[RESOLVED] form problem: save values & carry forward

[lila]

I have a HTML form problem with the php for 'nested' forms, i.e. GET the 1st value to open an options list of related items, and post this second value. That is, 2 submits in a row. This much works, but:

I can echo the 1st value outside the box after submitting, but it of course disappears when the next is submitted. I need to save 1st value and print it together with 2nd value. Have tried a lot of stuff incl. sessions but nothing saves the 1st result permanently. Actually, it would be best if the submitted options could remain on the form (in the boxes), so the user could see them.

The end result (1+2) is to be submitted together with a dozen other choices to my database. I can do a form that submits everything to a flat table, but not these multi-level option menus selected from under-tables.

This code works and is straightforward - it's the previously submitted variable I can't save and echo:

FORM method="GET" action= "soerentest_static.php">
<select name="artsname"> <option selected value="">Vælg Art</option>";
<?php
WHILE($row = mysql_fetch_array($query2))
{ echo '<option value="'.$row["SpeciesID"].'">

'.$row ["SpeciesName"].'</option>';
}

?>
</select>
<input type= submit name="artsform" value="Vælg">
</form>

<?php
echo $artssql;
?>

[bradgrafelman]

I'm assuming the PHP code you posted (use the PHP tags!) was for the first form? And you dont' know how to carry the value forward to the next page?

I don't know the code that you use to echo the form on the second page, but a snippet you could add to add this same select box (and have the previous value submitted be the default chosen value) would be something like this:

WHILE($row = mysql_fetch_array($query2)) 
{ 
	if($row['SpeciesID'] == $_POST['SpeciesID'])
		$selected = ' selected';
	else
		$selected = '';

echo '<option value="'.$row['SpeciesID'].'"'.$selected.'>'.$row['SpeciesName'].'</option>'; 

} 

(Assuming you also copy the SQL queries to the second form page so that the same array is returned again.)

[lila]

Sorry, should have sent the whole code, but it seems so long. The part I sent is #2.
Not sure what you mean by use php tgs, thought I had used them everywhere?

Here are $queries 1 & 2. $1 is chosen, prints name, is used in $2 (still on same page refreshed tho, but could be a new one). Name #2 is chosen from the options list selected in WHERE clause, and is printed. This means that name #1 disappears. Ideally it would be saved outside the function (am I saying this right?) so I could echo both choices together somewhere on the form (either they both stay in the window when selected, or they both get printed somewhere).

This is for convenience for the end user, so he can remember which plant name he is working on. I don't think it will affect the correct function of the finished form, which will add a (long & complicated) post to the main database table.

I will not try to digest your suggestion until I know whether we were talking about the same thing.. but thanks and I will use it after (I hope) clarification.

<?php //and all the connection stuff etc. and $var declarations (shall I send the whole page??)

$query1 = mysql_query("SELECT GenusID, GenusName FROM GENUS AS G ORDER BY GenusName ");
$query2 = mysql_query("SELECT S.GenusID, SpeciesName, S.SpeciesID FROM GENUS AS G, SPECIES AS S WHERE S.GenusID=G.GenusID AND S.GenusID=". $var ." ORDER BY SpeciesName");

?>

<FORM method="GET" action= "soerentest_static.php">
<select name="genusname">
<option selected value="">Vælg Genus</option>";
<?php
WHILE($row = mysql_fetch_array($query1))
{
echo '<option value="'.$row["GenusID"].'">'.$row["GenusName"].'</option>';
}
?>
</select>
<input type= submit name="genusform" value="Vælg">
</form>

<?php
echo $genussql;
?>

<FORM method="GET" action= "soerentest_static.php">
<select name="artsname">
<option selected value="">Vælg Art</option>";
<?php
WHILE($row = mysql_fetch_array($query2))
{
echo '<option value="'.$row["SpeciesID"].'">'.$row["SpeciesName"].'</option>';
}
?>
</select>
<input type= submit name="artsform" value="Vælg">
</form>

<?php
echo $artssql;
?>

[lila]

Partial solution: it's the 2nd submit which erases the first (new or refreshed page) but actually I realized there shouldn't be a submit here, only at the end of the form. So if I choose Cannibis 😉 I can echo "The genus you have chosen is 'Cannibis', ID nr. 56" and when I submit, the linked choice of 'sativa' is displayed. As long as I don't submit this, it stays in its box and the echo doesn't disappear.

But: same problem at the end of the form, when I want to submit and insert in the table. The value of ID 56 will disappear and not be available for INSERT, nothing I do retrieves it. I can't retrofix it becasue 'sativa' is not a unique value (C+s together would be a multiple primary key).

I suppose I could put it in a temporary table, and get the ID value (foreign key in the form-related table) from that in a separate SELECT statement?

[LoganK]

Using a temporary table would be way too procesor-intensive just for this. Use sessions, or write the variable you need into a hidden variable in the second form.

[lila]

Sounds sensible. Actually I did try to make a session, but it didn't work - obviously I don't know enough about sessions yet, but I have things I can work from.
Sorry, but is the Gmail invite thing from you, or something outside your reply? And if yours, what is it?

[bradgrafelman]

The manual page on a [man]session[/man] is descriptive, and there are also examples on the manual page for the function [man]session_start/man.

lila wrote:

Sorry, but is the Gmail invite thing from you, or something outside your reply? And if yours, what is it?

Looks like that's part of his signature (automatically appended to every reply by default). Basically, if you want an [e-mail] you have to be "invited" to register. Once you've been a member so long, Gmail gives you a certain number of invites you can then pass on to others. I believe I currently have upwards of 100 invites or so, so obviously if anyone wants any, feel free to PM me and let me know the amount you want :p

[LoganK]

Brad explained it pretty well - session_start() is what you need to call before every page, and then assign the session variables by assigning just like a regular variable - $SESSION['name_of_var'] = "value". Later on, in another page, after calling session_start(), you can reference them just like any other variable: echo $SESSION['name_of_var'];

The Gmail thing is in my signature, like brad said. Know how he knows? By clicking my username, you get a drop-down menu where you can view my profile, and on that it shows my full signature. Basically, brad is right with the reason too - I've been a Gmail member for a little over a year (since it first started last year in April), and I have way too many invites to know what to do with them. So all of my signatures in all of my forums, emails, etc., have that message so I can give them away. E-mail me at [e-mail] and I'll reply with an invite for you!

Brad - you exaplained everything like I would! It's like I'm obsolete! 🙁 🙂

[lila]

1000 thanks as we say in sunny Denmark. The session works fine now. What a relief.
However, there is still a bug somewhere. I can do all of this: Choose the session variable (genus); echo the genus name on the following page according to the ID chosen; get the correct speciesID related to the submitted genusID; INSERT something in the correct table. BUT:

I can either insert the genusID or the speciesID, not both at once as I am trying to code for. Just the first insert works correctly, whereas just the 2nd usually inserts 2-3 blank rows with their own cute little auto_inc nos. (arrgh :mad:.) But yesterday the same insert for value#1 did the same, up to 5 blank rows. Is this a loop or something? I'll send the whole code and hope it isn't too long. Sure hope you can help. (Thanks for the Gmail offers but I have to look and see what it is before I know if I can use it.)
This is page #2:
session_start();

if($_GET[genusname]) 
{ $genusname = $_GET[genusname];
  $_SESSION[genusname] = $genusname;
}

$sql_name = mysql_query("SELECT GenusName FROM GENUS AS G WHERE G.GenusID=$genusname");

$query2 = mysql_query("SELECT SpeciesName, S.SpeciesID FROM GENUS AS G, SPECIES AS S WHERE S.GenusID=G.GenusID AND G.GenusID=". $_SESSION[genusname] ." ORDER BY SpeciesName"); 

$query_sort = "INSERT INTO SORTER(GenusID,SpeciesID) VALUES ($genusname, '$_POST[artsname]')" or die (mysql_error());
$id_sort = mysql_insert_id();

if (isset ($_POST[artsname]))
	{
	echo "Species valgt er ";
	echo $_POST[artsname];
	}

}

?>
<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="da">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title>genussession</title>
</head>

<body>
<!-- INDSÆTTER OPTIONS MENU TIL VALG AF SPECIES -->

	<?php
			if(isset($genusname))
			WHILE($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql_name))
			{
		    echo "Genus valgt er ";
		    echo $row['GenusName'];
		    }
	?>	    

		<FORM method="POST" action="<? echo $_SERVER ['PHP_SELF']; ?>" >

<td width="40%" height="62" align="left" style="padding-left: 9px" valign="bottom"><br><font size="2" face="Arial">*Species:<BR>
	<select name="artsname">
	<option selected value="">Vælg Art fra listen</option>";	
		<?php
			 WHILE($row = mysql_fetch_array($query2))
	 	 		{	  	 	
					echo '<option value="'.$row["SpeciesID"].'">'.$row["SpeciesName"].'</option>';
				} 	
		?>	
	<input type="submit" value="Gem sort i databasen"></td>

</tr>

</form>
</select></font></td>

</body>

</html>[/SIZE]

[LoganK]

I cant help you with problem right now (I'll post back later this afternoon), but Gmail is a free e-mail service from Google. They give you 2.3 gigabytes of mail for free, more than anyone else.

It sure is helpful! I've completely switched from MS Outlook!

[lila]

After a whole lot of tweaking I'm now getting the following (copy from phpMyAdmin). I.e., the INSERT now goes in, but only row 2 is correct (first time that's ever happened & I don't know why!) but 1 and 3 are ghosts of some kind (except for "frø" which is a default value in the column).

There must be some kind of loop I don't understand, since one of the 'ghosts' (row 3) repeats the 1st value, genusID.

Sure hope to hear from you on this.

SQL resultat
Vært: localhost
Database: : froesamlernedk
Genereringstidspunkt: 22/07 2005 kl. 11:23:05
Genereret af: phpMyAdmin 2.5.7-pl1 / MySQL 4.0.21-log
SQL-forespørgsel: SELECT * FROM SORTER LIMIT 0, 30;
Rækker: 3

SortsID GenusID SpeciesID Subspecies Var ArtsnavnDK Sortsnavn Synonym Kaldenavn TypeFroVeg Kendetegn Beskrivelse Dyrkning Historie

1 0 0 NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL frø NULL NULL NULL NULL

2 62 68 NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL frø NULL NULL NULL NULL

3 62 0 NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL NULL frø NULL NULL NULL NULL

[lila]

P.S.
The first ghost is maybe a function of auto_increment? Next time I get only the 2 rows:
SortsID GenusID SpeciesID

1 0 0
2 62 68
3 62 0
4 44 46
5 44 0

[Weedpacket]

lila wrote:

Not sure what you mean by use php tgs, thought I had used them everywhere?

bradgrafelman means using &#91;php] and [/code] around your PHP code when you post it. That's how he managed to make his code look the way he did in his post.

[LoganK]

lila wrote:

P.S.
The first ghost is maybe a function of auto_increment? Next time I get only the 2 rows:
SortsID GenusID SpeciesID

1 0 0
2 62 68
3 62 0
4 44 46
5 44 0

Which field is using auto-increment? Which row (or recordset) is the "ghost"? and what do you want to get/expect the result to be, and how is it different than what you're getting?

[lila]

First field (SortsID) is auto_increment, the one with 1-2-3-4-5.
The very first row took off with no cargo, just the number 1.

Recordsets 2 and 4 are correct: they have the auto-inc, genus ID and species ID as posted. I changed a little bit from the original code I sent, borrowed a $sql from another page that worked, have no idea which change may have helped...

Recordsets 3 and 5 are "ghosts", i.e., they have auto-incremented and posted the genus ID alone (the one inserted with a session variable). So I end up with 2 useful secordsets and 3 junk.

Some of this session code may be junk too, I have no idea whether the 2nd session is necessary/useful/harmful.

	
	if($_GET[genusname]) 
	{ $genusname = $_GET[genusname];
	  $_SESSION[genusname] = $genusname;
	}

if($_GET[artsname]) 
{ $artsname = $_GET[artsname];
  $_SESSION[artsname] = $artsname;
}


{$sql = "INSERT INTO SORTER(GenusID, SpeciesID) 
	VALUES ('$_SESSION[genusname]', '$_GET[artsname]')";
$id = mysql_insert_id();

$result = mysql_query( $sql) or die(mysql_error());}

But I really appreciate the tip about php tags, I had no idea what they were (in this context).

[LoganK]

So...you're trying to remove the junk "ghost" records? Find out why they appear? Stop them from appearing again? Or all of the above? 🙂

[leatherback]

Hi Lila,

OK,

question: Why do you use sessions?

Your logic:
In page1 you select genus, and submit to page2
In page2 you use genus, and create a matching set of species names. Submits to processing page
In processing page

So.. You could add to your form in page2 the submitted value of the genus, and post it to the processing page.

SO:

page1

<?
$query1 = mysql_query("SELECT GenusID, GenusName FROM GENUS AS G ORDER BY GenusName ");

?>

<FORM method="GET" action= "page2.php">
<select name="genusname">
<option selected value="">Vælg Genus</option>";
<?php
WHILE($row = mysql_fetch_array($query1))
{
echo '<option value="'.$row["GenusID"].'">'.$row["GenusName"].'</option>';
}
?>
</select>
<input type= submit name="genusform" value="Vælg">
</form>

In page2:

$select_name = arr();
$select_name[$_get[genusname]] = "selected";


$query1 = mysql_query("SELECT GenusID, GenusName FROM GENUS AS G ORDER BY GenusName ");
$query2 = mysql_query("SELECT S.GenusID, SpeciesName, S.SpeciesID FROM GENUS AS G, SPECIES AS S WHERE S.GenusID=G.GenusID AND S.GenusID=". $var ." ORDER BY SpeciesName");

?>

<FORM method="GET" action= "processing_page.php">
<select name="genusname">
<?php
WHILE($row = mysql_fetch_array($query1))
{
echo '<option $select_name[$row['GenusID']] value="'.$row["GenusID"].'">'.$row["GenusName"].'</option>';
}
?>
</select>

<select name="artsname">
<option selected value="">Vælg Art</option>";
<?php
WHILE($row = mysql_fetch_array($query2))
{
echo '<option value="'.$row["SpeciesID"].'">'.$row["SpeciesName"].'</option>';
}
?>
</select>
<input type= submit name="artsform" value="Vælg">
</form>

don't know if this makes sense?

[edit from here]
Anyway.. You need processing too..

$genus = $_GET[genusname];
$species = $_GET[artsform];

$query_sort = "INSERT INTO SORTER(GenusID,SpeciesID) VALUES ($genusname, '$species')" or die (mysql_error());
$id_sort = mysql_insert_id();

if (isset ($_GET[artsname]))
{
echo "Species valgt er ";
echo $_GET[artsname];
} 

ps: Make sure you get all in the same type of data transfer: $GET or $POST, which should match the action of the form.

[LoganK]

I think it makes sense...are you suggesting to her that she combines the second page and third page into one page?

[lila]

Yeah Logan, all of the above! I can truncate the table as long as it's me working on it, but I don't want this to happen in real life, it will make a mess of our gene bank, and I want to know why it happens!

I'm using the first session because Brad and Logan told me to (cop-out, "Just say no!") Well, because I wanted to echo the 1st value (genus) so the user could see/remember what he had submitted (it's a long form), and it disappeared as soon as the 2nd (species) value was chosen, even if not submitted immediately. This was solved by using the 1st session. The 2nd session is only there on the theory that if one is good, two must be better. As you can see, I have my doubts already.

I'm only using 3 pages to keep things separate so I can understand them, I really want 2 or even one (resubmitted with ?=). I have no idea whether it's the process of moving from 1-2-3 that creates the "ghosts". But I will try your revised code and get back to you.

[LoganK]

One way you might one to combine it into 1 page is through GET variables. For example - first page is page.php, and the form action is page.php?p=process1. After that, it sends it on to page.php?p=process2. Each one of the "blocks" of coding would represent a different page. It's like this:

if (!isset($_GET['p']))
{
     // Put code for first page here, with form linking to page.php?p=process1
}
elseif ($_GET['p'] == "process1")
{
     // Put code for initial processing here, with page going to page.php?p=process2
}
elseif ($_GET['p'] == "process1")
{
     // Put code for last processing here, with page giving feedback to the user's request
}
else
{
     echo "You have entered an invalid page!";
}