[RESOLVED] $_GET vs Input control name conflict

aalcantara

Can anyone please explain why below have conflict or can you refer me to a reference/article that explains this behavior?

Here is the issue, the input control name when submitted, the php $_GET element name is different than what is specified in the control.

Below is a sample code. You will notice that the input control name is contact.name but in php it becomes $_GET[contact_name]

<?php
echo 'email: '.$_GET['contact.email'];
echo '<pre>';
print_r($_GET);
echo '<pre>';
?>

<form name="test" method="get">
<input type="text" name="contact.name"><br />
<input type="text" name="contact.email"><br />
<input type="submit" name="submit">
</form>

Thanks.

laserlight

Can anyone please explain why below have conflict or can you refer me to a reference/article that explains this behavior?

Read the PHP manual concerning Variables from outside PHP. Admittedly, the reason should not hold for proper use of $_GET instead of register_globals as in your example, but I guess they retained the old behaviour for consistency.

aalcantara

Thanks for the prompt response. I went to your suggested reference, just to share with everyone, I have copied the portion that explains this situation.

Dots in incoming variable names
Typically, PHP does not alter the names of variables when they are passed into a script. However, it should be noted that the dot (period, full stop) is not a valid character in a PHP variable name. For the reason, look at it:
<?php
$varname.ext;  /* invalid variable name */
?> 
Now, what the parser sees is a variable named $varname, followed by the string concatenation operator, followed by the barestring (i.e. unquoted string which doesn't match any known key or reserved words) 'ext'. Obviously, this doesn't have the intended result.

For this reason, it is important to note that PHP will automatically replace any dots in incoming variable names with underscores

laserlight

You're welcome. Remember to mark this thread as resolved using the thread tools.