Dumb form question. To see if a field is blank

jbh

Hello, I can't find it in the php manual

What is the easiest way, assuming your form is dynamic and you do not know all of the field names, to check if any field was not filled out?

I can't recall how to do this

Thanks. I have a dynamic form and every field must be filled out

dalecosp

How is it you don't know your field names....??

cgraz

well assuming your method on your form is set to post, upon submission, you have access to the array $_POST

you could use count() on $_POST to see how many fields were filled out, and compare that with how many there are. You could loop through the array using a for loop (which would only return values that were filled in), and use trim() to make sure what they entered wasn't just a space.

Cgraz

jbh

Because it's a very dynamic script

I know the potential fields, but they choose how many fields they have to enter. It can be 2 or 20

So I need to just be able to say "Ok, I don't know how many fields are there, but I know at least one is not filled"

is this possible? If so, how? I can't find it at the manual or online

jbh

Cgraz>>Thanks, but how do I do that? I am on php 4.05 now but will later upload to 4.3.0. Will those 2 different versions matter?

I never used this method before

Tx for the reply

cgraz

well when you build it dynamically, get a count for however many fields there are, and pass it using a hidden input or in the url to your processing page. On that page, get a count for $POST and compare it to your original count.

echo "Should be " . $_POST['original_count'] . " fields filled in.<br>";
echo "You filled out " . (count($_POST) - 1) . " fields<br>";

if((count($_POST) - 1) == $_POST['original_count']) {
   echo "All fields were filled out";
} else {
   echo "You didn't fill out all the fields";
}

Where original_count was passed as a hidden field (would equal how many form fields you created dynamically). Notice I subtracted 1 from that count. That's because if you pass your original count, that's one more value being passed that you don't want to include. Another solution is to just pass the original count in the url, then you wouldn't have to subtract 1, but keep in mind people could easily change the variable in the url then refresh.

Cgraz

jbh

I am a bit confused

What php version is this for?

I am testing on 4.0.5 now and get -1

I tried http_post_vars

I can't do something like
If (!HTTP_POST_VARS)
or
IF (!_POST)

Not to be rude, i am curious

Thanks. I want this script working on pre and post 4.2 so I have to play it safe

cgraz

$_POST

Note: Introduced in 4.1.0. In earlier versions, use $HTTP_POST_VARS. (link)

For 4.05, use $HTTP_POST_VARS. For 4.1.0 or newer, use $_POST

Cgraz

jbh

I have to see why I am getting -1

Thanks

cgraz

$POST is returning 0 for some reason, then when you subtract 1 from it, you're getting -1. Check the method on your form is set to post, make sure you change $POST to $HTTP_POST_VARS (or else you'll get 0 since $_POST is for a newer version than you are using).

Cgraz

jbh

Yeah, I can't get this to work

Is there any other solution, or is this just it?
I can't believe no site has an example or a message board post. Guess it is a rare request

Thanks

cgraz

There's more than one way to skin a cat. Tell me how you're creating your fields dynamically. Are you pulling from a database? Post some of your code (please put between [ p h p ] and [ / p h p ] tags (minus the spaces)). Post your form, and give any other info that would help. As for the code you'er using now, it's probably just a small mistake. I'd give it another try before giving up on it.

Cgraz

jbh

What is strange is on 4.3+ I tried your code and get:
Should be 6 fields filled in.
You filled out 7 fields
You didn't fill out all the fields

Strange

And when I fill them out I get that error too

jbh

Thanks, by the way

Ok, I am doing this to make my form dynamic: ($neededboxes is the # of questions they fill out, but each question has a response they must fill out (long story lol) then it goes in a db.

The total count of all fields is always $needboxes * 2 + 2 after that

That I know for sure



If ($neededboxes > "10")
{
toomany();
exit;
}

If (!$neededboxes){
errorresponse();
exit;
}

$limitofboxes = "$neededboxes";
$a = $limitofboxes;

echo "<form action=\"response2.php\" method = \"post\" name = \"example\">";
echo "Headline For Objection Popup: <br><input type =\"text\" name =\"headline1\" value=>";
echo "<br><br>Headline For Objection Response Page: <br><input type =\"text\" name =\"headline2\" value=><br><br>";
$neededboxes = "1";
while ($neededboxes <= $a)
{
$an = "0";
$x = $neededboxes + $an;

echo "Objection $neededboxes <br><input type =\"text\" name =\"question$x\" value=><br><br>Response For Objection $neededboxes:<br><textarea rows=\"6\" name =\"answer$x\" cols=\"40\"></textarea><br><br>";
$neededboxes++;
}
$two = "2";
$twotimes = $two * $x;
$total = $twotimes + $two;
echo "<input type =\"hidden\" name=\"total\" value =\"$total\">";
echo "<input type =\"submit\" name=\"submit\" value=\"Continue\">";