includes, if this, then...

[DrSam]

Hi... I know this is a very elementary question and forgive me. My background is more CGI and ever since my PHP programmer died 3 months ago, I've had to learn some of the basics myself.

My question is I like to use a lot of includes on a page and want to know how I can do the following.

1. the URL will have a file name, such as /cars.php

2. the page will have a lot of generic info on it about cars. But, then I want to include specific info about a lexus for example, at the bottom of the page.

3. I'd like to then do something like /cars.php?lexus ... And when the URL does that, the page will insert one of my "includes", such as:
   <?php include ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/include/lexus.php');?>

Hence:
"if ?lexus in the URL, insert the above include"

... This is basic, but how can I do this?

I hope the above made some sense. Please let me know if you need additional clarification.

[MOD EDIT]

I've had a very hard time finding someone who I can reach and get replies to, let alone who can come through and/or finish a project like they promised.

Thank you kindly.

Warmest Regards,

Sam :-)

P. S. I'm not a newbie to the net. Been on since 1996 with various websites. So, I know what I need, want, etc.

[coldwerturkey]

add me, I know the ropes 😉

what you're looking for is using the $_GET variable. then just a bunch of if statements or use switch() to find what to include

something like

<?php
//example: url = cars.php?car=lexus
$car = (isset($_GET['car'])) ? $_GET['car'] : '';

switch ($car) {
    case '':
        include ('include/nothing_selected.php');
    break;
    case 'lexus':
        include ('include/lexus.php'); //<<< would be included as $car == lexus
    break;
    case 'something':
        include ('include/somthing.php');
    break;
    default:
        include ('include/nothing_selected.php');
    break;
}
?>

[DrSam]

Wow... Thank you very much. I'll give it a try and see how it goes. A couple questions though:

1. If I wanted to do an "absolute pathway", do I need to change anything other than /folder/folder/include/lexus.php

Hence, do I need to add in additional codes such as ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] , etc., etc.?

2. Also, I am doing a "get" method to insert a person's name and email to the site. So, I'm doing something like:

/lexus.php?name=John&email=[e-mail]

Then, in the page I insert:
Name = <?php echo $GET["name"]; ?>
Email = <?php echo $GET["email"]; ?>
Etc...

How would I add in the new variable for the lexus include, into the above URL example? And, is it possible to list multiple includes?

[MOD EDIT]

Thank you again =)

[coldwerturkey]

DrSam;10910433 wrote:

1. If I wanted to do an "absolute pathway", do I need to change anything other than /folder/folder/include/lexus.php

Hence, do I need to add in additional codes such as ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] , etc., etc.?

in my experience: no,

DrSam;10910433 wrote:

2. Also, I am doing a "get" method to insert a person's name and email to the site. So, I'm doing something like:

/lexus.php?name=John&email=[e-mail]

Then, in the page I insert:
Name = <?php echo $GET["name"]; ?>
Email = <?php echo $GET["email"]; ?>
Etc...

How would I add in the new variable for the lexus include, into the above URL example? And, is it possible to list multiple includes?

you would just add &car=lexus into the url.. I don't know where you are generating this information from, if it's from an html form you should look into using $_POST instead.
Yes, multiple includes is allowed and popular (again in my experience),

[DrSam]

coldwerturkey;10910426 wrote:

add me, I know the ropes 😉

what you're looking for is using the $_GET variable. then just a bunch of if statements or use switch() to find what to include

something like

<?php
//example: url = cars.php?car=lexus
$car = (isset($_GET['car'])) ? $_GET['car'] : '';

switch ($car) {
    case '':
        include ('include/nothing_selected.php');
    break;
    case 'lexus':
        include ('include/lexus.php'); //<<< would be included as $car == lexus
    break;
    case 'something':
        include ('include/somthing.php');
    break;
    default:
        include ('include/nothing_selected.php');
    break;
}
?>

The above worked perfectly, thank you so much! 😃

I did notice for the absolute pathway "method", I had to change the above to:

    case 'something':
        include ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/include/somthing.php');
    break;

It gave an error when it did it like:

    case 'something':
        include ('/include/somthing.php');
    break;

... Maybe something is screwed up with my server's settings for PHP?... not sure.

Again, thank you so much!

[coldwerturkey]

if it's in the same directory, do

        include ('include/somthing.php');

without the leading "/"

..it's worked for me for the past two years.

[DrSam]

Hi again... I'm sorry to bother you with more questions. I tried to figure something out on my own, but no luck. 😕

In regards to the below "get" example....

DrSam;10910433 wrote:

2. Also, I am doing a "get" method to insert a person's name and email to the site. So, I'm doing something like:

/lexus.php?name=John&email=[e-mail]

Then, in the page I insert:
Name = <?php echo $GET["name"]; ?>
Email = <?php echo $GET["email"]; ?>
Etc...

How would I code it if the above "name" field was empty and I wanted a default name.

Something like:

/lexus.php?Name=John
then insert "John"

But if there is no name field and hence, it's just empty, insert "Friend"

Make sense?

If Name is available to "get", then insert it. If not, then just insert a default word/salutation of "Friend".

Thank you again. 🙂

[coldwerturkey]

you would put it in an if statment and check it with the isset() or empty() function depending on how the url is (if it's .php?name= than use empty(), if it's not in the url like .php? than use isset())

if (!empty($_GET['name'])) {
  $name = $_GET['name'];
} else { //not set (empty)
  $name = 'Friend';
}

a better way to write it would be,

$name = (!empty($_GET['name'])) ? $_GET['name'] : 'Friend';

[DrSam]

Sorry for the delay. No internet connection for 24 hours... was going nuts. =(

Thank you very much again for the helpful post. I'll put it use immediately. Thanks....

[DrSam]

coldwerturkey;10910551 wrote:

you would put it in an if statment and check it with the isset() or empty() function depending on how the url is (if it's .php?name= than use empty(), if it's not in the url like .php? than use isset())

if (!empty($_GET['name'])) {
  $name = $_GET['name'];
} else { //not set (empty)
  $name = 'Friend';
}

a better way to write it would be,

$name = (!empty($_GET['name'])) ? $_GET['name'] : 'Friend';

Dear coldwerturkey... I know it's been a couple of months, but we finally got back into this project again. Needless to say, I tried your code in many different ways and nothing worked - I'm sure I'm doing something wrong =(

But basically, here's the landing page for an herbal ingredient used to treat anxiety and depression:

http://www.hflsolutions.com/natural_remedies/anxiety_depression/st_johns_wort.php

I'm currently using: <?php echo $_GET["cat"]; ?> ... as "cat" = a category name. Therefore:

http://www.hflsolutions.com/natural_remedies/anxiety_depression/st_johns_wort.php?cat=Depression and then the headline changes to:

St. John's Wort: Natural Uses for Depression

or

LINK: http://www.hflsolutions.com/natural_remedies/anxiety_depression/st_johns_wort.php?cat=Anxiety

HEADLINE: St. John's Wort: Natural Uses for Depression

If there is no ?cat= and hence, it's just the URL of st_johns_wort.php, then I would like the headline to NOT be empty as it is now, but to have a generic "insert" of:

St. John's Wort: Natural Uses for Depression and Anxiety

... but unfortunately, none of the codes I've used that you gave me, changed, modified, etc work correctly and I know it's something I've done wrong =(

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

[coldwerturkey]

DrSam;10917089 wrote:

If there is no ?cat= and hence, it's just the URL of st_johns_wort.php, then I would like the headline to NOT be empty as it is now, but to have a generic "insert" of:

Any suggestions?

Read my post

coldwerturkey;10910551 wrote:

you would put it in an if statment and check it with the isset() or empty() function depending on how the url is (if it's .php?name= than use empty(), if it's not in the url like .php? than use isset())

if (!empty($_GET['name'])) {
  $name = $_GET['name'];
} else { //not set (empty)
  $name = 'Friend';
}

a better way to write it would be,

$name = (!empty($_GET['name'])) ? $_GET['name'] : 'Friend';

edit: since I have a feeling you wont understand that, I'll just do it for you,
instead of

<?php echo $_GET["cat"]; ?>

do somthing like

<?php
echo (!empty($_GET['cat'])) ? htmlspecialchars($_GET['cat']) : 'Depression and Anxiety';
?>

[DrSam]

coldwerturkey;10917095 wrote:

Read my post

edit: since I have a feeling you wont understand that, I'll just do it for you,
instead of

<?php echo $_GET["cat"]; ?>

do somthing like

<?php
echo (!empty($_GET['cat'])) ? htmlspecialchars($_GET['cat']) : 'Depression and Anxiety';
?>

Yes, that worked perfectly! =)

Just so I can learn, what do you think I was doing wrong in the previous code?

Thank you again!...

[coldwerturkey]

DrSam;10917097 wrote:

Just so I can learn, what do you think I was doing wrong in the previous code?

$GET['cat'] isn't defined unless cat is in the url query; subsequently $GET['cat'] will have no value (be undefined) if cat is not set. a var has to be defined to use it without error/blank values; when you're expecting a url $GET value that isn't always going to be there, you should make some sort of statement/clause to compensate for such an event, ie: with something like i posted above, or something more newb-friendly to read like:

if (isset($_GET['cat']) && !empty($_GET['cat'])) {
  $output = $_GET['cat'];
} else {
  $output = "default value of cat";
}
echo $output;