hyperlinks within varchar field

[NickyM999]

Hi there,

What I am trying to do is have a field in a MySQL database that contains a long description about a product. Within this description I need to have links to other sites.

Is it possible to have html links stored within the varchar field or will I have to break the description into 'segments' around the hyperlink?

Any help/info would be greatly appreciated.

Nick

[sarahk]

MySql doesn't really care what you store in it's fields so long as the data complies with the basic datatype.

[NickyM999]

That I understand, but how can I make it easy for a user to enter a description in a form box and include a hyperlink without having to type in the full html code?

[netizen]

Instead of varchar fields, I suggest you use text fields. That aside.

You will have to associate what terms need to be hypertexted and build the tags around with regex of sometype (str_replace, preg_replace, ereg_replace).

[jnuneznyc]

There is no easy way. Other than to make your own language like PHPBuilder Forum. Where you enter the square brackets and then the link could be inside...

Example:

[Check out this link:[url]http://www.cyber-ny.com/[/url]] and see for yourself.

Then write the code to translate that into proper html.