Posted by Steve on 04/19/07 15:47

<davidkoree@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1176966448.437636.163900@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
| Thank you steve.
|
| Generally the program has 5 steps, and the first 4 steps need user to
| input some data, and the last one outputs the result. Every user must
| starts with the 1st step, if not, the program will give user a message
| like 'You should starts with the 1st step' or 'You could continue on
| the n step'.

i gotcha. i've done this kind of thing before. what i'd recommend is NOT
using cookies/session vars to keep track of the steps. i would store your
inputs in a db. i'd use php to validate the data supplied to figure out
which step is next. that allows you to intermingle each step in a logical
order so that you can repeat steps if needed.

here's what i mean. i programmed a manufacturing line application where each
work area supplied build up information such as parts, their manufacturers,
etc. now some of those work stations (let's say station 3) had work routed
from station 2 (let's say), they did their job, sent it on to stations 4 and
5 at which time station 5 sent it back for completion. hard to imagine a
good, real-world example? pretend that station 3 is an inspection area. the
plant also had stations with conditional routing where work/parts rarely
followed the same station progression during build up. anyway...

i'm not sure if you're doing anything more complex that just a 'wizard' type
of data entry screen or what. either way, that's what i'd recommend. store
your inputs in a db, either use procedural php code or build a class to
handle the routing based on the rules of what you're doing.

btw, the workers at any station would pull up the part from a barcode and if
the data collected showed they could work it, data entry was allowed for
that part at that station. but i digress.

can you be more specific as to what you *really* wanna get done?

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