PHP URL Problem

Anon

Ok this is easy, basic code using a variable, $page. $Page is a variable that is used to pass the page's name.

<HEAD>
<TITLE>Neil McGlennon Design :
<?php echo($page); ?></TITLE>

...

Neil McGlennon Design <br>
<?php echo($page); ?>

...

So when I type in the URL
.../prototype.php?page=Index
I get the title saying:

Neil McGlennon Design : Index

and the body text saying:

Neil McGlennon Design
Index

This is what I wanted, and I plan on having a conditional statement (if and elses) that test the values of the $page value to determine content... BUT...

if someone types in anything in the URL
(ex: .../prototype.php?page=XXXXXX ), they will get a page with whatever they typed in the title, and body. Is there a way so that if they type in a $page value that is not used for content, it will default to the main page? For example of what I am talking about, alter http://www.pixelcore.com/main.php3?go=affils&skin=bluebox

http://www.pixelcore.com/main.php3?go=blahblahblah&skin=bluebox

and it doesnt go to that page, it instead goes to the main page, unlike mine would. Any help would be great.

Anon

This is solved with what you mentioned, if - then - else. Or a case-stement, depends. For example:

if ($page == 'page1') {
// display page1
} else if ($page == 'page2') {
// display page2
} else {
// none of the above matched,
// display main page
}

Or, using case;

switch ($page) {
case 'page1' { // display page 1; break; }
case 'page2' { // display page 3; break; }
default: { // no match, display default; break; }
}

(The breaks are necessary, although they are commented here, I'm lazy.)

Of course, if it's dynamic (i.e. it includes a file or selects from database using $page as input), you'd have to check if the text entered is valid. For example;

function is_valid_page($page) {
// change this to whatever validates $page
if (is_file($page)) return 1;
return 0;
}

if (is_valid_page($page)) {
// display $page
} else {
// invalid page, display default
}

Hope that helped

gurubob

Hi Neil,

A solution would be to check to see if the specified page did not exist and if it didn't exist then set $page to be "mainpage.php" (or whatever).

<?
if (!is_file($page)) { $page = "mainpage.php"; }
}
// Add your header info here
@include_once($page);
?>

This would leave all other variables available to your pages, such as $style etc.

If you wanted to go further you could make sure that the page provided was one that you specifically allowed access to. Create a text file and list each page on a single line, eg:

main.php
news.php
moreinfo.php
welcome.php

And then you could use this:

<?
$allowed = file('allowedfiles.txt');
if (!in_array($page,$allowed)) { $page = "mainpage.php"; }
}
// Add your header info here
@include_once($page);
?>

That way if topsecret.php existed then you could make sure they users couldn't get to it by specifying $page=topsecret.php. THERE IS NOTHING TO STOP THEM FROM USING www.yourserver.com/topsecret.php OF COURSE!

I love the simplicity of PHP! Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Bob -