how to save info across multiple pages?

[quecoder]

hello ,
I have a form , which consist of one SELECT from , depending on certain circumstances , I let the page reloads and he can choose another choice ( may be different or same of the first)

<select name="blahblah">
<option value="1">Blah Blah</option>
</select>

when he submits this form , I want to get the value when the page reloads and let him make another selection , and save both , the first and second to know them latter.

I tried sessions , but I don't know how many times it will load .
I also tried hidden fields , but didn't knew how to get it to work

[rsmith]

Look up $_SESSION again. The value of a session key will remain available as long as the value isn't overwritten by something else and the expiry time isn't exceeded (usually a browser close by default).

[bretticus]

This is just my preferred way of doing things, but I like to submit the form to itself. That way, I can serialize the form values without having to rely on sessions. I even like to write functions that render the html for the inputs, just so it's easier to show the input control with the last chosen value. Here is a basic framework.

<?php
if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {
	//handle form
	//if everything looks good, do your processing and then redirect to a thankyou page.
}
?>
<form action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']?>" method="POST">
<!--for a text box it's easy...-->
<input type="text" value="<?php echo $_POST['txtname']?>" name="txtname">
<!--For a select you can go about it in different ways-->
<!--If statements for selecting value from last post-->
<select name="mnuoptions">
<option <?php echo ($_POST['mnuoptions']==1) ? " selected" : ""?>>1</option>
<option <?php echo ($_POST['mnuoptions']==2) ? " selected" : ""?>>2</option>
<option <?php echo ($_POST['mnuoptions']==3) ? " selected" : ""?>>3</option>
</select>
<!--This is a good opportunity to write a function-->
<?php
function select_on_post_match($postkey, $current)
{
	echo ($_POST[$postkey]==$current) ? " selected" : "";
}
?>
<!--Now we can just call the function-->
<select name="mnuoptions">
<option <?php select_on_post_match("mnuoptions", "1");?>>1</option>
<option <?php select_on_post_match("mnuoptions", "2")?>>2</option>
<option <?php select_on_post_match("mnuoptions", "3")?>>3</option>
</select>
<!--Or...you can make a function that just handles it all at once.-->
<?php
function makemenu($name, $options)
{
	$out = "<select name=\"$name\">\n";
	foreach ($options as $option) {
		$out .= "<option";
		$out .= ($_POST[$name]==$option) ? " selected" : "";
		$out .= ">$option</option>\n";
	}
	$out .= "</select>\n";
	return $out;
}
?>
<!--now you can replace the whole select html part with...-->
<?php echo makemenu("mnuoptions", array("1","2","3"));?>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit">
</form>

I wrote all this stuff quickly and off the top of my head so if you end up using it, you may need to debug it slightly.

[Weedpacket]

bretticus wrote:

That way, I can serialize the form values without having to rely on sessions.

You've got the makings of ASP.NET viewstate. Serialize all of the relevant state (not just the form values - might be good to base64(gzencode(all that stuff)) first) and there's the potential for writing in a continuation-passing style that's immune to all sorts of wacky behaviour from the user (hitting the back button, filling out two copies of the form simultaneously, jumping back to an earlier page and filling it in differently....I think I'm rambling)