option for case insensitive validation of image CAPTCHA

You can head over to admin/user/captcha/image_captcha and change the "Characters to use in the code" to have only uppercase, or lowercase letters. It might be a good idea, however, to add an option to make the validation case insensitive.

I am adding a potential patch to apply case insensitivity to the current dev code base. Updates are in captcha.pages.inc and image_captcha.admin.inc Strongly suggest review! This is my first patch.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your patch. Some remarks:

• patches should be in unified format, you should add the option -up to your cvs diff command (see under readability in http://drupal.org/patch/create). It's also common to add the extension .patch instead of .txt, but that's a detail.
• you have both variable_get('captcha_ignore_case_sensitivity', TRUE) and variable_get('captcha_ignore_case_sensitivity', FALSE). There should be only one default for settings variable, and it should be FALSE in this case so that the feature is disabled by default.
• You marked this feature for CAPTCHA 5.x-3.x-dev, but it seems that the you patched the version from HEAD, which is CAPTCHA 6.x-2.x-dev. For CAPTCHA 5.x-3.x-dev you should checkout the branch DRUPAL-5--3 (add the option -r DRUPAL-5--3 to your cvs checkout).
• The feature spans two modules captcha.module and image_captcha.module, but note that there are many other CAPTCHA types (e.g. see http://drupal.org/project/captcha_pack), so there could be conflicts. It's better to isolate the feature to one module.
  • The simplest option is to isolate it in image_captcha and implement a preprocess hook in image_captcha_captcha(). See the CAPTCHA api docs under "=== Optional: preprocess the response ===" for more information
  • A lot more difficult is to add the feature in captcha.module and to make it available to all CAPTCHA types in a generic way.

  I would pick the first option for now

• I think "unsophisticated users" is a bit disrespectful to all the grandma's in the world ;) I would make the description more neutral.
• Something to keep in mind for this feature is that it also should work for non Latin languages (e.g. Hebrew, Greek, ...). I don't know if strtoupper/strtolower handle non Latin languages well. This needs some research, but you can start with using strtoupper/strtolower anyway.

Don't be discouraged by this list, most items are minor issues.
If this is your first Drupal patch, you already did very well.
Thanks again

Great feedback soxofaan - thank-you very much! I'll review the fixes and get a new patch uploaded in a few days. I have other obligations that will keep me busy for a day or two, but should find some time to make another attempt soon.

One question - would you suggest that I create a separate feature request for the 6.X update, or revise this entry for 6.X? I think I'd like to stay on one version for now.

Thanks,
Dave

no problem, there is no rush

typically a feature is implemented in one branch and after it's finished, it gets ported to the other maintained branches. No need for a separate issue, there is a "patch (to be ported)" status

Here is my second attempt. Hopefully this one is pretty close for the HEAD code base. Once I get this one figured out, perhaps I'll go back to the current 6.X. I'm running this version on my site now - no badness so far.

Getting closer.

Some remarks however ;)

• you use the variable captcha_ignore_case_sensitivity to store the option, it's better to use the prefix image_captcha_ for image captcha settings
• I think the expression "Ignore the user's case sensitivity in their answer" is a bit weird. I think the module has to be case sensitive or case insensitive, it's not about the users
• in image_captcha_captcha you use "variable_get('captcha_ignore_case_sensitivity')", without a default value, this should be variable_get('captcha_ignore_case_sensitivity', FALSE)
• you also change the code to lowercase before storing it for rendering, I think it's better to render the code as-is and only change the case in the expected answer.
• also try to adhere to the Drupal coding standards, your patch seems to contain tabs for indentation, the proper way is 2 spaces.

in attachment you'll find an adapted version of your patch.

committed to head in http://drupal.org/cvs?commit=116700

I have a variation on this patch working in 5.x, any chance of a backport if I post it?

at#8: if you backported it, then there is a backport ;)
be welcome to post it
I'm not very active on Drupal5 anymore, but a small patch as this one wouldn't be a problem

http://drupal.org/cvs?commit=195408

The backported fix seems to work for me, thanks!

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.