[SOLVED] What code do i want (conceptually) to solve this issue [img included]

[Lyricsride]

hey folks,

I have would like to implement a simple blurb sytstem. The only part confusing me is how i should have php detect when the box of news has been filled.

http://codes.concordia.ca/help.png

the image basically explains the concept.

What php code/concepts/tutorials should i be looking for?

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

[The Little Guy]

Assuming you have a mysql database, and know mysql, here is how I would approach it:

[code]
<?php
$sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM table_name order by id DESC LIMIT 5")or die(mysql_error());
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql){
echo '<p>'.$row['date'].'<br>';
echo str$row['content'].'</p>';
}
echo'<a href="display_all.php">Display all</a>';
?>
[/code]

[Lyricsride]

Thanks a lot for the reply Little Guy. I considered something similar to your suggestion, but the problem is that 5 posts (LIMIT 5) may not fit into the box. If one of those 5 "blurbs" is considerably long, it would push others outside the box. On the flip side, if all 5 "blurbs" are considerably short, they won't fill the box.

I do not want to use scrollbars either. Somehow PHP needs to dynamically detect how many "Blurbs" can really fit into the box, based on the size of those blurbs versus the size of the box.

Am i making sense?

[The Little Guy]

Yes that makes sense.

Will this box be allowed to change sizes, or is it a set size?

[Lyricsride]

The box will be a set size. I guess that helps a little, i'll be able to tell PHP exactly what size it should be limited to. At least i think that should make it easier.... ha.

The current height in pixles is 285px. So that's the max size. I'm going to be using MySQL for databasing. I have access to GD 2.x.

Big thanks for the help. I'll try to reply faster!
:)

edit:
the width is also statically set at 355px. It's probably a given but just in case...

[Lyricsride]

bump :-\

[Lyricsride]

bump ???

[fert]

the only way that i know of that would work would be to find out how many characters the box can hold and then count the number of characters in the articles and make sure they don't exceed the limit.

[Lyricsride]

Thanks fert, that's something else i was thinking. The annoying problem with that is, there could be blurbs as little as one line. Each blurb would require margins on the top and bottom, of course. That means the worst-case scenario the box must be able to handle is the amount of characters that would be outputted if each post was only one line long. The chances of this are slim but can't be ignored to function properly. It ends up being a very crude and static measurement.

I'm wondering if there can be a way to solve the problem using the GD library - albeit a convoluted one....

[Lyricsride]

bump

[Lyricsride]

After several forums and people suggesting my idea was a little "out there" i finally got it (with a few suggestions from the OZZU forums)

thanks for all your help guys.

[code]$boxHeight = 247;
while($stuffResult = mysqli_fetch_assoc($stuffGet))
{
//(A) The # of characters in the entire blurb
$charCount = strlen($stuffResult['text']);

//(B) Divide (A) by 48, this tells us how many lines there are
$lineCount = $charCount / 48;

//(C) Round (B) up to get the actual # of lines (can't be a float!)
$lineCount = ceil($lineCount);

//(D) Multiply (C) by 13 b/c each line is 13px high
$lineHeight = ($lineCount * 13);

//(E) Substract the total box height by the line height of the blurb, the while loop slowly eats away at the box space until it is full!
$boxHeight = $boxHeight - $lineHeight;

//the the blurb is NOT the last one, take an additonal 26px off the box height, to account for spacing the posts apart
if($boxHeight > 25)
{
//subtract 26px b/c this blurb has space at the bottom
$boxHeight = ($boxHeight - 26);
}

if($boxHeight > 0)
{
//echo 'box px: '.$boxHeight.'<br />';
//echo 'blurb px'.$lineHeight.'<br />';
//echo 'blurb line'.$lineCount;
//the actual blurb being displayed to the user
echo '<div style="float:left;">'.$stuffResult['date'].'</div>
<p style="margin-left:119px;margin-bottom:26px;">'.$stuffResult['text'].'</p>
';
}
}[/code]