INTECH 2201
LECTURE
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Storing Script Data
$_GET & $_POST
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Storing script data
▪ PHP variables are storage containers that
store information
▪ Examples:
▫ $alien_desc = ‘Little blue men’;
▫ $alien_desc = $_POST[‘alien_desc’];
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Processing Forms
▪ There are two ways the browser client can
send information to the web server.
▪ The GET method.
▪ The POST method.
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GET vs POST
Which is more secure 🤔
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$_GET method
▪ Used to collect values in a form with
method=“get”.
▪ GET method is visible to everyone
▪ GET should NEVER be used for sending
passwords or other sensitive information!
$_POST method
▪ Used to collect values in a form with
method=“post”.
▪ POST method is invisible to everyone
▪ Developers prefer post for sending data 6
GET method
[Link] [Link]
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GET method
When you click
the send
button, notice
the URL
contains the
username and
password
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POST method
[Link] [Link]
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POST method
When you click
the send
button, notice
the URL does
not contain
the username
and password
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$_POST transports form data to script
▪ $_POST is a special variable that holds
form data
▪ $_POST is known as superglobal because it
is built into PHP and is available
throughout an entire script
▪ $_POST array is filled with the values
the user entered into the form.
▪ Each element corresponds to a piece of
data entered into a form field. 12
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2
Setting up a database
connection PHP Forms and MySQL
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Connecting to Database
▪ We use the method mysqli_connect();
▪ Before we can use it, we need to identify
the servername, username, password of the
MySQL database and the database name
▫ $servername = “localhost”;
▫ $username = “root”;
▫ $password = “”;
▫ $database = “learnDB”;
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Connecting to Database
▪ mysqli_connect() accepts 4 parameters:
server name, username, password, and
database name
▪ Database name is optional, and can be
omitted
▫ mysqli_connect($servername,$username,$password)
//without database name
▫ mysqli_connect($servername,$username,$password,
$database) //with database name
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Create a database
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Connection with database name
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Connection without database name
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Testing the connection
We selected an existing We selected a not existing
database in the phpMyAdmin. database in the phpMyAdmin.
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Selecting Database
▪ We used mysqli_select_db() to select the
preferred database.
▪ mysqli_select_db() accepts two
parameters, first is the database
connection, second is the database name.
▫ mysqli_select_db($connection,$database);
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3
Querying the database
PHP Forms and MySQL
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Executing Query
▪ When executing sql commands, we use
mysqli_query()
▪ mysqli_query() accepts two parameters,
first is the database connection, second
is the query or the sql command
▫ $query = “select * from personnel”;
▫ $result = mysqli_query($connection,$query);
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Executing Query
▪ When an sql commands will not return a
value then we don’t need a variable that
will catch the result of mysqli_query()
▫ $query = “delete from students where id=1”;
▫ mysqli_query($connection,$query);
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Outputting Query
▪ Output all row/data set using loop
▫ while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result)){
echo”<div>”.$row[‘firstname’].”</div>;
echo”<div>”.$row[‘lastname’].”</div>;
echo”<div>”.$row[‘nickname’].”</div>;
echo”<div>”.$row[‘email’].”</div>;
echo”<div>”.$row[‘salary’].”</div>;
}
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Outputting Query
▪ Get the number of rows
▫ $num_result = mysqli_num_rows($result);
▪ Output all row/data set using for loop
▫ for($i=0;$i<$num_results;$i++){
$row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result);
echo”<div>”.$row[‘firstname’].”</div>;
echo”<div>”.$row[‘lastname’].”</div>;
}
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Populate your database
Using the phpMyAdmin populate
atleast 1 information for
your personnel table
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Display it
using PHP
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Sample output
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Closing Database
▪ To close a
database use
▫ mysqli_close(
$connection);
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4
Sessions
PHP Forms and MySQL
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What is a Session?
▪ A session is a global variable stored on
the server
▪ A special array used to store information
across the page requests, a user makes
during his/her visit to web application
▪ In a session based environment, every
user is identified through a unique
number called session identifier or SID
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PHP Session Variables
▪ It allows user to store information on
the server for later use (e.g. username,
shopping items, etc.)
▪ Sessions work by creating a unique id
(UID) for each visitor and store
variables based in this UID
▪ Session variables tracks data for a user
while they travel through a series of web
pages
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Starting a PHP Session
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Storing and Accessing Session Data
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Removing a Session
▪ The unset() function is used to free the
specified session variable.
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Destroying a Session
▪ The session_destroy() function will reset
your session and will destroy all the
stored session data.
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Reminder
▪ Every time you want to use session
variables or unset the session variables,
you need to start the session first
before accessing the variables.
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References
▪ W3Schools (2022). PHP Tutorial.
[Link]
▪ w3resource (2020, February 26). PHP
Tutorials for beginners.
[Link]
[Link]
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End
Any questions?
Email me at
[Link]@[Link]
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