A flag script

Mordecai

In case you don't know, I mainly do image programming. This is my second major (if you wish to call this major, I was fumbling through my harddrive and found a directory with about 40 flags in it and decided to change that) project. It simply outputs a flag based on the country code you give it (US = United States of America, UK = Great Britain, etc.). If the country does not exist, it outputs an error.
The best part of the entire script is that it should work on just about any server, as it doesn't need GD. All the image information is kept within the PHP file itself. It uses base64 encoding so the data is all alphanumeric or pretty close.
You can download the script here.

Please respond with your questions/comments.

Edit: Removed link to example. It has proved to be too harsh on the server.

epimeth

yea... how do you make a png file? is it just each certain amount of bytes per color per pixel?

Weedpacket

You're kidding, right? I mean, like, it's been around for something like eight years now...

Mordecai: one suggestion I might make is that the error graphic should be the same size as the flags - with width= and height= attributes in effect, the error could end up getting squashed. OTOH, any error graphic that size would probably end up looking like a flag of some nation or other...

.nz

iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACAAAAAWCAMAAACW
h252AAAABGdBTUEAAQRqQ+xHOAAAACBjSFJNAABv
PwAAcocAAPQkAACEzwAAbV8AAOhqAAA8iwAAG1en
lm2qAAADAFBMVEUAAAAIALUsJb8bE7onH72vrOMm
Hr0cFbuOitrt7fSPjNodFbs8NcPMy+s6NMMJAbWw
reP39/exr+QTDLhDPcWRjttEPcUMBLYRCbealt0L
A7YcFLqemt5QSskPB7cKArYKArXHPEdyV7h3Taa/
AAdvT7EOBrd6W7W9N0oZEbrHxepXUssZErqurONv
atG5j7fSOjqxY4ovKL98UKbGAABzU7E2L8C3YYLS
Pj6rh7oRCrgOBrasqeJSTcp0a83Wb3bOQ0l7XLXP
P0PUdX5rYs0vKMDSOjufdK+dfLuzjrwpIr7TUVXU
UlXXVFTWUFDURETUSUnXVVXHTFvVTEzVSkrSPDzT
QUHJSFINBbYrJL+1kb3TPj+4ZIWjeLCigLy8YX3T
Q0Ouj8ElHr17d9W6t+YXD7kQCbeDX7HQPD7Te4dh
W8xNR8iZlt2xjbw9NcG8XnrTQkOlhb+EYLLEOkYA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD2
EWbIAAAA8klEQVQoz2NgIAicHK0ZGRmNTUyBZFpR
MSMqACrItTA3gyrIyy8oxFTA7+Ls5KgGVJCWnpGZ
BZfhhysQF4+Mio6JNYmLT0hMEheHymfniMMUBINA
SKhJWAiIEQ5VkOyWClPg7e3t4+vnbxLgF+jj7R0E
VRARAbdCQcFV383Q3cTD3MLTS0EB05FSdvYOSlJA
R6o5Ojm78CNJikMU6BsYGkG9aWZuYQkUtILIW9vY
ghUoKkkBecoqqkBSTV2DkVHTTRusQMdND6yAER1I
y8hCGPIK2BWgO5JYBeL4FfCTbIUwAQU8bnz4FbCw
spHsC9wKCAAARYAo5fJp5YYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=

epimeth

I know what png is, I just never bothered to check how it is made! geez... ask an innocent little question and get flamed! fie on you Weedpacket! :p

Weedpacket

You "never bothered to check" before asking - that in itself is worth at least a flicked Bic. 🙂

Mordecai

I already had the PNGs, so I just viewed the data and base64 encrypted it so it wouldn't screw up the parsing. Base64 makes it a little bit larger, but it is (for all intents and purposes) fool-proof in storing images.

Weedpacket: Thanks for the idea. Any clue what kind of image I could make in a 3222 area? (And I should probably leave the outline, making it 3020.)

epimeth

lighter or pen?

Weedpacket

Originally posted by Mordecai
Weedpacket: Thanks for the idea. Any clue what kind of image I could make in a 3222 area? (And I should probably leave the outline, making it 3020.)

My first idea was just something like "ERR" - but that's not really international enough.

How about making it completely transparent (though still retaining the outline)? I don't know of any countries with a completely transparent flag, the outline would still be visible and indicate the absence of a flag - and when it comes to colour schemes invisible goes with anything...

epimeth: if you knew how many people I've driven to distraction by flicking pens you wouldn't be so eager to ask that question...

BuzzLY

How about a small red X? It would look similar to the image error that you get when your browser can't find an image:

<?php
$flag = base64_decode(
'iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACAAAAAWCAMAAACWh252AAAABG'.
'dBTUEAAK/INwWK6QAAABl0RVh0U29mdHdhcmUAQWRvYmUgSW1h'.
'Z2VSZWFkeXHJZTwAAAAJUExURf8AAAAAAP///8qSw5kAAACeSU'.
'RBVHjaYmAkAAACiIGRCS9gBAggggoAAoigAoAAQihgYEAII9iM'.
'AAGErIABC5MRIICQrIALI8kzMQIEELIboBLI8kyMAAGE4kiwFI'.
'o8EyNAAKH6ggEMUHwBEEBo3kSXZ2IECCCCCgACiKAVAAFE0JEA'.
'AUTQmwABRDCgAAKIYFADBBDByAIIIILRDRBABBUABBBBBQABxE'.
'Ao0QIEGABksASBOkCIJgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==');

header("Content-type: image/png");
echo($flag);
?>

Elizabeth

Buzz, the only thing I might add or rather alter what you're suggesting is that people might mistake a small red "x" for an error on the side of the website (ie, the flag exists but the graphic isn't linked correctly, or the image is missing or something like that) so I think you might want to allow them to easily discern the difference between a "user" error and a "website" error by making the error image a little different- perhaps a bigger red "x"?

Just a thought-
-Elizabeth

BuzzLY

Did you get a chance to see what the flag looks like? It's basically a white flag with a red X in the middle. Perhaps a red flag with a white X could work, too... I don't know... it's just a suggestion.

Mordecai

I kinda like BuzzLY's. I don't know if a transparent background would work all that well if the red X is there, and I don't know if an all-transparent background would be useful in recognizing an error. However, I do agree that the error should be normal-flag sized (32*22).

Also, if anyone has any flags they want to add, just mail them to me: fleebis@pr0n.co.uk
Make sure you tell me what country they're for... And I can base64 encode them.

epimeth

maybe white x with a black background?

Mordecai

I think the red X is more universal for "bad." 🙂

I've added only one flag on request (Belgium). It only takes a few seconds or so to add a new one, if someone gives me the flag. They have to be of equal dimensions (or an equal ratio) as the flags in the script, so they fit. If they're an equal ratio, I can size them down manually.

So don't hesitate to send me flags! I think this script can be really useful, and I'd like it to have most of the flags of the world.

dalecosp

Hmm, a ??

Mebbe the 2nd one upside down?

Or, you could just use BuzzLY's avatar.... 😃

Mordecai

Whoah, I completely overlooked the fact that Weedpacket posted .nz, I thought he just took some code to show epimeth what the PNG looked like. 😛
I just skipped over it.

Well, I guess that makes two (New Zealand, Belgium).

Dalecosp, I'm a bit confused.. o_o

Mordecai

These are the countries I am currently missing. Only 201.. 😉

BuzzLY

Check this page out. Plenty of images, I think... and you can easily modify them to fit your sizing. Or, of course, you could adopt THEIR sizing.

And here's the U.N.'s flag:
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Weedpacket

One that's not in the phpBB list:

East Timor Leste (.tp)

iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACAAAAAWCAIAAAAu
OwkTAAAAXklEQVRIx73VQQrAIAxE0X//S4+bQhEU
ac2PuM5DcDIACcG6z/EMbGMGUs9gG9gGtsHBSAOQ
mhxEMl5AMrbTF8Av5ssLLoHzdPEXRQqakYPa6e27
yN2mRhl0VaZa+gMndLNpwsgAzAAAAABJRU5ErkJg
gg==

Mordecai

Wow, BuzzLY, that link is awesome! Unfortunately, the image is smaller than what I'm currently using, which means it'd probably look bad to blow it up, especially since it's not of the exact same ratio.

I might adopt their, size, though, because there's a lot of flags there! Thanks. 🙂

Weedpacket, do you just have every country memorized? 😛