Encrypted URLs

Hi Jason,

Thanks to your explanation I think I’m almost there and I’m sorry if I’m becoming a pest, but the although the code you suggested (without the Javascript) redirects the information to the PayPal URL, it doesn’t seem to include any variable values from the database. (FYI: I also removed the extra spaces in the line: $url .= "cmd=_xclick&"; )

Thanks,

Jerry Kornbluth

The resulting URL sent to PayPal (without any of the variable data) is:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&lc=US&cbt=regular%20member%20renewal&currency_code=USD&rm=1&cpp_header_image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.artistsofpalmbeachcounty.org%2Fimages%2Fapbcpp.jpg&business=&item_name=&amount=&no_shipping=1&no_note=1&return=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jkwebdesigns.com

Hi Jason,

Embarrassed as I am, based on your last comment I fixed a few typos and I thought I had it working perfectly.

I could get the code to execute perfectly with a URL value of 1, (all the variable values end up in the right places and the PayPal page rendered correctly).

However, if I clicked the link for a URL value of 2, no variable data was inserted into the resulting URL.

What I found is that I had to change the numbers 1, 2, 3 etc. to the words 'one' 'two', 'three' etc. for it to work.

I don't understand why, could you explain?

Could you also let me know which is correct (preferred)?
$url .= "cbt=".urldecode("regular member renewal")."&";
$url .= "cbt=".urlencode("regular member renewal")."&";
or
$url .= "cbt=regular member renewal&";
As always, thanks for all your help,

Jerry Kornbluth

Hi,

You'd want to use urlencode instead of urldecode. This is normally used to take care of any special characters that may appear. However, since it's just text, the last option should work as well. Did the second option produce no result?

Hi Jason,

No, they all seemed to produce the same result, but I encountered the 3 versions in different fields of the example code and wanted to check.

Any insights into the text vs numbers?

Jerry

Hi Jerry,

Ah, I understand the confusion. In the example, urldecode way a typo caused by my editors autocomplete. It should be urlencode, and I've changed it in the post.

If you process the form using that method, does it produce no result in the string? Could you post what you have along with example output?

Thanks

Here you go.

URL with a value of 1 (correct data pulled from database)

<a href="intermediate.php?url=1">Click Here for link 1!</a>

URL

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&amount=50.00&business=payments%40artistsofpalmbeachcounty.org&lc=US&cbt=regular%20member%20renewal&currency_code=USD&rm=1&cpp_header_image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.artistsofpalmbeachcounty.org%2Fimages%2Fapbcpp.jpg&item_name=regular%20member%20renewal&no_shipping=1&no_note=1&return=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jkwebdesigns.com&

URL with a value of 2 (no data from database)
<a href="intermediate.php?url=2">Click Here for link 2!</a>

URL

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&amount=&business=&lc=US&cbt=founding%20member%20renewal&currency_code=USD&rm=1&cpp_header_image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.artistsofpalmbeachcounty.org%2Fimages%2Fapbcpp.jpg&item_name=founding%20member%20renewal&no_shipping=1&no_note=1&return=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jkwebdesigns.com&

_______________________________
Intermediate Code
<?php
$value = @$_REQUEST['url'];

$url = "";
if ($value == 1) {

$url = "https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?";
$url .= "cmd= _xclick&";
$url .= "amount=".urlencode($rmda)."&";
$url .= "business=".urlencode($ppea1)."&";
$url .= "lc=US&";
$url .= "cbt=regular member renewal&";
$url .= "currency_code=USD&";
$url .= "rm=1&";
$url .= "cpp_header_image=".urlencode("http://www.artistsofpalmbeachcounty.org/images/apbcpp.jpg")."&";
$url .= "item_name=regular member renewal&";
$url .= "no_shipping=1&";
$url .= "no_note=1&";
$url .= "return=".urlencode($ret1)."&";
}

elseif ($value == 2) {

$url = "https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?";
$url .= "cmd= _xclick&";
$url .= "amount=".urlencode($fmda)."&";
$url .= "business=".urlencode($ppea1)."&";
$url .= "lc=US&";
$url .= "cbt=founding member renewal&";
$url .= "currency_code=USD&";
$url .= "rm=1&";
$url .= "cpp_header_image=".urlencode("http://www.artistsofpalmbeachcounty.org/images/apbcpp.jpg")."&";
$url .= "item_name=founding member renewal&";
$url .= "no_shipping=1&";
$url .= "no_note=1&";
$url .= "return=".urlencode($ret1)."&";

}

if ($url) {
redirectBrowserToURL($url);
}
exit;
?>

Thanks,

Jerry Kornbluth

Hi Jerry,

Something must be happening in the way records are being retrieved between url = 1 and url = 2. Could you attach the complete file?

Sure, here you go.

FYI There's an extra space before the _xclick so that the URL with any data values will appear in the URL bar.

The space will be removed for the actual PayPal link to be accessed. (doesn't seem to matter for this purpose though)

You'll find that although the URL code in values 1, 2 and 3 are identical, values links 1, 4 and 5 pull data and 2 and 3 don't.

Thanks,

Jerry Kornbluth