passing variables from script to script

vmusic

Hi,
OK... I seen some postings, but they weren't clear and I wasn't certain if this is possible.

I have a script in php that runs. I want this script to redirect the user to another page or script. I can use headers or the meta tag refresh for this.

I would like to pass a variable onto the next script or page (the one I'm redirecting the user to).

So basically I need to pass a variable from on php script to another.

1) I do not want to have the variable in the URL.

2) I do not want to use sockets or code like that

3) I do not want to use javascript

4) I would prefer not to use php sessions.

Isn't there a way to pass arguments to a script or page, like a post ............ but only from one script to another?????????

Please tell me that sessions aren't the absolute only way to preserve a variable between php scripts.....

Thanks,
Vmusic

LordShryku

Well, the other way is kinda a hack, but you could build it into a post form, and instead of using a header redirect , do a
<body onLoad="document.formName.submit();">

But your list of things you won't do rules out most of your options

Weedpacket

Originally posted by LordShryku
Well, the other way is kinda a hack, but you could build it into a post form, and instead of using a header redirect , do a
<body onLoad="document.formName.submit();">

But your list of things you won't do rules out most of your options

Quite: that suggestion is ruled out by (3).

Basically the problem is "I want to pass variables from page to page without passing anything from the page."

LordShryku

Well then, in light of Weedpacket's ruling, you're SOL

Weedpacket

One question I'll ask when looking at (1..4) is "Why not?"

There may be other tricky things one can do (Flash, Java, ActiveX) etc., but really they'll all (a) limit functionality for a noticeable proportion of users, and (b) boil down to something equivalent to (1..4) anyway.

LordShryku

Hey, I just thought of an idea that will cause you to have to code a whole lot of needless lines, but will work in your case. You can write all of your information to an XML file, so none of it actually has to be "passed". Then the really tricky part for you will be to give the files a unique name, and have the scripts know hich name to pull(which may just take you back to having to pass something).

I'm with Weed here. You've really ruled out all of the common ways of passing data. Why?

reisve

Write the variable to a file and get it with the next script

LordShryku

Originally posted by reisve
Write the variable to a file and get it with the next script

And how's the next script supposed to know what file to use?

Weedpacket

Y'see, vmusic, HTTP is a stateless protocol. It doesn't track clients from one request to the next. Client makes a request, server responds, and that's the end of it for both of them. Next time that client makes a request it's a whole new deal. There could easily have been thousands of other requests from other clients in between, and the server isn't going to try tracking all of them on the off-chance that one (or a thousand) of them might make another request at some time in the future.

So what is usually done is that the server sends some data out with its response that the client is supposed to send back when it makes another request. Now it's up to the client to resend that data back to the server so that the server can recognise that this is the same client that made that other request fifteen seconds ago.

Session variables are generally the best method, since all that gets sent back and forth for purposes of identification is a meaningless string of characters. Other methods involve sending the data itself back and forth in some form, and that's a doubled risk because it might be intercepted en route (or the client might be compromised), and because a compromised client (or some malicious/stupid person) might mangle the data.

Session variables by contrast - well, if you mangle the session variable, chances are astronomically unlikely that you'll just happen to concoct an ID that matches a current session, and if the ID is intercepted, it is still only valid for that one session (but there is a link on the PHP manual's session page about Session Fixing that can be worth reading.)

The practical upshot though is still: avoiding those four methods will be more trouble and hassle for everyone than it's worth, and probably pointless anyway.

reisve

Who writes the script will know the file...

writing....
file_put_contents("variable.txt" $var);

reading...
$var = file_get_contents("variable.txt");

However Weedpacket have a point. If anyone else accesses the "reading" script will get that var.

LordShryku

Exactly, multiple people could be using it at the same time. So you can't hard code it. What I would do is append the current time() to it, and pass that fille name through the URL, but that's in his "I don't wanna do this" list.

clandestine555

hm, why not have

<input type='hidden' name='variablename' value='<?php $variablename; ?>'>

sloppy and prone to errors, but sessions are not required, and can be passed from page to page.

Weedpacket

Originally posted by clandestine555
hm, why not have
<input type='hidden' name='variablename' value='<?php $variablename; ?>'>
sloppy and prone to errors, but sessions are not required, and can be passed from page to page. [/B]

A major source of those errors would make it largely unusable: all links would have to be form submissions. And if you're not using Javascript, you don't have onClick handlers.

Of course, being PHP, you could write $variablename into all of the URLs, but that's just LordShryku's (and PHP's fallback) method all over again.

clandestine555

last option: get a better webhost

LordShryku

Originally posted by clandestine555
last option: get a better webhost

I don't think this is a webhost problem. This is a preference problem.