cross platform problem - advice needed

[Ian Davies]

Hello
I would appreciate some help from someone who has knowledge of working with
css, php javascript and how they interact.
Ive been working on a task for the last few days and have started to hit a
brick wall. I need general advice on whether I m tackling the problem the
correct way and some solutions for my current problems

Ive posted my project below where ive detailed the current problems im
having
http://www.iddsoftware.co.uk/test.php

in short im trying to allow my users to take their records from my database
and arrange them dynamically on a web page into custom reports. which they
can them print directly or download into something like Word

Hope you can help as that brick wall is looming

Ian

[Harlan Messinger]

Ian Davies wrote:

>PHP doesn't interact with either CSS or Javascript. To PHP, CSS and
Javascript are just strings being written out as part of the web page,
just as they HTML is. To CSS and Javascript, PHP doesn't exist, since
they operate only within the browser, and the browser only knows what's
on the HTML page it has been sent, and nothing about the programming
used to generate and send that page.

Your response, I feel wasnt that valid really,

You mean, ignoring the fact that it was true?

much of this I already knew I
was,

If you already knew that PHP doesn't interact with Javascript and CSS,
then why did you ask how PHP interacts with Javascript and CSS (as well
as JS and CSS with each other)?

like most on these forums looking for something a little more specific
that addresses the problems I was having.

That's hard to find if the question you ask is, at least in part, not
the one you want an answer to.

I was going to say that your info
was as useless as a one legged man in an arse kicking competition, but I
detect a lack of sense of humour, as you took too very seriously the
following

"they'll live :)"

note the :) bit

It wouldn't be the first time I've seen someone say something flip and
then follow it with a smiley in the sense of, "yeah, I know I just said
something obnoxious, but you're not going to hold me responsible for it,
are you?" I guess the difference between this and a smiley I would buy
is that in this case the flip line came by itself, rather than as an
amusing follow-up to some acknowledgment of the point that had been
brought to your attention.

[J.O. Aho]

Harlan Messinger wrote:

Ian Davies wrote:

By the way, please do not post questions to six different groups. It
isn't necessary and annoys people who read multiple groups. One or two
of these would probably have been sufficient.

Even if it's quite many PHP newsgroups, all the groups are relevant, which is
quite unusual. 4-5 is what are recommended as a max, so one more don't make so
much difference and it's not one of those even more annoying multiposts.

There is no one forcing you to reread the posts in all the newsgroups you
subscribe to.
//Aho

[J.O. Aho]

Ian Davies wrote:

Thanks for your response Aho

>First of all you should have some default starting points, as you already
have. Store those into variables, as $xh1=40;, you will also need to check

if

>the page has been updated or show for the first time, you can add the

<input name="updated" type="hidden" value="1">

to your form

How will this value =1
remain. wont it disapear when the browser is closed. meaning that if the
user visits again it will not remember him? or have I missuderstood?

you add it to the form, when you load the page for the first time, the input
line will be there, but as long as it's not been submitted there aren't any
$_REQUEST['updated'].

>in your php you will need to make a check something like

if($_REQUEST['updated']==1) {
$xh1=$_REQUEST['xh1'];
} else {
$xh1=40;
}

Then you have your inputs in html

<input name="xh1" class="BodyText " value="<?PHP echo $xh1;>" size="1"

type="text">

>You should include the css code that handles the location of the text in

the

>php file, and with usage of php in the same manner that in the input tag,

you

>will dynamically change the coordinates in the css/style part of the code.

This last bit sounds interesting, but Im not clear what you mean? Do you
know how to retreive the coordinates of the position the user dragged the
text to and put them in the text boxes? The drag bit of the code I used was
taken from elswhere and my java script isnt up to much. What I really whish
to do is to have the text boxes update continuously as te text is dragged so
that it is constantly displaying the new coordinated.

As I don't touch javascript, this will be updated each time you submit the new
values (no dragging of text sorry).

If you want to use javascript, then you need to write a code (javascript) that
updates the input fileds, but how you have to ask the javascript group.

If would do something like this, I think I would have selected to make a JAVA
applet. http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutor...ts/applet.html

//Aho

[Ian Davies]

"J.O. Aho" <us**@example.n etwrote in message
news:4j******** ****@individual .net...

Ian Davies wrote:

Thanks for your response Aho

First of all you should have some default starting points, as you

already

have. Store those into variables, as $xh1=40;, you will also need to

check

if

the page has been updated or show for the first time, you can add the

<input name="updated" type="hidden" value="1">

to your form

How will this value =1
remain. wont it disapear when the browser is closed. meaning that if the
user visits again it will not remember him? or have I missuderstood?

you add it to the form, when you load the page for the first time, the

input

line will be there, but as long as it's not been submitted there aren't

any

$_REQUEST['updated'].

in your php you will need to make a check something like

if($_REQUEST['updated']==1) {
$xh1=$_REQUEST['xh1'];
} else {
$xh1=40;
}

Then you have your inputs in html

<input name="xh1" class="BodyText " value="<?PHP echo $xh1;>" size="1"

type="text">

You should include the css code that handles the location of the text

in

the

php file, and with usage of php in the same manner that in the input

tag,

you

will dynamically change the coordinates in the css/style part of the

code.

This last bit sounds interesting, but Im not clear what you mean? Do you
know how to retreive the coordinates of the position the user dragged

the

text to and put them in the text boxes? The drag bit of the code I used

was

taken from elswhere and my java script isnt up to much. What I really

whish

to do is to have the text boxes update continuously as te text is

dragged so

that it is constantly displaying the new coordinated.

As I don't touch javascript, this will be updated each time you submit the

new

values (no dragging of text sorry).

If you want to use javascript, then you need to write a code (javascript)

that

updates the input fileds, but how you have to ask the javascript group.

If would do something like this, I think I would have selected to make a

JAVA

applet.

http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutor...ts/applet.html

>
//Aho

Hello
Java Applets are new teritory for me. I will take a look at your link and
see what they are all about perhaps they can help.
Regarding my orginal problem. I think Ive cracked it. Its to do with
the'relative' bit in the style. it limits how widely the bits of text can be
moved arround. I found that putting <brbetween each seems to help but it
still means that they can only move around within their natural order.
Unfortunately changing it to absolute will only solve the problem if one
record is dispayed. but because I have many records populating a table using
absolute dumps them all on top of each other.

Looks like I will have to use relative and allow less manipulation by the
user

Ian

[Jerry Stuckle]

J.O. Aho wrote:

Harlan Messinger wrote:

>Ian Davies wrote:

>By the way, please do not post questions to six different groups. It
isn't necessary and annoys people who read multiple groups. One or two
of these would probably have been sufficient.

Even if it's quite many PHP newsgroups, all the groups are relevant,
which is quite unusual. 4-5 is what are recommended as a max, so one
more don't make so much difference and it's not one of those even more
annoying multiposts.

There is no one forcing you to reread the posts in all the newsgroups
you subscribe to.
//Aho

Actually, 3 is the max recommended by most usenet gurus. This was twice
that.

--
=============== ===
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
js*******@attgl obal.net
=============== ===

[Harlan Messinger]

J.O. Aho wrote:

Harlan Messinger wrote:

>Ian Davies wrote:

>By the way, please do not post questions to six different groups. It
isn't necessary and annoys people who read multiple groups. One or two
of these would probably have been sufficient.

Even if it's quite many PHP newsgroups, all the groups are relevant,
which is quite unusual. 4-5 is what are recommended as a max, so one
more don't make so much difference

"4-5" is already acknowledges the fuzziness of the boundary, and I can
one-more-doesn't-make-so-much-difference you up to a million and beyond.
Yes, I agree that this is a rare case where the newsgroups were all
relevant.

and it's not one of those even more

annoying multiposts.

There is no one forcing you to reread the posts in all the newsgroups
you subscribe to.

So, is it your stance that in any environment where others are free not
to participate, it's OK to ignore the established etiquette, rendering
it null and void?

>
//Aho

[Jack]

Ian Davies wrote:

Another thing that is annoying when you open a reply to your post eagerly
thinking someone has answered your question, only to find it is just someone
moaning about something. That actually wastes time and is probably even more
annoying.

So is top-posting.
--
Jack.
http://www.jackpot.uk.net/

[Andy Dingley]

On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 09:50:17 GMT, "Ian Davies" <ia********@vir gin.net>
wrote:

>Java Applets are new teritory for me.

Yes, there's a reason for that.

I don't know what your problem is. But the answer isn't a Java applet.

[Gleep]

It's just a sample!! a guide to follow a suggestion... daaa
On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:05:06 +0100, Andy Dingley <di*****@codesm iths.comwrote:

>On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 09:39:40 -0700, Gleep <Gl***@Gleep.co mwrote:

>>save this as template1.html

<html>
<head></head>
<body>
Thank you for signing up, %%name%%! <br>
Company: %%companyName%% <br>
Email: %%email%% <br>
Phone: %%phone%% <p>
Event: %%title%%, %%grpdate%% <p>
Description : <br%%data%% <p>

Please don't do this.

1. The HTML markup is poor. No DTD and it's not even valid HTML.

2. There's no need to do this. Half-decent HTML and CSS will provide
just as much flexibility, without having to change the page generation
at all.

3. If you must use templating in HTML, then you can do better markers
than "%%title%%"