[Resolved] Automatic MySQL updates

influensi

I'm writing a turn-based webgame. So far everything has been going smoothly, but I just realized I have no idea how to automatically give players extra turns every hour. Is there any way to add to a MySQL int every set period of time?

devinemke

cron (assuming you are using *nix)

influensi

Ugh.... My game is on a Linux server, but I don't have console access. Is there any other way to do this? Perhaps there is some free service on the net?

bretticus

Funny you should ask. I just wrote another post that deals with cron jobs 😃

Just crontab -e and add something similiar at the bottom...

0 /usr/bin/php -c /etc/php4/cli/php.ini -f /var/www/mysite/giveextraturn.php

If you need a reference for information about setting up cron jobs (well, editing the file anyway) use this link

I have used the /usr/bin/php -c switch to specify a different php.ini file. In mine I have changed max_execution_time to 3000 so that php files can run longer than the default (My apache php.ini file was defaulted to 30 seconds.)

Whoops, just read above and see that you don't have shell access. Hmm???????????????

influensi

This won't work either. I'm using a webhosting provider rather than running my own server. :o I'm ashamed. Anyway, I can't run any Linux programs or access the console in any way, so cron will not work. Are there any other solutions you can think of?

bretticus

Well, that certainly ties at least one hand behind your back...

I have no idea how your structure is but you could timestamp user turns (they would have to register) and query the database to see that an hour has gone by for that user. There is really no magic mysql command to run a query without user intervention though.

influensi

Yes, this is what I had planned to a while ago, but decided it wouldn't be practical. I suppose I could just write a page where users click a button to get all the turns they should have manually. I had already set it up so that when a new account is created a timestamp is saved. This could be used for the initial count, I suppose.

devinemke

Originally posted by influensi
This won't work either. I'm using a webhosting provider rather than running my own server. :o I'm ashamed. Anyway, I can't run any Linux programs or access the console in any way, so cron will not work.

i know this probably not what you want to hear but my suggestion is: get a new web host. any host that does not allow cron is not worth it in my view.

influensi

Upon further inspection, my webhost does have a way to run cron. It's just integrated into their control panel and hidden in an unlikely place. Thanks for the help.