does anyone here know about php?

paulsbooker

Hello phpbuilder

Can anyone offer there expertise to a beginner

is it possible once a database has been MODIFIED to result in the immediate refresh of all users viewing pages which depend on that database

very difficult to find any information on this topic

any help would be kindly appreciated

paul

van__

Sure, no problem.
Just set up a php script as a daemon process and have send out data via some arbitrary port like say... port 10000.
And in your webpage, embed a tiny little flash movie that sits there and does an XML-socket loop, constantly waiting for updates.

The daemon should be querying the mysql database for status, and when data is added/deleted/updated it can send a little nudge to the flash object which can call a javascript function for a refresh.

piece of cake.

Or if you wanted to do what I would do,
I'd just to hell with it all and put the entire database connection out via the Flash XML socket and let everyone have a realtime interface and forget the page reloading crap.

paulsbooker

is all that a little bit of an over kill

can anyone suggest a solution which is far less invloved and offer some example code

paul

van__

hahahah
That was the idea 🙂

If you could settle for less_than_realtime
I'd say set up an iframe or a frameset that does a meta-refresh every 5-10 secs and just have a script that queries the database for updates, which will refresh the entire window if an update has occured.

But either way you go, it's not going to be something "simple"

And no, I don't have code on hand for this, so you'll have to either wait around awhile longer or start crackin away on it on your own.

paulsbooker

thanks for giving me ulcer van ,cheers pal

why do you think the solution is not simple

paul

van__

Why isn't the solution simple?
Because to really create a nice effect
AND not be sitting there wasting resources, you'd have to do some pretty fancy foot work.

But since you've got a nice juicy ulcer gurgling away...

you could try....

<?
ob_start();

// ... all your happy code here ... //

flush();

//now start your resource wasting loop process...

$update = false;
while(!$update) {
//put your query here...
$update = $query_results;
}

echo "<script>\nfunction reload() {window.location.href='$PHP_SELF';}\n\n";

echo ("reload('$PHP_SELF');\n</script>\n"

paulsbooker

is it possible to have an frameset with two frames one of which is of zero size ,that may be useful to know?

the idea is the small frame will contain code which includes a meta tag which will bring about the execution of some code on the server every 5-10 seconds to check for database modifications (how i dont now ) if it the database has changed then refresh the main page

sounds plausible

so what i need to determine then is

 1 can i have an invisible frame on the page as part of the framset

 2 what php functionality will allow me to determine if the dataabse has been  
    modified

paul

van__

Sorry, hit the 'submit' button too soon...

<?
ob_start();

// ... all your happy code here ... //

flush();

//now start your resource wasting loop process...

$update = false;
while(!$update) {
//put your query here...
$update = $query_results;
}

echo "<script>\nfunction reload() {window.location.href='$PHP_SELF';}\n\n";

echo ("reload('$PHP_SELF');\n</script>\n"
ob_end_flush();
?>

van__

1 can i have an invisible frame on the page as part of the framset

A: Yes.

2 what php functionality will allow me to determine if the dataabse has been
modified.

A: Whatever Database functions your install of PHP is using.

paulsbooker

i appreciate all your help here van

can you give me an example of possible functions for 2

paul

Van wrote:

1 can i have an invisible frame on the page as part of the framset

A: Yes.

2 what php functionality will allow me to determine if the dataabse has been
modified.

A: Whatever Database functions your install of PHP is using.

paulsbooker

van van where are you man
i cant do php but i bet you can..

can you elaborate on 2

what php-mysql function do i use to check if a record has been inserted in a table or a field in a record has been updated

the first time you hit the server as a result of the meta you must determine state how things are.

subsequent hits to the server will look for change

how do you do this in php????

come on van your my only hope nobody else is speaking to me

paul

paulsbooker

you have framset with two frames one with zero dimension (a hidden frame)

this frame uses a meta tag to ping the server and look for the setting of variable to indicate that a change to a table has occured (either a record inserted or a record field(s) have been modified)

in the scripts there will be code with each insert / update to set the variable to indicate change

when the code on the server connected with the meta is aware of this change it refreshes the main page and sets thevariable to indicate again no change

how does that sound

paul

arjaan

It´s a start:

To reduce the so called waste of resources I should try the following:

Add a field with type TIMESTAMP to the mysql table.

To determine update or insert actions, use SELECT * FROM table WHERE field_timestamp > lasttimestamp;

You can store te lasttimestamp in a cookie on the client machine. Only refresh the second frame when de query results in 1 or more rows.

Refreshing of other frames is best done by executing a proper javascript. You can write this javascript conditional (NOT TESTED):

<?
if (mysql_num_rows($result)) {
?>
<script language="javascript">
parent.nameofframe2.location.reload();
</script>
<?
}
?>

Arjaan

PS: to get more and quicker answers, try using a more appropiate subject for your postings. There's no need or reason to "challenge".

You´re lucky cause I´m new here, so I´m reading lots of postings.

Anon

The problem is, you are trying to use a stateless client (HTML) to have the functionality of a client that can maintain state (Flash, java etc...).

Any solution you devise will be ugly and un-elegant.

Go back to the first response, and learn a little Flash or java. The solution will be much better. Or wait for HTML socket connections 🙂 It will be much better than some sort of META REFRESH looping thing.