PHP4/MySQL Help needed on custom hit counter

I need help with a php script of mine

[jd80]

I am trying to implement a program that acts as a hit counter. First, the user gets a session id. After that, the hit counter is incremented once. If that user should return to the page (within 3 hours), then the counter will not be incremented. Here's the php code:

session_start();
header('Cache-control: private'); // IE 6 fix

if(empty($_SESSION[sessID])){
$Pool = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
."abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
."0123456789";
$lastChar = strlen($Pool) - 1;

for($i = 0; $i < 16; $i++){
$_SESSION[sessID] .= $Pool[mt_rand(0, $lastChar)];
}

// insert session into db
$dbLink = mysql_pconnect("localhost", "user", "password");
mysql_select_db("SessionStore", $dbLink);

$Query = "INSERT INTO tblSessions(fldSessID, fldLastAction) "."VALUES('$_SESSION[sessID]', 'now()')";

if(!$dbResult = mysql_query($Query, $dbLink)){
$error = "couldn't insert session";
}

header('Location: home.php');
}
else{
// connect and select db
$dbLink = mysql_pconnect("localhost", "user", "password");
mysql_select_db("SessionStore", $dbLink);

// get rid of old sessions first
$Query = "DELETE FROM tblSessions "
."WHERE fldLastAction < '"
. date("Y-m-d H:i:s", (time() - 10800))
."'";

if(!$dbResult = mysql_query($Query, $dbLink)){
$error = "error... could not delete old session records";
}

// check to see if session is already in table
$Query = "SELECT fldSessID "
."FROM tblSessions "
."WHERE fldSessID = '$_SESSION[sessID]'";

if($dbResult = mysql_query($Query, $dbLink)){
//do nothing;
}
else{//session is new
// connect and select db
$dbLink = mysql_pconnect("localhost", "user", "password");
mysql_select_db("GYHitCounters", $dbLink);

//get hit counter for page;
$Query = "SELECT fldHome "
."FROM tblHitCounters";
$dbResult = mysql_query($Query, $dbLink);

$hits = mysql_result($dbResult,0);
$hit++;

// update fldPage
$Query = "UPDATE tblHitCounters "
."SET fldHome = '$hits'";
mysql_query($Query, $dbLink);
}

Any help is appreciated and will help this newbie 8)

Thanks,

John

[Timotheos]

Hi John,

...and the problem is?

Tim

[jd80]

The problem is that the sessID is not stored in the database for some reason. But echoing $_SESSION[sessID] comes up with the value. Why isn't it inserted into the database? (Sorry for omitting the problem!)

John

[Timotheos]

Ok...

Is this line
$hit++;
suppossed to be
$hits++;

So I take it this is included in every page put somehow it's stopping the output. Does your html source show you anything?

[jd80]

Timotheos, good call on the "s". I rearranged some things... I've got it so that my database is updated counter and all only when one first views the page! However, I can't seem to get $hits to print... here's the updated code (by the way, I checked the source also and it gives me no leads :( ):

<?php 
 session_start(); 
 header('Cache-control: private'); 
 if(empty($_SESSION['sessID'])){ 
 $Pool = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" 
  ."abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" 
  ."0123456789"; 
 $lastChar = strlen($Pool) - 1; 
 for($i = 0; $i < 16; $i++){ 
  $_SESSION['sessID'] .= $Pool[mt_rand(0, $lastChar)]; 
 } 
 header("Location: ["...]  . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . dirname($_SERVER['PHP_SELF']) . "/SessionTestE.php"); 
 } 
 if(isset($_SESSION['sessID'])){ 
 // connect and select db 
 $dbLink = mysql_pconnect("localhost", "user", "password"); 
 mysql_select_db("SessionStore", $dbLink); 
 // get rid of old sessions first 
 $Query = "DELETE FROM tblSessions " 
  ."WHERE fldLastAction < '" 
  . date("Y-m-d H:i:s", (time() - 10800)) 
  ."'"; 
 mysql_query($Query, $dbLink); 
 // check to see if session is already in table 
 $Query = "SELECT fldSessID " 
  ."FROM tblSessions " 
  ."WHERE fldSessID = '$_SESSION[sessID]'"; 
 $dbResult = mysql_query($Query, $dbLink); 
 $row = mysql_result($dbResult,0); 
 if(!$row){ 
  // insert session into db 
  mysql_select_db("SessionStore", $dbLink); 
  $Query = "INSERT INTO tblSessions(fldSessID, fldLastAction) " 
   ."VALUES('$_SESSION[sessID]', now())"; 
  mysql_query($Query, $dbLink); 
  // select db 
  mysql_select_db("GYHitCounters", $dbLink); 
  //get hit counter for page; 
  $Query = "SELECT fldHome " 
   ."FROM tblHitCounters"; 
  $dbResult = mysql_query($Query, $dbLink); 
   
  $hits = mysql_result($dbResult,0); 
  $hits++; 
  // update fldPage 
  $Query = "UPDATE tblHitCounters " 
   ."SET fldHome = '$hits'"; 
  mysql_query($Query, $dbLink); 
 } 
 } 
 echo "hits= $hits<br />"; 
?> 

What I really don't get is why if the database counter is updated fine, the $hits variable wont echo? Sorry about the indentation... can't seem to get the pre tags to work.

John

[Timotheos]

Uh... I can't see anything wrong with it either.

[jd80]

I got it working now... I replaced all occurences of "$hits" with "$_SESSION[hits]" and so now it works 8)

John