Need help with Multi-Page Form

[mbeem]

I am trying to write a multi-page form that submits data to a MySQL table. The first form, the user logs in and a cookie is set. It then prints a form where they select a state and record type to submit. After they hit the submit button, it prints the appproriate form, according to state and record type selected. Everything works fine up until this point. This last form is itself a multi-part form, as the user can upload a photo if they want. The problem I'm having is that when the form is filled out w/o a photo to upload, and the form is submitted, for some reason the value associated with the submit button isn't working. Here's the relevant code. Can anyone help me figure out why this form isn't working??

From form.php (prints the form)

<form action="<?=$PHP_SELF?>" enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post">
form stuff...blah blah blah
<input type="submit" name="action" value="Preview"> &nbsp; <input type="submit" name="action" value="Add Record!"> &nbsp;<input type="reset">
</form>

From post.php (adds records to the database):

if (!isset ($_COOKIE["Logged"])) {
include('logme.php');
}

else {
if (isset ($action)) {
if ($action == "Next") {
switch ($type) {
case D:
include('death_form.php');
break;
case M:
include ('marriage_form.php');
break;
case B:
include ('birth_form.php');
break;
}
}
if ($action == "Add Record!") {
switch ($type) {
case D:
include('insert_d_record.php');
break;
case M:
include ('insert_m_record.php');
break;
case B:
include ('insert_b_record.php');
break;
}
}
}

[acidbox]

try replacing this:

<form action="<?=$PHP_SELF?>" enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post">

with this:

<form action="<? echo($PHP_SELF); ?>" enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post">

[Weedpacket]

Does using $_POST['action'] instead of $action, etc., work instead?

Could you be a bit clearer about what you mean by

The problem I'm having is that when the form is filled out w/o a photo to upload, and the form is submitted, for some reason the value associated with the submit button isn't working.

Does it work with a photo? When it doesn't work, what does it do instead?

Try this: immediately after the else { (and before the if(!isset($action)) (or if(!isset($_POST['action']))), echo the variables out to see if they contain what they should. Doing that often gives a clue as to what's going wrong.

[mbeem]

I've tried both of your suggestions, neither of which works. When I click the "Add Record!" button, the action var isn't being set. Instead of going to the loop which inserts the record into the database, it goes to the loop which prints the first page of the form. The action value shown on the echo statement "Null", but my "logged in" var, which is set by a cookie, is still getting carried.

I haven't tried uploading a file yet. That part isn't coded, but I'm not so sure it would make a difference w/o the action var working right. Clicking on the "Preview" button instead of the "Add Record!" button does the same thing...action is "Null"😕

[ranam]

Have you tried changing the names of the submit buttons? Make one action1 and the other action2 and modify your code accordingly.

[Weedpacket]

Originally posted by mbeem
I've tried both of your suggestions, neither of which works. When I click the "Add Record!" button, the action var isn't being set.

You mean $POST['action'] is empty? do a print_r($POST) and see what it does contain.

ranam: changing the submit buttons' names won't make a difference: only the submit button that is click has its value returned. It could be a good idea though, but for a different reason:
Give the submit buttons meaningful names, like 'preview_submit' or 'next_submit'. Then, in the processing script, one need only check that $POST['preview_submit']!='' or $POST['next_submit']!='' etc., to know which button was clicked.
The improvement comes because you're then free to make cosmetic changes to the submit button's value (perhaps even dynamically) without having to change the action script as well.

[mbeem]

I've narrowed the problem down to the <form> tag, specifically the enctype="multipart/form-data" part. If that part is taken out, the script works as expected. Put it back in, the print_r($_POST) function gives the following:

Array ( )

I'm converting this website from Perl to PHP, so maybe I'm missing something in PHP that I didn't have to do in Perl when it comes to a multipart form. Any ideas?

[Weedpacket]

Hm. Curious. Wild guess: is file_uploads switched Off in your php.ini?

Another wild guess - is there a server between the client and the server that might be blocking file transfers?

[mbeem]

file_uploads has "no value" for both local and master. I'll get with my sys admin and see if that can be turned on.

I don't think there's another server involved. Right now I'm the client, and I've never had a problem with the file upload with the Perl version of the script.

[mbeem]

Changing the file uploads in the php.ini file seems to have done the trick. Thanks!