javascript?

[182x]

Hey guys,

Just wondering is it still accepted to use javascript or do many users have this feature turned off?

I;ve heard people saying that its dated now, is there any truth to this?

thanks.

[NogDog]

Javascript is widely used, and depending on whose figures you want to trust, something like 95% of users (+/- a few percent) have it enabled. The thing to remember when writing client/server web applications is that it's best used as a means of enhancing the user interface and experience, but for critical functionalities you should never depend on it being there (and is a good reason to remember and use the HTML <noscript> tag). Also, you need to remember that malicious users can easily bypass or spoof anything on the client side, so your sever-side scripts should never depend on things like JavaScript form validation having screened out all bad form inputs.

[182x]

Thanks I am currently using it to limit the amount of characters that a user can enter to a text area on a form.

Is this a bad idea as if its turned off and the amount of characters exceeds the limit defined in the database, could this cause problems?

I am also using varchar to store this data is this ok or would text be better?

thanks again.

[NogDog]

182x wrote:

Thanks I am currently using it to limit the amount of characters that a user can enter to a text area on a form.

Is this a bad idea as if its turned off and the amount of characters exceeds the limit defined in the database, could this cause problems?

It's a good idea, in that it gives immediate feedback to the users if they exceed the allowed limit while avoiding unnecessary net traffic. But, since you cannot 100% depend on that processing having happened when the data reaches your PHP script, you need to also validate it there (and if invalid either return the user to the form with an error message, or just truncate it to the maximum allowed characters depending on which makes more sense for the specific situation).

I am also using varchar to store this data is this ok or would text be better?

Use whichever makes sense for your application. Neither is "better" than the other, they just have different limitations, memory requirements, etc.

[182x]

NogDog wrote:

It's a good idea, in that it gives immediate feedback to the users if they exceed the allowed limit while avoiding unnecessary net traffic. But, since you cannot 100% depend on that processing having happened when the data reaches your PHP script, you need to also validate it there (and if invalid either return the user to the form with an error message, or just truncate it to the maximum allowed characters depending on which makes more sense for the specific situation).

Thats cool, I am pretty much totally new to the whole PHP thing do you know where I could find any scripts or get any information which would help me validate the text in the text area?