PHP: How do I use $_GET to read the parameter characters literally?

Question

I am trying to create a subnav that echos "current" when the script finds itself on the appropriate page and subpage.

My issue is that when $subpage == $encoded_subpage_name?"current":"" is compared, subnav names with spaces always equal false because $encoded_subpage_name will have a + but $subpage won't.

<?php

    if (isset($_GET['p'])) {
        $page = $_GET['p'];
    } else {
        $page = "";
    }
    if (isset($_GET['subp'])) {
        $subpage = $_GET['subp'];
    } else {
        $subpage = "";
    }

    $subpages = array(
        "powered by company",
        "text messaging",
        "the app",
        "NFC",
        "your membership",
        "faq",
        "privacy policy",
        "terms &amp; conditions"
    );


    function buildSubNav($page, $subpages) {
        foreach ($subpages as $subpage) {
            $encoded_subpage_name = urlencode($subpage);
            echo '<li class="' . selected_subpage($encoded_subpage_name) . '"><a href="?p=' . $page . '&subp=' . $encoded_subpage_name . '"> ' . $subpage . '</a></li>';
        }
    }
    function selected_subpage($encoded_subpage_name) {
        global $subpage;
        $subpage = ($subpage);
        echo $subpage;
        return $subpage == $encoded_subpage_name?"current":"";
    }


?>
<ul>
    <?php buildSubNav($page, $subpages); ?>
</ul>

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 22 '12 at 06:47

3

The problem you're having is that you're encoding in the middle of your work instead of at the end when you're actually outputting. Stop doing that.

answered Jul 22 '12 at 06:47

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

776,304
153
1,341
1,358

I concede that us designers should not always be allowed to write production code. – nipponese Jul 22 '12 at 07:06

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 22 '12 at 06:44

2

Use urldecode:

$subpage = urldecode($_GET['subp']);

answered Jul 22 '12 at 06:44

Yan Berk

14,328
9
55
52

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:13

I would recommend that you change your page names in the code to URL-friendly names (like most CMSes does with their permalinks), then the string will stay the same after you have URL-encoded it.

Something in style with:

Replace space with -
Replace "&" with "and"
Replace international characters such as ÅÄÖ with similar ones AAO
Remove all characters that doesn't match alphabetic/numberic characters and "-"

That would in your case generate something like:

$subpages = array(
    "powered-by-company",
    "text-messaging",
    "the-app",
    "NFC",
    "your-membership",
    "faq",
    "privacy-policy",
    "terms-and-conditions"
);

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PHP: How do I use $_GET to read the parameter characters literally?

3 Answers3