Posted by wayne on 05/22/07 22:58

cwdjrxyz wrote:
> On May 22, 10:51 am, lrbtav <lrb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I need to do some simple math with a website. For example, I need
>> about 12 input boxes, some need to take a value and multiply by
>> another box, others need to be multiplied by a constant number. I have
>> an excel spreadsheet doing this but need to put it on a website.
>>
>> What's the easiest way to accomplish this? Can I use html or do I need
>> to use php or something? Thanks!
>
> As others have indicated, doing math is not part of html. You can use
> javascript, but you have quite a bit to learn if you have never used
> it before. The Usenet group comp.lang.javascript covers javascript,
> and their FAQs are at http://jibbering.com/faq/index.html . Perhaps
> the most often used server side language for doing math is php, and
> many hosts that sell web space often have php installed on their
> servers these days. As far as the math goes, the code written in php
> looks much like javascript code in many respects. This is not always
> an advantage, since if you are used to writing javascript it is all
> too easy to make an error when writing php in cases where the two
> languages vary slightly. Learning php also can take considerable time.
> Also you need to be very careful when writing server side script of
> any kind with input forms. Hackers can put scripts, etc into your
> forms that can do very nasty things if you do not control what you can
> input into the forms very carefully. Pages have been defaced, deleted,
> or a whole server has been crashed by some such hacker tricks.
>

As I understand PHP, the programmer must check each field for valid
input characters. Wouldn't this keep hackers at bay?

--
Wayne
www.glenmeadows.us
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his
creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short,
who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the
individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor
such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism." [Einstein]

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