[RESOLVED] PHP Error

Serge_Guay

I am trying to change text into an integer. I am really new at this and I have been all over the boards and trying different suggestions but I keep getting the following error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /home/p15d95up/public_html/Handleform.php on line 11

Here is my code. Any help anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.

<html>
<body>

<?php
$username = "placed DB name here";
$password = "placed password here";
$hostname = "localhost"; 

print("Your first name is ".$HTTP_POST_VARS['FirstName'].".<br>\n");

int test=Integer.parseInt(FirstName);


//connection to the database
$dbhandle = mysql_connect($hostname, $username, $password)
  or die("Unable to connect to MySQL");
echo "Connected to MySQL<br>";

//select a database to work with
$selected = mysql_select_db("p15d95up_ShoppingCart",$dbhandle)
  or die("Could not select examples");

//execute the SQL query and return records
$result = mysql_query("SELECT orders_id FROM orders WHERE orders_id='test'");
//fetch tha data from the database
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
   echo "ID:".$row{'orders_id'};
}
?>
</body>
</html>

bradgrafelman

This line:

int test=Integer.parseInt(FirstName);

isn't even close to being PHP code - must be some other language.

EDIT: Just re-read your post... and now I'm even more puzzled.

For one thing, the $HTTP(source)VARS type of variables have been deprecated for a long time now; you should be using $_POST.

For another... why are you even trying to convert this 'lastName' entity into an integer? Doesn't seem to make much sense... what type of integer is "Smith" or any other last name?

EDIT2: Woops.. make that a first name, not last...

Serge_Guay

The print is in there just to make sure I am capturing the users input.
So if the int test=Integer.parseInt(FirstName); isn't even close what should it be?

bradgrafelman

Serge Guay wrote:
The print is in there just to make sure I am capturing the users input.

Still, $HTTP_POST_VARS shouldn't be used at all. In most servers, it doesn't even exist anymore.

Serge Guay wrote:
So if the int test=Integer.parseInt(FirstName); isn't even close what should it be?

27? 6,104?

Like I said, it doesn't make sense to convert a first name into an integer, so you'll have to explain (and/or give some examples) of what you're trying to do.

NogDog

Well, if I enter anything that does not start with a number, e.g. "NogDog", "Serge", "Brad", etc., when converted to an integer in PHP (such as with the [man]intval/man function), they would each be converted to 0 (zero). (If you used the JavaScript function you had in your code -- as JavaScript -- it would return the JavaScript not-a-number indicator "NaN".)

Perhaps you want to look at the PHP [man]empty/man function?

Serge_Guay

FirstName is just a handler right now. I am just trying to get the code working.

What I have is someone entering a number in a text box and I am trying to convert what they are entering to a number instead of it being a string, and yes it is a number that is being entered.

NogDog

PHP doesn't really care if it's an integer or a string, as it is "loosely typed". But if you want to force it to be an integer:

$integer = (int) $_POST['field_name'];

If you want to verify that an integer was entered:

if(ctype_digit($_POST['field_name']))
{
   // it's OK
}
else
{
   // something other than digits entered
}

bradgrafelman

Well you can use [man]intval/man for that. This can be useful for data validation and whatnot, but other than that it's unnecessary; PHP is a loosely-typed language that for the most part doesn't care whether you're handling a string or an integer.

EDIT: Looks like Nog beat me to it, though I think you'll find we basically shared the same information.

Serge_Guay

Problem resolved and it was something that NogDog mentioned that PHP does not care whether the post is a number or not, but for the database it did. So just in case others come across this problem I am posting the resolution.

$RegNum=(" ' ".$_POST['RegNum']." ' "); (except no spaces between the quotes just separated here to clarify what was done.

Thanks for the help

Weedpacket

So it's a number but it's being stored in a character field instead of a numeric one?