Strange Problem ("Unexpected $")

RiZ

I've been having a VERY weird problem lately, that involves an invisible "$". Please excuse my sloppy code:

<html>
<head>
<title>Administrative Options</title>
<basefont face="Verdana">
<style type="text/css">
-SNIP-
</style>
</head>
<?
session_start();

$tid = $_REQUEST['tid'];
$user_id = $_SESSION['user_id'];
$user_name = $_SESSION['user_name'];

if (session_is_registered('user_id'))
{
include("conf.php");
include("functions.php");

$connection = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die ("Unable to connect!");

mysql_select_db($db) or die ("Unable to select database!");

$sql = "SELECT team_members.leader FROM team_members, user WHERE user.user_id = $user_id AND team_members.user_id = user.user_id AND team_members.team_id = $tid LIMIT 0 , 30"; 
$sqlr = mysql_query ($sql);
$array = mysql_fetch_array ($sqlr);

if ($array[leader] == 0) {
print "You do not have the credentials required to use this page.";
exit();
} elseif (($array[leader] == 1) || ($_SESSION['user_name'] == admin)) {
?>
<body>
<?
if (!$tid) 
{
print ("No team specified!");

} else {
// includes
include("/home3/rizinc/public_html/conf.php");
include("/home3/rizinc/public_html/functions.php");

// open database connection
$connection = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die ("Unable to connect!");

// select database
mysql_select_db($db) or die ("Unable to select database!");

// generate and execute query
$query = "SELECT id, title, tid, timestamp FROM team_news WHERE tid=$tid ORDER BY timestamp DESC";
$result = mysql_query($query) or die ("Error in query: $query. " . mysql_error());

// if records present
if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0)
{
	// iterate through resultset
	// print title with links to edit and delete scripts
	while($row = mysql_fetch_object($result))
	{
	?>
	<font size="-1"><b><? echo $row->title; ?></b> [<? echo formatDate($row->timestamp); ?>]</font>
	<br>
	<font size="-2"><a href="edit.php?id=<? echo $row->id; ?>&tid=<?php print $tid ?>">edit</a> | <a href="delete.php?id=<? echo $row->id; ?>&tid=<? print $tid ?>">delete</a></font>
	<p>
	<?
	}
}
// if no records present
// display message
else
{
?>
	<font size="-1">No stories currently available</font><p>
<?
}

// close connection
mysql_close($connection);
?>
<font size="-2"><a href="add.php?tid=<?php print $tid ?>">add new</a></font>
<?php 
}
}
?>
</body>
</html>

This appears to work fine, until line 177 (the last one). On that line, occupied only by a "</html>" tag, it tells me there is an unexpected '$'. Is there something wrong with the rest of my code that causes this?

PS - Sorry for the sloppyness, I'm very new.

blindeddie

there are two spots where I see missing semicolons. both are the same

<?PHP print $tid ?>

add the semicolon,that may do the trick.. I will keep looking

RiZ

I'll try it. Thanks 🙂

RiZ

Originally posted by RiZ
I'll try it. Thanks 🙂

Nope, no luck. What the hell could cause such a crazy error? 😕

dalecosp

Originally posted by RiZ
Nope, no luck. What the hell could cause such a crazy error? 😕

I think you're one curly bracket shy of a full load 😉

Try putting one more at the end, before the final two lines of HTML?

Also, aren't you gonna have trouble with starting the session when there's already several lines of browser output?

HTH,

tsinka

Hi,

what about those lines

if ($array[leader] == 0) {

and

elseif (($array[leader] == 1) || ($_SESSION['user_name'] == admin))

Shouldn't $array[leader] look like $array['leader'] ?

And there is a bracket problem. Just reformat the code so it is correctly indented. I think there's a third bracket missing at the end.

The $ problem could be caused by the $array[leader] problem.

Thomas

tsinka

Hi,

I think dalecosp is right, you should move the session_start() call to the very beginning of the script.

It would probably be better (at least for the script to be better readable) not to use words as variable names that are reserved for php internal functions and variables (like using $array). That might cause problems that are very hard to find.

alanzhao

I found these errors:

elseif (($array[leader] == 1) || ($_SESSION['user_name'] == admin))

should be

elseif (($array['leader'] == 1) || ($_SESSION['user_name'] == "admin"))

and there is a better way to do this,

<?=$row->id?>&tid=<?=$tid?>">

instead of

<? echo $row->id; ?>&tid=<?php print $tid ?>">

dalecosp

Originally posted by tsinka
Hi,

Shouldn't $array[leader] look like $array['leader'] ?

The $ problem could be caused by the $array[leader] problem.

Thomas

Yes, it should, but no, it doesn't have to, not yet, anyway.

The $ problem...wonder if he's still getting it. The problem seemed to be a parse error, actually....

Moonglobe

<?
session_start();

$tid = $_REQUEST['tid'];
$user_id = $_SESSION['user_id'];
$user_name = $_SESSION['user_name'];
?>


<html>
<head>
<title>Administrative Options</title>
<basefont face="Verdana">
<style type="text/css">
-SNIP-
</style>
</head>
<?

if (session_is_registered('user_id'))
{
include("conf.php");
include("functions.php");

$connection = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die ("Unable to connect!");

mysql_select_db($db) or die ("Unable to select database!");

$sql = "SELECT team_members.leader FROM team_members, user WHERE user.user_id = $user_id AND team_members.user_id = user.user_id AND team_members.team_id = $tid LIMIT 0 , 30"; 
$sqlr = mysql_query ($sql);
$array = mysql_fetch_array ($sqlr);

if ($array[leader] == 0) {
print "You do not have the credentials required to use this page.";
exit();
} elseif (($array[leader] == 1) || ($_SESSION['user_name'] == admin)) {
?>
<body>
<?
if (!$tid) 
{
print ("No team specified!");

} else {
// includes
include("/home3/rizinc/public_html/conf.php");
include("/home3/rizinc/public_html/functions.php");

// open database connection
$connection = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die ("Unable to connect!");

// select database
mysql_select_db($db) or die ("Unable to select database!");

// generate and execute query
$query = "SELECT id, title, tid, timestamp FROM team_news WHERE tid=$tid ORDER BY timestamp DESC";
$result = mysql_query($query) or die ("Error in query: $query. " . mysql_error());

// if records present
if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0)
{
    // iterate through resultset
    // print title with links to edit and delete scripts
    while($row = mysql_fetch_object($result))
    {
    ?>
    <font size="-1"><b><? echo $row->title; ?></b> [<? echo formatDate($row->timestamp); ?>]</font>
    <br>
    <font size="-2"><a href="edit.php?id=<? echo $row->id; ?>&tid=<?php print $tid; ?>">edit</a> | <a href="delete.php?id=<? echo $row->id; ?>&tid=<? print $tid ?>">delete</a></font>
    <p>
    <?
    }
}
// if no records present
// display message
else
{
?>
    <font size="-1">No stories currently available</font><p>
<?
}

// close connection
mysql_close($connection);
?>
<font size="-2"><a href="add.php?tid=<?php print $tid; ?>">add new</a></font>
<?php 
}
}
}
?>
</body>
</html>

ha! a n00b i may be, but a good text editor with jump-to-bracket feature works wonders!

EDIT: o, and if you're wondering why i posteed this, it's because i've found that copying/pasting is easier for people usually.

RiZ

Thanks for the replies everyone. Sorry it took me some time to reply, I had a busy weekend 😃 I'm going to try these fixes ASAP. Thanks again.

RiZ

Ok, things seem to be getting better. In case your wondering, the code I am now using is this:

<?
session_start();

$tid = $_REQUEST['tid'];
$user_id = $_SESSION['user_id'];
$user_name = $_SESSION['user_name'];
?>

<html>
<head>
<title>Administrative Options</title>
<basefont face="Verdana">
<style type="text/css">
-WASTE OF VALUABLE SPACE-
</style>
</head>

<?

if (session_is_registered('user_id'))
{
include("/home3/rizinc/public_html/conf.php");
include("/home3/rizinc/public_html/functions.php");

$connection = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die ("Unable to connect!");

mysql_select_db($db) or die ("Unable to select database!");

$sql = "SELECT team_members.leader FROM team_members, user WHERE user.user_id = $user_id AND team_members.user_id = user.user_id AND team_members.team_id = $tid LIMIT 0 , 30"; 
$sqlr = mysql_query ($sql);
$array = mysql_fetch_array ($sqlr);

if ($array['leader'] == 0) {
print "You do not have the credentials required to use this page.";
exit();
} elseif (($array['leader'] == 1) || ($_SESSION['user_name'] == "admin")) {
?>
<body>
<?
if (!$tid) 
{
print ("No team specified!");

} else {
// includes
include("/home3/rizinc/public_html/conf.php");
include("/home3/rizinc/public_html/functions.php");

// open database connection
$connection = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die ("Unable to connect!");

// select database
mysql_select_db($db) or die ("Unable to select database!");

// generate and execute query
$query = "SELECT id, title, tid, timestamp FROM team_news WHERE tid=$tid ORDER BY timestamp DESC";
$result = mysql_query($query) or die ("Error in query: $query. " . mysql_error());

// if records present
if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0)
{
    // iterate through resultset
    // print title with links to edit and delete scripts
    while($row = mysql_fetch_object($result))
    {
    ?>
    <font size="-1"><b><? echo $row->title; ?></b> [<? echo formatDate($row->timestamp); ?>]</font>
    <br>
    <font size="-2"><a href="edit.php?id=<?=$row->id?>&tid=<?=$tid?>">edit</a> | <a href="delete.php?id=<?=$row->id?>&tid=<?=$tid?>">delete</a></font>
    <p>
    <?
    }
}
// if no records present
// display message
else
{
?>
    <font size="-1">No stories currently available</font><p>
<?
}

// close connection
mysql_close($connection);
?>
<font size="-2"><a href="add.php?tid=<?php print $tid; ?>">add new</a></font>
<?php 
}
}
} 
?>
</body>
</html>

I'm now getting this error:

Fatal error: Cannot redeclare formatdate() (previously declared in /home3/rizinc/public_html/functions.php:5) in /home3/rizinc/public_html/functions.php on line 5

In case you're wondering, functions.php looks like this:

<?
// functions.php - useful global functions

// format MySQL DATETIME value into a more readable string
function formatDate($val)
{
	$arr = explode("-", $val);
	return date("d M Y", mktime(0,0,0, $arr[1], $arr[2], $arr[0]));
}
?>

What's goin' on? Thanks for all the help so far, hopefully I'll be able to finish this badboy 😃

matt_4013

It looks like you're including functions.php twice. A bit strange, include isn't supposed to do that, it's only supposed to include the file when it gets to that line, and if I'm reading your conditions right, it should only be getting to one of them. My suggestion is to just change them to include_once() instead of include().

matt_4013

Btw, instead of using your dateformat function that you've got, I would suggest getting it from the database in that format already using mysql's date_format function. It will be much faster. It's done like this:

$sql = "SELECT DATE_FORMAT(\"%d %b %Y\", date) as date FROM table WHERE foo='bar'";

RiZ

I'll try that, hopefully it solves everything 🙂

If I wanted to add an "else" statement that would be acted if the session I checked for in the beginning was not registered, I would put it after the last bracket, right? When I get a chance I'll probably put a log-in form there.

What are the advantages of the MySQL format date function over what I have right now? I wouldn't need a new query, would I?

matt_4013

You'd just need to adjust the query you're using now. The MySQL date_format function is MUCH faster, and uses less resources than the way you're doing it, in fact, than almost any other way I can think of. It's not really required if you're not going to have thousands of users, but it's just really a matter of getting into the habit of coding the most efficient applications you can! 🙂

RiZ

What the hell is up!? I did your "include_once" change, and everything was cool, until I tried to add an "else" statement to the last bracket. That way, if the session isn't registered, it will prompt them to log in. Here's what it looks like now:

<?
session_start();

$tid = $_REQUEST['tid'];
$user_id = $_SESSION['user_id'];
$user_name = $_SESSION['user_name'];
?>

<html>
<head>
<title>Administrative Options</title>
<basefont face="Verdana">
<style type="text/css">
BODY {
	SCROLLBAR-BASE-COLOR: #484848;
	SCROLLBAR-ARROW-COLOR: #EB9E00;
}
SELECT {
	FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
	FONT-SIZE: 11px;
	COLOR: #000000;
	BACKGROUND-COLOR: #CFCFCF
}
TEXTAREA, .bginput {
	FONT-SIZE: 12px;
	FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
	COLOR: #000000;
	BACKGROUND-COLOR: #FFFFFF
}
A:link, A:visited, A:active {
	COLOR: #000000;
}
A:hover {
	COLOR: #008800;
}
#cat A:link, #cat A:visited, #cat A:active {
	COLOR: #EB9E00;
	TEXT-DECORATION: none;
}
#cat A:hover {
	COLOR: #EB9E00;
	TEXT-DECORATION: underline;
}
#ltlink A:link, #ltlink A:visited, #ltlink A:active {
	COLOR: #000000;
	TEXT-DECORATION: none;
}
#ltlink A:hover {
	COLOR: #008800;
	TEXT-DECORATION: underline;
}
.thtcolor {
	COLOR: #000000;
}
.pagenumstatic {
	color: #000000;
	background-color: #EB9E00;
	border-color: #000000;
	border-style: solid;
	border-width: 1px;
	margin: 0px;
	padding: 0px;
	padding-left: 4px;
	padding-right: 4px;
	padding-top: 1px;
	padding-bottom: 1px;
	width: 1em;
	text-decoration: none;
}
.pagenum A:link, .pagenum A:visited, .pagenum A:active {
	color: #909090;
	background-color: #484848;
	border-color: #000000;
	border-style: solid;
	border-width: 1px;
	margin: 0px;
	padding: 0px;
	padding-left: 4px;
	padding-right: 4px;
	padding-top: 1px;
	padding-bottom: 1px;
	width: 1em;
	text-decoration: none;
}
.pagenum A:hover {
	color: #000000;
	background-color: #EB9E00;
	text-decoration: none;
	border-color: #000000;
	border-style: solid;
	border-width: 1px;
	margin: 0px;
	padding: 0px;
	padding-left: 4px;
	padding-right: 4px;
	padding-top: 1px;
	padding-bottom: 1px;
	width: 1em;
	text-decoration: none;
}
</style>
</head>

<?

if (session_is_registered('user_id'))
{
include_once("/home3/rizinc/public_html/conf.php");
include_once("/home3/rizinc/public_html/functions.php");

$connection = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die ("Unable to connect!");

mysql_select_db($db) or die ("Unable to select database!");

$sql = "SELECT team_members.leader FROM team_members, user WHERE user.user_id = $user_id AND team_members.user_id = user.user_id AND team_members.team_id = $tid LIMIT 0 , 30"; 
$sqlr = mysql_query ($sql);
$array = mysql_fetch_array ($sqlr);

if ($array['leader'] == 0) {
print "You do not have the credentials required to use this page.";
exit();
} elseif (($array['leader'] == 1) || ($_SESSION['user_name'] == "admin")) {
?>
<body>
<?
if (!$tid) 
{
print ("No team specified!");

} else {
// includes
include_once("/home3/rizinc/public_html/conf.php");
include_once("/home3/rizinc/public_html/functions.php");

// open database connection
$connection = mysql_connect($host, $user, $pass) or die ("Unable to connect!");

// select database
mysql_select_db($db) or die ("Unable to select database!");

// generate and execute query
$query = "SELECT id, title, tid, timestamp FROM team_news WHERE tid=$tid ORDER BY timestamp DESC";
$result = mysql_query($query) or die ("Error in query: $query. " . mysql_error());

// if records present
if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0)
{
    // iterate through resultset
    // print title with links to edit and delete scripts
    while($row = mysql_fetch_object($result))
    {
    ?>
    <font size="-1"><b><? echo $row->title; ?></b> [<? echo formatDate($row->timestamp); ?>]</font>
    <br>
    <font size="-2"><a href="edit.php?id=<?=$row->id?>&tid=<?=$tid?>">edit</a> | <a href="delete.php?id=<?=$row->id?>&tid=<?=$tid?>">delete</a></font>
    <p>
    <?
    }
}
// if no records present
// display message
else
{
?>
    <font size="-1">No stories currently available</font><p>
<?
}

// close connection
mysql_close($connection);
?>
<font size="-2"><a href="add.php?tid=<?php print $tid; ?>">add new</a></font>
<?php 
}
}
} Else {
print ("Please log in");
include("/home3/rizinc/public_html/login_form.html");
?>
</body>
</html>

And I get that God-awful "Unexpected $" error again. What the hell is going on?

Maybe it has something to do with "login_form.html". Here's that:

<html>
<body>
<table cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5">
<form action="................................login.php" method="POST">
<tr>
	<td valign="top"><b><font size="-1">Username</font></b></td>
	<td><input size="20" maxlength="20" type="text" name="username"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
	<td valign="top"><b><font size="-1">Password</font></b></td>
	<td><input size="20" maxlength="20" type="text" name="password"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
	<td colspan=2><input type="Submit" name="submit" value="Login"></td>
</tr>
</form>
</table>
</body>
</html>

matt_4013

You didn't close the else!

Put a } just before your last ?> tag, and see if that fixes it 😉

Moonglobe

you know, it would have been easier (and i'm assuming here that
the error you're geting is actually "Unexpected $end...") for people to understand you if you actually post the error that you're seeing
(again, if i'm wrong(😕 ), please correct me)

dalecosp

"What the H*ll is going on?"

Sounds like me when I'm debugging, too. 😉 Complex looping is a killer. However, there are so many situations that may require nested conditional loops.

The fact that a function was being declared twice was likely the indication of an unexpected or malformed loop. If this is the case, using include_once was a band-aid, not the appropriate fix. Properly formatted code (not that yours is bad 🙂 ) can go a long way in debugging your looped structures, but sometimes you've gotta go even farther.

Because you use the } so often in coding (closing conditional loops, end of function code blocks, can be used as a literal indicator, etc.) I often place a comment after each closing bracket that says what I'm closing...tedious, but it has helped on 3 or 4 occasions.