PHP-MySQL Auto-Email

jcagle

I would like to have the user input an email address on a Web Form, Submit, and have the PHP query MySQL for the email address and send the password that is associated with that email address TO that email address...without any user intervention (i.e., automatically). Can someone give me the code or provide me with a link to do such a thing? Thanks in advance!

siwis

If you are storing passwords in the database sensibly then they will be encrypted and as such even if you did email them that password it would most likely be useless. (Somebody may step in here to tell me I'm wrong!)

perhaps better would be for you to allow them to follow a "forgot password link" which upon entry of their email address resets the password to a random character string which you then email to that email address. In it, instead of a password being listed in plain text, you provide a link to a "reset" password screen, with the "system reset password" as part of the URL, eg http://www.somedomain.com/resetpassword.php?e=name@domain.com&pw=ABCDEFGHI

resetpassword.php should contain a form with a new password field and a confirm new password field which upon submission would update the database with that users preferred password.

jcagle

I guess I was trying to make my posting more generic than I should have. What I actually want to do is send a registration number...not a password. Thanks for your response, it WAS helpful. However, I would just like to send the current registration number. Thanks again!

bretticus

Actually, I have plenty of Websites where the passwords are stored plain text and unencrypted simply because there's no secure information to be had by having the password anyway. In that case, you're fine to store passwords unencrypted (there are methods of decoding an encrypted MySQL password however, I wouldn't go that route to protect FBI documents though ;-) ...

However, since it's a registration number...

Yeah, it's actually fairly simple.

Plug your $_POST var into a simply SQL query:

[Form Handler (getreg.php)]

<?
$db = mysql_connect($dbserver,$username,$password) or die ("Could not connect...");
$select_db = mysql_selectdb($database) or die ("Could not connect...");

$query = "SELECT reg_number FROM reg_numbers WHERE email = ' ".trim($_POST["email"]);

$result = mysql_query($sql) or die("Invalid query");
$row = mysql_fetch_row ($result);

if ($row){
	$to = trim($_POST["email"]);
	$subject = "whatever..";
	$message = $row[0];
	$mailed = mail ( $to, $subject, $message );
	if($mailed){
		print "You registration number has been sent.";
	}
}

//...clean up, etc.

//use elses for alternate cases of course ;-)

bretticus

whoops, need to proof read...

don't forget that SQL-specific single quote on the end (the one I forgot)

$query = "SELECT reg_number FROM reg_numbers WHERE email = ' ".trim($_POST["email"])."'";

Oh yeah, pardon my typos ;-)

jcagle

Also, should:

$result = mysql_query($sql) or die("Invalid query");

actually be:

$result = mysql_query($query) or die("Invalid query");

Thanks for your help!

xentrix

jcagle: Of course, you´re right ;-)

jcagle

One last thing...for the $subject line, how do you deliminate "newline" in PHP? Thanks again!

xentrix

If I understand you, you could use this:

$subject = "whatever..\n";