Script Malfunctions

blackwing

I'm relatively new to PHP, but I've been having some strange problems with form submissions.

I built a simply forum but for some reason (once in a blue moon) the values I send via the get or post methods get screwed up or don't show up at all.

Is this a problem with the server, or is this just something you have to expect when you use the PHP compiler?

(My code is VERY straight forward and doesn't need to be posted)

freebie

What are you doing with the form submission (putting the contents into a database, or sending an email). It could be that sometimes a single-quote is entered into the form and is not escaped and is messing up your SQL Statement. Typically, PHP is configured to automatically escape these, but it all depends on the value of a configuration setting called magic_quotes_gpc (which automatically escapes quotes for GET, POST, and COOKIE values).
Try adding this code at the top of your processing script.

if (!get_magic_quotes_gpc()) {
$POST = addslashes($POST);
}

BuzzLY

Originally posted by blackwing
I'm relatively new to PHP, but I've been having some strange problems with form submissions.
...
(My code is VERY straight forward and doesn't need to be posted)

Wrong. In order for us to positively rule out the code being the problem, you must supply the code. Perhaps you are doing something in the code that isn't standard, or have an error that some of the PHP veterans here might recognize.

If you truly are "relatively new to PHP," then I don't think you are qualified to determine whether the code needs to be posted.

Bottom line: If you want help, post the code. And don't forget to put it in [php] ... [/php] tags, or if it's long, attach it as a text file.

blackwing

Alright, here is the code but I doubt this is the problem.

$title=stripslashes($_POST["title"]);

The previous page has a form with a text input field named "title". As I said this usually works, but once every 100 times it doesn't catch the data. Could this be a server error?

laserlight

In this case you're right that the code you provided isnt particularly wrong.

Now, we must ask: is there a pattern to the failures?

i.e. with the exact same input, you get different output, or is it that with a certain type of input, you dont get the expected output.

With the latter, it usually isnt too difficult to isolate the problem and fix it.

With the former... you'll need someone with lots of experience to actually go over and do the troubleshooting, or will have to gain the experience yourself, fast.

piersk

Dude, you're gonna have to post more of the code.

blackwing

There is no more really to the code except an echo statement.

I don't think there's much more that can be said on this. I'll just have to accept the fact that the server I'm dealing with is a piece of garbage. If php was the problem I'm sure languages like ASP would reign supreme (ewww, that's a sick thought!).

Anyway, that's for all your help anyway.

blackwing

I meant "thanks for all your help anyway"

piersk

Originally posted by blackwing
I'll just have to accept the fact that the server I'm dealing with is a piece of garbage.

Not necessarily. If you could just post more of the code, there might be something before that line that is causing it to go wrong.

BuzzLY

There are a number of things that could be happening. Is the posted data coming directly from a form input page? Or are you passing the data yourself from yet another page (such as a data verification page)? If you have magic_quotes_gpc turned on (which is the default), your data might be "double escaped." If that's the case, things can get unpredictable.

If you can reliably come up with a case that you can demonstrate doesn't work, they try removing the stripslashes and see what's coming through.

Another problem might be that the value is being passed through a GET instead of POST. Why do I suggest this? Because you have not explained the entire process to us. The problem might not be the code in that particular line -- it might be a combination of things, or a code snippet from a previous page.

If we do not know ALL of the process, there is no way we can possibly help other than take a stab at possible suggestions. It's very frustrating to have to ask you a million questions just to narrow down the process your code is performing.

Sorry to see that you are giving up so easily. If you still refuse to tell us the whole process (whether you think it's relevant or not), then at the very least go look at the php manual for [man]stripslashes[/man] and look at the posts there. There are a few good pointers in there, and might be a good start for you.

Good Luck.

blackwing

Nevermind that, I have a bigger problem that is driving me crazy. For some odd reason my PHP scrips produce blanks when I access a page from mozilla.

If anyone is planning to tell me that it can't have anything to do with a browser because PHP is server-side, don't. I know what I'm seeing and it's bothering me.

IE works perfectly, mozilla... no. Is there any reason why this might be? Why would PHP be selective? I don't want to loose my repect for scripting but these problems are driving me nuts.

blackwing

I figured out the problem nevermind. It was just an HTML problem. IE was submitting the information to the PHP script and Mozilla wasn't. The reason is because of a flaw that IE fixed and Mozilla ignored.

Mozilla forced me to fix it, but that's ok. At least I found the error.

It was important for me to fix this because I plan to move to Linux soon and I would need it to work for Mozilla/Netscape.