Chris Wagner wrote:i am wondering if there is a good way to trigger a php script from a web
page *without* sending the user to a new page or opening a new browser
windows.
for instance, suppose you wanted to make a button/link on a web page
that, when clicked, would cause a database entry to be decremented. however, you do not want to refresh the page or open a popup window or
any stinky little tricks like that.
Use a virtual include to call the php script.
I like to use dummy image files for this purpose and a little bit of javascript to change the image src. On page load, a simple spacer.gif is loaded. If a particular link or button is clicked, I'll replace the image src with, for example,
dosomething.php?action=changeit&value=newvalue.
dosomething.php performs the required functions and simply returns a blank gif image as output.
The result is that your script is executed and the page doesn't have to reload.
This method can also be used with "real" images. I use it with a file cart on my site as well, only this time, the first image loaded is "cart_add.gif" and when they click it, it calls the script to add the file to their cart and that script returns "cart_remove.gif"
I wouldn't suggest using this in mission critical settings, unless you plan on making sure the user has javascript turned on, but on a hobby site it works well.
or, if this is not possible, does anyone know how to trigger a php
script when someone accesses a particular file from an apache server? or if a file from a particular directory is downloaded...
I don't think you can do that unless the php script is used to access the file or perform the download you speak of.
I also use this method to count downloads. php script fetches the actual file and serves it up, at the same time incrementing the download count.
This is also handy, as you can prevent people from getting to the actual files by placing them in a directory outside the webroot.
cheers,
Travis
-- Travis Low <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <http://www.dawnstar.com>
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