[RESOLVED] Search form problem

Roger_Ramjet

I've got a strange problem been bugging me for ages. We have an online reporting system for our clients: they can login and look at our work-in-progress.

For some reason, the first time they do a search after logging in, the search data is not sent to the target page. Only the first time. After that everything works fine.

Can't understand it at all. 😕

Has anyone any ideas or come across this before?

Roger_Ramjet

10 views and not a single reply?? Please folks, I really need help with this. Can't for the life of me understand why the post vars should be empty the FIRST time but not afterwards. Never come across it before and have exhausted all my ideas.

If I can't fix it, does anyone know a hack to force the page to submit itself TWICE and fix it that way?

halojoy

Roger Ramjet wrote:
10 views and not a single reply?? Please folks, I really need help with this. Can't for the life of me understand why the post vars should be empty the FIRST time but not afterwards. Never come across it before and have exhausted all my ideas.

If I can't fix it, does anyone know a hack to force the page to submit itself TWICE and fix it that way?

Why dont you give us the relevant code of your search script?

You know this makes it a lot easier, in most cases.
1600 posts.
You should know most problems are not possible for normal people
without a practical examples.

Just guessing and abstract and theoretical hypotetical descriptions and reasoning
does not attract many to answer,
Unfortunate for these abstact tinkers and philosofers with high University Titles and exams.
I might be one of the few - bothering about you at all.

Take my halojoy advice
and
I think you will notice difference, right away.
There are plenty of clever persons around here
that would slve your issue, by looking from an angle different than your own.

Good Luck!
Whatever you chose:
halojoy recommendation - some practical info, code
your own way, until now - abstract description of your problem, script behavior

🙂

halojoy - living in the practical, material world
.... heading for an abstract heaven ???

🙂

Roger_Ramjet

First of all thanks for replying at all halojoy. 🙂

I did not include the code cos it's just basic html, but you are right I should have. So here it is.

<form name="search" action="stResult.php" target="_self" method="post" onSubmit="return val_search();">
	<p>Enter your Search text and then select your Search Type<br />
	<input type="text" name="go_string"  size="40" maxlength="40" tabindex="1" title="enter string to search for" /><br />
	<input class="IpGr" type="submit" name="DebtID" value="Track">
	<input class="IpGr" type="submit" name="Ref" value="Your Ref">
	<input class="IpGr" type="submit" name="Dname" value="Name">
	<input class="IpGr" type="submit" name="Addr" value="Address">
	</p>
	<p>or else select a Status to search for<br />
	<select name="go_status" tabindex="4" onChange=submit()>
		<option value="notset">- select a status -</option>
<?
//--- CREATE STATUS CODE SELECT ---
$sql = "SELECT DISTINCT stStatus.StatusID, stStatus.Status
		FROM stStatus INNER JOIN stDebts USING (StatusID) INNER JOIN stClients USING (ClientID)
		WHERE stClients.GroupID = $groupid ORDER BY Status";

$codes = mysql_query($sql) or die($sql . '<br />' . mysql_error());
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($codes)) {
		echo '<option value="' . $row['StatusID'] . '">' . $row['Status'] . '</option>';
	}
?>
	</select>
</form>

I have since posting this found another fellow with the same problem, only he is using flash action scripts. He has realised that it only occurs when the page is loaded in a frameset, which is what mine is in as well. So the question is:

Why do forms on pages loaded in a frameset not send the post vars?

Roger_Ramjet

Turned out to be a session problem ?? Setting session vars and using them immediately aparently runs into problems the first time you create the session var itself - must be a timing thing??

leatherback

Probably is a logic thing. You need to check the flow of the information through your script if this happens.

Probably there is a check against a variable, if not set => you login, and there is no way to get back to the isset part. When you reload, the variable is set, and you go into the isset section.

halojoy

halojoy here

I have seen this behavior at a couple of websites (some friends of mine) I use to visit.
You have to surf a couple of pages at website
or even reload index.php 2-3 times, before session get some values
and will make eveything work alright for rest of my visit.

But, I have never had this problem at any script of my own.
Maybe because of something in my own way, habbit, to use sessions.

If you havent done this already,
run your website script with error_reporting( E_ALL);
to see if any notice of variables NOT DEFINED or NOT SET at first run

I try to write my scripts, that I DO NOT GET any such notices
This means I always set variables to "0" or "empty" before they occur in PHP script

Hope it helps
But I doubt we can find anything you havent found out your self
At least this is a session thing.
So examine values (monitor) that session file and its contents,
at each refresh and page runs = tracking debugging, step for step
might give you an idea of what is happening.

I can load, read and reload contents of any current session file (using my text-editor)
as I use a php.ini custom folder for PHP SESSION temp files at my own homepage Apache server.

Can be some interesting reading!

/halojoy

🙂

Roger_Ramjet

Thanks Halojoy.

Now it seams to me to be a timing thing cos of multi-threading.

the scenario:
Because I am paginating my search results, I store the search vars submitted in session vars. I then use them immediately in the query Where clause (field and value).
It seems to be that there is a time lag in setting up the session vars, so the first time the query is run - for the session - the vars don't yet exist and my constructed query string reads ".... WHERE = AND ClientID = $clientid" : so I get the sql error message invalid syntax.
Having once instantiated the particular session vars for the Where clause, the second time I run the constructed query it does have the Where clause values and everything is fine.
Similarly for subsequent searches, the vars exist, the values get stored and are available for my query construction.

Go figure??

As I said, my guess is that I'm trying to use the session var while it is being created; in a multi-threaded environment the 2 threads overlap and I get my error

The solution I came up with was to create the empty session vars at login rather than wait for the user to actually run a search - and that works.