Variables and constants in log file

Anon

Hi. I have the following errors in my apache log file.

[Sat May 11 23:17:51 2002] [error] PHP Warning: Use of undefined constant id - assumed 'id' in c:\wwwserver\www\test\page1.php on line 40

[Sat May 11 23:47:27 2002] [error] PHP Warning: Undefined variable: memberinfo in c:\wwwserver\www\test\page2.php on line 381

These are only 2 of a lot of errors i get for each page.
In the first case the code is :
if ($memberinfo[id] || $memberinfo[otherid]) { ... }

For the $memberinfo[otherid] i don't get any errors. Do i have to use it with single quotes like $memberinfo['id']?

In the case of calling a function do i have to use quotes (single or double) like : $items = get_option_value ("start");

In the second case the code is :
mysql_query("UPDATE $memberinfo[dbprefix]table SET time = '$hour' WHERE id = '$memberinfo[id]'");

Is this right or do i have to escape everything in the queries? I know that the 2 errors are caused by the same reason but it's the kind of error it gives me that confuses me ( undefined constant and undefined variable)

However the scripts work ok. I'm using PHP 4.1 and win2k.

Thanks a lot

Anon

However the scripts work ok. I'm using PHP 4.1 and win2k

Just because it works ok, it doesn't mean that you can leave the program as it is. If the next developer comes in and adds more functionality to your script, and then 10 more developers come after him and add their own stuff, how hard is it going to be for whichever developer to track down bugs just because someone 'assumed' that the script works ok...

Anyway, you must use quotes (single or double, it doesn't matter in this case):

if ($memberinfo['id'] || $memberinfo['otherid']) { ... }

The reason PHP doesn't complain about the 'otherid' not having quotes, is because the left side of the OR operator is always true so the OR operator does what it's called short-circuit, which means that since one side is true, no matter what the other side is, the result will always be true, so it doesn't evaluate $memberinfo['otherid'], therefore PHP doesn't complain about it not having quotes.

How can

mysql_query("UPDATE $memberinfo[dbprefix]table SET time = '$hour' WHERE id = '$memberinfo[id]'");

work if $memberinfo is undefined? You should save the query statement into a variable and print it out to see what it actually is...

Diego

Anon

Thanks Diego. By saying "works ok" i mean it outputs 🙂 After all i know it's wrong code that's why i'm posting.
By the way in the
mysql_query("UPDATE $memberinfo[dbprefix]table SET time = '$hour' WHERE id = '$memberinfo[id]'");
do i have to use single/double quotes in the []?

And in the function call why do i have to use quotes? I get several errors for this too. It doesn't say anything in the manual about having to use quotes.

Thanks

Anon

By the way in the
mysql_query("UPDATE $memberinfo[dbprefix]table SET time = '$hour' WHERE id = '$memberinfo[id]'");
do i have to use single/double quotes in the []?

AFAIK, this is the only place that you don't use quotes.

And in the function call why do i have to use quotes?

Because all strings have to have quotes!

func("text");
or
func('test');

They all need to have quotes.

If you have a bareword (a word which is not a PHP keyword, and doesn't have quotes) then it is considered a constant. e.g.

func(test); // will pass the constant test. Constants are defined using define();

Diego

Anon

By the way in the
mysql_query("UPDATE $memberinfo[dbprefix]table SET time = '$hour' WHERE id = '$memberinfo[id]'");
do i have to use single/double quotes in the []?

AFAIK, this is the only place that you don't use quotes.

You should use them there, too, for all the previous reasons.

If PHP starts getting confused about what is and what isn't quoted then using {}, i.e., mysql_query("UPDATE {$memberinfo['dbprefix']}table SET time = '$hour' WHERE id = '{$memberinfo[id]}'");

will give it a heads-up and help it to parse properly.