Passing Flash variables to PHP function

sleepydad

I'm sending a variable to php from Flash using (abbreviated) ..

myLV=new LoadVars();
myLV.name="sleepydad";
myLV.sendAndLoad("http://...file.php", myLV, "POST");

file.php reads (again abbreviated) ..

<?PHP
$name=$_POST['name'];

if ($name=="sleepydad") {
// post info to MySQL;
echoItOut();
}

function echoItOut($name) {
echo "$name entered successfully";
}
?>

The if statement is posting to MySQL just fine, but the function is not working. It's echoing "entered successfully". I've been on multiple php and Flash forums for four days now and nobody can explain to me why. It was suggested to me in another forum that I need to pass $name in both my if statement echoItOut($name) and as a parameter to the function. Tried it - didn't work. I've tried declaring $name as global within the function - nada.

HHHHEEEELLLLPPPPP PLEASE!

Thanks in advance -
sleepydad

CoderDan

try:

if ($name=="sleepydad") {
// post info to MySQL;
echoItOut( $name ); // added variable to function call
}

bradgrafelman

sleepydad wrote:
Tried it - didn't work.

Did what you tried look like CoderDan's suggestion?

sleepydad wrote:
It was suggested to me in another forum that I need to pass $name in both my if statement echoItOut($name) and as a parameter to the function.

Those suggestions were correct; your function declaration at the bottom of the script says the function expects one parameter to be passed to it. Note that this variable is a local variable for the function - it doesn't matter what it's name is. For example, this code would also work:

<?PHP
$name=$_POST['name'];

if ($name=="sleepydad") {
// post info to MySQL;
echoItOut($name);
}

function echoItOut($FooBar) {
echo "$FooBar entered successfully";
}
?>

sleepydad

What I ultimately need to do is echo information from a MySQL database called by the variable passed in $name. This generates an XML file that is read back into a Flash movie.

I gave the prior example in the name of brevity, but here's my actual code ...

$name=$POST['name'];
$newDB=$name."db";
$varOne=$POST['varOne'];
$varTwo=$POST['varTwo'];

$db=new mysqli('', '', '', "$newDB"); // db info omitted for this post

if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
echo 'problem';
exit;
} else {
echoItOut($name);
}

function echoItOut($name) {

$db=new mysqli('', '', '', "$newDB");

$query="select * from $name";
$result=$db->query($query);
$numRows=num_rows;

echo "echo "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>";
echo " <Items> <itemOne> ";

for ($i=0; $i<$numRows; $i++) {
$row=$result->fetch_assoc();
echo "<item>".$row['itemOne']."</item> ";
}

echo " </itemOne>";

echo " <itemTwo> ";

for ($i=0; $i<$numRows; $i++) {
$row=$result->fetch_assoc();
echo "<item>".$row['itemOne']."</item> ";
}

echo " </itemTwo>";

</Items>";

//////////

This generates

All empty children.

CoderDan

<?php
// can you show us what these posted vars are in this example?
// also, for the posted name, what is the tables structure/data? as if all else works, it appears to contain no rows
$name=$_POST['name'];
$newDB=$name."_db";
$varOne=$_POST['varOne'];
$varTwo=$_POST['varTwo'];

$db=new mysqli('', '', '', "$newDB"); // db info omitted for this post

if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
	echo 'problem';
	exit;
} else {
	echoItOut($name);
}

function echoItOut($name) {

$db=new mysqli('', '', '', "$newDB");

$query="select * from `$name`";
$result=$db->query($query);
$numRows=num_rows;

// adding:
header( 'Content-Type: text/xml' );
// replacing:
// echo "echo "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>";
// with:
echo "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>";
// replacing \n tags with newlines
echo "\n<Items>\n\n<itemOne>\n";

for ($i=0; $i<$numRows; $i++) {
	$row=$result->fetch_assoc();
	echo "<item>".$row['itemOne']."</item>\n";
}

echo "\n</itemOne>";

echo "\n<itemTwo>\n";

for ($i=0; $i<$numRows; $i++) {
	$row=$result->fetch_assoc();
	echo "<item>".$row['itemOne']."</item>\n";
}

echo "\n</itemTwo>";

// replacing:
// \n\n</Items>";?>
// with:
echo "\n\n</Items>\n";

// adding:
}
?>

sleepydad

The variables will be strings captured in Flash and sent using:

myLV=new LoadVars();
myLV.name=input_txt.text;
myLV.sendAndLoad("http:// ...php", myLV, "POST");

CoderDan

sleepydad;10916011 wrote:
The variables will be strings captured in Flash and sent using:

myLV=new LoadVars();
myLV.name=input_txt.text;
myLV.sendAndLoad("http:// ...php", myLV, "POST");

I realize this, however I mean can you show us whatever the contents of the post are for the example you are trying that is not working as you expect?
ie. if you put a

print_r( $_POST );

at the top of the script when you run it to try to get it to work, what does it contain for the used variables?

sleepydad

I guess I didn't understand your question. When I put print_r($_POST); at the top of my script, I get:

Array()

Strange, because all works fine up until the function call so the variables were passed from Flash to PHP at some point in time. Just need to get the boogers into the function.

CoderDan

ahh there's the trick - you need to log the output to a file somehow - if you call it yourself, manually, there's no post variables, it has to be called by flash to get the post variables.
I'll think up an easy way for you to log it and edit this post in a moment.

edit: ok, try something like this: (add the new parts, then run it from flash, then look at the log.txt created or post it here after redacting it)

<?php

ob_start(); // open an ourput buffer to simplify

print_r( $_POST );

// can you show us what these posted vars are in this example?
// also, for the posted name, what is the tables structure/data? as if all else works, it appears to contain no rows
$name=$_POST['name'];
$newDB=$name."_db";
$varOne=$_POST['varOne'];
$varTwo=$_POST['varTwo'];

$db=new mysqli('', '', '', "$newDB"); // db info omitted for this post

if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
    echo 'problem';
//    exit; don't want to exit for logging purposes.
} else {
    echoItOut($name);
}

// this is a lil hackish, if it was to be permanent code i'd reccomend doing something a little more polished:

$output = ob_get_contents();
$fp = fopen( 'log.txt', 'a' ); // open the log file to append to it - make sure you have write permission to this folder
fwrite( $fp, "\n".date( 'd-m-y g:ia' )."\n"; // put a datestamp in
fwrite( $fp, $output ); // write the buffer to teh file
fclose( $fp );
// close the buffer
ob_end_clean();

function echoItOut($name) {

$db=new mysqli('', '', '', "$newDB");

$query="select * from `$name`";
$result=$db->query($query);
$numRows=num_rows;

// more logging stuff:
echo "\ngot $numRows from $query\n";

// adding:
header( 'Content-Type: text/xml' );
// replacing:
// echo "echo "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>";
// with:
echo "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>";
// replacing \n tags with newlines
echo "\n<Items>\n\n<itemOne>\n";

for ($i=0; $i<$numRows; $i++) {
    $row=$result->fetch_assoc();
    echo "<item>".$row['itemOne']."</item>\n";
}

echo "\n</itemOne>";

echo "\n<itemTwo>\n";

for ($i=0; $i<$numRows; $i++) {
    $row=$result->fetch_assoc();
    echo "<item>".$row['itemOne']."</item>\n";
}

echo "\n</itemTwo>";

// replacing:
// \n\n</Items>";?>
// with:
echo "\n\n</Items>\n";

// adding:
}
?>

sleepydad

The results of log.txt ...

BTW: I took out the date stuff. For some reason it was snagging when it got to that point.

Array
(
[updateIt] => true
[task] => add
[itemToAdd] => test
[category] => misc
[name] => test
)

got 1 from select * from test
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<Items>

</itemOne>
<itemTwo>
<item></item>

</itemTwo>

</Items>
Array
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problem

CoderDan

well, it's finding one result, but drawing a blank for output
try replacing:

        echo "<item>".$row['itemOne']."</item>\n";

with

        echo "<item>".print_r( $row, true )."</item>\n";

so it spits out what it got from mysql, and we can see if a) itemOne is a key, and b) if it's an empty value.

sleepydad

The modified code produces ...

Array
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
[updateIt] => true
[task] => add
[itemToAdd] => test
[category] => test
[name] => sleepydad
)

got 1 from select * from sleepydad
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<Items>

<itemOne>
<item>Array
(
[clothes] => aa
[cooking] => aa
[electronics] => aa
[fishHunt] => aa
[hygiene] => aa
[misc] => aa
[date] => aa
)
</item>

</itemOne>
<itemTwo>
<item></item>

</itemTwo>

</Items>
Array
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problemArray
(
)
problem

CoderDan

ok, looks like you have no key 'itemOne' to show - there's a row int the db it finds, but it's keys arent referenced by your code and the values are all 'aa'.

basically, your code seems to work fine, but the table structure/data for in your db is wrong. If the db is correct, then the code is wrong - what is the expected resulting xml?

sleepydad

I've created a simple db (sleepydad_db) with a single table (sleepydad) for testing purposes. I'm passing 'sleepydad' as $name from Flash to PHP for:

$name=$POST['name']; // sleepydad
$newDBName=$name."db"; // sleepydad_db

$db=new mysqli('xx','xx','xx',"$newDBName");

$query="... $name .... ";

I've manually populated the table using PHPMyAdmin as follows:

clothes aa
cooking aa
electronics aa
fish aa
hygiene aa
misc aa
date aa

(The above was reflected in the tests that you ran me through)

The XML should echo this table out to the browser as:

<list>

</list>

These nodes are then broken apart in Flash and displayed in their proper columns.

CoderDan

ok, a few oddities then.
it appears you want to pull 1 row from the table (and seem to only expect 1 row to exist) and show it's field names and values - I suspect a bad design on your structure there.

I can fix your code to do that (and did, and while doing so realized the oddity), however I think you need to take a step back and redesign your db structure first.

if you can explain the data you are planning to use, roughly, I can figure it out.

I'm guessing you have a list of named values you want to import into flash.
I'm also guessing these named values should be kept in named sets or categories
and flash first gets a list of the categories to display as a selection, then, once one is selected, gets a list of named values for this category?

if this is the case, it's easy enough to implement, however I have to admit that so far I'm still unclear if this is the case.

I'm heading off home now, I might check the site again this evening, if not i probably will when i get back to work tomorrow.

sleepydad

What I'm trying to do is offer a group of my friends the option of going onto our website for our annual camping trip and creating what will ultimately be a downloadable/printable list of camping supplies that they can add to, delete from, modify, etc.

The Flash interface will allow them to create a new table using their name ($name) and place it in the database or $name will be used to access their table that they've created on a prior visit.

I did notice an oddity in my logic and have done away with the $newDB variable

Each person's table has the categories: clothing, cooking, electronics, fishHunt, hygiene, misc and date which they can modify through the Flash interface. When they enter their $name, the contents of their table echos out into an XML. They can then add, etc and a new XML will echo which Flash will interpret and display within a few seconds of update. I just created the one table for testing purposes, but if/when this goes live it'll have upwards of twelve to fifteen tables assuming everyone takes advantage of this feature on our site.

I employ this fairly regularly and with great success, but have not had to generate the XML using a variable passed to a function before. I've been lucky on previous projects to be able to use the same $db and $query throughout my script including any functions.

Thanks so much for your patience on this.

CoderDan

ok, so you have the following hierarchy:

user1 -> category1 -> item1
                   -> item2
                   -> item3
      -> category2 -> item1
                   -> item2

user2 -> category1 -> item1
                   -> item2
                   -> item3
      -> category2 -> item1
                   -> item2

and you want each user to be able to add/remove items from the categories?

sleepydad

That's correct, and my script does that. I'm able to add/delete/modify perfectly through the Flash interface. Just need to get that $name variable to pass to the PHP function makeXML(), thus targeting that person's table, to echo out the XML and send back to Flash for display.

CoderDan

well, your table structure is all wrong, something like this i think is what you need:

table users
 userid (int, primary, autoincrement)
 username (varchar)
 whatever else

table categories
 catid (int, primary, autoincrement)
 name (varchar)
 position (an int (or varchar) to sort by)

table items
 itemid (int, primary, autoincrement)
 userid (index)
 categoryid (index)
 name (varchar)

flash can do instigate the following requests?:
create new user
get user list
select user
get category list
get item list
update item
add item
delete item

each request needs to pass the relevant info:
create user
- posts to the php handler the user's name
- handler creates the user if they don't exist, and returns success or failure (perhaps a message)
- could have the same return as select user with the new user selected, perhaps
get user list
- posts to the php handler a request for a list
- handler returns a list of users (xml, I guess)
select user
- posts the requested user id
- script returns success or failure?
get category list
- posts request for categories
- returns an (xml?) list of categories

etc...

you figure out which tasks you want to be handled by the flash - ie you may want the user list to be predefined, and you already know which user (and their id) you have through another method. same perhaps with categories

figure out what needs to be posted to identify any single request (ie, an item delete request will require to know which user, and which category, as well as item id, if it is to verify that the delete request is valid for teh current user and that they are in the right category, or if you can safely assume correct user is requesting and they have the right category, you can just send itemid)

then make sure the php script can figure out what is being asked of it, query the sql to create/retrieve the information, and then format up a response that flash can use.

the data structure remains constant, and it is easy to just pull entries as needed and spit them out.

of course, if your user list and category list is static/predefines, you can probably manage without either of those tables, and instead use one table similar to the following:

table items
 item_id (int, primary, autoincrement)
 user_name (varchar)
 category_name (varchar)
 item_name (varchar)

then, you get teh user and category passed in the request, and use it to filter out the items for that user for that category (or to define when creating a new item entry)

sleepydad

Wow! Thanks very much for the detailed reply. If you haven't already figured it out, I'm a relative newbie to MySQL and PHP. I've been dabbling in it for a little less than a year, and my studies are ongoing. I'll go over your post and try to digest everything. It seems pretty straightforward. I just need to tweak some stuff in in my db.

Thanks so much for all of your time. If you were my neighbor, I'd walk over and hand you a cold six pack.