PHP - Retrieving Variables From A Array That Has Been Loaded With A .txt File

Hello all,

I'm currently working on a project and it is the first time I have had to store/retrieve an array with PHP and MySQL. Basically its a website that has a list of discounts/coupons on it. People can register and submit their discounts and such. I am storing an array for who is eligible for the discount, as well as which categories the discount falls under.

I did some googling and there seems to be tons of thoughts on the best way to do this. Some say to use implode/explode, some say to serialize/unserialize, I was just wondering if there is a common, concrete way to do this?

I will need to be able to search the array for its contents. So if children are eligible for the discount, I need to be able to store that in a database, retrieve it later, and search it for only "Children" so I can display the discounts available only to children.

If someone could please advise the best way to do this and post some examples, it would be greatly appreciated. I learn best with examples that are explained properly.

As part of a form submission, I have several textboxes   The textboxes have an array name such as text[].  I'm sending the textbox values via http request.  Sending an element value via http request is usually be done using document.getElementById, assigning the elements ID to a var and posting the var name .  Then accessing the value using $_POST.  However I'm sending an array of string values.  How do I access the array using $_POST?  Any help appreciated.

I use Popshops Datafeed API and cant figure out an issue im having with an array. I'm trying to retrieve a category name from an array for the current page.

Here is the array code which is in the index.php file.

 $categories = array();
  $categories[] = array( 'name' => 'page name', 
                         'search_options' => array( 'keywords' => 'page keyword' ) );
  $categories[] = array( 'name' => 'page name', 
                         'search_options' => array( 'keywords' => 'page keyword' ) );
  $categories[] = array( 'name' => 'page name', 
                         'search_options' => array( 'keywords' => 'page keyword' ) );


This is how the script calls the current page keyword.
<?php echo ucwords($_REQUEST[$popshops->nameSpace.'keywords']) ?> 

The code above works fine, so I thought all I had to do was change the 'keywords' to 'name' to get what I was looking for. But that does not seem to work?
<?php echo ucwords($_REQUEST[$popshops->nameSpace.'name']) ?> 

I've tried as much as my limited php knowledge can take me, so now I need some advice.

Here is the function in the popshops.php file they use to pull the page name out for the links in the navigation, but I just want to know how to retrieve just the category name for the current page, nothing else.

function customCategoryLink($category) {
    $url = $this->baseURL($this->params);
    
    if (isset($category['search_options']) && sizeOf($category['search_options']) > 0) {
      foreach($category['search_options'] as $key => $value) {
        $url = $this->addParameter($url,$key,$value);
      }      
    } else {
      $url = $this->addParameter($url,'keywords',$category['name']);
    }
    $url = str_replace('?&','?',$url);
    return '<a href="'.$url.'">'.$category['name'].'</a>';
  }

Thanks in advanced!
 

Hey all,
I've written a php search feature for a mysql database. The search returns a file name like sample.gif, how would I go about displaying the actual image instead? Since the images all have the same location could I have the search return the string into a variable then make the whole thing a link? Thanks.

Hi There all, having an issue with simple xml... hopefully someone will be able to shed some light on this. 

I have this data in an xml feed from an API: 

<ID>job no 1 </ID>
    <Name>job name</Name>
    <State>job status</State>    
    <Tasks>
      <Task>
         <Name>task name 1</Name>
      </Task>
      <Task>
          <Name>task name 2</Name>       
                </Task>
              
<ID>job no 2</ID>
     <Name>job name</Name>
     <State>job status</State>    
     <Tasks>
        <Task>
           <Name>task name 1</Name>
        </Task>
        <Task>
           <Name>task name 2</Name>       
         </Task>

I would like to display these in a table pretty much as it is shown above.

Job no 1     job name    job status

                             job 1 task name 1

                            job 1 task name 2

Job no 2     job name    job status

                             job 2 task name 1

                            job 2 task name 2

etc

my code looks like this : $required is narrowing down specific states not shown for clarity 

 $xml_current=simplexml_load_string($jobs_task_response) or die("Error: Cannot create object");
     
    foreach($xml_current->Jobs->Job as $item_current) {
        if (in_array((string)$item_current->State, $required)) {     
            $projects_current[] = array(
                'job_no'          => (string)$item_current->ID,
                'job_name'        => (string)$item_current->Name,
                'job_status'      => (string)$item_current->State,
            );
            foreach($item_current->Tasks->Task as $current_tasks){
                $projects_task[] = array(
                'job_tasks'       => (string)$current_tasks->Name,
                );
            }
        }         
    } 

 
    foreach ($projects_current as $proj_current) {
        $job_no =$proj_current['job_no'];
        $job_name =$proj_current['job_name'];
        $job_status =$proj_current['job_status'];       
        $clr_current = $colors[$job_status];
        $project_id = $job_no;  

        $tdata_1 .= "<tr id='current' class='card-body collapse-show'>";
        $tdata_1 .= "<td class='th-sm-1 bg-white '><a href='../details/index.php?pid=$job_no' class='text-left ml-1'>$job_no</a></td>";
        $tdata_1 .= "<td data-target='#" . $job_no . "' data-toggle='collapse' class='th-sm-2 bg-white text-left ml-1'>$job_name</td>"; 
        $tdata_1 .= "<td class='th-sm-2 " . $clr_current . " text-left ml-1 '>$job_status</td>";
      
        foreach ($projects_task as $proj_tasks){
        $job_tasks =$proj_tasks['job_tasks']; 
        $tdata_1 .= "</tr>";
        $tdata_1 .= "<tr id='" . $job_no . "' class='card-body collapse'> ";
        $tdata_1 .= "<td class='th-sm bg-white text-left ml-1'></td>";
        $tdata_1 .= "<td class='th-sm bg-white text-left ml-1'></td>";
        $tdata_1 .= "<td class='th-sm " . $clr_current . " text-left ml-1'>$job_tasks</td>";
        $tdata_1 .= "</tr>";
        }

    }

 what I get with this code however is;

Job no 1     job name    job status

                             job 1 task name 1

                            job 1 task name 2

                            job 2 task name 1 

                            job 2 task name 2

 

Job no 2    job name   job status

                          job 1 task name 1

                          job 1 task name 2

                          job 2 task name 1

                          job 2 task name 2       

 

I'm sure there is a simple answer to this, I just can't seem to put my finger on it. 

Can anyone help please? Much appreciated thanks in advance!

Code: [Select]
$a = $landSellCheck[0];
echo("<p>a: $a");
$a = $landSellCheck[1];
echo("<p>a: $a");
$a = $landSellCheck[2];
echo("<p>a: $a");

$i = 0;
$landSellCheck = $landSellCheck[$i];
echo("<p>b: (0): $landSellCheck");
$i = 1;
$landSellCheck = $landSellCheck[$i];
echo("<p>b: (1): $landSellCheck");
$i = 2;
$landSellCheck = $landSellCheck[$i];
echo("<p>b: (2): $landSellCheck");
As can be seen from the output below when I echo my array by manually inserting the index number, it works fine as it should. If I set the index number as a variable and echo it, it works for index value 0, for index value 1 is gives 'a' somehow (no idea where that comes from) and for index value 2 it is empty. What am I doing wrong?

Output is:

a: landSellConfirm7

a: landSellConfirm6

a: landSellConfirm1

b: (0): landSellConfirm7

b: (1): a

b: (2):

I have a very simple system (few files) having simple articles (only title and a paragraph description) stored in single text files. I catch the data by

Code: [Select]
$data=file('article1.txt');
$title=$data[0];
$description=$data[1];
This simple system works perfectly, but the problem appears when increasing the number of files (e.g. more than 10,000 articles). This is a problem connected with the OS behavior for handling huge number of files. My first question: Is there theoretically a faster system (e.g. database-based) for retrieving data, comparing with retrieving from plain text file?

Second question: what can be an alternative for this very simple system (no search query or additional field)?

1. XML: It has the same problem if storing in different files.
2. Mysql: It is very advanced for this system.
3. SQLite:I am thinking of this, but it still have advanced structure of SQL.
4. DB Berkeley: I am not familiar with Oracle at all, and I need to install something new on my server. Is it really worth of trying?
5. Anything else?

In general, I just need fast reading the data. I have no idea how much the speed of these systems are different to determine which is worth of consideration. Thanks for sharing your idea.

I'm going to be blunt, I've been working on a website for quite some time now and I never really stopped to think about the effects that an over abundant amount of queries could actually slow things down.  I'm quite new to the whole PHP / MySQL thing so I am still learning.

While reading through some things about optimization of queries I've learned some valuable information, such as working with Indexes, and not running unnecessary queries which the data doesn't seem to change that often.

So for a few aspects of my site which don't really change in particular periods of time, I've decided to write the contents of them into a text file then retrieve and display them as normal through my site.  Things that last an hour, or a day, will no longer be queries on each page load; tremendously reducing the amount of queries which my database would take.

Currently I have the following code:
if($database->numrows($query) > 0) {
        $myFile = 'testFile.txt';

    if($fh = fopen($myFile, 'w')) {
        $i = 0;
        while($row = $database->fetchassoc($query)) {
            ++$i;
            $stringData = '' . $row['id'] . '--' . $row['name'] . '--' . $row['color'] . '--' . $row['bdaytest'] . '--' . $row['gmtoffset'] . "\n";
            fwrite($fh, $stringData);
        
        }
    fclose($fh);
    }
}

Which Prints Out

Quote

32--User3--0--1939-10-03--+0.0
27--User7--0--1979-10-04--+17.0
28--User65--150--1969-10-05--+17.0
30--User1--0--1959-10-06--+6.0
31--User9--0--1949-10-07--+3.0
29--User5--0--1989-10-08--+17.0


The problem stems from pulling the information from the file and exploding it.  That file would be for yesterday's up to 7 days from now's birthdays.

The amount of lines could change, possibly messing up the possibility of an array.

I was thinking about pulling the information into an array, than exploding it from within that array, posting it to variables.. and then have it display all in a while.

Am I on the right track, or is there some other alternative I can use?  Only data that will always be visible on the website, will be held in these text files.

Any suggestions on how I pull the information from the text file and explode it to display exactly how I need it to be displayed?

Hi,

I'm having problems retrieving the values from a form posting without getting a warning

My form records playername, hours played and minutes played

Code: [Select]
<li id="input1" style="margin-bottom:4px;" class="clonedInput">
Name:
        <select name="player[1][userid]" id="player[1][userid]" class="playerInput" style="width: 7em;" >
        <option value=""></option>
        <?php
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql)) {
echo '<option value="'.stripslashes($row['userid']).'">'.stripslashes($row['name']).'</option>';
}
mysql_data_seek($sql,0);
?>
        </select>       
        <select name="player[1][hours]" id="player[1][hours]">
        <option value="">Hours</option>
        <option value=""></option>
        <?php
for($x = 0; $x <= 23; $x++ ) {
             echo '<option value="'.$x.'">'.$x.'</option>';
}
?>
        </select>
        <select name="player[1][minutes]" id="player[1][minutes]">
        <option value="">Minutes</option>
        <option value=""></option>
        <?php
for($y = 15;  $y <= 59; $y+=15) {
             echo '<option value="'.$y.'">'.$y.'</option>';
}
?>
        </select>
</li>

I use some javascript to create new players as necessary so every player has a userid, hours, minutes played...
After posting the query string looks like this

/cLeagueHandler.php?player[1][userid]=1&player[1][hours]=3&player[1][minutes]=15&player[2][userid]=3&player[2][hours]=6&player[2][minutes]=45&submit=Save+Points

player1
userid = 1
hours = 3
minutes = 15

player2.......

The code i'm using to access the values is

Code: [Select]
        print_r ($_GET); // test display form values
       
foreach ($_GET as $key => $value) {
echo '<br/>'.$key.'<br/> ';
foreach ($value as $iKey => $iValue) { // Line 72
foreach ($iValue as $xKey => $xValue) {
echo " The $xKey for Player $iValue is $xValue <br/>";
}
}
}

The above code displays

Array ( [player] => Array ( [1] => Array ( [userid] => 1 [hours] => 3 [minutes] => 15 ) [2] => Array ( [userid] => 3 [hours] => 6 [minutes] => 45 ) ) [submit] => Save Points )
player
The userid for Player Array is 1
The hours for Player Array is 3
The minutes for Player Array is 15
The userid for Player Array is 3
The hours for Player Array is 6
The minutes for Player Array is 45

submit

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in .................cLeagueHandler.php on line 72

Line 72 is foreach ($value as $iKey => $iValue) {

If anyone could help me with this it would be great appreciated.......I want to be able to build and sql string to Insert a players id, hours, minutes into a database......(obviously not incl the submit value!)
Maybe this is not even the best way of approaching this.....I'm quiet new to PHP so apologies if this is long winded...I'm trying to give as much info as possible....

thanks in advance

tmfl

I'm restarting this under a new subject b/c I learned some things after I initially posted and the subject heading is no longer accurate.

What would cause this behavior - when I populate session vars from a MYSQL query, they stick, if I populate them from an MSSQL query, they drop.

It doesn't matter if I get to the next page using a header redirect or a form submit.  I have two session vars I'm loading from a MYSQL query and they remain, the two loaded from MSSQL disappear. 

I have confirmed that all four session vars are loading ok initially and I can echo them out to the page, but when the application moves to next page via redirect or form submit, the two vars loaded from MSSQL are empty. 

Any ideas?

This topic has been moved to JavaScript Help.

http://www.phpfreaks.com/forums/index.php?topic=359179.0

Hi folks,   Amateur coder here in need of some help.   Background:  I have a dozen sensors that get recorded in a database.  The sensors are not very reliable,  so to smooth out the data to graph,  I compare the reading to the previous reading and if they differ by a given delta I replace the reading by the previous reading (smooth out spikes).  The data for each sensor is loaded into arrays that are names according to sensor numbers (ie sensor one - $sensor1,  sensor 6 - $sensor6).   I have go through and do the comparison on each array and just repeat the code a dozen times,  but I'd like to simplify the amount of code if possible.   I'm not sure how to refer to an array by using a variable. Here is a simplified example of what I would like to do. The issue comes with - $array($i)[$x]   Hope this makes sense of what I'm tring to do.  Any guidence would be greatly appreciated.  Trying to become a better programmer than just repeating the same piece of code a dozen times..

<?php

//define arrays of data
    $array1 = array (7,8,9,10,11,12);
    $array4 = array (13,14,15,16,17,18);
    $array6 = array (1,2,3,4,5,6);

//define array of sensors  
    $sensors = array(1, 4, 6);

//loop through each data point of each array
    foreach ($sensors as $i) {
        for ($x = 0; $x <= 6; $x++) {
        echo $array($i)[$x];
        } 
    }

?>

This code outputs the table fields. how do I set them into an array and assign then to a variable to be inserted into a mysql database.

// Load html string
$dom->loadHTML($html2);

// Get tables from html
$tables = $dom->getElementsByTagName('table');


// Get rows from tables
$rows = $tables->item(0)->getElementsByTagName('tr');

// Loop over each row
foreach ($rows as $row)
{
   // Get each column by tag name
   $cols = $row->getElementsByTagName('td');
   
   
   // Echo values (here you can assign them in array for example)
   echo $cols->item(0)->nodeValue.'<br />';
   
   echo '<hr />';

is it possible to have variables in an array?

I have been trying to plot some data using phplot, a graph package but it plots different values to the ones I expect.

it should be able to cope with

array($variable1, $variable2)

shouldn't it?

So here is what I have going.

#1 - My weather station software processes a file and enters variables and then uploads it as a php file.
#2 - Currently the station also just uploads every file to the site and enters the data in the html, but I would rather have it only upload this one file and the other pages grab data from it and print it out. I have a few php scrips in there to preform certain functions (if temp <= 32 it echos that data in blue and so on) but would rather make most of it php so I have less files being uploaded every 5 minutes.

This is what the station sends to the web, but I have no idea how to get the other pages to read it and input the variables from it.