Email form sends before submit

[tonyteach]

Hello All,
PHP 4.3.11

I have created a email form that gathers info from my user(student) and can send the completed email to an instructor's email. The problem I am having is it sends the email as soon as the page loads. I have tried adding an "if submit" clause, but everything goes haywire at that point. I really need someone to show me the light

-Tonyteach

here is the code:

<?php

require_once ('../../mysql_connect.php'); // Connect to the database.

// Include the configuration file for error management and such.
require_once ('ce_includes/config.inc');
// Set the page title and include the HTML header.
$page_title = 'ACA Community Education | Course Information';
include_once ('ce_includes/ce_header.html');
$body = NULL;

$query = "SELECT email FROM student_table WHERE user_id={$_SESSION['user_id']}";
if ($r2 = mysql_query ($query)) { // Run the query.

$row2 = mysql_fetch_array ($r2); // Retrieve the information.

$student_email = $row2['email'];
}
$query = "SELECT * FROM course_table WHERE course_id={$_GET['id']}";
if ($r = mysql_query ($query)) { // Run the query.

$row = mysql_fetch_array ($r); // Retrieve the information.

$course_code = $row['course_code'];
$course_1title = $row['course_1title'];
$course_instructor = $row['course_instructor'];
$combo_course = "$course_code"." "."$course_1title";
}
echo '<h1>Email';
echo ": $course_instructor";
echo '</h1>';

$query = "SELECT * FROM instructor_table WHERE instructor_id={$row['instructor_id']}";
if ($r3 = mysql_query ($query)) { // Run the query.

$row3 = mysql_fetch_array ($r3); // Retrieve the information.
$instructor_email = $row3['email'];

$body = "$body";
}

print
'<form action="'.$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'].'" method="post">
Name: <input type="text" name="name" size="20" maxlength="20"><br />
Subject: <input type="text" name="combo_course" size="50" maxlength="60" value="' . $combo_course . '"><br />
Comments:<br><textarea name="$body" cols="50" rows="10"></textarea><br />
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Send">
</form>';
mail ("$instructor_email", "$combo_course", "$body", "From: $student_email");

?>
<?php // Include the HTML footer file.
include_once ('ce_includes/ce_footer.html');
?>

[bpat1434]

I'd move the mail() function to a different PHP script for sanity purposes (and so you're not running that query twice...

Or, do this:

<?php
if(@isset($_POST['submit']) && @$_POST['submit'] == 'Send')
{
  // Do your input validation, and variable instantiation here....
  mail($instructor_email, $combo_course, $body, "From: ".$student_email);
}
else
{
  // Now do the query and show the form...
}

[tonyteach]

Kind of new at this, so please bear with me:
i wrote out this:

<?php

require_once ('../../mysql_connect.php'); // Connect to the database.

// Include the configuration file for error management and such.
require_once ('ce_includes/config.inc');
// Set the page title and include the HTML header.
$page_title = 'ACA Community Education | Course Information';
include_once ('ce_includes/ce_header.html');

if(@isset($POST['submit']) && @$POST['submit'] == 'Send')
{
// Do your input validation, and variable instantiation here....
mail($instructor_email, $combo_course, $body, "From: ".$student_email);
}
else
{
// Now do the query and show the form...

$query = "SELECT email FROM student_table WHERE user_id={$_SESSION['user_id']}";
if ($r2 = mysql_query ($query)) { // Run the query.

$row2 = mysql_fetch_array ($r2); // Retrieve the information.

$student_email = $row2['email'];
}
$query = "SELECT * FROM course_table WHERE course_id={$_GET['id']}";
if ($r = mysql_query ($query)) { // Run the query.

		$row = mysql_fetch_array ($r); // Retrieve the information.

$course_code = $row['course_code'];
$course_1title = $row['course_1title'];
$course_instructor = $row['course_instructor'];
$combo_course = "$course_code"." "."$course_1title";
}
echo '<h1>Email';
echo ": $course_instructor";
echo '</h1>';

$query = "SELECT * FROM instructor_table WHERE instructor_id={$row['instructor_id']}";
if ($r3 = mysql_query ($query)) { // Run the query.

	$row3 = mysql_fetch_array ($r3); // Retrieve the information.

$instructor_email = $row3['email'];

$body = "$body";
}

print
'<form action="'.$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'].'" method="post">
Name: <input type="text" name="name" size="20" maxlength="20"><br />
Subject: <input type="text" name="combo_course" size="50" maxlength="60" value="' . $combo_course . '"><br />
Comments:<br><textarea name="$body" cols="50" rows="10"></textarea><br />
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Send">
</form>';
}

?>
<?php // Include the HTML footer file.
include_once ('ce_includes/ce_footer.html');
?>

then I get this error when I send:

An error occurred in script /home/kitodesi/public_html/acace/ce_includes/config.inc on line 11: Undefined variable: instructor_emailAn error occurred in script /home/kitodesi/public_html/acace/ce_includes/config.inc on line 11: Undefined variable: student_email

[bpat1434]

okay, so in config.inc the variables aren't defined (given a value, instantiated). That's where the error comes from. Once you give them values, the errors should go away.