core\CAT

Complexity

Total Complexity

50

Size/Duplication

Total Lines	594
Duplicated Lines	0 %

Importance

Changes	5
Bugs	1	Features	0

10 Methods

Rating	Name	Duplication	Size	Complexity
A	determineExternalConnection()	0	6	4
A	getExternalCountriesList()	0	20	6
A	getRootUrlPath()	0	3	2
B	getExternalDBEntityDetails()	0	42	11
A	sessionStart()	0	6	3
B	__construct()	0	284	4
A	getSuperglueZone()	0	4	1
A	totalIdPs()	0	19	4
A	printCountryList()	0	19	4
C	listAllIdentityProviders()	0	65	11

<?php

/*
 * *****************************************************************************
 * Contributions to this work were made on behalf of the GÉANT project, a 
 * project that has received funding from the European Union’s Framework 
 * Programme 7 under Grant Agreements No. 238875 (GN3) and No. 605243 (GN3plus),
 * Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreements No. 
 * 691567 (GN4-1) and No. 731122 (GN4-2).
 * On behalf of the aforementioned projects, GEANT Association is the sole owner
 * of the copyright in all material which was developed by a member of the GÉANT
 * project. GÉANT Vereniging (Association) is registered with the Chamber of 
 * Commerce in Amsterdam with registration number 40535155 and operates in the 
 * UK as a branch of GÉANT Vereniging.
 * 
 * Registered office: Hoekenrode 3, 1102BR Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 
 * UK branch address: City House, 126-130 Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 1PQ, UK
 *
 * License: see the web/copyright.inc.php file in the file structure or
 *          <base_url>/copyright.php after deploying the software
 */

/**
 *  This is the definition of the CAT class
 * @author Stefan Winter <stefan.winter@restena.lu>
 * @author Tomasz Wolniewicz <twoln@umk.pl>
 *
 * @package Developer
 */
/**
 * necessary includes
 */

namespace core;

/**
 * Define some variables which need to be globally accessible
 * and some general purpose methods
 *
 * @author Stefan Winter <stefan.winter@restena.lu>
 * @author Tomasz Wolniewicz <twoln@umk.pl>
 *
 * @package Developer
 */
class CAT extends \core\common\Entity
{

    /**
     * which version is this?
     * even if we are unreleased, keep track of internal version-to-be
     * developers need to set this in code. The user-displayed string
     * is generated into $CAT_VERSION_STRING and $CAT_COPYRIGHT below
     */
    public const VERSION_MAJOR = 2;
    public const VERSION_MINOR = 1;
    public const VERSION_PATCH = 0;
    public const VERSION_EXTRA = "alpha1";
    private const RELEASE_VERSION = FALSE;
    private const USER_API_VERSION = 2;

    /**
     * trying to keep up with the name changes of copyright holder and consortia
     * updating those on *one* place should change display everywhere!
     */
    private const COPYRIGHT_HOLDER = "G&Eacute;ANT Association";
    private const COPYRIGHT_CONSORTIA = "the G&Eacute;ANT Projects funded by EU";
    private const COPYRIGHT_MIN_YEAR = 2011;
    private const COPYRIGHT_MAX_YEAR = 2020;

    /**
     * This is the user-displayed string; controlled by the four options above
     * It is generated in the constructor.
     * 
     * @var string
     */
    public $catVersionString;

    /**
     * The entire copyright line, generated in constructor
     * 
     * @var string
     */
    public $catCopyright;

    /**
     * all known federation, in an array with ISO short name as an index, and localised version of the pretty-print name as value.
     * The static value is only filled with meaningful content after the first object has been instantiated. That is because it is not
     * possible to define static properties with function calls like _().
     * 
     * @var array of all known federations
     */
    public $knownFederations;

    /**
     * the default database to query in this class.
     */
    const DB_TYPE = "INST";

    /**
     *  Constructor sets the language by calling set_lang 
     *  and stores language settings in object properties
     */
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
        common\Entity::intoThePotatoes();

        $this->catVersionString = sprintf(_("Unreleased %s Git Revision"), "<a href='https://github.com/GEANT/CAT/tree/master/Changes.md'>") . "</a>";
        if (CAT::RELEASE_VERSION) {
            $major = CAT::VERSION_MAJOR;
            $minor = CAT::VERSION_MINOR;
            $patch = CAT::VERSION_PATCH;
            $extra = CAT::VERSION_EXTRA;
            $temp_version = "CAT-$major.$minor";
            $branch = "release_$major" . "_$minor";
            if (CAT::VERSION_PATCH != 0) {
                $temp_version .= ".$patch";
            }
            if (CAT::VERSION_EXTRA != "") {
                $temp_version .= "-$extra";
            }
            $this->catVersionString = sprintf(_("Release <a href='%s'>%s</a>"), "https://github.com/GEANT/CAT/tree/" . $branch . "/Changes.md", $temp_version);
        }
        $product = \config\Master::APPEARANCE['productname'];
        $minYear = self::COPYRIGHT_MIN_YEAR;
        $maxYear = self::COPYRIGHT_MAX_YEAR;
        $holder = self::COPYRIGHT_HOLDER;
        $consortia = self::COPYRIGHT_CONSORTIA;
        $this->catCopyright = "$product - " . $this->catVersionString . " &copy; $minYear-$maxYear $holder<br/>on behalf of $consortia; and others <a href='copyright.php'>Full Copyright and Licenses</a>";


        /* Federations are created in DB with bootstrapFederation, and listed via listFederations
         */

        $this->knownFederations = [
            'AD' => _("Andorra"),
            'AT' => _("Austria"),
            'BE' => _("Belgium"),
            'BG' => _("Bulgaria"),
            'CY' => _("Cyprus"),
            'CZ' => _("Czech Republic"),
            'DK' => _("Denmark"),
            'EE' => _("Estonia"),
            'FI' => _("Finland"),
            'FR' => _("France"),
            'DE' => _("Germany"),
            'GR' => _("Greece"),
            'HR' => _("Croatia"),
            'IE' => _("Ireland"),
            'IS' => _("Iceland"),
            'IT' => _("Italy"),
            'HU' => _("Hungary"),
            'LU' => _("Luxembourg"),
            'LV' => _("Latvia"),
            'LT' => _("Lithuania"),
            'MK' => _("Macedonia"),
            'RS' => _("Serbia"),
            'NL' => _("Netherlands"),
            'NO' => _("Norway"),
            'PL' => _("Poland"),
            'PT' => _("Portugal"),
            'RO' => _("Romania"),
            'SI' => _("Slovenia"),
            'ES' => _("Spain"),
            'SE' => _("Sweden"),
            'SK' => _("Slovakia"),
            'CH' => _("Switzerland"),
            'TR' => _("Turkey"),
            'UK' => _("United Kingdom"),
            'TEST' => 'TEST Country',
            'AU' => _("Australia"),
            'CA' => _("Canada"),
            'IL' => _("Israel"),
            'JP' => _("Japan"),
            'NZ' => _("New Zealand"),
            'US' => _("U.S.A."),
            'BR' => _("Brazil"),
            'CL' => _("Chile"),
            'PE' => _("Peru"),
            'VE' => _("Venezuela"),
            'DEFAULT' => _("Default"),
            'AM' => _("Armenia"),
            'AZ' => _("Azerbaijan"),
            'BY' => _("Belarus"),
            'EC' => _("Ecuador"),
            'HK' => _("Hong Kong"),
            'KE' => _("Kenya"),
            'KG' => _("Kyrgyzstan"),
            'KR' => _("Korea"),
            'KZ' => _("Kazakhstan"),
            'MA' => _("Morocco"),
            'MD' => _("Moldova"),
            'ME' => _("Montenegro"),
            'MO' => _("Macau"),
            'MT' => _("Malta"),
            'RU' => _("Russia"),
            'SG' => _("Singapore"),
            'TH' => _("Thailand"),
            'TW' => _("Taiwan"),
            'ZA' => _("South Africa"),
            'AF' => 'Afghanistan',
            'AL' => 'Albania',
            'DZ' => 'Algeria',
            'AS' => 'American Samoa',
            'AO' => 'Angola',
            'AI' => 'Anguilla',
            'AQ' => 'Antarctica',
            'AG' => 'Antigua And Barbuda',
            'AR' => 'Argentina',
            'AW' => 'Aruba',
            'BS' => 'Bahamas, The',
            'BH' => 'Bahrain',
            'BD' => 'Bangladesh',
            'BB' => 'Barbados',
            'BZ' => 'Belize',
            'BJ' => 'Benin',
            'BM' => 'Bermuda',
            'BT' => 'Bhutan',
            'BO' => 'Bolivia',
            'BA' => 'Bosnia And Herzegovina',
            'BW' => 'Botswana',
            'BV' => 'Bouvet Island',
            'IO' => 'British Indian Ocean Territory',
            'BN' => 'Brunei',
            'BF' => 'Burkina Faso',
            'MM' => 'Burma',
            'BI' => 'Burundi',
            'KH' => 'Cambodia',
            'CM' => 'Cameroon',
            'CV' => 'Cape Verde',
            'KY' => 'Cayman Islands',
            'CF' => 'Central African Republic',
            'TD' => 'Chad',
            'CN' => 'China',
            'CX' => 'Christmas Island',
            'CC' => 'Cocos (keeling) Islands',
            'CO' => 'Colombia',
            'KM' => 'Comoros',
            'CG' => 'Congo (brazzaville) ',
            'CD' => 'Congo (kinshasa)',
            'CK' => 'Cook Islands',
            'CR' => 'Costa Rica',
            'CI' => 'CÔte D’ivoire',
            'CU' => 'Cuba',
            'CW' => 'CuraÇao',
            'DJ' => 'Djibouti',
            'DM' => 'Dominica',
            'DO' => 'Dominican Republic',
            'EG' => 'Egypt',
            'SV' => 'El Salvador',
            'GQ' => 'Equatorial Guinea',
            'ER' => 'Eritrea',
            'ET' => 'Ethiopia',
            'FK' => 'Falkland Islands (islas Malvinas)',
            'FO' => 'Faroe Islands',
            'FJ' => 'Fiji',
            'GF' => 'French Guiana',
            'PF' => 'French Polynesia',
            'TF' => 'French Southern And Antarctic Lands',
            'GA' => 'Gabon',
            'GM' => 'Gambia, The',
            'GE' => 'Georgia',
            'GEANT' => 'The GEANT country',
            'GH' => 'Ghana',
            'GI' => 'Gibraltar',
            'GL' => 'Greenland',
            'GD' => 'Grenada',
            'GP' => 'Guadeloupe',
            'GU' => 'Guam',
            'GT' => 'Guatemala',
            'GG' => 'Guernsey',
            'GN' => 'Guinea',
            'GW' => 'Guinea-bissau',
            'GY' => 'Guyana',
            'HT' => 'Haiti',
            'HM' => 'Heard Island And Mcdonald Islands',
            'HN' => 'Honduras',
            'IN' => 'India',
            'ID' => 'Indonesia',
            'IR' => 'Iran',
            'IQ' => 'Iraq',
            'IM' => 'Isle Of Man',
            'JM' => 'Jamaica',
            'JE' => 'Jersey',
            'JO' => 'Jordan',
            'KI' => 'Kiribati',
            'KP' => 'Korea, North',
            'KW' => 'Kuwait',
            'LA' => 'Laos',
            'LB' => 'Lebanon',
            'LS' => 'Lesotho',
            'LR' => 'Liberia',
            'LY' => 'Libya',
            'LI' => 'Liechtenstein',
            'MG' => 'Madagascar',
            'MW' => 'Malawi',
            'MY' => 'Malaysia',
            'MV' => 'Maldives',
            'ML' => 'Mali',
            'MH' => 'Marshall Islands',
            'MQ' => 'Martinique',
            'MR' => 'Mauritania',
            'MU' => 'Mauritius',
            'YT' => 'Mayotte',
            'MX' => 'Mexico',
            'FM' => 'Micronesia, Federated States Of',
            'MC' => 'Monaco',
            'MN' => 'Mongolia',
            'MS' => 'Montserrat',
            'MZ' => 'Mozambique',
            'NA' => 'Namibia',
            'NR' => 'Nauru',
            'NP' => 'Nepal',
            'NC' => 'New Caledonia',
            'NI' => 'Nicaragua',
            'NE' => 'Niger',
            'NG' => 'Nigeria',
            'NU' => 'Niue',
            'NF' => 'Norfolk Island',
            'MP' => 'Northern Mariana Islands',
            'OM' => 'Oman',
            'PK' => 'Pakistan',
            'PW' => 'Palau',
            'PA' => 'Panama',
            'PG' => 'Papua New Guinea',
            'PY' => 'Paraguay',
            'PH' => 'Philippines',
            'PN' => 'Pitcairn Islands',
            'PR' => 'Puerto Rico',
            'QA' => 'Qatar',
            'RE' => 'Reunion',
            'RW' => 'Rwanda',
            'BL' => 'Saint Barthelemy',
            'SH' => 'Saint Helena, Ascension, And Tristan Da Cunha',
            'KN' => 'Saint Kitts And Nevis',
            'LC' => 'Saint Lucia',
            'MF' => 'Saint Martin',
            'PM' => 'Saint Pierre And Miquelon',
            'VC' => 'Saint Vincent And The Grenadines',
            'WS' => 'Samoa',
            'SM' => 'San Marino',
            'ST' => 'Sao Tome And Principe',
            'SA' => 'Saudi Arabia',
            'SN' => 'Senegal',
            'SC' => 'Seychelles',
            'SL' => 'Sierra Leone',
            'SX' => 'Sint Maarten',
            'SB' => 'Solomon Islands',
            'SO' => 'Somalia',
            'GS' => 'South Georgia And South Sandwich Islands',
            'SS' => 'South Sudan',
            'LK' => 'Sri Lanka',
            'SD' => 'Sudan',
            'SR' => 'Suriname',
            'SZ' => 'Swaziland',
            'SY' => 'Syria',
            'TJ' => 'Tajikistan',
            'TZ' => 'Tanzania',
            'TL' => 'Timor-leste',
            'TG' => 'Togo',
            'TK' => 'Tokelau',
            'TO' => 'Tonga',
            'TT' => 'Trinidad And Tobago',
            'TN' => 'Tunisia',
            'TM' => 'Turkmenistan',
            'TC' => 'Turks And Caicos Islands',
            'TV' => 'Tuvalu',
            'UG' => 'Uganda',
            'UA' => 'Ukraine',
            'AE' => 'United Arab Emirates',
            'GB' => 'United Kingdom',
            'UY' => 'Uruguay',
            'UZ' => 'Uzbekistan',
            'VU' => 'Vanuatu',
            'VA' => 'Vatican City',
            'VN' => 'Vietnam',
            'VG' => 'Virgin Islands, British',
            'VI' => 'Virgin Islands, United States ',
            'WF' => 'Wallis And Futuna',
            'EH' => 'Western Sahara',
            'YE' => 'Yemen',
            'ZM' => 'Zambia',
            'ZW' => 'Zimbabwe',
        ];

        common\Entity::outOfThePotatoes();
    }

    /**
     * Calculates the number of IdPs overall in the system
     * 
     * @param string $level completeness level of IdPs that are to be taken into consideration for counting
     * @return int
     */
    public function totalIdPs($level)
    {
        $handle = DBConnection::handle(CAT::DB_TYPE);
        switch ($level) {
            case "ALL":
                $idpcount = $handle->exec("SELECT COUNT(inst_id) AS instcount FROM institution");
                break;
            case "VALIDPROFILE":
                $idpcount = $handle->exec("SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT institution.inst_id) AS instcount FROM institution,profile WHERE institution.inst_id = profile.inst_id AND profile.sufficient_config = 1");
                break;
            case "PUBLICPROFILE":
                $idpcount = $handle->exec("SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT institution.inst_id) AS instcount FROM institution,profile WHERE institution.inst_id = profile.inst_id AND profile.showtime = 1");
                break;
            default:
                return -1;
        }
        // SELECTs never return a booleans, always an object
        $dbresult = mysqli_fetch_object(/** @scrutinizer ignore-type */ $idpcount);
        return $dbresult->instcount;
    }

    /**
     * Lists all identity providers in the database
     * adding information required by DiscoJuice.
     * 
     * @param int    $activeOnly if set to non-zero will cause listing of only those institutions which have some valid profiles defined.
     * @param string $country    if set, only list IdPs in a specific country
     * @return array the list of identity providers
     *
     */
    public function listAllIdentityProviders($activeOnly = 0, $country = "")
    {
        common\Entity::intoThePotatoes();
        $handle = DBConnection::handle("INST");
        $handle->exec("SET SESSION group_concat_max_len=10000");
        $query = "SELECT distinct institution.inst_id AS inst_id, institution.country AS country,
                     group_concat(concat_ws('===',institution_option.option_name,LEFT(institution_option.option_value,200), institution_option.option_lang) separator '---') AS options
                     FROM institution ";
        if ($activeOnly == 1) {
            $query .= "JOIN v_active_inst ON institution.inst_id = v_active_inst.inst_id ";
        }
        $query .= "JOIN institution_option ON institution.inst_id = institution_option.institution_id ";
        $query .= "WHERE (institution_option.option_name = 'general:instname' 
                          OR institution_option.option_name = 'general:geo_coordinates'
                          OR institution_option.option_name = 'general:logo_file') ";

        $query .= ($country != "" ? "AND institution.country = ? " : "");

        $query .= "GROUP BY institution.inst_id ORDER BY inst_id";

        $allIDPs = ($country != "" ? $handle->exec($query, "s", $country) : $handle->exec($query));
        $returnarray = [];
        // SELECTs never return a booleans, always an object
        while ($queryResult = mysqli_fetch_object(/** @scrutinizer ignore-type */ $allIDPs)) {
            $institutionOptions = explode('---', $queryResult->options);
            $oneInstitutionResult = [];
            $geo = [];
            $names = [];

            $oneInstitutionResult['entityID'] = $queryResult->inst_id;
            $oneInstitutionResult['country'] = strtoupper($queryResult->country);
            foreach ($institutionOptions as $institutionOption) {
                $opt = explode('===', $institutionOption);
                switch ($opt[0]) {
                    case 'general:logo_file':
                        $oneInstitutionResult['icon'] = $queryResult->inst_id;
                        break;
                    case 'general:geo_coordinates':
                        $at1 = json_decode($opt[1], true);
                        $geo[] = $at1;
                        break;
                    case 'general:instname':
                        $names[] = [
                            'lang' => $opt[2],
                            'value' => $opt[1]
                        ];
                        break;
                    default:
                        break;
                }
            }

            $name = _("Unnamed Entity");
            if (count($names) != 0) {
                $langObject = new \core\common\Language();
                $name = $langObject->getLocalisedValue($names);
            }
            $oneInstitutionResult['title'] = $name;
            if (count($geo) > 0) {
                $oneInstitutionResult['geo'] = $geo;
            }
            $returnarray[] = $oneInstitutionResult;
        }
        common\Entity::outOfThePotatoes();
        return $returnarray;
    }

    /**
     * Prepares a list of countries known to the CAT.
     * 
     * @param int $activeOnly is set and nonzero will cause that only countries with some institutions underneath will be listed
     * @return array Array indexed by (uppercase) lang codes and sorted according to the current locale
     */
    public function printCountryList($activeOnly = 0)
    {
        $olddomain = $this->languageInstance->setTextDomain("core");
        $handle = DBConnection::handle(CAT::DB_TYPE);
        $returnArray = []; // in if -> the while might never be executed, so initialise
        if ($activeOnly) {
            $federations = $handle->exec("SELECT DISTINCT UPPER(institution.country) AS country FROM institution JOIN profile
                          ON institution.inst_id = profile.inst_id WHERE profile.showtime = 1 ORDER BY country");
            // SELECT never returns a boolean, always a mysqli_object
            while ($activeFederations = mysqli_fetch_object(/** @scrutinizer ignore-type */ $federations)) {
                $fedIdentifier = $activeFederations->country; // UPPER() has capitalised this for us
                $returnArray[$fedIdentifier] = isset($this->knownFederations[$fedIdentifier]) ? $this->knownFederations[$fedIdentifier] : $fedIdentifier;
            }
        } else {
            $returnArray = $this->knownFederations;
        }
        asort($returnArray, SORT_LOCALE_STRING);
        $this->languageInstance->setTextDomain($olddomain);
        return($returnArray);
    }

    /**
     * get additional details about an institution from the EXTERNAL customer DB
     * (if any; for eduroam, this would be the official eduroam database)
     * 
     * @param string $externalId the ID of the institution in the external DB
     * @param string $realm      the function can also try to find an inst by its realm in the external DB
     * @return array a list of institutions, ideally with only one member
     * @throws \Exception
     */
    public function getExternalDBEntityDetails($externalId, $realm = NULL)
    {
        $list = [];
        if (\config\ConfAssistant::CONSORTIUM['name'] == "eduroam" && isset(\config\ConfAssistant::CONSORTIUM['deployment-voodoo']) && \config\ConfAssistant::CONSORTIUM['deployment-voodoo'] == "Operations Team") { // SW: APPROVED
            $scanforrealm = "";
            if ($realm !== NULL) {
                $scanforrealm = "OR inst_realm LIKE '%$realm%'";
            }
            $externalHandle = DBConnection::handle("EXTERNAL");
            $infoList = $externalHandle->exec("SELECT name AS collapsed_name, inst_realm as realmlist, contact AS collapsed_contact, country, type FROM view_active_institution WHERE id_institution = $externalId $scanforrealm");
            // split names and contacts into proper pairs
            // SELECT never returns a boolean, always a mysqli_object
            while ($externalEntityQuery = mysqli_fetch_object(/** @scrutinizer ignore-type */ $infoList)) {
                $names = explode('#', $externalEntityQuery->collapsed_name);
                foreach ($names as $name) {
                    $perlang = explode(': ', $name, 2);
                    $list['names'][$perlang[0]] = $perlang[1];
                }
                $contacts = explode('#', $externalEntityQuery->collapsed_contact);
                foreach ($contacts as $contact) {
                    $email1 = explode('e: ', $contact);
                    $email2 = explode(',', $email1[1]);
                    $list['admins'][] = ["email" => $email2[0]];
                }
                $list['country'] = strtoupper($externalEntityQuery->country);
                $list['realmlist'] = $externalEntityQuery->realmlist;
                switch ($externalEntityQuery->type) {
                    case ExternalEduroamDBData::TYPE_IDP:
                        $list['type'] = IdP::TYPE_IDP;
                        break;
                    case ExternalEduroamDBData::TYPE_SP:
                        $list['type'] = IdP::TYPE_SP;
                        break;
                    case ExternalEduroamDBData::TYPE_IDPSP:
                        $list['type'] = IdP::TYPE_IDPSP;
                        break;
                    default:
                        throw new \Exception("Eduroam DB returned a participant type we do not know.");
                }
            }
        }
        return $list;
    }

    /**
     * the list of countries as per external DB
     * @return array the list
     */
    public function getExternalCountriesList()
    {
        $olddomain = $this->languageInstance->setTextDomain("core");
        $returnArray = []; // in if -> the while might never be executed, so initialise
        if (\config\ConfAssistant::CONSORTIUM['name'] == "eduroam" && isset(\config\ConfAssistant::CONSORTIUM['deployment-voodoo']) && \config\ConfAssistant::CONSORTIUM['deployment-voodoo'] == "Operations Team") { // SW: APPROVED
            $handle = DBConnection::handle("EXTERNAL");
            $timeStart = microtime(true);
            $federations = $handle->exec("SELECT DISTINCT UPPER(country) AS country FROM view_country_eduroamdb ORDER BY country");
            $timeEnd = microtime(true);
            $timeElapsed = $timeEnd - $timeStart;
            // the query yielded a mysqli_result because it's a SELECT, this never gives back a boolean
            while ($eduroamFederations = mysqli_fetch_object(/** @scrutinizer ignore-type */ $federations)) {
                $fedIdentifier = $eduroamFederations->country;
                $returnArray[$fedIdentifier] = isset($this->knownFederations[$fedIdentifier]) ? $this->knownFederations[$fedIdentifier] : $fedIdentifier;
            }
            asort($returnArray, SORT_LOCALE_STRING);
            $returnArray['time'] = $timeElapsed;
        }
        $this->languageInstance->setTextDomain($olddomain);
        return($returnArray);
    }

    /**
     * the (HTML) root path of the CAT deployment
     * 
     * @return string
     */
    public static function getRootUrlPath()
    {
        return substr(\config\Master::PATHS['cat_base_url'], -1) === '/' ? substr(\config\Master::PATHS['cat_base_url'], 0, -1) : \config\Master::PATHS['cat_base_url'];
    }

    /**
     * takes care of starting our session
     * 
     * @return void
     */
    public static function sessionStart()
    {
        if (session_status() != PHP_SESSION_ACTIVE) {
            session_name("CAT");
            session_set_cookie_params(0, "/", $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'], (isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) ? TRUE : FALSE));
            session_start();
        }
    }

    /**
     * determines which external DB to use, and returns an object instance
     * 
     * @return \core\ExternalEduroamDBData|\core\ExternalNothing
     */
    public static function determineExternalConnection()
    {
        if (\config\ConfAssistant::CONSORTIUM['name'] == "eduroam" && isset(\config\ConfAssistant::CONSORTIUM['deployment-voodoo']) && \config\ConfAssistant::CONSORTIUM['deployment-voodoo'] == "Operations Team") {
            return new ExternalEduroamDBData();
        }
        return new ExternalNothing();
    }

    public function getSuperglueZone()
    {
        $externalDB = CAT::determineExternalConnection();
        return $externalDB->listExternalRealms();
    }
}