Creating a registration form

[tickled_pink]

I'm currently working on my first PHP project but not sure how to add the functionality I want. I'm creating a user registration form which will store information onto a MySQL database. While I understand the basic principles of the language (having done C/C++ and Java obviously helps) there's a few things that are giving me problems.

I have been able to create a form and use PHP to act upon the information received but I want to extend it a bit. What I'd like to be able to do is check some of the fields on the form for errors before it gets accepted and stored onto the database. If there are errors then the form should be redisplayed, with the fields filled in with the values that have been entered by the user, and the errors highlighted to assist the user in correcting the problems.

Something else I need to have explained to me is, apart from the <form action="something.php"> method of calling an external PHP or HTML file, what other ways of doing it are there?

[tomwerner]

both php and javascript are up to the job. PHP is probably better because it is being done server-side which allows a more professional page showing any errors being returned. Have a look at this over @ PHP monkey : http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/99/21/index4a_page3.html?tw=programming. You could also try a search on these forums looking for something like 'form validation'. Hope this helps