[RESOLVED] Saving form values

hairpuller

I have set up a login script based on the one found in http://evolt.org/article/comment/17/60265/index.html but I have modified and extended it significantly. A problem I am having is if a field is incorrect or not filled out and the user is "<a href..."ed back to the original page all the inserted data is lost and needs to be filled out again. I have tried the following code to get the input data saved but it does not work in the script I am using;

<?php
...
$user = isset( $POST['user'] ) ? $POST['user'] : '';
...
?>
<tr>
<td>Username:</td>
<td>
<input type="text" name="user" value=<?php echo "$user" ?> maxlength="30">
</td>
</tr>

Can anybody give me some guidance on this please?

Horizon88

You could save them inside a session variable, and have it pre-populate all the information inside the form from the session, or even a cookie. You could also pass them all back to the form in $_GET variables, as well, but that's less recommended cause it makes for nasty URLs. You could also only output the form controls they entered incorrectly, have them fix that, and then run the whole query.

Also, the reason your code doesn't work is, I'm guessing, it doesn't act on itself when you submit the form.

hairpuller

Thanks for your prompt response. Session and cookie are used in the script I am using but I am not yet familiar how to use them. I am also unsure of the advantages and disadvantages of either the session or cookie process. Can you refer me to a site where I can learn the appropiate code? Or maybe give me an example? Regards, David.

Horizon88

I'd recommend sessions over cookies, myself, if you wanted to do something like this. And for information on sessions, use the PHP page: www.php.net/session

That'll give you all the information you need on working with sessions.

As to the code side of it, you'll want to make the HTML form, and set the value attribute on each input tag you want to save information in.

And in your login.php script, you would do something like this:

if (isset($_POST['username'])) {
$_SESSION['username'] = $_POST['username'];
}

Then give them a link to redirect back to the form, (since you've technically sent a header, if I recall correctly) and then the form should auto-fill the username field with whatever the $_SESSION value was set to.

Does that help?

hairpuller

Thank you very much for your prompt response. I can now work on that information and will let you know when I succeed. It must be part way through Thursday night for you whereas it is part way through Friday afternoon where I am, New Zealand.

hairpuller

Hi Horizon88, I have managed to get the coding you provided to work but only on <INPUT TYPE="text".... boxes. I also have <SELECT NAME="gender".... boxes and birthdate boxes and the month has a VALUE already inserted such as <SELECT NAME="month" <OPTION VALUE="01">January.... It appears as if I need to get the PHP session function to insert the word SELECTED inside the selected month <OPTION.... so that the selected date is saved on <a href... action. Can you advise how that can be done? Regards, David.

Horizon88

I'm not certain if I'm following you, but what you'll want to do (I think) is save the form variable in a session value, then use an if/else statement in your form to display it properly:

<?PHP
if ($_SESSION['selectField'] == 'selected') {
echo '<option value="selected">Selected</option>';
}
else {
// echo options as normal
}
?>

Perhaps?

n_wattam

I found my self with the same problem when using forms when collecting infomation from the user, like a multipage signup form.

I found the easiest way like said above was to use a session, this was the first time i used sessions and found it very easy to hold information passing it across the form process.

one thing i didnt notice and couldnt work out for sometime was if you are moving from a http to a https they have there own session data.

hairpuller

Thanks Horizon88 & n wattam. I'll work on that code, which appears to be the answer, and come back when I succeed. Regards, David.

Horizon88

Okay, cool. Let me know how it goes, and if you get it solved, don't forget to mark it as Resolved.

🙂

Edit: N.Wattam - The reason for that is because they're technically different sessions - one access https:// and one accessed [url]http://.[/url] It's like calling it with www. and setting a session or calling it without www. and setting a session. They're not the same. A way to avoid this is to use .htaccess files to force the page to load either https:// or [url]http://.[/url]

hairpuller

Hi Horizon88, I have spent many hours trying to get this to work but failed. This is the code I have used taken from your example which is the gender (and simpliest) selection;

<SELECT NAME="gender">
<?php
if($SESSION['gender'] == 'selected'){
echo '<OPTION VALUE="selected">Selected</OPTION>';
}
else {
echo $SESSION['gender'];
}
?>
<OPTION><OPTION>Female<OPTION>Male</SELECT></TD>

And I am also trying to do a similar thing with the birthdate and I suspect the month (because it has a double VALUE) will cause another problem and here is the code I am using for that;

<SELECT NAME="month">
<?php
if($SESSION['month'] == 'selected'){
echo '<OPTION VALUE="selected">Selected</OPTION>';
}
else {
echo $SESSION['month'];
}
?>
<OPTION><OPTION VALUE="01">January<OPTION VALUE="02">February<OPTION VALUE="03">March<OPTION VALUE="04">April<OPTION VALUE="05">May<OPTION VALUE="06">June<OPTION VALUE="07">July<OPTION VALUE="08">August<OPTION VALUE="09">September<OPTION VALUE="10">October<OPTION VALUE="11">November<OPTION VALUE="12">December</SELECT>

I have tried multiple variations of the above, such as putting it in various places and changing various words but nothing works.

At the start of the script I have the following;

<?php
session_start();
include("Database.php");

if(isset($POST['subjoin'])){
$SESSION['user'] = $POST['user'];
$SESSION['pass'] = ($POST['pass']);
$SESSION['gender'] = $POST['gender'];
$SESSION['day'] = $POST['day'];
$SESSION['month'] = $POST['month'];

$SESSION['year'] = $_POST['year'];
}

There are no problems with the username and password being saved. I do tend to believe it is only something simple that is not quite right.

Regards, David.

Horizon88

You need to put the <?PHP echo $_SESSION['value']; ?> inside option tags. I think if you view the source of your page you'll find that the form value IS being set, it's just not formatted properly in the <select> code.

Do something like:

<SELECT NAME="gender">
<?php
if($_SESSION['gender'] == 'selected'){
echo '<OPTION VALUE="selected">Selected</OPTION>';
}
else {
echo '<option value="'.$_SESSION['gender'].'">'.$_SESSION['gender'].'"</option>';
}
?>
<OPTION><OPTION>Female<OPTION>Male</SELECT></TD>

That should do it.

hairpuller

Thanks Horizon88, I found you had added an extra double quote before the </option>'; and once I deleted that I got the gender, birth day and birth year to work but not the birth month properly. The numerical value of the month ie 01 instead of January, is returned. I guess it is either one of these lines that needs to be amended;

if($_SESSION['month'] == 'selected'){
echo '<OPTION VALUE="selected">Selected</OPTION>';

But I have no idea how.

I must have the numeric value for the purpose of entering it into MySQL.

Regards, David.

Horizon88

that's because you don't pass both the numerical and the name of the month to the form processor in post variables. You'd need to do something like this:

if ($_SESSION['month'] == '01') {
echo "<option value=\"01\">january</option>";
}
elseif ($_SESSION['month'] == '02') {
  ...
}

so on and so forth, unless you add another variable in the form to pass both values to the processor.

hairpuller

Thanks Horizon88, That has fixed everything. I will now mark this subject Resolved.

I seem to be going from obstacle to obstacle in the belief that once I resolve the current obstacle I should be able to resolve the next one myself but that is not the case. I now want to provide a numeric increment on each username, for example;

All username characters applied for will need to be alphabetic A-Z or a-z and if someone uses "abc" it will automatically be given "abc1" and the next applicant to apply for that same username will automatically be given "abc2". I have looked up MySQL manual which provides for primary key auto increment but that system increments by 1 for every new username in the same table regardless if it is different. But if there was a new table for each username then I think that will achieve what I want, or maybe a table within a table but I would prefer to have only one table. Is that the only way it can be achieved or can PHP do that automatically?

Regards, David.

Horizon88

You should probably get another topic started on that, but the way I'd point you is to do something with PHP and MySQL - take the username, check it against the database, and increment it by one based off what the database query returns.

hairpuller

Hi Horizon88. Yes, I will start another topic if I have difficulty in following your suggestions but I'll first try to resolve it myself which is the best way for me to learn. Thanks for all your help. Regards, David.