Re-populating a form.

theknight

My code doesn't seem to work, I have no idea why. Anyway here it is as follows:

/** function to get all the values inputted on the form **/



function getDetails()
{

    $email   = $_POST['email'];
    $fname = $_POST['firstName'];
    $lname = $_POST['lastName'];
    $id = $_POST['idNum'];
    $reason = $_POST['explain'];
    $year = $_POST['year'];
    $lecturer = $_POST['lecturer'];
    $strdate=$_POST["txtdate"];
    echo $reason = $_POST['explain'];


}

/** form validation **/

if ($_POST['process'] == 1) {

    $pattern = '/.*@.*\..*/';


    $year = $_POST['year'];
    $lecturer = $_POST['lecturer'];
    getDetails();

    $urlname = urlencode($$_POST['username']);

    /**
     *
     *if email address is not fine, then display an error message, and repopulate form with previous values
     *
     **/

    if (!preg_match($pattern, $_POST['email']) > 0) {

        $message    = "Please enter a valid email address.";
        getDetails();

    }

Form field not working:

 <textarea name="explain" id="explain" type="text" class="basictext"><?php echo $reason;?></textarea>

The above works fine if I dont put all of my $email = $POST['email'];
$fname = $POST['firstName']; Post methods within a function, but it becomes repetitive.

Any idea why it is not repopulating. Cheers.

niroshan

hi theknight,
You got your answer by your self. The problem here is the variable scope. Please check the PHP manual to understand the variable scope.

when ever you assign a variable inside a function it`s scope will be limited to that function. so in your case you need to define the variables outside the function and use global declaration inside the function in-order to access those global variables inside the function.


$email   = '';
$fname = '';

...etc

function getDetails()
{
    global $email, $fname ...etc

    $email   = $_POST['email'];
    $fname = $_POST['firstName'];
    $lname = $_POST['lastName'];
    $id = $_POST['idNum'];
    $reason = $_POST['explain'];
    $year = $_POST['year'];
    $lecturer = $_POST['lecturer'];
    $strdate=$_POST["txtdate"];



}

Hope this will clear your doubts..

Thanks,
best regards,
niroshan

theknight

Thanks. However there seems to be another problem, when I put this form in another class validation fails. Otherwise it is fine:

in the class

	<div style="border-width: 2px;  border-style: solid; border-color: black; ">
		<?php
		include("lateForm.php");
?>
[/b]

form.php

[code]
  function getDetails()
    {

    global $email, $fname, $lname, $id, $reason, $year, $lecturer, $strdate;

    $email   = $_POST['email'];
    $fname = $_POST['firstName'];
    $lname = $_POST['lastName'];
    $id = $_POST['idNum'];
    $reason = $_POST['explain'];
    $year = $_POST['year'];
    $lecturer = $_POST['lecturer'];
    $strdate=$_POST["txtdate"];


}

if ($_POST['process'] == 1) {

    $pattern = '/.*@.*\..*/';


   // $year = $_POST['year'];
   // $lecturer = $_POST['lecturer'];
    //getDetails();



    /**
     *
     *if email address is not fine, then redirect to next page called
     *thank you.php
     *
     **/

    if (!preg_match($pattern, $_POST['email']) > 0) {


        $message    = "Please enter a valid email address.";
       // getDetails();
    $email   = $_POST['email'];
    $fname = $_POST['firstName'];
    $lname = $_POST['lastName'];
    $id = $_POST['idNum'];
    $reason = $_POST['explain'];
    $year = $_POST['year'];
    $lecturer = $_POST['lecturer'];
    $strdate=$_POST["txtdate"];


    }

^When I hardcode it inside the if statement the post methods it works fine, however when I call the getdetails() method it doesn't even echo it within the if statement.

Form action:

<form action="index.php?page=information/late" method="post">

Any idea why this is not working? Cheers.

bradgrafelman

Using global variables in that manner is strongly discouraged.

Why are you even doing this at all? What's wrong with using the $_POST array as it should be used?

theknight

bradgrafelman;10946377 wrote:
Using global variables in that manner is strongly discouraged.

Why are you even doing this at all? What's wrong with using the $_POST array as it should be used?

Yeah I can do that, and it works fine. For the sake of repetition I want to put it all inside a method, and just call it. What I am doing is storying their input values within a variable and then returning it to the input field on the form if form validation fails.

I can use cookies etc to do this, but there is no gaurentee it will be turned on.

niroshan

bradgrafelman;10946377 wrote:
Using global variables in that manner is strongly discouraged.

Why are you even doing this at all? What's wrong with using the $_POST array as it should be used?

I`m totally agree with bradgrafelman. But for the sake of explain his situation only I have given that code snap it.

Yeah why cannt` you use the same $_POST array?

What I am doing is storying their input values within a variable and then returning it to the input field on the form if form validation fails

if this is the only reason you want to store it in a variable then if error occured return the user to the same form and display the error message and on the text field check the post value and display the content.


<input type="text" name="email" id="email" value="<?php  if(isset($_POST['email'])) print $_POST['email']; ?>" />

remember dont use variables unless you really want them. variables means more memory.

hope this helps,

best regards,
niroshan

theknight

niroshan;10946461 wrote:
I`m totally agree with bradgrafelman. But for the sake of explain his situation only I have given that code snap it.

Yeah why cannt` you use the same $_POST array?

if this is the only reason you want to store it in a variable then if error occured return the user to the same form and display the error message and on the text field check the post value and display the content.
<input type="text" name="email" id="email" value="<?php  if(isset($_POST['email'])) print $_POST['email']; ?>" />
remember dont use variables unless you really want them. variables means more memory.

hope this helps,

best regards,
niroshan

That worked perfectly. Thanks.


<input type="text" name="email" id="email" value="<?php  if(isset($_POST['email'])) print $_POST['email']; ?>" />

Is this checking if the variable exists, and then if so, prints it?

bradgrafelman

theknight;10946503 wrote:
Is this checking if the variable exists, and then if so, prints it?

Yes. When dealing with external data, you should always use a function such as [man]isset/man to check if a given array index exists before using it. Otherwise, you'll generate E_NOTICE level error messages if it does not.

niroshan

hi theknight,

yes isset is used to check whether the variable is set or not. if the variable is not set it will return false. check the manual for more details.

so when you submit, the post array will be populated and in return isset function will return true so it will print the value.

Hope this is clear.

Thanks,
best regards,
niroshan