Who stole all my slashes?

RemTard

I am submitting data from a form and it contains image paths on win based pcs.

Example data:

C:\my documents\myfolder\myfile.gif

The problem I have is that when the data is received by my script the slashes have gone.

Example output:

C:my documentsmyfoldermyfile.gif

Who or what stole my slashes? ;0(
(please note I am not performing any processing on the string when this happens)

Any ideas?

eoghain

The backslash character () is the standard escape character. When it is seen PHP intreprets it to mean use the character following the backslash as itself and don't do whatever special thing you would normally do.

So this code will print out "I have a variable called $var" instead of "I have a variable called my variable":

<?php
$var = "my variable"
echo "I have a variable called \$var";
?>

So when your data is recieved PHP reads the backslashes and just prints the character following them. You should look at the [man]addslashes()[/man] command.

RemTard

Hi,

Thanks for your response, however I am aware that the backslash is an escape character. I should have pointed out the steps I have taken to identify the problem.

Addslashes does not solve the issue, it simply escapes the quotes and the missing backslashes are still missing

I have spent a long time pouring over the php manual and searching for similar queries on this and other php forums before asking the question.

If I place the string in the script the slashes remain, however when submitted from a form they are no longer present.

Thanks

eoghain

How are you sending the data in your form? POST or GET?

Build yourself a test page that looks like this:

<?php
   print $post . "<br><br>";

   print "<form action=backslash.html method=GET>\n";
   print "<input type=text name=post></input>";
   print "<input type=submit>";
   print "</form>";
?>

Then put in your directory and see what it outputs. On my machine in either GET or POST mode the $post string has it's backslashes escaped. If your machine doesn't do this then maybe you should look at your php.ini file and see if there is any help in there.