Form validation in php, and email options

shane1090

Hi, once again!

I have just seen a problem i have in one of my scripts which takes data from a form. The user keys in an amount, in numbers, which then gets put into a database.

The only problem i have is that the user can enter in text as well, and an error is given. I have tried using javascript validation, but it still goes and enters all the data into my mysql database anyway! Any help would be appreciated.

I also have a few other questions, one concerning the time() function, and possibly one to do with sql codeing. I have built myself a user messaging system, and when someone sends a message to another person, it enters all the information into a database, with time() as the timestamp. What i can't work out is how to turn this (the number it comes out with) back into a readable date and time. Also with this messaging system, when someone goes to read their messages, it will just display all of them on one page! I was wondering how you could get it to display the first 5 results, then have a link to look at the next 5 etc (i was wondering if this was to do with the SQL code).

The last question is to do with email functions in php. I have a register page which i have built, but i was wondering how i could get the code to email the user with their details, plus a link to activate their account (perhaps someone knows a good tutorial to do with this.)

Thanks for your time,

travelbuff

Hi Shane:

I will try and answer a few of your questions. Since you have so many, I probably won't really explain them thoroughly, but instead point you in the right direction.

Verifying the input is a number: first, set the column type in mysql to integer - http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/Column_types.html and also use pattern matching to make sure there are no alphas. Assuming $foo is the variable do :
if (ereg("^[0-9]+$", $foo)) {
echo "it's an Integer";
} // http://us2.php.net/ereg
Try using the date() function: http://us4.php.net/date()
Try this: http://www.phpfreaks.com/tutorials/43/0.php
Take a look here: http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Tips_and_Tutorials/Email_Systems/index.html

Hope some of this helps!

shane1090

I had a go at the paging on your link, and i can't seem to get it to work, even if i copy and paste all the code on the site. It will print all the information from the database, but then the links don't work. Could this be a problem with my version of PHP? i.e older or newer version.

Code is below:

<?php 
$localhost = "localhost";
$user = "root";
$password = "";
$database = "london";
$refresh = $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'];
@mysql_connect($localhost, $user, $password) or die("ERROR--CAN'T CONNECT TO SERVER"); 
@mysql_select_db($database) or die("ERROR--CAN'T CONNECT TO DB"); 

$limit = 5; 
$query_count = "SELECT * FROM cars"; 
$result_count = mysql_query($query_count); 
$totalrows = mysql_num_rows($result_count); 


$page = $_GET['page'];

if(empty($page)){ 
$page = 1; 
} else {
$page = $_GET['page'];
}


$limitvalue = $page * $limit - ($limit); 
$query = "SELECT * FROM cars LIMIT $limitvalue, $limit"; 
$result = mysql_query($query) or die("Error: " . mysql_error()); 

if(mysql_num_rows($result) == 0){ 
echo("Nothing to Display!"); 
} 

$bgcolor = "#E0E0E0"; // light gray 

echo("<table>"); 

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)){ 
if ($bgcolor == "#E0E0E0"){ 
$bgcolor = "#FFFFFF"; 
}else{ 
$bgcolor = "#E0E0E0"; 
} 

echo("<tr bgcolor=".$bgcolor."><td>"); 
echo($row["name"]); 
echo("</td><td>"); 
echo($row["price"]); 
echo("</td></tr>"); 
} 

echo("</table>"); 

if($page != 1){ 
$pageprev = $page--;

echo("<a href=\"$refresh?page=$pageprev\">PREV".$limit."</a>&nbsp;"); 
}else{ 
echo("PREV".$limit."&nbsp;"); 
} 

$numofpages = $totalrows / $limit; 

for($i = 1; $i <= $numofpages; $i++){ 
if($i == $page){ 
echo($i."&nbsp;"); 
}else{ 
echo("<a href=\"$refresh?page=$i\">$i</a>&nbsp;"); 
} 
} 


if(($totalrows % $limit) != 0){ 
if($i == $page){ 
echo($i."&nbsp;"); 
}else{ 
echo("<a href=\"$refresh?page=$i\">$i</a>&nbsp;"); 
} 
} 

if(($totalrows - ($limit * $page)) > 0){ 
$pagenext = $page++; 

echo("<a href=\"$refresh?page=$pagenext\">NEXT".$limit."</a>"); 
}else{ 
echo("NEXT".$limit); 
} 

mysql_free_result($result); 

?>