HTML form php and MySQL

sovtek

Very much a newbie to PHP and dynamic content in general.
I am trying to create an HTML form that then takes values to query the database for relevant data, make a calculation based upon that data and then display the total as well as their selections.
What I'm really having trouble understanding is how to take the values from the form and create a query to get the data from the database.

TIA

rachel2004

Have you already written you code? If so, maybe post the part that is troubling you and someone can help.

Aside from that, you may want to look into several online tutorials.

http://www.awtrey.com/support/dbeweb/

http://www.devshed.com/c/b/PHP/

http://www.sitepoint.com/subcat/php-tutorials

sovtek

Thanks for the tut links.
Unfortunetly they don't really have an example of what I'm trying to do.
The code I have is a mess because I'm not sure how to go about this.
From a form with drop down menus I'm trying to get customers to select their airport, area, # of passengers and time of day (two choices normal and after hours) it then calculates a quote of the total cost for their airport transport.
We have a database with a table of rates based upon the area they are traveling from/to and # of passengers.

I am now trying to get the form to query the database to give the rate.
Here's the "area" part of the form (like I said..it's a mess):

<?php require_once('Connections/conn_transprinter.php'); ?>
<?php
mysql_select_db($database_conn_transprinter, $conn_transprinter);
$query_rs_area_query = "SELECT * FROM rates";
$rs_area_query = mysql_query($query_rs_area_query, $conn_transprinter) or die(mysql_error());
$row_rs_area_query = mysql_fetch_assoc($rs_area_query);
$totalRows_rs_area_query = mysql_num_rows($rs_area_query);
<form name="form1" method="post" action="">
<select name="sel_area" id="sel_area">
<option value="">--Select your area-- </option>
<option value="zone1" >City Centre</option>
<option value="zone1" >Claremont</option>
<option value="zone1" >Mowbray</option>
<option value="zone1" >Pinelands</option>
<option value="zone1" >Woodstock</option>
<option value="zone1" >Vredehoek</option>
<option value="zone2" >Greenpoint</option>
<option value="zone2" >Kenilworth</option>
<option value="zone2" >Parow</option>
<option value="zone2" >Sea Point</option>
<option value="zone2" >Waterfront</option>
<option value="zone3" >Bantry Bay</option>
<option value="zone3" >Heathfield</option>
<option value="zone3" >Wynberg</option>
<option value="zone4" >Bakoven</option>
<option value="zone4" >Bishopscourt</option>
<option value="zone4" >Camps Bay</option>
<option value="zone4" >Constantia</option>
<option value="zone5" >Blouberg</option>
<option value="zone5" >Brackenfell</option>
<option value="zone5" >Kalk Bay</option>
<option value="zone5" >Table View</option>
<option value="zone6" >Hout Bay</option>
<option value="zone6" >Fish Hoek</option>
<option value="zone6" >Stellenbosch
<option value="zone7" >Gordons Bay</option>
<option value="zone7" >Strand</option>
<option value="zone7" >Somerset West</option>
<option value="zone8" >Franschoek</option>
<option value="zone8" >Paarl</option>
</select>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Send Quote" />

</form>

TIA

BuzzLY

VERY General:

Once your form posts, in this case, back to the same form, you will have access to all of the fields entered via the $POST array. For example, the field "airport" will be accessible as $POST['airport']. You need to build up your SQL query, using the values of those fields as part of the SQL. Using the airport as an example:

"SELECT * FROM flight_data WHERE airport = '" . $_POST['airport'] . "'"

Obviously, your WHERE statement will be a little longer, using all of your criteria (departure, destination, airport, time of day, etc).

In keeping with rachel's suggestion, I suggest you visit sitepoint. They have a very good, highly rated tutorial on building your own database-driven website, using PHP and MySQL. Strangely enough, the article is entitled Build your own Database Driven Website using PHP & MySQL. It's a long article (that page is the intro, and there are 4 parts, each 10 pages long), but it covers a LOT, including installation of PHP and MySQL. If you don't need that info, of course you can just skip to the next lesson.

Good Luck!