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Using PHP and jQuery to create a chat script

Imoddedu

By Imoddedu
in PHP

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Imoddedu Member

Imoddedu

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Hey! Everything works except for writing to the log. What do you think is the problem? userform.php

<?phpsession_start();?><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"><html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /><title>Live Support v0.1.1</title></head><body><center><h1>Live Chat Support v0.2</h1><br /><h6>A * denotes a required feld!</h6></center><script language="JavaScript"><!--function valid(form) {	var customerName = form.custName;	var customerQuestion = form.usrQuestion;	if (customerName.value.length == 0 && customerQuestion.value.length == 0) {		alert("Please fill out the field for your name and question!");		return false;	} else if (customerName.value.length == 0) {		alert("Please fill out the field for your name!");		return false;	} else if (customerQuestion.value.length == 0) {		alert("Please fill out the field for your question!");		return false;	} else {		alert("Chat request accepted, forwarding you to an operator!");		return true;	}}// --></script><center><table border="0"><form method="post" action="chat.php" onSubmit="return valid(this)"><tr name="nameRow"><td><b><i>Name: *</i></b></td><td><input type="text" size="18" maxlength="18" name="custName" /> <br /></td></tr><tr name="probCatRow"><td><b><i>Type of Problem:</i></b></td><td><select name="probType"><option value="Affiliate">Affiliate</option><option value="cPanel">cPanel</option><option value="Database">Database Issues</option><option value="Domain">Domain Issues</option><option value="EMail">Email</option><option value="Account">Account</option><option value="Features">Features</option><option value="Other">Other</option></select><br /></td></tr><tr name="usrQuestionRow"><td><b><i>Question: *</i></b></td><td><textarea rows="10" cols="50" name="usrQuestion" wrap="physical">What is your question?</textarea><br /></td></tr></table></center><center><input type="submit" value="Start Chart" name="startChat" /></center></form><br /><br /><center><a href="patchlog.txt">Patch Log</a> | <a href="login.php">Operator Login</a> | <a href="http://127.0.0.1:8888/home/mysql/">phpMyAdmin Login</a> | Today's Date is <i><?php echo date("m/d/y"); ?></i> | Based on <a href="http://helpdesk.hostmonster.com/index.php/kb/browse/000942"><i>Hostmonster Knowledgebase</i></a></center></body></html>

and chat.php

<?phpif(isset($_POST['startChat'])){  	 if($_POST['custName'] != ""){  		 $_SESSION['custName'] = stripslashes(htmlspecialchars($_POST['custName']));  		 $_SESSION['problemCategory'] = stripslashes(htmlspecialchars($_POST['probType']));		 $_SESSION['customerQuestion'] = stripslashes(htmlspecialchars($_POST['usrQuestion']));	 }  	 else{  		 header(userform.php);  	 }  }  ?><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"><html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><title>Live Chat Support v0.2 - Chat with an Operator</title></head><body><center><h1>Chat v0.1.1 - Live Chat</h1></center><?php$problemCategory = $_POST['probType'];$customerQuestion = $_POST['usrQuestion'];?><center><table border="1" width="500" cellpadding="5"><tr><td><center>Chat Options - <a href="java script: self.close()">Close Window</a> - <a href="log.html">Print Log</a></center></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td>Welcome to Live Chat Support, <b><?php echo $_SESSION['custName']; ?></b>. Your question was: "<?php echo $_SESSION['customerQuestion']; ?>".</td></tr><tr height="400"><td><div id="chatbox"><?php  if(file_exists("log.html") && filesize("log.html") > 0){  $handle = fopen("log.html", "r");  $contents = fread($handle, filesize("log.html"));  fclose($handle);  echo $contents;  }  ?></div>  </td></tr><tr><td><center><form><input type="text" size="60" id="userInput" name="userInput" /><input type="submit" value="Send" id="sendMsg" name="sendMsg" /></form><script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3/jquery.min.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">// If user submits the form  $("#sendMsg").click(function(){  var clientmsg = $("#userInput").val();  $.post("post.php", {text: clientmsg});  $("#userInput").attr("value", "");  return false;  });  //Load the file containing the chat log  function loadLog(){	   $.ajax({  url: "log.html",  cache: false,  success: function(html){  $("#chatbox").html(html); //Insert chat log into the #chatbox div  },  });  }  setInterval (loadLog, 1000);	// Reload file every 2500 ms or x ms if you wish to change the second parameter  </script></center></td></tr></table></center></body></html>

and 

<?phpsession_start();  if(isset($_SESSION['custName'])){  $text = $_POST['text'];    $fp = fopen("log.html", 'a');  fwrite($fp, "<div>(".date("g:i A").") <b>".$_SESSION['custName']."</b>: ".stripslashes(htmlspecialchars($text))."<br></div>");  fclose($fp);  }  ?>

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gar onn Newbie

gar onn

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where do you call the log updating script?Try adding a var_dump($_GET)and var_dump($_SESSION)to see if you have any variablesPS: I would rather use a database than a file to store chat messages

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justsomeguy w3schools Guru

justsomeguy

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But what if they are in the same directory?
Well, you tell me. Does it work when you do that? It's not hard to try:
<?phpini_set('display_errors', 1);error_reporting(E_ALL);if(file_exists("log.html")){  echo 'file exists';}else{  echo 'file does not exist';}?>

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skaterdav85 Invested Member

skaterdav85

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I don't have time to read the code, but you may find this interesting: http://tutorialzine.com/2010/10/ajax-web-chat-php-mysql/
That is one approach, but the better way is to have prolonged HTTP request, and have the server push data to the browser instead of the browser requesting it on a time limit. I remember Synook telling me about this practice which is called Comet. I have no idea how you'd go about implementing this though. I haven't found many tutorials on Comet. If I did have to implement a chat system, I'd probably use one of the Facebook-like chat systems already out there.
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skaterdav85 Invested Member

skaterdav85

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This is interesting. I'd also be interested in learning how it's done. That might explain the <iframe> fb uses for their "like" buttons.
well the iframe FB uses isn't a prolonged HTTP request. It's just placing whatever is in that external resource on your page. You can generate the iframe code here for a FB like button. Comet is used for keeping an HTTP request open, instead of closing it once the client receives the response.
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Imoddedu Member

Imoddedu

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Well, you tell me. Does it work when you do that? It's not hard to try:
<?phpini_set('display_errors', 1);error_reporting(E_ALL);if(file_exists("log.html")){  echo 'file exists';}else{  echo 'file does not exist';}?>

It exists. So that must mean there is a problem writing to the file and/or updating it?
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