Need some help on a weird php/msql data submit problem

FatStratCat

two of my customers can log in to my order form, but when they fill it out and submit it, the data does not go into the database. it appears to, as the confirmation page comes up, but there is no new record there. two other people in their office who also order from me do not have this problem, same IP as far as I can tell.

I have a set up where all users are entered into a table and are given a coded rating ( for example admins are 001, employees are 002, and customers are 003) so the software knows what access level they should have.

both of these users have the same rating as others, they can successfully log in, but when they fill out the php form that dumps the data into a mysql database, it does not get entered.

I have 30 other users who are not experiencing this problem. I tried logging in under their username, and I could not place an order. I was able to place an order by one of their co workers, and we are getting orders from all other customers with no problems.

I am kind of new to php programming, so I am really stumped on this one. Any idea on how to approach solving this or what may possibly be causing it? There is no diference between these two users and any others set up wise, and since I was unable to add an order logging in as them, it can't be their computer.

Thanks for any help. I intend to deal with this more extensively this weekend during business downtime, but I'm not even sure where to start. I was thinking of placing an error reporting code in the order form to see what gets generated upon submission, but beyond that, I just don't know.

Elizabeth

I'm assuming you're not using anything fancy to code in, like Zend Studio or Nusphere... those have some debugging tools built in to them, which makes it nice. If you don't have those tools, what you can do is insert some echo statements into your pages so you can see what the code thinks the variables are. Doesn't do much for the look of the site, while you're messing around with it, but if there's a way you can take it offline for a bit, that would do better. You could also try setting up new accounts for the problematic users and see if there was something going on when they set up their accounts. There has to be some commonality between them, so look as close as possible.

The debugging thread at the top of the Echo Lounge might also have some helpful tips if you have time to page through it.

leatherback

Otherwise.. I sounds like it may have to do with the way your login is stored. Have you tried logging in on their system, under your username?

Could it be that your security settings / browser are different then that of your client?

vaaaska

Recently I had a nasty time figuring out that Firefox (and IE) and their autofill capabiliies can completely confuse people - we were having a very similar situation you describe above.

Echoing out the INSERT statement so you can read it is where I would start...

FatStratCat

setting up new accounts for them is a good idea. I am unable to log onto their system as me, because they are an independent business located some 200 miles away.

I have over 30 successful users, I was unable to order using either of their usernames but was able to using others, so browser settings seem to be an unlikely answer.

I can't risk going off line until saturday. hopefully I will find the glitch by then. thanks

FatStratCat

vaaaska wrote:
Recently I had a nasty time figuring out that Firefox (and IE) and their autofill capabiliies can completely confuse people - we were having a very similar situation you describe above.

Echoing out the INSERT statement so you can read it is where I would start...

HOw did you solve it?

vaaaska

We turned off the stupid, lame autofill feature. It's in the user preferences for the browser. It remembers passwords and even forms...

FatStratCat

I could not possibly access my customers computer terminals to do that.

do you know the process that autofill feature uses that caused the problem?

vaaaska

It's just plain confusing. It fills in fields and people don't really know what's happening. In our case, it was filling in password information and the user was confused by thinking that they had filled it in - over and over they kept being unable to create new users for the system.

It has a tendency to override the fields - it was a complete mess. Once we turned it off...no problems since.

Edit: However, as E mentions to, you need to echo out your INSERT statement and read up on troubleshooting. I'm willing to be that once you view the INSERT statement from a computer than can insert to one that can't you will see the difference. It could also be as simple as quote chonking things up.

echo "INSERT...statement...";
exit;

FatStratCat

So I merely place the word echo in front of "Insert.., no other coding needed?

Do I put the "exit" in there too?

I'm just learning the coding thing, so this will be the first time I'll be doing any code trouble shooting.

vaaaska

Ok, this should really go in the coding forum. And, you should post some code if you want to get precise help. People will be much better able to help then.

FatStratCat

ok by me. I can be just as easily clueless in there as here. 😉

FatStratCat

vaaaska wrote:
It's just plain confusing. It fills in fields and people don't really know what's happening. In our case, it was filling in password information and the user was confused by thinking that they had filled it in - over and over they kept being unable to create new users for the system.

It has a tendency to override the fields - it was a complete mess. Once we turned it off...no problems since.

Edit: However, as E mentions to, you need to echo out your INSERT statement and read up on troubleshooting. I'm willing to be that once you view the INSERT statement from a computer than can insert to one that can't you will see the difference. It could also be as simple as quote chonking things up.
echo "INSERT...statement...";
exit;

I just looked over the code for the form. There is no insert. there is a submit button, pretty standard.

also - if there was a quote out of place, wouldn't that affect every user, and not just two of them?

EDIT: Icreated new user accts for the people who could not order, and that, at least, is a easy fix. the problem is still there, though. Thanks for the help.