actioning file without changing page

[unclecurio]

I'm still quite new to php hence I've posted this under Newbies rather than Coding as I'm sure it's quite an elementary problem...

I'm looking to process a form where the user will enter details of a site which will be sent to a second .php file which actions the request and inserts a record into a database (a wrapper, essentially).

I want the submission script to act in the background without the page visibly changing but am unsure on how to do this. The only way I've learned how to process forms is to move from the form page to the processing page but I don't know how to action a second page without actually moving the browser to that page.

I suspect that include() might be the answer here but am unsure of how to apply it - the example in the manual doesn't really help (or at least I don't understand it well enough). Does the include() go in the form action tag?

Any help much appreciated!

[HalfaBee]

You have to submit the form in the normal way. You can always just open the same page up again with all the fields filled in by PHP..

HalfaBee

[epimeth]

yea, just set the action to be whatever page you are in now, and put the php code that gets all the form variables at the top of that page...

[tbach2]

By far the easiest and most cross-browser solution is exactly what HalfaBee said. In NN7 you won't even see the page reload, if nothing has changed in the display (course, that would make your user think that nothing has happened, and he'll keep submitting untill he gets angry enough to leave your site...🙁 )

That being said, there are other ways to approach the problem: do a search on 'remote scripting'. There are several ways to do it, but beware: not all browsers support these methods. And, as they stand right now, they're likely to confuse the heck out of you.

I have my own personal favorite 🆒 but it only works in the latest browsers.