Variables pass to next form empty

[greg_soulsby]

I am attemptng get php working for the first time using forms I copied from a book. You enter details into a form in sign.php and they are processed by create_entry.php

The forms hang together fine, and create_entry.php even updates the mysql database as it is supposed to. However the fields entered in sign.php do not have values in create_entry.php code.

I modified sign.php to method=get so that the values from sign.php could be seen in the passing url. They are in the URL correctly but when I try to use them in the php code of the second form they are empty.

Notes that may be helpful

a) windows 2k pro machine

b) running Foxserv version of Appache, PHP and mysql, so I think they are the latest

c) In the URL it looks like "Sign!" had the value "Sign%21". Is this normal? Do you get the value "Sign!" when you use the variable in your code?

d) forms cut and paist below, including my weak debugging code

SIGN.PHP
<?php include("dbconnect.php"); ?>

<h2>Sign my Guest Book!!!</h2>

<form method=get action="create_entry.php">

<b>Name:</b>
<input type=text size=40 name=name>
<br>
<b>Location:</b>
<input type=text size=40 name=location>
<br>
<b>Email:</b>
<input type=text size=40 name=email>
<br>
<b>Home Page URL:</b>
<input type=text size=40 name=url>
<br>
<b>Comments:</b>
<textarea name=comments cols=40 rows=4 wrap=virtual></textarea>
<br>

<input type=submit name=submit value="Sign!">
<input type=reset name=reset value="Start Over">

</form>

CREATE ENTRY.PHP
<?php include("dbconnect.php"); ?>
<?php
$submit = "Signy";
if ($submit == "Signx")
{ print "<b>Sign! from dbconnect</b>";
$query = "insert into guestbook "
." (name,location,email,url,comments) values "
."('$name', '$location', '$email', '$url', '$comments')"
;
mysql_query($query);
print "name";
print $name;

?>
<h2>Thanks from dbconenct!!</h2>
<h2><a href="view.php">View My Guest Book!!!</a></h2>
<?php
}
else
{ $a = "AAAA";
print $a;
print $submit;
print "<b>Else in dbconnect</b>";
include("sign.php");
}
?>

[MrAlaska]

Assuming your Signy and Signx things are debugging stuff, I don't understand what isn't working. You say it is getting inserted into the database properly? That means you have a handle on the variables. Is name not echoing for you in this snippet?

Echoing back your query will often be illuminating, also. Try print $query and compare it to the variables you are trying to print.

[greg_soulsby]

Thanks for the quick response. A must stand for Ace.

The printed query string is

insert into guestbook (name,location,email,url,comments) values ('', '', '', '', '')

To clarify, the insert into mssql table is working only in that the record is created (but the values are null).

While surfing around I have come accross a comment about "gobal variables". When using a variable, under what conditions is it available to other modules? The assumption with my code is that every variable used is available to every other piece of code. It would seem better practice to not use globals, or at least be forced to declare them as such.

[MrAlaska]

You can find out more about global variables at the PHP site:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.variables.predefined.php

By default globals are turned off for security reasons since version 4.1. You code assumes global variables are turned on, and in light of your SQL query it would indeed appear to be your problem.

The best way, I think, to deal with the issue is to collect your variables at the beginning of the page i.e.

$my_var=$HTTP_POST_VARS['my_var'];
or
$var=$POST['var'] if you have a recent version of PHP
or
$var=$GET['var'] if you are posting with the GET method

All the predefined variables can be gathered this way, including the $SERVER , $COOKIE, etc. variables
http://www.php.net/manual/en/reserved.variables.php

[siwis]

To use your variables undeclared, the php.ini setting "Register_Globals" must be set to ON. Without this (you can discover the setting by dropping a single line php file into the directory and calling it via your browser, the line of code required inside that file being -

<?PHP echo phpinfo(); ?>

)

If the setting is OFF then you will need to assign the variables passed by either GET or POST to suitable variable names;

$name = $HTTP_POST_VARS['name'];

or substitute GET depending upon which method you are using.

The only other thing I would suggest is to avoid using special characters like the ! in your submit value. The reason it was changed to %21 is that that is the character code for !.

From what I see of your code snippey, $submit would always be assigned a value of "Signy" so how would "if ($submit == "Signx")"
ever be true????

I'd be tempted to check for the existence of $submit -

<?PHP
if (isset($submit)) {
	if ($submit == "Sign") {
		// process data
	} else {
		// issue error message
	};
} else{
echo "This script will not work without data!";
};
?>

Once your script knows that $submit exists, you can then check against the value of it to decide what the script does. (If it doesn't submit, you could always use the headers function to redirect the user to the form page.

[greg_soulsby]

Thanks Mr A for Ace.

The links were realy helpful. My book is obviously from an earlier version - I will have to alter all the code.

Greg

[MrAlaska]

Don't make it too hard on yourself! This little snippet at the top of a page collecting post variables will re-asign them all for you. If you have an included header page you can put this there and it means only changing the code on ONE page:

<?php
foreach($_POST as $key => $val){
	$$key=$val;
}
?>

This one will grab all POST, GET, COOKIE and FILES

<?php
foreach($_REQUEST as $key => $val){
	$$key=$val;
}
?>

You get the idea, anyway. The variable variable $$key will rename itself to whatever you sent to the page and asign itself the same value.