Text files substituted with PHP

scottfisher

Hi,

I used to have a code that would let me do the following:

Create text files for each page I wanted on my site
Place a php include code in my index file where I wanted all content to appear
Link to pages such as: index.php?page=contact, and have contact.txt content show up where i placed the php include in my index page.

Does anyone have the code, I lost it. Is there a better way now (the code is a few years old)? Thanks so much! 🙂

Protato

Let me know if this isn't what you were looking for.

if(isset($_GET[page])){
   $page = $_GET[page];
}else{
   $page = 'default';
}

//I run this part from a database.
$sql = "Select `include_path` FROM `links` WHERE `include_name` = '$page'";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);
$page_include = $row[include_path];

//or you can run it from a switch if you have a small static list.
switch($page){
   case 'home':
      $page_include = 'main/home.php';
      break;
   case 'contact':
      $page_include = 'contact/contactus.php';
      break;
   case default:
      $page_include = 'main/home.php';
      break;
}

//then just include it by the path.
include($page_include);

scottfisher

Protato wrote:

Let me know if this isn't what you were looking for.

if(isset($_GET[page])){
   $page = $_GET[page];
}else{
   $page = 'default';
}

//I run this part from a database.
$sql = "Select `include_path` FROM `links` WHERE `include_name` = '$page'";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);
$page_include = $row[include_path];

//or you can run it from a switch if you have a small static list.
switch($page){
   case 'home':
      $page_include = 'main/home.php';
      break;
   case 'contact':
      $page_include = 'contact/contactus.php';
      break;
   case default:
      $page_include = 'main/home.php';
      break;
}

//then just include it by the path.
include($page_include);

Sorry, but I didnt understand what you posted... Do I enclose these with php include codes? I'm new to php and don't know any of the terms.

EDIT: The code I had also did not require a MySQL database.

Protato

You don't need a database, that was just an extra tidbit in case you were pulling from mysql.

So, lets assume you have some links on the page that hold the name of the page they are supposed to load such as "index.php?page=contact".

looking at the code:

First we check to see if the user has clicked a link that will include a file.

//check for page link
if(isset($_GET[page])){
   //set the page name to a variable.
   $page = $_GET[page];
}else{
   //set the page name to a default variable (somethign that will just include index.php)
   $page = 'default';
}

This bit is where we associate the name (?page=contact) with an actual file. The switch will compare the variable $page (which equals contact in our example) with each case untill it matches, or use the default case.

switch($page){
   case 'home':
      $page_include = 'main/home.php';
      break;
   case 'contact':
      $page_include = 'contact/contactus.php';
      break;
   case default:
      $page_include = 'main/home.php';
      break;
}

So if we clicked the contact us link, and set the $page to contact, then the switch would set $page_include to 'contact/contactus.php', this is the path to the file (can be text file, so the file could be contactus.txt).

Now all that is left to do is include that file in our document.

//then just include it by the path.
include($page_include);

Still confusing?

scottfisher

Protato wrote:
You don't need a database, that was just an extra tidbit in case you were pulling from mysql.

So, lets assume you have some links on the page that hold the name of the page they are supposed to load such as "index.php?page=contact".

looking at the code:

First we check to see if the user has clicked a link that will include a file.
//check for page link
if(isset($_GET[page])){
   //set the page name to a variable.
   $page = $_GET[page];
}else{
   //set the page name to a default variable (somethign that will just include index.php)
   $page = 'default';
}
This bit is where we associate the name (?page=contact) with an actual file. The switch will compare the variable $page (which equals contact in our example) with each case untill it matches, or use the default case.
switch($page){
   case 'home':
      $page_include = 'main/home.php';
      break;
   case 'contact':
      $page_include = 'contact/contactus.php';
      break;
   case default:
      $page_include = 'main/home.php';
      break;
}
So if we clicked the contact us link, and set the $page to contact, then the switch would set $page_include to 'contact/contactus.php', this is the path to the file (can be text file, so the file could be contactus.txt).

Now all that is left to do is include that file in our document.
//then just include it by the path.
include($page_include);
Still confusing?

The old code seemed much simpler. For each page I set up do I need to add it too that list of 'case's? Before I could just put one code in the content area and have any page=whatever having it show up. What is this whole process called if I want to research into it?

Thanks for the help regardless!

wilku

You may be tempted do do it this simple way:

if(isset($_GET[page])){
   //set the page name to a variable.
   $page = $_GET[page];
}else{
   //set the page name to a default variable (somethign that will just include index.php)
   $page = 'default';
}
include($page.'.php');

Simple - yes. No need to edit this - yes. Secure - NO. Don't do it like this. It's like an invitation to hackers.

bradgrafelman

Not to mention the incorrect syntax used ($GET[page] $GET['page']). Simple addition to that code snippet:

if(isset($_GET['page'])){ 
   //set the page name to a variable. 
   $page = basename($_GET['page']); 
}else{ 
   //set the page name to a default variable (somethign that will just include index.php) 
   $page = 'default'; 
} 
include('includes/'.$page.'.php');

That way, all the files you want to be accessible by the "?page=contact" simply need to be placed in that directory. The [man]basename/man function prevents paths such as "../some_fie_you_dont_want_included.php" escaping out of this 'includes' directory.