Username Increment

DavidY · September 26, 2010

I'm wanting to increment usernames in ONLY the lowercase a-z for example if a user enters "abc" it will automatically be given "abc1" and the next user if entering the same username will automatically be given "abc2", the next "abc3" and so on. The base login and register script I'm using can be found on http://evolt.org/node/60265/ The database.php and register.php pages are below, but excluding the amendments I am seeking. I have created a MySQL database with 2 tables, 1 table named 'Users' with 3 columns named (1) 'userid' primary key, auto increment, (2) 'username' (3) 'password'. The other table is named 'UserCount' with 2 columns named (1) 'username' (2) 'count'.

Can someone provide the PHP coding for the following process? When a new user registers a new username firstly PHP to check the characters are in lowercase a-z only and no other characters, and reject if they do not match, then for PHP to check to see if that username exists in the 'UserCount' table. If it doesn't exist, PHP to insert the new username into the 'username' column and also set the value of the 'count' column to 1. If the username does exist, PHP to add that username to the 'username' column and increment the value of the 'count' column by 1. Then in the 'Users' table PHP to insert a record with 'Users.username = UserCount.username + count' and PHP to inform the new user of their complete username including the integer that has been added to their first entered username.

It would also help if I could be provided a link to a website on where I can better understand how to collate coding of this kind, coz I have tried to formulate this coding but as I'm playing around in the dark I have no idea if it is the right process in particular considering security factors.

database.php

<?php

/**
* Connect to the mysql database.
*/
$conn = mysql_connect("localhost", "your_username", "your_password") or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db('your_database', $conn) or die(mysql_error());

?>

register.php

<?php
session_start(); 
include("database.php");

/**
* Returns true if the username has been taken
* by another user, false otherwise.
*/
function usernameTaken($username){
global $conn;
if(!get_magic_quotes_gpc()){
$username = addslashes($username);
}
$q = "select username from Users where username = '$username'";
$result = mysql_query($q,$conn);
return (mysql_numrows($result) > 0);
}

/**
* Inserts the given (username, password) pair
* into the database. Returns true on success,
* false otherwise.
*/
function addNewUser($username, $password){
global $conn;
$q = "INSERT INTO Users VALUES ('$username', '$password')";
return mysql_query($q,$conn);
}

/**
* Displays the appropriate message to the user
* after the registration attempt. It displays a 
* success or failure status depending on a
* session variable set during registration.
*/
function displayStatus(){
$uname = $_SESSION['reguname'];
if($_SESSION['regresult']){
?>

<h1>Registered!</h1>
<p>Thank you <b><?php echo $uname; ?></b>, your information has been added to the database, you may now <a href="main.php" title="Login">log in</a>.</p>

<?php
}
else{
?>

<h1>Registration Failed</h1>
<p>We're sorry, but an error has occurred and your registration for the username <b><?php echo $uname; ?></b>, could not be completed.<br>
Please try again at a later time.</p>

<?php
}
unset($_SESSION['reguname']);
unset($_SESSION['registered']);
unset($_SESSION['regresult']);
}

if(isset($_SESSION['registered'])){
/**
* This is the page that will be displayed after the
* registration has been attempted.
*/
?>

<html>
<title>Registration Page</title>
<body>

<?php displayStatus(); ?>

</body>
</html>

<?php
return;
}

/**
* Determines whether or not to show to sign-up form
* based on whether the form has been submitted, if it
* has, check the database for consistency and create
* the new account.
*/
if(isset($_POST['subjoin'])){
/* Make sure all fields were entered */
if(!$_POST['user'] || !$_POST['pass']){
die('You didn\'t fill in a required field.');
}

/* Spruce up username, check length */
$_POST['user'] = trim($_POST['user']);
if(strlen($_POST['user']) > 30){
die("Sorry, the username is longer than 30 characters, please shorten it.");
}

/* Check if username is already in use */
if(usernameTaken($_POST['user'])){
$use = $_POST['user'];
die("Sorry, the username: <strong>$use</strong> is already taken, please pick another one.");
}

/* Add the new account to the database */
$md5pass = md5($_POST['pass']);
$_SESSION['reguname'] = $_POST['user'];
$_SESSION['regresult'] = addNewUser($_POST['user'], $md5pass);
$_SESSION['registered'] = true;
echo "<meta http-equiv=\"Refresh\" content=\"0;url=$HTTP_SERVER_VARS[php_SELF]\">";
return;
}
else{
/**
* This is the page with the sign-up form, the names
* of the input fields are important and should not
* be changed.
*/
?>

<html>
<title>Registration Page</title>
<body>
<h1>Register</h1>
<form action="<?php echo $HTTP_SERVER_VARS['PHP_SELF']; ?>" method="post">
<table align="left" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3">
<tr><td>Username:</td><td><input type="text" name="user" maxlength="30"></td></tr>
<tr><td>Password:</td><td><input type="password" name="pass" maxlength="30"></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" align="right"><input type="submit" name="subjoin" value="Join!"></td></tr>
</table>
</form>
</body>
</html>


<?php
}
?>

inversesoft123 · September 26, 2010

You can do this by including 1 extra filed into the table say numbdups which calculate number of duplicates suppose you have abc already registered next time when user tries abc register him as abc1 and insert into numbdups 1 next time when user again registers abc get numbdups value DESC increment it by previous highest value SET numbdups=numbdups+$prevhigestnumbdups and so on..............

DavidY · September 27, 2010

Thanks inversesoft123, I'm grateful for your input but I need to be hand fed. I do know how to create another column in MySQL but you say "suppose you have abc already registered" I don't want any usernames to be without the added number. I don't know if your method will work where the 1st abc will be abc1 but if it would work, I then don't know how follow your method to "get numbdups value DESC increment it by previous highest value SET numbdups=numbdups+$prevhigestnumbdups" I do need someone to tell me how to amend the code on the register.php page so that it will work and work securely coz I'm just guessing with everything I do.

chintansshah · September 27, 2010

you should take one more incremental column in user table, which is increase when username is matched.

While check exist username after getting the result check the incremental number and add+1 and set new username and store new incremental number for that user.

DavidY · September 27, 2010

Thanks Chintan. I think your method will not join the username with the integer, but I stand to be corrected. I'll need the username and the integer joined which will then have it's unique password. Either way I think the find will need to start at the bottom of the database and find up. Can you provide the code for your method? I'm OK with adding another column to MySQL.

Sign In

Username Increment

Recommended Posts

DavidY

Link to comment

Share on other sites

inversesoft123

Link to comment

Share on other sites

DavidY

Link to comment

Share on other sites

chintansshah

Link to comment

Share on other sites

DavidY

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Join the conversation

Browse

Activity

Important Information