display inline html from php search - php

Question

Source can be found here: results.php
and the zip: Results zip
<?php
// create short variable names
$searchtype=$_POST['searchtype'];
$searchterm=trim($_POST['searchterm']);
if (!$searchtype || !$searchterm) {
echo '<p><strong>You have not entered search details. Please go back and try again.</strong></p>';
exit;
}
if (!get_magic_quotes_gpc()){
$searchtype = addslashes($searchtype);
$searchterm = addslashes($searchterm);
}
# $db = new mysqli("*","*","*","*");
if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
echo 'Error: Could not connect to database. Please try again later.';
exit;
}
$query = "select * from acronymns where ".$searchtype." like '%".$searchterm."%' ORDER BY title ";
$result = $db->query($query);
$num_results = $result->num_rows;
echo "<p>Number of records found: ".$num_results."</p>";
for ($i=0; $i <$num_results; $i++) {
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
echo "<p><strong>".($i+1).". ";
echo $row['acro'];
echo " - ";
echo $row['title'];
echo "</strong><br />";
echo $row['desc'];
echo "</p>";
}
// $result->free();
$db->close();
Output looks like:
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990 to establish the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability, which may include autism. The ADA is divided into three Titles. Title I speaks to employment law, Title II covers State and Local activities (including public transportation), and Title III relates to accommodations in public buildings and businesses.
The link is: www.ada.com target="_blank" Americans with Disabilities Act</a> (within the MySql db.
The actual link shows: http://mysiteishere.com/"www.ada.com" which of course makes a 404 Error.
Thanks ahead of time.

Answer 1

Just because the desc filed contains URL's doesn't mean they will autmoatically show up as links in your HTML. You need to output the links as an href value in an <a> element to make a clickable link. You are probably best off not storing full HTML in your DB, but rather just the link. It looks like you combination now is producing an invalid link. Simple look at your HTML source and fix it.

Answer 2

From what you said, it seems that you're not including the link correctly. It doesn't have anything to do with the $row['desc'] but what's inside it. When you're inserting the link from whatever form you're using, use the following.
ex:
Americans with Disabilities

Answer 3

You can use the below function while fetching 'DESC' column
function make_links_clickable($text){
return preg_replace('!(((f|ht)tp(s)?://)[-a-zA-Zа-яА-Я()0-9#:%_+.~#?&;//=]+)!i', '$1', $text);}
For Eg.
$text = 'Here is link: http://google.com And http://example.com inside. And another one at the very end: http://test.net';
echo make_links_clickable($text);

Answer 4

Went ahead and changed my code and the text in the db. In the db I removed the Text.. and put the in between parentheses. The Php I changed to the following and now it shows the links with the urls, so it works. It's the "a href.." that I can't make work. I don't understand why though.
for ($i=0; $i <$num_results; $i++) {
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
echo "<strong>".($i+1).". ";
//echo $row['acro'];
//echo " - <br />";
//echo "<br>";
echo $row['title'];
echo " - ";
echo "<br>";
echo "</strong>";
$text = $row['desc'];
$text = preg_replace('/(^|[^"])(((f|ht){1}tp:\/\/)[-a-zA-Z0-9#:%_\+.~#?&\/\/=]+)/i','\\1\\2', $text);
echo $text;
}

Answer 5

The link in the MysqlDB should be:
Americans with Disabilities Act
Now lets assume you got this right, you should look at your charset of your DB, just making sure they match your editors charset.
That said, please post the output of HTML "Show source".