Re: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Ralph Deffke
I'm realy sorry for u, but the reason for no answers is ur concept.

may be some rules will help u and I recommend u to think to spend the time
to rewrite the whole code. Im shure u will solve the problem then:
first  dont use the global arrays directly. pick the values u need and put
them in reasonable types of variables.
build the business logic on these variables and if u feel like put the
results in well readable new ones
then populate the presentation in the required htmls
this will give u an more structured code, easier to debug and more fun for
the group to help u

I still dont understand why u use the $_SESSION variable. user often leave
forms open for hours and then submit them. u can not expect a user to end a
job in the livecycle of the session. thats what hidden form fields are made
for.

the $_session is for member like things and applications with security
issues where u can expect the user to finish things in a certain time or u
restart the whole.

Allen McCabe allenmcc...@gmail.com wrote in message
news:657acef20908132257x630719e1g4ecddcdff9492...@mail.gmail.com...
 Ben,

 First of all, I thank you for your time and help.

 My ai with using unset($var) in update_order.php is to set the SESSION
 variable for an item to ' ' (empty) so that it would not show up on the
 order summary (because my writeResultRow() function will only write a row
if
 that variable is greater than 0).

 I just can't figure out what I'm missing here. Before I received your
 response, I made a few changes to my code, which helped streamline the
 calculating parts (grabbing values from SESSION instead of POST, and now
 when I update order_summary, the values will remain because it pulls them
 from the SESSION).

 I want to edit the values in the SESSION, so that when update_order.php
 redirects to order_process.php, the values are changed, and if applicable,
 an item is removed from the html table (if the quantity is less than 1).

 Here is some more complete code:

 [code = order_process.php]

 ?php
 session_start();
 // POST ALL $_POST VALUES, CREATE AS VARIABLES IN SESSION
 foreach($_POST as $k=$v) {
  $_SESSION[$k]=$v;
 }

 $thisPage=AFY;  //NAVIGATION PURPOSES
 include(afyshows.php); //CONTAINS ARRAYS FOR SHOW ENTITIES; POPULATES
 ORDER FORM
 ?

 . . .

 /pform name=update action=update_order.php method=post 
  !-- HIDDEN FORM VALUES FOR SESSION PURPOSES --
  input type=hidden name=School  id=School value=?php
 $_SESSION['School']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Grade id=Grade value=?php
 $_SESSION['Grade']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Address id=Address value=?php
 $_SESSION['Address']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=City id=City value=?php
$_SESSION['City'];
 ? /
  input type=hidden name=State id=State value=?php
 $_SESSION['State']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Zip id=Zip size=9 value=?php
 $_SESSION['Zip']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Contact id=Contact value=?php
 $_SESSION['Contact']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Phone id=Phone value=?php
 $_SESSION['Phone']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Fax id=Fax value=?php $_SESSION['Fax'];
?
 /
  input type=hidden name=Email id=Email value=?php
 $_SESSION['Email']; ? /
 . . .

 ?php

 function findTotalCost($b, $c) {
  $total = $b * $c;
  return $total;
 }

 function writeResultRow($a, $b, $c, $d, $e, $f) {
  if($a != '') {
   echo \ntr\n\t;
   echo td'.$b./tdtd.$c./tdtd.$d./td;
   echo td.$e./tdtdnbsp;/tdtdinput type='text'
value='.$a.'
 name='.$a.' id='.$a.' size='2' //tdtd=/tdtd\$.$f./td;
   echo /tr;
  }
 }

 //SETS $Total_show_01 to PRICE * QUANTITY
 //FORMATS TOTAL
 //IF A QUANTITY IS ENTERED, WRITES THE ROW WITH CURRENT VARIABLES
 $Total_show_01 = findTotalCost($shows['show_01']['price'],
 $_SESSION['show_01_qty']);
 $Total_show_01_fmtd = number_format($Total_show_01, 2, '.', '');
 writeResultRow($_SESSION['show_01_qty'], $shows['show_01']['title'],
 $shows['show_01']['date'], $shows['show_01']['time'],
 $shows['show_01']['price'],$Total_show_01_fmtd);

 //ABOVE LINES REPEATED FOR ALL 38 ENTITIES (show_01 to show_38)

 ?
 . . .

 input  name=updates id=updates  type=submit value=Update/

 [/code]

 Now, here is the update_order.php code in entirety:

 [code]

 ?php
 session_start();
 foreach ($_SESSION as $var = $val) {
  if ($val == 0) {
   unset($_SESSION[$var]);
  } elseif ($val == '') {
   unset($_SESSION[$var]);
  } else {
   $val = $_SESSION[$var];

  }
 }
 header(Location: order_process.php);

 //NOTICE I FIXED THE LOCATION OF THE header() FUNCTION
 //BUT IT STILL DOES NOT UPDATE

 ?

 [/code]

 If you're still with me, I thank you. I removed all the styling elements
 from the html to make it easier for you (and me) to see what it says. I
have
 invested many hours into this, and have generated many many lines of code,
 but I hope what I gave you is sufficient, while not being overwhelming at
 this hour.

 Thank you very much for your help thus far, anything else would be greatly
 appreciated.


 On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 5:56 PM, Ben Dunlap

Re: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Ashley Sheridan
On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 09:55 +0200, Ralph Deffke wrote:
 user often leave
 forms open for hours and then submit them

These users should be taken out and beaten over the head with their
keyboards!

Thanks,
Ash
http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk


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Re: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Ralph Deffke
well thanks good they are far away then, but the problem is ur client, i
didnt find anybody giving me the permission to beat his customers

Ashley Sheridan a...@ashleysheridan.co.uk wrote in message
news:1250236989.2344.10.ca...@localhost...
 On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 09:55 +0200, Ralph Deffke wrote:
  user often leave
  forms open for hours and then submit them

 These users should be taken out and beaten over the head with their
 keyboards!

 Thanks,
 Ash
 http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk




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Re: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Ashley Sheridan
On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 10:05 +0200, Ralph Deffke wrote:
 well thanks good they are far away then, but the problem is ur client, i
 didnt find anybody giving me the permission to beat his customers
 
 Ashley Sheridan a...@ashleysheridan.co.uk wrote in message
 news:1250236989.2344.10.ca...@localhost...
  On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 09:55 +0200, Ralph Deffke wrote:
   user often leave
   forms open for hours and then submit them
 
  These users should be taken out and beaten over the head with their
  keyboards!
 
  Thanks,
  Ash
  http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk
 
 
 
 

Beat them hard enough and they tend to forget who did it...

My life would be so much easier without end users!

Thanks,
Ash
http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk


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RE: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Ford, Mike
 -Original Message-
 From: Allen McCabe [mailto:allenmcc...@gmail.com]
 Sent: 14 August 2009 06:58

 
 My ai with using unset($var) in update_order.php is to set the
 SESSION
 variable for an item to ' ' (empty) so that it would not show up on
 the
 order summary (because my writeResultRow() function will only write
 a row if
 that variable is greater than 0).
 
 I just can't figure out what I'm missing here. Before I received
 your
 response, I made a few changes to my code, which helped streamline
 the
 calculating parts (grabbing values from SESSION instead of POST, and
 now
 when I update order_summary, the values will remain because it pulls
 them
 from the SESSION).
 
 I want to edit the values in the SESSION, so that when
 update_order.php
 redirects to order_process.php, the values are changed, and if
 applicable,
 an item is removed from the html table (if the quantity is less than
 1).
 
 Here is some more complete code:
 
 [code = order_process.php]
 
 ?php
 session_start();
 // POST ALL $_POST VALUES, CREATE AS VARIABLES IN SESSION
 foreach($_POST as $k=$v) {
  $_SESSION[$k]=$v;
 }

This has just destroyed anything that was previously in the session, so if 
you're recycling from the update_order.php script, you've just thrown away 
whatever that script did!  You need to make this conditional on having arrived 
here from the initial form -- various ways you could do that, but I leave you 
to figure that one out.

(Also, personally, if I were doing this at all, I would just copy the array as 
a single entity:

$_SESSION['_POST'] = $_POST;

and then reference individual elements through that as, e.g., 
$_SESSION['_POST']['School']. That's probably a matter of personal style as 
much as anything, but gives you another way to think about.)


[ . . . . ]


 
 ?php
 
 function findTotalCost($b, $c) {
  $total = $b * $c;
  return $total;
 }
 
 function writeResultRow($a, $b, $c, $d, $e, $f) {
  if($a != '') {
   echo \ntr\n\t;
   echo td'.$b./tdtd.$c./tdtd.$d./td;
   echo td.$e./tdtdnbsp;/tdtdinput type='text'
 value='.$a.'
 name='.$a.' id='.$a.' size='2'
 //tdtd=/tdtd\$.$f./td;
   echo /tr;
  }
 }
 
 //SETS $Total_show_01 to PRICE * QUANTITY
 //FORMATS TOTAL
 //IF A QUANTITY IS ENTERED, WRITES THE ROW WITH CURRENT VARIABLES
 $Total_show_01 = findTotalCost($shows['show_01']['price'],
 $_SESSION['show_01_qty']);
 $Total_show_01_fmtd = number_format($Total_show_01, 2, '.', '');
 writeResultRow($_SESSION['show_01_qty'], $shows['show_01']['title'],
 $shows['show_01']['date'], $shows['show_01']['time'],
 $shows['show_01']['price'],$Total_show_01_fmtd);
 
 //ABOVE LINES REPEATED FOR ALL 38 ENTITIES (show_01 to show_38)

AARRRGHHH!!

This cries out for an array-based solution -- repeating near-identical code 
that many times is totally ludicrous, and should be a major clue that you need 
to refactor.  You'll have to forgo using indexes like ['show_01'] and use 
straight integers, but the massive reduction in repetitive code (and hence far 
fewer opportunities for mistakes!) will be well worth it.

Something like:

   for ($i=1; $i=38; ++$i):
  $Total[$i] = findTotalCost($shows[$i]['price'], $_SESSION['qty'][$i]);
  $Total_fmtd[$i] = number_format($Total[$i], 2, '.', '');
  writeResultRow($_SESSION['qty'][$i], $shows[$i]['title'], 
$shows[$i]['date'], $shows[$i]['time'], $shows[$i]['price'],$Total_fmtd[$i]);
   endfor;

[ . . . . ]
 
 Now, here is the update_order.php code in entirety:
 
 [code]
 
 ?php
 session_start();
 foreach ($_SESSION as $var = $val) {
  if ($val == 0) {
   unset($_SESSION[$var]);
  } elseif ($val == '') {
   unset($_SESSION[$var]);
  } else {
   $val = $_SESSION[$var];

That line is back-to-front -- you're assigning the current value in the session 
to $val, which is then immediately thrown away as the foreach loop starts a new 
iteration. What you mean is $_SESSION[$var] = $val.


Cheers!

Mike
 -- 
Mike Ford,
Electronic Information Developer, Libraries and Learning Innovation,  
Leeds Metropolitan University, C507, Civic Quarter Campus, 
Woodhouse Lane, LEEDS,  LS1 3HE,  United Kingdom 
Email: m.f...@leedsmet.ac.uk 
Tel: +44 113 812 4730






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RE: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Ford, Mike
 -Original Message-
 From: Ford, Mike [mailto:m.f...@leedsmet.ac.uk]
 Sent: 14 August 2009 11:45


  Now, here is the update_order.php code in entirety:
 
  [code]
 
  ?php
  session_start();
  foreach ($_SESSION as $var = $val) {
   if ($val == 0) {
unset($_SESSION[$var]);
   } elseif ($val == '') {
unset($_SESSION[$var]);
   } else {
$val = $_SESSION[$var];
 
 That line is back-to-front -- you're assigning the current value in
 the session to $val, which is then immediately thrown away as the
 foreach loop starts a new iteration. What you mean is
 $_SESSION[$var] = $val.

No, wait a minute, hold your foot up!  I was so focussed on the strange 
assignment that I didn't read the whole thing properly.  What you're *actually* 
doing here is -- er, well, totally not what you want to, I suspect! Having 
re-read the message I responded to, I'm going to go back to it and post another 
response


Cheers!

Mike
 -- 
Mike Ford,
Electronic Information Developer, Libraries and Learning Innovation,  
Leeds Metropolitan University, C507, Civic Quarter Campus, 
Woodhouse Lane, LEEDS,  LS1 3HE,  United Kingdom 
Email: m.f...@leedsmet.ac.uk 
Tel: +44 113 812 4730





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RE: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Ford, Mike
 -Original Message-
 From: Allen McCabe [mailto:allenmcc...@gmail.com]
 Sent: 14 August 2009 06:58
 
 Here is some more complete code:
 
 [code = order_process.php]
 
 ?php
 session_start();
 // POST ALL $_POST VALUES, CREATE AS VARIABLES IN SESSION
 foreach($_POST as $k=$v) {
  $_SESSION[$k]=$v;
 }
 
 $thisPage=AFY;  //NAVIGATION PURPOSES
 include(afyshows.php); //CONTAINS ARRAYS FOR SHOW ENTITIES;
 POPULATES
 ORDER FORM
 ?
 
 . . .
 
 /pform name=update action=update_order.php method=post 
  !-- HIDDEN FORM VALUES FOR SESSION PURPOSES --

Er wait, no! Sessions and hidden form fields are generally alternative 
solutions to the same problem -- you shouldn't be putting the same values both 
in the session and in hidden form fields.  In this case, I'm beginning to 
suspect that the hidden fields are the better solution, but there is a certain 
amount of personal preference in this.

  input type=hidden name=School  id=School value=?php
 $_SESSION['School']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Grade id=Grade value=?php
 $_SESSION['Grade']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Address id=Address value=?php
 $_SESSION['Address']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=City id=City value=?php
 $_SESSION['City'];
 ? /
  input type=hidden name=State id=State value=?php
 $_SESSION['State']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Zip id=Zip size=9 value=?php
 $_SESSION['Zip']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Contact id=Contact value=?php
 $_SESSION['Contact']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Phone id=Phone value=?php
 $_SESSION['Phone']; ? /
  input type=hidden name=Fax id=Fax value=?php
 $_SESSION['Fax']; ?
 /
  input type=hidden name=Email id=Email value=?php
 $_SESSION['Email']; ? /
 . . .
 
 ?php
 
 function findTotalCost($b, $c) {
  $total = $b * $c;
  return $total;
 }
 
 function writeResultRow($a, $b, $c, $d, $e, $f) {
  if($a != '') {
   echo \ntr\n\t;
   echo td'.$b./tdtd.$c./tdtd.$d./td;
   echo td.$e./tdtdnbsp;/tdtdinput type='text'
 value='.$a.'
 name='.$a.' id='.$a.' size='2'
 //tdtd=/tdtd\$.$f./td;
   echo /tr;
  }
 }
 
 //SETS $Total_show_01 to PRICE * QUANTITY
 //FORMATS TOTAL
 //IF A QUANTITY IS ENTERED, WRITES THE ROW WITH CURRENT VARIABLES
 $Total_show_01 = findTotalCost($shows['show_01']['price'],
 $_SESSION['show_01_qty']);
 $Total_show_01_fmtd = number_format($Total_show_01, 2, '.', '');
 writeResultRow($_SESSION['show_01_qty'], $shows['show_01']['title'],
 $shows['show_01']['date'], $shows['show_01']['time'],
 $shows['show_01']['price'],$Total_show_01_fmtd);
 
 //ABOVE LINES REPEATED FOR ALL 38 ENTITIES (show_01 to show_38)
 
 ?
 . . .
 
 input  name=updates id=updates  type=submit value=Update/
 
 [/code]

If I'm reading what you want to do correctly, it seems to me there are two 
obvious approaches to this:

(i) Have a single form which posts back to itself, showing all the show 
information and requested quantities and calculated result fields (such as 
total cost); initially, this will have the calculated fields not displaying 
anything, and these will be (re)populated at each Update.  Using this method, 
all your values are contained solely within the $_POST array.

(ii) Have your initial form post to the process form, which then also posts to 
itself on Update. This process form will have visible fields only for values 
which can be changed, but *must* then contain hidden fields for all the other 
values which were originally passed in the $_POST array.  This arrangement 
means that the process form always receives a full complement of values in the 
$_POST array -- either from the original form, or from hidden fields posted 
back to itself.

This is all just coming off the top of my head, and I'm sure there are 
improvements/other solutions to be offered.  Hope this will give you some 
things to think about, and maybe a pointer or two towards a satisfactory 
solution.


Cheers!

Mike
 -- 
Mike Ford,
Electronic Information Developer, Libraries and Learning Innovation,  
Leeds Metropolitan University, C507, Civic Quarter Campus, 
Woodhouse Lane, LEEDS,  LS1 3HE,  United Kingdom 
Email: m.f...@leedsmet.ac.uk 
Tel: +44 113 812 4730





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Re: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Allen McCabe
Thank you all for your responses.

Mike.

I like the ii option better, mostly because I already have most of that in
place (ie. order posts to process, and process has editable fields and
hidden fields with the remaining complimentary values).
Martin suggested I use the following code for my update script (which is
posted to via the process page):

[code]

foreach($_POST as $key = $value)
if( '0' == $value || '' == $value )
{
/*if*/ session_is_registered( $key ) 
session_unregister( $key );
}

[/code]

I am not following the logic on the above code very well, but is this indeed
a better option? And is not session_*whatever deprecated? The reason I am
using $_SESSION is because it seems that php 6 will use solely this method,
and it currently works with php 5. The other reason I am using it is so that
I can keep the variables stored elsewhere for whenever I need them; I don't
want to have to juggle all the information with POST and hidden inputs
unless it will work seamlessly, and be ready for update at a later date (if
I move to using a database to store show information, or when php 6 is
mainstream).

Keep in mind that once I get the update feature working, I need the process
page to have a final submit button that will insert the order into a
database table AND send a notification email to myself (and an email to the
user). Am I setting myself up for failure with this udate order option? I
ask because the update feature relies on a form, and are not forms limited
to one submit button?

Thanks all for your patience! I will work on this today and write back with
any further questions I can't figure out on my own. And if anyone has any
advice I will be checking my email regularly.

Allen
On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 7:52 AM, Ford, Mike m.f...@leedsmet.ac.uk wrote:

  -Original Message-
  From: Allen McCabe [mailto:allenmcc...@gmail.com]
  Sent: 14 August 2009 06:58
 
  Here is some more complete code:
 
  [code = order_process.php]
 
  ?php
  session_start();
  // POST ALL $_POST VALUES, CREATE AS VARIABLES IN SESSION
  foreach($_POST as $k=$v) {
   $_SESSION[$k]=$v;
  }
 
  $thisPage=AFY;  //NAVIGATION PURPOSES
  include(afyshows.php); //CONTAINS ARRAYS FOR SHOW ENTITIES;
  POPULATES
  ORDER FORM
  ?
 
  . . .
 
  /pform name=update action=update_order.php method=post 
   !-- HIDDEN FORM VALUES FOR SESSION PURPOSES --

 Er wait, no! Sessions and hidden form fields are generally alternative
 solutions to the same problem -- you shouldn't be putting the same values
 both in the session and in hidden form fields.  In this case, I'm beginning
 to suspect that the hidden fields are the better solution, but there is a
 certain amount of personal preference in this.

   input type=hidden name=School  id=School value=?php
  $_SESSION['School']; ? /
   input type=hidden name=Grade id=Grade value=?php
  $_SESSION['Grade']; ? /
   input type=hidden name=Address id=Address value=?php
  $_SESSION['Address']; ? /
   input type=hidden name=City id=City value=?php
  $_SESSION['City'];
  ? /
   input type=hidden name=State id=State value=?php
  $_SESSION['State']; ? /
   input type=hidden name=Zip id=Zip size=9 value=?php
  $_SESSION['Zip']; ? /
   input type=hidden name=Contact id=Contact value=?php
  $_SESSION['Contact']; ? /
   input type=hidden name=Phone id=Phone value=?php
  $_SESSION['Phone']; ? /
   input type=hidden name=Fax id=Fax value=?php
  $_SESSION['Fax']; ?
  /
   input type=hidden name=Email id=Email value=?php
  $_SESSION['Email']; ? /
  . . .
 
  ?php
 
  function findTotalCost($b, $c) {
   $total = $b * $c;
   return $total;
  }
 
  function writeResultRow($a, $b, $c, $d, $e, $f) {
   if($a != '') {
echo \ntr\n\t;
echo td'.$b./tdtd.$c./tdtd.$d./td;
echo td.$e./tdtdnbsp;/tdtdinput type='text'
  value='.$a.'
  name='.$a.' id='.$a.' size='2'
  //tdtd=/tdtd\$.$f./td;
echo /tr;
   }
  }
 
  //SETS $Total_show_01 to PRICE * QUANTITY
  //FORMATS TOTAL
  //IF A QUANTITY IS ENTERED, WRITES THE ROW WITH CURRENT VARIABLES
  $Total_show_01 = findTotalCost($shows['show_01']['price'],
  $_SESSION['show_01_qty']);
  $Total_show_01_fmtd = number_format($Total_show_01, 2, '.', '');
  writeResultRow($_SESSION['show_01_qty'], $shows['show_01']['title'],
  $shows['show_01']['date'], $shows['show_01']['time'],
  $shows['show_01']['price'],$Total_show_01_fmtd);
 
  //ABOVE LINES REPEATED FOR ALL 38 ENTITIES (show_01 to show_38)
 
  ?
  . . .
 
  input  name=updates id=updates  type=submit value=Update/
 
  [/code]

 If I'm reading what you want to do correctly, it seems to me there are two
 obvious approaches to this:

 (i) Have a single form which posts back to itself, showing all the show
 information and requested quantities and calculated result fields (such as
 total cost); initially, this will have the calculated fields not displaying
 anything, and these will be (re)populated at each Update.  Using this
 method, all your values are contained solely within the $_POST 

Re: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Martin Scotta
On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 12:25 PM, Allen McCabe allenmcc...@gmail.comwrote:

 Thank you all for your responses.

 Mike.

 I like the ii option better, mostly because I already have most of that in
 place (ie. order posts to process, and process has editable fields and
 hidden fields with the remaining complimentary values).
 Martin suggested I use the following code for my update script (which is
 posted to via the process page):

 [code]

 foreach($_POST as $key = $value)
if( '0' == $value || '' == $value )
{
/*if*/ session_is_registered( $key ) 
session_unregister( $key );
}

 [/code]

 I am not following the logic on the above code very well, but is this
 indeed
 a better option? And is not session_*whatever deprecated? The reason I am
 using $_SESSION is because it seems that php 6 will use solely this method,
 and it currently works with php 5. The other reason I am using it is so
 that
 I can keep the variables stored elsewhere for whenever I need them; I don't
 want to have to juggle all the information with POST and hidden inputs
 unless it will work seamlessly, and be ready for update at a later date (if
 I move to using a database to store show information, or when php 6 is
 mainstream).

 Keep in mind that once I get the update feature working, I need the process
 page to have a final submit button that will insert the order into a
 database table AND send a notification email to myself (and an email to the
 user). Am I setting myself up for failure with this udate order option? I
 ask because the update feature relies on a form, and are not forms limited
 to one submit button?

 Thanks all for your patience! I will work on this today and write back with
 any further questions I can't figure out on my own. And if anyone has any
 advice I will be checking my email regularly.

 Allen
 On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 7:52 AM, Ford, Mike m.f...@leedsmet.ac.uk wrote:

   -Original Message-
   From: Allen McCabe [mailto:allenmcc...@gmail.com]
   Sent: 14 August 2009 06:58
  
   Here is some more complete code:
  
   [code = order_process.php]
  
   ?php
   session_start();
   // POST ALL $_POST VALUES, CREATE AS VARIABLES IN SESSION
   foreach($_POST as $k=$v) {
$_SESSION[$k]=$v;
   }
  
   $thisPage=AFY;  //NAVIGATION PURPOSES
   include(afyshows.php); //CONTAINS ARRAYS FOR SHOW ENTITIES;
   POPULATES
   ORDER FORM
   ?
  
   . . .
  
   /pform name=update action=update_order.php method=post 
!-- HIDDEN FORM VALUES FOR SESSION PURPOSES --
 
  Er wait, no! Sessions and hidden form fields are generally alternative
  solutions to the same problem -- you shouldn't be putting the same values
  both in the session and in hidden form fields.  In this case, I'm
 beginning
  to suspect that the hidden fields are the better solution, but there is a
  certain amount of personal preference in this.
 
input type=hidden name=School  id=School value=?php
   $_SESSION['School']; ? /
input type=hidden name=Grade id=Grade value=?php
   $_SESSION['Grade']; ? /
input type=hidden name=Address id=Address value=?php
   $_SESSION['Address']; ? /
input type=hidden name=City id=City value=?php
   $_SESSION['City'];
   ? /
input type=hidden name=State id=State value=?php
   $_SESSION['State']; ? /
input type=hidden name=Zip id=Zip size=9 value=?php
   $_SESSION['Zip']; ? /
input type=hidden name=Contact id=Contact value=?php
   $_SESSION['Contact']; ? /
input type=hidden name=Phone id=Phone value=?php
   $_SESSION['Phone']; ? /
input type=hidden name=Fax id=Fax value=?php
   $_SESSION['Fax']; ?
   /
input type=hidden name=Email id=Email value=?php
   $_SESSION['Email']; ? /
   . . .
  
   ?php
  
   function findTotalCost($b, $c) {
$total = $b * $c;
return $total;
   }
  
   function writeResultRow($a, $b, $c, $d, $e, $f) {
if($a != '') {
 echo \ntr\n\t;
 echo td'.$b./tdtd.$c./tdtd.$d./td;
 echo td.$e./tdtdnbsp;/tdtdinput type='text'
   value='.$a.'
   name='.$a.' id='.$a.' size='2'
   //tdtd=/tdtd\$.$f./td;
 echo /tr;
}
   }
  
   //SETS $Total_show_01 to PRICE * QUANTITY
   //FORMATS TOTAL
   //IF A QUANTITY IS ENTERED, WRITES THE ROW WITH CURRENT VARIABLES
   $Total_show_01 = findTotalCost($shows['show_01']['price'],
   $_SESSION['show_01_qty']);
   $Total_show_01_fmtd = number_format($Total_show_01, 2, '.', '');
   writeResultRow($_SESSION['show_01_qty'], $shows['show_01']['title'],
   $shows['show_01']['date'], $shows['show_01']['time'],
   $shows['show_01']['price'],$Total_show_01_fmtd);
  
   //ABOVE LINES REPEATED FOR ALL 38 ENTITIES (show_01 to show_38)
  
   ?
   . . .
  
   input  name=updates id=updates  type=submit value=Update/
  
   [/code]
 
  If I'm reading what you want to do correctly, it seems to me there are
 two
  obvious approaches to this:
 
  (i) Have a single form which posts back to itself, showing all the show
  information and requested quantities and calculated result fields (such
 as
  

Re: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-14 Thread Ben Dunlap
 Thanks all for your patience! I will work on this today and write back with
 any further questions I can't figure out on my own. And if anyone has any
 advice I will be checking my email regularly.

If you've already tried this with no luck, please ignore -- but you
might speed up the whole process by stepping aside from the real
code briefly, starting fresh in an empty directory, and just putting
together a handful of extremely simple scripts with the single goal of
entering one value, updating it, and then doing some final
pseudo-processing on the updated value.

Then, you could step it up a bit by by adding a second value that gets
entered at the beginning, and cannot be updated in the middle but must
be preserved through to the end.

Doing all this might help clarify the basic flow of the system and
enable you to simplify its structure before going back and tackling
the real code.

Ben

-- 
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Re: [PHP] session variables - help RESOLVED

2009-08-14 Thread Allen McCabe
Thanks everyone for your help, I finally got it working.

For those that were curious, my writeResultRow() function was not naming the
input fields properly, so the SESSION variables could not be updated
properly. I had to add an array item for each show, an id, then call the id
to name the inputs with.

On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 11:13 AM, Ben Dunlap bdun...@agentintellect.comwrote:

 Great, hope it helps! -Ben

 On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 10:52 AM, Allen McCabeallenmcc...@gmail.com
 wrote:
  This is an EXCELLENT idea.
 



Re: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-13 Thread Ben Dunlap

 I have the following code for order_update.php:

 [code]

 session_start();
 extract($_POST);
 foreach ($_POST as $var = $val) {
  if ($val  0) {
  $_SESSION[$var] = $val;
  } else {
  unset($var);

  }
  header(Location: order_process.php);
 }

 [/code]

 This is not working, however, and it just loads order_process.php with no
 values for the varaibles, as if I just refreshed the page with no sessions.


Maybe you left it out but I didn't see any place where you used $_SESSION in
order_process.php. Also, your redirect in order_update.php appears to be
inside your foreach loop, which would definitely mess things right up -- but
maybe that was just a typo in your email?

Otherwise the logic in order_update.php looks OK, but there are a few side
notes that jumped out:

1. I'm not seeing why you used extract($_POST) in order_update.php. Right
after the extract() call, you iterate through $_POST with a foreach loop, so
what's the purpose of calling extract()? Is there more code that you left
out?

2. Calling extract($_POST) is dangerous. The PHP manual warns against it,
although without giving much of an explanation:

http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.extract.php

Apart from making it difficult to filter the input you're expecting to see,
extract($_POST) also allows a malicious end-user to define any variable of
his choosing and to overwrite any variables that you may have defined in the
script before the extract() call.

I like to use filter_input() to read the values of POST variables.

By much the same token, you'll want to escape $a, etc., in your
writeResultRow() function, with something like htmlentities().

3. Why the unset($var) in order_update.php? $var already gets reset each
time foreach iterates. So, calling unset() on it at the end of the loop
doesn't really do much. I'm wondering what you were aiming at there.

Thanks,

Ben


Re: [PHP] session variables - help

2009-08-13 Thread Allen McCabe
Ben,

First of all, I thank you for your time and help.

My ai with using unset($var) in update_order.php is to set the SESSION
variable for an item to ' ' (empty) so that it would not show up on the
order summary (because my writeResultRow() function will only write a row if
that variable is greater than 0).

I just can't figure out what I'm missing here. Before I received your
response, I made a few changes to my code, which helped streamline the
calculating parts (grabbing values from SESSION instead of POST, and now
when I update order_summary, the values will remain because it pulls them
from the SESSION).

I want to edit the values in the SESSION, so that when update_order.php
redirects to order_process.php, the values are changed, and if applicable,
an item is removed from the html table (if the quantity is less than 1).

Here is some more complete code:

[code = order_process.php]

?php
session_start();
// POST ALL $_POST VALUES, CREATE AS VARIABLES IN SESSION
foreach($_POST as $k=$v) {
 $_SESSION[$k]=$v;
}

$thisPage=AFY;  //NAVIGATION PURPOSES
include(afyshows.php); //CONTAINS ARRAYS FOR SHOW ENTITIES; POPULATES
ORDER FORM
?

. . .

/pform name=update action=update_order.php method=post 
 !-- HIDDEN FORM VALUES FOR SESSION PURPOSES --
 input type=hidden name=School  id=School value=?php
$_SESSION['School']; ? /
 input type=hidden name=Grade id=Grade value=?php
$_SESSION['Grade']; ? /
 input type=hidden name=Address id=Address value=?php
$_SESSION['Address']; ? /
 input type=hidden name=City id=City value=?php $_SESSION['City'];
? /
 input type=hidden name=State id=State value=?php
$_SESSION['State']; ? /
 input type=hidden name=Zip id=Zip size=9 value=?php
$_SESSION['Zip']; ? /
 input type=hidden name=Contact id=Contact value=?php
$_SESSION['Contact']; ? /
 input type=hidden name=Phone id=Phone value=?php
$_SESSION['Phone']; ? /
 input type=hidden name=Fax id=Fax value=?php $_SESSION['Fax']; ?
/
 input type=hidden name=Email id=Email value=?php
$_SESSION['Email']; ? /
. . .

?php

function findTotalCost($b, $c) {
 $total = $b * $c;
 return $total;
}

function writeResultRow($a, $b, $c, $d, $e, $f) {
 if($a != '') {
  echo \ntr\n\t;
  echo td'.$b./tdtd.$c./tdtd.$d./td;
  echo td.$e./tdtdnbsp;/tdtdinput type='text' value='.$a.'
name='.$a.' id='.$a.' size='2' //tdtd=/tdtd\$.$f./td;
  echo /tr;
 }
}

//SETS $Total_show_01 to PRICE * QUANTITY
//FORMATS TOTAL
//IF A QUANTITY IS ENTERED, WRITES THE ROW WITH CURRENT VARIABLES
$Total_show_01 = findTotalCost($shows['show_01']['price'],
$_SESSION['show_01_qty']);
$Total_show_01_fmtd = number_format($Total_show_01, 2, '.', '');
writeResultRow($_SESSION['show_01_qty'], $shows['show_01']['title'],
$shows['show_01']['date'], $shows['show_01']['time'],
$shows['show_01']['price'],$Total_show_01_fmtd);

//ABOVE LINES REPEATED FOR ALL 38 ENTITIES (show_01 to show_38)

?
. . .

input  name=updates id=updates  type=submit value=Update/

[/code]

Now, here is the update_order.php code in entirety:

[code]

?php
session_start();
foreach ($_SESSION as $var = $val) {
 if ($val == 0) {
  unset($_SESSION[$var]);
 } elseif ($val == '') {
  unset($_SESSION[$var]);
 } else {
  $val = $_SESSION[$var];

 }
}
header(Location: order_process.php);

//NOTICE I FIXED THE LOCATION OF THE header() FUNCTION
//BUT IT STILL DOES NOT UPDATE

?

[/code]

If you're still with me, I thank you. I removed all the styling elements
from the html to make it easier for you (and me) to see what it says. I have
invested many hours into this, and have generated many many lines of code,
but I hope what I gave you is sufficient, while not being overwhelming at
this hour.

Thank you very much for your help thus far, anything else would be greatly
appreciated.


On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 5:56 PM, Ben Dunlap bdun...@agentintellect.comwrote:



 I have the following code for order_update.php:

 [code]

 session_start();
 extract($_POST);
 foreach ($_POST as $var = $val) {
  if ($val  0) {
  $_SESSION[$var] = $val;
  } else {
  unset($var);

  }
  header(Location: order_process.php);
 }

 [/code]

 This is not working, however, and it just loads order_process.php with no
 values for the varaibles, as if I just refreshed the page with no
 sessions.


 Maybe you left it out but I didn't see any place where you used $_SESSION
 in order_process.php. Also, your redirect in order_update.php appears to be
 inside your foreach loop, which would definitely mess things right up -- but
 maybe that was just a typo in your email?

 Otherwise the logic in order_update.php looks OK, but there are a few side
 notes that jumped out:

 1. I'm not seeing why you used extract($_POST) in order_update.php. Right
 after the extract() call, you iterate through $_POST with a foreach loop, so
 what's the purpose of calling extract()? Is there more code that you left
 out?

 2. Calling extract($_POST) is dangerous. The PHP manual warns against it,
 although without giving much of an explanation: