check if name exists

spanner206 · November 21, 2013

hi just wondering how i would go about checking if a companys name is already in use and if it is show a message at the side saying u cant use this name as its already in use, i know how i would do the error message but i got no clue on how to do the check im guessing you use a sql query but i dont really know.

this is the format ive been doing my code in.

 if (empty($_POST["companyname"]))
{
    $errors['companyname'] = "Please Enter Your companyname";
}elseif(preg_match_all("/[(?\/<>*:.@)]/i",$_POST['companyname'],$matches)){ // list of invalid characters

    #echo '<pre>',print_r($matches),'</pre>';
    $invalid_characters = implode(",",$matches[0]);
    $errors['companyname'] = 'Cannot use '.$invalid_characters;

} 
elseif(strlen($_POST['companyname']) > 220)
{
    $errors['companyname'] = 'Company name must be less then 220 characters';
}
elseif(strpos($_POST['companyname'], 'The') !== false)
{
    $errors['companyname'] = 'Company Names cant start with The';
}
elseif(strpos($_POST['companyname'], 'the') !== false)
{
    $errors['companyname'] = 'Company Names cant start with the';
}
elseif(strpos($_POST['companyname'], 'THE') !== false)
{
    $errors['companyname'] = 'Company Names cant start with THE';
}

else
{
    $companyname = test_input($_POST["companyname"]);
}

Barand · November 21, 2013

Off topic but why would you want to bar company names like Theakstons or Wetherspoons?

spanner206 · November 21, 2013

yh ive been trying to sort that out my boss wanted me to block the for some reason but i dont no how i would stop that from happening

Barand · November 21, 2013

Your code will flag an error if "the" occurs anywhere in the name. You need to check for "the " (with space) in position 0

$company_names = array (
            'Theakstons',
            'The Rams',
            'Wetherspoons',
            'THE HAMMERS',
            'the tangerines'
        );

foreach ($company_names as $name) {
    echo "$name : ";
    if (stripos($name, 'the ')===0) {
        echo 'FAIL - cannot begin with "The"<br>';
    }
    else {
        echo 'PASS<br>';
    }
}

/* RESULTS
Theakstons : PASS
The Rams : FAIL - cannot begin with "The"
Wetherspoons : PASS
THE HAMMERS : FAIL - cannot begin with "The"
the tangerines : FAIL - cannot begin with "The"
*/

Barand · November 21, 2013

Back to topic - do you have a database table of existing company names?

spanner206 · November 21, 2013

yh tbl_club_contacts

Barand · November 21, 2013

Assuming that table has a column 'company_name'

$sql = sprintf("SELECT COUNT(*) as total
    FROM tbl_club_contacts
    WHERE company_name = '%s' ", $db->real_escape_string($companyname));
$result = $db->query($sql);
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
if ($row['total'] > 0) {
    $errors['companyname'] = "The name '$companyname' already exists.";
}

spanner206 · November 22, 2013

hi ive tried both sets of code, the sql code is showing an error and a notice

( ! ) Notice: Undefined variable: db in C:\wamp\www\AddLeads\addeadstemplate.php on line 55 Call Stack # Time Memory Function Location 1 0.0000 189704 {main}( ) ..\addeadstemplate.php:0

( ! ) Fatal error: Call to a member function real_escape_string() on a non-object in C:\wamp\www\AddLeads\addeadstemplate.php on line 55 Call Stack # Time Memory Function Location 1 0.0000 189704 {main}( ) ..\addeadstemplate.php:0

and the code for 'the' is just showing this once i press submit,

Theakstons : PASS

The Rams : FAIL - cannot begin with "The"
Wetherspoons : PASS
THE HAMMERS : FAIL - cannot begin with "The"

knowing me i put the code in the wrong place heres what it currently looks like.

the tangerines : FAIL - cannot begin with "The"

<!DOCTYPE HTML> 
<html>
<head>
<style>
.error {color: #FF0000;}
</style>
</head>
<body> 
 
<?php
$con = mysqli_connect("localhost","root","","nib");
// Check connection
if (mysqli_connect_errno())
{
	echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error();
}
 
// define variables and set to empty values
 
$companyname = $firstname = $address1 = $address2 = $county = $city = $postcode = $email = $website = $clubphone = $homephone = $mobilephone = $typeofbusiness = $renewaldate = "";
 
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST")
{
 $errors = array();
 if (empty($_POST["companyname"]))
{
    $errors['companyname'] = "Please Enter Your companyname";
}elseif(preg_match_all("/[(?\/<>*:.@)]/i",$_POST['companyname'],$matches)){ // list of invalid characters

    #echo '<pre>',print_r($matches),'</pre>';
    $invalid_characters = implode(",",$matches[0]);
    $errors['companyname'] = 'Cannot use '.$invalid_characters;

} 
$company_names = array (
            'Theakstons',
            'The Rams',
            'Wetherspoons',
            'THE HAMMERS',
            'the tangerines'
        );

foreach ($company_names as $name) {
    echo "$name : ";
    if (stripos($name, 'the ')===0) {
        echo 'FAIL - cannot begin with "The"<br>';
    }
    else {
        echo 'PASS<br>';
    }
}

$sql = sprintf("SELECT COUNT(*) as total
    FROM tbl_club_contacts
    WHERE companyname = '%s' ", $db->real_escape_string($companyname));
$result = $db->query($sql);
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
if ($row['total'] > 0) {
    $errors['companyname'] = "The name '$companyname' already exists.";
}

else
{
    $companyname = test_input($_POST["companyname"]);
}

Ch0cu3r · November 22, 2013

Change $db to $con on line 55.

Also the code Barand gave you here was an example for checking the word 'the' was at the start of the string. You need to adapt it to check the value in $_POST["companyname"]. It is not meant for a simple copy and paste solution.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Ch0cu3r

spanner206 · November 22, 2013

yh that got rid of the error but if i type in the same company name twice its still going onto the database twice. any ideas???

Ch0cu3r · November 22, 2013

Move this code

$sql = sprintf("SELECT COUNT(*) as total
    FROM tbl_club_contacts
    WHERE companyname = '%s' ", $db->real_escape_string($companyname));
$result = $db->query($sql);
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
if ($row['total'] > 0) {
    $errors['companyname'] = "The name '$companyname' already exists.";
}

So it is after this

else
{
    $companyname = test_input($_POST["companyname"]);
}

spanner206 · November 22, 2013

waaaaay you only gone and done it again cheers ch0cu3r now its just this the, The, THE code

Barand · November 22, 2013

...now its just this the, The, THE code

Look at my example, engage brain, see what it is doing and adapt your code to do it the same way

spanner206 · November 22, 2013

cheers for everyones help couldnt of done it without you

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