Re: Window close.

At 11:05 AM 2/6/2006, tedd wrote:

This might seem like a odd question, but in php I can leave a script by "exit;" But, how can I also close the html page that contains the script? I know that I can close the page many different ways via a user actions, but how can I close it from within a conditional php statement?

Tedd, There's a disjunction between the background pre-processing of a server-side script and the real-[human]-time execution of a client-side script. By the time we see the web page in our browser, chances are the server-side script has long since completed its execution. Therefore, rather than thinking of evoking actions to occur during PHP processing, you'll want to ask, "What kind of page can I download to the browser that will create the effect I want?" Imagine planting something in your pyramid that will surprise archaeologists a thousand years hence. You don't want the door to swivel now (PHP), you want to plant a trap that will cause the door to swivel when eventually someone hits the tripwire (JavaScript). If PHP logic determines that the browser window should be closed, you can download a very simple HTML page that contains two things: a) JavaScript window.close(). This will execute only if client-side scripting is enabled in the browser, and it will close the window automatically only if it's a child window that had been opened by a parent. If the window doesn't know that it has a parent, it will prompt the user asking whether or not to close. The user can decline that request; there's no way to force their hand.* b) A text message declaring the session closed to be displayed if JavaScript isn't running. Another application of PHP-generated-JavaScript is to display an alert. Say you've got a form that's submitted but rejected server-side. PHP can download a new version of the input form including an error message built into the page. That same message can be written into a JavaScript alert() statement that's set to execute when the page has downloaded. It's just an extra way of catching the user's attention. * If you really need to close your application and prevent the user from continuing that session, you can do this by setting a $_SESSION variable in PHP that your pages will take as a cue to begin a fresh session or redirect to Oz. Regards, Paul