Problem POSTing data

zooropa

Hi All,
I have a form that consists of 3 cascading select menus, two text boxes and a submit button. The following javascript function is called whenever the user makes a selection from a select:

 
<script language="JavaScript">
function autoSubmit()
{
    var formObject = document.forms['theForm'];
    formObject.submit();
}
</script>

I'd like to POST the data contained in the various form elements back to the MySQL database using an INSERT query. However, this gets posted every time the above function is called.

I need a check that says "If something has been entered into both text boxes and something has been selected from all three selects then POST the data"

I should also mention that each select has an initial option of "Please Select..."

Any help is greatly appreciated as i've been going round in circles for about a month now on this

anakadote

This is more of a JavaScript question. But it should be something like this:

<script language="JavaScript">
function autoSubmit()
{
    var formObject = document.forms['theForm'];
    if(formObject.inputName1.value == ''){
        alert('Field 1 is empty');
        return false;
    } else  if(formObject.inputName2.value == ''){
        alert('Field 2 is empty');
        return false;
    }

formObject.submit();
}
</script>

You'd need to replace inputName1 and inputName2 with your input names, and add more as necessary. You should also be checking, validating, and sanitizing the input with PHP once the form is submitted too.

zooropa

Hi Anakadote,
Sorry! Maybe I didn't explain myself very well.

The cascading dropdowns depend on the form being re-submitted: So if a selection is made from Select1, the autoSubmit() function is called and the contents of Select 2 are updated. However, calling autoSubmit() reloads the form and causes the form data to be POSTED and the INSERT Query (i've commented this query - it's right at the bottom of the code) to be run with each form reload.
Here is the complete code:

 
<html>
<body>
<h2> Start Lot </h2>

 
<?php
require_once('mysqli_connect.php');

$sl = $sn = $st = null; //declare vars

 if(isset($_POST["silicon_lot"]) && is_numeric($_POST["silicon_lot"]))
   {
       $sl = $_POST["silicon_lot"];
   }

 if(isset($_POST["silicon_wafer_number"]) && is_numeric($_POST
     ["silicon_wafer_number"]))
  {

$sn = $_POST["silicon_wafer_number"];
}

 if(isset($_POST["silicon_type"]) && is_numeric($_POST["silicon_type"]))
 {
    $st = $_POST["silicon_type"];
 }

?>

 
<h3> Enter Silicon Details </h3>


<script language="JavaScript">

// The following function is called as part of Populating the Cascading Dropdowns

function autoSubmit()
{
    var formObject = document.forms['theForm'];
    formObject.submit();
}
</script>

<form name="theForm" method="post" action="start_fdd_lot3.php">
<table >
<tr>
<td width="70px">
FDD Lot  

</td>
<td>
<input type="text" name="fdd_lot" id="fdd_lot" value="<?php if (isset($_REQUEST['fdd_lot'])) echo $_REQUEST['fdd_lot']; ?>" />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Comment 
</td>
<td>
<input type="text" name="fdd_lot_comment" id="fdd_lot_comment" size="25" value="<?php if (isset($_REQUEST['fdd_lot_comment'])) echo $_REQUEST['fdd_lot_comment']; ?>" />
</td>
</tr>
</table>


<select name="silicon_type" id="silicon_type" onChange="document.getElementById('silicon_wafer_number').selectedIndex=0; autoSubmit();" >         

        <option value="null">silicon type</option>

 
<?php
        $q1 = "SELECT silicon_type_id, silicon_type FROM tbl_silicon_type ";
        $s1 = mysqli_query($dbc,$q1);

    while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($s1))
    {        
        echo ("<option value=\"$row[silicon_type_id]\" " . ($st == $row["silicon_type_id"] ? " selected" : "") . ">$row[silicon_type]</option>");        
    }

?>

     

</select>

<select name="silicon_lot" id="silicon_lot" onChange="autoSubmit();">         
    <option value="null">silicon lot</option>

 
<?php 
        $q2 = "SELECT silicon_lot_id, silicon_lot FROM tbl_silicon_lot WHERE (silicon_type_id = $st)  ";
        $s2 = mysqli_query($dbc,$q2);

    while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($s2))
    {        
        echo ("<option value=\"$row[silicon_lot_id]\" " . ($sl == $row["silicon_lot_id"] ? " selected" : "") . ">$row[silicon_lot]</option>");        
    }

?>

 

</select> 


<select name="silicon_wafer_number" id="silicon_wafer_number" onChange="autoSubmit();">
   <option value="null">number</option>

 

<?php        

    $q3 = "SELECT silicon_id, silicon_wafer_number, silicon_assigned FROM tbl_silicon WHERE (silicon_lot_id = $sl && silicon_assigned=0)  ";
    $s3 = mysqli_query($dbc,$q3);

    while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($s3))
    {
        echo ("<option value=\"$row[silicon_id]\" " . ($sn == $row["silicon_id"] ? " selected" : "") . ">$row[silicon_wafer_number]</option>");        
    }

    ?>

         

    </select>

 

<?php

$gl = $gn = $gt = null; //declare vars

if(isset($_POST["glass_lot"]) && is_numeric($_POST["glass_lot"]))
{
    $gl = $_POST["glass_lot"];
}

if(isset($_POST["glass_substrate_number"]) && is_numeric($_POST["glass_substrate_number"]))
{
    $gn = $_POST["glass_substrate_number"];
}

if(isset($_POST["glass_type"]) && is_numeric($_POST["glass_type"]))
{
    $gt = $_POST["glass_type"];
}

?>

 
<br />
<h3> Enter Glass Details </h3>

<select name="glass_type" id="glass_type" onChange="document.getElementById('glass_substrate_number').selectedIndex=0; autoSubmit();" >         

        <option value="null">glass type</option>

 
<?php
        $q4 = "SELECT glass_type_id, glass_type FROM tbl_glass_type ";
        $s4 = mysqli_query($dbc,$q4);

    while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($s4))
    {        
        echo ("<option value=\"$row[glass_type_id]\" " . ($gt == $row["glass_type_id"] ? " selected" : "") . ">$row[glass_type]</option>");        
    }

?>

         

</select>


<select name="glass_lot" id="glass_lot" onChange="autoSubmit();">         
    <option value="null">glass lot</option>

 

<?php     

    $q5 = "SELECT glass_lot_id, glass_lot FROM tbl_glass_lot WHERE (glass_type_id = $gt)  ";
    $s5 = mysqli_query($dbc,$q5);

    while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($s5))
    {        
        echo ("<option value=\"$row[glass_lot_id]\" " . ($gl == $row["glass_lot_id"] ? " selected" : "") . ">$row[glass_lot]</option>");        
    }

?>

 

</select>    


<select name="glass_substrate_number" id="glass_substrate_number" onChange="autoSubmit();">
   <option value="null">number</option>

 

    <?php        

    $q6 = "SELECT glass_id, glass_substrate_number, glass_assigned FROM tbl_glass WHERE (glass_lot_id = $gl && glass_assigned=0)  ";
    $s6 = mysqli_query($dbc,$q6);

    while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($s6))
    {
        echo ("<option value=\"$row[glass_id]\" " . ($gn == $row["glass_id"] ? " selected" : "") . ">$row[glass_substrate_number]</option>");        
    }

    ?>

 

</select>    


<br />
<br />

<input type="hidden" name="n1" value="<?php echo $_REQUEST["fdd_lot"];?>">

</form>

<form name="theForm2" method="post" action="start_fdd_lot3.php">

<input type="submit" name="button" id="button" value="Submit" />

<input type="hidden" name="submitted" value="TRUE" />

<script language="JavaScript">

 
<?php

$stype=$_REQUEST['silicon_type'];
echo ($type);

// Here is the INSERT Query that's being run every time the form is posted when
//autoSubmit() function is called. I don't know if it's possible to run this query
// outside of this form and to use the condition that all the form elements must be
// selected or have something entered into them (in the case of the text boxes)

//I've also put "xxx" below for the value as i don't know what to put in here - it's suppose to be the text entered into the fdd_lot text box above

$q1="INSERT INTO tbl_fdd_lot (fdd_lot) VALUES('xxx')";
$r = mysqli_query($dbc,$q1);

?>

 
</form>
</body>
</html>

Thanks

dalecosp

zooropa;10967321 wrote:
Hi Anakadote,
Sorry! Maybe I didn't explain myself very well.

The cascading dropdowns depend on the form being re-submitted: So if a selection is made from Select1, the autoSubmit() function is called and the contents of Select 2 are updated.

Isn't this sort of thing what AJAX is for?

zooropa

Yes, Ajax would be the elegant way to do this but i don't know any Ajax (I know, I know - why don't I go and learn it then).

This I intend to do but first i'd like to develop the application using HTML / PHP / Javascript and then once I've got a solid grip of those, attempt an Ajax version.

So if anyone knows how i can solve this problem (but not using Ajax : ) I'd very much appreciate it as i've been stuck on this for a month now,

Feeling very frustrated

Thanks

johanafm

Actually I'd recommend having a look at AJAX and start using it right away. First off, AJAX is not a language, but an acronym for Asynchronous Javascript And Xml, and pretty much means that you can execute an HTTP request with javascript without the javascript execution stopping while waiting for the response. The response does not have to come as XML either - that's up to you. And some things are actually a lot easier to handle with ajax than complete page requests.

The only thing you need to learn is how to initiate an XmlHttpRequest (which is how you make the request in javascript). You can either do it by yourself. It isn't too hard, but if you have to deal with IE7 or earlier (google it), you have to deal with MS non-compliance with standards. However, you could also use the ajax functionality provided by a js library such as Prototype, jquery or YUI, and they'll handle the inconsistencies for you.