Form input question

[Sharif]

Would this work:

	//Add slashes to all the form fields
	foreach ($_POST as $key=>$value) 
	{ 
		$_POST[$key] = htmlspecialchars(addslashes(trim($value)));
	}
//Variables that hold data to be inserted into database
$username = $_POST['username'];
$name1 = $_POST['first_name'];
$name2 = $_POST['last_name'];
$a1 = $_POST['address1'];

What I mean is if I do foreach() for the $POST variable to add slashes to the form input, and then I declare variables that hold $POST, would the variables hold the original value of $_POST or the value after the foreach()? Thank you for any help.

[sarahk]

that should work fine.

I don't know how valid a concern this actually is (am I showing my age?) but I never alter input parameters eg $_POST but would create a new variable (array in this case) with the altered values and use that when updating the database.

[Sharif]

Can you give an example?

[sarahk]

//Add slashes to all the form fields 
$myPostVars = array();
    foreach ($_POST as $key=>$value)  

    {  

        $myPostVars[$key] = htmlspecialchars(addslashes(trim($value))); 
    } 
//Variables that hold data to be inserted into database 
$username = $myPostVars['username']; 
$name1 = $myPostVars['first_name']; 
$name2 = $myPostVars['last_name']; 
$a1 = $myPostVars['address1'];

[Sharif]

Oh I see it now. Are there any negatives to doing it the way I do?

[sarahk]

You'll never be able to get the original value if later you decide you need it with any of the extra stuff in.

[Sharif]

Oh well I do the code I originally posted right before I insert into the database. Thanks for all your help.