$_POST[var] versus $var - can't I get the latter?

climbingboulder

In reading the docs and example code, I thought if I have a script that posts variables (say <INPUT TYPE=text NAME=var VALUE="7"> to a php script, that I can reference them via
echo "You picked $var";

however, the variable doesn't come through. In order for it to print, I have to put:
echo "You picked $_POST[var]";
which is not nearly as neat.... how can I get my php scripts to recognize posted variables as simply the variable name with a $ in front of them?

merkinmuffley

This is the result of a PHP configuration option called register_globals. This is what controls whether or not variables will be created in the manner you say you expect them. A good place to start learning about it would be the manual pages on PHP variables:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.variables.php

tha_mink

If you don't want to change this and are too lazy to use it...you can do this at top and bottom of your php scripts.

ini_set("register_globals", 1);

good luck with all that

tha_mink

MrAlaska

The default setting of register globals was turned off for security purposes, but it is good practice to explicitly declare all expected variables through their respective arrays in any case.

The 'clean' method would be to declare the variable at the beginning of the script:

if ( isset($POST['var'])) {
$var=$POST['var'];
} else $var="";

There are of course many work arounds, such as using extract(), but the above method is the one I would recommend even though it does entail a few more lines of code.

climbingboulder

Thanks for the comments. However...
1) in php.ini, I have: register_globals = On
2) using ini_set("register_globals", 1); does not work.

3) I could use the loop... but the script that I'm working with is very simple, and it actually came straight from a book! Plus, I am able to get this to work on another server running 4.1.2.

I should note that the server is apache 1.3.26 with php 4.2.3. In most php scripts I see this simple notation...

tha_mink

Ok...well try this...

reset($HTTP_GET_VARS);
while(list($key, $val) = each($HTTP_GET_VARS)) {
$$key = $val;
}
reset($HTTP_POST_VARS);
while(list($key, $val) = each($HTTP_POST_VARS)) {
$$key = $val;
}

This will sort of register your globals manually.

merkinmuffley

re: tha_mink's reply,

ini_set("register_globals", 1);

should never have any effect. If the manual is correct, register_globals can't be set using ini_set(); it can only be set in php.ini, httpd.conf, or a .htaccess file.

so back to the original question... maybe register_globals is set in an .htaccess file somewhere that's overriding the setting in php.ini. it sure sounds from your description like register_globals is off...
have you tried turning error reporting all the way up and seeing if there are any warnings, etc? try putting this line at the top of the script:

error_reporting (E_ALL);

7khat

A similarly related question:

Is there any global that references the variables from the URL for either Get or Post.

In troubleshooting I use GET a lot, where the finished product will be POST.

I'd hate to have to go through my script and change all the GET to POST and back again everytime I just want to change my send method from POST to GET temporarily for troubleshooting.

climbingboulder

Thanks for the feedback. I should have thought of it, but I added phpinfo() to the script. Sure enough:
register_globals Off Off

However, like I said, /usr/local/bin/php.ini has
register_globals = On
I restarted apache just to make sure, but that had no change. no .htaccess files anywhere in the file path, and nothing in httpd.conf (that I could recognize, at least) as having to do with turning that off.

So, it looks like my problem is that php.ini says register_globals is on, but for some reason the script isn't taking it that way.

Thoughts?

tha_mink

could be that php isn't looking for php.ini where you think it is.
Make sure php is using the php.ini that you are looking at

MrAlaska

Originally posted by 7khat
A similarly related question:

Is there any global that references the variables from the URL for either Get or Post.

In troubleshooting I use GET a lot, where the finished product will be POST.

I'd hate to have to go through my script and change all the GET to POST and back again everytime I just want to change my send method from POST to GET temporarily for troubleshooting.

The $REQUEST global includes all the $GET, $POST, $COOKIE and $_FILES variables, but it is only available on in versions 4.1.0+ and there is no HTTP_REQUEST_VARS equivalent array.

So if you have a later version of PHP you can use $_REQUEST to assign either a POST or GET variable. Just need to be cautious of naming conflicts is all.

climbingboulder

Ah! Duh, I learned how to tell where php looks for php.ini.... in my case, not /usr/local/bin but /usr/local/lib. I moved php.ini, restarted apache, and voila! globals are on!

Thanks for the help.