I notice a lot of posts of this going around here lately and I still think it’s crazy that the instructor doesn’t want MySQL to be used. 
Anyways, here is a fully working solution to the assignment and I know it’s far from perfect; however, it works. 
The php file (You can call it anything you like):
[php]<?php
/* Get the path and filename that you are currently on. /
$phpSelf = filter_input(INPUT_SERVER, ‘PHP_SELF’, FILTER_SANITIZE_URL);
/ A simple text file /
$file = “guest_book.txt”;
/ Variables and Arrays */
$record = array();
$data = array();
$message = NULL;
function getRecords($file = “guest_book.txt” ) {
/* Setup up Display */
if (file_exists($file)) {
/* Grab each line of text file in an array */
$list = file($file);
/* Explode each line string in the array into an inner array */
foreach ($list as $key => $value) {
$output[$key] = explode(",", $value);
}
/* Convert to associative inner array */
for ( $x = 0; $x < count($output); $x++) {
$record[$x]['fname'] = $output[$x][0];
$record[$x]['lname'] = $output[$x][1];
$record[$x]['email'] = $output[$x][2];
}
unset($list);
unset($output);
return $record;
}
}
$record = getRecords(); // Retrieve Guest Book Records:
/* Validate User’s Input */
function validateInput(array $posts) {
foreach ($posts as $key => $value) {
if ( $value == NULL ) {
return “All fields must be entered!”;
}
}
return NULL;
}
/* Function to check for Duplicate Records /
function check_for_duplicates(array $data) {
/ Assemble Full Name */
$fullName = $data[‘fname’] . ’ ’ . $data[‘lname’];
$record = getRecords(); // Makes sure it's the current database:
/* Search through Array */
for ($x=0; $x < count($record); $x++) {
$blog = (object) $record[$x]; // I like working objects instead of associate arrays:
/* Check user's input against database */
if ( strtolower($fullName) == strtolower($blog->fname . ' ' . $blog->lname) ) {
return 'Name already in database'; // Return if there's a match:
}
} // End of For Loop
return NULL;
} // End of Duplicate Records Function:
/* Save to the text file */
if ( isset($_POST[‘submit’]) && $_POST[‘submit’] == “Submit” ) {
$data['fname'] = trim($_POST['fname']);
$data['lname'] = trim($_POST['lname']);
$data['email'] = $_POST['email'];
/* validate user's input */
$message = validateInput($_POST);
/* No need to check for duplicates if it fails validation */
if (!$message) {
/* Function to check to see if there are duplicate records */
$message = check_for_duplicates($data);
}
/* Insert Record into Database if there are no errors */
if ( empty($message) ) {
/* Convert to a string, insert , and \n into the string */
$data = $data['fname'] . ',' . $data['lname'] . ',' . $data['email'] . "\n";
/* Save to text file in directory database with file name guest_book.txt */
$result = file_put_contents($file, $data, FILE_APPEND | LOCK_EX);
/* Check Results of insert */
if ($result) {
$message = $result . ' bytes written to file. ';
unset($record);
$record = getRecords();
/* Clear the Input Value Attributes */
unset($firstName);
unset($lastName);
unset($email);
} else {
die('There was an error writing to this file');
}
}
} // End of If Statement:
?>
Guest Book
<?php echo isset($message) ? $message : 'Guest Book'; ?>
First Name
Last Name
Email Address
[/php]
and here is the css file:
body {
font-size: 100%;
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
}
.guestbook {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box;
display: block;
width: 100%;
max-width: 600px;
height: auto;
padding: 10px;
margin: 0 auto;
}
form {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box;
display: block;
width: inherit;
height: auto;
background-color: orange;
padding: 10px;
}
fieldset.fieldsetStyle {
border: 1px solid #fff;
padding: 10px;
}
label.labelStyle, legend.legendStyle {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 1.0rem;
line-height: 1.5;
color: #fff;
}
legend.legendStyle {
padding: 0 10px;
}
input.inputStyle {
clear: right;
display: block;
width: 100%;
max-width: 200px;
height: 25px;
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8em;
line-height: 1.0em;
color: #000;
padding: 0px 5px 0px 5px;
margin: 0px;
}
input.formBtn {
border: none;
outline: none;
background-color: #2e2e2e;
color: #fff;
width: 75px;
height: 25px;
margin: 20px 0;
}
/* Guest Book Display */
ul {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box;
border: 1px solid #2e2e2e;
display: block;
width: 100%;
height: 200px;
overflow-y: scroll;
overflow-x: hidden;
padding: 10px 20px;
}
li {
list-style: none;
text-align: left;
}
a.record {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 1.0rem;
line-height: 1.5;
text-decoration: none;
color: #2e2e2e;
}
a.record:hover {
color: blue;
}
My suggestion is still try to get yours to work, but use this as a guide or template if you get stuck. HTH 8)
