Private Message Inbox for Search and Match Users

This script is called message-inbox.php

First, we use the check-id.php script to ensure that the session id variable is set, and send the user to Login to MC Search and Match Profile and Account Management if it is not. Then we put the session variable 'username' into $U—we will be checking that it is set in a second. Then we define a named constant '_NODIRECTACCESS'. We include the config.php file (in the includes folder) which uses the PHP defined() function to check on this constant. If it is not set, we are thrown out of the config.php file like yesterday's trash.

Next we check if the session variables 'groupname', 'username', and 'userid' are set. If not, we are sent to the login-to-mc.php script. We make sure $U is still equal to the session variable 'username', that it is not an empty string, and that it's at least 6 characters long or . . . you guessed it . . . the login script. We make sure the session id is set and send them away if not.

Next we have the getgroup() function. The user's id is put into $touser early on, then when the display table needs it, it is put into $us and this function is run, which uses the id to get the user's groupname, which in turn is displayed in the display table after "Messages to:".

A result set is put into $sql of a query of the MySQL privatemessages table in which all messages to this user are grabbed and the results are in descending order of the datesent field. These results have the needed data, in the needed order for displaying the user's inbox messages.

After a bit of browser sniffing and display tweaking using DHTML, we hop by the unused JavaScript textCounter() function and get to the JavaScript readit() function. It puts the value of the variable clicked into the hidden field clickedid in the undisplayed form MyForm and submits the form. Why? This is a perfect example of PHP and JavaScript worked together intimately to accomplish what neither can do alone. There is a gif image that says "read" and another than says "not read". The table display reads the readit field in the db table and shows the appropriate gif depending on whether the field's value is '0' or '1'.

There is a MySQL query we use to update the readit field in the db table: "UPDATE privatemessages SET readit=(IF(readit='0','1','0')) WHERE id='$clickedid'". If uses the MySQL IF() function. It says: if the readit field's value is '0' we put in a '1' otherwise we put in a '0' if the readit field's value is '1'. It's a switch, where we put in the opposite of what is there.

Now to the inbox displaying. Check out the display table caption:

<caption><b>Messages to: <?php $us=$touser;getgroup($us);
echo $gr; ?></b></caption>

HTML doesn't seem to mind if PHP function calls and echo statements are done right in the middle of its displaying. Then, returning to a PHP block, the mysql_fetch_array() function grabs the sorted results set we earlier stuck into $sql and gets one row/record at a time and displays the contents onscreen. We use the following PHP to make sure the gif image we show next to the inbox record display reflects the status of the readit flag in the db table:

if($rows['readit']=="0"){$read="notread.gif";}else{$read="read.gif";}

There is also an onclick event activated HTML link around each gif image that sticks the id of the record whose gif you are clicking into the JavaScript variable clicked and then it runs the readit() function. The latter sticks this id value into a hidden field, clickedid, and submits the undisplayed form the hidden field is in, which reloads the page and POSTs clickedid's value to the PHP variable $clickedid, which is used for updating the readit field in the db table, as discussed already. The purpose of clicking a gif image to to reverse "read" to "not read" or "not read" to "read". It's a switch, where we put in the opposite of what is there.

echo "<td><a href='#' onclick='clicked=".$id.",readit()'><img src='".$read."'></a></td>";

The htmlentities() and stripslashes() functions make the data safe to display. We use the PHP date() function, which formats a local time/date. The function returns a string formatted according to the format string in the parameters. Our chosen format string is 'Y/m/d'.

The script below is called: message-inbox.php

<?php

include_once"check-id.php";
$U=$_SESSION['username'];
define('_NODIRECTACCESS', TRUE);
include_once"includes/config.php";
if (!isset($_SESSION['groupname']) || !isset($_SESSION['userid']) || !isset($_SESSION['username']) || $_SESSION['username']<>$U || !isset($U) || $U=="" || strlen($U)<6 || !isset($_SESSION['sessionid'])){echo '<script language="javascript">alert("Please login."); window.location = "login-to-mc.php";</script>';}

function getgroup($us){
global $us,$gr;
$Q = mysql_query("SELECT groupname FROM mc_members WHERE id = '$us' LIMIT 1") or die(mysql_error());
$row=mysql_fetch_assoc($Q);
$gr=$row['groupname'];}

// message-inbox.php

$touser = $_SESSION['userid'];

$clickedid = $_POST['clickedid'];
if (isset($clickedid)){$sql = mysql_query("UPDATE privatemessages SET readit=(IF(readit='0','1','0')) WHERE id='$clickedid'");unset($clickedid);} //uses MySQL "IF()" function

$sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM privatemessages WHERE touser = '$touser' AND deleted = '0' ORDER BY datesent DESC");

?>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<TITLE>Private Message Inbox</TITLE>
<meta name="description" content="Private Message Inbox">
<meta name="keywords" content="Private Message Inbox,Private Messaging,Private Message,php,javascript, dhtml, DHTML">
<script language="javascript">
mactest=(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Mac")!=-1) //My browser sniffers
Netscape=(navigator.appName.indexOf("Netscape") != -1)
msafari=(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Safari")!= -1)
wsafari=0; if(!mactest&&msafari){wsafari=1;msafari=0}
is_opera = 0; if(window.opera){is_opera=1}
is_ie_mac = 0; is_ie=0;if(document.all){is_ie=1}

function fixwidth(){if(Netscape||is_opera){e=document.getElementById('box');e.style.width='822px';e=document.getElementById('menu');e.style.width='116px';e=document.getElementById('table1');e.style.width='820px';}}

function textCounter(field, countfield, maxlimit) {
if (field.value.length > maxlimit){field.value = field.value.substring(0, maxlimit);}
else{countfield.value = maxlimit - field.value.length;}}

var clicked=0;

function readit(){
document.MyForm.clickedid.value=clicked;
document.MyForm.submit();}
</script>
<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
BODY {margin-left:0; margin-right:0; margin-top:0;text-align:left;background-color:#ccc}
p, li {font:13px Verdana; color:black;text-align:left}
h1 {font:bold 28px Verdana; color:black;text-align:center}
h2 {font:bold 24px Verdana;text-align:center}
h3 {font:bold 15px Verdana;}
#box {background-color:#eee;position:absolute;top:50px;left:150px;width:830px;padding:10px;
border:2px solid blue}
#table1 {width:824px;border:1px solid blue;text-align:center;table-layout:auto}
#menu {background-color:#eee;position:absolute;top:50px;left:0px;width:130px;padding:5px;
border:2px solid blue}
.ie {width:80px;word-wrap:break-word;}
.ie2 {width:150px;max-width:150px;min-width:150px;word-wrap:break-word;}
.ie4 {width:820px;max-width:820px;word-wrap:break-word;}
</style>
</head>
<body onload="fixwidth()">
<h1>Private Message Inbox</h1>
<div id='menu'>
<a HREF="send-message-form.php">Send Message</a><BR><BR>
<a HREF="message-inbox.php">Message Inbox</a><BR><BR>
<a HREF="message-outbox.php">Message Outbox</a><BR><BR>
<a HREF="message-delete-received.php">Delete Inbox<BR>Message</a><BR><BR>
<a HREF="message-delete-sent.php">Delete Outbox<BR>Message</a><BR><BR>
<a HREF="login-to-mc.php">Login</a><BR><BR>
<a HREF="message-logout.php">Logout</a><BR><BR>
<a HREF="register-for-mc.php">Account Management</a>
</div>
<div id='box'>

<table id='table1' border='1'>
<caption><b>Messages to: <?php $us=$touser;getgroup($us);echo $gr; ?></b> — (Click "NOT READ/READ" button to toggle indicator.)</caption>

<tr><th>From/Reply</th><th>Subject</th><th>Date</th><th>Status</th>
<th>Message</th></tr>

<?php

while($rows=mysql_fetch_array($sql)){

if($rows['readit']=="0"){$read="notread.gif";}else{$read="read.gif";}

$sent=stripslashes($rows['datesent']);

$id=$rows['id'];
$us=htmlentities(stripslashes($rows['fromuser']), ENT_QUOTES);
getgroup($us);
echo "<tr><td class='ie'><a HREF='send-message-form.php?gr=".$gr."'>".$gr."</a></td>";
echo "<td class='ie2'>".htmlentities(stripslashes($rows['subject']), ENT_QUOTES)."</td>";
echo "<td>".date('Y/m/d',$sent)."</td>";
echo "<td><a href='#' onclick='clicked=".$id.",readit()'><img src='".$read."'></a></td>";
echo "<td class='ie4'>".htmlentities(stripslashes($rows['message']), ENT_QUOTES)."</td></tr>";
}

mysql_close();

?>

</table>

<form name="MyForm" method="POST" action="message-inbox.php">
<input type="hidden" name="clickedid" value=" ">
</form>

</body>
</html>

Free Personal Status Boards (PSB™)

Private Message Inbox for Search and Match Users