[RESOLVED] problem submitting form to same page

[vikette]

I have a form which prints out a number of rows and gives the user the option to activate/deactive and add comments to whatever items they wish. The user should then press "Submit" and have the form redisplay with the updated entries.

It seems to update the database correctly, but the page refreshes (or resets?) without showing the changes. If I hit submit again, the changes appear, submit again, changes disappear. I'm using a multiple row form for the first time as well as submitting to the same page, so not sure if it's refresh issue or an array issue.

One example uses header("Location: pubmed.php"); after the sql update statement - which gives me the "headers already sent" error. This is usually a spacing issue right? Why would it work in the middle of someone's code at all, then?

If I substitute a meta refresh tag or nothing, the form seems to reset rather than display the correct results.

Any thoughts?

<?php 
echo "<form action='' method='post' name='pubs'>";
$query="SELECT * FROM pubmed ORDER BY pubmed.text ASC LIMIT 10";

$result = mysql_query($query);
$num_results = mysql_num_rows($result);

echo "<h2>Pubmed Queries (" . $num_results. ")</h2>";
echo "<table class='data'>";

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)){

if ($row['activated']=='yes') {
$color_bg='trans'; $active = "Active";
} else {$color_bg='bgLight'; $active = "  X-(_ ";}


echo "<tr class='" . $color_bg  . "'>";
echo "<td>";
echo "<input name='id[]' type='hidden' value='". $row['id'] ."'>";
echo "<b>UID: ". $row['id'] . "</b><br>";
echo $active;

echo "</td>";
echo "<td>";
echo	"<select name='activated[]' size='1'>";
	echo "<option value='yes'";
	if ($row['activated'] == 'yes'){echo " selected";}
	echo ">active</option>";
	echo "<option value='no'";
	if ($row['activated'] == 'no'){echo " selected";}
	echo ">inactive</option>";
echo "</select>";	

//echo "<input name='activated[]' type='checkbox' value='" . $row['activated'] . "' ".  $checkbox . ">";
//if ($checkbox) {$row['activated']='no'; 
echo "</td>";

echo "<td>";
echo stripslashes($row['authors']);

echo "</td>";

echo "</tr>";
echo "<tr class='" . $color_bg  . "'>";
echo "<td>";
echo stripslashes($row['link']);

echo "</td>";
echo "<td>";
echo stripslashes($row['img']);

echo "</td>";
echo "<td>";
echo stripslashes($row['text']) . "<br>";
echo "comments: <input name='comments[]' type='text' value='" . $row['comments'] . "' size='60' maxlength='255'>";
echo "</td>";

echo "</tr>";
echo "<tr><td colspan='3'><hr></td></tr>";

}
echo "</table>";

echo "<input name='Submit' type='submit' value='submit'>&nbsp;&nbsp;<input name='reset' type='reset' value='Reset'></form>";

//Check if button name "Submit" is active, do this
if($Submit){
	for($i=0;$i<$num_results;$i++){ 
	$update_query=mysql_query("UPDATE pubmed SET comments='$comments[$i]', activated='$activated[$i]' WHERE id='$id[$i]'");
	}

if($update_query){
header("Location: pubmed.php");
// headers already sent error

}
else { 
   $message  = 'Invalid query: ' . mysql_error() . "\n";
   $message .= 'Whole query: ' . $query;
   die($message);
}
mysql_close();
}
?>

[bpat1434]

The issue with the header() statement in the middle is that you've sent stuff to the browser already.

Now, your problem seems to be stemming from the same issue. You can remove the header() call, as well as get an "updated" view if you just move the if()else{} clause to the top, and then remove the header() line.

Now, if you move the if()else{} to the top, when the form prints again, it will query the database which will have been updated by the if() statement 😉

Now, in order to keep this script forward compatible with versions of PHP, I'd suggest making $Submit, $comments, $activated these: $POST['Submit'], $POST['comments'], $_POST['activated']. In other words, don't count on register_globals being on.

[vikette]

I see what you mean. Will give that a try. Thanks!

[vikette]

Now I'm having a problem keeping the arrays straight when the form is posted! I've made several variations of the code below but the update_query doesn't work.

if($_POST['Submit']){

$comments[] = $_POST['comments'];
$activated[] = $_POST['activated'];
$id[] = $_POST['id'];
$num_results = $_POST['$num_results'];

for($i=0;$i<$num_results;$i++){ 
$update_query=mysql_query("UPDATE pubmed SET comments='$comments[$i]', activated='$activated[$i]' WHERE id='$id[$i]'");
}

[bpat1434]

$num_results = $_POST['$num_results'];

The error lies in the above line.... arrays don't have literal variables in them. It should be:

$num_results = $_POST['num_results'];

[vikette]

Oh yeah. Still didn't work though. :-(

Curious as to why. However, I managed a workaround for this page by using my original code and displaying a simple HTML "click to refresh" link after submission. Since there are only 2-3 people using it, I can train them to do this.

[vikette]

No wait ... I got it working! Thanks Brett!

[bpat1434]

instead of using $num_results, why not try using count($id)? That way you're counting the number of changed items. Especially since $num_results = 0 since it's not initialized at the top of the script 😉

I cleaned up your script a little bit, and this should work for you. Maybe even be better as it "logs" multiple errors, and shows failure if one fails.

<?php 

//Check if button name "Submit" is active, do this
if($_POST['Submit'] == 'submit'){
	$comments[] = $_POST['comments'];
	$activated[] = $_POST['activated'];
	$id[] = $_POST['id'];
	$num_results = count($id);
	$errors = array();

for($i=0; $i<$num_results; $i++){
	$query = "UPDATE pubmed 
SET
	comments='" . mysql_real_escape_string($comments[$i]) . "',
	activated='$activated[$i]',
WHERE id='$id[$i]'";

	$update_query = mysql_query($query);

	if($update_query)
		$errors[$i] = false;
	else {
		$errors[$i] = true;
		$errinfo[$i] = array('errno'=>mysql_errno(), 'error'=>mysql_error(), 'query'=>$query);
	}
}

if(in_array(true, $errors))
	header('Location: pubmed.php');
else {
	$message = '';

	foreach($errors as $i=>$err) {
		if($err == true){
			$message .= 'Invalid query [#' . $errinfo[$i]['errno'] . ']: ' . $errinfo[$i]['error'];
			$message .= 'Whole query: ' . $errinfo[$i]['query'];
		}
	}
	die($message);
}
}
else
{


echo "<form action='' method='post' name='pubs'>";
$query="SELECT * FROM pubmed ORDER BY pubmed.text ASC LIMIT 10";

$result = mysql_query($query);
$num_results = mysql_num_rows($result);

echo "<h2>Pubmed Queries (" . $num_results. ")</h2>";
echo "<table class='data'>";

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)){

	if ($row['activated']=='yes') {
		$color_bg='trans'; $active = "Active";
	} else { $color_bg='bgLight'; $active = "  X-(_ "; }


	echo "<tr class='" . $color_bg  . "'>";
	echo "<td>";
	echo "	<input name='id[]' type='hidden' value='". $row['id'] ."'>";
	echo "	<b>UID: ". $row['id'] . "</b><br>";
	echo $active;

	echo "</td>";
	echo "<td>";
	echo "	<select name='activated[]' size='1'>";
	echo "		<option value='yes'" . ($row['activated']=='yes' ? " selected" : "") . ">active</option>";
	echo "		<option value='no'" . ($row['activated']=='no' ? " selected" : "") . ">inactive</option>";
	echo "	</select>";	
	echo "</td>";

	echo "<td>";
	echo stripslashes($row['authors']);

	echo "</td>";

	echo "</tr>";
	echo "<tr class='" . $color_bg  . "'>";
	echo "<td>";
	echo stripslashes($row['link']);

	echo "</td>";
	echo "<td>";
	echo stripslashes($row['img']);

	echo "</td>";
	echo "<td>";
	echo stripslashes($row['text']) . "<br>";
	echo "comments: <input name='comments[]' type='text' value='" . $row['comments'] . "' size='60' maxlength='255'>";
	echo "</td>";

	echo "</tr>";
	echo "<tr><td colspan='3'><hr></td></tr>";

}

mysql_free_result($result); // Free up some memory

echo "</table>";

echo "<input name='Submit' type='submit' value='submit'>&nbsp;&nbsp;<input name='reset' type='reset' value='Reset'></form>";
}
mysql_close();
?>

[vikette]

Wow!

I had put $num_results in a hidden field (which I neglected to tell you about) so it did work.

If I were to retrieve the date from the server at this point, and insert it into the Update query, it would only update those rows which had changed, right?

[bpat1434]

Well, if you wanted to know which ones had changed, you'd need to query the database, and then compare each field. Something like:

$i=0;
$errors = array();

$query = "SELECT * FROM pubmed ORDER BY pubmed.text ASC LIMIT 10";

$result = mysql_query($result);

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
  // Find the right key for the posted value
  $k = array_search($row['id'], $id);
  if($k !== false)
  {
    $updates[$i++] = array('activated'=>$active[$k], 'comments'=>$comments[$k], 'id'=>$id[$k]);
  }
}

// Now, loop through $updates and execute the UPDATE query
foreach($updates as $key=>$arr)
{
  $query = "UPDATE pubmed
SET
    comments='$arr[comments]',
    activated='$arr[activated]',
WHERE
    id='$arr[id]'";
  if(mysql_query($query) == false)
  {
    $errors[$i] = array('errno'=>mysql_errno(), 'error'=>mysql_error(), 'query'=>$query);
  }
}

if(empty($errors))
{
  header('Location: pubmed.php');
}
else
{
  $message = '';

  foreach($errors as $arr)
  {
    $message .= '
Invalid Query [#' . $arr['errno'] . ']: ' . $arr['error'] . '
Whole Query: ' . $arr['query'] . '
';
  }
  die($message);
}

You would need to do something like that.

[vikette]

I actually understand what you're doing there. Thanks for going above and beyond- now I have a good solid piece of coding to use as reference (as will the next person who has a similar question on the forum). Hacking away at PHP without being a programmer is actually quite tough at times - especially when asking for help.

🆒

[bpat1434]

If utilized correctly, as a point of reference, you can learn a lot from adapting code. As long as you don't look at this code as being the end-all of your coding for this specific item. Use it as a reference. Rework your code. When you have issues, ask.

Glad to see I could help. Don't be a stranger on the forums 😉