Help with function

[kilbey1]

I am trying to understand functions. I am really having a rough time of it; to write one function took me 7 hours yesterday!

I have managed to create a function that calls a query from a database, then hyperlinks it - the start of a menu heirarchy. But then I want to determine what the TOP heirarchy is, then drill down based on this. My structure thus far:

function navigation1($sectionid) {
	$sql = "select * from navigation WHERE id = '".$sectionid."' AND active='y'";
	$result = mysql_query($sql)
	or die("Invalid query: " . mysql_error());
	$row=mysql_fetch_array($result);
	$title = '<a href="'.$row['path'].'">'.$row['title'].'</a>';
	//$title = $row['path']." ".$row['title'];
	return $title;
}

This works. I have then added this to another function I've set up:

function head($szTitle='',$szSectionid='0') {
$szSectionid = navigation1('2');

...and when I call it later on in the page like below, I get a nice hyperlinked category.

 echo "  ".$szSectionid;

I determine what category to pull back from the page I'm including, ie. deliverymodels.php:

head('Delivery Models','2');

So, delivery models is ID 2. From here, I'm going to want to find anything that has a parent of 2 in my database.

Now I'm lost! 🙂 Am I anywhere near accomplishing what I need in the code below?

function navigation1($sectionid) {
	$sql = "select * from navigation WHERE id = '".$sectionid."' AND active='y'";
	$result = mysql_query($sql)
	or die("Invalid query: " . mysql_error());
	$row=mysql_fetch_array($result);
	$title = '<a href="'.$row['path'].'">'.$row['title'].'</a>';
	//$title = $row['path']." ".$row['title'];
	return $title;

if($row['parent'] = '0') {
exit;
} else {
	//now create this function to call the sub-levels of the menus
	function navigation2($sectionid) {
		$sql = "select * from navigation WHERE id = '".$sectionid."' AND active='y' AND parent='$parent'";
		$result = mysql_query($sql)
		or die("Invalid query: " . mysql_error());
		$row=mysql_fetch_array($result);
		$title = '<a href="'.$row['path'].'">'.$row['title'].'</a>';
		//$title = $row['path']." ".$row['title'];
		return $title;
	} // end navigation2 function
} //end if statement	
}

[Erkilite]

your best bet is to use recursion (a function that calls itself). although this might not be easy if you are just learning functions.

in sort-of code:

make_menu(0); //start with parent id=0. aka no parent.

function make_menu($parentid){

  query='SELECT * FROM menu WHERE parentid=$parentid;';

  if(mysql_query($query,$link)){
    while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result,MYSQL_ASSOC)){
      make_menu($row['id']); //now find all items who have this item as a parent
    }
  }

}

this function will loop through all the items in the database starting with those who have a parent id of 0(aka no parent).

then it will take each item it found with a parent id of zero, and look for any items that have that as a parent.

the function keeps calling itself until it runs out of results.

you might be able to use this as a model for what you need to do.

if you are interested i have a much more complex function that i used to create a menu for a site i designed.

[kilbey1]

Yeah, I'd be interested, for sure.

:sigh: My boss decided that he wants something like the following:
http://www.dc.com/AboutUs/index.asp

They're using a different technology, but I'm sure this can be done in PHP.

I see where you're going with the code. I am thinking, to do it like the above example, I'll need to indicate exactly what section page a user is on, and a sub-id if it's a sub-section of that id.

So, for example, we have:

• Section 1 (id 1 in db)

• Subsection 1 (id 2)

• Section 2 (id 3)

• Subsection 1 (id 4)

• Subsection 1 (id 5)

• Subsection 2 (id 6)

If we are on Section 1 page - list the SECTION 1 as the header and subsections underneath. However, if we are on Section 2/Subsection 1 page, check for any further drill downs, and display them.

So I was thinking...
menu(4);
...where 4 is the page we are on, but work backwards if an parent exists.

[Erkilite]

two classes

1. menu_item - this is an actual menu item. it hold the menu id, parent id, a title for display, a url, and a link to any sub menus.

2. main_menu - this class will populate the menu arrays and create html output.

useage:
$tmpmenu = new main_menu();
$tmpmenu->cat_id=$_GET['cat_id'];
$tmpmenu->display_menu($dblink);

you will need to modify get_children() to match your db.

also you can change line 22 to match your links on your page.

you can modify lines 97,99 to change how the menu will look(html).

<?php

class main_menu{
	var $menu;
	var $track;
	var $cat_id;

function main_menu(){
	$this->menu=array();
	$this->track=array();
	$this->cat_id=NULL;
}

//this function loops through all of the children of the menu
function get_children($dblink, $value, &$level, &$tmpmenu){
	$query = 'SELECT * FROM menu WHERE parentid=\''.$value.'\' AND active=1 ORDER BY title;';
	if($result=mysql_query($query,$dblink)){
		$level++;
		if(mysql_num_rows($result)>0){
			$i=0;
			while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result,MYSQL_ASSOC)){
				$tmpmenu->sub_menu[$i]=new menu_item($row['title'],'category.php?cat_id='.$row['id'],$row['id'],$row['parentid']); //make sure to change this line to match you links.
				$this->get_children($dblink,$row['id'],$level,$tmpmenu->sub_menu[$i]);
				$i++;
			}
			$level--;
			return 1;
		} else {
			$level--;
			return 0;
		}
	}		
	return 0;
}

//print out the menu for testing
function print_menu($tmpmenu,&$level){
	$level++;
	for($i=0; $i<count($tmpmenu); $i++){
		echo str_repeat('&bull;',$level).$i.':title:'.$tmpmenu[$i]->title.' (url:'.$tmpmenu[$i]->url.')<br />';
		$this->print_menu($tmpmenu[$i]->sub_menu,$level);
	}
	$level--;
	return;
}

function display_menu($dblink){
	//init and build the menu from the category db
	$level=0;
	$this->menu[0]=new menu_item('Products','category.php',0,0);
	$this->get_children($dblink,0,$level,$this->menu[0]);

	//determine the position of the currently selected menu item
	$level=0;
	$this->get_menu_track($this->menu[0]->sub_menu,$level);

	//create an html version of the menu for output
	$field='';
	$level=0;
	$this->prepare_menu($this->menu[0]->sub_menu,$level,$field);

	return $field;
}

//this function loops through the menu looking to see what is the currently selected item, based on this->cat_id.
function get_menu_track($tmpmenu,&$level){
	$level++;
	for($i=0; $i<count($tmpmenu); $i++){
		if($this->cat_id==$tmpmenu[$i]->id){
			$this->track[$level]['menu_pos']=$i;
			$this->track[$level]['id']=$tmpmenu[$i]->id;
			$this->track[$level]['title']=$tmpmenu[$i]->title;
			$this->track[$level]['url']=$tmpmenu[$i]->url;
			$level--;
			return true;
		} else {
			if($this->get_menu_track($tmpmenu[$i]->sub_menu,$level)==true){
				$this->track[$level]['menu_pos']=$i;
				$this->track[$level]['id']=$tmpmenu[$i]->id;
				$this->track[$level]['title']=$tmpmenu[$i]->title;
				$this->track[$level]['url']=$tmpmenu[$i]->url;
				$level--;
				return true;
			}
		}
	}
	$level--;
	return false;
}

//loops through all the menu items and adds html formatting to make them look nice.
function prepare_menu($tmpmenu,&$level,&$field){
	$level++;
	for($i=0; $i<count($tmpmenu); $i++){
		if($tmpmenu[$i]->id==$this->cat_id){
			//this is the currently selected menu item, you can change this to not be a link
			$field.=str_repeat('&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;',($level-1)).'&bull;&nbsp;<a href="'.$tmpmenu[$i]->url.'">'.$tmpmenu[$i]->title.'</a><br />';
		} else{
			$field.=str_repeat('&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;',($level-1)).'&bull;&nbsp;<a href="'.$tmpmenu[$i]->url.'">'.$tmpmenu[$i]->title.'</a><br />';
		}
		if(isset($this->track[$level]['menu_pos']) && $this->track[$level]['menu_pos']==$i){
			$this->prepare_menu($tmpmenu[$i]->sub_menu,$level,$field);
		}
	}
	$level--;
	return;
}
}

class menu_item{

var $id;
var $parent_id;
var $title;
var $url;
var $sub_menu;

function menu_item($tmptitle,$tmplink,$tmpid,$tmpparent_id){
	$this->id=$tmpid;
	$this->parent_id=$tmpparent_id;
	$this->title=$tmptitle;
	$this->url=$tmplink;
	$this->sub_menu=array();
}

}

?>

[kilbey1]

Alrighty. I've started to implement this. I get the following:

Notice: Undefined index: cat_id in C:\xitami\webpages\wow-erp\index1.php on line 11

Edit: I've silenced that for now by changing error reporting.

Btw, don't know if you require this, but printing out the array looks like it's functioning:

main_menu Object ( [menu] => Array ( [0] => menu_item Object ( [id] => 0 [parent_id] => 0 [title] => Products [url] => category.php [sub_menu] => Array ( [0] => menu_item Object ( [id] => 2 [parent_id] => 0 [title] => Delivery Models [url] => category.php?cat_id=2 [sub_menu] => Array ( [0] => menu_item Object ( [id] => 7 [parent_id] => 2 [title] => Offshore [url] => category.php?cat_id=7 [sub_menu] => Array ( ) ) [1] => menu_item Object ( [id] => 6 [parent_id] => 2 [title] => Offsite [url] => category.php?cat_id=6 [sub_menu] => Array ( ) ) [2] => menu_item Object ( [id] => 5 [parent_id] => 2 [title] => Onsite [url] => category.php?cat_id=5 [sub_menu] => Array ( ) ) ) ) [1] => menu_item Object ( [id] => 4 [parent_id] => 0 [title] => ERP Jobs Portal [url] => category.php?cat_id=4 [sub_menu] => Array ( ) ) [2] => menu_item Object ( [id] => 1 [parent_id] => 0 [title] => ERP Services [url] => category.php?cat_id=1 [sub_menu] => Array ( ) ) [3] => menu_item Object ( [id] => 3 [parent_id] => 0 [title] => Our Clients [url] => category.php?cat_id=3 [sub_menu] => Array ( ) ) ) ) ) [track] => Array ( ) [cat_id] => )

Also, I'm not actually seeing a menu display. I tried echoing out $tmpmenu, and it comes back as "Object".

Finally, I am noticing that links will appear based on id, ie. category.php?cat_id=(whatever). I have in my DB a field called 'path' which has, well, a 'path' listed here, so I can have files either alone or in a directory. Can this be pulled back instead by calling $row['path'], or does this require tweaking the function?

• Eve

[Erkilite]

use this to display the menu.

echo $tmpmenu->display_menu($dblink);

to change the way the pages are linked. look for this line of code

$tmpmenu->sub_menu[$i]=new menu_item($row['title'],'category.php?cat_id='.$row['id'],$row['id'],$row['parentid']); //make sure to change this line to match you links.

match this with the function in menu_item, the second parameter int he function is the url, change this to what ever you want to change the link.

as far as 'undefined index', not sure, post your code if you want i will take a look.

[kilbey1]

Well, I had this working, but I think I'm goofed something up, so much so that now nothing shows up. :sigh:

Here's the code for the pages affected. See what you can dig up.

menu.php:

<?php 
//local connection
$dblink= mysql_connect("localhost", "username", "password")
   or die("Could not connect: " . mysql_error());
mysql_select_db("database",$dblink);

class main_menu{ 
    var $menu; 
    var $track; 
    var $cat_id; 

function main_menu(){ 
    $this->menu=array(); 
    $this->track=array(); 
    $this->cat_id=NULL; 
} 

//this function loops through all of the children of the menu 
function get_children($dblink, $value, &$level, &$tmpmenu){ 
    $query = "SELECT * FROM navigation WHERE parent='".$value."' AND active=y ORDER BY title;"; 
    if($result=mysql_query($query,$dblink)){ 
        $level++; 
        if(mysql_num_rows($result)>0){ 
            $i=0; 
            while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result,MYSQL_ASSOC)){ 
                $tmpmenu->sub_menu[$i]=new menu_item($row['title'],$row['path'],$row['id'],$row['parent']); //make sure to change this line to match you links. 
                $this->get_children($dblink,$row['id'],$level,$tmpmenu->sub_menu[$i]); 
                $i++; 
            } 
            $level--; 
            return 1; 
        } else { 
            $level--; 
            return 0; 
        } 
    }         
    return 0; 
} 

//print out the menu for testing 
function print_menu($tmpmenu,&$level){ 
    $level++; 
    for($i=0; $i<count($tmpmenu); $i++){ 
        echo str_repeat('&bull;',$level).$i.':title:'.$tmpmenu[$i]->title.' (url:'.$tmpmenu[$i]->url.')<br />'; 
        $this->print_menu($tmpmenu[$i]->sub_menu,$level); 
    } 
    $level--; 
    return; 
} 

function display_menu($dblink){ 
    //init and build the menu from the category db 
    $level=0; 
    $this->menu[0]=new menu_item('Products','category.php',0,0); 
    $this->get_children($dblink,0,$level,$this->menu[0]); 

    //determine the position of the currently selected menu item 
    $level=0; 
    $this->get_menu_track($this->menu[0]->sub_menu,$level); 

    //create an html version of the menu for output 
    $field=''; 
    $level=0; 
    $this->prepare_menu($this->menu[0]->sub_menu,$level,$field); 

    return $field; 
} 

//this function loops through the menu looking to see what is the currently selected item, based on this->cat_id. 
function get_menu_track($tmpmenu,&$level){ 
    $level++; 
    for($i=0; $i<count($tmpmenu); $i++){ 
        if($this->cat_id==$tmpmenu[$i]->id){ 
            $this->track[$level]['menu_pos']=$i; 
            $this->track[$level]['id']=$tmpmenu[$i]->id; 
            $this->track[$level]['title']=$tmpmenu[$i]->title; 
            $this->track[$level]['url']=$tmpmenu[$i]->url; 
            $level--; 
            return true; 
        } else { 
            if($this->get_menu_track($tmpmenu[$i]->sub_menu,$level)==true){ 
                $this->track[$level]['menu_pos']=$i; 
                $this->track[$level]['id']=$tmpmenu[$i]->id; 
                $this->track[$level]['title']=$tmpmenu[$i]->title; 
                $this->track[$level]['url']=$tmpmenu[$i]->url; 
                $level--; 
                return true; 
            } 
        } 
    } 
    $level--; 
    return false; 
} 

//loops through all the menu items and adds html formatting to make them look nice. 
function prepare_menu($tmpmenu,&$level,&$field){ 
    $level++; 
    for($i=0; $i<count($tmpmenu); $i++){ 
        if($tmpmenu[$i]->id==$this->cat_id){ 
            //this is the currently selected menu item, you can change this to not be a link 
            $field.=str_repeat('&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;',($level-1)).'&bull;&nbsp;<a href="'.$tmpmenu[$i]->url.'">'.$tmpmenu[$i]->title.'</a><br />'; 
        } else{ 
            $field.=str_repeat('&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;',($level-1)).'&bull;&nbsp;<a href="'.$tmpmenu[$i]->url.'">'.$tmpmenu[$i]->title.'</a><br />'; 
        } 
        if(isset($this->track[$level]['menu_pos']) && $this->track[$level]['menu_pos']==$i){ 
            $this->prepare_menu($tmpmenu[$i]->sub_menu,$level,$field); 
        } 
    } 
    $level--; 
    return; 
} 
} 

class menu_item{ 

var $id; 
var $parent; 
var $title; 
var $url; 
var $sub_menu; 

function  menu_item($tmptitle,$tmplink,$tmpid,$tmpparent_id)
{ 
        $this->id=$tmpid; 
        $this->parent=$tmpparent_id; 
        $this->title=$tmptitle; 
        $this->url=$tmplink; 
        $this->sub_menu=array(); 
    } 

} 

?>

left_column_content.php (where menu will display):

<?php
//error_reporting(E_ALL ^ E_NOTICE);
include('includes/menu.php');
$tmpmenu = new main_menu(); 
$tmpmenu->cat_id=$_GET['cat_id']; 
//$tmpmenu->display_menu($dblink); 

?>
<BR>
<table width="144" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
        <tr valign="bottom">
          <td width="144" colspan="3"><img src="images/tableleft_top.jpg" width="144" height="9"></td>
        </tr>
        <tr valign="top">
          <td width="1" background="images/pixel_gray.jpg"><img src="images/pixel_gray.jpg" width="1" height="1"></td>
          <td width="142"><table width="140" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
            <tr>
              <td align="center" class="style3">                <div align="center"></div>                <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
                <tr>
                  <td>
                    <div align="center">Case Studies<br>                    

                      <br>
Brochure<br>
<br>
Search
	              </div></td>
                </tr>
                                </table></td>
            </tr>
          </table></td>
          <td width="1" background="images/pixel_gray.jpg"><img src="images/pixel_gray.jpg" width="1" height="1"></td>
        </tr>
        <tr valign="top">
          <td colspan="3" width="144"><img src="images/tableleft_bottom.jpg"></td>
        </tr>
</table>
<BR>
<table width="95%"  border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
  <tr>
    <td>
	<?php
print_r($tmpmenu);
echo $tmpmenu->display_menu($dblink); 
?>
	</td>
  </tr>
</table>

index1.php (a sample page for test purposes):

<?php
include('display.php'); 
head();
?>
<table width="562" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
  <tr>
    <td><img src="images/main.gif" width="563" height="249"></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<? horizontal(); ?>
<br>
<table width="100%"  border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
  <tr>
    <td valign="top"><div align="center">
	<?php include "tinytable_main1.php"; ?>
      </div></td>
    <td valign="top"><div align="center">
	<?php include "tinytable_main2.php"; ?>
      </div></td>
    <td valign="top"><div align="center">
      <?php include "tinytable_main3.php"; ?>
	  </div></td>
    <td valign="top"><div align="center">
      <?php include "tinytable_main4.php"; ?>
	  </div></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<br>

<?php
foot();
?>

[Erkilite]

at the top of your left column file use this...

$tmpmenu = new main_menu();  

if(isset($_GET['cat_id'])){
	$tmpmenu->cat_id=$_GET['cat_id'];  

} else {
	$tmpmenu->cat_id=0;
}

i tested this a it works fine on mine. (i switched it to my db).

remove the 'print_r($tmpmenu);'

'echo $tmpmenu->display_menu($dblink);'

should be all you need.

[kilbey1]

It must be something somewhere. It was working beautifully, now I get no output to the screen. When I print out the arrray, I do not get my results, just:

main_menu Object ( [menu] => Array ( ) [track] => Array ( ) [cat_id] => 0 )

What would cause an empty array? I haven't changed anything on my system, and it's occuring at both the local level and on the remote host as well.

Would it help if I post the latest code?