[RESOLVED] MySql processing page opinions needed?

ArcGames

I have a simple question....

Lets say you have a page that will allow the user to enter data into some html form fields, would it then be better to have a separate page to process the mysql stuff and after the processing redirect back to the form page or would it be better to have the mysql stuff processed in the same page that has the html form fields on it

Now what if I have say several pages that have html forms with form fields, should each one of these pages also have a separate page that processes the mysql stuff or should each page's form fields' mysql stuff be processed within the same page as where the form resides or should one page be used to process all mysql stuff for all of the pages?

Your opinions are needed and highly regarded by me, please?

Thanks!

bradgrafelman

I'm a bit confused by what you're calling a "page" - can you define that term?

You could have an HTML form submit its data to a PHP script that in turn calls a thousand other PHP scripts. They aren't "pages" - they're simply other files that are used together to service the incoming request.

ArcGames

bradgrafelman;10982708 wrote:
I'm a bit confused by what you're calling a "page" - can you define that term?

You could have an HTML form submit its data to a PHP script that in turn calls a thousand other PHP scripts. They aren't "pages" - they're simply other files that are used together to service the incoming request.

Sorry for the confusion.

Here is what I mean by a page... All my "pages" are php, in other words there extension end in .php not .html but they display content in html format. So with that being said....

I have a page named profile.php it displays information from about a user in html format and that information comes from a mysql database, no information can be changed about the user from the profile.php page, so forget this page for a moment. Now on another page I have called settings.php any and all information can be changed about the user, it has html form fields that a user can enter data then submit (by a button) that will change a user's information in the mysql database. The question is, should I use a seperate .php page to process the mysql information from the settings.php page and then have it redirect back to the settings.php page or should I use the settings.php page its self to do both, A: allow the user to enter values in the form fields, and B: process the info from the form fields into the mysql database

Now just like the settings.php page, I have other pages with form fields where the user can enter values as well, the same question applies to these pages, or should I just use only ONE .php page to process ALL information from all html forms on the .php pages and have it all processed into the mysql database by sending variables in the form's action link. i.e.

settings.php Page
<form name="frm1" method="post" action="process.php?do_action=change_user_info">

page1.php Page
<form name="frm2" method="post" action="process.php?do_action=change_some_info1">

page2.php Page
<form name="frm3" method="post" action="process.php?do_action=change_some_info2">

page3.php Page
<form name="frm3" method="post" action="process.php?do_action=change_some_info3">

page4.php Page
<form name="frm4" method="post" action="process.php?do_action=change_some_info4">

process.php Page
$do_action = $_POST['do_action'];
if($do_action == "change_user_info"){
//Do some database processing code here
//as well as other php code
}elseif($do_action == "change_some_info1"){
//Do some database processing code here
//as well as other php code
}elseif($do_action == "change_some_info2"){
//Do some database processing code here
//as well as other php code
}elseif($do_action == "change_some_info3"){
//Do some database processing code here
//as well as other php code
}elseif($do_action == "change_some_info4"){
//Do some database processing code here
//as well as other php code
}

I hope this helps clear things up?

So your opinions please?

Ashley_Sheridan

It really depends on what you want to do. It's a simple matter to have each script process its own form, or one script process several forms (if they share similar traits for example)

If you plan out first what each form will contain, and then how each form needs to be processed, it may help define the structure of your PHP code to make it easy to maintain in the future.

johanafm

And to help asking questions later on, or for that matter any form of communication regarding these things, I believe you should learn to call your files "files", and your pages "pages", nothing else. For example, the file showthread.php (which most likely includes/requires several other files) on this forum will actually produce a potentially unlimited number of pages. Here I'm on one page. If I go to a different thread, or for that matter a different forum, I get new pages by the same file or set of files.

All my "pages" are php, in other words there extension end in .php not .html but they display content in html format. So with that being said....

All your "files" are php, in other words, their file extension (do note that there is nothing called page extension, but there is something called file extension) is .php not .html, but the pages they generate are in HTML format.

Personally, I find it easy to both display and update a record from one single file, but if you also allow creation of new records, i.e. issue SQL insert queries instead of only SQL update queries, you may want to put this in a separate script which, after successful insert, redirects to the URL used to display/edit. Otherwise a "page reload" will keep creating separate records containing identical data, excepting of course an auto incremented primary key.

bradgrafelman

Another tidbit to keep in mind in the "page vs. file" arena: URLs have nothing to do with file system structure. That is to say, there is no inherent information you gain about the file system by looking at the URL. The path portion of the URL to viewing a thread here at PHPBuilder could be something like "/board/showthread.php". However, this does not tell you that there is a file called "showthread.php" in a folder called "board" (or that there is even a folder called "board" period).

BrightIdeas

Going back to the original question:
Whether you have the file which displays the form page be the same file that processes the form data is all a matter of how you want your site to operate. The site I created for the company I work for uses both, depending on which form you're on. The checkout system in the shopping cart I created is a flow of 3 files:
- File 1 displays checkout step #1 (html form 1)
- File 2 processes the data from form 1 and displays checkout step #2 (form 2)
- File 3 processes the data from form 2 and displays the "thanks for your order" and sends the confirmation emails to us and the customer.

Our products page, on the other hand, has a small simple search at the top. The file that displays the product data and the simple search form is the same file that displays the result of a simple search.

I don't know if there really is a "best way" to do any of this...

ArcGames

Everyone, thank you for your advice and suggestions. I will definitely adhere to them.