Using variables in url...

michael1291

Hi, i currently have an invoice system so that when the user logs in it displays recent invoices and a brief bit of information about each invoice, however i would like to make it so that when they click view full details it retrieves all details regarding that invoice so my question is how can retrieve the full details based on the particular invoice they select.

I have tried carrying the variable through URL to the new page but i was unable to bring the information based on reference number which is what i need to do i think!

any help would be appreciated

Thanks michael

jgetner

are the invoices saved in a database?

michael1291

yes the invoices are saved in the database

BrightIdeas

I actually have this exact system on the site I built for the company I work for. Each order (invoice) pulls data out of 3 tables: the customer table, the order header table and an order detail table. The customer table has their billing and shipping info. The order header table has a unique customer ID, PO number, ship date, payment terms, cancel date, etc. The order detail table has the items purchased for each order.

Each order is assigned a unique ID which is generated during the checkout process. This ID is the same for each order in both the order headers table and the order detail table.

When displaying the list with basic info, it pulls the customer info from the customer table by running the query on the unique customer ID found in the order header table and it pulls info from the order header table. When we click through on an order to see the full detail, data is pulled from the order header table AND from the order detail table running a query on both tables for the same unique order ID. The customer info for that order is pulled from the customer table by a query on the customer table using the unique customer ID in the order header table.

In Short:
Table 1: Customer info. Customer is linked to the order by the unique customer ID in the order header table.
Table 2: Order Header info. Order header is linked to customer by unique customer ID and linked to order detail by a unique order ID
Table 3: Order detail info (items purchased). Each order has multiple records in this table (as many records as there are items on the order) and each record for one particular order has the same unique order ID as in table 2.

Of course, whether or not you can use a similar setup will depend on how you have your orders stored in your dbase...

I hope this helps.

michael1291

Thanks that is a great help, at the moment the way I have it setup is when the office create a invoice they insert to invoice table then in the member area I have a select statement that says select the invoice dadta when their member I'd is included in the invoice details, do you know how I would generate a unique Id.

Thank you

Ashley_Sheridan

Use the autoincrement feature of the DB engine you are using if you don't mind about having incremental numbers. If not, some DB engines support unique GUID creation.

Personally, I don't see a huge issue with auto increment values. The main argument is that it's easy to guess other numbers and break your system, but IMHO, if the sytem is that easy to break, then incremental id's are the least of your problems!

BrightIdeas

I just use the uniqid() function. I store the unique ID into a cookie during the ordering process.

michael1291

Do you know how i can create the reference number so that it always starts with (for example LSP) then it auto increments from 1. or will i have to manually enter the reference number everytime

BrightIdeas

uniqid() works kinda that way. For example, the order ID I talked about earlier is generated as follows:

$orderID = uniqid(orderID);
[\PHP]

Every unique ID created starts with "orderID" followed by a unique alphanumeric ID.

Does anyone know if the same can be done with an auto increment field?

johanafm

No. One of the upsides of auto increments is that they are integers.

Also, why would you want to store [CONSTANT][UNIQUE_VALUE], when you could just store [UNIQUE_VALUE]. The constant value can always be prepended if it has any visual meaning.

As for uniqid, if the comments at the php.net documentation are correct, then the function might just as well be called "possibly_uniqid", since it has microsecond precision. Two calls to that function at the same system microsecond precision time will yield the same "unique" id. Furthermore, if the system doesn't support microsecond precision for system timestamps, which windows natively did not (no idea if it presently does), then you are stuck with second precision to "unique" ids.

When you insert data in the database, retrieve the newly generated auto increment id. If needs be, store this in $_SESSION. Before data is stored in the DB, you do not need to generate a unique id, and since this can be done for you by the DBMS (with 100% guaranteed uniqueness), why even try to create unique ids on your own, not just across threads on the same server, but possibly across several load balanced servers.

BrightIdeas

For the application I use it in, the uniqid works fine... for now, even with second precision... unless our site all of a sudden gets a thousandfold more popular...

That being said, I totally see your point and I will more than likely be changing my site and not use the uniqid, just to cover all my bases.