advanced slideshow - images gray - path problem?

I'd simply like to add that I really love this module. I did have it working on a dev box and things didn't get hairy for me until I updated all of the modules. But even so, I think this is one of the best visually appealing interface modules of all the contribs out there. Just a wonderful combination of cck-views-jquery I've seen. I think it's also an excellent teaching tool for learning how cck and views interact. Anyhow...back to the gray boxes...

I've done the preprocessor 'fid' line replacements with multiple variants (taken from different support request comments).

The default that came with the zip file: node_data_field_image_field_image_fid
EFFECT: gray box instead of images, slider text is there, but the name of the title shows up in the gray box like this..." [articletitle] />" , everything else works

I changed them to: node_date_field_pager_item_text_field_image_fid
EFFECT: removes that piece of the node title, everything else remains the same

I changed them to: node_data_field_slide_text_field_image_fid
EFFECT: takes me back to the first effect (adds the article title with the closing tag).

Maybe a more practical question for me to ask is....how do you find out what that line should be if the default setting isn't correct? can I get it from uncommenting the debug lines?

[apologies for so many comments on my own post, but I just don't want to waste anyone's time...and I want to be specific]

debug lines:

#

array (
  'delta' => '4',
  'output_type' => 'view_fields',
  'pager' => 'custom-pager',
  'pager_container' => NULL,
  'pager_event' => NULL,
  'pager_height' => 63,
  'pager_width' => 195,
  'imgcache_pager_item' => '',
  'pager_position' => 'top',
  'template' => 'upright30',
  'custom_template' => NULL,
  'view_name' => 'news_items',
)

#

stdClass::__set_state(array(
   'nid' => '1111',
   'node_title' => 'Article 1',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_pager_item_text_value' => 'Leaders in Learning',
   'node_type' => 'ddblock_news_item',
   'node_vid' => '9251',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_slide_text_value' => 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_image_fid' => '1561',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_image_list' => '1',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_image_data' => 'a:3:{[removed attributes for clarity]}',
   'node_revisions_body' => 'Lorem ipsum...Praesent mollis ipsum. ',
   'node_revisions_format' => '2',
   'node_created' => '1240512421',
))

#

'news_items'

#

stdClass::__set_state(array(
   'nid' => '1111',
   'node_title' => 'Article 1',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_pager_item_text_value' => 'Leaders in Learning',
   'node_type' => 'ddblock_news_item',
   'node_vid' => '9251',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_slide_text_value' => 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_image_fid' => '1561',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_image_list' => '1',
   'node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_image_data' => 'a:3:{[removed attributes for clarity]}',
   'node_revisions_body' => 'Lorem ipsum...Praesent mollis ipsum. ',
   'node_revisions_format' => '2',
   'node_created' => '1240512421',
))

preprocessor functions:

function murmansk_preprocess_ddblock_cycle_block_content(&$vars) {
  if ($vars['output_type'] == 'view_fields') {
    $content = array();

    if ($vars['settings']['view_name'] == 'news_items') {
      if (!empty($vars['content'])) {
        foreach ($vars['content'] as $key1 => $result) {
          // add slide_image variable 
          if (isset($result->node_data_field_slide_text_field_image_fid)) {
            // get image id
            $fid = $result->node_data_field_slide_text_field_image_fid;
            // get path to image
            $filepath = db_result(db_query("SELECT filepath FROM {files} WHERE fid = %d", $fid));
            //  use imagecache (imagecache, preset_name, file_path, alt, title, array of attributes)
            if (module_exists('imagecache') && is_array(imagecache_presets()) && $vars['imgcache_slide'] <> '<none>'){
              $slider_items[$key1]['slide_image'] = 
              theme('imagecache', 
                    $vars['imgcache_slide'], 
                    $filepath,
                    $result->node_title);
            }
            else {          
              $slider_items[$key1]['slide_image'] = 
                '<img src="' . base_path() . $filepath . 
                '" alt="' . $result->node_title . 
                '"/>';     
            }          
          }
          // add slide_text variable
          if (isset($result->node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_slide_text_value)) {
            $slider_items[$key1]['slide_text'] =  $result->node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_slide_text_value;
          }
          // add slide_title variable
          if (isset($result->node_title)) {
            $slider_items[$key1]['slide_title'] =  $result->node_title;
          }
          // add slide_read_more variable and slide_node variable
          if (isset($result->nid)) {
            $slider_items[$key1]['slide_read_more'] =  l('Read more...', 'node/' . $result->nid);
            $slider_items[$key1]['slide_node'] =  'node/' . $result->nid;
          }
        }
        $vars['slider_items'] = $slider_items;
      }
    }    
  }
}  

function murmansk_preprocess_ddblock_cycle_pager_content(&$vars) {
  if (($vars['output_type'] == 'view_fields') && ($vars['pager_settings']['pager'] == 'custom-pager')){
    $content = array();

    if ($vars['pager_settings']['view_name'] == 'news_items') {
      if (!empty($vars['content'])) {
        foreach ($vars['content'] as $key1 => $result) {
          // add pager_item_image variable
          if (isset($result->node_data_field_slide_text_field_image_fid)) {
            $fid = $result->node_data_field_slide_text_field_image_fid;
            $filepath = db_result(db_query("SELECT filepath FROM {files} WHERE fid = %d", $fid));
            //  use imagecache (imagecache, preset_name, file_path, alt, title, array of attributes)
            if (module_exists('imagecache') && 
                is_array(imagecache_presets()) && 
                $vars['imgcache_pager_item'] <> '<none>'){
              $pager_items[$key1]['image'] = 
                theme('imagecache', 
                      $vars['pager_settings']['imgcache_pager_item'],              
                      $filepath,
                      $result->node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_pager_item_text_value);
            }
            else {          
              $pager_items[$key1]['image'] = 
                '<img src="' . base_path() . $filepath . 
                '" alt="' . $result->node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_pager_item_text_value . 
                '"/>';     
            }          
          }
          // add pager_item _text variable
          if (isset($result->node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_pager_item_text_value)) {
            $pager_items[$key1]['text'] =  $result->node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_pager_item_text_value;
          }
        }
      }
      $vars['pager_items'] = $pager_items;
    }
  }    
}

##### I realize that my fid's in the preprocessor and the fid's in the debug lines don't match. But when I do rewrite the preprocessor lines to match the debug code, it just adds the article title over top of the gray-ed out image and it's followed by a closing tag - "/>".

This is what shows up in the tag for one of the slides (when it's live):
<img alt="Article 3" 100_0636_thumbs512.jpg="" files="" default="" sites="" src="/<img src="/>

Looks to me like a preprocessor issue. But I don't know how to resolve it.

I changed the fid lines in the second preprocessor function from:

node_data_field_slide_text_field_image_fid

to:

node_data_field_pager_item_text_field_image_fid

but left the first preprocessor function fid's as this:

node_data_field_slide_text_field_image_fid

RESULT: The tag contents displayed in firebug now show this:

<img src="/"/>

It doesn't seem to even by trying to produce the base_path(), $filepath, the alt attribute, or the $result->node_title.

[still working on it...still convinced it's a path issue]

@ppblaauw

I'll test the changes tonight. Many thanks.

Whether it works or not, I'll let you know. But either way, I'd like to say I've read almost every support request stream for this module and you're a great example of excellent contributor responsiveness. It's very impressive. Thank you. Keep up the good work!

@ppblaauw

Sorry to say the problem is still there.

Here's what I did.

1) I replaced my preprocessor code with what you posted above and emptied the cached. Same problem. I also tried running an update just in case. Same problem.
2) So I deleted the nodes, deleted the view, and deleted the content type and re-did the entire thing from the order given in the tutorial (but I left those preprocessor functions you gave in place. Same problem.
3) I removed the only other two jquery-using modules I was using (jquery menus & navigation) and repeated step two. same problem. [I obviously did that to see if there were module conflicts related to jquery. Whether other module conflicts are possible, I'm not sure. I have FCKEditor installed, but it's not enabled because it was interfering with the imagefield upload // I plan to go to wywsiwygAPI-tinymce anyhow.]

Keep in mind, the gray box shows the slide title and text...and my pagers are operating...and the click-through is good to the node (from the "read more" button). But there's a little piece of code that's exposed in the top left corner of the gray box. It's actually the node title of the current respective slide.

I think the only way for me to provide more info is to actually just take the site off of maintenance mode and let you take a look at it. When I do that, I'll post the link here. If you get a chance...take a look and give me some feedback. It's most appreciated.

[email sent to ppblaauw via contact form]

That makes a lot of sense. I never did update those. I'll be able to do it tomorrow morning. I'll respond as soon as it's done.

Thanks!

It works. Thank you so much!

A brief recap for people with the same problems.

1. I had the advanced slideshow working.
2. I updated the following modules: ddblock, filefield, imagefield.
3. I also overwrote the old preprocessor functions with the new ones supplied on the ddblock maintainer's site: http://ddblock.myalbums.biz/
4. The images in my ddblock became gray and I assumed there was a path problem - but I was wrong.
5. In the process of updating the related modules and the preprocessor functions, I didn't think to update the templates (upright10-50, also available on the maintainer's site). As a result, the template I was using (upright30), had mismatching styles in relation to the ddblock module output.
6. I updated the templates (when you unpack the zipped file you get a file called "custom" and the whole folder should be placed inside in the main directory of your theme...so "sites/all/themes/[themename]/custom). After which, the images appeared just fine. However, I had to make sure to save my old upright 30 stylesheet so that I could match my adjustments to that template. NOTE: it is generally recommended that you simply make a custom template from one of the original templates [instructions on how to do this are on the maintainer's site - see link above]. By not doing that (and instead tweaking one of those templates directly) I made it necessary to do some style matching on my own. Don't do that unless you like extra work.

Many thanks to ppblauw for his rapid attention to this. I'm sure he's a busy guy - this meant a lot to me and my development team. Thanks!!