[RESOLVED] Restricting Number of Logins

[kallison]

I want to restrict the number of times that a user can access a web page. I have a login page ( using the Dreamweaver user authentication extension) that redirects to a customer page if login is successful. This all works fine but I do not know how to check the column (logins) in my tblCustomer and then add 1 and update the table. I have been reading varius articles and attempting to apply the information but without any luck.
It seems like it should be easy but I am curently frustrated beyond "nice". Can someone please help me?😕

[bradgrafelman]

Welcome to PHPBuilder!

How far have you gotten, and can you show us what you've tried? Really, the components of what you're trying to do are quite simple, so break it down into steps and let us know more about which part you're having problems with. For example, I would think a logical breakdown of what you're doing might look something like:

1. General authentication - make sure you've got a logged-in user trying to access the page, otherwise redirect to a login/error page.

2. SELECT the current 'view count' from the database for the currently logged-in user account.

3. Check if() this count meets or exceeds the maximum number of times the page can be viewed. If it does, redirect to an error page.

4. UPDATE the database and SET the 'view count' column to equal the current value plus one for the currently logged-in user.

5. Display the page!

[kallison]

Thank you for your quick reply. This is what i have so far:
Step #1 - Check loginThis is on my login.php page

<?php
// *** Validate request to login to this site.
if (!isset($_SESSION)) {
  session_start();
}

$loginFormAction = $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'];
if (isset($_GET['accesscheck'])) {
  $_SESSION['PrevUrl'] = $_GET['accesscheck'];
}

if (isset($_POST['username'])) {
  $loginUsername=$_POST['username'];
  $password=$_POST['password'];
  $MM_fldUserAuthorization = "";
  $MM_redirectLoginSuccess = "CustomerPage.php";
  $MM_redirectLoginFailed = "Login2.php";
  $MM_redirecttoReferrer = false;
  mysql_select_db($database_allison, $allison);

  $LoginRS__query=sprintf("SELECT Username, Password FROM tblCustomer WHERE Username=%s AND Password=%s",
    GetSQLValueString($loginUsername, "text"), GetSQLValueString($password, "text")); 

  $LoginRS = mysql_query($LoginRS__query, $allison) or die(mysql_error());
  $loginFoundUser = mysql_num_rows($LoginRS);
  if ($loginFoundUser) {
     $loginStrGroup = "";

if (PHP_VERSION >= 5.1) {session_regenerate_id(true);} else {session_regenerate_id();}
//declare two session variables and assign them
$_SESSION['MM_Username'] = $loginUsername;
$_SESSION['MM_UserGroup'] = $loginStrGroup;	      

if (isset($_SESSION['PrevUrl']) && false) {
  $MM_redirectLoginSuccess = $_SESSION['PrevUrl'];	
}
header("Location: " . $MM_redirectLoginSuccess );
  }
  else {
    header("Location: ". $MM_redirectLoginFailed );
  }
}
?>

Step 2 – Determine the value of the logins column and add 1

The code I have is as follows and is located on the CustomerPage.php

<?php $cat = $row_rsUser['catID'];
$Curr = $row_rsUser['logins']+1;
 if ($cat==2){  

echo $row_rsUser['$Curr']; 
} ?>
<input name="logins" type="text" id="logins" value="<?php echo $Curr?>">

Step 3 – See if the login count is < than allowable limit

I have an onload javascript function that checks the value and delivers an alert if the number has been exceeded.

Step 4 – Update the database column

This is where I am stuck. I cannot seem to get the code right and then not even sure where to put it. I know how to update the table using a submit button but this is not applicable in this case. I tried using the code below but it doesn’t work.

<?php
 mysql_query("UPDATE tblCustomers SET logins = $Curr WHERE CustomerID = $row_rsUser['CustomerID']"); ?>
 

what am I doing wrong?

[kallison]

I found my error. I had a syntax error in the update code. Also, I was able to simplify it to reduce the risk of future errors.

mysql_query("UPDATE tblCustomer SET logins = (logins)+1");