forms: text area and "\n" issue 2

[jordanking]

Hello,

I have a php page that retrieves the content of a text file from a remote server (same server as the php page).
I put the contents of the file into a variable ($f_contents) and then convert it to a string. This text file is a source file for an older version of flash. The flash movie imports its contents into the swf. Anyway, the version of flash needs the <br> tag for all new lines. I want to be able to have the <br> replaced with the "\n" so that it displays in the text area exactly as it would in the swf movie. I have tried the following string replace method but all that happens is the <br> is replaced by the "\n" and the "\n" get printed litterally.

Here is the relevant sections of my code.

	$f_contents = strval($f_contents);
	$f_contents = str_replace('<br>', '\n', $f_contents);

then later on i echo the contents in this way:

<textarea name="contents" class="textContent" id="contents"><?php echo "$f_contents"; ?></textarea>

If i have:

hello world<br> this is your movie.

this litterally returns

hello world\n this is your movie.

Can someone tell me how to have the \n truly evaluated to a new lie within the text area tag?

Thanks in advance.

 

[vacunita]

Use double quotes to surround the [red]\n [/red].


so:

  $f_contents = strval($f_contents);
    $f_contents = str_replace('<br>', [red]"[/red]\n[red]"[/red], $f_contents);

So the \n gets translated to the line break as opposed to just simple text.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[jpadie]

i'm assuming you dont have magic quotes turned on.

what is the code you use to get the movie into a string?

 

[jordanking]

Thanks vacunita,

Just for refference, how to I replace the "\n" with a "<br>" once the form is submitted?

i used the following code

$contents = str_replace("\n", '<br>', $contents);

it just added the <br> to the end of the line, but did not remove the carraige return so that all the text is on the same line. I sm not sure if carriage return is the right term.

jpadie,

what is the code you use to get the movie into a string?

The string comes from the contents of a text file that is loaded into the swf. I am just interested in the contents of the text file here, I use actionscript to bring the text content into flash.

 

[vacunita]

Glad I could help.

FYI "carriage return" is the right term.

And the change from "\n" to "<br>" Whe the text is submitted the textarea adds an "\r" at the end of the lines. so you have to replace it also like so:

$contents = str_replace("[red]\r[/red]\n", '<br>', $contents);

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[jpadie]

Just for refference, how to I replace the "\n" with a "<br>" once the form is submitted?

i would use the nl2br() function

also, unless you can be certain that your flash movie contains only old html i would jig the str_replace like this:

$search = array ("<br>", "<br/>", "<br />","<BR>","<BR/>","<BR />");
$contents = str_replace ($search, "\r\n", $contents);

 

[jordanking]

thanks guys, it all works great,

stars all around

J