[RESOLVED] include this

poMONKey

hi guys -

so here'es the issue - i've solved it with javascript, but i want to see if i can solve it with php

i have an index.php file. inside this file is an include for header.php. inside THIS is an include for banner.php. banner.php takes a random string of html from random.txt to create a banner for the top of the page (both swf and jpeg, which is why i did it this way)

NOW

later in index, not inside any includes, is a spot for a skyscraper image. this HAS to be from the same company as the banner.

what i've done is in the random.txt html strings, i've created an id of "banner" and a class which is a number (1,2,3, etc)

in javascript, i can see the class of the element "banner", grab it and use it to place the next image with a document.write command (if it's class 1, write one thing, else if it's class 2 write another, else if.....etc).

so is there a way to accomplish this in a more streamlined manner using php, and if so, what is it?

etully

You are correct that doing this with Javascript is a hack. Doing this in PHP is the correct way.

When index includes header, it's as if header had been cut and pasted right into index. Same for banner. Therefore, any variables that are generated or calculated or looked up or whatever in banner will continue to exist for the rest of the execution of index.

I'm not sure how you're picking the random string from random.txt. Maybe you're picking a random number and reading that line? Whatever. However you pick that... just keep that in a variable. (For example, if you are picking a random number and then reading that line of text, just store the random number in $random or something).

Then, when you get to the point where you display the skyscraper, you can use the value of $random to know which company's skyscraper you should display. For example, if you have 3 companies, you might name their skyscraper images like this: skyscraper1.jpg, skyscraper2.jpg, skyscraper3.jpg. Since you know the value of $random, you can just say:

<img src="skyscraper<?php print "$random"; ?>.jpg">

Be sure not to screw up the line order of random.txt, though. If the order of the lines doesn't correlate with the image names of the skyscrapers, you won't see the right building.

I would do this in a database with the fields ID, HTML, IMAGE_NAME. This way, I would pick a random number, read that record, and I would always know that the HTML matches the image name I'm going to be displaying later in index.

poMONKey

ok, but

random.txt contains not a list of companies, but actual html code - there are many jpegs, but also a few .swfs that get called. so there's lots of object embeds as well as just plain img tags.

so any banner i set up at the top would be placed into the skyscraper and would push the table all over the place (don't ask me why they're using tables, i didn't build the page)

what it needs to do is place skyscraperX in there, but if skyscraperX is a .swf file, then it needs to add the object code for the .swf file. if skyscraperX is a jpg, it needs to add img tags.

etully

You need a system. Any system. Some sort of organization. Once you have organization, you will be able to do this job the right way in PHP.

One system would be a database. Another system would be to structure your random.txt file in such a way that the banner code and the skyscraper code are tagged so that when you read them, you can use one in one place and the other in the other place.

For example, one possible system for the random.txt file might be something like this:

--banner--HTML for Banner 1 goes here--/banner--skyscraper--HTML for skyscraper 1--/skyscraper
--banner--HTML for Banner 2 goes here--/banner--skyscraper--HTML for skyscraper 2--/skyscraper
--banner--HTML for Banner 3 goes here--/banner--skyscraper--HTML for skyscraper 3--/skyscraper

Then when you read a random line from random.txt, you could use regular expressions to find the two associated blocks of HTML code and use one at the top of the page and one later in the table.

That's just a system I made up. You could make up your own system. Whatever you like.

poMONKey

thanks, i exploded the pieces and used the strings where needed