Issue with giving anchor tags a class based on its file name

[Ricky55]

Hi

 

Still very new to PHP but getting some good use out of it with includes.

 

I'm currently using this code to check the file name of the page and then give the corresponding anchor tag a class of active in order to style my main menu.

 

This is all working for most of my pages but my problem is that I now have multiple files called index.php one in the root of my site and some are in folders.

 

Is there any way around this issue? Can PHP check to see if its the index file in the root of the site or is there a better way. I suppose I could create a second variable in the index file in my root ie my home page and then check to say if the current page is called index and has the variable of home but how would I write this?

 

My code

 

$currentPage = basename($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'], '.php');

<li><a href="/" <?php if ($currentPage == 'index') {echo 'class="active"';} ?>>Home</a></li>

[PHPete]

What I'd do is give each page a variable, let's say in each page you have something like

 

<?php
  $pageID = '1';
?>

 

But change the number for each page.

 

Then, for your navigation, you could have

 

<ul>
  <li><a href="#" <?php if ($pageID == '1') {echo 'class="active"';} ?>>Home</a></li>
  <li><a href="#" <?php if ($pageID == '2') {echo 'class="active"';} ?>>Link 2</a></li>
</ul>

 

Etc...

 

As far as I can see, this could work. I'm not sure if there are any problems with this method, or if it'll cause any problems within your site.

I hoe it works alright though.

[cyberRobot]

You could use $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']:

http://www.php.net/manual/en/reserved.variables.server.php

 

 

It gives you the folders and filename.

[PHPete]

You could use $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']:

http://www.php.net/manual/en/reserved.variables.server.php

 

 

It gives you the folders and filename.

 

From what I've read, this can be very insecure.

[cyberRobot]

From what I've read, this can be very insecure.

 

 

It can be when used with things like forms.

[PHPete]

I'm hoping this isn't too far off topic, but this article explains the security issues within PHP_Self.

[Ricky55]

Cheers lads, just used the pageID, as I had a few I've created an array to hold these. Working a treat.

 

I know what I need to do in plain in english I just can't always turn that into PHP without some prompting.

 

Cheers

[cyberRobot]

I'm hoping this isn't too far off topic, but this article explains the security issues within PHP_Self.

 

Yep, that whole article talks about the dangers of using $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] in the action attribute of a form tag. It doesn't say anything about using PHP_SELF elsewhere.

 

Using it to get the folder and filename for testing purposes should be just fine.

[PHPete]

Yep, that whole article talks about the dangers of using $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] in the action attribute of a form tag. It doesn't say anything about using PHP_SELF elsewhere.

 

Using it to get the folder and filename for testing purposes should be just fine.

 

Oh right.

I've never really used PHP_SELF, jsut read a little bit about it.

[cyberRobot]

Cheers lads, just used the pageID, as I had a few I've created an array to hold these. Working a treat.

 

I know what I need to do in plain in english I just can't always turn that into PHP without some prompting.

 

Cheers

 

 

You could modify your original code using $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']:

 

<li><a href="/" <?php if ($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] == '/index.php') { echo 'class="active"'; } ?>>Home</a></li>

[PHPete]

You could modify your original code using $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']:

 

<li><a href="/" <?php if ($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] == '/index.php') { echo 'class="active"'; } ?>>Home</a></li>

 

Would that not cause problems in sub directories?

 

say the URL was

website.com/directory/index.php

 

The link to

website.com/index.php

would be active.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[cyberRobot]

Would that not cause problems in sub directories?

 

say the URL was

website.com/directory/index.php

 

The link to

website.com/index.php

would be active.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

Nope, $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] would contain a different value. So your test would be:

 

<li><a href="/" <?php if ($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] == '/index.php') { echo 'class="active"'; } ?>>Home</a></li>
<li><a href="/directory/" <?php if ($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] == '/directory/index.php') { echo 'class="active"'; } ?>>Directory</a></li>

[PHPete]

Nope, $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] would contain a different value. So your test would be:

 

<li><a href="/" <?php if ($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] == '/index.php') { echo 'class="active"'; } ?>>Home</a></li>
<li><a href="/directory/" <?php if ($_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] == '/directory/index.php') { echo 'class="active"'; } ?>>Directory</a></li>

 

Ah right. Cool.

 

That seems a lot easier than the $pageID method I used.

[cyberRobot]

Ah right. Cool.

 

That seems a lot easier than the $pageID method I used.

 

Yep, I've used the $pageID method in the past. It worked well in the beginning, but as my websites evolved it became more of a maintenance issue.