setting a variable?

greenber

I have a variable, called "answer", that comes from a <select>

Howdo I set a PHP variable, called $answer, to the answer variable without form submission?

Thanks!

Ross

njm

Ross,

Bit confused about what you're asking.
If the user doesn't submit the form back to the server, how does PHP get to know what the variable is? Or have I misunderstood?

hth, njm

LordShryku

If you want to do it without submission, better look at javascript. In order for PHP to handle it, it needs to get back to the server somehow.

greenber

In the current code, if I stick '$answer="xxx";' in, all rorks well. I just don't know how to get document.form1.answer.value into $answer.....

Ross

bubblenut

You can't get a form variable into a php variable without re-loading the page in some way. This is usually done by the user submiting the form. However you can have a bit of javascript do this for you so, to the user at least, it seems as though the form has not been submited.

It may also be an idea to look into the differences between things happening server side (php) and things happening client side(js, html)
HTH
Bubble

greenber

The problem is/was: when the page (two layers, each with a form) was submitted (layer one), it acted as if the submit button had been hit on layer two. When I put a return false in the onclick, all works well -- except the variables, of course, are not set.

Try http://www.jewishtreasures.com/tt.php, and when you submit the answer on layer1, layer2 pops up. Your answer should be where the () are.

Ross

kellog

I either need to see the page (your web server reports it's missing) or your code before I can help you more. Are you trying to fill in fields on the 2nd layer with values from the 1st layer?

Originally posted by greenber
The problem is/was: when the page (two layers, each with a form) was submitted (layer one), it acted as if the submit button had been hit on layer two. When I put a return false in the onclick, all works well -- except the variables, of course, are not set.

Try http://www.jewishtreasures.com/tt.php, and when you submit the answer on layer1, layer2 pops up. Your answer should be wher the () are.

Ross

greenber

The damned comma was part of the URL!!

Try this:

http://www.jewishtreasures.com/tt.php

And, yes: the answer to the <select> in layer1 I need to access in Layer2's PHP.....

Ross

kellog

Ahh, now I understand. OK, I believe that your problem is that your using 2 submit buttons for the same form. Try making both submit elements buttons instead, and using javascript to submit the form. Somehting like:
<input onclick="document.form.sumbit();" type="button" name="Submit" value="Answer">
Although, you may need to look that up, I'm pretty sure the syntax for the javascript isn't right. So, give both button the same name, but different values (such as name=Submit, and values = continue and answer.) Then, you can use the value of $POST["Submit"] to control the page, like, if $POST["Submit"] != "Answer { display layer 1 only and not layer 2 } etc.

Originally posted by greenber
The damned comma was part of the URL!!

Try this:

http://www.jewishtreasures.com/tt.php

And, yes: the answer to the <select> in layer1 I need to access in Layer2's PHP.....

Ross

greenber

Alas, that did not work.

If I change action="" to an external page all works well.

This is frustrating!

kellog

Post your code. The whole thing.

Originally posted by greenber
Alas, that did not work.

If I change action="" to an external page all works well.

This is frustrating!

greenber

There has to be a way to set a PHP variable ($answer, used in layer2) to a form value (answer) set in layer1......

greenber

Here's the code.

kellog

I think I now understand what your trying to do, but your doing it in a very complicated way. You could simplify this and use alot less javascript by doing something like this:

<html>
<head>
	<title>Untitled</title>
</head>

<body>

<? function Form() { ?>
<form action="ThisPage.php" name="TheForm" method="post">
<table>
	<tr>
		<td colspan="2">The question</td>
	</tr>

<tr>
	<td>Option 1</td>
	<td>Option 2</td>
</tr>

<tr>
	<td>Option 3</td>
	<td>Option 4</td>
</tr>

<tr>
	<td colspan="2" align="center">
		<select name="SelectBox" onchange="document.TheForm.submit;">
		<option value="A">A
		<option value="B">B
		<option value="C">C
		<option value="D">D
		</select>
	</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
<?
}

if ($_POST['SelectBox']) //If something hasn't been selected, then the default form is displayed
{
	if ($_POST['SelectBox'] == "B")
	{
		//display that the answer was right
	}
	else
	{
		?>
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>That answer was not right, yada yada yada...</td>
			</tr>

		<tr>
			<td><a href="ThisPage.php">Continue</a></td>
		</tr>
	</table>
	<?
}
}
else
{
	Form();
}
?>
</body>
</html>

When the page first loads, $POST['SelectBox'] is null, so Form() is called, which displays the question. Once the person chooses an answer, the form is submitted to the same page, but this time $POST['SelectBox'] is equal to what they selected. If the answer is right, a message is displayed, and you can have the person move on from there. If it is wrong, a message is displayed, and when you click continue, the page is loaded again, and this process starts over.

greenber

UUUUUUUgggggggg!!

What's that horrible smell?

Oh it must be Greenberg's Feces-For-Brains.

Haven't solved the problem entirely yet, but know how to.

Let's see if I'm the sole generator of that horrid odor:

Current code:

OnLoad, Hide Layer2, open a mySQL database and pull a random record. The record consists of a trivia question, four potential answers, an indicator for the correct answer (not shown), and an award %, to be awarded if the answer entered, below, was correct. Display this on Layer1.

A <select> has an A,B.C,D choice and a submit button. The answer is shored in "answer", the action is "". When the form is submitted, I hide Layer1 and show Layer2. Layer2 displays the question, the correct answer, your status and, if correct, your award. There is a continue button, when clicked it hides layer 1 and 2, then starts again.

The problem was that it appeared as soon as layer1's submit was hit, layer2 popped up for a brief second, then it and the question on layer1 disappeared and a new question and its answers showed up.

By sticking a "return false" in layer 1's Onclick, the clearing problem was resolved, but the data in the <select> was never making it to layer2. Hence the title of this thread. If the action on the submit was to an external php, all was right with the world.

Okay, all the clues are there. Did you find the bug?

Hints: Killing the submit killed the apparent problem but caused other problems. Action="something.php" worked whereas Action="" did not.

Answer: look at what I did on my OnLoad. Clear Layer1&2, generate a new question and display it on Layer1, get the answer, display layer2, and wait for a click. Except this form is self-submitting (action="") and as soon as you submitted, it immediately called the OnLoad, which cleared the screen. And so on, forever.

Yup, that icky smell is the feces-for-brains I have to live with.

Thanks all for your attempts to help and sorry to have wasted so many people's time.

Grumpily, with tail between legs,

Ross