How to output a code stored in variable to code? - php

I am new to this but making some real good progres :-).
It is all in PHP, JSON.
I am stuck at this simple question and cannot find an answer anywhere on the web.
Here is my problem:
I have code stored inside the variable.
I want to output that code just below some other code and I want it to be interpreted.
Alternatively I want the code from the $variable to be runned in the middle of my code.
I have tried echo, print, var_dump etc. their output is human readable and I want it to be just runned in the middle of my code.
$variable='
$request[method1][0] = array();
$request[method1][0][var1] = 1;
$request[method1][0][var2] = 13;
$request[method1][0][var3] = nonrefundable;
$request[method1][0][var4] = 1;
$request[method1][0][var5] = 96;
$request[method1][0][var6] = "2019-02-12";
$request[method1][0][var7] = whole;'
needless to say it is exactly 6211 times longer
$request = array();
$request['authenticate'] = array();
$request['authenticate']['systemKey'] =
$request['authenticate']['systemLogin'] =
$request['authenticate']['lang'] = 'eng';
output ($variable)
I am looking for that 'output' function or some other method. Later on $request is encoded with 'json_encode'
I expect it to run as the code from the variable would be just pasted below.

To display a variable in PHP, you have several options, each being more useful in certain contexts:
echo (https://php.net/echo)
var_dump (https://php.net/var_dump)
print_r (https://php.net/print_r):
They are used the following way:
echo $variable;
var_dump($variable);
print_r($variable);
If you wish to recover your result from a JavaScript script for example, you would encode it as JSON and then echo it:
echo json_encode($variable);

Related

Unable to produce variable output of type string in multi-lines in PHP

I don't know the correct wording for this issue I am having.
I have a object returned from the database like below:
$pProvisioningFileData->m_fileContent = # Placeholders identified by '${}'
will be replaced during the provisioning
# process, only supported placeholders will be processed.
Dcm.SerialNumber = ${unit.serial_number}
Dcm.MacAddress = ${unit.mac_address}
Dcm.MinSeverity = "Warning"
Cert.TransferHttpsCipherSuite = "CS1"
Cert.TransferHttpsTlsVersion = "TLSv1"
Cert.MinSeverity = "Warning";
The curly brackets are placeholders, the problem I am facing is that when I try output all the content using either echo or print_r, all the content prints in one line however I want to display the content in the same sequence as above.
I tried using var_dump but it also gives some extra info like length and type of variable which I don't want.
So is there a simple way of doing this without using an array?
If you are outputting to browser then wrapping your var_dump in html <pre> tags is quick solution. If you outputting to console then I advise you to install some advanced debuging software. Xdebug comes to mind.
It is difficult from your question to understand exactly what you are wanting to do, but there are three ways you can print out the contents of an object. The third here, looping members, will give you more control and you can add a switch statement or other formatting to output precisely what you desire:
class unit {
var $serial_number;
var $mac_address;
}
$test = new unit;
$test->serial_number = "999";
$test->mac_address = "999.999.999.999";
/* Method 1 - print_r */
print_r($test);
print "\n\n";
/* Method 1 - var_dump */
var_dump($test);
print "\n\n";
/* Method 3 - looping members */
foreach ($test as $memberName => $member)
{
print "{$memberName}: {$member}\n";
}

How to get variables from a different PHP file without executing the code?

I am trying to loop through all the php files listed in an array called $articleContents and extract the variables $articleTitle and $heroImage from each.
So far I have the following code:
$articleContents = array("article1.php", "article2.php"); // array of all file names
$articleInfo = [];
$size = count($articleContents);
for ($x = 0; $x <= $size; $x++) {
ob_start();
if (require_once('../articles/'.$articleContents[$x])) {
ob_end_clean();
$entry = array($articleContents[$x],$articleTitle,$heroImage);
array_push($articlesInfo, $entry);
}
The problem is, the php files visited in the loop have html, and I can't keep it from executing. I would like to get variables from each of these files without executing the html inside each one.
Also, the variables $articleTitle and $heroImage also exist at the top of the php file I'm working in, so I need to make sure the script knows I'm calling the variables in the external file and not the current one.
If this is not possible, can you please recommend an alternative method?
Thanks!
Don't do this.
Your PHP scripts should be for your application, not for your data. For your data, if you want to keep it file-based, use a separate file.
There are plenty of formats to choose from. JSON is quite popular. You can use PHP's built-in serialization as well, which has support for more PHP-native types but is not as portable to other frameworks.
A little hacky but seems to works:
$result = eval(
'return (function() {?>' .
file_get_contents('your_article.php') .
'return [\'articleTitle\' => $articleTitle, \'heroImage\' => $heroImage];})();'
);
Where your_article.php is something like:
<?php
$articleTitle = 'hola';
$heroImage = 'como te va';
The values are returned in the $result array.
Explanation:
Build a string of php code where the code in your article scripts are wrapped inside a function that returns an array with the values you want.
function() {
//code of your article.php
return ['articleTitle' => $articleTitle, 'heroImage' => $heroImage];
}
Maybe you must do some adaptations to the strings due <?php ?> tags placements.
Anyway, this stuff is ugly. I'm very sure that it can be refactored in some way.
Your problem (probably) comes down to using parentheses with require. See the example and note here.
Instead, format your code like this
$articlesInfo = []; // watch your spelling here
foreach ($articleContents as $file) {
ob_start();
if (require '../articles/' . $file) { // note, no parentheses around the path
$articlesInfo[] = [
$file,
$articleTitle,
$heroImage
];
}
ob_end_clean();
}
Update: I've tested this and it works just fine.

How to make a php variable based on two variable that vary

So i have this code, $value2 is an array of values that I edit.
I have .txt document for each of the variable in the array.. for exemple
sometext_AA.txt
sometext_BB.txt
I currently have over 50 text files, and it make a BIG BIG BIG php files because i have the following code made for each of the files for exemple sometext_AA.txt...
I would like to make one script(the following) so that one script will work for all of my $value2(I do not delete the old texts files when the value are changed so i am unable to just make script to read all different text file, it has to be done that it read the active $value2 and process them...
I am not even sure if I am on the good way but i really hope someone can help me out.
Thank you!
$value2 = array("AA","BB","CC");
foreach($value2 as $value3) {
foreach($random1_' .$value3' as $random2_' .$value3') {
$random3_' .$value3' = 'sometext_.$value3'.txt;
$random4_' .$value3' = json_encode(file_get_contents($random3_' .$value3'));
echo $random4_' .$value3';
}
}
This is a exemple of current text i have in my file, I have a very big php file, and, id like a code to make it simple
foreach($random1_AA as $random2_AA) {
$random3_AA = 'sometext_AA.txt;
$random4_AA = json_encode(file_get_contents($random3_AA));
echo $random4_AA;
}
foreach($random1_BB as $random2_BB) {
$random3_BB = 'sometext_BB.txt;
$random4_BB = json_encode(file_get_contents($random3_BB));
echo $random4_BB;
}
foreach($random1_CC as $random2_CC) {
$random3_CC = 'sometext_CC.txt;
$random4_CC = json_encode(file_get_contents($random3_CC));
echo $random4_CC;
}
foreach($random1_DD as $random2_DD) {
$random3_DD = 'sometext_DD.txt;
$random4_DD = json_encode(file_get_contents($random3_DD));
echo $random4_DD;
}
I think that this is what you are looking for, using the $var_{$var_in_var} syntax that PHP allows (so you can include a variable in a variable name).
$value2 = array("AA","BB","CC");
foreach($value2 as $value3) {
foreach($random1_{$value3} as $random2_{$value3}) {
$random3_{$value3} = 'sometext_'.$value3.'.txt';
$random4_{$value3} = json_encode(file_get_contents($random3_{$value3}));
echo $random4_{$value3};
}
}
However, I stongly advise you to consider the following points in order to make your code maintainable:
Use appropriate variable names representing the real content of each variable (you shoud never use "value1", "value2", etc. as the name tells nothing about the variable content).
Don't use variables in variable names unless absolutely necessary, which is not your case. You can use arrays, which are better suited for doing that.
In fact, I don't even know what $random1_XX and $random2_XX are supposed to be. I don't see you defining them in the code sample you posted.
Here is an example of how clear and concise you code may be if you use my advice and if all you need to read all the files and print them in JSON format (which is the only thing the program sample you posted would be doing after corrections).
$file_codes = array('AA', 'BB', 'CC');
foreach($file_codes as $file_code) {
echo json_encode(file_get_contents('sometext_'.$file_code.'.txt'));
}
Of course, if you have anything else in your program (maybe some code using the variables $random3_XX and $random4_XX?), I cannot guess what it is so I can't really offer you help to optimize this code.

Using arrays with strings with a while loop

I am writing some code to create fields automatically, which will save me a load of time. I have got most of my code working, but I have came across one error with the code, which is preventing me from achieving my final goal.
The code is as follows:
while ($i <= $numFields) {
$type = "\$field{$i}_Data['type']";
$name = "\$field{$i}_Data['name']";
$placeholder = "\$field{$i}_Data['placeholder']";
$value = "\$field{$i}_Data['value']";
echo '<input type="'.$type.'" name="'.$name.'" placeholder="'.$placeholder.'" value="'.$value.'">';
$i++;
}
The $numFields variable is defined at the top of my script, and I have worked out that it is something to do with how I am setting the variables $type, $name etc.
The end result is to create inputs depending on properties set in variables at the top of the script, The only issue I am having is with the settings of the variables, as said above.
If any extra code/information is needed, feel free to ask.
Thank you.
NOTE - There is no physical PHP error, it's purely an error with this:
"\$field{$i}_Data['value']";
There are a few ways we could write this one out, but they are all extensions of variable expansion and/or variable-variables.
Basically, we just need to put the variable name in a string and then use that string as the variable (much like you're currently doing with $i inside the string):
$type = ${"field{$i}_Data"}['type'];
$name = ${"field{$i}_Data"}['name'];
// ...
However, if you don't mind an extra variable, this can be written more cleanly by saving it like so:
$data = ${"field{$i}_Data"};
$type = $data['type'];
$name = $data['name'];
// ...

Passing Object Operators As Strings (PHP)

I'm building a script that takes the contents of several (~13) news feeds and parses the XML data and inserts the records into a database. Since I don't have any control over the structure of the feeds, I need to tailor an object operator for each one to drill down into the structure in order to get the information I need.
The script works just fine if the target node is one step below the root, but if my string contains a second step, it fails ( 'foo' works, but 'foo->bar' fails). I've tried escaping characters and eval(), but I feel like I'm missing something glaringly obvious. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
// Roadmaps for xml navigation
$roadmap[1] = "deal"; // works
$roadmap[2] = "channel->item"; // fails
$roadmap[3] = "deals->deal";
$roadmap[4] = "resource";
$roadmap[5] = "object";
$roadmap[6] = "product";
$roadmap[8] = "channel->deal";
$roadmap[13] = "channel->item";
$roadmap[20] = "product";
$xmlSource = $xmlURL[$fID];
$xml=simplexml_load_file($xmlSource) or die(mysql_error());
if (!(empty($xml))) {
foreach($xml->$roadmap[$fID] as $div) {
include('./_'.$incName.'/feedVars.php');
include('./_includes/masterCategory.php.inc');
$test = sqlVendors($vendorName);
} // end foreach
echo $vUpdated." records updated.<br>";
echo $vInserted." records Inserted.<br><br>";
} else {
echo $xmlSource." returned an empty set!";
} // END IF empty $xml result
While Fosco's solution will work, it is indeed very dirty.
How about using xpath instead of object properties?
$xml->xpath('deals/deal');
PHP isn't going to magically turn your string which includes -> into a second level search.
Quick and dirty hack...
eval("\$node = \"\$xml->" . $roadmap[$fID] . "\";");
foreach($node as $div) {

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