isset to validate large text box

philosophia

i'm using the following code to validate 2 large text boxes. the text boxes are 600 word essays. if an essay has been not been submitted, i'd like to increment the error count.


   if (!isset($mjp_essay1))


   {

$errors = $errors+1;

   }

                    // check essay1 length is ok

if (!isset($mjp_essay2)) 
   {
	$errors = $errors+1;
   }

this doesn't seem to be working. the essays have definitely been submitted and exist in the db, but the error count is still being incremented. am i going about this the right way?

thanks
philosophia

edwardsbc

What do you mean 'exist in the db'. If they exist in the db why bother testing these variables.

As for the problem, are these GET or POSTed variables? Have you tried $_POST['mjp_essay1']? How do you know $mjp_essay1 is set, have you printed it?

You do appear to be using [man]isset/man properly.

philosophia

Originally posted by edwardsbc
What do you mean 'exist in the db'. If they exist in the db why bother testing these variables.

As for the problem, are these GET or POSTed variables? Have you tried $_POST['mjp_essay1']? How do you know $mjp_essay1 is set, have you printed it?

You do appear to be using [man]isset/man properly.

by 'exist in the db' i mean that the user has already submitted his essay using this text field (i'm using the 'text' data type).

in this case, i've already submitted an essay myself so that's why i'm saying it already exists. if someone has not filled out his essay question, i'd like to increment the error count.

i've changed the code to

               // check essay1

   if ($_POST['mjp_essay1'])

   {

$errors = $errors+1;

   }

                       // check essay2

if ($_POST['mjp_essay2']) 

   {

$errors = $errors+1;

   }

but it still seems to be incrementing the error count. am i doing something wrong?

zalath

Ehh.... if it's already in the database, isn't it a bit late to validate it, as data is supposed to be validated before storing? if it's in a mysql database, you can't possibly access it via GET or POST variables unless those variables are populated somehow from the database.

If, however, you mean to say that the data has been submitted, you might consider checking $_POST['mjp_essay1'] against a null or blank value (which in my opinion would be the smart thing to do) and then increment the error count. You are using a POST form, aren't you, as two 600 word essays in a GET URL spells a B, an A and a D right before the word 'idea'.