HREF statement error

Anon

Sorry if I sound stupid, I am a newbie with php and I am helping to develop a web site for my club.
I need help here, this error has been bugging me for weeks and I can't seem to fix it. It is suppose to be a simple if then statement, but the href part keeps generating error:

Parse error: parse error, expecting ','' or';'' in /usr/home/xxxxx/htdocs/contents1.php on line 93

Here's the if then statement in full, what is wrong with the href line?

<?
if($CatID=News)
{
echo $string;
}
else

{
echo <a href="read.php?CatID=<?echo $row1["field"];?>&ID=<?echo $row1["ID"];?>">READ</a>
}
?>

Thanks in advance.

Anon

I don\'t claim to be an expert but you need to change the line:

echo <a href=\"read.php?CatID=<?echo $row1[\"field\"];?>&ID=<?echo $row1[\"ID\"];?>\">READ</a>

to read something like this:

echo \'<a href=\"read.php?CatID=\'.$row1\"field\"].\'&ID=\'.$row1[\"ID\"].\'\">READ</a> \';

NOTICE that the anchor tag in now enclosed in quotes. and that the 2 other echo commands (both of which contain a semi-colon which would effectively end the line started at the first echo) have been replaced with string concatenation.

Anon

You opened new php tags without closing the previous ones. Try using something like this.

<?
if($CatID=News)
{
echo $string;
}
else
{
?>
<a href="read.php?CatID=<?echo $row1["field"];?>&ID=<?echo $row1["ID"];?>">READ</a>
<?
}
?>

Anon

yes that's what I thought too but I couldn't articulate it anywhere near that simply. I'm learning though ....

Anon

Hi,

Thanks for the tip!!!

The href statement is working fine now. But the if then statement is not, it is not doing what it is suppose to do. Just when I thought things are going to be okay. hhmm...any ideas with regards to that?