Selectable JPG/GIF

madivad

I want to automate my gfx in my site, but I don't want to have to use php within my page to use it. To explain this simply, I want to call a gfx file, and somehow the returned gfx is dependant on the time.

An example of what I mean is the following gfx:

Everytime the page is refreshed the gfx changes. I want mine to be similar, but it is going to be dependant on time only.

Any ideas???

Weedpacket

I'm confused: if you don't want to use PHP, why are you asking in a PHP forum?

madivad

Hello confused 😉

Well, I'm in PHP because at the end of the day, I know there's going to be PHP involved (and as a newbie to PHP - I quite like what I see)

But did you look at the example above??? Well, did you?

I'll explain it a little better - just for you 😃

If you click on the link (which is a link to a JPG) it loads a graphic dependant on your OS and browser. I want to do a similar thing. If someone calls a graphic called HELLO.JPG from my site, I want it to have "Good Morning" Good Afternoon" or whatever in it. Maybe include their IP, just for good measure.

It has to be "on-the-fly" just like the above example.

So now that I've cleared that up for you - do you have any ideas (or did you just want to ask that!) :⁾

ciao

Weedpacket

Oh yes, it's easy enough; but any solution I give here would have been in PHP, and you said you didn't want to have to use that.

You'd get your server to rewrite requests for the jpeg file into a request for a PHP script (that depends on how what server you're using and how flexible it is).

That script looks to see what the time is, looks up a table of which images to display at which times (and what that means only you can say), and [man]readfile[/man] the appropriate image (after sending an appropriate Content-Type: header so that the browser knows what to do with it).

That's one solution. Not necessarily the best, but I didn't think about it too hard.

madivad

Ahhh, now that kinda figures. I knew that in the end I'd be doing it with PHP. I figured it would be something like that.

SO how do I get the server to say: "Hey, no, you don't REALLY want this JPG, you want to run my script that pics the graphic for you.

I have an idea about sending the content back (using the headers and content type etc etc), but how do I get the server to do the initial swapping (so to speak).

Once again, ideas are much appreciated.

Weedpacket

Well, as I said, it depends on your web server. With Apache I think the simplest approach would be a Redirect rule in .htaccess that would replace http://www.example.com/image.jpg with http://www.example.com/image.php.

Again for Apache; see also mod_alias and mod_rewrite.

madivad

Well, time for bed now 😉 But I'll look into it tomorrow. Thanks.