Question

Have been trying to figure this out all day assuming its just a small error…..

I’m trying to use the file_put_content to put a variables value into another php file..

Code below will explain:

File that writes the data into the php:

    <?php

require ('conf_2135432135435135412312534.php');

$F_name =$_POST['F__name'];
$L_name =$_POST['L__name'];
$E_mail =$_POST['Email'];
$GDI_user =$_POST['GDIusername'];
$ip=$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$C_date = date("F j, Y, g:i a");


mysql_connect($hostname,$username,$password) or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db($dbname) or die(mysql_error());


$sql = "INSERT INTO $usertable (F_name, L_name, Email, GDI_username, Registration_IP, Date_registered) VALUES ('$F_name', '$L_name', '$E_mail', '$GDI_user', '$ip', '$C_date')";

if (!mysql_query($sql)) {
    die('Error: ' . mysql_error());
} 

$get_id = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM $usertable WHERE ". "GDI_username = '$GDI_user'");

while($id_check = mysql_fetch_array($get_id)) {
    $UNQ_ID = $id_check["Unique_id"];
 }

$src = "/home/files/1/741/html/WP/Default_files";
$dest = "/home/files/1/741/html/WP/$GDI_user";

echo "$GDI_user/config.php";

shell_exec("cp -r $src $dest");

 file_put_contents("/home/files/1/741/html/WP/$GDI_user/config.php",'<?

$affiliate_reference = "$UNQ_ID";
echo $UNQ_ID;

?>');
?>

^^Short explanation of what that code does:^^

1.) Takes info from a html form

2.) INSERTS the data into a DB

3.) Fetches a Unique_id number from the DB

4.) Makes a copy of a folder with all the contents in it (Default_files)

5.) The duplicate folder is given a name of what was entered into the HTML form

6.) Writes into a file contained in the duplicate folder (config.php)

What the output (config.php) SHOULD contain:

<?

$affiliate_reference = "2154216354154"; //<<<thats just an example number
echo 2154216354154;

?>

Instead, This is what’s showing up:

<?

$affiliate_reference = "$UNQ_ID";
echo $UNQ_ID;

?>

completely lost here. Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

You’re using ' to define the string, this means that the value will be left unparsed. The trick here, though, is that you want $UNQ_ID parsed, but you want $affiliate_reference left as is. This means you have to escape or manually concatenate

I would use this instead:

'<?

$affiliate_reference = "'.$UNQ_ID.'";
echo '.$UNQ_ID.';

?>'

Notice, I am using the single quote for the majority of the string. This is purposeful, you don’t want the $affiliate_reference to be output. You only want $UNQ_ID turned into its string equivalent. Your other option is to use " and escape the $:

"<?

\$affiliate_reference = "'.$UNQ_ID.'";
echo '.$UNQ_ID.';

?>"

Note the \ to escape $ in front of $affiliate_reference.

I generally prefer the first way, color syntax highlighters will make that very obvious (even notice how SO handles it), while the second example causes highlighters to glaze over the whole thing. It is a preference, but it is an important one.

Of course, there is always the silly:

$a = '$';

followed by

"<?

${a}affiliate_reference = "'.$UNQ_ID.'";
echo '.$UNQ_ID.';

?>"

Use that only with people you don’t like.