Re: [PHP] 'Require' and 'Select' lists
On Fri, May 13, 2005 5:59 am, Andre Dubuc said: However, the behavior continues intermittently. I've duplicated it one time. If I click on the 'State' dropdown list, allow the mouse to scan through it, but do not choose a value, and then immediately go to the previous or next field and click on it, the box where 'USA or Canada' appears will be blank (despite 'option selected value=In USA or CanadaIn USA or Canada/option'). For the life of me, I cannot figure why it's doing that. This is a browser/OS bug. It's possible that it's even time-dependent -- That if you click in the popup list before it's fully formed, then you can make this happen, but after it gets completely built, you can't duplicate this. At any rate, there is nothing you can do about it. Well, okay, you can complain to the browser-makers, and be ignored by them... I guess one thing that *MIGHT* help would be to ob_start() before you send out all the option tags, and then ob_flush()/flush() after the /select closing tag. The purpose being that you want the browser to build the whole menu with as few interruptions as possible, so it will not get used while it is half-built. I would not RELY on this actually fixing the problem for sure 100% every time you betcha, but it could reduce the incidence. As a hack, I've included a new routine checking for blank or null value for $selstate that snags problems before they hit the database. However, I'd rather know why this is happening. Browsers and the data coming from them are flaky, if not downright hostile. That's just how life is. It's not a problem to solve. It's a state of being to accept and plan for. :-) Maybe it's time to just re-write the script the right way, the way you would do it today... :-) You probably have already spent more time trying to figure this out than it would have taken to just re-code it with your better experience. -- Like Music? http://l-i-e.com/artists.htm -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] 'Require' and 'Select' lists
On Saturday 14 May 2005 02:14 am, you wrote: On Fri, May 13, 2005 5:59 am, Andre Dubuc said: However, the behavior continues intermittently. I've duplicated it one time. If I click on the 'State' dropdown list, allow the mouse to scan through it, but do not choose a value, and then immediately go to the previous or next field and click on it, the box where 'USA or Canada' appears will be blank (despite 'option selected value=In USA or CanadaIn USA or Canada/option'). For the life of me, I cannot figure why it's doing that. This is a browser/OS bug. It's possible that it's even time-dependent -- That if you click in the popup list before it's fully formed, then you can make this happen, but after it gets completely built, you can't duplicate this. At any rate, there is nothing you can do about it. Well, okay, you can complain to the browser-makers, and be ignored by them... I guess one thing that *MIGHT* help would be to ob_start() before you send out all the option tags, and then ob_flush()/flush() after the /select closing tag. The purpose being that you want the browser to build the whole menu with as few interruptions as possible, so it will not get used while it is half-built. I would not RELY on this actually fixing the problem for sure 100% every time you betcha, but it could reduce the incidence. As a hack, I've included a new routine checking for blank or null value for $selstate that snags problems before they hit the database. However, I'd rather know why this is happening. Browsers and the data coming from them are flaky, if not downright hostile. That's just how life is. It's not a problem to solve. It's a state of being to accept and plan for. :-) Maybe it's time to just re-write the script the right way, the way you would do it today... :-) You probably have already spent more time trying to figure this out than it would have taken to just re-code it with your better experience. Thanks Richard, Ain't life beautiful? I live for these debugging moments with *challenged* browsers! So, I'll stick with the hack. I've thrown the whole mess back at the browser and will let the user correct the *problem*. Re-write the code? Yup, sometime in the near future - around July 2020 - I believe I have a few days available : Regards, Andre -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] 'Require' and 'Select' lists
On Thu, May 12, 2005 8:41 pm, Andre Dubuc said: I've had some rather odd intermittent behavior with a select list drawn by a 'require' on my production site. Sometimes, rather than displaying 'In USA/Canada' from the 'option selectedIn USA/Canada/option' code in the required file, it will display a blank. Yet, if I try to duplicate this behavior on the development box, it will display as coded. Since I use this text string as a validator for user input, it really messes up the database/code functions that rely on it. In that case, your validation routines aren't very good. You have to assume the data coming from the browser is completely messed up in malicious ways. If not providing that item in the menu will break your script or hash your data, then that's really a bigger problem than the one you think you have. ?php require(provcountry.sty); ? [snippet of 'require' text (provcountry.sty)] tr tdbState nbsp;/b/td tdSELECT NAME=selstate option selectedIn USA/Canada/option I'd try using an html entity on the '/' in USA/Canada option value=AlabamaAlabama/option . . . /SELECT/td /tr [snippet of some validating code verifying $selstate that relies on $selstate] ?php if (($_POST['selstate'] != In USA/Canada)($_POST['typstate'] != )) die (h5brbrPlease choose from 'In USA/Canada' or type in 'Other State'. brDo not use bothbrbrClick 'Back' on your browser to re-enter information/h5); ? Any ideas why this is happening? It's quite possible that some sort of php.ini setting with Magic Quotes or something is altering the '/' character as well. What *IS* in $_POST['selstate'] when it breaks? Log it and see what the data is.` -- Like Music? http://l-i-e.com/artists.htm -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] 'Require' and 'Select' lists
On Friday 13 May 2005 02:20 am, Richard Lynch wrote: On Thu, May 12, 2005 8:41 pm, Andre Dubuc said: I've had some rather odd intermittent behavior with a select list drawn by a 'require' on my production site. Sometimes, rather than displaying 'In USA/Canada' from the 'option selectedIn USA/Canada/option' code in the required file, it will display a blank. Yet, if I try to duplicate this behavior on the development box, it will display as coded. Since I use this text string as a validator for user input, it really messes up the database/code functions that rely on it. In that case, your validation routines aren't very good. You have to assume the data coming from the browser is completely messed up in malicious ways. If not providing that item in the menu will break your script or hash your data, then that's really a bigger problem than the one you think you have. ?php require(provcountry.sty); ? [snippet of 'require' text (provcountry.sty)] tr tdbState nbsp;/b/td tdSELECT NAME=selstate option selectedIn USA/Canada/option I'd try using an html entity on the '/' in USA/Canada option value=AlabamaAlabama/option . . . /SELECT/td /tr [snippet of some validating code verifying $selstate that relies on $selstate] ?php if (($_POST['selstate'] != In USA/Canada)($_POST['typstate'] != )) die (h5brbrPlease choose from 'In USA/Canada' or type in 'Other State'. brDo not use bothbrbrClick 'Back' on your browser to re-enter information/h5); ? Any ideas why this is happening? It's quite possible that some sort of php.ini setting with Magic Quotes or something is altering the '/' character as well. What *IS* in $_POST['selstate'] when it breaks? Log it and see what the data is.` Thanks for the info, Richard. The errant behavior is intermittent and hard to replicate, but it has forced me to recode this part completly. [This code was my first attempt at PHP two years ago, and it's a bad mix of html/php - I certainly wouldn't do it that way again.] I've replaced the 'In USA/Canada' with 'In USA or Canada' eliminating the possibility of the slash causing problems. However, the behavior continues intermittently. I've duplicated it one time. If I click on the 'State' dropdown list, allow the mouse to scan through it, but do not choose a value, and then immediately go to the previous or next field and click on it, the box where 'USA or Canada' appears will be blank (despite 'option selected value=In USA or CanadaIn USA or Canada/option'). For the life of me, I cannot figure why it's doing that. As a hack, I've included a new routine checking for blank or null value for $selstate that snags problems before they hit the database. However, I'd rather know why this is happening. Logging it - $_POST['selstate'] is blank (after it messes up as above) -- no surprise, since that is what the browser displays. Any other ideas? Regards, Andre -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] 'Require' and 'Select' lists
Sounds like it might be a browser behavior issue. I've seen some really weird behavior in browsers when a DOCTYPE is not declared at the start of the web page. The doctype declaration and the version declared in it are actually very important to the rendering and behavior of a web page. Over the years, browser behavior has changed and will render code and perform actions differently. The doctype declaration allows specify which version behavior you are targeting. So, is the first line of your web page something like: !DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/loose.dtd; On May 13, 2005, at 8:59 AM, Andre Dubuc wrote: Thanks for the info, Richard. The errant behavior is intermittent and hard to replicate, but it has forced me to recode this part completly. [This code was my first attempt at PHP two years ago, and it's a bad mix of html/php - I certainly wouldn't do it that way again.] I've replaced the 'In USA/Canada' with 'In USA or Canada' eliminating the possibility of the slash causing problems. However, the behavior continues intermittently. I've duplicated it one time. If I click on the 'State' dropdown list, allow the mouse to scan through it, but do not choose a value, and then immediately go to the previous or next field and click on it, the box where 'USA or Canada' appears will be blank (despite 'option selected value=In USA or CanadaIn USA or Canada/option'). For the life of me, I cannot figure why it's doing that. As a hack, I've included a new routine checking for blank or null value for $selstate that snags problems before they hit the database. However, I'd rather know why this is happening. Logging it - $_POST['selstate'] is blank (after it messes up as above) -- no surprise, since that is what the browser displays. Any other ideas? Regards, Andre -- Brent Baisley Systems Architect Landover Associates, Inc. Search Advisory Services for Advanced Technology Environments p: 212.759.6400/800.759.0577 -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] 'Require' and 'Select' lists
That might be it ( a browser issue) since the behavior seems to occur most in Opera. I shudder to think what IE must be doing with it. And blush . . . I didn't have that declaration on the required page (since the page only contains that code snippet and I thought it unnecessary - guess I was wrong). I'll give it whirl, and take it out for a test-drive. Thanks, Andre On Friday 13 May 2005 10:51 am, you wrote: Sounds like it might be a browser behavior issue. I've seen some really weird behavior in browsers when a DOCTYPE is not declared at the start of the web page. The doctype declaration and the version declared in it are actually very important to the rendering and behavior of a web page. Over the years, browser behavior has changed and will render code and perform actions differently. The doctype declaration allows specify which version behavior you are targeting. So, is the first line of your web page something like: !DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/loose.dtd; On May 13, 2005, at 8:59 AM, Andre Dubuc wrote: Thanks for the info, Richard. The errant behavior is intermittent and hard to replicate, but it has forced me to recode this part completly. [This code was my first attempt at PHP two years ago, and it's a bad mix of html/php - I certainly wouldn't do it that way again.] I've replaced the 'In USA/Canada' with 'In USA or Canada' eliminating the possibility of the slash causing problems. However, the behavior continues intermittently. I've duplicated it one time. If I click on the 'State' dropdown list, allow the mouse to scan through it, but do not choose a value, and then immediately go to the previous or next field and click on it, the box where 'USA or Canada' appears will be blank (despite 'option selected value=In USA or CanadaIn USA or Canada/option'). For the life of me, I cannot figure why it's doing that. As a hack, I've included a new routine checking for blank or null value for $selstate that snags problems before they hit the database. However, I'd rather know why this is happening. Logging it - $_POST['selstate'] is blank (after it messes up as above) -- no surprise, since that is what the browser displays. Any other ideas? Regards, Andre -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
[PHP] 'Require' and 'Select' lists
Hi, I've had some rather odd intermittent behavior with a select list drawn by a 'require' on my production site. Sometimes, rather than displaying 'In USA/Canada' from the 'option selectedIn USA/Canada/option' code in the required file, it will display a blank. Yet, if I try to duplicate this behavior on the development box, it will display as coded. Since I use this text string as a validator for user input, it really messes up the database/code functions that rely on it. ?php require(provcountry.sty); ? [snippet of 'require' text (provcountry.sty)] tr tdbState nbsp;/b/td tdSELECT NAME=selstate option selectedIn USA/Canada/option option value=AlabamaAlabama/option . . . /SELECT/td /tr [snippet of some validating code verifying $selstate that relies on $selstate] ?php if (($_POST['selstate'] != In USA/Canada)($_POST['typstate'] != )) die (h5brbrPlease choose from 'In USA/Canada' or type in 'Other State'. brDo not use bothbrbrClick 'Back' on your browser to re-enter information/h5); ? Any ideas why this is happening? Tia, Andre -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
