"Undefined variable", "undefined index" errors in any PHP app i test

Caz

Hi,

I'm a PHP newbie, as expected 🙂 and i've jsut attempted to install a few PHP app such as PhpNuke and a few others.

While i already succeeded in writing and testing my own scripts; i happen to get "undefined variables" error with just every apps i test.

At first, i've tested an e-commerce app, and suspected a problem in this particular app installation, or maybe a compatibility issue with my config (Win2000, PHP 4, Apache 1.3)

Then i tried another app, and afterwards i tested PhpNuke, and the error is here everytime... It seems that most variable calls result in this error displaying inside of the variable content, as PHP does in such a case.
So, PHP works ok, i have apparently installed my apps the way i should have; and i really don't know why i get this problem.

I suspect a PHP config issue, but then again, where should i check?

If this is of any interest, i'm keeping apache 1.3 because of Tomcat also running on my dev server. I can upgrade to apache 2 if necessary to fix my PHP problem.

Thanks for your help! 🙂

bernouli

try to open edit your php.ini file and
see if global_var or something like and change it to on

Caz

Thank you for the tip,

The only "global" directive i've found in php.ini is this :
register_globals = On

with a comment that this could lead to security issues. Not my problem at the moment, so i've noticed it's on, and i keep it on.

I've even added
global_var = On
global_vars = On
just to see if this would change something, but apparently it doesn't.

I'm starting to wonder : my Apache webroot directory is accessed through a "program files" type windows repertory. I'm starting to think the space in the directory names is just the thing that could confuse PHP either for absolute file name retrieval or for session handling...
I'll try changing my web config...

Am i the only one who ever got this problem?

bernouli

register_globals is correct one
you can try to write simple php file to test if it will run or not, before using other big apps

Caz

..as a matter of fact, that's what i've done, but...

I've already successfully tested a few very simple scripts of my own; then i've even played a small packaged phphangman application. It runs like a charm...

This would be a good idea to make simple scripts just to test the problem i do have now, but i don't have the lightest idea what i could test??

I do feel it is something related to session handling, however... I could write a few lines to test that...

MrAlaska

"undefined variable" is a notice that results from variables not being defined before they are checked for value.

You can turn off notices in your php.ini by changing

error_reporting=E_ALL
to
error_error_reporting=E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE

but it is better to explicitly define your variables.

Caz

Hmmm....

i knew i would blush big time when i'd learn what was going wrong.........

So the whole problem was just a "cosmetic" problem after all.

The thing is, as i have the problem only when using a few packaged apps (such as PhpNuke), it was not my choice to define or not the variables, i expected the apps to run ok.

I've changed the config to error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE and... TA-DAA... no more errors, and the apps seem to run ok. So this was all about PHP warning about the errors, but it didn't prevent the apps from running...

Once again, i'm amazed by the power of this stuff...

Thank you for your help!!

I'm surprised, however : i used the default error-reporting config; but it seems that my problem was not as common as it would seem. Maybe i'll go for further investigation in the session variables area...

MrAlaska

Originally posted by Caz
So the whole problem was just a "cosmetic" problem after all.

Not exactly. You are better off leaving notices turned on because it forces you to write better code. The code will function if you do not set and call your variables explicitly, but it is bad practice. I suppose applications that neglect to do so either the authors wanted to keep the application light or just did not take the time to write the extra code.

You can over-ride the PHP.ini setting in code you write by putting this line at the top of every page while developing:
error_reporting(E_ALL);

Caz

I was so happy that it all automagically solved at once that i neglected the fact that the option and warnings are actually meant to help build a decent code.

I'll definitely use the page-per-page error-reporting line, as you suggest, in my future dev...

Thanks again!