Best way to program a call to php - php

I've recently posted here accessing $_SESSION when using file_get_contents in PHP about a problem I was having and the general consensus is that I'm not doing it right... while I generally think "as long as it works..." I thought I'd get some feedback on how I could do it better...
I was to send the exact same email in the exact same format from multiple different areas.
When a job is entered (automatically as a part of the POST)
Manually when reviewing jobs to re-assign to another installer
The original script is a php page which is called using AJAX to send the work order request - this worked by simply calling a standard php page, returning the success or error message and then displaying within the calling page.
Now I have tried to use the same page within the automated job entry so it accepts the job via a form, logs it and mails it.
My problem is (as you can see from the original post) the function file_get_contents() is not good for this cause in the automated script...
My problem is that from an AJAX call I need to do things like include the database connection initialiser, start the session and do whatever else needs to be done in a standalone page... Some or all of these are not required if it is an include so it makes the file only good for one purpose...
How do I make the file good for both purposes? I guess I'm looking for recommendations for the best file layout and structure to cater for both scenarios...
The current file looks like:
<?php
session_start();
$order_id = $_GET['order_id'];
include('include/database.php');
function getLineItems($order_id) {
$query = mysql_query("SELECT ...lineItems...");
//Print rows with data
while($row = mysql_fetch_object($query)) {
$lineItems .= '...Build Line Item String...';
}
return $lineItems;
}
function send_email($order_id) {
//Get data for current job to display
$query = mysql_query("SELECT ...Job Details...");
$row = mysql_fetch_object($query);
$subject = 'Work Order Request';
$email_message = '...Build Email...
...Include Job Details...
'.getLineItems($order_id).'
...Finish Email...';
$headers = '...Create Email Headers...';
if (mail($row->primary_email, $subject, $email_message, $headers)) {
$query = mysql_query("...log successful send...");
if (mysql_error()!="") {
$message .= '...display mysqlerror()..';
}
$message .= '...create success message...';
} else {
$query = mysql_query("...log failed send...");
if (mysql_error()!="") {
$message .= '...display mysqlerror()..';
}
$message .= '...create failed message...';
}
return $message;
} // END send_email() function
//Check supplier info
$query = mysql_query("...get suppliers info attached to order_id...");
if (mysql_num_rows($query) > 0) {
while($row = mysql_fetch_object($query)) {
if ($row->primary_email=="") {
$message .= '...no email message...';
} else if ($row->notification_email=="") {
$message .= '...no notifications message...';
} else {
$message .= send_email($order_id);
}
}
} else {
$message .= '...no supplier matched message...';
}
print $message;
?>

make a function and include it
Do separate functions. Authentication (which requires sessions) from mail sending (which don't)
Then include mail sending function into both tasks.

Related

MySQL, PHP - retrieve data from mysql and email it temperamental

I have the following cod which basically sends a message with some user data from MySQL. Now the thing is the email in question gets sent sometimes but not if I need to resend it. Here is the code:
<?php
//including the database connection file
include("config.php");
//getting id of the data from url
$id = $_GET['id'];
//fetching data in descending order (lastest entry first)
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM my_table_name Where id='$id'");
if($res = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
$name = $res['name'];
$email = $res['email'];
$date = $res['date'];
if(empty($id)) {
echo "<font color='red'>Error: Did not send.</font><br/>";
} else {
// The message
$message = "Hi $name,\r\n\r\nThis email is to inform you that your
\r\n\r\nRegards, \r\n Me.";
$headers = 'From: no-reply#mydomain.org' . "\r\n" .
'Reply-To: no-reply#mydomain.org' . "\r\n" .
'X-Mailer: PHP/' . phpversion();
$Subject = 'Hello';
// Send
mail($email, $Subject, $message, $headers);
//display success message
echo "<font color='green'>Email sent successfully to $name.</font><br/>";
echo "<br/><a href='index.php' class='button button1 link'>Go Back to Overview</a>";
}
}
?>
Any help is greatly appreciated.
If I understood your question correctly and it was about mail function call failing sometimes:
You can add retry logic to your mail call:
$triesLeft = 5;
while ($triesLeft > 0) {
$rc = mail(...);
if ($rc === true) {
break;
}
sleep(1); // Space to improve here - see exponential backoff, for instance
$triesLeft -= 1;
}
if ($triesLeft === 0) {
// Log critical error
}
But this might and will introduce delays in your response time, and in some cases client will even get a timeout.
So usually the solution to this problem is not to send the email right away, but to quickly put it in any kind of queue (even simple db table will suffice), and then make another worker script that will send all that is unsent.
You can move this retry logic to this worker script and sleep all you want, it won't block client.
The only "downsides" to this solution is that:
You will not be able to show result of mail call to your client (which is useless anyway since it means only that is was "accepted for delivery", not actually delivered), and
You'll have a bit more moving parts and you'll have to write a bit more code. But it's either that or accepting that some of your mail calls will fail.
An outline of a solution might be:
form.php (gets called when customer submits form):
get request parameters
form email subject, body from request parameters
save email to db with status = unsent
worker.php (should be always running in an infinite loop or something like that in background on server):
get unsent email from db
try to send it, retrying if needed
if sent successfully - mark email as sent
if failed to send - mark email an failed, log critical error, mitigate manually

php Mail sending double content

I am working on a massmail script which sends an e-mail to every e-mail id present in a particular database.
But there is some issue.
Like I have following database:
id email link
1 a#bc.com bc.com
2 b#cd.com cd.com
And suppose the mail content is : 'Testing this script'
The scripts sends email to a#bc.com perfectly but second time it sends the email, i.e to b#cd.com the content gets doubled.
I mean the second recipient receives an e-mail like this :
Testing this script
Testing this script
The third recipient receives an e-mail with the content repeat three times and the fourth one receives it with four times and so on.
The script grabs e-mail addresses from the email field in the database and sends e-mail to them.
My Code:
<?
include "header.php";
include "config2.php";
$subject="Massmail";
$headers .= "Content-type:text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" . "\r\n";
mysql_connect($server, $db_user, $db_pass)
or die ("Database CONNECT Error");
$resultquery = mysql_db_query($database, "select * from $table");
while ($query = mysql_fetch_array($resultquery))
{
$mailto=$query[$table_email];
$domain=$query[$table_link];
$domain2 = str_replace(array('http://','HTTP://','Http://'), '',$domain);
$handle = fopen("http://$domain2","r") or die("Unable to open link ( $domain ). <a href='javascript:history.go(-1);'>Go back</a> and please try again ");
$contents = '';
while (!feof($handle)) {
$contents .= fread($handle, 8192);
$contents = str_replace('window.location = "/abc.html"','window.location = ""',$contents);
$contents = mb_convert_encoding($contents, "HTML-ENTITIES", "auto");
}
$i = md5(uniqid(rand(), true)) . '.' . html;
$fh = fopen("/home/host/public_html/content/$i", "w");
fwrite($fh, $contents);
fclose($fh);
$filename = '/files/$i';
$message1 .= "Testing Mail Script Version 2";
mail($mailto, $subject, $message1, $headers, "-f" . 'noreply#domain.com');
echo 'Mail sent to '.$mailto.'<br>';
sleep($seconds);
}
include "footer.php";
?>
I have tried to echo the mail that has to be sent and I get this:
To: a#bc.com
Subject: Massmail
Message:
Testing mail script
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
to: b#cd.com
Subject: Massmail
Message:
Testing mail scriptTesting mail script
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Your help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance
In the code line: $message1 .= "Testing Mail Script Version 2"; the period is a concatenate, so each time you loop it, you duplicate the message another time.
Agreed. Sounds like your loop is not functioning correctly? If you can't post the full code, try to post an abstraction for us to diagnose your issue.
If you cant, I would look into looping based on the number of email address you have, not some arbitrary counter. That might help you out.
Suppose this is your table. With id, email, link, message structured as:
id email message
1 a#test.com hello, how are you doing..
2 b#test.com hey, dude this is me..
3 c#test.com we are sending you this...
Now, let's assume you have 100 records. What I would do is (assuming $result is a mysql array returning all the results from mysql ex SELECT * FROM mail...)
I would try:
for($i=0; $i <= count($result); $i++){
$send = mail($result['to'], $result['subject'],
$result['message'], $result['headers']);
if(!$send){
echo 'e-mail, sending has stopped';
break;
}
else{
echo 'all e-mails are sent successfully'; }
}
Never mind, I fixed it. #Pirion's post helped me. I changed
$message1 .= "Testing Mail Script Version 2";
to
$message = "Testing Mail Script Version 2";
And everything worked perfectly. Thank You So Much Guys For Helping Me Out.

Function that checks DB, returns message, and also sends email

In this example I am using MySQL, which I know is deprecated, but this is just for learning purposes. I am also learning how to use PDO and right now just dont wanna mess up fue to my inexperience with PDO so I am using mysql right now.
Ok, so I have a jQuery AJAX function that submits a form data to a PHP function page. The PHP page then communicates with the Database and returns a result. All of this works so far.
A user fills out a form supplying their email address. The email is passed to teh PHP page and entered into the DB. If the user exists, a message is displayed telling them that they are already subscribed. If the do not exits, they are added and then a message tells them they have been successfully added. The GOOD NEWS is all of this works great!
Now, where I have an issue is that during that same callback function "dispAdd", I want to generate an automated welcome email to the user. No matter how I try to code the mail call though, I seem to get an error in the function. I am going to give you what I have right now but if someone can help that would be hugely appreciated.
Here is my callback function because all the other pieces work ok right now:
function dispAdd() // Serves as callback function to jQuery/AJAX in contact.html
{
$sql= "SELECT * FROM mailList WHERE email = '$email'";
$result= mysql_query($sql) or die(mysql_error());
$to = "rmailloux11#mail.bristol.mass.edu";
$who = "ME";
$message = "WOW";
$subject = "TESTING";
$message = $who . ', ' . $message;
$headers = "From: rmailloux11#mail.bristol.mass.edu" . "\r\n";
if(mysql_num_rows($result) > 0) // Checks to see if query returns any info for the calling function
{
mail($to,$subject,$message,$headers);
while ( $row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result))
return;
}
}
Original CALL:
$('#contForm').submit(function() {
var formData = $(this).serialize(); // Stores all form data in AJAX variable
$.post('contact.php',formData,dispAdd);
function dispAdd(result) { // Callback function requests result of RESULT
if (!result) {
$('#main').html('<div>Your have been added to the mailing list</div>');
} else {
if ($('#fail').length==0) {
$('#main').append('<div id="fail" style="color:red";>This email address is already subscribed to our mailing list</div>');
}
}
}
return false; // Stops form from loading contact.php page
});
<script>
$('#contForm').submit(function()
{
var formData = $(this).serialize(); // Stores all form data in AJAX variable
$.post('contact.php',formData, function(data)
{
console.log(data);
if(data)
{
$('#main').html('<div>You have been added to the mailing list</div>');
}
else
{
$('#main').append('<div id="fail" style="color:red";>This email address is already subscribed to our mailing list</div>');
}
console.log(data);
});
return false; // Stops form from loading contact.php page
});
</script>
Then, in contact.php you should put the below function:
function dispAdd() // Serves as callback function to jQuery/AJAX in contact.html
{
$sql= "SELECT * FROM mailList WHERE email = '$email'";
$result= mysql_query($sql) or die(mysql_error());
$to = "rmailloux11#mail.bristol.mass.edu";
$who = "ME";
$message = "WOW";
$subject = "TESTING";
$message = $who . ', ' . $message;
$headers = "From: rmailloux11#mail.bristol.mass.edu" . "\r\n";
if(mysql_num_rows($result) > 0) // Checks to see if query returns any info for the calling function
{
mail($to,$subject,$message,$headers);
while ( $row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result))
return;
}
}
After the code on contact.php runs, have it call the dispAdd function and return the result of dispAdd to your Ajax request.

Way to send functions as message in php's mail()

I am writing a PHP script that will send via a cron an email every night. In this script, I have multiple functions which output particular text. I am then trying to send the contents of those functions in the email. For some reason the email is going through fine, but the body of the content is showing up empty. If there's a better way to do this, by all means I'm open to it.
function function1() {
global $new;
echo "<p>";
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($query)) $content = $row["COUNT(column1)"];
if ($content != 0) echo "output1";
else echo "output2";
echo "</p>";
}
$emailMessage = function1().function2().function3();
if ($_GET['version'] == "email") {
mail ($emailTo, $emailSubject, stripslashes($emailMessage));
}
else echo $emailMessage;
Obviously the code is obfuscated a bit, but the general outline is there.
echo sends the output to the standard out, it doesn't return it from the function. Try this.
ob_start()
// run function contents, including echo
var message = ob_get_clean();
return message;
This will capture what you echo into the buffer, prevent the buffer from being sent, and then reading the buffer into a variable. It will then empty the buffer ready for next time.

WhileLoop through a mysql db list

Ok so long story short, I have a simple mailto function I want to apply/run for every name on a db list. Since it's not working, I removed all the mail stuff from it and to test to make sure the while loop was working with the db, did this
<?php
$connect2db = mysqli_connect('127.0.0.1','root','pass','dbnamehere');
if(!$connect2db){
die("Sorry but theres a connection to database error" . mysqli_error);
}
$sn_query = "SELECT * FROM email_list";
$sn_queryResult = mysqli_query($connect2db, $sn_query) or die("Sorry but theres a connection to database error" . mysqli_error);
$sn_rowSelect = mysqli_fetch_array($sn_queryResult);
$to = $sn_rowSelect;
?>
<br/><br/>
////lower part on page //////<br/><br/>
<?php
while($sn_rowSelect = mysqli_fetch_array($sn_queryResult) ) {
echo "hello there" . " " . $sn_rowSelect['firstname'] . " <br/>";
}
?>
Now this works, it goess through my db and prints out all my first names from the database list. In my noob brain, id think that if i remove the echo lines, and enter the appropriate mailto information, that it would loop just like before, but send mail to each name. so i did this:
<?php
$sn_query = "SELECT email FROM email_list";
$sn_queryResult = mysqli_query($connect2db, $sn_query) or die("Sorry but theres a connection to database error" . mysqli_error);
$sn_rowSelect = mysqli_fetch_array($sn_queryResult);
$to = implode(",",$sn_rowSelect);
$from = $_POST['sender'];
$subject = $_POST['subj'];
$mssg = $_POST['message'];
$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0rn";
$headers .= "From: $from\r\n";
$mailstatus = mail($to, $subject, $mssg, $headers);
?>
<br/><br/>
//////////<br/><br/>
<?php
while($sn_rowSelect = mysqli_fetch_array($sn_queryResult) ) {
$mailstatus;
if($mailstatus) {
echo "Success";
}else{
echo "There was a problem sending the mail. Check your code and make sure that the e-mail address $to is valid\n";
}
}
?>
now this emails the first name on my list, but not the rest.
I don't get any errors so not sure what the problem is. I was going to try an if statement with num_rows but somewhere else, on StackOverflow, someone said that didn't help since the while loop took care of it by itself. (I tried it either way and it still emailed only the first name) I'm trying here but to no avail.
You have not called the mail() function inside your loop. You call it once outside. Instead try something like the following.
Assuming you have retrieved the $to address from your database query (like you did with the firstname in testing), pull it from the rowset, and use it in mail():
while($sn_rowSelect = mysqli_fetch_array($sn_queryResult) ) {
// Get the $to address:
$to = $sn_rowSelect['email'];
// Call mail() inside the loop.
$mailstatus = mail($to, $subject, $mssg, $headers);
if($mailstatus) {
echo "Success";
}else{
echo "There was a problem sending the mail. Check your code and make sure that the e-mail address $to is valid\n";
}
}
Note also, that since you call mysql_fetch_array() at the top of your script, your while loop will start with the second row. You should remove the first call to mysql_fetch_array() that occurs before the loop.
$sn_queryResult = mysqli_query($connect2db, $sn_query) or die("Sorry but theres a connection to database error" . mysqli_error);
// Don't want this...
//$sn_rowSelect = mysqli_fetch_array($sn_queryResult);

Categories