Adam
asked on
Why is my defined string not being up by my function further down in my code?
Hello all,
I have a line in my code which checks to see if the email value entered in a submitted form already exists in the database. If so, a value of 0 or 1 is assigned to a string and the string value is displayed.
This part seems to work as intended - at least the value of 0 or 1 is displayed correctly depending on whether the email exists in the database or not. The next part of my code calls another function, (which in turn calls another validation function) which displays errors.
The validation worked but I added to it:
However, when I do this, I get an Undefined variable: email_exists in... notice / error.
I don't understand why this is coming up as not defined if the function is being called after I have defined this value. The error message is displayed even though I can see the value of $email_exists (i.e. the 1 or 0) output in the screen.
I've tried removing the quotes, changing to single quotes and using TRUE and FALSE but this didn't appear to change anything.
When I use '=' instead of '==' i.e:
...the not defined error goes away but the logic doesn't work, in that $email_exists seems to be always 1 and the error EMAIL Exists IN OUR DATABASE is always displayed.
Any help, as always, much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Adam,
I have a line in my code which checks to see if the email value entered in a submitted form already exists in the database. If so, a value of 0 or 1 is assigned to a string and the string value is displayed.
$select = mysqli_query($db_connection, "SELECT `email` FROM `teachers_table` WHERE `email` = '".$_POST['email']."'") or exit(mysqli_error($db_connection));
if(mysqli_num_rows($select)) {
$email_exists = '1';
}
else{
$email_exists = '0';
}
echo $email_exists;
This part seems to work as intended - at least the value of 0 or 1 is displayed correctly depending on whether the email exists in the database or not. The next part of my code calls another function, (which in turn calls another validation function) which displays errors.
The validation worked but I added to it:
if($email_exists == '1') {
$errors[] = "EMAIL Exists IN OUR DATABASE";
}
However, when I do this, I get an Undefined variable: email_exists in... notice / error.
I don't understand why this is coming up as not defined if the function is being called after I have defined this value. The error message is displayed even though I can see the value of $email_exists (i.e. the 1 or 0) output in the screen.
I've tried removing the quotes, changing to single quotes and using TRUE and FALSE but this didn't appear to change anything.
When I use '=' instead of '==' i.e:
if($email_exists = '1') {
$errors[] = "EMAIL Exists IN OUR DATABASE";
}
...the not defined error goes away but the logic doesn't work, in that $email_exists seems to be always 1 and the error EMAIL Exists IN OUR DATABASE is always displayed.
Any help, as always, much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Adam,
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Sorry, took me a while to write up all that, but Julian's recommendations are spot-on in regards to SQL injection / email sanitation.
ASKER
Julian, gr8gonzo - thank you both very much for this. I'm going to process it and get back. Just wanted to say thanks first though.
Cheers
Cheers
ASKER
Many thanks gr8gonzo and Julian,
gr8gonzo - I used the global statement to tell my function to look out for my variable. Thanks for a very clear and not overly technical explanation. It really helped.
Thanks also for your link to the text you wrote on 'Securing Your Web Application' - A very useful read. As you and Julian suggested, I've carried out some protection against SQL injection.
As you recommended, I followed your advice on using TRUE instead of 1. Thanks again for the clear explanation.
Many thanks both and have a good Monday night (or whatever time it may be where you are!)
Adam
gr8gonzo - I used the global statement to tell my function to look out for my variable. Thanks for a very clear and not overly technical explanation. It really helped.
Thanks also for your link to the text you wrote on 'Securing Your Web Application' - A very useful read. As you and Julian suggested, I've carried out some protection against SQL injection.
As you recommended, I followed your advice on using TRUE instead of 1. Thanks again for the clear explanation.
Many thanks both and have a good Monday night (or whatever time it may be where you are!)
Adam
I used the global statement to tell my function to look out for my variable.Ouch!
global is a very bad way to solve a scoping problem. It leads to sloppy / bad code design and introduces all manner of side effects not to mention it messes with your testing strategies.
The accepted way of doing what you want is either through parameters (dependency injection) or through encapsulation (class) - but avoid using global.
Yep, I agree. I added the global explanation in there so you'd be aware of options, but as I mentioned after presenting that option, "Either way will work, although it's usually better practice to pass things in as parameters."
When you get into object-oriented PHP, scope usually becomes a lot easier to manage, but that's a topic for another day.
When you get into object-oriented PHP, scope usually becomes a lot easier to manage, but that's a topic for another day.
ASKER
Thanks both. I'm pretty sure most of my code is bad . I have a habit of doing the easiest (often worst) way of doing things if it looks like it achieves what I'm after. I'd like to hope I'll re-visit my project when I've learned more about coding and clean up all the ugly code. I've still not looked at OO PHP and when I see OO written php code it usually stumps me.
Cheers,
Adam
Cheers,
Adam
Coding is a continual learning process.
Good coding style is a logical step as it saves you time and frustration.
OOP may be intimidating but take an hour to look at it today and it will be less intimidating tomorrow - invest some time in every day and in a very short space of time you will be on top of it.
It is all about making the unfamiliar - familiar. We tend to gravitate to what we know - new things are scary so we avoid them. Good coders do the opposite - they see something new they dive in and make the unfamiliar - familiar.
Do that a few times and it becomes a habit - new things stop being intimidating and become interesting and exciting. The key thing is taking that first step and jumping into the unfamiliar.
Good coding style is a logical step as it saves you time and frustration.
OOP may be intimidating but take an hour to look at it today and it will be less intimidating tomorrow - invest some time in every day and in a very short space of time you will be on top of it.
It is all about making the unfamiliar - familiar. We tend to gravitate to what we know - new things are scary so we avoid them. Good coders do the opposite - they see something new they dive in and make the unfamiliar - familiar.
Do that a few times and it becomes a habit - new things stop being intimidating and become interesting and exciting. The key thing is taking that first step and jumping into the unfamiliar.
ASKER
Wise words. Thanks for the encouragement!
Rule 1 if the compiler tells you it does not exist - then it does not exist.
Variables defined inside one function are not visible to other functions so this is possibly a scoping error. You defined $email_exists in a function or the global scope and then tried to use it in a different function. Variables can only be accessed in the scope they were declared.
We need to see where all your code fits together to tell you exactly where the problem is.
Secondly - this is scary
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Apart from the untidy string concatenation (rather use variable embedding or HEREDOC) this code has "HACK ME" written all over it1. Never trust incoming data - assume everything in $_POST / $_GET etc is a hack attempt and code accordingly
2. Don't embed incoming variables directly into a string without validation and a basic check for existence - goes to rule 1 - assume data is bad and dirty
3. Consider using prepared statements
4. Take a look at the OOP version of MySQLi - in my opinion a much easier implementation to use.
For example
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