Automate a data change php form

mjfmn · #1 19-Oct-2003, 17:55

Hi, thanks in advance for reading this! I inherited the responsiblity for maintaining my non-profit's MySql flat file with multiple tables, administered by me directly with Putty (it's hosted elsewhere), and all the users access the data via php on our website. Here's my conundrum: for situations when data on a table needed to be changed, the previous administrator created a "delete" php form, and then the user had to re-enter the entire data. Let's say it was to our "news" section. The fields are author, date, subject and article. There is another field, "id", an auto-incrementing integer that is the primary key, but it is hidden. If someone screws up a name in the "article" field and doesn't notice it until after it's posted, they have to delete the record and re-enter it all again. I'd like to figure out a way to display the news articles, maybe just by "id" and "subject", let the user choose which one to change, bring up all the data for that record, let them change anything they want to, and then click a button to update the record. I'm just figuring out MySQL & php scripts right now, and I know for sure how to display the data all at once for everything. But is what I'm asking for even possible?

I'm not looking for a free ride, altho if someone has the inclination to just show me the code I need I wouldn't argue

! I will greatly appreciate being directed to sample scripts of what I'm trying to do and I'll try and figure it out for myself. I figure, the worse that will happen is I won't get it figured and they'll just keep operating like they currently are.

Thanks so much! By the way, you can view some of the user-end php scripts at www.flightsimnetwork.com - click on the "Captain's Lounge NOTAMS" for a look at the news section.

BobbyDouglas · #2 20-Oct-2003, 08:05

I suck at coding php and have little clue about mysql... But, can you just use phpmyadmin or a program similar to that to admin the databases?

mjfmn · #3 20-Oct-2003, 08:33

BobbyDouglas, thanks for the response. Looking at the admin program, I don't think it fits my needs. I want regular users who post to be able to correct it as needed, and I don't want them to have the rights that the admin program would give them.

Thanks anyway!

Mike

JdS · #4 20-Oct-2003, 09:20

Hello mjfmn,

What you're asking for is quite simple to do actually (but if you're just starting out with PHP and MySQL almost everything can seem daunting at first). Nevermind, we're here to help when we can...

If I understand your question; you're looking for some examples on how to easily edit a certain table in a MySQL database?

Here's a quick example... a fictitious web page filenamed - news-edit.php; reply if you have any specific questions figuring out the sample code:

PHP Code:


<?php
// FILENAME: NEWS-EDIT.PHP

// the connection to the MySQL database in a custom function
// let's say this function also takes care of 'selecting the db' to use etc.
// returning the 'MySQL link identifier'
$conn = my_mysql_conn();

// ALL THE REQUIRED CUSTOM FUNCTIONS HERE
/////////////////////////////////////////
// I will just code one sample here... you try to figure out the rest!
function list_all_articles()
{
  $sql = 'SELECT `id`, `subject`
         FROM `articles`
         WHERE `author`='.$_COOKIE['authorid'].'
         ORDER BY `subject`';
  $result = mysql_query( $sql, $GLOBALS['conn'] );
  while( $row=mysql_fetch_assoc($result) )
  {
    echo '<p><a href="'.$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'].'?aid='.$row['id'].'" title="click to edit">'.$row['subject']."</a></p>\r\n";
  }
  // a word of caution here, of course a lot of error checking,
  // user input validation etc. were NOT included in this brief example
}
/////////////////////////////////////////



// this page does nearly everything... so we usually try to figure out
// what's happening based on the SUPER GLOBAL variables that are either set / or not.

// first we check if the user is submitting a form, i.e. edited data
if( isset($_POST['article']) )
{
  update_the_record();
}
// no, that was NOT it, perhaps the user is selecting an article to edit?
elseif( isset($_GET['aid']) )
{
  get_record_by_id_and_display_it_in_a_form();
}
// looks like no SUPER GLOBAL var was set, so just list all the articles off
// the db/table...
else
{
  list_all_articles();
}

?>

Or... you could just pay someone to set this up for you...

mjfmn · #5 20-Oct-2003, 09:37

Jds, thanks! Hey, if we weren't non-profit I'd definitely consider paying someone! I have to admit, I enjoy learning php and mysql - it's not exactly HARD, just a new language. I'm great with basic "show the data" forms or "enter the data" forms (how hard is that, right?), but as I get deeper into this it gets more complicated. And since my full-time job doesn't allow me the time to actually sit and learn the stuff, I have to do it on my off time.

What you gave me is great - a starting point to working on my own code. Thanks a lot!

Mike

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