[RESOLVED] 2 submit buttons - one stays, one goes

dek

i've read various threads discussing how make two or more submit buttons in a form redirect to different pages or execute different tasks. but i just haven't managed to apply these result to my problem.

i have a list showing the varius project i'm managing. it's really basic, theres only the projects names and for each project a "delete" and an "edit" button:

if i click "delete", the website should refresh itsel ($PHP_SELF)f and run the SQL to delete the chosen project from the database.

if i click "edit", i want to pass the project_id on to a new page, where, you guessed it, i can edit all project details (name, description, assign images and movies).

both parts work perfectly when solo, but not when i try to but them together. the solutions i come up with allways only fit one way, and excludes the other.

i was expecting to be able to grab the button-values and then switch() to the corrensponding task, but just havent been able to come up with the right code.

oh yes, a solution without java-script is strongly favored.

anyone of you code-ninjas got a hint?

thanks.

phpshift

I think you have to do something like this:

<input type="submit" value="delete" name="delete">
<input type="submit" value="edit" name="edit">

And then on the page to process your form do something like this:

if ($_POST["delete"])
{
do this;
};

if ($_POST["edit"])
{
do this;
};

dek

yeah, i've been trying out something like this.

the problem is, when i want to edit the project i'll have to somehow redirect to a new page:

if ($_POST["edit"]) 
{ 
// redirect to new page xyz.php
};

but i cannot seem to use header(Location: xyz.php), because i've got various html and a require() in my code beforehand. then again, i'm not at all sure if header() was the right choice anyways.

and how would i go about telling the xyz.php page which project_id it has to use to grab all project-details from my database? when i POST the project_id in my form the first time on of the two buttons is pressed, will it be cached in some way, and i can retrieve it on the xyz.php page when i arrive there or do i have to rePOST it before the redirect?

epimeth

I got a few solutions...
1) make an "are you sure?" page where a user submits a form with whatever values you need kept as hidden inputs to the required destination (wether it be back to whatever PHP_SELF was in your first post or to xyz.php)
2) keep the info in a session variable and redirect to your heart's content
3) use javascript... I feel its the best solution cuz it combines the best of both worlds... you can have an alert box pop up with the "are you sure?" message and then set the form's action to wherever you need it to go

dek

epimeth, thanks for the suggestions.

but i feel that leaving the original page and returning back to it again, just isn't a really "sexy" way of doing this. it makes sense having an alert box before deleting a project, but not when i want to edit the project.

i could rePOST the project_id by simply adding it to my new location:

if ($_POST["edit"]) 
{ 
// redirect to new page xyz.php and pass along project_id
header('Location:xyz.php?project_id='.$_POST['project_id']); 
exit;   

};

but i'm still getting a "header already sent" error, presumably because i have a require() beforehand? have i missed some vital part when using header()?

halojoy

dek wrote:
but i'm still getting a "header already sent" error, presumably because i have a require() beforehand? have i missed some vital part when using header()?

you should not have any echo HTML output
before a header(location) redirect

Any output to browser will send a header
and header(location) will output an error: header already sent
usually it will TELL on what Line number this output was

dek

unfortunately theres that require() i've got to establish a database connection and create a database object. i just can't see how i could place that after the header() without completely rewriting my code.

it just feels strange, that header() is so sensitive as to what comes before it. is there really no other way to get a page-redirect?

Weedpacket

Like halojoy said, the error message will state which line (of which file) is causing the problem. What is on that line and does it need to be there?

dek wrote:
it just feels strange, that header() is so sensitive as to what comes before it.

Not really. It puts stuff in the response header. That's why the function is called "header". And the header is the first part of the response (that's why it's called the header) and describes what follows - so it has to go before what follows it.

dek

thanks again for the input. I think that I've caught on to the idea behind header().

after reviewing my code I've come up with an ultimate question: is there an alternative to header(), which can be used anytime, anyplace, inside the code. I've done some reserch and haven't found anything yet.

if I can't seem to use header(), because I'm writing something to the screen beforehand, does that mean I'm just a bad coder?after all, I'm still a beginner at PHP, and header() seems to be a function to be used with more experienced, because of it's restrictions in where and when it has to be used.

bogu

Use meta refresh tag ...

bogu

Another idea about your problem here, I don't use buttons (Edit, Delete) when I have cases like yours, why cant u use simple anchor?
Ex.

<a href="edit.php?id=">Edit</a>
<a href="delete.php?id=" onclick="return confirm('Are u sure?');">Delete</a>
<!-- for a nicer look u can use images and not text -->
<a href="edit.php?id=">
    <img src="images/edit.gif" border="0" />
</a>
<a href="delete.php?id=" onclick="return confirm('Are u sure?');">
    <img src="images/delete.gif" border="0" />
</a>

I think is easy-er, this is just a suggestion u don't need to use it if u don't want ...

dek

bogu, I'll keep your tips in mind for another time.

for now I've decided to rearrange/rewrite the code to work with header(). on reviewing my code it turned out to be one big mess and it's best for me to get things straight before I proceed with more complex stuff.

thanks all for your input! RESOLVED!