In last week’s lesson, we looked at the variables and methods we would need to interact with the advertising database tables. This week, we’ll examine the code for the data object class file and how the other parts of the site will use these methods. First, we include the database connection string information. This information includes the database server name, cursor location and other pertinent information. Since this information is used throughout the site, it is usually stored in a separate...
In the previous lesson, we examined the basic functions of our banner ad tracking system, including the retrieval of records for both banner ads and advertisers. In this lesson, we will look at the functions responsible for generating reports and manipulating the data in the ads table and advertiser table. The getClientsList() function retrieves active client records and sorts them alphabetically by client name: function getClientsList() { // get clients from db $sql = "SELECT ad_client_id,...
In our last session, we looked at the process of entering information on ad banners and ad clients, as well as generating ad activity reports. This week, we examine how to retrieve a random banner ad. We will also learn how to delete, activate and deactivate ads and clients. The getRandomAd() function retrieves a random ad by using the PHP rand() function. The function returns the ad’s primary key ID, client ID, title, URL and redirect path. The function also updates the activity table for this banner...