php include_once and get method

Question

I have one board.php file that displays a board on my web page. This file includes once a boardEngine.php file which has every variables and matrix initialized, plus every function needed for computing.

I put a form in my board.php so that I can enter my next move on the board. board.php code goes like this:

<!doctype html>
  <html> 
<body>
<?php   
 include_once('boardEngine.php');
?>

 <div id='board'>


<?php
 if (isset($_GET['move'] ))  {
  checkMove($_POST['queryMove']); // checkMove is from boardEngine.php 
 }
  printBoard();  // function from boardEngine.php 

 ?>
 </div>

 <form id="moveForm" action="board.php?move" method="post" >

  <input type="text" name="queryMove" placeholder="form: 'e2f3' (e2 to f3)" required> </p>
  <input type="submit" value=">move!<" >


 </form>
</body>

The problem is that when I submit the move, board.php is reloaded with a set $_GET['move']. Since it is reloaded, it seems like boardEngine.php gets included again, and every positions in the matrix are initialized.

As I understand the thing so far, the move is submitted, board.php is reloaded, boardEngine.php is included another time with every position being reset, then because the $_GET['move'] variable has been set through the form, one move will be computed. Once a new move is submitted, the board will be reset and the last move will be considered, and so on.

Am I wrong? How can I solve this problem?

Edit 1: Here is the look of my boardEngine.php code:

 <?php

define("PAWN", 10);
define("KNIGHT", 20);
define("BISHOP", 30);
define("ROOK", 40);
define("QUEEN", 50);
define("KING", 100);
define("B_PAWN", -10);
define("B_KNIGHT", -20);
define("B_BISHOP", -30);
define("B_ROOK", -40);
define("B_QUEEN", -50);
define("B_KING", -100);

$board = array( 
    array("", 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g', 'h'),
array( 1, B_ROOK, B_KNIGHT, B_BISHOP, B_QUEEN, B_KING, B_BISHOP, B_KNIGHT, B_ROOK),
array(2, B_PAWN, B_PAWN, B_PAWN, B_PAWN, B_PAWN, B_PAWN, B_PAWN, B_PAWN),
array(3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0),
array(4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0),
array(5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0),
array(6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0),
array(7, PAWN, PAWN, PAWN, PAWN, PAWN, PAWN, PAWN, PAWN),
array(8, ROOK, KNIGHT, BISHOP, QUEEN, KING, BISHOP, KNIGHT, ROOK)

         );


function checkMove($query) {

 global $board;

 if(strlen($query) != 4) {
  return "Wrong query!";
 }
//...
// Next modfy the $board positions according to rules


}

function printBoard() {
  // ...
}

btw. why do you need an extra $_GET parameter? is ìf (isset($_POST['queryMove']))` not good enough? — bwoebi
– bwoebi, Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 16:29
Every time you load a PHP script, it starts fresh. All variables are reset, include files are reloaded, etc. The only thing that persists between runs are session variables. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 16:29
bwoebi: the post method is fairly enough but doesn't solve my problem — Alexandre Toqué
– Alexandre Toqué, Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 16:37
barmar: yeah I want to solve that problem so I can get a web site working only with php. THen I will make it with javascript. — Alexandre Toqué
– Alexandre Toqué, Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 16:38

geomagas · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-10 16:52:02Z

1

http is a stateless protocol, which means that the script will run all over again for each request. And posting a form creates a new request.

You're gonna have to persist your game's state somehow. $_SESSION is a good idea, as Barmar suggested too.

EDIT: Since you posted your board engine, and just to get started, do the following:

1) Add a session_start(); at the beginning of your code

2) Replace the $board=.... part with `

if(!isset($_SESSION['board']))
  $_SESSION['board']=.......

3) Replace every occurence of $board in your code with $_SESSION['board']

edited Oct 10, 2013 at 16:52

answered Oct 10, 2013 at 16:38

geomagas

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1 Comment

Alexandre Toqué Over a year ago

THanks I am new to php and thought php files would not be loaded each times because of the include_once(). Using $_SESSION works perfectly :)

BenMorel · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-13 20:23:05Z

1

How does BoardEngine.php look?

Why not make it a Class? Something like this:

class BoardEngine {

//You can remove the construct function below, if you don't need it
function __construct(argument)
{
    //Constructor code here if needed
}

public function printBoard()
{
    # function code here...
}
public function checkMove($var)
{
    # function code here...
}
public function yetanotherone()
{
    # function code here...
}

}

You can then put all your "engine" logic in there.

And in your board.php:

<?php   
require_once('BoardEngine.php');

$boardEngine = New BoardEngine();

if (isset($_GET['move'] ))  {
    $boardEngine->checkMove($_POST['queryMove']); // checkMove is from boardEngine.php 
}
    $boardEngine->printBoard();  // function from boardEngine.php 
?>

<div id='board'>

</div>

<form id="moveForm" action="board.php?move" method="post" >

<input type="text" name="queryMove" placeholder="form: 'e2f3' (e2 to f3)" required> </p>
<input type="submit" value=">move!<" >


</form>
</body>

To save moves on each reload, I would also suggest using $_SESSION. Or in your BoardEngine class:

private $lastmove;

public function setLastMove($value)
{
    $this->lastmove = $value;
}
public function getLastMove($value)
{
    return $this->lastmove;
}

Now in your board.php you can set the last move with:

$boardEngine->setLastmove($var);

get it last move with:

$boardEngine->getLastmove();

EDIT: To clerify: To save last move as a $_SESSION and echo it out:

$_SESSION['lastmove'] = $boardEngine->getLastmove();
echo $_SESSION['lastmove'];

edited Dec 13, 2013 at 20:23

BenMorel

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answered Oct 10, 2013 at 16:28

Bolli

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6 Comments

Alexandre Toqué Over a year ago

The thing is, 'action="board.php?move" ' will reload my page, and thus require boardEngine.php again and creating a boardEngine class anew, will it not? What can I do with $_SESSION? Saving the board position in it?

Bolli Over a year ago

It will only instatiate the class. I updated my post how you could use the class to remember last move.

Bolli Over a year ago

To use $_SESSION simply put $_SESSION = $yourvalue; Or if you need more $_SESSION variables, use it like so: $_SESSION['one'] = "one"; $_SESSION['two'] = "two"; And so on

geomagas Over a year ago

@Bolli: Nice and tidy (I personally love OOP) but, alas, irrelevant. Doing it OOP-style doesn't persist anything.

Bolli Over a year ago

@geomagas True true - but this way he could store the lastmove and use it again. I'm not gonna write the entire game though :) $_SESSION would be the way to go. I'm not expert on OOP (yet), I'm still learning.

|

Sasanka Panguluri · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-10 16:30:44Z

0

Firstly, don't say

board.php?move in the action. It is better to specify get variables with values. Change it to board.php?move=yes

Then,

if(isset($_GET['move'])) if($_GET['move']==="yes")  include_once('boardEngine.php');

answered Oct 10, 2013 at 16:30

Sasanka Panguluri

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