Very newbie Q about url codes

[mabmichael]

I have made my first php pages

I coded a table with three rows
top row= <?php include ("header.htm"); ?>
middle = <?php include ("home.htm"); ?>
bottom= <?php include ("header.htm"); ?>

for the next page it is
top row= <?php include ("header.htm"); ?>
middle = <?php include ("links.htm"); ?>
bottom= <?php include ("header.htm"); ?>

Can I make 1 page like
top row= <?php include ("header.htm"); ?>
middle = <?php include VARIABLE_HERE?>
bottom= <?php include ("header.htm"); ?>

and just say www.foo.com/index.php?variablehere=home

or something like that?

Thanks for any advise

[laserlight]

yes, you can do that.

there might be potential security problems though, so it might be better if you checked that the incoming variable was valid first.

[mabmichael]

Thanks for the quick response!!!!!🆒

Possibly a small example to start me on the road??

[LordShryku]

yep. real easy

//page.php
if($_GET['var'] == "home") {
    include 'home.htm';
}
// to default to links.htm, just use else.
// to make it explicit, use elseif
elseif($_GET['var'] == "links") { 
    include 'links.htm';
}

Then to call them, use page.php?var=links or page.php?var=home

[mabmichael]

You guys Rock!

This should give me enough to start playing!
Thanks!

[laserlight]

actually, more common would be to use a switch statement, or to check if the given value exists in an array.

switch ($_GET['var']) {
case 'home':
	include 'home.htm';
	break;
case 'links':
	include 'links.htm';
	break;
default:
	include 'error.htm';
}

//or

$valid_pages = array('home', 'links');
if (in_array($_GET['var'], $valid_pages)) {
	include $_GET['var'] . '.htm';
}
else {
	include 'error.htm';
}

[LordShryku]

Well, switch statements are usually used when there are more than two variables to check for, but everyone has their own style, so all answers provided will suffice.

[mabmichael]

Tried them all 😃

They work fine!

Next Q: lets assume NO variable is passed, then I want to default to home, but if a WRONG variable is passed give the error.

??

[laserlight]

You need to make an extra check to see if the variable if defined:

if (isset($_GET['var'])) {
	switch ($_GET['var']) {
	case 'home':
	    include 'home.htm';
	    break;
	case 'links':
	    include 'links.htm';
	    break;
	default:
	    include 'error.htm';
	} 
}
else {
	include 'home.htm';
}

[mabmichael]

OK Lesson 1 down!🆒

Next question!
I have a menu with a set of links
ex

I want for when they click
www.foo.com/page.php?bar=bob
to display ex <?php include "bob.jpg"; ?>
and <?php include "bob.txt"; ?>
OR

www.foo.com/page.php?bar=tom

to display ex <?php include "tom.jpg"; ?>
and <?php include "tom.txt"; ?>

how do I concatonate the Variable BAR passed into the url with the file extensions in the include statement??

[LordShryku]

<? 
include $_GET['bar'].".extension";
?>

[mabmichael]

Sheesh!
that seems logical!:o

BTW The reponse time here is INCREDIBLE! :eek:

Thanks again for the fast reply!

[LordShryku]

We have no lives. Well, can't speak for anyone else. I have no life 😃

[laserlight]

actually, if you had read my code more closely, you would have found your answer since I already used it.

Yeah, we have no lives :p

[mabmichael]

Yep :o
see that now in the "array" example.

This is gonna make my page MUCH easier to make! 🙂