On 02/11/2014 02:02 PM, Jim Giner wrote:
On 2/11/2014 4:46 PM, Jim Lucas wrote:
On 02/11/2014 01:06 PM, Jim Giner wrote:
On 2/11/2014 1:18 PM, Jim Lucas wrote:
On 02/11/2014 10:00 AM, Jim Giner wrote:
On 2/11/2014 12:54 PM, Jim Lucas wrote:
On 02/11/2014 08:55 AM, Jim Giner wrote:
On 2/11/2014 11:26 AM, Jim Lucas wrote:
On 02/11/2014 05:59 AM, Jim Giner wrote:
On 1/25/2014 3:45 PM, Jennifer wrote:
Hello all,
We have a PHP form with a static <option> list, where
people can
request
a product sample.
http://www.superiorshelving.com/mfg/aigner/sample.php
There are links on multiple pages that call this page. I
would
like to
send a different default option to that form from each of those
pages so
that the customer doesn't have to pop-up the list to choose it
manually. Of
course, if they go to that form directly, there shouldn't be a
default.
What would be the best way to handle this? I'm thinking to
have
code
generate the list with the default undefined, and then have the
links to
that page pass a variable to the form to set a default. Does that
sound
like it would work?
Any other ideas are appreciated!
Thank you,
Jenni
Superior Shelving Systems::::....
http://www.SuperiorShelving.com
The (Storage|Office|Home|Warehouse) Shelving Specialists
Since 1984
Wire LAN Shelving:
http://www.superiorshelving.com/mfg/nexel/pages/wire-shelving-chrome.php
I had your thought in mind halfway thru your question. Of course
that's the
way to do it. So simple, flexible and easily implemented. Set a
session var
that your central piece of code checks as it builds the select list
and you're
all set.
I see one issue with doing it this way. If a person visited a page
that
he didn't want to have a default for the form value, then he would
have
empty that session variable. So, not only are you setting a
variable on
each page you want it done on, you need to make sure that
variable is
erased/emptied on every page load that should not have a default.
That
to me is a headache waiting to happen.
The OP's original idea was that any specific page have a specific
option in
mind as the default to be selected when going to the central 'list'
page. It
is not meant to be the user's option, but the intermediate
page's. If
the
user did however go directly to the list page, then there is no
default.
Ok, I understand that. But, lets say that I browse one page that
has a
default, then another that has a default, each time doing so would
update that session variable. Now, I go to a page that doesn't
have/need a default but from there I click the link that takes me to
the page with the form. Now, if I didn't clear the session
variable on
that last page that didn't have a default, then it would use the value
set on the previous page instead of not having a default.
So - simply have the list-generator page unset the var.
What? I think you need to think your suggestion through a little more.
So, as I laid out above, on one page (set a default), move to another
page (set a default). Now I go to a page that should not have a default
(but I still have the previous page default set). At this point, the
session variable needs to be cleared otherwise if I go to the form page,
it will use the session variable from my previous page. I can't clear
it here either, otherwise I will not have anything to use when I create
the list.
Clearing that session variable on all the pages that should not have a
default is what I said would be the PITA to maintain.
We apparently aren't seeing the task the same way.
1 - several pages all call the same "list-maker" page.
2 - those several pages each has a different desired default setting.
3 - each of those #2 pages sets the session var to the value it wants
4 - the list-maker page checks for the existence of the session var
and copies
to a local var (or sets local var to '') and unsets the session var.
5 - list maker page does its thing with the value of the local var set
in #4
A call directly to the 'list-maker' page defaults to nothing as local
var will
direct. As I read the original statement, there was no reason to
expect the
user to be reading several pages before going to the "list-maker"
page. If
that is the case, then the last page obviously controls the activity. If
there is a page that doesn't want the list to have a default
selection, it
should then set the session var accordingly, as all the other pages
would be
doing.
The OP did say "Of course, if they go to that form directly, there
shouldn't be a default." So, to me, that says their is a possibility
for a user to browse to pages that DO want a default option to be set,
but then to also be able to view pages that do not require a default to
be set. So, if the possibility exists that a user could land on a pages
that doesn't require a default after visiting a page that does, the page
that doesn't require the default would need to clear that previously set
default.
To me, that would be a PITA to have to make sure that each page you
build would need to either set to unset that session var. Seems like
one additional step that doesn't need to exist.
But again - I'm assuming that the user goes directly from a page to the
list-maker page and not from page1 to page2 and then to the list-maker page
with the premise that the user wants the 'page1' selection. Again - if the
user is browsing thru whatever set of pages that then requires the list to be
built, the last one should be the determiner of what gets selected when that
list is built. It's a one-to-one relationship and I see nothing in the OPs
layout that would make me think of anything more complicated than this.
Well, lets agree to disagree. I tend to think along the lines that the users
of my apps will end up doing things I would find completely counter intuitive
and ill logical, and designing against that.
--
Jim Lucas
http://www.cmsws.com/
http://www.cmsws.com/examples/
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