[Resolved] Creating other php files and saving them on a server using php

Brown

Hi everyone...my question is this.....

A client has a website and wants to add a section (Section X)to it through his admin panel.

Once the section is created, he will need to set up a page for it.

Is there anyway that I can use php to have the client, through his admin panel,
1>open a template,
2>modify it to hisneeds,
3> and then name it and save it to a directory on the server so that the new created section(section X) calls this page when on the web site?

Is this even possible?

Any advice would be greatly apreciated ASAP!!!ASAP

epp_b

Yes, this would be entirely possible. I'm not going to write out all the code for you (share concepts, not code, and everyone will learn 😉)

The front-end user process should be something like this:

Direct user to PHP script with a textarea box populated with the default template
Below the template, give a directory tree view of the directory in which the user is allowed to save in using opendir() and readdir() (perhaps have a radio button by each directory name
After user edits template and selects a directory, s/he presses the "Save" button (form submit button)

The back-end process should be something like this (after user submits the form):

Always have a temporary *blank text file on hand
Copy that text file to the directory in which the user chose to save the file using copy() (note: any directories that PHP writes to have to owned by "nobody" or "httpd") and rename it while your at it using the same copy() function.
Using fopen(), fwrite(), and fclose(), write the text that the user edited the template with to the newly copied file

Good luck!

Brown

Hi again -

Fisrt off, thank you very much for the response......

I have 2 related questions

1 - concerning your comment....

Copy that text file to the directory in which the user chose to save the file using copy() (note: any directories that PHP writes to have to owned by "nobody" or "httpd") and rename it while your at it using the same copy() function.

Would I use chmod() in order to have the directory owned by "nobody" or "httpd"?

2 - when using fopen(), should i use absolute paths (i.e http://localhost/folder/file.txt) or should i use a relative path.
I ask this because when i tried to open and copy on localhost from the root folder to a subfolder, i got an error message saying that the file did not have copy permission. So, when i tried to do the same thing but using a relative path to the file (thus eliminating the wrapper [url]http://[/url]) nothing was outputted to the screen . Any thoughts?

THANKS AGAIN

epp_b

Originally posted by Brown
Hi again -

Fisrt off, thank you very much for the response......

I have 2 related questions

1 - concerning your comment....

Copy that text file to the directory in which the user chose to save the file using copy() (note: any directories that PHP writes to have to owned by "nobody" or "httpd") and rename it while your at it using the same copy() function.

Would I use chmod() in order to have the directory owned by "nobody" or "httpd"?

Sorry, I was a little inaccurate. The only file you need to have owned by HTTPD is the text file. A simple text file can either be chowned (*nix command) to HTTPD/Nobody or you can just CHMOD it to 777 (not recommended, but it's a simple text file, so it shouldn't be a big deal).

The use PHP's FTP functions to copy the file from one location on the server to another. This way, you only have to change the permissions of one file (the text file) which you can copy using the FTP functions. You can login to FTP as any user on the server (ie.: the user with FTP permissions to the directory you need to copy the file to)

2 - when using fopen(), should i use absolute paths (i.e http://localhost/folder/file.txt) or should i use a relative path.

You never use absolute/virtual paths for PHP commands that browse the filesystem. Think of it as browsing with the command line or with telnet, you'll never use virtual paths.

Always use relative or physical paths ("relative" being relative to the script in use, "physical" being relative to the server's root)

I ask this because when i tried to open and copy on localhost from the root folder to a subfolder, i got an error message saying that the file did not have copy permission.

You might not have read access permissions to the root folder through that user (HTTPD)