Grabbing parameter from URL

[talkinggoat]

Grab a parameter from the URL to populate a field:

(I used a form element, but you could probably use Calc)
Using the HREF - https://www.example.com/index.php?ref=123&bat=456&cat=789
In the "Default" box, enter this PHP code.

$name = htmlspecialchars($_GET["ref"]);
return $name;

$name is simply the variable you are assigning to your data.
'ref' is the parameter you want to retrieve. In this case, it can be 'bat' or 'cat'.

Click the Eval option, under your code and set it to "Yes".

Profit.

 

[troester]

Better use Joomla, e.g.
$myApp = JFactory::getApplication();
$name= $myApp->input->getString('ref');

http://fabrikar.com/forums/index.php?wiki/element-default-examples/

 

[talkinggoat]

Thanks for the response. I'm not disagreeing with you, but could you explain the benefits of using it that way, vs the drawbacks of using my method?

 

[cheesegrits]

Mostly safety. The J! input methods will sanitize inputs to remove malicious inputs. Also defaulting. So calling $input->getInt('foo', 0) will a) always make sure you get an integer, and b) default the result to 0 if the arg is not on the query string.

https://api.joomla.org/cms-3/classes/Joomla.Input.Input.html

-- hugh