you already that you are awesome and I totally appreciate your hard work and dedication

Monie

[Rickie3]

what if i dont want to upgrade to vBux / vStore,and continue using ebux/estore,will it be illegal to have it on my site,i hate the thought of having to trace down template edits,then having to redo temp edits again.Have you seeked legal advise on the name ebux/estore has there been a injunction to force you to stop using said name,i cant see a problem if the name of your hack has not been questioned legally.Wouldnt it be easier just to change E to a V

[caimakale]

Originally Posted by Rickie3

what if i dont want to upgrade to vBux / vStore,and continue using ebux/estore,will it be illegal to have it on my site,i hate the thought of having to trace down template edits,then having to redo temp edits again.Have you seeked legal advise on the name ebux/estore has there been a injunction to force you to stop using said name,i cant see a problem if the name of your hack has not been questioned legally.Wouldnt it be easier just to change E to a V

It has been questioned legally. It truly is a legally trademarked name and CMX as well as each of you need to change it to protect yourselves from possible trouble.

The store isn't going away by any means. Everything will be identical, acutally better with some bug fixes and a few new options, than it is right now.

[Rickie3]

well the same could have been said for Ucash/Ushop,this is going to have a huge impact on so many forums out there already running ebux/estore,there is always some bastard out there that cant help themselves by dobbing someone in for something as simple as using a name in a hack,no wonder this worlds in a bloody mess

[JsnakeJ]

vB.org should make an announcement for the people using it to upgrade aswell.

[caimakale]

Originally Posted by Rickie3

well the same could have been said for Ucash/Ushop,this is going to have a huge impact on so many forums out there already running ebux/estore,there is always some bastard out there that cant help themselves by dobbing someone in for something as simple as using a name in a hack,no wonder this worlds in a bloody mess

Truthfully, this update shouldn't be much different from any other update as far as we are concerened. We will have to redo template edits, but it may not be that difficult. I am not going to jump the gun and say anything yet because I haven't seen the new package, but it may end up being easier than we think.

Don't lose faith in CMX now just because of a problem with the name...because of this we will end up with a better store than 1.2.6.

[Rickie3]

Originally Posted by caimakale

Don't lose faith in CMX now just because of a problem with the name...because of this we will end up with a better store than 1.2.6.

oh i havent lost faith in CMX at all,you must have missunderstood my post,i feel sad for all the hard work CMX has put in and his dedication to everyone involved,just to have it stalled for whats in a name

[proxx]

CMX,

since you're going to be re-branding it.

I recommend chosing something different.

a) vBux is fine, I checked and it is NOT trademarked
b) vStore IS trademarked, so maybe you can use something different?

use http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?...ate=6hu8dp.1.1 to search and see if a trademark is taken.

Since you're writing a nice software, and in future it might 10 times more features and have much more value, you don't want these trademark owners coming and say stop using it, or you don't want them to benefit from the positive image created by your software.

Just my two cents.

[Gizmo5h1t3]

these trademarks are a complete bummer....why should it matter when i expect your version of "vstore" bears no relation to the other one?????

excellent work yet again mate.....

[JsnakeJ]

Laws are laws man. Would you want someone to copy your product or even name and make a good bit of money off of what was supposedly your idea? Just because some of the people that are using this modification do not live in the United States or Canada doesn't mean that we shouldn't take trademarks lightly.

What about making it vBstore & vBux, since theres a trademark on vStore.