Here’s the code:

function rrd($directory, $empty=FALSE){
if(substr($directory,-1) == ‘/’){$directory = substr($directory,0,-1);}
if(!file_exists($directory) || !is_dir($directory)){return FALSE;}
elseif(!is_readable($directory)){return FALSE;}
else{
$handle = opendir($directory);
while (FALSE !== ($item = readdir($handle))){
if($item != ‘.’ && $item != ‘..’){
$path = $directory.’/’.$item;
if(is_dir($path)){rrd($path);}
else{unlink($path);}
}
}
closedir($handle);
if($empty == FALSE){if(!rmdir($directory)){return FALSE;}}
return TRUE;
}
}

(Just make sure you add a direct call to the PHP function, or you’ll get an error. Here’s how I did that:

Put rrd($username, $empty=FALSE); just beneath the function .

Happy coding everybody.

PROBLEM: I needed to find a way to “re-process” text a user enters for a live chat client I’m working on (in which I prevented MySQL database injections via the mysqli_real_escape_string function). The problem of course is that the text the user enters nicely protects you from a MySQL database injection, BUT the text then comes back full of backslash (\) characters (not too cool looking huh). So, to remove these, you can use the following code (here, I use the PHP str_replace function:

// Convert escaped characters back to regular text
$string = str_replace("\\", "", $string);

Thanks to Geoff Muldoon for this one!:
How to replace a backslash character in a string?

I was having some issues with a mysqli_real_escape_string function that I had converted from mysql to mysqli I believe that the mere mysql version of this tag can function with just a $value, but the mysqli version requires TWO PARAMETERS: both the $connection variable, and the $string (whatever variable your particular function uses. The one I have here goes through all posts in a foreach statement and escapes the values of all posts using an array (to prevent MySQL injections).

Ex:
//This stops SQL Injection in POST vars
foreach ($_POST as $key => $value) {
$_POST[$key] = mysqli_real_escape_string($connection, $value);
}

$connection = whichever variable you would normally use to reference connection to your MySQL database(s).

THIS POST solved my problem! (Thanks a lot Bendude14!)

“How to kill an application session when a browser window is closed?”

This code uses jQuery/Ajax in an absolutely brilliant and straightforward way. Basically what the code does is automatically load the contents of your “logoff.php” page, using the JavaScript window.onbeforeunload function (which is something that executes upon a user’s exiting the browser, refreshing the page, or submitting a form). Probably the most brilliant thing about this script is that it still uses the onbeforeunload function, BUT (and this was why it was of so much particular use to me for my particular case), let’s say that your web app page is relying on a form processor page that is on an external page, and not on the same page. If the user in this kind of case enters in their chat text, and then hits the submit button (but still is currently ON the page and actively participating in the current chat session), the typical onbeforeunload function if called, would execute (so basically, in this case, this would amount to the user being logged off every time he/she hit the “Post Message” button, and not JUST when the user closed the browser window).

So what this very clever script does is execute the contents of the script on your “logoff.php” page onbeforeunload, BUT excepts the following cases: (so it won’t get called if the user does the following things, and will only log the user out when he/she closes the browser window):

- Hitting the Submit button;
- Clicking a link.

[The "magical" thing I will add too, after thinking about it, is that your 'logout.php' web page does not even have to be currently loaded on the browser - after all, the browser is being closed, right? This script executes your code all at once - like I said, fantastic! One other slightly unfortunate thing I found too in my extensive testing was that: this script works fine in Firefox and IE (and worked in Google Chrome, after not working the first time, insanely enough, but did not work in Opera or Safari :S). My sort of work-around for this was to at least add in code to my log-in page that sets the user's status to offline right away, then online once they are logged on and enter the chatroom].

Anyway, hope what I said here makes sense and is not too muddled an explanation, and… here is the code!:

From there, you just need to save this text in a file called ‘autoLogoff.js’, and call it toward the top of your page with the following code:

<script type="text/javascript" src="js/autoLogoff.js"></script>

I am making this post because this information was REALLY hard to find when I was searching for it, in the hopes that it can help you out with a similar project!

Again, here is the original posting for more and complete information:

“How to kill an application session when a browser window is closed?”

These are just some of the advantages of this application:

- All posts can be saved into a database (into any table you so choose. You could, for example, insert the posts on tables related to individual topics or categories, current news items, a photo, or basically anything else you can put on an individual web page. [so to use this interactive chat client on a different page, just insert the posts into a different database table]).

- This can provide your web site users with a cross-functional, enhanced web user experience, allowing them to see who else in your online community or company is currently logged on, chat with them, comment on various pages across the site, view/update profile information, other content etc [sounds a little like Facebook, MySpace, or similar online communities doesn’t it, only think of the advantages of having this on your own site ‘).

- Flexibility. If you like, you can either destroy or save records of “chat sessions” (or series of wallposts too, if you’d like to use the app in that way).

More soon! .

// redirect to the same page without the POST data
header(“Location: original-page-with-form.php”);
die;

Here are some of the pages I consulted in my research:

http://www.thefutureoftheweb.com/blog/get-redirect-after-post
http://www.issociate.de/board/post/171234/Clear_POST_variables_on_page_refresh.html
http://www.mail-archive.com/php-list@yahoogroups.com/msg04635.html
http://qaix.com/php-web-programming/437-896-clear-post-variables-read.shtml

*NOTE: Of course, keep in mind that any header(“Location: PAGE”); PHP code must be included BEFORE any contents are outputted on the page, otherwise you will get the lovely “Headers already sent” PHP error.

Hope this can help anyone else out there who may be struggling with the same issue