Url's with php. HELP!

**dragonfly_7456** · Mar 23, 2003 08:28

How would I get php to recognize a link such as this:

http://localhost/index.php?page=section

I have been wondering, and its getting annoying to always retype urls.
Then again, I might be wrong.

Which way is it better to make links?
/section.html
or
index.php?page=section

Kind of confused. Could somebody clear this up for me please?

**Overgrow** · Mar 23, 2003 08:48

Giving each page it's own name / link like section.html or section.php makes more sense to me than calling one file for the whole site with variables.

**someonewhois** · Mar 23, 2003 14:17

The advantage of using all under index.php is it's easier to define global variables, if you know what I mean.

Such as a connection at the top of the file, rather than at the top of each file.

Just a tad bit easier.

**dragonfly_7456** · Mar 25, 2003 05:04

Originally Posted by someonewhois

The advantage of using all under index.php is it's easier to define global variables, if you know what I mean.

Such as a connection at the top of the file, rather than at the top of each file.

Just a tad bit easier.

How would I go about doing that? how would I call all files from one file?

**Cam** · Mar 25, 2003 05:51

PHP Code:


<?php
$file = ( isset($_GET['page']) ? $_GET['page'] : 'index' );
include($file . '.php');
?>

Now if you went to http://www.yoursite.com/file.php?page=test that would include http://www.yoursite.com/test.php.

**dragonfly_7456** · Mar 25, 2003 08:47

Originally Posted by DJ P@CkMaN

PHP Code:


<?php
$file = ( isset($_GET['page']) ? $_GET['page'] : 'index' );
include($file . '.php');
?>

Now if you went to http://www.yoursite.com/file.php?page=test that would include http://www.yoursite.com/test.php.

Could you explain that a bit more thoroughly. That got me confused. I'm going to use index.php as the main file, so could you clear that up abit more please.

**samsm** · Mar 25, 2003 09:30

Try thinking of it like this:

PHP Code:


if ($_GET['page']=='action1')
{
   load_action1_page();
}
if ($_GET['page']=='action2')
{
   load_action2_page();
}
// and so on...

(a switch statement would probably be a little better looking in this case, but basically does the same thing)

After you master altering the page with "get" requests, you can go back and make your urls more friendly with mod-rewrite.

**dragonfly_7456** · Mar 25, 2003 09:32

Originally Posted by samsm

Try thinking of it like this:

PHP Code:


if ($_GET['page']=='action1')
{
load_action1_page();
}
if ($_GET['page']=='action2')
{
load_action2_page();
}
// and so on...

(a switch statement would probably be a little better looking in this case, but basically does the same thing)

After you master altering the page with "get" requests, you can go back and make your urls more friendly with mod-rewrite.

HEY wait! I'm still confused! Do you know of any tutorials or anything about this? I have no idea how to do this? Where do I put the code and how do I work it. I am serious! I'm a newbie to this stuff. Why else would I be asking these kind of question?

**samsm** · Mar 25, 2003 19:53

Originally Posted by dragonfly_7456

HEY wait! I'm still confused! Do you know of any tutorials or anything about this? I have no idea how to do this? Where do I put the code and how do I work it. I am serious! I'm a newbie to this stuff. Why else would I be asking these kind of question?

Alright, lets see. Does this help?:

PHP Code:


<?php 
if ($_GET['page']=='razzleberries')
{
   echo('This is the razzleberries page!');
   // put any code you want for the razzleberries page here
}
if ($_GET['page']=='banannas')
{
   echo('This is the banannas page!');
   // put any code you want for the bananna page here
}
// and so on...
?>

That way when you enter the url:
http://site.com/your_page.php?page=razzleberries
You will execute the first if section and not the second.

http://site.com/your_page.php?page=banannas
You will execute the second if section and not the first.

http://site.com/your_page.php
Will execute neither the banannas or razzleberries section.

Does that help?

**sojomy** · Mar 25, 2003 22:31

Originally Posted by samsm

However, if you are channelling the user through a single main.php page, why not hide the fact that the files are in different directories from them?

So, using your example, I could do something like this for index.php

PHP Code:


<?
<HTML><BODY>
Blah Blah at the top
 
// include the main content below
switch ($_GET['Page']) {
  case 'AddClan' : include('Clans/AddClan.php'); break;
  case 'EditClan' : include('Clans/EditClan.php'); break;
  case 'DeleteClan' : include('Clans/DeleteClan.php'); break;
  case 'AddLanCenter' : include('LanCenters/AddLanCenter.php'); break;
  case 'EditLanCenter' : include('LanCenters/EditLanCenter.php'); break;
  case 'DeleteLanCenter' : include('LanCenters/DeleteLanCenter.php'); break;
}
 
Blah Blah at the bottom
</BODY></HTML>


?>

Like that? Then every page would have the "blah blah" at the top and the bottom?

Would you run into any problems with the Referrer variable? Would the referrer be something like
http://www.domain.com/index.php?Page=EditClan

I can't think of anything else, I just feel like there's something I'm forgetting about that might cause a problem. I guess not though.

**sojomy** · Mar 26, 2003 20:29

You're selling it quite well...or I wouldn't keep asking about it

Now in the example below, how would I utilize sessions only on some pages?

PHP Code:


<?
<HTML><BODY>
Blah Blah at the top
 
// include the main content below
switch ($_GET['Page']) {
case 'AddClan' : include('Clans/AddClan.php'); break;
case 'EditClan' : include('Clans/EditClan.php'); break;
case 'DeleteClan' : include('Clans/DeleteClan.php'); break;
case 'AddLanCenter' : include('LanCenters/AddLanCenter.php'); break;
case 'EditLanCenter' : include('LanCenters/EditLanCenter.php'); break;
case 'DeleteLanCenter' : include('LanCenters/DeleteLanCenter.php'); break;
}
 
Blah Blah at the bottom
</BODY></HTML>
 
 
?>

I can't start the session in the individual pages, right? Because the '<HTML><BODY>' has already been sent, right? Is there another way without using classes? I've never used classes and don't anticipate it's a "5 minute quick read" to properly learn them

**dragonfly_7456** · Mar 26, 2003 11:39

Originally Posted by samsm

Alright, lets see. Does this help?:

PHP Code:


<?php 
if ($_GET['page']=='razzleberries')
{
echo('This is the razzleberries page!');
// put any code you want for the razzleberries page here
}
if ($_GET['page']=='banannas')
{
echo('This is the banannas page!');
// put any code you want for the bananna page here
}
// and so on...
?>

thant kind of helps, thanks. So, does that mean that for every link you would have to add another if conditional? How would you do it so that the browser (or is it apache) would recognize that when a link says index.php?page=berry that the real page is berry.php in the main directory all in one piece of code, or is it called a "rule"?

And then, how would you link to pages in subdirectories?

You know, i'm finding this method a pretty bad one. What are the pluses of this kind of thing? I mean, by the looks of it, you have to add alot more code, then just to let apache work things its way.
At the moment, here is the type of thing apache is doing on my server:
/page will get me /page.php or /page.htm
and it just seems that this method is a lot better, because you have less coding to do, less coding for the server and browser to process, it is quicker and best of all, it doesn't reveal the technology that you are using for the site. Correct me if I am wrong...

So as i understood this, I would have one basic template for the entire site, and in the part where the content changes, I would include that php code. Correct? So that would mean, all your other pages would then take up less space on the server and would be quicker loading. Is that the advantage? Does it decrease loading time of each page? But then again, couldn't you just get the same result by using a ssi?

**samsm** · Mar 26, 2003 13:54

If you don't have a reason to canopy everything under one php file, it is probably not a good idea to do so.

It does carry some potential advantages though. It naturally centralizes the application which can lead to fewer files and (more importantly) less redundancy.

The examples given are simple so they do not provide much advantage over creating multiple files. But imagine you have 100 php files. Is there overlap between them? If so you could have saved space and reduced the risk of editting one and forgetting another by centralizing them.

Overall, it is mostly a choice to use one file as an entry point into their application rather than (say) a dozen.

**sojomy** · Mar 25, 2003 16:06

Originally Posted by samsm

Try thinking of it like this:

PHP Code:


if ($_GET['page']=='action1')
{
load_action1_page();
}
if ($_GET['page']=='action2')
{
load_action2_page();
}
// and so on...

(a switch statement would probably be a little better looking in this case, but basically does the same thing)

I thought about doing something like this, but won't all of your pages have to be gotten to by the GET method? What if you have a form that POSTs to another page or itself? Won't that page, um, not work? And I know that you can just change the action to GET, but what about a login form, you don't want to send the username/password in the URL, right?

I've seen lots of sites that use this method, of one page that includes a page in the URL, but how do they handle forms being submitted via POST.

**Jeff Lange** · Mar 25, 2003 16:10

**sojomy** · Mar 25, 2003 16:20

Originally Posted by cyborg from dh

That's it? You shouldn't run into any other issues? Is that method (using GET and POST at the same time) a standard? Will it work in every browser? Are there any browsers that won't send the url data?

What about subfolders? For instance, on one of the sites I do, there are clans and lan centers. I have everything seperated so everything to do with clans (add, edit, delete, view, etc.) is in a subfolder called /clans/ and the same for lancenters (/lancenters/). So would I use the index.php file off of the root with ?page=/clans/editclan.php in the url? Or should I use an index.php file INSIDE the clans folder with ?page=editclan.php in the url? And if I have multiple directories for different subjects (i have 6 or 7), would I need an index.php for each directory that only handles that directory? And if so, won't all of the index.php files be (almost, if not) identical?

Thanks for any light you peeps can shed on this as it has confused me for awhile now.

**samsm** · Mar 25, 2003 19:45

Originally Posted by sojomy

That's it? You shouldn't run into any other issues? Is that method (using GET and POST at the same time) a standard? Will it work in every browser? Are there any browsers that won't send the url data?

Yes, yes, yes and no.

Well, I think.

Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen a browser breakdown for that behavior, which may mean they all work just fine or that may mean I just have not seen it.

Hmmm. I really think it works on all browsers, but I am not positive.

If you were using mod_rewrite to generate "get" requests from a more friendly url, then it would definately work, every single time, absolutely!

Originally Posted by sojomy

What about subfolders? ...
So would I use the index.php file off of the root with ?page=/clans/editclan.php in the url?

You could do that, should work fine. Sounds like the more simple of the choices you've presented.

However, if you are channelling the user through a single main.php page, why not hide the fact that the files are in different directories from them?

I'm a little crossed up (thinking of a few examples at once) so I'll leave it at that. Anything still need clarification?

**Helge** · Mar 27, 2003 04:27

I would go with the method that HarryF suggested.

-Helge

**Helge** · Mar 27, 2003 04:45

You can extend this so that you don't have to specify the path to the file in the url.

PHP Code:


$pages = array('AddClan'         => 'Clans/AddClan.php',

               'EditClan'        => 'Clans/EditClan.php',

               'DeleteClan'      => 'Clans/DeleteClan.php',

               'AddLanCenter'    => 'LanCenters/AddLanCenter.php',

               'EditLanCenter'   => 'LanCenters/EditLanCenter.php',

               'DeleteLanCenter' => 'LanCenters/DeleteLanCenter.php'

              );



if(array_key_exists($_GET['page'], $pages)) {

    include $pages[$_GET['page']];

} else {

    include 'default.php';

}

-Helge

**dragonfly_7456** · Mar 27, 2003 08:17

Ok, I'm happy with this code:

Code:

<?php 
$file = isset($_GET['page']) ? $_GET['page'] : 'default'; 
include($file . '.php'); 
?>

It just makes more sense for me to use it, and plus, it's the smallest. I don't have too many server security issues. I don't really care about it.

How do I get links to work through that code? You know, as in index.php?page=whatever

Can't seem to get that to work...

**dragonfly_7456** · Mar 27, 2003 08:21

Using this:

Code:

<?php 
// index.php 

// Some function / class that gets scalar variables 
$scalarVars=getScalars(); 

switch ( $scalarVars[0] ) { 
	case 'news': 
		include ('news.php'); 
	break; 
	case 'downloads': 
		include ('downloads.php'); 
	break; 
	default: 
		include ('default.php'); 
	break; 
} 
?>

I get this error message:
Fatal error: Call to undefined function: getscalars() in c:\apache\www\test\index.php on line 38

What is causing it this time?

**Helge** · Mar 27, 2003 08:27

getScalars() is not a PHP function.
Try

PHP Code:


switch($_GET['page']) {

-Helge

**dragonfly_7456** · Mar 27, 2003 08:32

Originally Posted by Helge

getScalars() is not a PHP function.
Try

PHP Code:


switch($_GET['page']) {

-Helge

Thanks for that, but I can't get the page to execute the switch! Here is my code:

Code:

<?php 
switch ($_GET['page']) {  
 case 'add': 
  include ('add.php'); 
 break; 
 case 'downloads': 
  include ('downloads.php'); 
 break; 
 default: 
  include ('default.php'); 
 break; 
} 
?>

And one of my links is:
<a href="index.php?page=add">Add</a>

When you click on it, all it does is add ?page=add into my url box! Yet it does not get add.php. What am I doing wrong?

**Helge** · Mar 27, 2003 08:38

I think the behavior in the url is correct.

Remeber that this will not redirect you to a new page (and changing the url). It will simply include the page (add.php) into index.php.

Do you have a file called add.php which echo out some text?

-Helge

**dragonfly_7456** · Mar 27, 2003 08:40

Originally Posted by Helge

I think the behavior in the url is correct.

Remeber that this will not redirect you to a new page (and changing the url). It will simply include the page (add.php) into index.php.

Do you have a file called add.php which echo out some text?

-Helge

Wait, it has to echo out some text? I just have it with the html coding, just like default.php.

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