why won't this work?

wil831

this code is in the file name.php:


<?php
function ask_name() {
	echo "<form action=\"name.php\" method=\"post\">
	<table>
	<tr><td><b>Your name:</b></td><td><input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" size=\"30\" maxlength=\"30\"></td></tr>
	</table>
	<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"op\" value=\"show_name\">	
	<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\">
	</form>";

}

function show_name($name) {
	echo "Your name is $name";
}


switch($op) {

case "show_name":
show_name($name);
break;

default:
ask_name();
break;
}

?>

thessoro

maybe you should post what is the exact problem with that code... but i'll try to guess. Check if you have register_globals disabled in your php.ini. In that case pick variables passed via POST (like $name in the form) using $_POST['name'].

i mean:

switch($_POST['op']) {

case "show_name":
show_name($_POST['name']);
break;

wil831

hey thessoro thanks!
i turned register_globals on and it works now... what is this for? should i have it off and code differently?

thessoro

You can do what you want, but as new versions of PHP disable register_globals by default it will be very common to find PHP hosting services in which register_globals is in fact disabled. There is a security reason for disabling this option: the user won't be able to potentially interfere the running of a script by modifing the url and sending variables that could burst our code.
Check the differences:

<?
if ($hasbeensubmitted) register_the_user();
else {
?>
<form action=page.php method=POST>
  <input type=submit name=hasbeensubmitted value=submit>
</form>
<?
}
?>

if any user in a browser writes "page.php?hasbeensubmitted=true" they will have skipped the form. Disabling register_globals this trick doesn't work, as you would have written your script this way:

<?
if ($_POST['hasbeensubmitted']) register_the_user();
else {
?>
<form action=page.php method=POST>
  <input type=submit name=hasbeensubmitted value=submit>
</form>
<?
}
?>

if the users write page.php?hasbeensubmitted=true this value can be picked up using $_GET['hasbeensubmitted'] but will not affect the current script.
If my explanations are confusing, or for further information check out the manual.