show date in database without user input

buzzby

how do i submit a date on a form into a database without the user fillin in the date? i also want to use the date sent to the databe to also be part of the autoresponder that i have already setup

using this somewhere would be great:

<?php 
echo strftime( '%Hh %M %A %d %b', time() ); 
?>

bastien

<input type=text name=my_date value="<? echo strftime( '%Hh %M %A %d %b', time() );?>" READONLY>

buzzby

<input type="text" name="my_date" value="<? echo strftime( '%H:%M %a %d %b %G', time() );?>" READONLY>

the out put is this: '16:42 Thu 15 Jul 2004' now can i (using the name attribute) actually read this into the database and pull it out in the same way or is this purely for display purposes and not to be mixed with a mysql database?

bastien

can access via name and insert into db

buzzby

ok, so far i understand everything. but what about this? when i am on the page. a certain time is displayed. when i submit the form, what time is displayed in the database? the time i arrive on the page or the time the form has been submitted? i ask this because there can be a gap between the time you start the form and the time you actually submit the form. it might not mean anything if it takes a person 5 minutes to fill the form in but there are people that will have to mull over some details in order to fill in the form.

bastien

You asked about a form displaying the date/time. That's what I presented.

Yes, there can be and will be a gap between form presentation and the time it really gets entered in the db. If you are lookinig for the actual db time when entered, use the timestamp data type in the db and don't include it in the sql statement. There really is no need to show the current time to the user.

Note that users in different time zones would get the local SERVER time, not their local time without some tweaks...

buzzby

actually the time difference wont make a difference because this is an english company doing busines in england. i suppose when people go to fill in the form they will fill it one time. ie it wont take them 2 hours to fill it in. the time is a rough guideline as to when it was done and will not be used in a court of law or similar.

cheers

dnast

It would be a lot easier to just add a timestamp field to your database like bastien said. Once you add it, you won't even have to bother coding anything other than retrieving the date later.

buzzby

the reason why the strftime appealed to me was because i could call it from the database. how do i call the timestamp from the database. how is it represented. $timestamp is then put into the database in what way. i need the time of when the form was filled out / submitted so i can get the time and put it on the autoresponder. so far the auto responder contains values like $post['name']

'Hello '.$_POST['name'].', thank you for filling out the form '

bastien

same way, though there are some issues with the mysql timestamp...you can use the date_format function to change it to more readable times...perhaps consider using the strttime function to createa unix timestamp instead, though you will hafta enter it