values not saved with multiple forms

glc650

I have two .php files -- the first processes the required fields and the second processes some additional validation after all required fields have been completed.

Ran a search on this forum and tried serveral suggestions, but no luck. My values either won't be passed on the the second .php file or they are lost after hitting submit a couple/few times to make corrections.

What am I doing wrong?

rrijnders

code...

glc650

I've tried

<?php session_start(); ?>

on the first .php file and

for each value that needs to be passed. Neither works. I'd rather not use session b/c the users may need to use the back button.

The way it works is when the .htm page is filled out and submitted, the first .php file is used to process the required fields. After the required fields are all complete, the second .php file does further validation (verify email, etc.).

rrijnders

I would need to see the code of the first php program. You say it validates input but you don't say how it is calling the second php program. Therein will be your problem. Post the code and we will look at it.

-- Rich

glc650

Thanks for replying again.

After discovering more problems and banging my exhausted head against the wall yet again today🙂, I decided to start from scratch. I'm thinking maybe it would be best to process the required fields AND secondary validation under one .php file, especially since I have many fields. I re-did the .htm file, but it's too large to post the here, so here's a live link:

http://www.megapathdsl.net/~gclare/form/form.htm

Here's what I want to do:

All of the fields need to be required except for the "Other/Comments" textarea at very bottom.

I would like "form.php" to handle all of the processing (required fields and secondary validation). The secondary validation just (for now anyway) needs to validate the email address ($email) and phone number ($phone).

Regular Expressions:
For $email:
eregi("^{[a-z0-9-]+(.[a-z0-9-]+)@[a-z0-9-]+).[a-z0-9-]+)*$",$email)}

For $phone:
ereg("[[:digit:]]{10}",$phone)

I would also like the processing errors to be shown on the form while the correct entries are displayed.

Required Fields:
http://www.megapathdsl.net/~gclare/form/req.htm

Invalid Fields:
http://www.megapathdsl.net/~gclare/form/val.htm

I hope that all makes sense, it's been a long day.🙂

Much thanks for the help...

rrijnders

Well, putting all the validation on the same page eliminates the problem of your original post. Putting the form, itself, in the same script or in an include()ed file will also simplify your coding.

The validations are straight forward. The logic will be:

<?PHP
 $form_errors = validate_fields();
 if(!$form_errors) {
  // process form
  process_form();
  header("Location: nextpage.php");
 }
 else {
  //redisplay form with errors
  include("form.inc");
  print $form_errors;
 }
?>

I think you are only going to get stuck trying to redisplay the form with errors and their original values. The trick is to use the VALUE attribute of the form field tags, like so:

print "<INPUT TYPE='TEXT' NAME='myTextField' VALUE='" . $myTextField . "'>";

This will repopulate the form field with the value that was previously submitted.

HTH
-- Rich

glc650

How do I put the form in the same script? Do I just make a copy of the .htm file, rename it to .php, and insert the validation somewhere inside?

Richard A. Rijnders wrote:

Not sure I follow. What else do I need to perform validation? Do I need some more lines after or before this?

Richard A. Rijnders wrote:

The validations are straight forward. The logic will be:

Were do I insert this line -- in the .php or .htm file? Does it need to be enclosed with <?php & ?>? And each value ($name, $email, $phone, etc., etc.) needs a similar line, correct?

Richard A. Rijnders wrote:

I think you are only going to get stuck trying to redisplay the form with errors and their original values. The trick is to use the VALUE attribute of the form field tags, like so:

print "<INPUT TYPE='TEXT' NAME='myTextField' VALUE='" . $myTextField . "'>";

This will repopulate the form field with the value that was previously submitted.

glc650

Well, it looks like I get everything working the way I wanted, even repopulating the erroneous fields and correct fields.🙂 The only thing I need to do now is redirect to another page (success.htm) when the form is submitted successfully without missing/invalid fields. How do I do this without using:

header("Location: whatever");

???

Thanks, and I really appreciate the help.

rrijnders

Why don't you want to use the header("Location: xxx") command? It is the preferred method of re-directing the browser to another page and it will save you the "multiple submit" hastle if the user presses the refresh button.

-- Rich

glc650

Can't get it to work, something about headers already been passed.

glc650

Fooled with it a while this morning, and still can't get it to work. Is the header method the only way to do a redirect? Is this all the code I need:

header("Location: success.htm")

???

glc650

Here's the warning I always get:

Warning: Cannot add header information - headers already sent by (output started at /a/home/removed_for_security.php:5) in /a/home/removed_for_security.php on line 151