[Resolved] Mixing it up: PHP/HTML

DisGirl

I'm in the process of finishing an upload script and I have code and HTML mixed together.

The script is all on one page and there are sections that should display at certain times (logged in or not logged in) and sections that should display at all times when logged in. Other information should be displayed only at certain times - like when there is an error (wrong image type, invalid image, etc.) or the form proccessing script is successful.

Part of the script causes another section of the page to not display: after the image passes checks, is processed and the user notified a directory listing that should display all the time disappears. The code that displays the directory is seperate from the form processing and isn't in the same code block (which I think may be the problem).

What I'd like to know is what is the best way to "mix it up"? How can you make sure certain items are always displayed (regardless of what the script/user is doing) at a specific location on the page? I've looked at several forums and read quite a bit but I'm missing the information on "best practices" or tips on this.

Thanks in advance for any information or help on this extreme newb issue - sometimes I just need to have something "spelled out" before it clicks.

drew010

what i like to do is put all my html stuff in their own functions, so its easy to reuse certain pieces and not have to type them several times.
heres an example...

<?php

html_header();

if (!isset($_COOKIE['user']) || !isset($_COOKIE['passhash'])) {
  login_form();
  html_footer();
} else { //cookies are set
  if (!authorized($_COOKIE['user'], $_COOKIE['passhash'])) { //invalid details
    login_form();
    html_footer();
  } else { //all is well
    main_menu();
}


function html_header()
{
  echo <<<EOD
  <html>.....
EOD;
}

function html_footer()
{
  echo <<<EOD
  ...
  </html>
}

function login_form()
{
  echo <<<EOD
  <form...>
  ...
  </form>
EOD;
}

function main_menu()
{
  echo <<<EOD
  <table.....>
  ...
  ...
  </table>
EOD;
}

?>

hope it makes a bit of sense, if not i can post some real scripts i have made.

bradgrafelman

Defining your own functions or constants that hold HTML data is usually the best practice.

It's considered messy coding to have all kinds of HTML intermixed with a PHP script. What I do, and I think this is the generally accepted way to do it, is separate my main PHP code from my HTML into two separate files: myScirpt.php and myFunctions.php .

That way, I can require_once() the myFunctions script into myScript, and have all of the HTML functions I defined available to me without muddying up the actual PHP code with a bunch of HTML.

EDIT: In drew's example, there is a minor error (minor meaning it was simply an "Oops! I forgot!" error), as this:

function html_footer() 
{ 
  echo <<<EOD 
  ... 
  </html> 
} 

function login_form() 
{

should be this:

function html_footer() 
{ 
  echo <<<EOD 
  ... 
  </html> 
  EOD;
} 

function login_form() 
{

(I know it was a quick example, drew, but I just wanted to make sure you and, more importantly, DisGirl, were aware that it was a simple typo, not intentional.)

delomos

Basically, I'm a newbie like you but I really think the best "Practice" is to break up your codes into smaller bits . For example:

Have all ur Htmls on pages quite seperate from ur core PHP.
MAYBE OTHERS

THEN all u have to do is just call the include or require functions to have them displayed where appropriate.

You always have them handy instead of just writing them together and making it clumsy.

Hope this helps.

DisGirl

Thanks for the replies. 🙂 They should help quite a bit.