Code issue - I dont know where I have messed up or what I have done wrong.

Question

Lets start with the first issue, my sql query for inserting information into the database. For some reason it is only inserting some of the information into the data base.

This is what is in the database

id = 3
post_author = Its blank
post_author_id = 0 <- not the right id
otid = 0 <- this should be 3
date_time = 2014-09-07 21:59:57
type = a
view_count = 0 which is 0
section_title = Its blank
section_id = 0 <- should be 2
thread_title = asdfasdfasdffsda
post_body = afsdfdasdfasfdasdfsafdsasdf
closed = 0

So what I did was looked at the headers in the network tab to see what ajax was sending to my php.

post_author=Andrew&member_id=1&post_type=a&post_body=fdsdfsasdfadfdfasdfasfdaasdf&forum_section_id=2&forum_section_title=Welcome&post_title=dfasfasfdfdsfsdasfad

Which has the correct information. I dont know what the insert is only inserting certain items. Also you will see a line that also is updating the OTID (original topic id), but its not updating the db.

Issue 2:

Even-tho the query are not running correctly or I comment out the query to see if php is going to send the "post_success" back to my ajax, it doesn't. I am not that knowledgeable about ajax and it function so I problem made a mistake.

I hope that you guys can see what I did wrong. Im trying to make my own website, and using the skills that I learned from Tree House.

FYI - The get is used to pull the section id and the section title of where the new post is going to go.

<?php 
include 'core/init.php'; 
include 'includes/overall/header.php'; 

if (isset($_GET['id']) && isset($_GET['title'])) {
    $section_id = $_GET['id'];
    $section_title = $_GET['title'];
} else {
    echo 'this';
}

if(isset($_POST["post_type"])) {
    $post_type = $_POST['post_type'];
    $post_body = $_POST['post_body'];
    $post_body = nl2br(htmlspecialchars($post_body));
    $forum_section_id = (int)$_POST['fsID'];
    $forum_section_title = htmlspecialchars($_POST['fsTitle']);
    $member_id = (int)$_POST['uid'];
    $post_author = $_POST['username'];
    $post_title = preg_replace('#[^A-Za-z0-9 ?!.,]#i', '',$_POST['post_title']);

    echo "heellloo";
    exit();

    if ($post_type == "a") {

        if ($post_title == "") {
            $errors[] = 'Your Title is missing';
        }

        if (strlen($post_title) < 10) {
            $errors[] = 'The Title needs to be at least 10 characters';
        }

        if (strlen($post_body) < 2) {
            $errors[] = 'Your body needs to be at lease 2 characters';
        }


        $sql = "INSERT INTO forum_post (post_author, post_author_id, date_time, type, section_title, section_id, thread_id, thread_title, post_body) VALUES ('$post_author', '$member_id', 'now()', 'a', 'forum_section_title', '$forum_section_id', '$post_title', $post_body')";
        $query = mysqli_query($mysqli, $sql);
        $this_id = mysqli_insert_id($mysqli);
        $sql = "UPDATE forum_post SET otid = '$this_id' WHERE id = '$this_id'";
        $query = mysqli_query($mysqli, $sql);

        echo "post_success";

        exit();
    }
}
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
function emptyElement(x){
    _(x).innerHTML = "";
}

function newPost(){
    var post_author = _("username").value;
    var member_id = _("uid").value;
    var post_type = _("post_type").value;
    var post_body = _("post_body").value;
    var forum_section_id = _("fsID").value;
    var forum_section_title = _("fsTitle").value;
    var post_title = _("post_title").value;
    var status = _("status");
    if(post_author == "" || member_id == "" || post_type == "" ||  post_body == "" || forum_section_id == "" || forum_section_title == "" || post_title == ""){
        status.innerHTML = "Please fields are required";
    } else if(post_title.length < 10){
        status.innerHTML = "Your title must be 10 characters";
    } else {
        _("createbtn").style.display = "none";
        status.innerHTML = 'please wait ...';
        var ajax = ajaxObj("POST", "new_topic.php");
        ajax.onreadystatechange = function() {
            if(ajaxReturn(ajax) == true) {
                if(ajax.responseText == "post_success") {
                    status.innerHTML = ajax.responseText;
                    _("creatbtn").style.display = "block";
                    window.location = 'view_thread.php?id=' . $this_id;
                } else {

                }
            }
        }
        ajax.send("post_author="+post_author+"&member_id="+member_id+"&post_type="+post_type+"&post_body="+post_body+"&forum_section_id="+forum_section_id+"&forum_section_title="+forum_section_title+"&post_title="+post_title);
    }
}
</script>
<div class="container">
    <div class="panel panel-default">
        <!-- Default panel contents -->
        <div class="panel-heading">
            <h2><?php echo $section_title; ?>
            </h2>
        </div>
        <div class="panel-body">
            <div id="status"></div>
            <ol class="breadcrumb">
                <li><a href="index.php">Home</a></li>
                <li><a href="forums.php">Forum Home</a></li>
                <li><a href="section.php?id=<?php echo $section_id; ?>"><?php echo $section_title; ?></a></li>
            </ol>

            <form id="postTread" onsubmit="return false" class="form-horizontal" role="form">
              <div class="form-group">
                <label for="topic_author" class="col-sm-2 control-label">Author</label>
                <div class="col-sm-10">
                  <input type="text" onfocus="emptyElement('status')" name="topic_author" class="form-control" id="topic_author" value="<?php echo $log_username; ?>" autocomplete="off" placeholder="" disabled>
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="form-group">
                <label for="post_title" class="col-sm-2 control-label">Thread Title</label>
                <div class="col-sm-10">
                  <input type="text" onfocus="emptyElement('status')" name="post_title" class="form-control" id="post_title" value="" autocomplete="off" placeholder="Please type in the title for your thread">
                </div>
              </div>
              <div class="form-group">
                <label for="post_body" class="col-sm-2 control-label">Thread Body</label>
                <div class="col-sm-10">
                  <textarea type="text" onfocus="emptyElement('status')" name="post_body" class="form-control" id="post_body" value="" autocomplete="off" placeholder="Please type in your body for your thread" rows="15"></textarea>
                </div>
              </div>
              <input id="fsID" type="hidden" name="fsID" value="<?php echo $section_id ?>">
              <input id="fsTitle" type="hidden" name="fsTitle" value="<?php echo $section_title; ?>">
              <input id="uid" type="hidden" name="uid" value="<?php echo $_SESSION['userid']; ?>">
              <input id="username" type="hidden" name="username" value="<?php echo $log_username; ?>">
              <input id="post_type" type="hidden" name="post_type" value="a">
              <button id="createbtn" onclick="newPost()" class="btn btn-primary col-sm-6">Create Thread </button>
            </form>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
<?php 



include 'includes/overall/footer.php';

These are the functions that are being used but the ajax

function ajaxObj( meth, url ) {
    var x = new XMLHttpRequest();
    x.open( meth, url, true );
    x.setRequestHeader("Content-type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
    return x;
}
function ajaxReturn(x){
    if(x.readyState == 4 && x.status == 200){
        return true;    
    }
}

Answer 1 · 2014-09-08T08:53:24Z

September 8, 2014 8:53am

Andrew,

I didn't go through all of your code, so there may be other problems, but I noticed there are a few errors in your SQL query in your if ($post_type == 'a') block.

You have:

$sql = "INSERT INTO forum_post (post_author, post_author_id, date_time, type, section_title, section_id, thread_id, thread_title, post_body) VALUES ('$post_author', '$member_id', 'now()', 'a', 'forum_section_title', '$forum_section_id', '$post_title', $post_body')";

It looks like you're missing a $ for your forum_section_title variable. You also have no value corresponding to your thread_id which will throw off the rest of the query.

As for the OTID...I'm not sure that this is what you want, unless this is only for new topics:

$sql = "UPDATE forum_post SET otid = '$this_id' WHERE id = '$this_id'";

I didn't study your code too closely, but with this syntax it looks to me like you're just updating the OTID of the original post instead of the current post. I would think you should use something like this instead:

$sql = "UPDATE forum_post SET otid = '$this_id' WHERE id = '$current_post_id";

Hope some of this helps.

Answer 2 · 2014-09-08T06:47:22Z

September 8, 2014 6:47am

Just some advice.

Start simple and get it working. Create a test database with a single col table for say a name. Create a form with a single input for the name. Create the PHP and jQuery ajax to see it work. Then add on to it. One of the hardest things I find while learning is writing out a bunch of code and trying to solve many bugs at once. Strip it back to a simple solution and get it working and add on it.

Answer 3 · 2014-09-08T14:41:21Z

September 8, 2014 2:41pm

Got it. And the other issues I pointed out?

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Andrew McCombs

Andrew McCombs

Code issue - I dont know where I have messed up or what I have done wrong.

3 Answers

Shawn Flanigan

Shawn Flanigan

Andrew McCombs

Andrew McCombs

Philip Cox

Philip Cox

Shawn Flanigan

Shawn Flanigan

Andrew McCombs

Andrew McCombs