display database field in ordered list

dizzad

Hi, I've created a random recipe page that list the recipe title, ingredients and preparation. I enclosed the ingredients in a <pre> tag and that looks fine. I tried putting the preparation in an ordered list, but I'm only getting one step numbered. What I mean is I want:
1) first step.
2) second step.
3) third step.

but I'm getting 1) first step. second step. third step.

I wonder if a new paragraph was started for each instruction when entered into the database like:
first step.
second step.
third step.

and then each paragraph would be a <li>
If any of this makes sense, I could sure use help. I'm sure it can be done, I just don't know how.

Weedpacket

No, each paragraph would be a paragraph. Each <li> would be a separate list item. Without seeing anything of how your data is stored or how it's being processed, all I can say is that each item in the list needs to be its own list item in the list.

dizzad

here is the code to retrieve the recipe -
<?php
//hostname
$servername='localhost';

//username and password
$dbusername='user_name';
$dbpassword='pass_word';

//database name
$dbname='date_base_name';

connecttodb($servername,$dbname,$dbusername,$dbpassword);
function connecttodb($servername,$dbname,$dbusername,$dbpassword)
{
global $link;
$link=mysql_connect ("$servername","$dbusername","$dbpassword");
if(!$link){die("could not connect to database");}
mysql_select_db("$dbname",$link) or die ("Could not open db".mysql_error());
}

//query for data
$sql=mysql_query("SELECT * FROM table_name ORDER BY Rand() LIMIT 1");

//open HTML ordered list

//loop query results
while($row=mysql_fetch_array($sql)) {
echo $row['title'];
echo '<pre>'.$row['ingredients'].'</pre>';
echo '<ol>'.'<li>'.$row['prep'].'</li>';
}
echo'</ol>';

this is data from one "prep" field exactly the way it looks in the database.

In a skillet, heat oil over medium. Saute onion until tender.
Remove and set aside. Brown beef and pork together. Drain.
Combine onion, meat, potatoes and seasonings.
Line pie plate with pastry. Fill with meat mixture.
Top with crust. Seal and flute edges. Make slits in top crust. Brush with egg if desired.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Is this what you need?

brbourdo

One thing right off the bat is your method of calling Rand() in your select statement. Fine and dandy for a small table, but if your table gets huge, which I am sure you would like it to get. Doing it like that can slow the process down significantly, ie: several seconds of processing.

This would be a much better way to randomize which record is called.

$getnum = @mysql_query("SELECT * FROM `table_name`");
$numrows = @mysql_num_rows($getnum);

$id = rand(0, ($numrows-1));

$sql = "SELECT * FROM `table_name` WHERE `id` = '$id'";

etc..

Now for the main part of your question. How is the prep information stored in your database. Is it stored all as 1 big string like it is being output, where every "line" of prep is stored together in 1 field? Or is there multiple fields for each prep item, like "prep1" "prep2" and so on.

brbourdo

Sorry, didn't see that you already made my last question clear.

I wrote a function a while ago that checks each character of a string, and with a little edit I made it display a string formatted in a way as shown above into a ordered list.

The sample input which I show here can be shown processed at: http://www.bourdosoft.com/codetest/chartest.php

function convert($prepList)
{

$length = strlen($prepList);
$charString = preg_split('//', $prepList, -1);

echo "<ol><li>";

for($i = 0; $i < ($length+1); $i++)
{
	if($charString[$i] == '.')
	{
		if($i != $length) 
		{
			$outputString[$i] = ".</li><li>";
		} else
		{
			$outputString[$i] = ".</li>";
		}
	} else
	{ 
		$outputString[$i] = $charString[$i];
	}
}

foreach($outputString as $value)
{
	echo $value;
}

echo "</ol>";

}

$test = convert("Sentence 1. Sentence 2. Sentence 3.");

Weedpacket

Um. Hardly necessary to split every single character if all you're going to do is put them back together again.

$lines = explode('.', $prepList);
echo "<ol>";
foreach($lines as $line) echo "<li>$line.</li>";
echo "</ol>";

It should go without saying that this will bork if a "." appears anywhere else in the instructions. Exploding on linebreaks might be more reliable.

brbourdo

I realize there are easier way to do that. I can think of 1 other way too. But as I said in my post, I already had a function that checks each character of a string for a, which was for some dumb class at school, so I just posted it. It works the same aswell.

Weedpacket

brbourdo wrote:
I already had a function that checks each character of a string for a

What, you mean

strpos($string,$a)!==false

? For an array of all the positions where a given character appears

array_keys(str_split($string),$a);

dizzad

Thanks Guys, I'll work with what you have provided.

brbourdo

Weedpacket;10894371 wrote:
What, you mean
strpos($string,$a)!==false
? For an array of all the positions where a given character appears
array_keys(str_split($string),$a);

I thought "for some dumb class at school" might make the following obvious, but I apologize because it clearly has not. It was a proof of concept thing, often in computer science classes, at least were I went, they don't let you use premade functions because they want to see if you can do it without.

dizzad

Guys, I really appreciate the help. I got brbourdo's code to work with what I already had and it works great. But Weedpacket you're right about the "." If there are any abbreviations used like ingred. then a new line forms there and it's hard to read. If there are a lot of sentences then there are a lot of numbered lines.

Weedpacket, you're code looks for line breaks, Right? where would I put your suggested code in this function? Or, do I even put it into this code?

$lines = explode('.', $prepList);
echo "<ol>";
foreach($lines as $line) echo "<li>$line.</li>";
echo "</ol>";

BTW - can you two suggest a place to learn PHP? School? Books? How can I get started?

brbourdo

Hey,

Weedpackets code only looks for periods aswell. FYI.

I got my start simply by reading a beginning PHP book from Wrox Press. After that it's just trial and error and lots of hours on php.net learning the syntax and usage of functions that you may need to use. 🙂

I can think of a quick fix that should eliminate this issue. Execute the nl2br() function on your prep list before adding it to the database. Also you will want to add slashes before submitting to the database. Right before your INSERT statement have something like: (where $prepList is the variable holding the information typed in by the user).

$prepList = nl2br($prepList);
$prepList = addslashes($prepList);

This function will add a '<br />' after every line break they make in the text area field. Then we just search for the break and that's when we make the next item in the list.

Just make sure when you are pulling the data from the table you run strip slashes on it before sending it to the convert function. For example:

$prepList = $row['prep'];
$prepList = stripslashes($prepList);
convert($prepList);

I'd make a function out of his code, and just run it like you did with mine. ie:


function convert($prepList)
{
	$lines = explode('<br />', $prepList, -1);
	echo "<ol>";
	foreach($lines as $line) echo "<li>$line</li>";
	echo "</ol>"; 
}

dizzad

Hi brbourdo, I'm sorry. Like I said at the beginning, I'm very new. I didn't see the '.'
Thanks for the suggestions and the code. It's a lot to take in right now, but I'm definitely going to work on inserting the recipes like you said. I'm also going to get some books. I like PHP, but I'm having a hard time grasping it. What software do you use for editing?

brbourdo

Hey,

No problem, everyone has to start somewhere. I use two different programs depending on what I'm doing. If I'm just writing code, without worrying about how it looks or any HTML elements, I use the Zend IDE. If I'm working on something where I also have to design how it's displayed on a website I use Dreamweaver.

Weedpacket

brbourdo wrote:
I thought "for some dumb class at school" might make the following obvious, but I apologize because it clearly has not. It was a proof of concept thing, often in computer science classes, at least were I went, they don't let you use premade functions because they want to see if you can do it without.

Of course, dumb class solutions tend not to cut it in the real world. I've found to my cost that many people here who ask for code to solve a problem they have end up using the code unaltered without seeing if it is appropriate or if it works. Your dumb code could have ended up in some live site somewhere to be maintained by someone who would then have to figure out what it was doing and wondering why it was so dumb.

Incidentally, preg_split() was unnecessary.

    $length = strlen($prepList);
    echo "<ol><li>";

for($i = 0; $i < $length; $i++)
{
    if($prepList[$i] == '.')

dizzad wrote:
What software do you use for editing?

Over in the Echo Lounge there is a FAQ, with a link to a long thread describing and comparing many editors.

brbourdo wrote:
Execute the nl2br() function on your prep list before adding it to the database.

I'd recommend not doing this: if the preparation list was to be converted into any other format the <br /> tags would have to be taken out again. In fact, they do have to be taken out again in this situation anyway, so there was no point putting them in in the first place. All nl2br() does is put "<br />" before the linebreak character. Since it's the linebreak character that you want to explode the line on, you might as well use it.

$lines = explode("\n", $prepList);

No need for nl2br().

I'd also recommend using [man]mysql_real_escape_string[/man] instead of [man]addslashes[/man]. Assuming you don't want to use the PDO interface, which handles escaping and quoting everything that needs to be escaped or quoted automatically.