Newbie PHP coding problem: header function (maybe, I need someone to check my code)

Question

Hi, consider the following PHP code:

<?php
$searchsport = $_REQUEST['sport'];
$sportarray = array(
"Football" => "Fb01",
"Cricket" => "ck32",
"Tennis" => "Tn43",
);
header("Location: ".$sportarray[$searchsport].".html"); //directs user to the corresponding page they searched
if ($searchsport == NULL) {
header("Location: youtypednothing.html"); //directs user to a page I've set up to warn them if they've entered nothing
} else {
header("Location: sportdoesnotexist.html"); //if sport isn't in my root, a warning will appear
}
?>

I think the code comments are self-explanatory, basically when I type Tennis on my form.html it will send data to this php file and process and direct me to Tn43.html which is my tennis page. Unfortunately, it doesn't work and I really want to know why... (I know I've made some huge silly mistake).

PS: Is header the right function to use when doing some redirecting?

Answer 1

I think you need absolute address in your header Location: ... like http://yoursite.com/youtypednothing.html

Answer 2

You should re-position your code a bit and modify too:

<?php
$searchsport = $_REQUEST['sport'];

$sportarray = array(
"Football" => "Fb01",
"Cricket" => "ck32",
"Tennis" => "Tn43",
);

if (!$searchsport) {
header("Location: youtypednothing.html"); //directs user to a page I've set up to warn them if they've entered nothing
exit;
} elseif (!in_array($searchsport, $sportarray)) {
header("Location: sportdoesnotexist.html"); //if sport isn't in my root, a warning will appear
exit;
}

header("Location: ".$sportarray[$searchsport].".html"); //directs user to the corresponding page they searched
exit;
?>

Answer 3

Keep in mind that header() doesn't get triggered until the end of the script or you call exit(). So I'm pretty sure that right now your code is only saying:

(pseudocode)

If null, send to the null page, else send to the default page.

The first check will be overwritten by the all-inclusive second if/else.

Try putting the check into a if/elseif/else block with an exit at the end.

Answer 4

you need to check if that key exists, then you have to exit the if statements.

<?php
$searchsport = $_REQUEST['sport'];
$sportarray = array(
"Football" => "Fb01",
"Cricket" => "ck32",
"Tennis" => "Tn43",
);

if(isset($sportarray[$searchsport])){
    header("Location: ".$sportarray[$searchsport].".html"); //directs user to the corresponding page they searched
    die;
} else {
    if ($searchsport == NULL) {
        header("Location: youtypednothing.html"); //directs user to a page I've set up to warn them if they've entered nothing
        die;
    } else {
        header("Location: sportdoesnotexist.html"); //if sport isn't in my root, a warning will appear
        die;
    }
}
?>