Forcing Users to Fill in All Fields in a Form

[pura_vida]

If a user leaves a field blank in my php form, they are getting an error message after the click SUBMIT.

What do I need to add to my code so that they are forced to fill in all fields?

Here's my current code:

<?php 
$avail = ''; 
foreach ($availability as $val) 
  $avail .= $val.", "; 
$tech = ''; foreach ($techSkills as $val) 
  $tech .= $val.", "; 
$act = ''; foreach ($activities as $val) 
  $act .= $val.", "; 
$formsent = mail("[e-mail]", "Volunteer Form: $name", "Name: $name\r\n\r\nJob email: $email\r\n\r\nPhone: $phone\r\n\r\nAdress: $address\r\n\r\ncity: $city\r\n\r\nstate: $state\r\n\r\nZipCode: $zipCode\r\n\r\nbirthdate: $birthmonth $birthdate $birthyear\r\n\r\nCollege or Certificates: $college\r\n\r\nnative Tongue: $language\r\n\r\nOther Languages: $addlLanguages\r\n\r\nTimes Available: $avail\r\n\r\nHow Often: $howOften\r\n\r\nSpecialities: $skills\r\n\r\nSkills: $tech\r\n\r\nExperience: $youngLearners\r\n\r\nWilling to Participate in: $act\r\n\r\nHow Did You Hear ABout Us?: $hearAbout\r\n\r\nDo you have a car? $car\r\n\r\nType of Agent: $agent"); 
header("Location:http://www.website.com"); 
?> 

Thanks for your help!

[TheJag]

What if you do something like this:

if (empty($avail)) {
     $error = "required";
     }

And have somewhere:

if (empty($error)) {
     } else {
     if ($error == 'required') {
          $msg = "You left the field blank.";
          } elseif ($error == 'anything') {
           $msg = "any error you want or another field that can't be blank";
           }

[pura_vida]

Would I need one of these (below) for each field of the form?

if (empty($avail)) { 
     $error = "required"; 
     } 

And regarding this code:

if (empty($error)) { 
     } else { 
     if ($error == 'required') { 
          $msg = "You left the field blank."; 
          } elseif ($error == 'anything') { 
           $msg = "any error you want or another field that can't be blank"; 
           } 

That should gop at the bottom of my script?

[TheJag]

Yes, for each field you would need an (empty($string))

pura_vida wrote:

Would I need one of these (below) for each field of the form?

if (empty($avail)) { 
     $error = "required"; 
     } 

I actually have this code in my form page. The code above would be I guess the submit page where it will refer to the form page for errors. I hope I'm making sense.

And regarding this code:

if (empty($error)) { 
     } else { 
     if ($error == 'required') { 
          $msg = "You left the field blank."; 
          } elseif ($error == 'anything') { 
           $msg = "any error you want or another field that can't be blank"; 
           } 

That should gop at the bottom of my script?

[pura_vida]

Thanks. Yeah, I think that makes sense. Two more clarifying questions.

Where exactly should this

if (empty($avail)) { 
     $error = "required"; 
     } 

appear within the php code:

<?php 
$avail = ''; 
foreach ($availability as $val) 
  $avail .= $val.", "; 
$tech = ''; foreach ($techSkills as $val) 
  $tech .= $val.", "; 
$act = ''; foreach ($activities as $val) 
  $act .= $val.", "; 
$formsent = mail("[e-mail]", "Volunteer Form: $name", "Name: $name\r\n\r\nJob email: $email\r\n\r\nPhone: $phone\r\n\r\nAdress: $address\r\n\r\ncity: $city\r\n\r\nstate: $state\r\n\r\nZipCode: $zipCode\r\n\r\nbirthdate: $birthmonth $birthdate $birthyear\r\n\r\nCollege or Certificates: $college\r\n\r\nnative Tongue: $language\r\n\r\nOther Languages: $addlLanguages\r\n\r\nTimes Available: $avail\r\n\r\nHow Often: $howOften\r\n\r\nSpecialities: $skills\r\n\r\nSkills: $tech\r\n\r\nExperience: $youngLearners\r\n\r\nWilling to Participate in: $act\r\n\r\nHow Did You Hear ABout Us?: $hearAbout\r\n\r\nDo you have a car? $car\r\n\r\nType of Agent: $agent"); 
header("Location:http://www.website.com"); 
?> 

And where exactly in the form page should this be?

if (empty($error)) { 
     } else { 
     if ($error == 'required') { 
          $msg = "You left the field blank."; 
          } elseif ($error == 'anything') { 
           $msg = "any error you want or another field that can't be blank"; 
           } 

Within the <FORM> tags? After or before the submit button? At the top of the form? Does it matter where it appears?

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP!

[bpat1434]

Well, think about it logically for a few seconds....

PHP is a server language, so it can't dynamically check fields (like Java).
The script needs to have the form POSTed to it (the script) in order to check validity

So where do you think it should go? Would inside the form work? How about after the form is submitted?

~Brett