php.ini -> regisiter globals -> On = BAD?

troinfo · July 15th, 2003, 01:32 PM

Hey All,

When turn on the register globals this code works fine:

<?
session_start();
?>
<?
session_register("v1c");
session_register("v2c");
session_register("v3c");
session_register("v4c");
?>

<?

$whichpage = $_GET[whichpage];

if (!$v1c) $v1c = 0;
if (!$v2c) $v2c = 0;
if (!$v3c) $v3c = 0;
if (!$v4c) $v4c = 0;

echo "<html><head><title>Web Page Hits</title></head><body>";

if ($whichpage) {

echo "You are currently on page $whichpage. \n";
$GLOBALS["v${whichpage}c"]++;
}

for ($i = 1; $i <=4; $i++) {

echo "<a href=\"$PHP_SELF?whichpage=$i&PHPSESSID=.PHPSESSID ."\">Page $i</a>";
echo ", which you have choosen ".$GLOBALS["v${i}c." times. \n";
}

echo "\n\n \n\n";
echo "</body></html>";
?>

However I read some place that it is bad to have the register globals set to on. And that I needed to set the variable with a $_GET or $_POST.

So I set it to off and now only part of the code works.

It no longer counts the page hits.

It seems to loose the PHPSESSID, I think.

Is there something else that needs to be done and/or set?

Any help would be great.

TIA

troinfo.

nikolai · July 15th, 2003, 01:46 PM

After answering hundreds of register_globals questions last year, I decided to post a FAQ: http://p2p.wrox.com/archive/beginnin...2002-11/17.asp

You need to use $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] instead of $PHP_SELF.

I also strongly suggest you ditch using session_register() and start using $_SESSION.

Therefore, your session variable, $v1c, should be $_SESSION['v1c']. I don't see anywhere in your code where PHPSESSID is used in a valid PHP context -- the only line in which you reference it is in a double-quoted string, which means the token is taken literally as part of the string and NOT extracted as a defined constant:

Quote:

quote:
echo "<a href=\"$PHP_SELF?whichpage=$i&PHPSESSID=.PHPSESSID ."\">Page $i</a>";

Count your quotes carefully here -- You enter the string, escape the quote surrounding $PHP_SELF, then end the quote [b]after[b] ".PHPSESSID.". The next token is an escaped quote, which doesn't make sense outside of string context. You're code should cause a syntax or parse error, it's missing a double-quote before the ".PHPSESSID.".

Take care,

Nik
http://www.bigaction.org/

troinfo · July 15th, 2003, 02:32 PM

Thanks for the quick answer.

The $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] Throws an error> Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_ENCAPED_AND_WHITESPACE, expecting T_STRING or T_VARIABLE or T_NUM_STRING in /session.php on line 30.

I changed it to $_SERVER[PHP_SELF] and then echoed it and the correct location was shown.

Ran the script with out any errors. Not sure if that is good or bad.

I also put in the $_SESSION['v1c'] etc; ran it and the script did not count the pages still.

The missing quote was a typo in the post. It was not in my code, that was a good catch though.

Anythng else I can do?

nikolai · July 15th, 2003, 03:21 PM

So what is still not working? I suggest, for debugging purposes, you look at the variables you're dealing with. Here is the most useful function I've ever written:

Code:

function printr(&$var, $desc = '')
{
   echo '<pre>';
   if($desc != '') echo "$desc:";
   print_r($var)
   echo "<pre>\n";
}

Some usage examples:

printr($_POST, '$_POST'); // single-quoted to avoid var substitution
printr($_SESSION, '$_SESSION, before adding foo');
$_SESSION['foo'] = "Hello, world!";
printr($_SESSION, '$_SESSION, after adding foo');

etc.

Have you completely ditched session_register()? If you're still using session register() and are incrementing a global, that global is NOT necessarily the variable stored in $_SESSION.

Take care,

Nik
http://www.bigaction.org/

troinfo · July 16th, 2003, 07:56 PM

Hey Thanks for your help,

BTW I did get rid of the register thingy's. still no joy. Oh well I'll keep trying.

Do you know if they are coming out with a PHP for Beginners Second Edition?

Thanks,
troinfo

nikolai · July 17th, 2003, 01:48 AM

Post your most recent code snapshot, if I have time I'll poke through it and see if there's anything else amiss.

One thing, though -- your array index is a string, so change the following line to the next:

$whichpage = $_GET[whichpage];
should be
$whichpage = $_GET['whichpage'];

Take care,

Nik
http://www.bigaction.org/

troinfo · July 17th, 2003, 11:41 PM

Ok,

I got it working like this:

<?
session_start();

$_SESSION[v1c];
$_SESSION[v2c];
$_SESSION[v3c];
$_SESSION[v4c];

$whichpage = $_GET[whichpage];

if(!$_SESSION[v1c]) $_SESSION[v1c] = 0;
if(!$_SESSION[v2c]) $_SESSION[v2c] = 0;
if(!$_SESSION[v3c]) $_SESSION[v3c] = 0;
if(!$_SESSION[v4c]) $_SESSION[v4c] = 0;

echo "<html><head><title>Web page hits</title></head><body>";

if ($whichpage) {

 echo "you are currently on page $whichpage. \n";
 $_SESSION["v${whichpage}c"]++;
 }

 for ($i = 1; $i <= 4; $i++) {

 echo "<a href=\"$_SERVER[PHP_SELF]?whichpage=$i&PHPSESSID=".$PHPSESSID."\">Page $i</a>";
 echo ", which you have choosen ".$_SESSION["v${i}c"]." times. \n";
}

echo "\n\n \n\n";
echo "</body></html>";

?>

Thanks Nik for all you help,
troinfo

nikolai · July 21st, 2003, 02:48 PM

Okay, there's still room for improvement:

You don't need the variable declarations in lines 3-7 of your script. They're useless because they don't DO anything.

Also, you're still not being very explicit in your code. Don't be lazy!

if(!$_SESSION['v1c'])
should be
if(!isset($_SESSION['v1c']))

Take care,

Nik
http://www.bigaction.org/