[RESOLVED] have to F5 to see data after it's entered using sessions

cottoneye1256

I have a form page that works fine except... nothing is displayed on page3 unless you change the Privacy Setting to "Accept all Cookies".
Even if different data is re-entered @ a different time you still have to keep changing the settings to "Accept all Cookies", then the data is displayed.

page1.htm => data entered (works fine)
page2.php => data displayed (works fine)
page3.php => nothing
(unless you change the cookie settings, refresh page2 then data is displayed on page3)

Is there anything I'm doing wrong so the end user doesn't have to keep hitting F5 on page2

Thank you

code page2:

<?php 
session_start(); 
$_SESSION['category'] = $_POST[category];
$_SESSION['location'] = $_POST[location]; 
$_SESSION['name'] = $_POST[name];
$_SESSION['city'] = $_POST[city]; 
?>


(mail code)

<?php
$msg = '        

<html>
table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" border="0">
<tr><td class="col0_out formheadertext" colspan="5" width="435"><center>Score Information</center></td></tr>

<tr>
<td width="25"></td>
<td class="formfieldtext" width="188">Category:</td>  

<td class="bodytext" width="272"><b>'.$_SESSION['category'].'</b></td>
<td class="formfieldtext" width="177">Location:</td>  

<td class="bodytext" width="32%"><b>'.$_SESSION['location'].'</b></td>
</tr>
<td width="25"></td>
<td class="formfieldtext" width="188">Name:</td>  

<td class="bodytext" width="272"><b>'.$_SESSION['Name'].'</b></td>
<td class="formfieldtext" width="177">City:</td>  

<td class="bodytext" width="32%"><b>'.$_SESSION['city'].'</b></td>
</tr>
';

//set up the mail
$recipient = "client@example.com";
$recipient2 = "client2@example.com";
$subject = "Store Sales";
$mailheaders  = "From: ace-plumbing.com<estimate@ace.com> \n";
$mailheaders .= "Reply-To: $_POST[email]\n\n";
$mailheaders  = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . "\r\n"; 
$mailheaders .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . "\r\n";

//send the mail
mail($recipient, $subject, $msg, $mailheaders);
//mail($recipient2, $subject, $msg2, $mailheaders);
//end of PHP code
?>

code page3

<?php 
session_start(); 
?>

<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>

<tr valign="top"> 
      <td >Category</td>
      <td >&nbsp;</td><td>
      <?php echo '<b>', $_SESSION['category'] , '</B>'; ?></td>

  <td >Location</td>
  <td >&nbsp;</td><td>
  <?php echo '<b>', $_SESSION['location'] , '</B>'; ?></td>

  <td >Name</td>
  <td >&nbsp;</td><td>
  <?php echo '<b>', $_SESSION['name'] , '</B>'; ?></td>

  <td >City</td>
  <td >&nbsp;</td><td>
  <?php echo '<b>', $_SESSION['city'] , '</B>'; ?></td>

</body>
</html>

ixalmida

I don't know how you're not getting errors on page 3.

First, you don't have an opening <body> tag.

Second, you've concatenated your "echo" string incorrectly. It should be:

echo '<strong>'.$_SESSION['category']. '</strong>';

Thirdly (and this is more about form than function), you don't have <table> tags, nor do you have a closing tag on your <tr>.

Fourth, <b> is deprecated. Try <strong> instead.

cottoneye1256

Sorry about that I do have those tags in my pages that you mentioned, I just left them out to save space.
I didn't think using <b> mattered that's why I used it (will change it to "strong").

I also noticed I have a comma instead of periods before and after $_SESSION['category'] (corrected)

But I still have the same problem even after I made the corrections you mentioned, I either have to refresh page2.php then data is
displayed ok on page3.php or hit my back button to page1.htm.

Do I have to do anything else? am I missing some code? All the other places I see data is displayed right away.

I noticed some places use isset()
Isn't that just used to verify a condition of a variable?

Thanks for helping🙂

mine:

echo '<b>', $_SESSION['category'] , '</B>';

yours:

echo '<strong>'.$_SESSION['category']. '</strong>';

ixalmida

You can use isset() to check whether a particular variable exists within a particular section of code, but usually a page will throw an error if you try to use an undeclared variable. Anyway, what you describe doesn't sound like a variable problem.

One more problem is a missing period in line 3 of the following code:

$mailheaders  = "From: ace-plumbing.com<estimate@ace.com> \n"; 
$mailheaders .= "Reply-To: $_POST[email]\n\n"; 
$mailheaders  = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . "\r\n"; 
$mailheaders .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . "\r\n";

So I'm guessing that the 'send mail' code doesn't work, but it may not be throwing a PHP error. That may cause a back-end stall before page 3 can load, but it isn't likely.

My instincts tell me this is more of an HTML issue than a PHP issue. If I were you, I'd compare the HTML source before and after you refresh the page and see if there are any differences.

The only other suggestion I can think to give you is to declare your HTML version before your header. I use:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

...but you should do some research into which version best suits your needs.

cottoneye1256

I'm guessing that the 'send mail' code doesn't work

No the mail works fine, sends the same results via email that should show up on page 2.php or page3.php and displays them ok.

I have a feeling it has to do with the code to display the variables because not just one or two items that aren't displayed it's the entire list.
Also I'll try ur HTML code

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

My current code for page2.php

<?php 
session_start(); 
$_SESSION['example1'] = $_POST[example1_from_page1];
$_SESSION['example2'] = $_POST[example2_from_page1]; 
?>


<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" border="0">
<tr><td class="col0_out formheadertext" colspan="5" width="435"><center>Score Information</center></td></tr>

<tr>
<td width="25"></td>
<td class="formfieldtext" width="188">Example 1:</td>  

<td class="bodytext" width="272"><b>'.$_SESSION['example1'].'</b></td>
<td class="formfieldtext" width="177">Example 2:</td>  

<td class="bodytext" width="32%"><b>'.$_SESSION['example2].'</b></td>
</tr>

My current code for page3.php

<?php 
session_start(); 
?>


<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>

  <table width="575" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bordercolor="#000000">

<tr> 
      <td width="64">
<?php echo '<strong>'.$_SESSION['example1']. '</strong>'; ?>
      </td>

<tr> 
      <td width="64">
<?php echo '<strong>'.$_SESSION['example2']. '</strong>'; ?>
      </td>

Is the code to display variables written ok? periods, quotes missing or in the right spot?
Is there another way to write this code??

About that missing period what exactly does that do??

Thanks for ans

ixalmida

Are you posting your actual code? Because it looks like you're missing an "echo" in the following code:

<td class="formfieldtext" width="188">Example 1:</td>   

<td class="bodytext" width="272"><b>'.$_SESSION['example1'].'</b></td> 
<td class="formfieldtext" width="177">Example 2:</td>   

<td class="bodytext" width="32%"><b>'.$_SESSION['example2].'</b></td>

Seems like you meant to do:

<td class="formfieldtext" width="188">Example 1:</td>   

<td class="bodytext" width="272"><b><?php echo $_SESSION['example1']; ?></b></td> 
<td class="formfieldtext" width="177">Example 2:</td>   

<td class="bodytext" width="32%"><b><?php echo $_SESSION['example2]; ?></b></td>

Also, I may be confused because I thought you said page 3 had to be refreshed. Either way, the reason I say it probably isn't the code is because session variables aren't stored in cookies unless you specifically put them there. Also, PHP code isn't going to suddenly start working when you refresh the page; only HTML acts that way, and that's usually because certain HTML code is flaky on certain browsers.

djjjozsi

Hello,
You might use ' or " in $POST[] variable names
$POST["example1_from_page1"];

What you should change? On page 2 where you send the email,
if i refresh that page more than once, that allowes to send the mails duplicated 🙂

If i did not fill all the fields? You migh handle that. And in your session variables its names must the same how you create.
$SESSION['Name'] is not equal with $SESSION['name'] (Page 2 in your original code)

hello,
jjozsi

cottoneye1256

To ixalmida

Yes that's the exact code ur talking about. That particular section mails out a letter to me with the same data thats entered on page1.

Even though I don't have echo in there it works fine.

PHP code isn't going to suddenly start working when you refresh the page; only HTML acts that way, and that's usually because certain HTML code is flaky on certain browsers

I know what ur saying but when info is entered on page1 the display on page2 and email works fine, page3 is blank unless I fresh page2 then go back to page3 where it's displayed ok

I can give you the link, try it and see what happens on ur end.

thanks for ans

To djjjozsi

$SESSION['Name'] is not equal with $SESSION['name']

sorry that was a typo on my part when I tried to rename variables to show you.

I have a check where they only fill out the required fields, the others are blank if not filled out.

Also ur right when the page is refreshed it does send out duplicated emails.

Does it matter if ' or " is used?

thanks for helping

Weedpacket

ixalmida wrote:
Second, you've concatenated your "echo" string incorrectly. It should be:

Using commas is legal in echo statements (see [man]echo[/man]).

cottoneye1256 wrote:
I didn't think using <b> mattered that's why I used it (will change it to "strong").

<b> is deprecated (if you want bold text then use CSS).

Does it matter if ' or " is used?

Only as far as it makes a difference for any [man]string[/man]. But if it is a string then it should be quoted one way or the other: as djjjozsi said

$_SESSION['example1'] = $_POST[example1_from_page1];

should be

$_SESSION['example1'] = $_POST['example1_from_page1'];

Consistency is nice; since you use single quotes in the $SESSION array you might as well use single quotes in $POST as well.

How do you get from page2 to page3?

Even though I don't have echo in there it works fine.

It shouldn't. If it's not between <?php...?> tags PHP won't do anything with it and all you'll see in the table cell will be '.$_SESSION['example1'].'. Are you sure you're looking at the right file - or at least that ixalmida is? 🙂

djjjozsi

Also ur right when the page is refreshed it does send out duplicated emails.

after you send the letter, the simpliest way if you set a session variable,

$_SESSION["email_sent"]=1;

And on the very beggining of you page you can check if this value alive:

(*)

if(!empty($_SESSION["email_sent"]))
header("Location: index.php?message=thankyou");

*Notice that, while using a header location could stop if you printed on the display defore.

cottoneye1256

To Weedpacket

How do you get from page2 to page3?

Theres a submitt button

It shouldn't. If it's not between <?php...?> tags PHP won't do anything with it and all you'll see in the table cell will be '.$_SESSION['example1'].'

It does, heres the email generated from the inputs from page1 when user goes to page2

top half:http://www.ny-sportsman.com/001.jpg
bottom half:http://www.ny-sportsman.com/002.jpg

heres the link to enter the data, see if this happens to you, no data on page3 (print unofficial chart).

http://www.ny-sportsman.com/online_scoring_typical_whitetail.htm

If you enter your email address I'll forward the email to you.

thanks for everything

cottoneye1256

Think I found out what's going on.

I put <?php echo session_id(); ?> in both pages 2 & 3.
Page3.php shows a different Session ID than page2.php.
When I refresh page 2 then go to page 3 the same Session ID is present for both.

Now my question is WHY is there #%$@*& different IDs
Heres the code:

I don't have any SESSIONS= or session start in page1.htm, the variables get assigned there w/input:
<input type="text" name="example1_from_page1" size="8" maxlength="8"> then with $_POST[example1_from_page1]; in page2.

page2:

<?php 
session_start(); 
$_SESSION['example1'] = $_POST[example1_from_page1]; 
$_SESSION['example2'] = $_POST[example2_from_page1]; 
?>

page3:

<?php 
session_start(); 
?>

then the display on page3:
<?php echo '<strong>', $_SESSION[''example1'] , '</strong>'; ?>

Is this correct? I missing something??

thanks

cottoneye1256

I figured it out.
I put SID in the path.

<form onSubmit="return SendForm(this)" name="form1" method="post" action="score_printout.php?<?php print SID; ?>">

works fine
thanks for everything 🙂