Receive value from URL, then automatically email it.

**luckyluk** · 03-26-2005 09:13 PM

Ok, what I want is probably a pretty simple task, I just don't know how to do it. I want be able receive a value from a URL such as:

www.domain.com?ID="12345"

First, I am assuming the 12345 needs to be in quotes.

I also want to capture the user's IP address. Next, I want to automatically email both values to my email address.

What would be the best way to do this?

Please include details for us people who are not real good at this. I would really appreciate your help.

Thanks.

**fredmv** · 03-26-2005 09:23 PM

Since you posted in the HTML section, I'm assuming you think this can be done on the client-side alone (i.e., HTML/JavaScript/etc.). This is not the case. You'd need server-side. PHP, among other languages, can do this with ease.

And just so you know, the value of the query string (everything after the "?" in a URI) does not need to be quoted. What you're after is going to be done something like this:

Code:

<?php
   mail( 'you@whatever.com', 'test', 'Querystring: ' . $_GET['id'] . '\nIP: ' . $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] );
?>

First you'd have to verify that your server allows PHP scripting...

**luckyluk** · 03-26-2005 09:29 PM

Yeah, I new I would need more, but I thought I would start here. Could it be done here without getting the users IP? I didn't think you could automatically launch something in just HTML, but I thought I would try. I will move this over to the PHP area and ask more questions. I don't completely understand what I need to do with the code you gave me. I am completely PHP illiterate.

Thanks.

**luckyluk** · 03-26-2005 09:32 PM

Hmmm. There is no PHP area here.

**fredmv** · 03-26-2005 09:34 PM

No. There is no way to send e-mail in the background, client-side. You can, in theory, use the "mailto:" protocol... but that is very messy and doesn't work in every instance (e.g., if the user's client isn't set up properly or they don't have a client to begin with).

Now, as for PHP. Make a file called info.php. Have this inside of it:

Code:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Upload this to your server, and then visit yourdomain.com/info.php. If you see page with a ton of PHP information, you have PHP installed and functioning properly on your server.

If you get this far, all you need to do is then make a file called test.php, and then include the code I previously gave you within it. To "use" the script, just link to the file like this:

Code:

<a href="test.php?id=string">test</a>

You can also type in the ID manually in the location bar, but I'm not sure how you want to approach this.

**luckyluk** · 03-26-2005 09:42 PM

Thanks alot for your help. I know that php is installed on my server and it works. I have a couple of other scripts running.

Would it be very difficult to modify the code that you gave me to have it not send email if the ID value was not in the URL?

Thanks.

**fredmv** · 03-26-2005 09:44 PM

Oh, nice. Yeah, it's extremely easy. Just before the call to mail:

Code:

if( !empty($_GET['id']) )

P.S. No problem...

**luckyluk** · 03-27-2005 01:01 AM

Hey, that works great. Now, I have a couple more questions. How do I either place this in an html file or redirect to an html file after it has performed it's mail send? I tried placing this same code in an html file and calling:

file.html?id=string

But, it doesn't work. I tried it in the body, and then I tried it before the <html> tag at the beginning of the file. Neither one worked.

Please let me know soon.

Thanks.

**BonRouge** · 03-27-2005 04:09 AM

Put (something like) this at the end of the code - it'll perform the necessary action, then redirect to a web page :

Code:

header("Location: http://www.mywebsite.com/mypage.htm");

(You need the full url).

**luckyluk** · 03-27-2005 07:50 AM

Originally Posted by BonRouge

Put (something like) this at the end of the code - it'll perform the necessary action, then redirect to a web page :

Code:

header("Location: http://www.mywebsite.com/mypage.htm");

(You need the full url).

Cool. I'll try that.

Does anyone know why the script worked as a php file, but did not work when imbedded in an html file?

**BonRouge** · 03-27-2005 08:05 AM

PHP will only work if your file has a php extension. Your page can look like a regular html page (with the php stuck in the middle of it) - it just has to have a php extension. Also, I think (though I'm not 100% sure) if you use a redirect like that (header) you might need to put that before the html head.

**luckyluk** · 03-27-2005 10:34 AM

All is good and understood now.

Thanks for all you help guys. Everything is working fine.

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