[RESOLVED] Show spaces in a link

blackbeard

I am having a little problem getting a link generated by php to display a certain field with a space in it. Basically I am pulling a particular column called department from the database and printing all the entries as an array to generate the links. However if the department is more than one word the link comes out as .php?department=A instead of .php?department=A Department

Any ideas?

//Keep the department from printing multiple times.
if ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
	$departments = array();
	do {
		if ((!in_array($myrow["department"], $departments))) {
			$departments[] = $myrow["department"];
		}
	} while ($myrow = mysql_fetch_array($result));
}
//Print the array.
foreach($departments as $department) {
	echo "<tr><td width=140><a href=list.php?department=$department target=mainFrame class=menulink class=&{ns4class};>".$department."</a></td>";
}

bradgrafelman

Yeah... use proper HTML as well as [man]rawurlencode/man.

HTML standards state that all values of HTML attributes are to be enclosed with quotes (yes, that includes numeric values as well, such as widths).

Using [man]rawurlencode/man on the $department variable will make it safe for transport via the URI.

scrupul0us

or just use %20 for all spaces

bradgrafelman

scrupul0us wrote:
or just use %20 for all spaces

But then... what happens if other characters start showing up in the URL, like apostrophes and whatnot? Using rawurlencode() along with correct HTML syntax is the safest, most reliable and portable way to go.

scrupul0us

i know... just stating the fact 🙂

blackbeard

Thx for your help bradgrafelman. Works like a champion.