PHP Query Strings HELP

janak

Hi All,
This is my first post here. I was reading through some of the messages trying to find an answer to my problem. It still remains unsolved, so here it is:

I have a PHP page to display various different articles (not from database). I want the page to load a default text file if no Query strings are specified, and load a differnt file if the user clicks on a button. I cannot get it to load the second file.

I have setup a working demo at:

http://www.janaksingh.co.uk/php_experiment/viewpage.php

The working files are available for download at:

http://www.janaksingh.co.uk/php_experiment/files.zip

I would really appericiate if someone could please show me how to get them working. I am trying to learn PHP by experimenting..

Thanks
Janak

kevinsequeira

please paste the code you are using, so that i can take a look at it

reg
kevin

janak

here are the contents of my viewpage.php file:

<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>

<body>
<table width="760" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr>
<td><div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> THIS
IS A PHP EXPERIMENT</font></div></td>
<td><div align="center"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <a href="viewpage.php?page=text2.txt">LOAD
TEXT FILE 2</a></font></div></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td height="20" colspan="2"> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<?
$page = $GET["page"];
if (($page == "")){
include("text1.txt");
}else {
include( $GET ["page"]);
}
?>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>

</html>

Thanks

kevinsequeira

is register_globals ON in your php.ini file ??
instead of $GET["page"] try $GET['page']
can u print the value of $page to see if it is getting picked up

reg
kevin

janak

Hi,
thanks again for your reply. I am sute global is on, but i do not have access to php.ini file. Not that I am aware of..

I have tried ['page] as well, but that didnt work either. Its outputting the contents for the first it loads, but just doesnt load the seconf file when you click on the link.

Any ideas ? Please take a look on my online demo if I dont make my sense. sorry.

Reg
Janak

kevinsequeira

hi janak,

try this <?php phpinfo(); ?> on the page.

this will tell you if the register_globals is ON or OFF

then try this, after you do this $page = $_GET["page"];

type this print("the page is ".$page."**");

what is the result ??

reg
kevin

janak

doesnt seem very good.
This is what I typed:

<?php  php_info(); ?>

This is th result:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: php_info() in viewpage.php on line 20

I dont think it is turned on ???

kevinsequeira

sorry janak, <?php phpinfo(); ?> not <?php php_info();?>

janak

I hope this is what you were after:

register_globals On

janak

the following code made it work, I dont know how, call it beginers luck as I dont know any PHP as yet..

WORKING CODE

<?
$page = $_GET['page'];
if (($page == "")){
include("text1.txt");
}else {
include($page);
}

?>

Now my next question. Is it possible to load 2 differnt text files (page1.txt & desc.txt) at the same time into two different tables ? eg:

viewpage.php?page=page1.txt&desc=desc.txt

is the above statement correct ?

Thanks again for your help.
Janak

kevinsequeira

well viewpage.php?page=page1.txt&desc=desc.txt

makes available 2 variables page and desc to the php page to which it is passed, so its correct

kevin

OhLordy

NB
If the files you are icnluding contain no html then you should use the readfile() function. It is faster as PHP does not parse the data before including it. This will probably not notice on a small site but it is always a good idea to get into good ideas early.
Hope this helps
Rob

janak

Thanks you both for your feedback. i appericiate your help. I am gonna get a book on PHP and do some homework.

I tested the above strings earlier today and they seem to be working, so now i can load two differnt files at the same time into 2 different tables.

I read somewhere that loading pags this way can lead to some people abusing the site and doing some nasty things with it.

Is that true ? since my knowledge of PHP is none, I would like to know if there are potential loop holes etc.

Also would the search engines pick up all the pages in the site if its designed this way ?

Thanks
Janak

OhLordy

It all depends on how well you have your code structured. Have a read of this article, but don't get too scared 😉 not everyone is out to destroy.

http://www.securereality.com.au/studyinscarlet.txt

Good Luck
Rob

janak

Thanks for the link Rob, That certainly made interesting read. I am only gonna be using PHP to display differnt bits of text, depending on which page the user has requested.

Reg
Janak