[ALUG] How to display result of remote PHP script within a HTML page

[sagr]

Hi Mark,

> Based on the OP's choice of Subject ("... *remote* PHP script...") I
> assume that the calling code should not be assumed to be on the same
> server, and therefore should not be assumed to be running PHP

Correct.  The calling code will sometimes be located on non PHP webspace so 
must work from within a basic HTML page.

> (although
> clearly in the OP's example the host is the same).

I just put the calling code page on our server to provide a test example in 
case ALUGers wanted to run it.

> It looks like an
> attempt to build a fairly standard counter script (a good way to learn
> some PHP, by the way).

Yes, I am trying to learn PHP.  We use 3rd Party Hit Counters at the moment 
but they are very fragmented with each website having it's own separate hit 
counter (and in some cases individual pages having their own counters).  I 
am aiming to organise this chaos and have all our individual websites report 
their counts to a single central admin website directory so I can, when I 
gain the skill, do some more detailed overall analysis of visitor patterns 
across our various websites using just one database.

> Brett's Javascript is the best way to do this without changing the
> counter script, IMHO.

Yes, his suggestion was very helpful (but a little beyond my understanding 
at the moment).

> On the other hand, assuming that changing the counter script is OK

Yes.

> I am
> guessing that the script ends something like:
>    echo $counter;
> .. which could be replaced by...
>
>    if (!empty($_GET['js']))
>        echo "document.write($counter);";
>    else
>       echo $counter;

Thanks for that idea which I have now implemented.

> .. then change the HTML from:
>    <script
> src="http://www.suffolk-ancestor-genealogy-research.co.uk/counters/counter.php?webpage=main"></script>
> .. to ..
>    <script
> src="http://www.suffolk-ancestor-genealogy-research.co.uk/counters/counter.php?js=1&webpage=main"></script>
>
> That way, whether or not it outputs the script instead of the raw value
> is configurable depending on the parameters passed to the counter script.

Excellent!  Works a treat!

Thanks to everyone for their helpful tips and suggestions.

Sagr.