Class Documentation: x_class_hitcounter

Documentation

The x_class_hitcounter class is designed to track and manage hits on specific URLs within a section of a website. It counts both unique "arrivals" (first visits by a user) and "switches" (subsequent hits to the same URL during a session). The class relies on MySQL for data storage and can dynamically create its own table if it doesn't exist.

• Session Management: The class relies on PHP sessions to track arrivals and switches, ensuring unique hits within a session.
• URL Cleaning: The prepareUrl method ensures URLs are stored consistently by removing protocol, subdomain, and GET parameters when configured to do so.
• Switches vs. Arrivals: Switches refer to repeated hits on the same URL during a session, while arrivals count the first visit.

This class handles the counting and tracking of page hits and switches in a web application, storing the data in a MySQL database.

Requirements

PHP Modules

• mysqli or equivalent for database interaction.
• session module for tracking user sessions.

External Classes

• A MySQL wrapper class or object that provides methods such as select, query, update, table_exists, and free_all.

Table Structure

This section explains the table structure that will be automatically created by the hit counter class to log site visits. The table captures detailed information about each visit, including the URL, visit counts, and associated sections. Below is a summary of the columns and keys used in the table, along with their intended purpose.

Column Name	Data Type	Attributes	Description
id	int(10)	NOT NULL, AUTO_INCREMENT, PRIMARY KEY	A unique identifier for each visit log entry.
full_url	varchar(512)	NOT NULL, DEFAULT '0'	The full URL of the site being tracked, associated with the visit.
switches	int(10)	DEFAULT '0'	The number of changes or switches made to the site during the session.
arrivals	int(10)	NOT NULL, DEFAULT '0'	The number of arrivals at the site for the given URL.
section	varchar(128)	NOT NULL, DEFAULT ''	For Multi Site Purposes to split database data in categories.
summarized	int(10)	NOT NULL, DEFAULT '0'	The total number of hits for the specific URL, summarizing all visits.
creation	datetime	DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP	The timestamp when the visit record was created. Automatically set when a new entry is added.
modification	datetime	DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP	The timestamp of the last modification to the visit record. Automatically updated on changes.

Key Name	Key Type	Columns	Usage
PRIMARY KEY	Primary	id	Ensures each log entry is uniquely identifiable.
x_class_hitcounter	Unique	full_url, section	Ensures that each unique URL and section combination is only logged once, avoiding duplicate entries.

Method Library

Method	Parameters	Description
__construct	$x_class_mysql, $table, $precookie = "", $section = ""	Initializes the class, setting up the database connection and ensuring the table exists.
enabled	$bool = true	Enables or disables hit counting.
clearget	$bool = true	Configures whether to clean GET parameters from URLs.
get_array	None	Returns all records from the hit counter table as an array.
refresh_counters	None	Refreshes the internal counters based on the current URL and section.
prepareUrl	$tmpcode	Prepares and cleans the URL for consistent storage and comparison.
execute	None	Main method to track a hit or switch, updating the database accordingly.

Method Details

__construct(...)

Initializes the hit counter instance. This method starts the session, stores key information, and ensures the MySQL table exists.

Parameter	Type	Description
$thecon	Object	The MySQL connection object.
$table	String	Name of the table to store hit counter data.
$precookie	String	Prefix for session cookies to avoid collisions.
$section	String	Section name to differentiate URLs by context.

enabled(...)

Enables or disables the hit counter. If disabled, no hits or switches are counted.

Parameter	Type	Description
$bool	Boolean	Whether to enable the counter.

clearget(...)

Configures the behavior to remove GET parameters from the URL before processing. If enabled, the URL is cleaned for consistent storage and comparison.

Parameter	Type	Description
$bool	Boolean	Whether to clean GET parameters from the URL before processing.

get_array(...)

Returns all records in the hit counter table as an array.

Parameter	Type	Description
None	N/A	Returns an array of data.

refresh_counters(...)

Refreshes the internal counters ($switches, $arrivals, $summarized) for the current URL and section. It queries the database for existing records and updates the class properties.

Parameter	Type	Description
None	N/A	Updates internal counters.

prepareUrl(...)

Cleans and standardizes a URL for consistent storage in the database.

Parameter	Type	Description
$tmpcode	String	The raw URL to be cleaned and standardized.

execute(...)

Performs the main hit counting and updating operations. This method manages session-based hit counting and ensures accurate tracking of unique arrivals and switches.

Parameter	Type	Description
None	N/A	Tracks the hit or switch for the current session.

Example Usage

// Initialize the MySQL connection and table
$mysql = new MySQLWrapper();
$hitcounter = new x_class_hitcounter($mysql, 'hitcounter_table');

// Enable the counter and clean GET parameters from URLs
$hitcounter->enabled(true);
$hitcounter->clearget(true);

// Execute the hit counting process
$hitcounter->execute();

// Retrieve the summarized data
$switches = $hitcounter->switches;
$arrivals = $hitcounter->arrivals;
$totalHits = $hitcounter->summarized;