saving form as you go

[BluntedbyNature]

ok so i got a form with almost 160 feilds in it i want to break it up into 4 pages of 40 feilds.

so here is the thing i need it so people click on "save and quit" and it saves everything then when you come back it brings you back to page 1 with all the feilds filled in.

this is how i thought about doing it, have a database with all the feilds in it, then have a cookie that stores the id to that specific record.

now i dont know how to accually call a cookie to tell the query how to pull the id, also i dont know how to check if the person already has a cookie or not, and if do do i tell it to update the database feild or insert into it.

i was thinking if they have a cookie id it will bring it up and i will use an update to do it, (when you click save and quit it inserts what you have filled out into the database) but then i will need a different form to do the one if you dont have a cookie id already so then you need to insert into a new one, im trying to do this with out repeating to much...

[devinemke]

is this all within a broader context of a login system? are you asking users to login before filling out this form? if you are collecting sensitive information in this form (or even if you are not) i suggest that you implement some way of making sure that a user who saves the partially filled out form needs to re-authenticate himself before filling out the rest later on. as a general rule, [man]sessions[/man] are more secure method of storing temporary info as compared to cookies. just to be clear, cookies can be used for session propagation but all that this stored in the cookie is the session ID, not the data itself.

as you already suggested, if a user quits before filling out the entire form, store whatever data is there in the database along with some info for authentication (email, password). prompt users to enter this auth info if they wish to recall their saved form. code the form so that if there data already in a row that matches the user's email/password pre-populate the form with that partial data. this could all be a single function that renders out the form either blank or partially populated.

[BluntedbyNature]

?? yeah, im new to the whole cookie/session world, i did reading on both of them, just cant exactly figure out how to do it here. would it be possible to get a snippit of some sort i can work off of?

[BluntedbyNature]

ok so let me get this right, what i want to do is have them log in using email and password. now once they login i want session id to store the database record id and then store the session in the cookie. i think.

<?php
session_start();
$_SESSION['id'] = '$id';
setcookie("formsid", SID, time()[phone]);
?>

something like that?

now how can i check if they have a cookie before i set a new one? am i even on the right track?

[bradgrafelman]

No need to set the formsid in a cookie... just use [man]session_start/man without any parameters and it should open the previous session just fine.

Also, note your coding error:

$id = 123; // an example id
$_SESSION['id'] = '$id'; // <-- this is what you used
$_SESSION['correct_id'] = "$id";
$_SESSION['easiest_way_to_store_variable'] = $id;

echo $_SESSION['id']; // $id
echo $_SESSION['correct_id']; // 123
echo $_SESSION['easiest_way_to_store_variable']; // 123

Not sure why there's a difference? Read the manual on [man]language.types.string[/man] (specifically single vs. double quoted strings).

[BluntedbyNature]

i was told i need to store the SID to a cookie so that the cookie knows what SID to pull when they log back in say a week later

[bradgrafelman]

Of course, if your server was configured oddly, you might have to propogate the SID manually. Try just using a normal call to [man]session_start/man as is done in the manual, however.

[esukf]

I believe this is what you want. There might be better ways of doing it but this should point you in the right direction. There is a problem with deleting the cookies after the database insert with the script below. Others should be able to help you with that.

<?php
session_start();

//************************action form1*****************
if(!isset($_GET['action'])){
?>
<script language=javascript>
  <!--
  function save_button()
  {
  	document.form1.action = "savingform.php?action=save"	
  	document.form1.submit();
  	return true;
  }   

  function next_form2_button()
  {
  	document.form1.action = "savingform.php?action=form2"	
  	document.form1.submit();
  	return true;
  }  

  </script>

<form name="form1" method="POST">
	field1: <input type="text" name="field1" value="<?php echo $_COOKIE['saved_form_data']['field1'] ?>">
	<br />
	field2: <input type="text" name="field2" value="<?php echo $_COOKIE['saved_form_data']['field2'] ?>">
	<br />
	<input type="button" value="SAVE" onclick="return save_button();">
	<input type="button" value="NEXT" onclick="return next_form2_button();">
</form>

<?php
}

//***********************action form2*****************
if($_GET['action'] == "form2"){
	//store posted data in session
	foreach($_POST as $k => $v){
		$_SESSION['data'][$k] = $_POST[$k];		
	}

?>	
<script language=javascript>
  <!--
  function save_button()
  {
  	document.form1.action = "savingform.php?action=save"	
  	document.form1.submit();			// Submit the page
  	return true;
  }

  function next_form3_button()
  {
  	document.form1.action = "savingform.php?action=form3"	
  	document.form1.submit();			// Submit the page
  	return true;
  } 
  -->
  </script> 	


<form name="form1" method="POST">
	field3: <input type="text" name="field3" value="<?php echo $_COOKIE['saved_form_data']['field3'] ?>">
	<br />
	field4: <input type="text" name="field4" value="<?php echo $_COOKIE['saved_form_data']['field4'] ?>">
	<br />
	<input type="button" value="SAVE" onclick="return save_button();">
	<input type="button" value="NEXT" onclick="return next_form3_button();">
</form>
<?php
}

//***********************action form3*****************
if($_GET['action'] == "form3"){
	//store $_POST data to session
	foreach($_POST as $k => $v){
		$_SESSION['data'][$k] = $_POST[$k];		
	}

//javascript for dynamic form submit
?>	
<script language=javascript>
  <!--
  function save_button()
  {
  	document.form1.action = "savingform.php?action=save"	
  	document.form1.submit();			// Submit the page
  	return true;
  }

  function insert_button()
  {
  	document.form1.action = "savingform.php?action=insert"	
  	document.form1.submit();			// Submit the page
  	return true;
  } 
  -->
  </script>	
	<form name="form1" method="POST">
		field5: <input type="text" name="field5" value="<?php echo $_COOKIE['saved_form_data']['field5'] ?>">
		<br />
		field6: <input type="text" name="field6" value="<?php echo $_COOKIE['saved_form_data']['field6'] ?>">
		<br />
		<input type="button" value="SAVE" onclick="return save_button();">
		<input type="button" value="INSERT TO DB" onclick="return insert_button();">
	</form>
<?php
}

//***********************action save***************
if($_GET['action'] == "save"){	

//store data in session to cookie
if(isset($_SESSION['data'])){
	foreach($_SESSION['data'] as $k => $v){		
		setcookie("saved_form_data[".$k."]", $v, time()[phone]);
	}
}	

//store the $_POST data from the previous save form to cookie
foreach($_POST as $k => $v){		
	setcookie("saved_form_data[".$k."]", $v, time()[phone]);
}	

echo '<p>Form Saved</p>';
echo '<p><a href="savingform.php">Back to first page</a></p>';
}

//***********************action insert**********************************
if($_GET['action'] == "insert"){

//delete cookies - this bit not working
if(isset($_COOKIE['saved_from_data'])){			
	foreach($_COOKIE['saved_form_data'] as $k => $v){
		setcookie ("saved_form_data[".$k."]", "", time()-99999);			
	}		
}

foreach($_POST as $k => $v){
	$_SESSION['data'][$k] = $_POST[$k];		
}

//insert in to db table just as above	
echo '<p>insert to database</p>';
echo '<p><a href="savingform.php">Back to first page</a><p>';

foreach($_SESSION['data'] as $k => $v){		
		echo $k.'=>'.$v.'<br />';
}

//unset session
unset($_SESSION['data']);	

}
?>

[BluntedbyNature]

ok i think i understand all that, now how would i get it into the database? i see you have a part that says //insert in to db table just as above.

sorry if im not understanding this, but its all so new to me.

[esukf]

My mistake, ignore the words "just as above".
I'm assuming you want to insert all the form data to a database when a user completes the form. You need to add your db INSERT code where i place that comment.
All the form values are stored in the $_SESSION['data'] array.

example

$field1 = $_SESSION['data']['field1'];
$field2 = $_SESSION['data']['field2'];
$field3 = $_SESSION['data']['field3'];
$field4 = $_SESSION['data']['field4'];


$conn = mysql_connect("localhost", "username", "password"); 
	mysql_select_db("your_db");

$sql = "INSERT INTO table (field1, field2, field3, field4) VALUES ('$field1', '$field2', '$field3', '$field4');";	
$result = mysql_query($sql);

if($result){
	echo "Data saved to database";
} else {
	echo "Failed";
}

[BluntedbyNature]

this form is gunna have somewhere need 160 feilds, so do i have to do

 $field1 = $_SESSION['data']['field1']; 

for all 160 feilds?

[esukf]

No, thats justan example, you can use a loop to do it. $_SESSION['data'] is just an array. You also need to build the sql statement in a similar way.

[esukf]

try

//***********************action insert***************
if($_GET['action'] == "insert"){

//delete cookies
if(isset($_COOKIE['saved_from_data'])){			
	foreach($_COOKIE['saved_form_data'] as $k => $v){
		setcookie ("saved_form_data[".$k."]", "", time()-99999);			
	}		
}

foreach($_POST as $k => $v){
	$_SESSION['data'][$k] = $_POST[$k];		
}

$conn = mysql_connect("localhost", "username", "password") or die(mysql_error()); 
mysql_select_db("your_db", $conn) or die(mysql_error()); 

$sql  = "INSERT INTO table";

//implode key of array 
$sql .= " (".implode(", ", array_keys($_SESSION['data'])).")";

// implode values of $array
$sql .= " VALUES ('".implode("', '", $_SESSION['data'])."') ";

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

echo $sql; //for sql debug

if($result){ 
	echo "<p>Data saved to database</p>"; 
} else { 
	echo "<p>Failed</p>"; 
}

echo '<p><a href="savingform.php">Back to first page</a><p>';	

//unset session
unset($_SESSION['data']);	

}