Scribd
Upload
112 views

Chapter 12

This chapter discusses server-side development using PHP. It covers PHP language fundamentals like variables, data types, constants, writing to output, and program control. Specifically, it discusses PHP tags, comments, variables and data types, constants, writing to output using echo and printf, and program control structures like if/else, switch, while, do/while, and for loops. The chapter aims to teach the reader PHP fundamentals needed to develop the server-side portion of web applications.

Uploaded by

washma.zubair
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
112 views

Chapter 12

This chapter discusses server-side development using PHP. It covers PHP language fundamentals like variables, data types, constants, writing to output, and program control. Specifically, it discusses PHP tags, comments, variables and data types, constants, writing to output using echo and printf, and program control structures like if/else, switch, while, do/while, and for loops. The chapter aims to teach the reader PHP fundamentals needed to develop the server-side portion of web applications.

Uploaded by

washma.zubair
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 63

Fundamentals of Web Development

Third Edition by Randy Connolly and Ricardo Hoar

Chapter 12

Server-Side Development 1: PHP

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
In this chapter you will learn . . .
• What is server-side development

• PHP language fundamentals

• PHP arrays, objects, and functions

• Using PHP superglobal arrays to access HTTP content

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Front End versus Back End
Server-side technologies
provide access to data
sources, handled security,
and allowed web sites to
interact with external
services such as payment
systems.

Traditionally, most sites


made use programs running
on the server-side to
programmatically generate
the HTML sent to the
browser.
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Common Server-Side Technologies
• ASP (Active Server Pages). This was Microsoft’s first server-side technology (also called ASP Classic).

• ASP.NET. This replaced Microsoft’s older ASP technology.

• JSP (Java Server Pages). JSP uses Java as its programming language and like ASP.NET it uses an explicit
object-oriented approach and is used in large enterprise web systems and is integrated into the J2EE
environment.

• Node.js (or just Node). Uses JavaScript on the server side

• Perl. excels in the manipulation of text.

• PHP. Like ASP, PHP is a dynamically typed language that can be embedded directly within the HTML

• Python. This terse, object-oriented programming language has many uses, including being used to create web
applications.

• Ruby on Rails. This is a web development framework that uses the Ruby programming language.
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Running PHP locally
Installing Apache, PHP, and MySQL for Local Development

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
PHP Language Fundamentals
PHP is a a dynamically typed language (with optional static typing), and
provides classes and functions in a way consistent with other object-oriented
languages such as C++, C#, and Java.

The syntax for loops, conditionals, and assignment is identical to JavaScript,


only differing when you get to functions, classes, and in how you define
variables.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
PHP Tags and comments
PHP code can be embedded directly within an HTML file. However, instead of
having an .html extension, a PHP file will usually have the extension .php.

Code must be contained within an opening <?php tag and a matching closing
?> tag. Code within the <?php and the ?> tags is interpreted and executed,
while any code outside the tags is echoed directly out to the client.

It is very common practice (especially when first learning PHP) for a PHP file
to have HTML markup and PHP programming logic woven together.

PHP uses the same commenting mechanisms as JavaScript, namely multi-


line block comments using /* */ or end-of-line comments using //

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
PHP Tag Example
<?php <!DOCTYPE html>
$user = "Randy"; <html>
?> <body>
<!DOCTYPE html> <h1>Welcome Randy</h1>
<html> <p>
<body> The server time is <strong>02:59:09</strong>
<h1>Welcome <?php echo $user; ?></h1> </p>
<p> </body>
The server time is </html>
<?php
LISTING 12.2 Output (HTML) from PHP script in
echo "<strong>";
Listing 12.1
echo date("H:i:s");
echo "</strong>";
?>
</p></body></html>

LISTING 12.1 Php Tags


Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Variables and Data Types
Variables in PHP are dynamically • Boolean A logical true or false
typed. The PHP engine makes a value
best guess as to the intended type
based on what it is being assigned. • Integer Whole numbers

Variables are also loosely typed in • Float Decimal numbers


that a variable can be assigned • String Letters
different data types over time.
• Array A collection of data of any
type (covered in the next chapter)

• Object Instances of classes

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
PHP constants
<?php
• A constant can be defined
// uppercase for constants is a programming convention
anywhere but is typically defined define("DATABASE_LOCAL", "localhost");
near the top of a PHP file via the define("DATABASE_NAME", "ArtStore");
define() function. The define() define("DATABASE_USER", "Fred");
define("DATABASE_PASSWD", "F5^7%ad");
function generally takes two // ...
parameters: the name of the // notice that no $ prefaces constant names
constant and its value. Notice that $db = new mysqli( DATABASE_LOCAL,
DATABASE_NAME, DATABASE_USER,
once it is defined, it can be
DATABASE_PASSWD);
referenced without using the $ ?>
symbol.
LISTING 12.3 PHP constants

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Writing to Output
To output something that will be seen by the browser, you can use the echo() function.
echo("hello");
echo "hello"; //alternate version (no parenthesis)

Strings can be appended together using the concatenate operator, which is the period
(.) symbol. Consider the following code:
$username = "Ricardo";
echo "Hello " . $username;

will output Hello Ricardo to the browser.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
PHP quote and concatenation approaches
<?php
$firstName = "Pablo"; /* Example two: These two lines are also equivalent. Notice that
$lastName = "Picasso"; you can use either the single quote symbol or double quote
symbol for string literals. */
/*Example one:
These two lines are equivalent. Notice that you can reference echo "<h1>";
PHP variables within a string literal defined with double quotes. echo '<h1>’;
The resulting output for both lines is:
<em>Pablo Picasso</em>*/ /* Example three: These two lines are also equivalent. In the
second example, the escape character (the backslash) is used to
echo "<em>" . $firstName . " ". $lastName. "</em>"; embed a double quote within a string literal defined within
echo "<em> $firstName $lastName </em>"; double quotes. */

echo '<img src="23.jpg" >';


echo "<img src=\"23.jpg\" >";
?>

LISTING 12.4 PHP quote usage and concatenation approaches


Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
More concatenation examples

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
printf
The printf() function is derived from the C
programming language is nearly ubiquitous
in programming, appearing in many
languages including Java, MATLAB, Perl,
Ruby, and others.

The printf() function also allows a


developer to apply special formatting, for
instance, specific date/time formats or
number of decimal places. It takes at least
one parameter, which is a string, and that
string optionally references parameters,
which are then integrated into the first
string by placeholder substitution.
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Program Control
Just as with most other programming languages there are a number of
conditional and iteration constructs in PHP.

• if . . . else

• switch . . . case

• while and do . . . while

• for

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
If…else
The syntax for conditionals in // if statement
PHP is identical to that of if ( $hourOfDay > 6 && $hourOfDay < 12) {
$greeting = "Good Morning";
JavaScript.
}
else if ($hourOfDay == 12) { // optional else if
The condition to test is contained
$greeting = "Good Noon Time";
within () brackets with the
}
body contained in {} blocks. else { // optional else branch
Optional else if statements $greeting = "Good Afternoon or Evening";
can follow, with an optional }
else ending the branch.
LISTING 12.7 Conditional snippet of code using if . . . else

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
PHP and HTML in the same script
<?php if ($userStatus == "loggedin") { ?> <?php
<a href="account.php">Account</a> // equivalent
<a href="logout.php">Logout</a> if ($userStatus == "loggedin") {
<?php } else { ?> echo '<a href="account.php">Account</a> ‘;
<a href="login.php">Login</a> echo '<a href="logout.php">Logout</a>';
<a href="register.php">Register</a> }
<?php } ?> else {
echo '<a href="login.php">Login</a> ‘;
echo '<a href="register.php">Register</a>';
}
?>
LISTING 12.8 Combining PHP and HTML in the same script

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
switch . . . case
The switch statement is similar to a series of if ... else statements.

switch ($artType) { // equivalent


case "PT": if ($artType == "PT")
$output = "Painting"; $output = "Painting";
break; else if ($artType == "SC")
case "SC": $output = "Sculpture";
$output = "Sculpture"; else
break; $output = "Other";
default:
$output = "Other";
}
LISTING 12.9 Conditional statement using switch and the equivalent if-else

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
while and do . . . while
In the while loop, the condition is tested at the beginning of the loop; in the do
... while loop the condition is tested at the end of each iteration of the loop.

$count = 0; do {
while ($count < 10) { echo $count;
echo $count; // this one increments the count by 2
$count++; each time
} $count = $count + 2;
$count = 0; } while ($count < 10);
LISTING 12.10 The while loops

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
For loops
The for loop in PHP has the same syntax as the for loop in JavaScript that we
examined in Chapter 8. For loops contain the same loop initialization,
condition, and postloop operations as in JavaScript.

// this one increments the value by 5 each time // this one increments the count by 1 each time
for ($count=0; $count < 100; $count+=5) { for ($count=0; $count < 10; $count++) {
echo $count; echo $count;
} }

LISTING 12.11 The for loops

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Alternate Syntax for Control Structures
<?php if ($userStatus == "loggedin") : ?>
PHP has an alternative syntax <a href="account.php">Account</a>
for most of its control <a href="logout.php">Logout</a>
structures. <?php else : ?>
<a href="login.php">Login</a>
In this alternate syntax, the <a href="register.php">Register</a>
<?php endif; ?>
colon (:) replaces the opening
LISTING 12.12 Alternate syntax for control structures
curly bracket, while the closing
brace is replaced with endif;,
endwhile;, endfor;,
endforeach;, or endswitch;.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Include Files
PHP has the ability to include or
insert content from one file into
another. Include files provide a
mechanism for reusing both
markup and PHP code

include "somefile.php";
include_once "somefile.php";
require "somefile.php";
require_once "somefile.php";
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Functions
Just like with JavaScript, a function in PHP contains a small bit of code that
accomplishes one thing.

• A user-defined function is one that you, the programmer, define.

• A built-in function is one of the functions that come with the PHP
environment (or with one of its extensions).

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Function Syntax
Functions can return values to the caller, or not return a value.

They can be set up to take or not take parameters.


Function definition requires the use of the function keyword followed by the
function’s name, round ( ) brackets for parameters, and then the body of the
function inside curly { } brackets.

function getNiceTime(){
return date("H:i:s");
}
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Return Type Declaration
PROTIP

In PHP 7.0, the ability to explicitly define a return type for a


function was added. A Return Type Declaration explicitly
defines a function’s return type by adding a colon and the return
type after the parameter list when defining a function.

function mustReturnString(string $name) : string {


return "hello ". $name;
}
LISTING 12.15 Return type declaration in PHP 7.0

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Invoking a Function
To invoke or call a function you must use its name with the () brackets. Since
getNiceTime() returns a string, you can assign that return value to a variable,
o echo that return value directly, as shown in the following example:
$output = getNiceTime();
echo getNiceTime();

If the function doesn’t return a value, you can just call the function:
outputFooterMenu();

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Parameters
Parameters are the mechanism by which values are passed into functions. To
illustrate, let us write another version of getNiceTime() that takes an integer
as a parameter to control whether to show seconds. You will call the
parameter showSeconds
function getNiceTime($showSeconds) {
if ($showSeconds==true)
return date("H:i:s");
else
return date("H:i");
}
LISTING 12.16 A function with a parameter

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Parameter Default Values
In PHP you can set parameter default values for any parameter in a
function. However, once you start having default values, all subsequent
parameters must also have defaults.

function getNiceTime($showSeconds=true) {
if ($showSeconds==true)
return date("H:i:s");
else
return date("H:i");
}
LISTING 12.17 A function with a parameter default

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Passing Parameters by Reference
By default, arguments
passed to functions are
passed by value in PHP.

PHP also allows arguments


to functions to be passed by
reference

The mechanism in PHP is to


add an ampersand (&)
symbol next to the
parameter name in the
function declaration.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Parameter-type declaration
It is now possible to require that a particular parameter be of a particular type.
To add a type to a parameter, add a type specification (int, float, string, bool,
callable, or any class name you have defined) before the parameter name.

function getNiceTime(bool $showSeconds=1) {


if ($showSeconds==true)
return date("H:i:s");
else
return date("H:i");
}
LISTING 12.20 Using a parameter-type declaration

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Variable Scope within Functions
All variables defined within a function have function scope, meaning that
they are only accessible. within the function. It might be surprising though to
learn that, unlike JavaScript, any variables created outside of the function in
the main script are unavailable within a function.

PHP does allow variables with global scope to be accessed within a function
using the global keyword, though generally speaking, its usage is
discouraged.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Arrays
Unlike most other programming languages (including JavaScript), in PHP an
array is actually an ordered map, which associates each value in the array
with a key.

This allows you to use arrays in PHP in a manner similar to other languages’
arrays, but you can also use them like other languages’ collection classes.

• Array keys restricted to integers and strings

• Array values, unlike keys, are not restricted to integers and strings. They
can be any object, type, or primitive supported in PHP.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Defining an Array
The following declares an empty array named days:
$days = array();

To define the contents of an array as strings for the days of the week, you declare it
using either of two following syntaxes:
$days = array("Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri");
$days = ["Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri"]; // alternate syntax

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Accessing an Array
• Explicit control of the keys and values opens the door to keys that do not
start at 0, are not sequential, and that are not even integers (but rather
strings).

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Multidimensional Arrays

$month = array(
array("Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri"),
array("Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri"),
array("Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri"),
array("Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri")
);
LISTING 12.22 Multidimensional arrays

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Multidimensional Arrays (ii)
$cart = [];
$cart[] = array("id" => 37,
"title" => "Burial at Ornans",
"quantity" => 1);
$cart[] = array("id" => 345,
"title" => "The Death of Marat",
"quantity" => 1);
$cart[] = array("id" => 63,
"title" => "Starry Night",
"quantity" => 1);

LISTING 12.22 Multidimensional arrays

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Multidimensional Arrays (iii)
$stocks = [
["AMZN", "Amazon"],
["APPL", "Apple"],
["MSFT", "Microsoft"]
];

$aa = [
"AMZN" => ["Amazon", 234],
"APPL" => ["Apple", 342],
"MSFT" => ["Microsoft", 165]
];

$bb = [
"AMZN" => ["name" =>"Amazon", "price" => 234],
"APPL" => ["name" => "Apple", "price" => 342],
"MSFT" => ["name" => "Microsoft", "price" => 165]
];

LISTING 12.22 Multidimensional arrays

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Iterating through an Array
// while loop // iterating through the values
$i=0; foreach ($forecast as $value) {
while ($i < count($days)) { echo $value . "<br>";
echo $days[$i] . "<br>"; }
$i++;
} // iterating through the values AND
the keys
// for loop foreach ($forecast as $key => $value){
for ($i=0; $i<count($days); $i++) { echo "day[" . $key . "]=" . $value;
echo $days[$i] . "<br>"; }
}
LISTING 12.23 Iterating through an array using LISTING 12.24 Iterating through an associative
while, do while, and for loops array using a foreach loop
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Adding and Deleting Elements
In PHP, arrays are dynamic, that is, they can grow or shrink in size.

An element can be added to an array simply by using a key/index that hasn’t


been used, as shown below:
$days[5] = "Sat";

A new element can be added to the end of any array using empty square
brackets after the array name, as follows:
$days[] = "Sun";

You can also explicitly delete array elements using the unset() function

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Checking if a Value Exists
$oddKeys = array(1 => "hello", 3 => "world", 5 => "!");
To check if a value if (isset($oddKeys[0])) {
// The code below will never be reached since
exists for a key, you
//$oddKeys[0] is not set!
can therefore use the echo "there is something set for key 0";
isset() function, which }
returns true if a value
if (isset($oddKeys[1])) {
has been set, and false // This code will run since a key/value pair was defined
otherwise //for key 1
echo "there is something set for key 1, namely ". $oddKeys[1];
}

LISTING 12.26 Illustrating nonsequential keys and usage of isset( )

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Classes and Objects
Classes outline properties and
methods like a blueprint. Each
variable created from a class is
called an object or instance,
and each object maintains its
own set of variables, an
behaves (largely) independently
from the class once created.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Defining and instantiating Classes
The PHP syntax for
defining a class uses the
class keyword followed
by the class name and { } class Artist {
braces. public $firstName;
public $lastName;
public $birthDate;
public $birthCity;
public $deathDate;
}
LISTING 12.27 A simple Artist class

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Properties
instantiate objects using
the new keyword
$picasso = new Artist();
$picasso = new Artist();
$dali = new Artist(); $dali = new Artist();
$picasso->firstName = "Pablo";
You can access and $picasso->lastName = "Picasso";
modify the properties of $picasso->birthCity = "Malaga";
each object separately $picasso->birthDate = "October 25 1881";
using its variable name $picasso->deathDate = "April 8 1973";
and an arrow (->),
LISTING 12.28 Instantiating and using objects

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Constructors
You should therefore define
constructors, which lets class Artist {
you specify parameters // variables from previous listing still go here
during instantiation to ...
initialize the properties within function __construct($firstName, $lastName,
a class right away. $city, $birth,$death=null) {
$this->firstName = $firstName;
$this->lastName = $lastName;
In PHP, constructors are
$this->birthCity = $city;
defined as functions with the $this->birthDate = $birth;
name __construct(). $this->deathDate = $death;
}
(Note: there are two }
underscores_ before the
word construct.) LISTING 12.29 A constructor added to the class definition

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Methods
class Artist {
public function outputAsTable() {
Methods define the tasks $table = "<table>";
each instance of a class can $table .= "<tr><th colspan='2'>";
perform and are useful since $table .= $this->firstName . " " . $this->lastName;
they associate behavior with $table .= "</th></tr>";
objects. $table .= "<tr><td>Birth:</td>";
$table .= "<td>" . $this->birthDate;
Call the method as follows: $table .= "(" . $this->birthCity . ")</td></tr>";
$table .= "<tr><td>Death:</td>";
$picasso = new Artist(. . .) $table .= "<td>" . $this->deathDate . "</td></tr>";
$table .= "</table>";
echo $picasso->outputAsTable(); return $table;
}
}

LISTING 12.30 Method definition

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Sample ways to diagram a class using UML

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Visibility
The visibility of a
property or method
determines the
accessibility of a class
member

A property or method
and can be set to
public, private, or
protected

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Static Members
class Artist {
public static $artistCount = 0;
Static member is a property or public $firstName;
method that all instances of a public $lastName;
class share. public $birthDate;
public $birthCity;
public $deathDate;
To illustrate how a static function __construct($firstName, $lastName,
member is shared between $city,$birth, $death=null) {
instances of a class, we will add $this->firstName = $firstName;
$this->lastName = $lastName;
the static property artistCount
$this->birthCity = $city;
to our Artist class, and use it to $this->birthDate = $birth;
keep a count of how many Artist $this->deathDate = $death;
objects are currently self::$artistCount++;
}
instantiated }
LISTING 12.31 Class definition modified with static members
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
A static property in UML

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Inheritance
Inheritance enables you to create new PHP classes that reuse, extend, and
modify the behavior that is defined in another PHP class.

• A class that is inheriting from another class is said to be a subclass or a


derived class.

• The class that is being inherited from is typically called a superclass or a


base class.

• Just as in Java, a PHP class is defined as a subclass by using the extends


keyword.
class Painting extends Art { . . . }

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
UML showing inheritance
Both references below work because it is as
if the base class public members are defined
within the subclass.

$p = new Painting();

echo $p->getName(); // defined in base class

echo $p->getMedium(); // defined in subclass

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
$_GET and $_POST Superglobal Arrays

PHP uses special predefined associative arrays called superglobal arrays that allow
the programmer to easily access HTTP headers, query string parameters, and other
commonly needed information

$GLOBALS Array for storing data that needs $_POST Array of query string data passed to the server
superglobal scope via the HTTP header

$_COOKIES Array of cookie data passed to page via $_REQUEST Array containing the contents of $_GET,
HTTP request $_POST, and $_COOKIES

$_ENV Array of server environment data $_SESSION Array that contains session data

$_FILES Array of file items uploaded to the server $_SERVER Array containing information about the
request and the server
$_GET Array of query string data passed to the server
via the URL
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Illustration of flow into $_GET array

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Illustration of flow into $_POST array

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Determining If Any Data Sent
<?php
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
if ( isset($_POST["uname"]) && isset($_POST["pass"]) )
{
// handle the posted data.
echo "handling user login now ...";
echo "... here we could redirect or authenticate ";
echo " and hide login form or something else";
}
}

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Accessing Form Array Data
Sometimes in HTML forms, you might have multiple values associated with a single
name. Unfortunately, if the user selects more than one day and submits the form, the
$_GET['day'] value in the superglobal array will only contain the last value from the list
that was selected.

To overcome this limitation, you must change the HTML in the form. In particular, you
will have to change the name attribute for each checkbox from day to day[]

echo "You submitted " . count($_GET['day']) . "values";


foreach ($_GET['day'] as $d) {
echo $d . " <br>";
}
LISTING 12.34 PHP code to display an array of checkbox variables
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Using Query Strings in Hyperlinks

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Sanitizing Query Strings
One of the most important things to remember about web development is that
you should actively distrust all user input.

The process of checking user input for incorrect or missing information is


sometimes referred to as the process of sanitizing user inputs.
// This uses a database API ... we will learn about it in Chapter 14
$pid = mysqli_real_escape_string($link, $_GET['id']);
if ( is_int($pid) ) {
// Continue processing as normal
}
else {
// Error detected. Possibly a malicious user
}
LISTING 12.35 Simple sanitization of query string values
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Working with the HTTP Header
So far in this chapter, PHP has been used to modify the response sent back to
the browser. In PHP, echo statements adds content after the HTTP response
header.

It is possible in PHP to modify the response header using the header()


function, but why would we?

• Redirecting Using Location Header

• Setting the Content-Type Header

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Redirecting Using Location Header
One of the most common uses of this
function in PHP is to redirect. For
instance, a PHP page might redirect
to an error page when an expected
querystring parameter is missing
<?php
if (! isset($_GET['id']) {
header("Location: error.php");
}

...?>

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Setting the Content-Type Header
The Content-Type HTTP header is used to tell the browser what type of
content (using a MIME type) it is receiving in the response.

Normally, the PHP environment automatically sets this header to text/html.


However, you might want to change this header value. 2 common examples
are:

• Returning JSON Data

• Outputting Custom Images

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Key Terms
array concatenation instance parameter default sanitizing user
values inputs
array keys constant instantiate
parameters server-side
array values constructors local repository includes (SSI)
passed by
associative arrays data types loosely typed reference subclass

branch dynamically typed magic methods passed by value superclass

built-in function function methods properties superglobal arrays

classes function scope naming remote repository user-defined


conventions function
Common Gateway global scope return-type
one-way hash declarations visibility
Interface (CGI) inheritance
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright

This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is


provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their
courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or sale of
any part of this work (including on the World Wide Web) will
destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work
and materials from it should never be made available to students
except by instructors using the accompanying text in their
classes. All recipients of this work are expected to abide by these
restrictions and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and
the needs of other instructors who rely on these materials.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

You might also like