[SOLVED] using $_GET with a href??

[samoht]

Hello,

 

I have a page that I would like to display all records by default. On this page I have two ul's 1 for brands and the other for sizes.

I would like to refine my query based on the value picked from the ul

 

Currently I am having a problem using $_GET['brand']  - because php tells me "UNDEFINED INDEX: 'brand' in..."

 

Any Ideas how I can pass a value from an ul to my sql query??

[akitchin]

undefined index is a notice, not a strict error.  it points out poor coding practice, but it won't halt the processing of your script.  you can get rid of these by turning down your error_reporting level either directly in the php.ini (rarely accessible if you're in a hosted environment) or using the error_reporting() function.

 

it will give you this notice if you try to use $_GET['brand'] or run a comparison on it without it being passed via URL, because technically the index doesn't exist in $_GET if it hasn't been passed.  we'll need to see code to tell you if your script will actually work, but notices don't mean the script isn't working.

[samoht]

Well I don't want to code poorly if I can help it.

 

This is the brand ul:

<ul>
					<li><a href="catalog.php?brand=ALL" id="brand=ALL">--View All--</a></li><?php echo "\n";
					$sql 	= "SELECT DISTINCT b.Name, b.BrandId, b.Code
								FROM brands b, product pd, item i, itemfeatures itf, features f
								WHERE i.BrandId = b.BrandId
								AND f.Name = '$pageTitle'
								AND itf.FeatureId = f.FeatureId
								AND itf.ItemId = i.ItemId
								AND pd.ItemId = i.ItemId
								ORDER BY b.Name";	  
					$result = dbQuery($sql);

					while($row = dbFetchAssoc($result)){?>
					<li style="text-align:left; padding-left:2px;"><a href="catalog.php?brand=<?php echo $row['Name']; ?>"><?php echo $row['Name']; ?></a></li><?php
						echo "\n";
					} ?>
				</ul>

 

and this is the add brand to query bit that is throwing me the notice:

<?php # Add Brand to query.
if (isset($_GET['brand']) || $_SESSION['brand']) {
if ($_GET['brand']=="ALL")
	unset($_SESSION[brand]);
elseif ($_GET[brand])
	$_SESSION[brand] = $_GET[brand];

if ($_SESSION[brand]) {
	$QWhere .= $QWhere == '' ? "WHERE i.Code = '$_SESSION[brand]'" : " AND b.Name = '$_SESSION[brand]'";

	# Get name of brand being displayed.
	$qryBrand = "SELECT Name FROM brands WHERE Code = '$_SESSION[brand]'";
	$rsBrand = mysql_query($qryBrand, $connection1) or die(mysql_error());
	$row_rsBrand = mysql_fetch_assoc($rsBrand);
	$Brand = $row_rsBrand[Name];
	mysql_free_result($rsBrand);
}
}

[akitchin]

you start off well in that second portion, using isset($_GET['brand']) - this will avoid undefined index notices.  however, since $_SESSION['brand'] can also match that conditional, it could enter the statement without $_GET['brand'] being defined.  therefore when you use $_GET['brand'] in the if() comparison immediately following the initial if(), it will launch an undefined index notice if it isn't defined in the case that $_SESSION['brand'] has hurled your script into that statement.

 

long story short, you can rearrange that if() set to be slightly better:

 

	if (isset($_GET['brand']) && $_GET['brand']=="ALL")
	unset($_SESSION['brand']);
elseif (isset($_GET['brand']))
	$_SESSION['brand'] = $_GET['brand'];

[samoht]

Thanks for the help!!

 

[samoht]

One problem though...

 

With the condition set up this way I never unset the session and display all brands when the url is empty (e.g. catalog.php instead of catalog.php?brand="whatever")

 

How can I set the display to ALL if the url query is blank ??

 

Thanks

[akitchin]

you'd want to add a condition to that first if() condition, such that if the $_GET['brand'] is NOT set, it will unset the session variable as well:

 

if (!isset($_GET['brand']) || (isset($_GET['brand']) && $_GET['brand']=="ALL"))

 

this if() condition says that if $_GET['brand'] is NOT set, or if it is set AND equal to 'ALL', it will unset the $_SESSION['brand'] variable and presumably show all brands.  is that what you're after?

[samoht]

Yes that is what I was after!

 

thanks again for the help - I should of thought of !isset - but I wasn't thinking