join() and file() stopped working

[jenni]

I use the code below to execute files and send them through email.

$message=join('',file("$fileURL"));

All of a sudden, it stopped working a few days ago. I have gone through all of the files that I have updated recently and none of the updates should have affected it.
I am on a shared hosting account, so it is possible that my host made a change to PHP without telling me.

Can anyone think of something that I should look for while troubleshooting this? Do you kno Even silly stuff like it must be a full URL in order for it to work (it does use a full URL)...that sort of thing?

[chads2k2]

Jenni, what's up? Check out what the manual says.

I looked up join() and it said that you should be using this:

http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.implode.php

It's the implode function. It would be easier to just use this one to make sure it works out for you. Ok have a good one and hope this helps you out!

Chad

[jenni]

I've been trying both, but I really appreciate the idea. I'm actually thinking that it has something to do with file(). Php.net says, "You can use a URL as a filename with this function if the fopen wrappers have been enabled. "

I checked my PHP info and saw that allow_url_fopen was off. Anyone know if that would affect it?

[chads2k2]

You are right on the money.

From my php.ini file:

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; Fopen wrappers ;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

; Whether to allow the treatment of URLs (like [url]http://[/url] or [url]ftp://[/url]) as files.
allow_url_fopen = On

; Define the anonymous ftp password (your email address)
;from="[e-mail]"

; Define the user agent for php to send
;user_agent="PHP"

; Default timeout for socket based streams (seconds)
default_socket_timeout = 60

; If your scripts have to deal with files from Macintosh systems,
; or you are running on a Mac and need to deal with files from
; unix or win32 systems, setting this flag will cause PHP to
; automatically detect the EOL character in those files so that
; fgets() and file() will work regardless of the source of the file.
; auto_detect_line_endings = Off

So you are right on. Now, there might be a way to get around this. Do you need to open files from a URL? How about taking server space and just opening the relative path to the file? Like /usr/local/wwwroot/upedfiles/file2.txt.

How about writing your ISP and asking them to turn it on. It's a long shot but hey it might work. Let me know what you think.

Chad

[jenni]

Chad,
Thank you so much for responding. I really appreciate it.

I sent in a request to my host, but I haven't heard anything yet and I'm not sure they will do it for me. To be honest, I would prefer to NOT use a full URL, but I understand that you must use the full URL if you want the file to be executed. In other words...the file that is being used as the content of the email includes() a config file, searches the database, formats the data, and displays it. Is there another way to get this info into a string?

[chads2k2]

Explain it further to me if you could. I am a bit confused. You are pulling information from a database, making a config file, and then sending it in an email? Am I understanding that correctly? Sorry I didn't respond sooner, my boss needed me to do something for him. 🙁 I wish he knew how to code. J/K I would be out of a job! Haha.

Chad

[jenni]

Chad,
Sorry...Sometimes I have a hard time explaining things. Basically, I have a dynamic php file that I need to get into a string.

Say you have a file called myfile.php with

<? print("$name - PHP works"); ?>

You want to send an email that says "John - PHP works" or "Bill - PHP works" (depending on the name of the person you are sending it to).

If you use file() with the file path like
/www/myfile.php, then the content of the email would be
<? print("$name - PHP works"); ?>.

But...If you use file() with the full url like
http://mysite.com/myfile.php, then the content of the email will be
John - PHP works.

At least this is the way I understand it and the way it has been working out in my tests.

I read yesterday that there is a possible vulnerability with doing it this way. Do you have any other ideas?

(FYI - No problem that you had other work to do. I'm just happy that you responded in the first place.)

[chads2k2]

Ok ... check out this thing and let me know what you think:

<?php
function EmailFunction($email,$named_vendor,$named_service)
{
	$subject = "TSR - Request from: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_REGISTAR_NAME]";
	$body = "\rThis is a TSR request from $_SESSION[GLOBAL_REGISTAR_NAME]"
  . "\n\n-----------------------------------"
  . "\nRequested By = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_REGISTAR_NAME]"
  . "\nDivision Number = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_REGISTAR_DIV]"
  . "\nRegistar Phone Number = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_REGISTAR_PHONE]"
  . "\nRegistar E-Mail = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_REGISTAR_EMAIL]"
  . "\nService = $named_service"
  . "\nVendor = $named_vendor"
  . "\n\n-----------------------------------"
  . "\nHere is what they want:"
  . "\nService = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ORDER_CELL_SERVICE]"
  . "\nEquipment = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ORDER_CELL_EQUIPMENT]"
  . "\nPress To Talk = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ORDER_PRESS_2TALK]"
  . "\nMobile To Mobile = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ORDER_MOBILE_2MOBILE]"
  . "\nMobile Web = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ORDER_MOBILE_WEB]"
  . "\nInsurance = $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ORDER_INSURANCE]"
  . "\n\n-----------------------------------"
  . "\nAccount Information:"
  . "\nAccount Number: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ACCOUNT_NUMBER]"
  . "\nWireless Area Code: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ACCOUNT_AREACODE]"
  . "\nWireless Home City: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ACCOUNT_HOME_CITY]"
  . "\nWireless User Name: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ACCOUNT_USER_NAME]"
  . "\nWireless Phone Model: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_ACCOUNT_MODEL_NUMBER]"
  . "\nExplanation:\n$_SESSION[GLOBAL_ACCOUNT_DESCRIPTION]"
  . "\nFederal Tax ID Number: 311334820"
  . "\n\n-----------------------------------"
  . "\nBilling Contact:"
  . "\nName: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_BILLING_NAME]"
  . "\nLocation: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_BILLING_LOCATION]"
  . "\nAddress: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_BILLING_ADDRESS]"
  . "\nCity: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_BILLING_CITY] | Zipcode: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_BILLING_ZIPCODE]"
  . "\nTelephone Number: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_BILLING_TELENUM]"
  . "\nE-Mail Address: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_BILLING_EMAIL]"
  . "\n\n-----------------------------------"
  . "\nShipping Information:"
  . "\nName: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SHIPPING_NAME]"
  . "\nLocation: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SHIPPING_LOCATION]"
  . "\nAddress: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SHIPPING_ADDRESS]"
  . "\nCity: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SHIPPING_CITY] | Zipcode: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SHIPPING_ZIPCODE]"
  . "\nTelephone Number: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SHIPPING_TELENUM]"
  . "\nShipping Instructions:\n$_SESSION[GLOBAL_SHIPPING_INSTRUCTIONS]"
  . "\n\n-----------------------------------"
  . "\nService Information:"
  . "\nLocation Name: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SERVICE_NAME]"
  . "\nAddress: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SERVICE_ADDRESS]"
  . "\nAddress 2: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SERVICE_ADDRESS2]"
  . "\nCity: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SERVICE_CITY] | Zipcode: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_SERVICE_ZIPCODE]"
  . "\n\n-----------------------------------"
  . "\n\n"
  . "\nThis TSR has been submitted to OIT for processing"
  . "\nIf any questions or changes arise please contact the support desk"
  . "\nPhone #: xxx.xxx.xxxx"
  . "\nE-Mail: [email][e-mail][/email]";

   mail($email, $subject, $body,
     "From: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_REGISTAR_NAME]\r\n" .
     "Reply-To: $_SESSION[GLOBAL_REGISTAR_EMAIL]\r\n" .
     "X-Mailer: PHP/" . phpversion());

   mail($_SESSION[GLOBAL_REGISTAR_EMAIL], $subject, $body,
     "From: Your favorite PHP Coder <[e-mail]>\r\n" .
     "Reply-To: [email][e-mail][/email]\r\n" .
     "X-Mailer: PHP/" . phpversion());
}
?>

This function is called with something like:

EmailFunction($system_admin_email,$named_vendor,$named_service);

You can setup functions to parse the email however you need to do it. Then it could actually mail in the function or just return a string variable. Let me know if that makes any sense to you. If you could give an example of a file you usually include.

Chad