how to prompt a confirm dialog box using links not buttons

Question

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training

13 Years Ago

hi there,

is there a way to prompt user dialog box using links not buttons??

javascript php web-design

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16 Replies
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Latest Post 13 Years Ago Latest Post by missy_mi

Dani AI

Generated 9 Months Ago

Short version: the problem was not the browser — it was the HTML you were generating. Two common mistakes seen in this thread were (1) overwriting the superglobal with while($_POST = ...) and (2) producing broken JavaScript inside an href/onclick because of mismatched quotes. was right to suggest fixing the quotes and moving the script outside PHP. A cleaner, safer pattern is to output a normal link (properly escaped) and attach an unobtrusive click handler that cancels navigation when the user answers "Cancel".

Example (PHP + unobtrusive JS — use this instead of inline javascript: URIs):

// in PHP loop use a local row variable, not $_POST
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    $url = htmlspecialchars($row['quo_file'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
    echo '<a href="' . $url . '" class="confirm-download" download>Download</a>';
}

// put this in a <script> that runs after the DOM
document.addEventListener('click', function (e) {
  var a = e.target.closest && e.target.closest('a.confirm-download');
  if (!a) return;
  if (!confirm('Are you sure you want to download this file?')) {
    e.preventDefault();
  }
});

Quick debugging checklist:

Inspect the rendered HTML (View Source / DevTools) to confirm the anchor contains a plain URL and not malformed JS.
Check the console for syntax errors (illegal character usually means an unescaped quote or stray backslash).
Make sure your script is loaded after the DOM (or use DOMContentLoaded).
Sanitize output with htmlspecialchars (or json_encode if passing values into JS) to avoid broken attributes and XSS.
If you must use an inline handler, onclick="return confirm('Are you sure?')" is the minimal fallback — but unobtrusive JS is preferable.

Also: stop using mysql_* (use mysqli or PDO) and avoid reusing superglobals as loop variables. These changes will make the confirm dialog reliable and your code safer.

All 16 Replies

reygcalantaol 0 WordPress Developer

13 Years Ago

<a href="javascript;" onClick="if(confirm('Are you sure?'))
alert('You choose yes!');
else alert('You choose no!')">Click me</a>

Try: http://jsfiddle.net/Je8pP/

code739 17 Posting Whiz in Training

13 Years Ago

//try your achor like this

echo "<a href='javascript:confirm_download(\'".$_POST['quo_file']."\')'>Download</a>";


//then embed this function to your javascript

function confirm_download(link){
    if(confirm('Are you Sure?')){
        document.location = link;
    }
}

Edited 13 Years Ago by code739

code739 17 Posting Whiz in Training

13 Years Ago

1.)dont fortget the \' for \'".$_POST['quo_file']."\' (cause you passing a string)

2.)the javascript function confirm_download() should be inside the <script> tag and it should be outside your php tag

i guess 2 is the cause

code739 17 Posting Whiz in Training

13 Years Ago

sorry for the mistake
for this line
<td><a href='javascript:confirm_download(\'".$_POST['quo_file']."\')'>Download</a>;</td>
change singlequote to doblequote in like confirm_download(\"".$_POST['quo_file']."\")'

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missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 1 · 2012-11-15T08:58:36+00:00

i have try you code..it works.. thanks ..but when i put it indise my php code it dosent work.i dont know why? it dosent prompt the message box. it goes to the link directly..

<?php

//if records found, then display data

while($_POST = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
    echo "<tr>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_id']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_name']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_company']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_date']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['file_name']."</td>
    <td><a href='".$_POST['quo_file']."' onClick='if(confirm('Are you sure?'))
alert('You choose yes!');
else alert('You choose no!')'>Download</a></td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_status']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_by']."</td>
    </tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
echo "<br />";

//<a href="/documents/large_document.pdf">Download the large document</a>filename=\"".$path_parts["basename"]."\"

mysql_free_result ($result);

mysql_close($connectdb);

?>

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 2 · 2012-11-15T08:59:32+00:00

have i done somthing wrong??..pardon for my code..its a bit messy..

cigoL..:) -1 Newbie Poster · Answer 3 · 2012-11-15T14:01:07+00:00

Hi
What does this variable actually $_POST['quo_file'] contains!? does it contain a link!?

-Alex

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 4 · 2012-11-16T00:27:01+00:00

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training

13 Years Ago

yes..the location of the file..

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 5 · 2012-11-16T06:44:19+00:00

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training

13 Years Ago

:

it didnt work..

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 6 · 2012-11-16T06:57:13+00:00

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ')', expecting '&' or T_VARIABLE

<?php

//if records found, then display data

while($_POST = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
    echo "<tr>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_id']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_name']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_company']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_date']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['file_name']."</td>
    <td><a href='javascript:confirm_download(".$_POST['quo_file'].")'>Download</a>;</td>
    <td><a href='".$_POST['po_file']."'>download</a></td>
    <td><a href='".$_POST['simul_file']."'>download</a></td>
    <td><a href='".$_POST['pro_file']."'>download</a></td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_status']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_by']."</td>
    </tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
echo "<br />";

//<a href="/documents/large_document.pdf">Download the large document</a>filename=\"".$path_parts["basename"]."\"

mysql_free_result ($result);

mysql_close($connectdb);


  //then embed this function to your javascript
    function confirm_download(link){
    if(confirm('Are you Sure?')){
    document.location = link;
    }
    }

?>

code739 17 Posting Whiz in Training · Answer 7 · 2012-11-16T07:24:02+00:00

<script type="text/javascript">
    //then embed this function to your javascript
    function confirm_download(link){
        if(confirm('Are you Sure?')){
            document.location = link;
        }
    }
</script>

this how it look like

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 8 · 2012-11-16T07:40:41+00:00

:

It's not working..it dosent have any error..when i click the link nothing happen..

<?php

//if records found, then display data

while($_POST = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
    echo "<tr>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_id']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_name']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_company']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_date']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['file_name']."</td>
    <td><a href='javascript:confirm_download(\'".$_POST['quo_file']."\')'>Download</a>;</td>
    <td><a href='".$_POST['po_file']."'>download</a></td>
    <td><a href='".$_POST['simul_file']."'>download</a></td>
    <td><a href='".$_POST['pro_file']."'>download</a></td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_status']."</td>
    <td>".$_POST['pro_by']."</td>
    </tr>";
}
echo "</table>";
echo "<br />";

//<a href="/documents/large_document.pdf">Download the large document</a>filename=\"".$path_parts["basename"]."\"

mysql_free_result ($result);

mysql_close($connectdb);

?>

    <script type="text/javascript">
    //then embed this function to your javascript
    function confirm_download(link){
    if(confirm('Are you Sure?')){
    document.location = link;
    }
    }
    </script>

code739 17 Posting Whiz in Training · Answer 9 · 2012-11-16T08:41:44+00:00

I. after clicking the anchor did the prompt box shows up? if not

II. if your using a firefox browser press ctr+shift+j
it will display an error

2 then give me the error:

III or try this code below:

function confirm_download(link){
    var box =  confirm('Are you sure?');
    if(box){
        document.location = link;
    }
}

code739 17 Posting Whiz in Training · Answer 10 · 2012-11-16T08:45:24+00:00

can you give an example value of this variable
$_POST['quo_file']

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 11 · 2012-11-16T09:06:12+00:00

here the error :

Timestamp: 14/11/2012 17:57:05
Error: SyntaxError: illegal character
Source File: javascript:confirm_download(\
Line: 1, Column: 17
Source Code:
confirm_download(\

Timestamp: 14/11/2012 17:57:07
Error: SyntaxError: illegal character
Source File: javascript:confirm_download(\
Line: 1, Column: 17
Source Code:
confirm_download(\

I have try your code but didnt work too..

can you give an example value of this variable
$_POST['quo_file']

What do you mean??

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 12 · 2012-11-20T00:40:03+00:00

missy_mi 0 Junior Poster in Training

13 Years Ago

:

Thanks alot..it works

how to prompt a confirm dialog box using links not buttons

Dani AI

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