$_GET and case.

[Bob Bedford]

I want to allow users to get the article directly by inserting the announce
ID on the URL such
www.mysite.com?AnnID=xxx
where xxx is the code of the announce.

The problem is :
$_GET['AnnID']

if the user uses lowercase:
www.mysite.com?annid=xxx

It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ? without
testing everything ?

[Steve]

It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ? without testing everything ?

<?php

$annid = ''; // MUST initialise

foreach( $_GET as $key => $value )
{
if( strtoupper ( $key ) == 'ANNID' )
{
// print 'DEBUG: $GET["' . $key . '"] is "' . $value . '"';
$annid = $value;
break;
}
}

// ...

?>
---
Steve

[Chris Hope]

Bob Bedford wrote:

I want to allow users to get the article directly by inserting the
announce ID on the URL such
www.mysite.com?AnnID=xxx
where xxx is the code of the announce.

The problem is :
$_GET['AnnID']

if the user uses lowercase:
www.mysite.com?annid=xxx

It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ? without
testing everything ?

Why not just always make your url parameters lower case? That way
there's less chance of them typing it in incorrectly.

You could also look at mod_rewrite if using Apache and let them instead
type in www.mysite.com/123 so they don't need to bother about putting
in the annid= part.

--
Chris Hope - The Electric Toolbox - http://www.electrictoolbox.com/

[Peter Fox]

Following on from Bob Bedford's message. . .

I want to allow users to get the article directly by inserting the announce
ID on the URL such
www.mysite.com?AnnID=xxx
where xxx is the code of the announce.

The problem is :
$_GET['AnnID']

if the user uses lowercase:
www.mysite.com?annid=xxx

It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ? without
testing everything ?

You don't really care about the 'annid' bit do you. Just get the first
$_GET variable regardless of how it is keyed. User can put in
'article=xxx' or 'get=xxx' if they want!

Having said that, I find your method rather horrible.

--
PETER FOX Not the same since the porcelain business went down the pan
pe******@eminent.demon.co.uk.not.this.bit.no.html
2 Tees Close, Witham, Essex.
Gravity beer in Essex <http://www.eminent.demon.co.uk>

[Geoff Berrow]

I noticed that Message-ID: <kE**************@eminent.demon.co.uk> from
Peter Fox contained the following:

It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ? without
testing everything ?

You don't really care about the 'annid' bit do you. Just get the first
$_GET variable regardless of how it is keyed. User can put in
'article=xxx' or 'get=xxx' if they want!

Or put '?xxx' and get the value from $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']

--
Geoff Berrow (put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs http://www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker/

[Bob Bedford]

> You don't really care about the 'annid' bit do you. Just get the first

$_GET variable regardless of how it is keyed. User can put in
'article=xxx' or 'get=xxx' if they want!

Having said that, I find your method rather horrible.

Could you please expand your last remark ? I don't understand what you mean.

In my case, the same page may be called with many params, but may also be
called with this only param for "direct access".

So what do you find horrible ? If I use your method, I must always care
about putting this var at the first place, and may not be able to add any
new var !

Bob

[Gary Doades]

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 16:37:42 +0100, "Bob Bedford" <be******@YouKnowWhatToDoHerehotmail.com> wrote:

I want to allow users to get the article directly by inserting the announce
ID on the URL such
www.mysite.com?AnnID=xxx
where xxx is the code of the announce.

The problem is :
$_GET['AnnID']

if the user uses lowercase:
www.mysite.com?annid=xxx

It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ? without
testing everything ?

I use this:

$gets = array_change_key_case($_GET,CASE_LOWER);

and then use $gets['annid'] or whatever to get your url values.

Works for any and all keys supplied with $_GET.

Cheers,
Gary.

[steve]

"Bob Bedford1" wrote:

I want to allow users to get the article directly by inserting
the announce
ID on the URL such
www.mysite.com?AnnID=xxx
where xxx is the code of the announce.

The problem is :
$_GET['AnnID']

if the user uses lowercase:
www.mysite.com?annid=xxx

It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ?
without
testing everything ?

Let’s step back a little. Are you allowing users to compose URL’s.
The "normal" way of doing that is to have a form where users type in
their request, and then YOUR CODE forms the url.

In that case, you don’t have to worry about the case, then way you
have described it.

I have never seen a system where users casn muck around with the url
directly (unless super-technies or something).

--
Posted using the http://www.dbforumz.com interface, at author's request
Articles individually checked for conformance to usenet standards
Topic URL: http://www.dbforumz.com/PHP-_GET-cas...ict194027.html
Visit Topic URL to contact author (reg. req'd). Report abuse: http://www.dbforumz.com/eform.php?p=657452

[Chris Hope]

steve wrote:

"Bob Bedford1" wrote:

> I want to allow users to get the article directly by inserting
> the announce
> ID on the URL such
> www.mysite.com?AnnID=xxx
> where xxx is the code of the announce.
>
> The problem is :
> $_GET['AnnID']
>
> if the user uses lowercase:
> www.mysite.com?annid=xxx
>
> It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ?
> without
> testing everything ?

Let’s step back a little. Are you allowing users to compose URL’s.
The "normal" way of doing that is to have a form where users type in
their request, and then YOUR CODE forms the url.

In that case, you don’t have to worry about the case, then way you
have described it.

I have never seen a system where users casn muck around with the url
directly (unless super-technies or something).

I think you mean where users are *expected* to muck around with the url..
It's easy enough to play with any get string you want, although you're
right, it's only likely to be tech types or people trying to see if
they can break your site or do sql injection.

However I agree with the rest of your post and it seems odd to me to
expect people to remember to type in a question mark, followed by some
letters, an equals sign and then some numbers and expect them to enter
it correctly.

--
Chris Hope - The Electric Toolbox - http://www.electrictoolbox.com/

[Bob Bedford]

"Chris Hope" <bl*******@electrictoolbox.com> a écrit dans le message de
news: ct**********@lust.ihug.co.nz...
steve wrote:

"Bob Bedford1" wrote:

> I want to allow users to get the article directly by inserting
> the announce
> ID on the URL such
> www.mysite.com?AnnID=xxx
> where xxx is the code of the announce.
>
> The problem is :
> $_GET['AnnID']
>
> if the user uses lowercase:
> www.mysite.com?annid=xxx
>
> It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ?
> without
> testing everything ?
Let's step back a little. Are you allowing users to compose URL's.
The "normal" way of doing that is to have a form where users type in
their request, and then YOUR CODE forms the url.

In that case, you don't have to worry about the case, then way you
have described it.

I have never seen a system where users casn muck around with the url
directly (unless super-technies or something).

I think you mean where users are *expected* to muck around with the url.
It's easy enough to play with any get string you want, although you're
right, it's only likely to be tech types or people trying to see if
they can break your site or do sql injection. However I agree with the rest of your post and it seems odd to me to
expect people to remember to type in a question mark, followed by some
letters, an equals sign and then some numbers and expect them to enter
it correctly.

I will post some link in newspapers (advertisement) for
1) promote my site
2) allow users get the item directly.

If I publish a link, I must provide the entire URL. I may also think about
putting a form in the main page and then provide such ad:
"get this article from www.mysite.com CODE: xxx".
but if I provide something like
"get this article from www.mysite.com?xxx". wouldn't be much better ?

Any suggestion would greately be appreciated.

Bob

[Chris Hope]

Bob Bedford wrote:

"Chris Hope" <bl*******@electrictoolbox.com> a écrit dans le message
de news: ct**********@lust.ihug.co.nz...
steve wrote:

"Bob Bedford1" wrote:

> I want to allow users to get the article directly by inserting
> the announce
> ID on the URL such
> www.mysite.com?AnnID=xxx
> where xxx is the code of the announce.
>
> The problem is :
> $_GET['AnnID']
>
> if the user uses lowercase:
> www.mysite.com?annid=xxx
>
> It's there any way to get the AnnID, annid, ANNID, and so on ?
> without
> testing everything ?

Let's step back a little. Are you allowing users to compose URL's.
The "normal" way of doing that is to have a form where users type in
their request, and then YOUR CODE forms the url.

In that case, you don't have to worry about the case, then way you
have described it.

I have never seen a system where users casn muck around with the url
directly (unless super-technies or something).

I think you mean where users are *expected* to muck around with the
url. It's easy enough to play with any get string you want, although
you're right, it's only likely to be tech types or people trying to
see if they can break your site or do sql injection.

However I agree with the rest of your post and it seems odd to me to
expect people to remember to type in a question mark, followed by some
letters, an equals sign and then some numbers and expect them to enter
it correctly.

I will post some link in newspapers (advertisement) for
1) promote my site
2) allow users get the item directly.

If I publish a link, I must provide the entire URL. I may also think
about putting a form in the main page and then provide such ad:
"get this article from www.mysite.com CODE: xxx".
but if I provide something like
"get this article from www.mysite.com?xxx". wouldn't be much better ?

Any suggestion would greately be appreciated.

www.mysite.com?xxx is much better than your original suggestion of
www.mysite.com?AnnID=xxx

If the server you are hosting on supports mod_rewrite (or if it's your
own you can add it in) then you could also use mod_rewrite (as I
suggested in another post) and have www.mysite.com/xxx instead which I
think is a much safer option.

--
Chris Hope - The Electric Toolbox - http://www.electrictoolbox.com/

[Sean]

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 21:21:33 +0100, "Bob Bedford"
<be******@YouKnowWhatToDoHerehotmail.com> reverently intoned upon the
aether:

You don't really care about the 'annid' bit do you. Just get the first
$_GET variable regardless of how it is keyed. User can put in
'article=xxx' or 'get=xxx' if they want!

Having said that, I find your method rather horrible.

Could you please expand your last remark ? I don't understand what you mean.

I think he is talking about asking the user to type in values in the
URL field. Instead, you could just add a small form in the left
column that has them input the document/article ID and then the from
processor simply redirect them to the article. This way, the GET
values are always created by you. And, if you do get a bad GET value,
then it is either a hacking attempt, a typo by the user, or corruption
of data in transmission.

In other terms, you are writing your software to depend on users, and
users are one of the least reliable elements of any software system.
Instead, it would be simpler to create a simple tool (form noted
above).

A complex example of this can be found at the top of the left column
at:

http://www.amazon.com/

It is a search field there.

hope this helps,

Sean
"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends."

- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Photo Archive @ http://www.tearnet.com/Sean
Last Updated 29 Sept. 2004