PHP 3 and multiple forms on a page

[Anon]

I am having a problem with PHP3 and using hidden fields with the same name in multiple forms on a page. Whew!

For example, I may have 3 forms on a page. Form 1 might be like:

<form name="enterform" action="myscript.php3" method="POST">
<input type="text" name="mytext">
<input type="submit" name="GO">
</form>

Then, I might have a couple of other forms like:

<form name="nextform" action="myscript.php3" method="POST">
<input type="hidden" name="mytext" value="3">
<input type="submit" name="Next">
</form>

<form name="prevform" action="myscript.php3" method="POST">
<input type="hidden" name="mytext" value="2">
<input type="submit" name="Previous">
</form>

So, there are three forms, each with a field called "mytext". One of the mytext fields is a text box and the other instances of mytext are hidden fields (fixed values).

Here's my dilema. If I enter a value into the text box and click the submit button, I notice that the value of $mytext is whatever I entered into the text box. Great! But, if I click the submit button on either of the forms with the hidden mytext fields, the value of $mytext is always whatever it is defined as in the last form. So, in my example above, no matter if I click "Next" or "Previous", the value of $mytext will always be 2. If I switch nextform and prevform around, the value of $mytext will always be 3 whenever I click on the "Next" or "Previous" submit button. This leads me to believe that PHP is unable to differentiate hidden fields with the same name between multiple forms and just creates a bunch of variables, overwriting the old value when a new one comes up.

Am I correct on this? I realize I could find a different way to do my forms, but this way creates the cleanest code in the long run. Is there a way to get around this problem. All I want is the value of $mytext to be 2 when I click on the "Previous" button and 3 when I click on the "Next" button. Anyone with experience on this?

Thanks,
Scott Christensen

[kparker]

Anyone with experience on this

No, and I do this kind of thing all the time. The code looks ok to me, so unless someone else comes along to point out what we're missing, I'd suspect some kind of browser mishap.

[Anon]

If you would be so obliged, here is my actual page. If you can find errors, please let me know. When I view the source of the resulting page, the data I am passing is how I want it. I'm at a loss.

Thanks,
Scott Christensen

<?
include("StandardHTML.inc");
include("hCalendar.inc");
?>

<? pageHeader("This is my first real php page", new MetaInformation()); ?>
<center>
<form method="POST" action="test2.php3" name="thisMonth">
Month: <select name="frmMonth">
<option value="1">January</option>
<option value="2">February</option>
<option value="3">March</option>
<option value="4">April</option>
<option value="5">May</option>
<option value="6">June</option>
<option value="7">July</option>
<option value="8">August</option>
<option value="9">September</option>
<option value="10">October</option>
<option value="11">November</option>
<option value="12">December</option>
</select><br>
Year: <input type="text" maxlength="4" name="frmYear"><br>
<input type="submit" name="OK" value="Show Me This Month's Information">
</form>
</center>

<p>frmMonth: <? echo $frmMonth ?>, frmYear: <? echo $frmYear ?>
<? if ($frmMonth != "" && $frmYear != "") { ?>
<?
$mycal = new Calendar(intval($frmMonth), intval($frmYear));
$mycalLayout = $mycal->getMonthLayout();
?>
<p> Calendar for <? echo $mycalLayout->getMonthString(); ?>, <? echo $mycalLayout->getYear(); ?>
<p> Number of days: <? echo $mycalLayout->getNbrDays(); ?> <br>
Starting Day: <? echo $mycalLayout->getStartDayString(); ?> <br>
This Month: <? echo $mycalLayout->getMonthString(); ?> <br>
This Year: <? echo $mycalLayout->getYear(); ?>

<p> <form method="POST" action="test2.php3" name="nextMonth">
<input type="hidden" name="frmMonth" value="<? echo (intval($frmMonth) - 1); ?>">
<input type="hidden" name="frmYear" value="<? echo $frmYear ?>">
<input type="submit" name="OK" value="Previous Month"
</form>
<p> <form method="POST" action="test2.php3" name="prevmonth">
<input type="hidden" name="frmMonth" value="<? echo (intval($frmMonth) + 1); ?>">
<input type="hidden" name="frmYear" value="<? echo $frmYear ?>">
<input type="submit" name="OK" value="Next Month"
</form>
<? } ?>
<? pageFooter(); ?>

[Anon]

if you can afford limited browser support (html 3.2+), you could use javascript, to fin out from witch form the value is set, and then append the value to the URL (url?var_name=var_value) manualy
(php will treat it as a GET var).
in javascrpt you can access forms through forms collection or directly by form's name

[tikker]

a bit of a late reply, but maybe ithelp someone else 😉

maybe you could try using another hidden field in each form ie

in form 1

<input type="hidden" name="form_prev" value="form_prev_chosen">

in form 2

<input type="hidden" name="form_next" value="form_next_chosen">

then in your next page chakc for the values of $form_next and $form_prev

if(!empty($form_prev))
{
printf("%s", $form_prev);
}
else
if(!empty($form_next)
{
printf("%s", $form_next)
}
else
printf("no form chosen!);

greetz