Need help with script please??

Lee_W

Hi guys,

I have just created a dropdown list of files.

I need help writing a script so that when a user selects a file then clicks 'download' I want the chosen file to open.

Thanks.

devinemke

read up on [man]header[/man]. there are examples in the manual of forced downloads.

Lee_W

Hi,

Thanks for your reply & I must admit I am a complete beginner so talks of headers, etc in the PHP manual is a bit above my standard at the minute.

This is the form page I have created & what I want to happen is then when a file is selected in the dropdown box & the submit button is acivated I want the file to be opened in it's original format.

I can also post the script for the include file which builds the dropdown list if it helps.

Can you please advise on a script which will allow me to do this?

<?php include('includes/title.inc.php'); ?>

<?php include('includes/panasonic_system_pricelist_upload.inc.php'); ?>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en">
<head>
<title>Trust Distribution Intranet<?php echo "—($title)"; ?></title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="trust intranet.css" />
</head>

<body>
	<?php include('includes/header.inc.php'); ?>

	<?php include('includes/menu.inc.php'); ?>

	<?php
	//if the form has been submitted, display result
	if (isset($result))
  {
  echo "<p>$result</p>";
  }
?>

<form action="" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" name="upload_pricelist" id="upload_pricelist">

  <p>
    <label for="panasonic_system_pricelist">Upload pricelist:</label>
    <input type="hidden" name="MAX_FILE_SIZE" value="<?php echo MAX_FILE_SIZE; ?>" />
    <input type="file" name="panasonic_system_pricelist" id="panasonic_system_pricelist" />
  </p>

  <p>
    <input type="submit" name="upload" id="upload" value="upload" />
  </p>

</form>

<form`action="" method="post" name="download_pricelist" id="download_pricelist">

  <p>
    <label for="panasonic_system_pricelist">download pricelist:</label>
    <select name="pricelist" id="pricelist">
      <option value="">Select a pricelist</option>

<?php 
include('includes/panasonic_system_pricelist_dropdown.inc.php');
pricelist('c:/htdocs/panasonic_system_pricing');
?>

    </select>

  </p>

  <p>
    <input type="submit" name="download" id="download" value="download" />
  </p>

</form>

	<?php include('includes/footer.inc.php'); ?>

</body>
</html>[/B]

Lee_W

Any help on this would be appreciated.

leatherback

As suggested: have a look atthe [man]header in the manual[/man] as it gives you a solution.

This is a section:

<?php
// We'll be outputting a PDF
header('Content-type: application/pdf');

// It will be called downloaded.pdf
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="downloaded.pdf"');

// The PDF source is in original.pdf
readfile('original.pdf');
?>

You select the file, and submit it to a processing page. there you do all your querying etc that you need to do in order to get the filetype & file location. After that you run the script above and you should be on your way.

Lee_W

Thanks for the reply.

Once the user clicks on a selection in the dropdown list & clicks submit how would I pass that selection/filename through to a processing script to the one you have demonstrated?

Sorry for such a basic question.

Thanks.

leatherback

Assuming that the form uses POSTing:

$DropDownName = $_POST['DropDownName'];

You can then use the $DropDownName in your scripts. However, before you use any information submitted to your scripts for malicious code. Have a read up on the forum on mysql inject.

Lee_W

Thanks for the help on this one guys but I am struggling.

This is what I have inserted in the script: -

<?php
$download_pricelist = $_POST['download_pricelist'];
{
header('content-type: application/pdf');
header('content-disposition: attachment; filename = $filename');
readfile('original.pdf');
}
?>
However, when I run the script I get the following error messages: -

Notice: Undefined index: download_pricelist in C:\htdocs\Panasonic_system_pricing.php on line 60

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at C:\htdocs\Panasonic_system_pricing.php:3) in C:\htdocs\Panasonic_system_pricing.php on line 62

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at C:\htdocs\Panasonic_system_pricing.php:3) in C:\htdocs\Panasonic_system_pricing.php on line 63

Warning: readfile(original.pdf) [function.readfile]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\htdocs\Panasonic_system_pricing.php on line 64

All I wanna do is select a file in the drop down box & open it.

devinemke

again, you need to read up on headers (from a useful thread in the forum)

Lee_W

Ok.

Forget the header topic for the time being.

First of all how would I tell the script that an option has been selected from a dropdown list with or without a submit button?

Once I know how to script that I can then tell the server to process the 'header' script.

Lee_W

This is the script that I think should do the trick: -

[B]<?php
$selection = $_POST['pricelist'];

if (!empty($selection)) 
  {
  header('content-type: application/pdf');
  header('content-disposition: attachment; filename = $filename');
  readfile('original.pdf');
  }
?>[/B]

However, when I run it I get the following error: -

Notice: Undefined index: pricelist in C:\htdocs\Panasonic_system_pricing.php on line 60

devinemke

Lee W;10895323 wrote:
...how would I tell the script that an option has been selected from a dropdown list with or without a submit button?

<form action="" method="post">
select a number:<br>
<select name="number" size="5" onchange="this.form.submit();">
<option value="1">1</option>
<option value="2">2</option>
<option value="3">3</option>
<option value="4">4</option>
<option value="5">5</option>
</select>
</form>

<?php
if (isset($_POST['number']))
{
	echo 'you selected ' . $_POST['number'] . ' without even pressing the submit button';
}
?>

Lee_W

Thanks for helping me out with this & being patient.

However, I have took your advice & changed my script as follows but still I have the problem in posting the result: -

<form`action="" method="post" name="download_pricelist" id="download_pricelist">

  <p>
    <label for="panasonic_system_pricelist">download pricelist:</label>
    <select name="pricelist" id="pricelist" onchange="this.form.submit();">
      <option value="">Select a pricelist</option>

<?php 
include('includes/dropdown_menu.inc.php');
pricelist('c:/htdocs/panasonic_system_pricing');
?>

    </select>

  </p>

</form>

<?php
if (isset($_POST['pricelist']))
{
  echo 'you selected ' . $_POST['pricelist'] . ' without even pressing the submit button';
}
?>[/B]

It lets me select a file from the drop down list but nothing else happens.

leatherback

Hi Lee,

How are you submitting this form? I do not see a submit button / JS in the form code. You need to submit the selected value for PhP to process your choice..