Variables through URL !

[Leozack]

I think I shall soon self destruct if I don't figure out the whole input/validation/linking freakin problem. I can validate nicely but certain things once validated (chars in a url or a filename for example) will blow the url up.

It's wishful thinking that I can just 'zip' up anything and throw it through the url. If urlencode is supposed to be like that (method of safely passing anything through a url eg "link.php?this=$this" where $this is a urlencode()'d version of the orgiginal $this), then can someone provide a working example on a machine capable of running it and not crashing. unlike mine. which crashes. with links encoded that work on other pcs. (arrrrrrrrrrrrgh).

Just a simple example of "well these chars are all possible in a filename for instance "][a-z0-9!#%&()+,.;=@_~ -" so here is a var containing them, here it is being encoded, and here it is on the next page and possibly this is how to get them as they were before they were encoded". Simple test code. Like I said I tried it and it blows me up but not others and I'm just about ready to give up really it's that depressing and it's halted my whole site development. sigh

[laserlight]

sounds bad...

but do you have an example of your test code?

[Leozack]

I'll post my 2 pages here, but they are mostly me just experimenting. Then finding after letting other people try it, that there's no point in me experimenting cos it's only my PC they links blow up on anyway! I was hoping for someone else to make demo code rather than use mine, cos then ... gets headache well it just made sense. Like working from someone else's code snippet rather than letting them edit yours. Much clearer to yourself. Or somin, I dunno I'm too stressed to talk sense. Here are the 2 pages, I forget what state tehy're even in but I remember wondring why I had to paly with stripslashes ...

<?

$title = "This is such a great game, I can't help but love it!";
$author = "Load of [\"\/\\\ a-z0-9!#£$%&'()*+,.:;=?@_{}~-]";
$formats = "Gamecube_PC";

echo "title = $title<br>\n
author = $author<br>\n
formats = $formats<br>\n";

$title = urlencode($title);
$author = urlencode($author);
$formats = urlencode($formats);

echo "<br>\n<br>\n
URL Encoded :<br>\n<br>\n
title = $title<br>\n
author = $author<br>\n
formats = $formats<br>\n";

echo "<br>link = urlencode2.php?title=$title&author=$author&formats=$formats<br>\n";

echo "<br><a href=\"urlencode2.php?title=$title&author=$author&formats=$formats\">Tada</a>";

?>

and page 2

<?

echo "Originals :<br>\n<br>\n
title = This is such a great game, I can't help but love it!<br>\n
author = Load of [\"\/\\\ a-z0-9!#£$%&'()*+,.:;=?@_{}~-]<br>\n
formats = Gamecube_PC<br>\n";

echo "<br>\n<br>\n
After URL Encoding and linking :<br>\n<br>\n
title = $title<br>\n
author = $author<br>\n
formats = $formats<br>\n";

$title = stripslashes(urldecode($title));
$author = stripslashes(urldecode($author));
$formats = stripslashes(urldecode($formats));

echo "<br>\n<br>\n
URL Decoded (+ stripslashes) :<br>\n<br>\n
title = $title<br>\n
author = $author<br>\n
formats = $formats<br>\n";

?>

[laserlight]

I tested, and seems to work fine.
There may be a + sign missing though, but if you use rawurlencode() and rawurldecode() that seems to be fixed.

Of course you have to use stripslashes() if magic_quotes_gpc is set to 1.

[Leozack]

So you're saying of those are RAWurlencode and RAWurldecode then it works perfectly? I did have them as raw, but it didn't seem to change anything. I certainly don't know what you mean about missing + signs, as only raw makes spaces +'s, non-raw makes them %20's I thought.
Also it seemed they were already decoded as, on the 2nd page, they appeared to be the ame both before and after decoding (ignoring the stripslashes thing).

Can you please confirm (because I can't) that using rawurlencode they link ok, and whether I need the rawurldecode on the other end, and that they end up as they were exactly? Trying to find what chars were illegal in a url proved impossible and came down to like NULL and that's about it. But that's ebfore I knew it was just my pc blowing up on the links for some reason! ¦/