Placing Error Results On The Page

mpar612

Hello,

I have code below (I apologize for the length). I am validating an email address. It checks to see if the email field is blank, in the proper format, etc... It prints errors to the screen (at the very bottom of the code) and everything works perfectly, but the errors always print at the very top of the page and I am having difficulty moving those errors around so they fit nicely into the page design I have. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance!!!

<?php

// Load PEAR DB
require 'DB.php';
require '../../formhelpers.php';
require '../../../../dbConnect/DbConnect.php';

// Connect to the database
$db = DB::connect($connect);
if (DB::isError($db)) { die ("Can't connect: " . $db->getMessage()); }

// Set up automatic error handling
$db->setErrorHandling(PEAR_ERROR_DIE);


// Set up fetch mode: rows as objects
$db->setFetchMode(DB_FETCHMODE_ASSOC);

if ($_POST['_submit_check']) {
	process_form();
}
?>

<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title> Music Spotlight Newsletter Sign Up</title>
</head>

<body>

<div align="center">
	<table border="0" width="860" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" height="585" id="table1" background="images/EmailCapture_Background.jpg">
		<tr>
			<td valign="top">
			<div align="center">
				<table border="0" width="363" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="table2">
					<tr>
						<td height="96">&nbsp;</td>
					</tr>
					<tr>
						<td align="center">
						<font face="Arial" size="2">
						Music's mission is to help bring back a sense of 
						discovery to music. So do 
						a ...and get back to Music.</font></td>
					</tr>
					<tr>
						<td align="center">
						<hr color="#FFFFFF" size="1"></td>
					</tr>
					<tr>
						<td align="center">
						<font face="Arial" size="2">Enter 
						your Name (optional) &amp; Email below to receive updates &amp; specials from 
						Music.</font></td>
					</tr>
					<tr>
						<td align="center">&nbsp;</td>
					</tr>
					<tr>
						<td align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="red"><b><?php echo $error;?></b></font></td>
					</tr>
					<tr>
						<td align="center">
						<form method="POST" action="<?php print $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>">
							<div align="center">
								<table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="2" id="table3">
									<tr>
										<td width="141" align="right">
										<font size="2" face="Arial">
										&nbsp;</font><font size="1" face="Arial"><i><b>(optional)
										</b></i> </font>
										<font size="2" face="Arial">
										&nbsp;</font><i><b><font size="2" face="Arial">* </font>
										</b></i><font size="2" face="Arial">
										First Name:</font></td>
										<td>
										<input type="text" name="firstName" size="40" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial"></td>
									</tr>
									<tr>
										<td width="141" align="right">
										<i><b><font size="1" face="Arial">
										(optional) </font></b></i>
										<font size="2" face="Arial">
										&nbsp;</font><i><b><font size="2" face="Arial">*</font></b></i><font size="2" face="Arial"> 
										Last Name:</font></td>
										<td>
										<input type="text" name="lastName" size="40" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial"></td>
									</tr>
									<tr>
										<td width="141" align="right">
										<font face="Arial" size="2">Email:</font></td>
										<td>
										<input type="text" name="email" size="40" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial"></td>
									</tr>
								</table>
							</div>
							<p>
							<input type="hidden" name="_submit_check" value="1"/>
							<?php input_submit('save','Submit'); ?>
							<input type="reset" value="Reset" name="B2"></p>
						</form>
						<p><font face="Arial" size="1"><font color="#666666">
						Visit Us online at </font>
						<a target="_blank" href="http://www..com">
						<font color="#000000">.com</font></a></font></td>
					</tr>
				</table>
			</div>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</table>
</div>

</body>

</html>
<?php
function process_form() {	

global $db;

	$firstName = addslashes($_POST['firstName']);
	$lastName = addslashes($_POST['lastName']);
	$email = $_POST['email'];
	$emailHash = md5($email);
	$active = "n";

	  // Check syntax
	  $validEmailExpr =  "^[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-]([.]?[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-])*" .
	                     "@[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-]([.]?[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-])*$";

	  // Validate the email
	  if (empty($email))
	  {
	    print "The email field cannot be blank";
	    return false;
	  }    
	  elseif (!eregi($validEmailExpr, $email))
	  {  
	    print "The email must be in the name@domain format.";
	    return false;
	  }
	  elseif (strlen($email) > 30)
	  { 
	    print "The email address can be no longer than 30 characters.";
	    return false;
	  }
	  elseif (function_exists("getmxrr") && function_exists("gethostbyname"))
	  {
	    // Extract the domain of the email address
	    $maildomain = substr(strstr($email, '@'), 1);

	    if (!(getmxrr($maildomain, $temp) || 
	          gethostbyname($maildomain) != $maildomain))
	    {
	      print "The domain does not exist.";
	      return false;
	    }
	  }

$db->query('INSERT INTO users (firstName, lastName, email, hash, active)
            VALUES (?,?,?,?,?)',
           array($firstName, $lastName, $email, $emailHash, $active));

$message = " 
Thank you for signing up for the .  Please click on the link below to confirm your registration.  If the link is not active, copy-and-paste it into your browser window.

http://www.EmailCapture/validateSuccess.php?id=$emailHash
";

$subject = "";
$from = "";

mail("$email", "$subject", "$message", "From: $from");

print "<script>window.location='ThankYou.htm'</script>";

}	
?>

PHPist

Simply move function of form processing into the place where you want to put error messages.

PHPist

And do not use print() and echo() functions in the function context, better use variable which will be returned in the end of function work.

mpar612

Thanks! I tried your suggestions rather than echoing the errors in the function I assigned the errors to variables (the first piece of code below).

I then echoed the variables in the location of the page that I want them to appear in (the second piece of code).

Now the validation still works, but the errors are not being echoed on the page.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

function process_form() {	
    global $db;

	$firstName = addslashes($_POST['firstName']);
	$lastName = addslashes($_POST['lastName']);
	$email = $_POST['email'];
	$emailHash = md5($email);
	$active = "n";

	  // Check syntax
	  $validEmailExpr =  "^[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-]([.]?[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-])*" .
	                     "@[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-]([.]?[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-])*$";

	  // Validate the email
	  if (empty($email))
	  {
	    $error1 = "The email field cannot be blank";
	    return false;
	  }    
	  elseif (!eregi($validEmailExpr, $email))
	  {  
	    $error2 = "The email must be in the name@domain format.";
	    return false;
	  }
	  elseif (strlen($email) > 30)
	  { 
	    $error3 = "The email address can be no longer than 30 characters.";
	    return false;
	  }
	  elseif (function_exists("getmxrr") && function_exists("gethostbyname"))
	  {
	    // Extract the domain of the email address
	    $maildomain = substr(strstr($email, '@'), 1);

	    if (!(getmxrr($maildomain, $temp) || 
	          gethostbyname($maildomain) != $maildomain))
	    {
	      $error4 = "The domain does not exist.";
	      return false;
	    }
	  }

<tr>
						<td align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="red"><b>
						<?php 
						echo $error1;
						echo $error2;
						echo $error3;
						echo $error4;
						?></b></font></td>
					</tr>

PHPist

No, you not understand me. In function, you create one variable that will be content all error messages, then, in the end of function work, you simply return resulted variable, and in the main code you print result of function.
Example:

<?php
function f1(){
 if($error){
  $variable='2121';
 }
 if($error2){
  $variable.='sasf';
 }
 return $variable;
}
print f1();
?>

mpar612

Thanks for the response, but I'm afraid I don't follow. Are you suggesting that I create an additional function that handles the errors?

Thanks

PHPist

It must be something like this:

<?php

// Load PEAR DB
require 'DB.php';
require '../../formhelpers.php';
require '../../../../dbConnect/DbConnect.php';

// Connect to the database
$db = DB::connect($connect);
if (DB::isError($db)) { die ("Can't connect: " . $db->getMessage()); }

// Set up automatic error handling
$db->setErrorHandling(PEAR_ERROR_DIE);


// Set up fetch mode: rows as objects
$db->setFetchMode(DB_FETCHMODE_ASSOC);

?>

<html>

<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title> Music Spotlight Newsletter Sign Up</title>
</head>

<body>
<?php
 if(isset($_POST['_submit_check'])){
 	print process_form();
 }
?>
<div align="center">
    <table border="0" width="860" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" height="585" id="table1" background="images/EmailCapture_Background.jpg">
        <tr>
            <td valign="top">
            <div align="center">
                <table border="0" width="363" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="table2">
                    <tr>
                        <td height="96">&nbsp;</td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td align="center">
                        <font face="Arial" size="2">
                        Music's mission is to help bring back a sense of
                        discovery to music. So do
                        a ...and get back to Music.</font></td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td align="center">
                        <hr color="#FFFFFF" size="1"></td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td align="center">
                        <font face="Arial" size="2">Enter
                        your Name (optional) &amp; Email below to receive updates &amp; specials from
                        Music.</font></td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td align="center">&nbsp;</td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="red"><b><?php echo $error;?></b></font></td>
                    </tr>
                    <tr>
                        <td align="center">
                        <form method="POST" action="<?php print $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>">
                            <div align="center">
                                <table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="2" id="table3">
                                    <tr>
                                        <td width="141" align="right">
                                        <font size="2" face="Arial">
                                        &nbsp;</font><font size="1" face="Arial"><i><b>(optional)
                                        </b></i> </font>
                                        <font size="2" face="Arial">
                                        &nbsp;</font><i><b><font size="2" face="Arial">* </font>
                                        </b></i><font size="2" face="Arial">
                                        First Name:</font></td>
                                        <td>
                                        <input type="text" name="firstName" size="40" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial"></td>
                                    </tr>
                                    <tr>
                                        <td width="141" align="right">
                                        <i><b><font size="1" face="Arial">
                                        (optional) </font></b></i>
                                        <font size="2" face="Arial">
                                        &nbsp;</font><i><b><font size="2" face="Arial">*</font></b></i><font size="2" face="Arial">
                                        Last Name:</font></td>
                                        <td>
                                        <input type="text" name="lastName" size="40" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial"></td>
                                    </tr>
                                    <tr>
                                        <td width="141" align="right">
                                        <font face="Arial" size="2">Email:</font></td>
                                        <td>
                                        <input type="text" name="email" size="40" style="font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial"></td>
                                    </tr>
                                </table>
                            </div>
                            <p>
                            <input type="hidden" name="_submit_check" value="1"/>
                            <?php input_submit('save','Submit'); ?>
                            <input type="reset" value="Reset" name="B2"></p>
                        </form>
                        <p><font face="Arial" size="1"><font color="#666666">
                        Visit Us online at </font>
                        <a target="_blank" href="http://www..com">
                        <font color="#000000">.com</font></a></font></td>
                    </tr>
                </table>
            </div>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div>

</body>

</html>
<?php
function process_form() {

global $db;

    $firstName = addslashes($_POST['firstName']);
    $lastName = addslashes($_POST['lastName']);
    $email = $_POST['email'];
    $emailHash = md5($email);
    $active = "n";
    $data='';
    $err_code=0;

      // Check syntax
      $validEmailExpr =  "^[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-]([.]?[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-])*" .
                         "@[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-]([.]?[0-9a-z~!#$%&_-])*$";

      // Validate the email
      if (empty($email))
      {
        $data.="The email field cannot be blank";
        $err_code=1;
      }
      elseif (!eregi($validEmailExpr, $email))
      {
        $data.="The email must be in the name@domain format.";
        $err_code=1;
      }
      elseif (strlen($email) > 30)
      {
        $data.="The email address can be no longer than 30 characters.";
        $err_code=1;
      }
      elseif (function_exists("getmxrr") && function_exists("gethostbyname"))
      {
        // Extract the domain of the email address
        $maildomain = substr(strstr($email, '@'), 1);

        if (!(getmxrr($maildomain, $temp) ||
              gethostbyname($maildomain) != $maildomain))
        {
        	$data.="The domain does not exist.";
        	$err_code=1;
        }
      }
    if(!$err_code){
    $db->query('INSERT INTO users (firstName, lastName, email, hash, active)
                VALUES (?,?,?,?,?)',
               array($firstName, $lastName, $email, $emailHash, $active));

    $message = "
    Thank you for signing up for the .  Please click on the link below to confirm your registration.  If the link is not active, copy-and-paste it into your browser window.

    http://www.EmailCapture/validateSuccess.php?id=$emailHash
    ";

    $subject = "";
    $from = "";

    mail("$email", "$subject", "$message", "From: $from");

     $data.="<script>window.location='ThankYou.htm'</script>";
   }else{
   	$data.='Error!';
   }
   return $data;

}
?>

mpar612

Thanks, but that still didn't work. The validation takes place, but the errors are not displayed on the screen.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!