help with form that is not working correctly

thebaxter

hello,

i was wondering why the information from the form i created wont go into my mysql DB. here is the code:

//======================================================\\
//News Form
//======================================================\\

function newsForm() {


?>
<div class="adminMenu2">
	<form method="post" action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?>">
	<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="postNewsItem">
	<table width="300" align="left" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="0">
		<tr>
			<td class="td1">
			Title:
			<br>
			<input type="textfield" name="newsSubject"  class="textBox"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="td1">
			Link:
			<br>
			<input type="textfield" name="newsLink"  class="textBox"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td width="100" class="td1">
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="art">Art
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="fashion">Fashion
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="internalUpdates">Internal Updates
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="music">Music
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="other">Other
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="politics">Politics
			<br>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="td1">
			News:
			<br>
			<textarea name="newsPost" rows="25" class="textBox"></textarea>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<input type="submit" name="submit" value="POST NEWS">
			<input type="reset" name="clear" value="CLEAN ENTRY">
			</td>
		</tr>

</table>
</form>
</div>
	<?
}

//======================================================\\
// POST THE NEWS ITEM INTO THE DATABASE
// THIS SECTION WILL ALSO CHECK TO SEE IF ALL FIELDS HAVE
// FILLED OUT AND IF SO THEN THE INFORMATION WILL BE
// ENTERED INTO THE DATABASE.
//======================================================\\
function postNewsItem() {

global $newsTable;

if(empty($_POST['newsSubject'])) error_message("PLEASE ENTER A TITLE");
if(empty($_POST['newsLink'])) error_message("PLEASE ENTER A LINK FOR THE NEWS POST");
if(empty($_POST['newsPost'])) error_message("YOU HAVE NOT ENTERED ANYTHING IN THE NEWS BOX");

$linkID = db_connect('guernica');
$result = mysql_query("INSERT INTO $newsTable VALUES(NULL, '$_POST[newsSubject]', '$_POST[newsLink]', '$_POST[newsCat]', '$_POST[newsPost]', CURDATE())", $linkID);

echo "YOUR NEWS ITEM HAS BEEN POSTED, THANK YOU";
}

they form and functions run via a switch command:

switch($_REQUEST['cmd']) {
	default:
		htmlHeader();
		navigation();
		htmlFooter();
	break;
	case "newsForm":
		htmlHeader();
		navigation();
		newsForm();
		htmlFooter();
	break;
	case "postNewsItem":
		htmlHeader();
		navigation();
		postNewsItem();
		htmlFooter();
	break;
	case "logout":
		htmlHeader();
		logout();
		htmlFooter();
	break;
}

it seems to all be correct but for some reason the postNewsItem() function is not working.

any help would greatly be appreciated!

bastien

Place the $POST/$GET outside the quoted sql string, they have to concatenated into the string with the period operator...

Also consider building the string outside of the query


$sql = "INSERT INTO $newsTable VALUES(NULL, '".$_POST[newsSubject]."', '".$_POST[newsLink]."', '".$_POST[newsCat]."', '".$_POST[newsPost]."', CURDATE()"; 

result = mysql_query($sql,$linkID) or die ("Can't complete query because ".mysql_error());

thebaxter

i still am getting no luck with the update you provided kind sir. i think it's a problem with the form and the switch command normally you would see something like "admin.php?cmd=postNewsItem" but in this case it wont even do that.

here is a copy of the script to see if it helps:

<?php
session_start();
if (!$_SESSION['userLoggedID']){
	header("location:gLogin.php");
}


//======================================================\\
//HTML HEADER FOR ADMIN PAGE
//======================================================\\

function htmlHeader() {
	?>
	<html>
	<head>
		<title></title>
		<link href="../styles/gStyles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
	</head>
	<body class="bgClass">
	<?php

}


//======================================================\\
//HTML FOOTER
//======================================================\\

function htmlFooter() {

?>

</body>
</html>
<?
}

//======================================================\\
//NAVIGATION *NEEDS UPDATING
//======================================================\\


function navigation() {

global $PHP_SELF;
?>
<div class="adminMenu1">
	<table width="150"  border="0" align="left" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2">  

		<tr>
			<td class="tr1">
			<?
			echo "<a href=\"$_SERVER[PHP_SELF]\" class=\"adminLink\">Front Page</a>";
			?>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="tr1">
			<?
			echo "<a href=\"$_SERVER[PHP_SELF]?cmd=newsForm\" class=\"adminLink\">News Form</a>";
			?>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="tr1">
			<?
			echo "<a href=\"$_SERVER[PHP_SELF]?cmd=logout\" class=\"adminLink\">logout  $_SESSION[userLoggedID]</a>";
			?>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</table>
</div>
	<?
}

//======================================================\\
//News Form
//======================================================\\

function newsForm() {


?>
<div class="adminMenu2">
	<form method="post" action="<?php echo $_SERVER[PHP_SELF] ?>">
	<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="postNewsItem">
	<table width="300" align="left" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="0">
		<tr>
			<td class="td1">
			Title:
			<br>
			<input type="textfield" name="newsSubject"  class="textBox"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="td1">
			Link:
			<br>
			<input type="textfield" name="newsLink"  class="textBox"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td width="100" class="td1">
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="art">Art
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="fashion">Fashion
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="internalUpdates">Internal Updates
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="music">Music
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="other">Other
			<br>
			<input type="radio" name="newsCat" value="politics">Politics
			<br>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="td1">
			News:
			<br>
			<textarea name="newsPost" rows="25" class="textBox"></textarea>
			</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<input type="submit" name="submit" value="POST NEWS">
			<input type="reset" name="clear" value="CLEAN ENTRY">
			</td>
		</tr>

</table>
</form>
</div>
	<?
}

//======================================================\\
// POST THE NEWS ITEM INTO THE DATABASE
// THIS SECTION WILL ALSO CHECK TO SEE IF ALL FIELDS HAVE
// FILLED OUT AND IF SO THEN THE INFORMATION WILL BE
// ENTERED INTO THE DATABASE.
//======================================================\\
function postNewsItem() {

global $newsTable;


$sql = "INSERT INTO $newsTable VALUES(NULL, '".$_POST[newsSubject]."', '".$_POST[newsLink]."', '".$_POST[newsCat]."', '".$_POST[newsPost]."', CURDATE()";

$linkID = db_connect('guernica');
$result = mysql_query($sql, $linkID) OR ("Can't complete query because ".mysql_error());

echo "YOUR NEWS ITEM HAS BEEN POSTED, THANK YOU";
}





//======================================================\\
//LOGOUT USER
//======================================================\\

function logout() {

unset($_SESSION['userLoggedID']);
echo "goodbye";

}


//======================================================\\
//SWITCH COMMANDS
//======================================================\\



switch($_REQUEST['cmd']) {
	default:
		htmlHeader();
		navigation();
		htmlFooter();
	break;
	case "newsForm":
		htmlHeader();
		navigation();
		newsForm();
		htmlFooter();
	break;
	case "postNewsItem":
		htmlHeader();
		navigation();
		postNewsItem();
		htmlFooter();
	break;
	case "logout":
		htmlHeader();
		logout();
		htmlFooter();
	break;
}
?>

laserlight

How is it not working?

i.e. what error messages you receive, from PHP, MySQL and your own custom error checks.
What exactly happens on execution of the script.
etc

thebaxter

the problem occurs between the submission of the form and the actual process where the info is being entered into the DB.

when i submit the form the function postNewsItem() will just not load.

i'm thinking it has to do with this portion of the form:

<form method="post" action="<?php echo $_SERVER[PHP_SELF] ?>">
	<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="newsPostAdded">

the hidden input type use to work like a charm, but now that register_globals is off it just doesnt seem to work right in between functions. well for me.

bastien

Start debugging by placing some echos in the statement to check the values