MySQL DB query from BBCode possible?

[sof-guild]

I have a separate DB on the same server as my forum, and would like to offer my users the ability to query that DB from BBCode in their posts.

It's a gaming site, and we maintain a database of the skills in the game, and then frequently post builds on the forums. So ideally, a user would be able to write [skill]Sprint[/skill] and this would be parsed in the post as the icon, description, cost etc.

Is this possible? I haven't been able to figure out how to get PHP into the custom BBCodes. Can anyone point me in a good direction to learn about this?

Thanks,
-Daniel

[King Kovifor]

You would have to use one off the bbcode hooks (I believe). I haven't tried this, but that would be it if it was anywhere.

[Eikinskjaldi]

Been there, done that. I run a gaming site, and that's pretty much how I use bbcode.

Can't tell you how to do it with hooks, since I don't use them, but if you look at how the class is structured, its pretty easy to write a callback that does a db call

[sof-guild]

Originally Posted by Eikinskjaldi

Been there, done that. I run a gaming site, and that's pretty much how I use bbcode.

Can't tell you how to do it with hooks, since I don't use them, but if you look at how the class is structured, its pretty easy to write a callback that does a db call

Would you mind posting the code you used, please? I'm sure I could reverse-engineer it from that. Or even just what files need adapting....

[Adrian Schneider]

Just remember the posts are cached, so after it's queried once it will remain as-is for around 7 days, depending on your settings.

[Analogpoint]

I think you can disable caching on a per-post basis, so you can disable it for any posts that contain this BBCode.

[Eikinskjaldi]

The caching is a good thing. Within this context, the content of the expanded tag is not going to change.

Would you mind posting the code you used, please? I'm sure I could reverse-engineer it from that. Or even just what files need adapting....

The file that needs changing is class_bbcode.php. Other than that, I am afraid I consider my implementation a trade secret. Gotta have some edge over the competition. I was basically just posting to let you know it is possible

[sof-guild]

Thanks, I was able to sort it out. After some studying of the class_bbcode.php file, it was (as you said) surprisingly easy. It's all about formatting from here on out.