appending a text file problems

cyclefiend2000

i am setting up an intranet site for our company. the site has a worksheet for the employees to fill out their time and it writes to a mysql database. i set up a separate place to add more job numbers as needed. this writes to a text file. the worksheet reads from the text file into a drop down menu.

the problem... when you add a new job number, it also creates an extra line.

here is snippet from the original text file...

207.072~Loves Truck Stop Newberry
207.073~Vause Lots
207.074~Windsor House ALTA

here is what it looks like after add a new job number...

207.072~Loves Truck Stop Newberry
207.073~Vause Lots
207.074~Windsor House ALTA
~
207.075~Null

this is my code that writes to the text file....

$new_no = $_POST['new_no'];
$new_name = $_POST['new_name'];
$myFile = "./job_list.txt";
$fh = fopen($myFile,'a') or die("can't open file");
$new_list = "$new_no~$new_name\n";
fwrite($fh,$new_list);
fclose($fh);
echo $new_list;
?>

that is pretty much all that particular page does. it also has a link back to the home page, but it is just regular old html and shouldnt affect the code at all.

any thoughts on how to fix this problem? i have tried it in firefox and IE. i get the same results with both.

dalecosp

Hi, cyclefiend, and welcome to PHPBuilder!

Take a look at the thread linked in my .sig called "Debugging 101". It would certainly help to have some testing in there to assist in figuring out what's wrong, and perhaps use some special removable tests to make sure we're not getting unexpected input. For example:

$new_no = $_POST['new_no'];
$new_name = $_POST['new_name'];

if (!($new_no && $new_name)) {
   echo "Some information was not entered correctly.";
}
$myFile = "./job_list.txt";

if (!(file_exists($myFile)&&is_writable($myFile))) {
    echo "There's a problem with the file!";
}

$fh = fopen($myFile,'a') or die("can't open file");
$new_list = "$new_no~$new_name\n";
$written=fwrite($fh,$new_list);
if (!$written) {
   echo "File write failed!";
}
fclose($fh);
echo $new_list;
?>

Also, does the last line print the data as expected?

cyclefiend2000

the last line does print and looks like it should.

dalecosp,

the code you gave does the same thing as the code i was previously using.

cyclefiend2000

if it helps, here is the code for the form that passes the two values....

<form method="post" action="procadd.php">
Job Number:&nbsp;<input name="new_no"><br>

  <br>

Job Name:&nbsp;<input name="new_name"><br>

  <br>

  <input name="Submit" value="Submit" type="submit" onClick="window.location='procadd.php'"/>
  <br>

  <br>

</form>

edit:
i have another file where you can add a new employee's name to the list. has basically the same php code as in my original post, and it works as expected. here is that code....

$lastname = $_POST['lastname'];
$firstname = $_POST['firstname'];
$new_name = "$lastname $firstname\n";
$myFile = "./employee.txt";
$fh = fopen($myFile,"a+") or die("can't open file");
fwrite($fh, $new_name);
fclose($fh);
echo $new_name;

the reason i use the "~" in the code i posted originally is that i explode that string into two variables in another place. the ~ was the only thing i could think to use that might not be used when typing in a job name.

dalecosp

cyclefiend2000 wrote:
the last line does print and looks like it should.

Good.

dalecosp,

the code you gave does the same thing as the code i was previously using.

Err, no, it doesn't. Or, more properly, it does in your situation, but in some situations, it would not do the same thing. For example, if the file didn't exist. However, that's prolly not important, as you note that it is working in your situation.

IMPORTANT: You may wish to replace that URL in your code examples with a non-working example; you may make your site a target for attack since PHPBuilder forums are widely known and publicly archived.

Finally, is there any reason why you call [man]fopen/man with 'a' in the first example and 'a+' in the second?

cyclefiend2000

it is a virtual address only accessible from our internal network.

i originally had both fopen() commands using 'a+'. i took out the + to see if that made a difference.

Kudose

Did you turn error_reporting to E_ALL for your debugging?

You also don't need ./ in front of your file name since the server will look in the current working directory anyways.

cyclefiend2000

Kudose wrote:
Did you turn error_reporting to E_ALL for your debugging?

not sure how to do that. i will do some searching.

Kudose

error_reporting(E_ALL);

[man]error_reporting[/man]

insightpcs

ok try this:

$new_no = $_POST['new_no'];
$new_name = $_POST['new_name'];
$myFile = "./job_list.txt";
$fh = fopen($myFile,'a+') or die("can't open file");
$new_array = ($new_no, $new_name);
$new_list = implode("-", $new_array);
$new_list = $new_list . "<br />";
fwrite($fh,$new_list);
fclose($fh);
echo $new_list;

cyclefiend2000

$new_list = $new_list . "<br />";

i need a new line character for a text file. not for html.

i did try using implode to define the variable. i get the same results.

cyclefiend2000

Kudose wrote:
error_reporting(E_ALL);
[man]error_reporting[/man]

i added the line above to my php file. the output gives no errors.

edit: i am at a give up point. i may have to take the option to add a new job number out, and add it manually to the text file myself.

insightpcs

try the following:

if(!(isset($_POST['new_name'])))
{
   die("Problem lies with new_name");
}

or this

if(is_null($_POST['new_name']))
{
   die("Problem lies with new_name");
}

that way youll see if that causes the problem

Kudose

cyclefiend2000 wrote:
i added the line above to my php file. the output gives no errors.

Did you add it before all the functions you are calling ... maybe at the top of the file?

Try this:

<?php
error_reporting(E_ALL);
$new_no = $_POST['new_no'];
$new_name = $_POST['new_name'];
if(!isset($new_no) || !isset($new_name))
  die('new_no or new_name is not set');
$myFile = "job_list.txt";
$fh = fopen($myFile,'a+') or die("can't open file");
$new_array = array($new_no, $new_name);
$new_list = implode("-", $new_array);
$new_list = $new_list . "<br />";
fwrite($fh,$new_list) or die('Could not write to file.');
fclose($fh) or die('Could not close file.');
?>

cyclefiend2000

yep. put it just under "<? php" just like in your example.

dalecosp

OK, tell us more about the setup. In particular, what OS, and what permissions are on the file? Maybe I'm misunderstanding, is the file actually having "Null" written to it, or is nothing being added to the file?

cyclefiend2000

i did a "chmod 777" on all the files in that directory. at least for now.

the OS is SME Server 6.0.1-01

php version - 4.1.2

mysql version - 3.23.56

i put examples of what is written to the text file in my initial post. basically, it should write something like this...

207.100~Job Name

but instead it writes something like....

~
207.100~Job Name

the line isnt "NULL" and it does write something. it just adds and extra line with only a "~". I use this text file to put items in a drop down menu so i really dont want the extra line with the "~" inserted.

i will be happy to add screenshots tomorrow when i get to work if you think that might help.

dalecosp

Of the top of my head, this behavior is indicative of a, let's say, "faulty", looping scheme --- but I could be wrong. It does appear, however, that the script write one iteration with the variables undefined prior to writing one correctly. I'll check your PHP on the first page again....

dalecosp

I don't see any looping structure there, though; is this (on the first page) the entire script?

Y'know, prolly at this point, I'd just slap it with a dirty hack. Something like:

system("echo $new_list >> $myfile");

... and start doing other work. YMMV.

cyclefiend2000

the original post contains all the code as i had originally wrote it. short and sweet... no loops.

i will try your hack. what is it supposed to do?