Checking 2 variables and entering only one in to database

[bullbreed]

Hi.

 

I'm trying to check 2 variables from a form.

If one variable exists then put the value in the article_section column of the database

If it doesnt have a value then put the value of a different variable i to the article_section column of the database

 

I tried this

if ($existcat !== ""){
        $queryreg = mysql_query("INSERT INTO `articles` (`article_section`) VALUES ('$existcat')");echo mysql_error();
}else{
        $queryreg = mysql_query("INSERT INTO `articles` (`article_section`) VALUES ('$newcat')");echo mysql_error();
}

 

The code is actually longer than this and checks other variables from the form like aticle content, title etc

 

But the part of the code aove puts 2 rows in to the database.

 

One row with only the article_category and no other article information

One row with the article information with no article_category

 

How do I check 2 variables and select which one I want to put in the particular database column 'article_section'

 

Thanks

 

[yozyk]

$cat = empty($existcat)? $newcat:$existcat;
$queryreg = mysql_query("INSERT INTO `articles` (`article_section`) VALUES ('$cat')");

[bullbreed]

Thank you but I still get the same. 2 rows. One with the article_section only and another with all the article information.

 

Strange one this is 

[mikesta707]

that doesn't make any sense. are you sure you are getting 2 new rows from that insert code that yoz gave you? doesn't seem possible to me. perhaps you should post the rest of your code

[CoolGeek]

if (!empty($existcat)){
        $queryreg = mysql_query("INSERT INTO `articles` (`article_section`) VALUES ('$existcat')");echo mysql_error();
}else{
        $queryreg = mysql_query("INSERT INTO `articles` (`article_section`) VALUES ('$newcat')");echo mysql_error();
}

 

it should work...

[bullbreed]

It is probably my code because i've only been learning php for a month or so.

 

Also tried Cool Geeks example as well and still got 2 rows.

 

Heres the entire code

<?php
$submit = $_POST['submit'];

//Form data
$existcat = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['exist_cat']);
$newcat = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['new_cat']);
$articletitle = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['article_title']);
$articleptitle = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['article_ptitle']);
$articlepdescription = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['article_pdescription']);
$articlepkeywords = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['article_pkeywords']);
$articlecontent = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['article_content']);
$date = date('d/m/Y \a\t g:i.s a');

if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {

//Open the database
    mysql_connect("localhost","root","");
    mysql_select_db("*********"); //Select the database

$cat = empty($existcat)? $newcat:$existcat;
$queryreg = mysql_query("INSERT INTO `articles` (`article_section`) VALUES ('$cat')");

	//Check for existing fields
if ($articletitle && $articleptitle && $articlepdescription && articlepkeywords && $articlecontent && $date){


$pagecheck = mysql_query("SELECT `article_title` FROM articles WHERE `article_title` = '$articletitle'");echo mysql_error();
    $count = mysql_num_rows($pagecheck);
    
    if ($count != 0){
        echo("<font size=\"2\" color=\"#ff0000\">Article already exists. Please edit the existing article!</font>");echo mysql_error();
    }else{

//Enter into Database
	$queryreg = mysql_query("INSERT INTO articles (`article_title`, `article_ptitle`, `article_pdescription`, `article_pkeywords`, `article_content`, `date`) VALUES ('$articletitle', '$articleptitle', '$articlepdescription', '$articlepkeywords', '$articlecontent', '$date')");
	echo("<font size=\"2\" color=\"#00cc00\">Your article has been created! </font>");
}
}else{
	echo ("<font size=\"2\" color=\"#ff0000\">Please complete <b>ALL</b> fields</font>");
	 }
}	//end Check for existing fields
//end if submit
$sql = "SELECT * FROM `articles` ORDER BY `id` ASC";
$query = mysql_query($sql);

?>
      </div>
      <!-- Page submission Result -->
      <form action="addarticle.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" name="addarticle" target="_self" id="addarticle">
        <!-- Form Starts -->
        <div class="titlearea">Add News Article</div>
        <div class="dataarea">
          <div class="infowrap">Article title</div>
          <div class="infowrap">Create Article Section</div>
          <div class="infowrap">Select Article Section</div>
          <div class="infowrap">
            <input name="article_title" type="text" id="article_title" size="25" maxlength="20" />
          </div>
          <div class="infowrap">
            <input name="new_cat" type="text" id="new_cat" size="25" maxlength="100" />
          </div>
          <div class="infowrap">
            	<?php
				//Open the database
    					mysql_connect("localhost","root","");
    					mysql_select_db("customfight"); //Select the database

						$sql = "SELECT DISTINCT(article_section) FROM articles";
						$query = mysql_query($sql)or die;(mysql_error());
							if(mysql_num_rows($query) > 0){
			?>
            <label>
              <select name="exist_cat" id="exist_cat">
              <option selected></option>
			<?php
				while($r = mysql_fetch_array($query)){
					echo '<option value=" ' .$r['article_section'] . '">' . $r['article_section'] . '</option>';
				}
			?>
		</select>
			<?php
			 }
			?>
          </label>
          </div></div>
        <div class="titlearea">Meta Data</div>
        <div class="dataarea">
          <div class="metawrap">Title - Please use approx 65 characters</div>
          <div class="metawrap">
            <input name="article_ptitle" type="text" id="article_ptitle" size="80" maxlength="20" />
          </div>
          <div class="metawrap">Description - Please use approx 155 characters inc spaces</div>
          <div class="metawrap">
            <input name="article_pdescription" type="text" id="article_pdescription" size="80" maxlength="200" />
          </div>
          <div class="metawrap">Keywords - Please use approx 5 keyword per page</div>
          <div class="metawrap">
            <input name="article_pkeywords" type="text" id="article_pkeywords" size="80" maxlength="200" />
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="titlearea">Article Content</div>
        <div class="dataarea">
          <textarea name="article_content" cols="80" rows="20" id="article_content"></textarea>
        </div>
        <div class="dataarea">
          <input type="submit" value="Save" name="submit" />
        </div>
      </form>

 

[bullbreed]

Sorted it. I'm not sure why 2 rows were being created bit I changed the code to read;

 

if ($existcat !== ""){
        $cat = $existcat;
}else{
        $cat = $newcat;
}	

 

Then added $cat to the INSERT function further down the page to combine the INSERT function.

 

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

Thanks for the answer wide_load and libeco