trying to put a variable in the url...to no avail

DKY

I'm trying to put a variable itself into the url, and it looks like so.

$delete = '<a href="?mode=delete&table=$table&main_id='.$row['Product_Number'].'">Delete</a>';

what I'm focusing on is the

table=$table

part. it doesnt work for some reason, am I missing quotes or something.... later on when I echo it, like so

echo "table: $table<br>";

it comes back like so.

table: $table

anyone know what I'm missing here?

erikwebb

Is $table set?

DKY

yeah, its set in an if statement, then I'm trying to transfer it over to another if statement via the url...

erikwebb

Is your register_globals set?

DKY

Um....probably not? what are those?

DKY

my php.ini says this.

register_globals = On

so, the answer, I assume, is yes.

erikwebb

Yes, that does answer my question. Does the $table variable contain any characters which might cause a problem in the URL? (spaces, apostrophes, slashes, etc.)

DKY

nope, $table will equal test1, or test2, or test3, or test4 in this instance.

TruckStuff

you need to read about the difference in PHP between single quotes and double quotes. $table is in single quotes, it needs to be in double quotes, or you need to move $table outside the expression.

http://us3.php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php

DKY

I tried the quote thing, and as far as moving it outside the expression, how would I do that? the whole point in putting it in the expression is to transfer it via the url to another conditional statement. How would I move it outside, and still have it in the url?

TruckStuff

Dd you even read the link I posted?

PHP handles single and double quotes differently. Anything inside of single quotes is treated as literal text. Anything inside of double quotes is evaluated as a valid PHP expression, especailly variable names. e.g.

$table='blah';
$str = '$table is $table';
echo $str;

will produce the following output:

$table is $table

However, because the following strings are in double quotes, PHP will attempt replace the variable names with the value of the variable:

$table='blah';
$str = "$table is $table";
echo "Table is $table<br>$str";

Table is blah
blah is blah

In your expression

$delete = '<a href="?mode=delete&table=$table&main_id='.$row['Product_Number'].'">Delete</a>';

the '$table' is inside the single quotes. This means that PHP treats the string '$table' as literal text. You want to put this in double quotes rather than single quotes.

Now, I'm betting you're thinking "but how do I put the double quote in the output text? PHP keep sending my string." Again, read the link I posted. Escape characters using a '\' character.

DKY

so, you're saying do like so?

$delete = "<a href=?mode=delete&table=\"$table\"&main_id=$row['Product_Number']>Delete</a>";

DKY

I've tried every single quote, double quote, no quote, combination I could think of, and none of them work. Unless you come right out and say change it to this, I'm going to assume I've tried it. Any other suggestions?

erikwebb

Try this:

$delete = "<a href=?mode=delete&table=\"$table\"&main_id=".$row['Product_Number'].">Delete</a>";

DKY

that didnt work either, code looks like this. any other ideas? to test this out, go to http://dky.sytes.net/golesnew/cat/showtablenew.php

<html>
  <head>
    <title></title>
    <LINK HREF="catalogwhite.css" REL="STYLESHEET">
  </head>
  <body>
<?php
require('connect.php');

database_connect();
display_tables();

if (!$_GET) 
{
    echo "<form action=\"$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']\" method=\"post\" NAME=\"show_tables\">";
  echo "<br />";
  echo "<table align=\"center\">";
    echo "<tr>";
      echo "<td width=\"100%\" valign=\"top\" align=\"center\">";
       echo "<select name=\"view_category\">";
            echo "<option value=\"ViewTheContentsofaTable\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;";
               echo "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;View a Category&nbsp;&nbsp;";
               echo "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;";
            echo "</option>;";


while($row= mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
    echo "\t\t\t\t<option>{$row[0]}</option>\n";
}

       echo  "</select>";
       echo  "&nbsp;&nbsp;<input type=\"submit\" name=\"Select\" value=\"Select\" />";
     echo  "</td></tr></table></form>";
 }

if (isset($_POST['Select'])) {
    $table = $_POST['view_category'];
    if ('ViewTheContentsofaTable' == $table) {
        ?>
    <br /><br /><br /><br />
    <font id="title">Please Select a Category</font>
        <?php
    } else {
        $query = "SELECT * FROM $table";
        $result = mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error().'<br />');
        ?>
    <form action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'];?>" method="post" name="tables_themselves">
      <p align="center">
        <br /><br />
        <font id="title"><?php echo $table;?></font>
        <table width="650" CELLSPACING="15">
          <tr><td colspan="7">&nbsp;</td></tr>
          <tr id="headers">
            <td align="center">Number</td>
            <td align="center">Picture</td>
            <td align="center">Thumbnail</td>
            <td align="left">Item</td>
            <td align="center">Description</td>
            <td align="right">Price</td>
            <td align="center">&nbsp;</td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <td colspan="7"><hr /></td>
          </tr>
        <?php
          while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
            $delete = "<a href=?mode=delete&table=\"$table\"&main_id=".$row['Product_Number'].">Delete</a>";
            echo "<tr><td>{$row['Product_Number']}</td><td>{$row['Picture']}</td><td>{$row['Thumbnail']}</td>
            <td>{$row['Item_Name']}</td><td>{$row['Description']}</td><td align=\"right\">\${$row['Price']}</td>
            <td>Edit&nbsp;&nbsp;$delete</td></tr><tr><td colspan=\"7\"><hr /></td></tr>\n";
        }
    }}

echo "</table></form>\n";

if('delete' == $_GET['mode']) { 
    $table=$_GET['table'];
    echo "table: $table<br>"; 

        $deletequery = "DELETE FROM `$table` WHERE Product_Number='{$_GET['main_id']}'";
        $deleteresult = mysql_query($deletequery) or die(mysql_error().'<br />');
        echo "<p align='center'><font id='headers'><br>good job, <a href='showtable.php'>";
        echo "click here to go back</a></font></body></html>";


}


database_disconnect();
?>
  </body>
</html>

examancer

what about this?:

$delete = '<a href="?mode=delete&table=' . $table . '&main_id=' . $row['Product_Number'] . '">Delete</a>';

DKY

still doesnt work. hmmmm

Natty_Dreadlock

what's goin on?? your site seems to work, and the delete works properly.... u forgot to mark the thread as resolved, or what??

TruckStuff

Originally posted by examancer
what about this?:
$delete = '<a href="?mode=delete&table=' . $table . '&main_id=' . $row['Product_Number'] . '">Delete</a>';
[/B]

This is the correct code. But you aren't specifying a target page for your link. You jump immediately to GET variables. 😕

DKY

well, if i dont specify a target for the link, it should take over the window, right? or am i misunderstanding?