[RESOLVED] Form validation q

[theknight]

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

    $pattern = '/.*@.*\..*/';
    $email   = $_POST['email'];
    $fname = $_POST['fName'];
    $lname = $_POST['lName'];
    $year = $_POST['year'];
    $id = $_POST['idNum'];
    $reason = $_POST['explain'];
    $fdate=$_POST["firstDate"];
	$sdate=$_POST["lastDate"];
	$counter =1;



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

    //validate_date($fdate);
	//validate_date($sdate);

	$date_parts = explode("/", $fdate);
	if(checkdate($date_parts[1], $date_parts[0], $date_parts[2])){
	$counter =0;

            }else{
	$dateMess = "Date must be in DD/MM/YYYY format";
            $counter =$counter+1;
            }
		$date_parts = explode("/", $sdate);
	if(checkdate($date_parts[1], $date_parts[0], $date_parts[2])){
	    $counter =0;
                    }else{
	$sdateMess = "Date must be in DD/MM/YYYY format";
	$counter =$counter+1;
    }

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

        $message    = "Please enter a valid email address.";
		return $counter =$counter+1;


    }else{

        $counter =0;
    }

    if(preg_match("/[^A-Za-z]/",$fname))
    {
        $nameMessage    = "No numbers are allowed in this field.";
		$counter =$counter+1;



    }else{

        $counter =0;
    }

    if(strlen($fname)==0)
    {
        $nameMessage    = "Please enter your name";
		$counter =$counter+1;


    }else{

        $counter =0;
    }

    if(preg_match("/[^A-Za-z]/",$lname))
    {
        $lnameMessage    = "No numbers are allowed in this field.";
		$counter =$counter+1;


    }else{

        $counter =0;

    }

    if(strlen($lname)==0)
    {
        $lnameMessage    = "Please enter your name";
		$counter =$counter+1;


    }else{

        $counter =0;

    }

        if($year=="Please")
    {
        $yearStudy   = "Please select an option from the drop down list";
		$counter =$counter+1;


    }else{

        $counter =0;
    }

     if(preg_match("/[^0-9]/",$id))
    {
        $idMessage    = "Only numbers are allowed in this field.";
		$counter =$counter+1;

    }else{

        $counter =0;

    }

            if(strlen($id)!=8)
    {
        $idMessage    = "Student ID Number has to be 8 digits";
		$counter =$counter+1;


    }else{

        $counter =0;
    }

    if(strlen($reason)==0)
    {   $reasonMessage    = "Textfield is empty";
		$counter =$counter+1;

      }else{

        $counter =0;
      }

      echo $counter;

	if($counter<1)
	{
	//mail( "[e-mail]", "Feedback Form Results",
	//$idMessage, "From: $email" );
	header( "Location: http://www.example.com/thankyou.html" );
	}




}

I have a variable called:

	$counter =1;

which is a flag. Everytime an item in each field on the form is incorrectly inputed it accumulates. If it does not accumulate at all the the last if statement is invoked, causing it to go to the thank you page.

Problem I am having is that the var counter does not remember its previous value after the if statements the next if statements are invoked.

How do I sort this one out cheers.

[Weedpacket]

Yes; every time a test passes you explicitly reset $count back to zero.

I suggest you implement it the way you describe it; start by setting $counter to zero, and every time a test fails, increment it.

[halojoy]

We start with $counter = 0;
if no errors $counter will be 0 at the end of validation.

Easiest way to write $counter = $counter + 1;
$counter++;
$counter--; .... is same as $counter = $counter -1;

For every check, if is an error we make $counter++
= one more error

<?php

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

$pattern = '/.*@.*\..*/';
$email  = $_POST['email'];
$fname  = $_POST['fName'];
$lname  = $_POST['lName'];
$year   = $_POST['year'];
$id     = $_POST['idNum'];
$reason = $_POST['explain'];
$fdate  = $_POST["firstDate"];
$sdate  = $_POST["lastDate"];

//Error counter	
$counter = 0; // 0 errors

//validate_date($fdate);
//validate_date($sdate);
$date_parts = explode("/", $fdate);
if(!checkdate($date_parts[1], $date_parts[0], $date_parts[2])){
	$dateMess = "Date must be in DD/MM/YYYY format";
	$counter++;
}
$date_parts = explode("/", $sdate);
if(!checkdate($date_parts[1], $date_parts[0], $date_parts[2])){
	$sdateMess = "Date must be in DD/MM/YYYY format";
	$counter++;
}
if (!preg_match($pattern, $_POST['email'])) {
	$message    = "Please enter a valid email address.";
	$counter++;
}
if(preg_match("/[^A-Za-z]/",$fname)){
	$nameMessage    = "No numbers are allowed in this field.";
	$counter++;
}
if(strlen($fname)==0){
	$nameMessage    = "Please enter your name";
	$counter++;
}
if(preg_match("/[^A-Za-z]/",$lname)){
	$lnameMessage    = "No numbers are allowed in this field.";
	$counter++;
}
if(strlen($lname)==0) {
	$lnameMessage    = "Please enter your name";
	$counter++;
}
if($year=="Please"){
	$yearStudy   = "Please select an option from the drop down list";
	$counter++;
}
if(preg_match("/[^0-9]/",$id)) {
	$idMessage    = "Only numbers are allowed in this field.";
	$counter++;
}
if(strlen($id)!=8) {
	$idMessage    = "Student ID Number has to be 8 digits";
	$counter++;
}
if(strlen($reason)==0){   
	$reasonMessage    = "Textfield is empty";
	$counter++;
}

// Show number of errors.
echo $counter;

// if $counter is 0 send mail and ThankYou page
if(!$counter){

	//mail( "[e-mail]", "Feedback Form Results",
	//$idMessage, "From: $email" );
	header( "Location: http://www.example.com/thankyou.html" );
	exit();

}else{

	// We have some error messages
	// and the form again
	// to display

}

}
?>

[bradgrafelman]

Better and simpler yet would be simply use an array of error messages. Example:

$errors = array();

if(! /* check #1 */)
    $errors[] = "Error: Failed check #1";
// etc. for all error checking

// to check for errors:
if(!empty($errors)) {
    // errors occured; loop over $errors to display messages
} else {
    // no errors
}

[theknight]

Thanks guys.

A quick question, if I wanted to put all the fields for mailing purposes, how do I do it?

// if $counter is 0 send mail and ThankYou page
if(!$counter){

    mail( "[e-mail]", "Feedback Form Results",
    [b]$id, $fname, $lname, $year, $email, $reason, $fdate, $sdate[/b], "From: $email" );
    header( "Location: http://www.example.com/thankyou.html" );
    exit();

Warning: mail() expects at most 5 parameters, 11 given in /home/bio-u4/u27ss5/PCFILES/public.htm/email.php on line 110

cheers.

[bradgrafelman]

theknight wrote:

A quick question, if I wanted to put all the fields for mailing purposes, how do I do it?

Build the body of the message in a single variable, and pass it as the appropriate parameter for the mail() function.

[theknight]

bradgrafelman;10950843 wrote:

Build the body of the message in a single variable, and pass it as the appropriate parameter for the mail() function.

Thanks.

How do I do this?

Thanks.

[bradgrafelman]

How do you store information in a variable? Simply:

$message = "Here is the message!

Foo: $foo
Bar: $bar
Foobar: $foobar";

[theknight]

bradgrafelman;10950860 wrote:

How do you store information in a variable? Simply:

$message = "Here is the message!

Foo: $foo
Bar: $bar
Foobar: $foobar";

Thanks.