Dynamic lists?

rahulpatel

Hello to me.

I'm not new to php but just not very good at it. I've written a few basic websites and been pleased with the results. Now I'm trying to stretch my education of php and build a site that is very dynamic. It's not a website but more of a local application which I hope will work.

What I need to know is if it is possible first before I spend too many hours carrying on down a path that will be a dead end.

So, here what I am planning on trying.

On my page is a textbox and a submit button. A user will enter a barcode and click submit. This will query a database and show the details on the page. (That is easy) Then they enter another different barcode (or possibly the same one) and it queries the db. I want the new query to be displayed underneath the first one. Then another barcode will be scanned etc etc so eventually the user will end up with a page that has a list of details on it. When they have scanned all the barcodes they press a button that updates the database and saves the list as a textfile.

The way I'm leaning towards is...when they scan the barcode it pulls information from a table and inserts it into a separate table. Then the second barcode is scanned inserts it into the separate table etc etc. The list can be created using the separate table using the SELECT * query. Then obviously the table can be saved as a txt file. Then the table can be flushed of information ready for the time it's used. Only one user at a time will be using the application.

Does this all sound feasible and am I approaching it the right way or is there an easier way?

Thanks all...

ShawnK

Personally if this is just a one time use deal I would use a session to store all of the barcode information

rahulpatel

It's a one user at a time but that user might be entering 50 barcodes.

I've searched until my fingers bled for something similar but I can't find anything anywhere. I thought it would have been quite a common scenario but obviously not.

leatherback

Personally, I would store the barcode in the session. And use AJAX to update the page so that you do not have to resend all the information every time, but just the updated sections.

Storing 50 barcodes in memory should not be a problem. Depending on how much information you have for ech barcode, storing the information might be.

Instead of using ajax you could just query the table every time for the list of barcodes used at that time, but this may proove quite a load on the server. However, for a one-user system (Database management terminal for stock keeping?) you probably will not run into many problems.

djjjozsi

store the barcodes and connecting details in a database.

You temporarily store the (row) barcodes in a TEMP database, with a parameter "sessionId". Or create a simple user login...

You can make a function, where you write the barcodes comma delimitered into one textfield,
with Ajax, or a simple POPULATE submit button, you can make "Readable" barcodes.

And you can update / delete / Add new item into that list easily.

When the user finished that list, how about save the barecodes and all the details from the database into a CSV file, or you show an html code, with images, with links to the further details. You can make a big Zip file too.

hello,

jjozsi

rahulpatel

This is now officially driving me bananas. Why are the easiest things sometimes the hardest to do. On paper it's a two minute job, on the computer...

I have a page that pulls details from the db and displays them. Basically it's a search page isn't it.

djjjozsi;10895072 wrote:
store the barcodes and connecting details in a database.

You temporarily store the (row) barcodes in a TEMP database, with a parameter "sessionId". Or create a simple user login...

I was thinking of doing it this way but like I say, it's driving me potty. I simply do not know how to use SELECT and store the fields from this in a session and then INSERT it into a separate table.

rahulpatel

<?php
  header("Content-Type: text/plain");

  $sID = $_GET["id"];
  $sInfo1 = "";
// Make a MySQL Connection
mysql_connect("localhost", "XX", "XX") or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db("XX") or die(mysql_error());

// Get a specific result from the table
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM stores WHERE CatalogueNo=".$sID) or die(mysql_error());  

// keeps getting the next row until there are no more to get
while($sInfo1 = mysql_fetch_array( $result )) {
	// Print out the contents of each row
	echo $sInfo1['CatalogueNo']." - ".$sInfo1['ItemNo']. "<br />";
} 
$ItemNo = $sInfo1['ItemNo'];
$CatNo = $sInfo1['CatalogueNo'];

$result1 = mysql_query("INSERT INTO tempdb(ItemNo) VALUES ($ItemNo) "); 


?>