[RESOLVED] proper way to declare variable passed in an URL

[hiflyerx]

So if I have a value which gets passed in the URL like so:

index.php?weight=200

if there is no weight defined, I would like to use a default value of 200

if it is defined, I would like to use the value that has been passed.

However, I have tried a quick IF to set the variable, but it's not working...

Thanks,

if ($weight==""){
	$weight = 200;
}

[bradgrafelman]

That's because $weight isn't defined anywhere. Instead, you should be using the $GET superglobal array. One such implementation might look like:

$weight = (isset($_GET['weight']) ? (int)$_GET['weight'] : 200);

For more information on the superglobals, see this manual page: [man]variables.superglobals[/man]

[hiflyerx]

right, right right

exactly what I was looking for

much thanks!!! 😃

[hiflyerx]

What if it was a text value instead of an integer?
what would you use instead of the (int)

I only assume that that (int) makes the variable an integer.

again - noob, sorry!

$city = (isset($_GET['city']) ? (int)$_GET['city'] : "New York"); 

[bradgrafelman]

The (int) was a method of input sanitization; if you were to use that variable in a MySQL query, you wouldn't want to allow the user to input just any data (e.g. 3 OR 1=1) to inject malicious code.

You can safely get rid of the (int) part; if you use the data in a SQL query, however, make sure it is properly sanitized.

[hiflyerx]

no sql here, just basic HTML / php 🙂

Thanks again 😃😃😃