My Code Doesn't Work anymore!

reub77

I haven't been keeping up with what's acceptable in the latest versions of php and so an old message board I built is no longer working. I'm getting a

"Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/famsaga/domains/thefamilysaga.com/public_html/messageboard1.php on line 127"

Here's the code, please help:

<?
//Connecting to messageBoard01
$dbh=mysql_connect ("localhost", "######", "#####") or die ('I cannot connect to the database.');
mysql_select_db ("######");
?>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Message Board</TITLE>
<!-- ImageReady Preload Script (template.psd) -->
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!--

function newImage(arg) {
	if (document.images) {
		rslt = new Image();
		rslt.src = arg;
		return rslt;
	}
}

function changeImages() {
	if (document.images && (preloadFlag == true)) {
		for (var i=0; i<changeImages.arguments.length; i+=2) {
			document[changeImages.arguments[i]].src = changeImages.arguments[i+1];
		}
	}
}

var preloadFlag = false;
function preloadImages() {
	if (document.images) {
		gameSchedule_over = newImage("images/gameSchedule-over.gif");
		PlayerStats_over = newImage("images/PlayerStats-over.gif");
		TeamStats_over = newImage("images/TeamStats-over.gif");
		ExhStats_over = newImage("images/ExhStats-over.gif");
		MessageBoard_over = newImage("images/MessageBoard-over.gif");
		NewsRoom_over = newImage("images/NewsRoom-over.gif");
		ChatRoom_over = newImage("images/ChatRoom-over.gif");
		links_over = newImage("images/links-over.gif");
		preloadFlag = true;
	}
}

// -->
</SCRIPT>
<!-- End Preload Script -->
</HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR=#000000 ONLOAD="preloadImages();" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0">
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="800" align="center" height="100%">
  <tr valign="bottom"> 
    <td colspan="2" height="96"><img src="images/top_header2.gif" width=801 height=96></td>
  </tr>
  <tr> 
    <td background="images/bottom_nav2.gif" valign="top" height="486"> 
      <table width=176 border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0  height="486">
        <tr valign="top"> 
          <td colspan=3 height="34"><img src="images/top_nav2.gif" width=176 height=34></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td width="19" height="452" valign="top" align="left"> <img src="images/left_nav.gif" width=19 height=452></td>
          <td width="118" height="452" valign="top" align="left"> 
            <p><a href="schedule.php"
				onMouseOver="changeImages('gameSchedule', 'images/gameSchedule-over.gif'); return true;"
				onMouseOut="changeImages('gameSchedule', 'images/gameSchedule.gif'); return true;"><img name="gameSchedule" src="images/gameSchedule.gif" width=118 height=16 border=0><br>
              </a><a href="playerStats.php"
				onMouseOver="changeImages('PlayerStats', 'images/PlayerStats-over.gif'); return true;"
				onMouseOut="changeImages('PlayerStats', 'images/PlayerStats.gif'); return true;"><img name="PlayerStats" src="images/PlayerStats.gif" width=118 height=16 border=0><br>
              </a><a href="teamStats.php"
				onMouseOver="changeImages('TeamStats', 'images/TeamStats-over.gif'); return true;"
				onMouseOut="changeImages('TeamStats', 'images/TeamStats.gif'); return true;"><img name="TeamStats" src="images/TeamStats.gif" width=118 height=16 border=0><br>
              </a><a href="exhStats.php"
				onMouseOver="changeImages('ExhStats', 'images/ExhStats-over.gif'); return true;"
				onMouseOut="changeImages('ExhStats', 'images/ExhStats.gif'); return true;"><img name="ExhStats" src="images/ExhStats.gif" width=118 height=16 border=0><br>
              </a><a href="messageBoard.php"
				onMouseOver="changeImages('MessageBoard', 'images/MessageBoard-over.gif'); return true;"
				onMouseOut="changeImages('MessageBoard', 'images/MessageBoard.gif'); return true;"><img name="MessageBoard" src="images/MessageBoard.gif" width=118 height=16 border=0><br>
              </a><a href="newsRoom.php"
				onMouseOver="changeImages('NewsRoom', 'images/NewsRoom-over.gif'); return true;"
				onMouseOut="changeImages('NewsRoom', 'images/NewsRoom.gif'); return true;"><img name="NewsRoom" src="images/NewsRoom.gif" width=118 height=16 border=0><br>
              </a><a href="chatRoom.php"
				onMouseOver="changeImages('ChatRoom', 'images/ChatRoom-over.gif'); return true;"
				onMouseOut="changeImages('ChatRoom', 'images/ChatRoom.gif'); return true;"><img name="ChatRoom" src="images/ChatRoom.gif" width=118 height=16 border=0><br>
              </a><a href="links.php"
				onMouseOver="changeImages('links', 'images/links-over.gif'); return true;"
				onMouseOut="changeImages('links', 'images/links.gif'); return true;"><img name="links" src="images/links.gif" width=118 height=16 border=0><br>
              </a><img src="images/chief_nav.gif" width=118 height=324></p>
          </td>
          <td width="39" height="452" valign="top" align="left"> <img src="images/right_nav.gif" width=39 height=452></td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </td>
    <td width="631" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top"> 
      <table width=625 border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0  height="100%">
        <tr> 
          <td rowspan=11 bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top"> 
            <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="624">
              <tr> 
                <td valign="top"> 
                  <p><img src="images/messageBoardBanner.jpg" width="335" height="55"></p>
        <p align="left">
		<form name='submitMess' method='post' action='messageboard1.php'>
		  <font color='#003399' size='2' face='Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif'><font color='#003399'>
		  Name:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<input type="text" name="Name"><br>
		  <input type="hidden" name="Date" value="<?echo date('Y-m-d');?>">        

          <input type="hidden" name="Time" value="<?echo date('H:i'); ?>">  	
		  Message:</font><TEXTAREA NAME="Message" COLS=35 ROWS=3 ></TEXTAREA><br><br>
		  <INPUT TYPE='submit' name='messSubmit' VALUE='Submit Message' STYLE='font-family:Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif; font-size:x-small; font-style:regular; background:#003399 none; color:#FFFFFF; width:10em'>	  

		</form>
		<HR>
		<p align='center'>
<?
if ($messSubmit){
     //declare query
    $query = 'INSERT INTO messageboard (name,date,time,message) VALUES ("'.$Name.'","'.$Date.'","'.$Time.'","'.$Message.'")';

//execute query
$result = mysql_query($query);
echo "<FONT color='#ff0000'>Message added successfully</font>";
}
//declare query
$query = "Select * From messageboard order by date DESC, time DESC";
//execute query
$result = mysql_query($query);
$x = 0;
print"<table width='80%'>";
print "<tr><th bgcolor='#003399'><div align='left'><font color='#FFFFFF' size='2' face='Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif'>Message Board</font></div></th></tr>";
while ($x < mysql_num_rows($result)) :
   $id = mysql_result($result, $x, 'messageID');
   $Name = mysql_result($result, $x, 'name');
   $Date = mysql_result($result, $x, 'date');
   $Time = mysql_result($result, $x, 'time');
   $Message = mysql_result($result, $x, 'message');

   //A test to see if the counting number is even or odd 
   $string = $x % 2;
   if ($string == 0){
      $color="#FFFFFF";
   }else{
      $color="#C9D4E9";
   }
   print"<tr bgcolor='$color'>";
   print "<td><b><font color='#000000' size='2' face='Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif'><font color='#003399'>$Name&nbsp;($Date&nbsp;$Time)</font></b><br>$Message</font></td>";
   print "</tr>";
   $x++;
endwhile;
print "</table>";
mysql_close();
?>
		  <br><br>
  <font face="Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif" size="2" color="#003399">Webmaster: 
        <a href="########">#########</a></font></p>
      </div>
                </td>
              </tr>
            </table>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
    </td>
  </tr>
</table>
</BODY>
</HTML>

olaf

Place an echo before the sql-string to notice if a statement is empty or not complete.

reub77

I tried out what you said and the form is sending the elements successfully but thye queries aren't writing to the database.

The error appears when I go to the page, not when I submit the form. So I think my PHP is out of date. It used to work the exact way that it is on a different server.

rachel2004

Can you point to where line 127 is in the code you posted? Also, it helps if you list what version of PHP you were running previously and what the current version is. Then someone can spot your problem areas for you.

luke9_20

//declare query
$query = "Select * From messageboard order by date DESC, time DESC";
//execute query
$result = mysql_query($query);
$x = 0;
print"<table width='80%'>";
print "<tr><th bgcolor='#003399'><div align='left'><font color='#FFFFFF' size='2' face='Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, san-serif'>Message Board</font></div></th></tr>";
while ($x < mysql_num_rows($result)) :

Sounds like something is wrong with your query here, but it looks ok. Maybe something is wrong with the database? Try this:

if (@mysql_query("SELECT * FROM messageboard LIMIT 1")) {
  echo "Connection successful.";
} else {
  echo "ERROR: Connection failed.";
}

olaf

The problem is that the variable is empty before the form is submitted. And that's why you get the error.

luke9_20

No... he said he gets the error when he first goes to the page, NOT after he submits it. Also, saying "the variable" isn't specific at all and really isnt going to help anyone.

olaf

Also, saying "the variable" isn't specific at all and really isnt going to help anyone.

he did not tell exactly what is the error ...🙂

i think the script stops the first time here:

if ($messSubmit){

This asking for : if variable = true
it have to be:

if (isset($messSubmit)){

luke9_20

No... You're taking this completely off track. That small if statement is just checking to see if the form was submitted - which it WASN'T - so it is overlooked. In his code there is a TEXTAREA named 'messSubmit', if messSubmit has any value in it, then it just runs that if statement and writes the submitted data to the database, BUT since it DOESN'T have any value set to it, PHP just skips it.... that's not what's wrong. The error statement given at the beginning tells you what's wrong, the mysql call to get the number of rows isn't working - that alone has nothing to do with that if statement either. This is where he's getting the error:

mysql_num_rows($result)

So somewhere in his query string is his error, or what I think, is something happened to his database because his code hasn't changed - that's why I told him to do a simple check to connect to the database and attempt to pull one row. If it returns with the error statement, then his database is messed up, if it returns without the error then it's something else. But messSubmit is not related to this problem.

olaf

Try the same if statement with error_all and you get a warning (this is why he think that he vae to update php because some error reporting variable is changed)

But maybe its better we wait till he can test something...with our tips

reub77

I'm not too sure as to what PHP version I was using before. It was with a different web host than I'm using now. Maybe it's just the new host.

Is it possible that they've set their PHP to be be very strict? And maybe my previous server was more transitional? I don't know, as I said this code is the exact code I had working previously.

I also said that the problem is something to with the "mysql_num_rows" I used. That is on line 127 by the way. I've tested the form (while the page was displaying the error even) and it wrote to the screen as I had specified it to, and it did. My database is set up correctly, it has the same named fields as I had previously, it's empty as I'm just adding this guestbook feature to new website. That shouldn't be a factor though I would think.

Is there a more effective way to pull all the data from my database and apply them to variables? Or is there some way to better check for an empty database? And then fail and show nothing? It's obviously not failing well as it is. Mysql_num_rows is still fine to use the way I'm using it, right?

Anyways, I'm working on this in my spare time, I'll probably try a few things that have been suggested later today and I'll get back with you all on how it goes.

luke9_20

Did you run this script?

if (@mysql_query("SELECT * FROM messageboard LIMIT 1")) { 
  echo "Connection successful."; 
} else { 
  echo "ERROR: Connection failed."; 
}

reub77

I put in that code and this is the result I got:

Connection successful

Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/famsaga/domains/thefamilysaga.com/public_html/messageboard1.php on line 136

Anymore ideas?

reub77

I just tried something and it is now writing to the database (don't ask me how, I just kept playing with the code). However, if the database is empty I get the error I was getting before. Does anyone know a good script to void the query if there's no results?

reub77

I just tried clearing my cache, it works now. Thanks!