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Writing double-prime to file? [message #184775] Sat, 01 February 2014 11:37 Go to next message
adrian is currently offline  adrian
Messages: 27
Registered: December 2012
Karma: 0
Junior Member
I am trying to write a series of programs which create a file from a
string which has been Copied from a spreadsheet. It is Pasted into an
HTML Form and passed through various checking routines. Finally it is
written to a file.

If the string contains a double-prime character (double quotes) the
character and the rest of the string after that point do not appear to
be written to file.

The program displays the string just after the "write to file" lines
and it is still unchanged. Either a problem is occurring during the
writing phase or that character is making the rest of the file
unreadable. (I view the file contents in Fetch v3.0.3)

The data string is held in the variiable '$txt' and the write command
is:

~~~~~~~~
$fh = fopen($fileURL, 'w') or die("<FONT
COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>PayFileGen2 can't open file $fileURL</B></FONT>");
fwrite($fh, $txt);
fclose($fh);

~~~~~~~~

Is that character known to cause a problem and is there a
straightforward way around this?


--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184780 is a reply to message #184775] Sat, 01 February 2014 12:40 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Jerry Stuckle is currently offline  Jerry Stuckle
Messages: 2598
Registered: September 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 2/1/2014 6:37 AM, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
> I am trying to write a series of programs which create a file from a
> string which has been Copied from a spreadsheet. It is Pasted into an
> HTML Form and passed through various checking routines. Finally it is
> written to a file.
>
> If the string contains a double-prime character (double quotes) the
> character and the rest of the string after that point do not appear to
> be written to file.
>
> The program displays the string just after the "write to file" lines
> and it is still unchanged. Either a problem is occurring during the
> writing phase or that character is making the rest of the file
> unreadable. (I view the file contents in Fetch v3.0.3)
>
> The data string is held in the variiable '$txt' and the write command
> is:
>
> ~~~~~~~~
> $fh = fopen($fileURL, 'w') or die("<FONT
> COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>PayFileGen2 can't open file $fileURL</B></FONT>");
> fwrite($fh, $txt);
> fclose($fh);
>
> ~~~~~~~~
>
> Is that character known to cause a problem and is there a
> straightforward way around this?
>
>

I've never seen a problem writing double quotes to a file. What does
the file look like if you open it with an editor on the server (or, more
simply, just list it to the terminal) instead of retrieving it with an
ftp program?

--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
jstucklex(at)attglobal(dot)net
==================
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184781 is a reply to message #184780] Sat, 01 February 2014 14:23 Go to previous messageGo to next message
adrian is currently offline  adrian
Messages: 27
Registered: December 2012
Karma: 0
Junior Member
Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex(at)attglobal(dot)net> wrote:

> On 2/1/2014 6:37 AM, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
>> I am trying to write a series of programs which create a file from a
>> string which has been Copied from a spreadsheet. It is Pasted into an
>> HTML Form and passed through various checking routines. Finally it is
>> written to a file.
>>
>> If the string contains a double-prime character (double quotes) the
>> character and the rest of the string after that point do not appear to
>> be written to file.
>>
>> The program displays the string just after the "write to file" lines
>> and it is still unchanged. Either a problem is occurring during the
>> writing phase or that character is making the rest of the file
>> unreadable. (I view the file contents in Fetch v3.0.3)
>>
>> The data string is held in the variiable '$txt' and the write command
>> is:
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~
>> $fh = fopen($fileURL, 'w') or die("<FONT
>> COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>PayFileGen2 can't open file $fileURL</B></FONT>");
>> fwrite($fh, $txt);
>> fclose($fh);
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~
>>
>> Is that character known to cause a problem and is there a
>> straightforward way around this?
>>
>>
>
> I've never seen a problem writing double quotes to a file. What does
> the file look like if you open it with an editor on the server (or, more
> simply, just list it to the terminal) instead of retrieving it with an
> ftp program?

I am just a beginner, so 'listing to the termiinal' is something I
haven't come across. I didn't FTP the file to view it, but used the
"View file" facility in Fetch (I don't know if that would make any
difference to what I would see). If you want to see it, the file is at:
http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/Payment/phpfiles/IYC519N1391274673.txt

I have written a bit of code to read the file, print it and then and
list each character with its ASCII equivlent. The original data was:

~~~~~~~~~ Original Data ~~~~~~
419 IYC519 140201 169.75 XXX111
Bill Smith 123, Any Street Some Town Elsewhere County
XX1 @AB 01234 567890 bill(dot)smith(at)url(dot)com
0 Copy tape (0.25" @ 1-7/8ips) to CDR 0
Special treatment 0 Hours work 4
15 60 P+P 1 3 3 Transfer 8 double-sided
discs to CDR 0 Hours work 6.5 15
97.5 P+P CDR 1 1 1 P+P Special Delivery 1
8.25 8.25 0

~~~~~~~ End of original data ~~~~~~


The results from the reading program are:

~~~~~~~~ Reading program results ~~~~~~
419 IYC519 140201 169.75 XXX111
Bill Smith 123, Any Street Some Town Elsewhere County
XX1 @AB 01234 567890 bill(dot)smith(at)url(dot)com
0 Copy tape (0.25

0 4 = 52
1 1 = 49
2 9 = 57
3 = 9
4 I = 73
5 Y = 89
6 C = 67
7 5 = 53
8 1 = 49
9 9 = 57
10 = 9
11 1 = 49
12 4 = 52
13 0 = 48
14 2 = 50
15 0 = 48
16 1 = 49
17 = 9
18 = 9
19 = 9
20 = 9
21 1 = 49
22 6 = 54
23 9 = 57
24 . = 46
25 7 = 55
26 5 = 53
27 = 9
28 = 9
29 X = 88
30 X = 88
31 X = 88
32 1 = 49
33 1 = 49
34 1 = 49
35 = 9
36 B = 66
37 i = 105
38 l = 108
39 l = 108
40 = 9
41 S = 83
42 m = 109
43 i = 105
44 t = 116
45 h = 104
46 = 9
47 1 = 49
48 2 = 50
49 3 = 51
50 , = 44
51 = 32
52 A = 65
53 n = 110
54 y = 121
55 = 32
56 S = 83
57 t = 116
58 r = 114
59 e = 101
60 e = 101
61 t = 116
62 = 9
63 S = 83
64 o = 111
65 m = 109
66 e = 101
67 = 32
68 T = 84
69 o = 111
70 w = 119
71 n = 110
72 = 9
73 E = 69
74 l = 108
75 s = 115
76 e = 101
77 w = 119
78 h = 104
79 e = 101
80 r = 114
81 e = 101
82 = 9
83 C = 67
84 o = 111
85 u = 117
86 n = 110
87 t = 116
88 y = 121
89 = 9
90 X = 88
91 X = 88
92 1 = 49
93 = 32
94 @ = 64
95 A = 65
96 B = 66
97 = 9
98 0 = 48
99 1 = 49
100 2 = 50
101 3 = 51
102 4 = 52
103 = 32
104 5 = 53
105 6 = 54
106 7 = 55
107 8 = 56
108 9 = 57
109 0 = 48
110 = 9
111 b = 98
112 i = 105
113 l = 108
114 l = 108
115 . = 46
116 s = 115
117 m = 109
118 i = 105
119 t = 116
120 h = 104
121 @ = 64
122 u = 117
123 r = 114
124 l = 108
125 . = 46
126 c = 99
127 o = 111
128 m = 109
129 = 9
130 = 9
131 = 9
132 = 9
133 0 = 48
134 = 9
135 C = 67
136 o = 111
137 p = 112
138 y = 121
139 = 32
140 t = 116
141 a = 97
142 p = 112
143 e = 101
144 = 32
145 ( = 40
146 0 = 48
147 . = 46
148 2 = 50
149 5 = 53
150 = 0
151 = 0
152 = 0
153 = 0
154 = 0
155 = 0
156 = 0
157 = 0
158 = 0
159 = 0
160 = 0
161 = 0
162 = 0
163 = 0
164 = 0
165 = 0
166 = 0
167 = 0
168 = 0
169 = 0
170 = 0
171 = 0
172 = 0
173 = 0
174 = 0
175 = 0
176 = 0
177 = 0
178 = 0
179 = 0
180 = 0
181 = 0
182 = 0
183 = 0
184 = 0
185 = 0
186 = 0
187 = 0
188 = 0
189 = 0
190 = 0
191 = 0
192 = 0
193 = 0
194 = 0
195 = 0
196 = 0
197 = 0
198 = 0
199 = 0

~~~~~~~ end of reading program results ~~~~~~~~


The reading program was:

~~~~~~~ Reading program ~~~~~~~~~
<?php


## GET file URL from link and read data from file ###

$fileURL = $_GET['iyc'];

$fileURL = ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . "/Payment/phpfiles/") .
$fileURL;
$fh = fopen($fileURL, 'r') or die("<FONT COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>invoicer3
can't open file $fileURL</B></FONT>");
$txt = fread($fh, filesize($fileURL));
fclose($fh);

print $txt;
print "

";

$i=0;

while ($i<200)
{
print $i . " ";
print ($txt{$i}) . " = ";
print (ord($txt{$i}));
print "
";
$i++;
}


?>

~~~~~ end of reading program ~~~~~



--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184782 is a reply to message #184781] Sat, 01 February 2014 15:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Jerry Stuckle is currently offline  Jerry Stuckle
Messages: 2598
Registered: September 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 2/1/2014 9:23 AM, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
> Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex(at)attglobal(dot)net> wrote:
>
>> On 2/1/2014 6:37 AM, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
>>> I am trying to write a series of programs which create a file from a
>>> string which has been Copied from a spreadsheet. It is Pasted into an
>>> HTML Form and passed through various checking routines. Finally it is
>>> written to a file.
>>>
>>> If the string contains a double-prime character (double quotes) the
>>> character and the rest of the string after that point do not appear to
>>> be written to file.
>>>
>>> The program displays the string just after the "write to file" lines
>>> and it is still unchanged. Either a problem is occurring during the
>>> writing phase or that character is making the rest of the file
>>> unreadable. (I view the file contents in Fetch v3.0.3)
>>>
>>> The data string is held in the variiable '$txt' and the write command
>>> is:
>>>
>>> ~~~~~~~~
>>> $fh = fopen($fileURL, 'w') or die("<FONT
>>> COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>PayFileGen2 can't open file $fileURL</B></FONT>");
>>> fwrite($fh, $txt);
>>> fclose($fh);
>>>
>>> ~~~~~~~~
>>>
>>> Is that character known to cause a problem and is there a
>>> straightforward way around this?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I've never seen a problem writing double quotes to a file. What does
>> the file look like if you open it with an editor on the server (or, more
>> simply, just list it to the terminal) instead of retrieving it with an
>> ftp program?
>
> I am just a beginner, so 'listing to the termiinal' is something I
> haven't come across. I didn't FTP the file to view it, but used the
> "View file" facility in Fetch (I don't know if that would make any
> difference to what I would see). If you want to see it, the file is at:
> http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/Payment/phpfiles/IYC519N1391274673.txt
>
> I have written a bit of code to read the file, print it and then and
> list each character with its ASCII equivlent. The original data was:
>
> ~~~~~~~~~ Original Data ~~~~~~
> 419 IYC519 140201 169.75 XXX111
> Bill Smith 123, Any Street Some Town Elsewhere County
> XX1 @AB 01234 567890 bill(dot)smith(at)url(dot)com
> 0 Copy tape (0.25" @ 1-7/8ips) to CDR 0
> Special treatment 0 Hours work 4
> 15 60 P+P 1 3 3 Transfer 8 double-sided
> discs to CDR 0 Hours work 6.5 15
> 97.5 P+P CDR 1 1 1 P+P Special Delivery 1
> 8.25 8.25 0
>
> ~~~~~~~ End of original data ~~~~~~
>
>
> The results from the reading program are:
>
> ~~~~~~~~ Reading program results ~~~~~~
> 419 IYC519 140201 169.75 XXX111
> Bill Smith 123, Any Street Some Town Elsewhere County
> XX1 @AB 01234 567890 bill(dot)smith(at)url(dot)com
> 0 Copy tape (0.25
>
> 0 4 = 52
> 1 1 = 49
> 2 9 = 57
> 3 = 9
> 4 I = 73
> 5 Y = 89
> 6 C = 67
> 7 5 = 53
> 8 1 = 49
> 9 9 = 57
> 10 = 9
> 11 1 = 49
> 12 4 = 52
> 13 0 = 48
> 14 2 = 50
> 15 0 = 48
> 16 1 = 49
> 17 = 9
> 18 = 9
> 19 = 9
> 20 = 9
> 21 1 = 49
> 22 6 = 54
> 23 9 = 57
> 24 . = 46
> 25 7 = 55
> 26 5 = 53
> 27 = 9
> 28 = 9
> 29 X = 88
> 30 X = 88
> 31 X = 88
> 32 1 = 49
> 33 1 = 49
> 34 1 = 49
> 35 = 9
> 36 B = 66
> 37 i = 105
> 38 l = 108
> 39 l = 108
> 40 = 9
> 41 S = 83
> 42 m = 109
> 43 i = 105
> 44 t = 116
> 45 h = 104
> 46 = 9
> 47 1 = 49
> 48 2 = 50
> 49 3 = 51
> 50 , = 44
> 51 = 32
> 52 A = 65
> 53 n = 110
> 54 y = 121
> 55 = 32
> 56 S = 83
> 57 t = 116
> 58 r = 114
> 59 e = 101
> 60 e = 101
> 61 t = 116
> 62 = 9
> 63 S = 83
> 64 o = 111
> 65 m = 109
> 66 e = 101
> 67 = 32
> 68 T = 84
> 69 o = 111
> 70 w = 119
> 71 n = 110
> 72 = 9
> 73 E = 69
> 74 l = 108
> 75 s = 115
> 76 e = 101
> 77 w = 119
> 78 h = 104
> 79 e = 101
> 80 r = 114
> 81 e = 101
> 82 = 9
> 83 C = 67
> 84 o = 111
> 85 u = 117
> 86 n = 110
> 87 t = 116
> 88 y = 121
> 89 = 9
> 90 X = 88
> 91 X = 88
> 92 1 = 49
> 93 = 32
> 94 @ = 64
> 95 A = 65
> 96 B = 66
> 97 = 9
> 98 0 = 48
> 99 1 = 49
> 100 2 = 50
> 101 3 = 51
> 102 4 = 52
> 103 = 32
> 104 5 = 53
> 105 6 = 54
> 106 7 = 55
> 107 8 = 56
> 108 9 = 57
> 109 0 = 48
> 110 = 9
> 111 b = 98
> 112 i = 105
> 113 l = 108
> 114 l = 108
> 115 . = 46
> 116 s = 115
> 117 m = 109
> 118 i = 105
> 119 t = 116
> 120 h = 104
> 121 @ = 64
> 122 u = 117
> 123 r = 114
> 124 l = 108
> 125 . = 46
> 126 c = 99
> 127 o = 111
> 128 m = 109
> 129 = 9
> 130 = 9
> 131 = 9
> 132 = 9
> 133 0 = 48
> 134 = 9
> 135 C = 67
> 136 o = 111
> 137 p = 112
> 138 y = 121
> 139 = 32
> 140 t = 116
> 141 a = 97
> 142 p = 112
> 143 e = 101
> 144 = 32
> 145 ( = 40
> 146 0 = 48
> 147 . = 46
> 148 2 = 50
> 149 5 = 53
> 150 = 0
> 151 = 0
> 152 = 0
> 153 = 0
> 154 = 0
> 155 = 0
> 156 = 0
> 157 = 0
> 158 = 0
> 159 = 0
> 160 = 0
> 161 = 0
> 162 = 0
> 163 = 0
> 164 = 0
> 165 = 0
> 166 = 0
> 167 = 0
> 168 = 0
> 169 = 0
> 170 = 0
> 171 = 0
> 172 = 0
> 173 = 0
> 174 = 0
> 175 = 0
> 176 = 0
> 177 = 0
> 178 = 0
> 179 = 0
> 180 = 0
> 181 = 0
> 182 = 0
> 183 = 0
> 184 = 0
> 185 = 0
> 186 = 0
> 187 = 0
> 188 = 0
> 189 = 0
> 190 = 0
> 191 = 0
> 192 = 0
> 193 = 0
> 194 = 0
> 195 = 0
> 196 = 0
> 197 = 0
> 198 = 0
> 199 = 0
>
> ~~~~~~~ end of reading program results ~~~~~~~~
>
>
> The reading program was:
>
> ~~~~~~~ Reading program ~~~~~~~~~
> <?php
>
>
> ## GET file URL from link and read data from file ###
>
> $fileURL = $_GET['iyc'];
>
> $fileURL = ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . "/Payment/phpfiles/") .
> $fileURL;
> $fh = fopen($fileURL, 'r') or die("<FONT COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>invoicer3
> can't open file $fileURL</B></FONT>");
> $txt = fread($fh, filesize($fileURL));
> fclose($fh);
>
> print $txt;
> print "
>
> ";
>
> $i=0;
>
> while ($i<200)
> {
> print $i . " ";
> print ($txt{$i}) . " = ";
> print (ord($txt{$i}));
> print "
> ";
> $i++;
> }
>
>
> ?>
>
> ~~~~~ end of reading program ~~~~~
>
>
>

Well, first of all, if you're going to do any web work, you need a local
development system to test on. This means duplicating as close as you
can the same software you have on your production system (NEVER do
development on a production system!).

And right now you have a number of different programs involved, any of
which can be causing a problem, even how you're handling the cut/paste
in your code.

fwrite() doesn't have a problem with writing double quotes to a file;
such a problem would render it pretty useless.

Listing the file to the terminal means display its contents on the local
terminal. Windows users would use the 'type' command; in *nix systems
the command is 'cat'. But you need to be at a command prompt on the
system with the file to use it (something you also need to be able to do).

What is in $txt immediately after the fwrite()?

BTW - you should NEVER use die() in production code. It terminates
processing of EVERYTHING (including the HTML) immediately, resulting in
invalid HTML being sent to the browser. Rather, you should test for
failure, and if it fails, just not execute the code dependent on the
operation working (and put out a failure message instead, if you wish).

You also realize your code is not multiprocessing safe. What happens,
for instance, if two people try to write to the same file at the same
time? Or after one person writes, a second one overwrites the file with
different data? There is no guarantee a filename passed in a URL is unique.

--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
jstucklex(at)attglobal(dot)net
==================
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184783 is a reply to message #184775] Sat, 01 February 2014 16:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Christoph Michael Bec is currently offline  Christoph Michael Bec
Messages: 207
Registered: June 2013
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Adrian Tuddenham wrote:

> The data string is held in the variiable '$txt' and the write command
> is:
>
> ~~~~~~~~
> $fh = fopen($fileURL, 'w') or die("<FONT
> COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>PayFileGen2 can't open file $fileURL</B></FONT>");
> fwrite($fh, $txt);
> fclose($fh);
>
> ~~~~~~~~

Have you confirmed that the variable $txt holds what you're expecting?
For instance, you can add

var_dump($txt);

before or after the code that writes to the file.

--
Christoph M. Becker
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184784 is a reply to message #184782] Sat, 01 February 2014 16:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
adrian is currently offline  adrian
Messages: 27
Registered: December 2012
Karma: 0
Junior Member
Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex(at)attglobal(dot)net> wrote:

[...]
> Well, first of all, if you're going to do any web work, you need a local
> development system to test on. This means duplicating as close as you
> can the same software you have on your production system (NEVER do
> development on a production system!).

I don't think there is any suitable software for Mac OS8.6, which is my
current system. I may be able to sort out something on an OSX machine
later, but for now I have to work with what I have got.

>
> And right now you have a number of different programs involved, any of
> which can be causing a problem, even how you're handling the cut/paste
> in your code.

You are right, see below:

>
> fwrite() doesn't have a problem with writing double quotes to a file;
> such a problem would render it pretty useless.
>
> Listing the file to the terminal means display its contents on the local
> terminal. Windows users would use the 'type' command; in *nix systems
> the command is 'cat'. But you need to be at a command prompt on the
> system with the file to use it (something you also need to be able to do).
>
> What is in $txt immediately after the fwrite()?

I have now been through the system putting in lines to write the value
of $txt at each stage. I thought I had done this before, but it looks
as though I became confused between two of the stages and mis-identified
where the problem was occurring.

The problem does, in fact, appear to be occurring around the transfer
between the previous HTML program and the one I thought was causing the
problem The value of $txt is transferred between the two by a POST form
with 'txt' as a hidden input.

~~~~~~~~ Sending code within an HTML page ~~~~~~~

<!--NOEDIT--><?php

Print "<P><FONT SIZE=\"+1\" COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>Sent = \"$Sent\"   
 </B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+1\" COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>Paid =
\"</B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+2\"
COLOR=\"#FF0000\"><B>$Paid</B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+1\"
COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>\"       Reminder = \"$Reminder\"</B></FONT>";

print"<P><FORM
ACTION=\"http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/php/PayFileGen2.php\"
METHOD=POST><CENTER><INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=txt VALUE=\"$txt\"><INPUT
TYPE=submit NAME=Submit VALUE=\"O.K.\"></B></FONT></CENTER></FORM>";
print $txt;
?><!--/NOEDIT-->
~~~~~ end of sending code ~~~~~~~



The "print $txt;" statement shows the data to be unchanged at this
point. At the receiving end I have the following code:

~~~~~~ Receiving code within a PHP program (PayFileGen2.php) ~~~~~~~

$txt = $_POST['txt'];
print $txt;

$txt = str_replace("<", ">", $txt);

$fileURL = ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . "/Payment/phpfiles");
$readerURL = "http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/php/invoicer3.php";
###etc###

~~~~~~ end of receiving code ~~~~~~~~~

At this point, the "print $txt" statement shows the truncated code, so
it looks as though the problem could be in my POST-ing code. It is
strange that the data had already undergone one POST transfer from when
it was Pasted into the Form of a previous program - and it seemed to
survive that unscathed.


>
> BTW - you should NEVER use die() in production code. It terminates
> processing of EVERYTHING (including the HTML) immediately, resulting in
> invalid HTML being sent to the browser. Rather, you should test for
> failure, and if it fails, just not execute the code dependent on the
> operation working (and put out a failure message instead, if you wish).

What is the code for the alternative to "die"? "Die" was all I could
find when I looked up examples of PHP file handling.

>
> You also realize your code is not multiprocessing safe. What happens,
> for instance, if two people try to write to the same file at the same
> time? Or after one person writes, a second one overwrites the file with
> different data? There is no guarantee a filename passed in a URL is unique.

I did realise that, but I am the only one who uses this system and the
HTML file which initiates the process lives on my desktop and is not
available on the Web.

--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184785 is a reply to message #184784] Sat, 01 February 2014 16:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Doug Miller is currently offline  Doug Miller
Messages: 171
Registered: August 2011
Karma: 0
Senior Member
adrian(at)poppyrecords(dot)invalid(dot)invalid (Adrian Tuddenham) wrote in
news:1lgecvh.x0bk6rlzuxueN%adrian(at)poppyrecords(dot)invalid(dot)invalid:

> Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex(at)attglobal(dot)net> wrote:

>> BTW - you should NEVER use die() in production code. It terminates
>> processing of EVERYTHING (including the HTML) immediately, resulting in
>> invalid HTML being sent to the browser. Rather, you should test for
>> failure, and if it fails, just not execute the code dependent on the
>> operation working (and put out a failure message instead, if you wish).
>
> What is the code for the alternative to "die"?
>
The alternative is exactly as described: write whatever code you need to write to handle the
error gracefully, instead of simply terminating processing (which is what die() does).

Of course since, as you go on to say, you are the only user of this code, it doesn't much matter.
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184787 is a reply to message #184784] Sat, 01 February 2014 17:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Christoph Michael Bec is currently offline  Christoph Michael Bec
Messages: 207
Registered: June 2013
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Adrian Tuddenham wrote:

> ~~~~~~~~ Sending code within an HTML page ~~~~~~~
>
> <!--NOEDIT--><?php
>
> Print "<P><FONT SIZE=\"+1\" COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>Sent = \"$Sent\"
> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+1\" COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>Paid =
> \"</B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+2\"
> COLOR=\"#FF0000\"><B>$Paid</B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+1\"
> COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>\" Reminder = \"$Reminder\"</B></FONT>";
>
> print"<P><FORM
> ACTION=\"http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/php/PayFileGen2.php\"
> METHOD=POST><CENTER><INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=txt VALUE=\"$txt\"><INPUT
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> TYPE=submit NAME=Submit VALUE=\"O.K.\"></B></FONT></CENTER></FORM>";
> print $txt;
> ?><!--/NOEDIT-->
> ~~~~~ end of sending code ~~~~~~~

Consider the code that will be generated for the part "highlighted"
above, when there are double-quotes contained in $txt.

You should never ever output variables which may contain special
characters to your HTML unescaped; use htmlspecialchars()[1].

[1] <http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.htmlspecialchars.php>

--
Christoph M. Becker
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184789 is a reply to message #184787] Sat, 01 February 2014 18:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
adrian is currently offline  adrian
Messages: 27
Registered: December 2012
Karma: 0
Junior Member
Christoph Michael Becker <cmbecker69(at)arcor(dot)de> wrote:

> Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
>
>> ~~~~~~~~ Sending code within an HTML page ~~~~~~~
>>
>> <!--NOEDIT--><?php
>>
>> Print "<P><FONT SIZE=\"+1\" COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>Sent = \"$Sent\"
>> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+1\" COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>Paid =
>> \"</B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+2\"
>> COLOR=\"#FF0000\"><B>$Paid</B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+1\"
>> COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>\" Reminder = \"$Reminder\"</B></FONT>";
>>
>> print"<P><FORM
>> ACTION=\"http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/php/PayFileGen2.php\"
>> METHOD=POST><CENTER><INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=txt VALUE=\"$txt\"><INPUT
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> TYPE=submit NAME=Submit VALUE=\"O.K.\"></B></FONT></CENTER></FORM>";
>> print $txt;
>> ?><!--/NOEDIT-->
>> ~~~~~ end of sending code ~~~~~~~
>
> Consider the code that will be generated for the part "highlighted"
> above, when there are double-quotes contained in $txt.
>
> You should never ever output variables which may contain special
> characters to your HTML unescaped; use htmlspecialchars()[1].
>
> [1] <http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.htmlspecialchars.php>

I did not think I was outputting the variable to HTML, the handler for
that code is written in PHP (although it does generate some HTML, but
the problem occurs before that bit).

Would it make more sense to re-write the program above so that it is a
PHP program and generates the necessary HTML, rather than being an HTML
page with PHP code embedded in it?



--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184790 is a reply to message #184789] Sat, 01 February 2014 19:07 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Christoph Michael Bec is currently offline  Christoph Michael Bec
Messages: 207
Registered: June 2013
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Adrian Tuddenham wrote:

> Christoph Michael Becker <cmbecker69(at)arcor(dot)de> wrote:
>
>> Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
>>
>>> ~~~~~~~~ Sending code within an HTML page ~~~~~~~
>>>
>>> <!--NOEDIT--><?php
>>>
>>> Print "<P><FONT SIZE=\"+1\" COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>Sent = \"$Sent\"
>>> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+1\" COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>Paid =
>>> \"</B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+2\"
>>> COLOR=\"#FF0000\"><B>$Paid</B></FONT><FONT SIZE=\"+1\"
>>> COLOR=\"#CCFFFF\"><B>\" Reminder = \"$Reminder\"</B></FONT>";
>>>
>>> print"<P><FORM
>>> ACTION=\"http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/php/PayFileGen2.php\"
>>> METHOD=POST><CENTER><INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=txt VALUE=\"$txt\"><INPUT
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>> TYPE=submit NAME=Submit VALUE=\"O.K.\"></B></FONT></CENTER></FORM>";
>>> print $txt;
>>> ?><!--/NOEDIT-->
>>> ~~~~~ end of sending code ~~~~~~~
>>
>> Consider the code that will be generated for the part "highlighted"
>> above, when there are double-quotes contained in $txt.
>>
>> You should never ever output variables which may contain special
>> characters to your HTML unescaped; use htmlspecialchars()[1].
>>
>> [1] <http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.htmlspecialchars.php>
>
> I did not think I was outputting the variable to HTML, the handler for
> that code is written in PHP (although it does generate some HTML, but
> the problem occurs before that bit).

Consider the following simplified example:

<?php
$txt = "foo\"bar";
print "<input type=hidden name=txt value=\"$txt\">";

Thil os wilutput the following HTML:

<input type=hidden name=txt value="foo"bar>

Obviously, the value of the value attribute is terminated by the second
double-quote, so it is foo. The browser is most likely going to ignore
the bar, because it is an unknown attribute name.

What you want is the following:

<input type=hidden name=txt value="foo&quot;bar">

To have it, you can use the following PHP code:

<?php
$txt = "foo\"bar";
print "<input type=hidden name=txt value=\"" .
htmlspecialchars($txt) . "\">";

However, note that it is necessary to set the correct character encoding
as third parameter of htmlspecialchars() (otherwise it may not work
correctly). The default value depends on the PHP version. If you're
using a current version (i.e. PHP 5.4 or newer), it is UTF-8. If you're
using UTF-8 encoding (what's usually recommendable), you can omit the
parameter. Otherwise you have to use something like:

htmlspecialchars($txt, ENT_COMPAT, 'ISO-8859-1');

Note, that there are caveats regarding the second parameter, too; see
the manual[1].

> Would it make more sense to re-write the program above so that it is a
> PHP program and generates the necessary HTML, rather than being an HTML
> page with PHP code embedded in it?

That doesn't make a difference wrt. to escaping the characters.

[1] <http://php.net/manual/en/function.htmlspecialchars.php>

--
Christoph M. Becker
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184791 is a reply to message #184784] Sat, 01 February 2014 19:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Denis McMahon is currently offline  Denis McMahon
Messages: 634
Registered: September 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Sat, 01 Feb 2014 16:38:56 +0000, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:

> The problem does, in fact, appear to be occurring around the transfer
> between the previous HTML program and the one I thought was causing the
> problem The value of $txt is transferred between the two by a POST form
> with 'txt' as a hidden input.

The problem will be in the html that is being sent out at that point. If
you have an html element as follows:

<input type="hidden" name="fieldname" value="value_text_here">

What do you think happens if value_text_here contains the '"' character
when the delimiter being used for the value attribute is also the '"'
character?

--
Denis McMahon, denismfmcmahon(at)gmail(dot)com
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184792 is a reply to message #184789] Sat, 01 February 2014 19:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Denis McMahon is currently offline  Denis McMahon
Messages: 634
Registered: September 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Sat, 01 Feb 2014 18:00:30 +0000, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:

> I did not think I was outputting the variable to HTML, the handler for
> that code is written in PHP (although it does generate some HTML, but
> the problem occurs before that bit).

Regardless of how the data gets there, you're placing the string contents
of the variable concerned in the value attribute of an input element in
an html document.

The attributes of the html input element are probably defined as follows:

<input type="hidden" name="something" value="something">

The web browser only receives and processes html, so if you write the
string

The quick brown "fox" jumps over the lazy dog

into the value field, then the html parser in the web browser sees:

<input type="hidden" name="something" value="The quick brown "fox" jumps
over the lazy dog">

It parses this into the following:

An input element

with type attribute of value "hidden"

and name attribute of value "something"

and value attribute of value "The quick brown "

and fox attribute of value true (which it may treat as garbage
and discard)

and a string of " jumps over the lazy dog" (which it probably
treats as garbage and discards)

--
Denis McMahon, denismfmcmahon(at)gmail(dot)com
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184793 is a reply to message #184792] Sat, 01 February 2014 19:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Denis McMahon is currently offline  Denis McMahon
Messages: 634
Registered: September 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Sat, 01 Feb 2014 19:26:32 +0000, Denis McMahon wrote:

> On Sat, 01 Feb 2014 18:00:30 +0000, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
>
>> I did not think I was outputting the variable to HTML, the handler for
>> that code is written in PHP (although it does generate some HTML, but
>> the problem occurs before that bit).
>
> Regardless of how the data gets there, you're placing the string
> contents of the variable concerned in the value attribute of an input
> element in an html document.

Oh - check the view page source option in your web browser to see what
the web browser actually receives, or even use the w3c validator which
will highlight any errors and warnings for the html you are generating.

w3c validator is at http://validator.w3.org/unicorn/

--
Denis McMahon, denismfmcmahon(at)gmail(dot)com
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184796 is a reply to message #184792] Sun, 02 February 2014 18:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
adrian is currently offline  adrian
Messages: 27
Registered: December 2012
Karma: 0
Junior Member
Denis McMahon <denismfmcmahon(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:

> On Sat, 01 Feb 2014 18:00:30 +0000, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
>
>> I did not think I was outputting the variable to HTML, the handler for
>> that code is written in PHP (although it does generate some HTML, but
>> the problem occurs before that bit).
>
> Regardless of how the data gets there, you're placing the string contents
> of the variable concerned in the value attribute of an input element in
> an html document.
>
> The attributes of the html input element are probably defined as follows:
>
> <input type="hidden" name="something" value="something">
>
> The web browser only receives and processes html, so if you write the
> string
>
> The quick brown "fox" jumps over the lazy dog
>
> into the value field, then the html parser in the web browser sees:
>
> <input type="hidden" name="something" value="The quick brown "fox" jumps
> over the lazy dog">
>
> It parses this into the following:
>
> An input element
>
> with type attribute of value "hidden"
>
> and name attribute of value "something"
>
> and value attribute of value "The quick brown "
>
> and fox attribute of value true (which it may treat as garbage
> and discard)
>
> and a string of " jumps over the lazy dog" (which it probably
> treats as garbage and discards)

Thanks. This solves the puzzle, although it does raise the question of
how the same string got through the previous POST without this
happening. Now I know what I am looking for. I'll have a better chance
of sorting it out.


--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
Re: Writing double-prime to file? [message #184797 is a reply to message #184793] Sun, 02 February 2014 20:55 Go to previous message
Thomas 'PointedEars'  is currently offline  Thomas 'PointedEars'
Messages: 701
Registered: October 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Denis McMahon wrote:

> On Sat, 01 Feb 2014 19:26:32 +0000, Denis McMahon wrote:
>> On Sat, 01 Feb 2014 18:00:30 +0000, Adrian Tuddenham wrote:
>>> I did not think I was outputting the variable to HTML, the handler for
>>> that code is written in PHP (although it does generate some HTML, but
>>> the problem occurs before that bit).
>>
>> Regardless of how the data gets there, you're placing the string
>> contents of the variable concerned in the value attribute of an input
>> element in an html document.
>
> Oh - check the view page source option in your web browser to see what
> the web browser actually receives, or even use the w3c validator which
> will highlight any errors and warnings for the html you are generating.
>
> w3c validator is at http://validator.w3.org/unicorn/

That is URI of the W3C *Unified* Validator which can be used if you want to
check everything, HTML, CSS and so on at the same time (instead of using the
W3C Markup Validator [1], and then the W3C CSS Validator at
<http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator> as well as other validation services).
See <http://code.w3.org/unicorn> for details.

If one only wants to check the markup, one should use the W3C *Markup*
Validator at

[1] <http://validator.w3.org/>

which is faster and more to the point than the Unified Validator because it
only performs the markup checks that are relevant here.

Likewise, if one only wants to check a stylesheet, or all the stylesheets
used by a document, one should use the CSS Validator instead.


PointedEars
--
Use any version of Microsoft Frontpage to create your site.
(This won't prevent people from viewing your source, but no one
will want to steal it.)
-- from <http://www.vortex-webdesign.com/help/hidesource.htm> (404-comp.)
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