should i re-read the data frm mysql ?

habbardone

I an wondering what is the best way to display extra detail about
a record /row that has already been read from the server.

Let me explain:

I am showing a sumary of the record (row) in the browser window
and when someone clicks on the link they go to another window that
shows the full product detail.

Now I could use an HTML link like this:

<td class = "type"><a href =<?php echo "detail.php?adref=$ad_ref"; ?> border = '0' ><b><?php echo "$Dtype"; ?></b></td>

and then create the new page with php and looking up the
information again ( because $ad_ref is the primary key)

Could I also use the link without the ?adref=$ad_ref ?

and then use the variables on the client side that have
already been asigned to equal the fields in the row ?

Do I need to do another mysql query when I run the detail.php ?

phil_j_poore

yeah i think the best way is to do two queries and pass the infomation between the two pages with....

<a href="whatever.php?adref={$ad_ref}">

and then in the next page called whatever.php use ...

$ad_ref=$_GET["adref"]

to get the index to the database and run the query again and do whatever you want doing with it.....

Roger_Ramjet

Or store it in a session var
$_session['current_id'] = $var

So that it is availble from page to page without sending 'dirty' URLs

You could do the whole query once, bung it into an array and store that in a session var also. Depends on how important it is to reduce db server load.

habbardone

Thanks for your input.

After the client has looked at the details page, what is the best way to get them back to the piont in the listing where they left from. (the listing was being run by the program that has the href in it that linked to the detail page ) ?

I see this feature often and is really useful.

habbardone

is there any "cost" to using a session var ? - i found them a bit confussing, sometimes they use cookies sometimes they don't- can i just use a session var for that page or do I have to put session_start(); on every page ?

rehfeld

there is a slight overhead to using sessions, but it is very little in most cases.

sessions default to using cookies, and will only pass the session id through the urls if the user hs cookies dissabled. you should not have to worry about this, php decides when to do what.

on any page you wish to set/modify a session var, or access a session vars value, that page needs to have session_start() on it. if the page will not use a session var in any way, then it doesnt need the session started/continued on that page

phil_j_poore

if it is a massive list of links seen by everyone and no worry about sercurity then i would put the data in the url via GET, a way to return back to the original place in the script is to put a "name tag in your links e.g.

<a href="whatever.php?adref={$ad_ref}" name="{$ad_ref}">

then link back to this by putting a back link saying

<a href="first_page.php#{$ad_ref}>Back to list</a>

i think this will work but i can test it now i am ment to be in pysics.......

habbardone

Thanks - I hope to test it as well - if i get problems i'll back! ....
.... with more questions !