sending variables using header(Location)

Anon

Hello,

I am building a two page form, and trying to get the variables from page 1 to pass to page 2. I thought this was something simple, but maybe not.

page1.php uses $PHP_SELF to validate the form. Once all required form fields are filled in, it uses header("Location: page2.php") to go to the second page of the form. I want page2.php to remember all the variables from page1.php. I've included hidden inputs on page2.php, but this doesn't work - they all have a null value. I've had sucess appending the variable names to the header redirect (Location: page2.php?name=$name) etc, but there are nearly 20 variables in the first page, so I'd rather not do it this way.

Is there a way to do this without using cookies or session variables? Do hidden imputs not work with header(Location)?

Thank you in advance,
Jenny

Anon

I'm not clear on why you would use header(Location) in a form. The variables in the <hidden> tags (end every form tag) are only passed on with the submit button.

Anon

the header() function cannot fake a POST request, if you must use the header() function then you must urlencode() your data and pass in along the URL (faking a GET request). your variables will be available on the other side in the $_GET array (but they must be urldecoded).

I don't know the logical flow of your script but it is usually not necessary to use the header() function. Just put your data in hidden values and pass it to your form processing page (via the "action" tage of your form).

Anon

Hi,

Thank you so much for responding. I am new to PHP, so this may be a dumb question, but how do I move through pages without header(Location)?

Right now on page1.php I'm using form action=$PHP_SELF, so as to keep the user on that page until all required fields are filled in. If I were to use form action: process_page1.php, what action would be used on this page to send the user back to page1.php if the form is incomplete or send them on to page2.php if the form is complete?

Thank you!