[RESOLVED] Save web form submissions in div

cgooders

New to this malarkey so please bare with me, I started to look into PHP and have been given a task to do. The concept is to just have a basic form with a name and message field but once the form data is submitted the message displays in a div above the form without refreshing the page and then further submissions just get added to the div of messages.

I believe this can be done with the use of a script for the refresh issue but stuck on both points...her's code so far:

<body>

<?php
	$name = $_REQUEST["name"];
	$message = $_REQUEST["message"];

	$output = "<div class='messageBox'><h1>" . $name . "</h1><p>" . $message . "</p></div>";

?>

<div id="wrapper">

	<div id="container">
		<div id="messages">
			<?php echo $output ?>
		</div>
	</div> <!-- Container !-->

	<form id="form" method="post" action="">
		<input type="text" name="name" value="Name" class="text" id="name" />
		<textarea name="message" class="textArea" id="message" >Enter your message</textarea>
		<input type="submit" value="Submit" class="submit" />
	</form>

</div> <!-- Wrapper !-->

</body>

As you can see the code only displays the form data but once you submit a new message it overwrites the previous which is not desirable as I want every message to save and be listed within the above div...anyone that can point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance

cgooders

Right been able to do the refresh thing so got all my message that I have submitted correctly showing in the div so all I need now is for PHP to store all of the message submitted so when I close the form down and reopen it they previous data I posted will still show...any ideas?

bradgrafelman

Store the messages in a file (using whatever you like as a separator) or in a database.

cgooders

Sorry forgot to mention no database allowed in this task...my bad but your implying I could save each message using a php file? I have done the refresh solution with ajax would this be an issue? Apologies for my lack of knowledge but this is totally new territory for me.

bradgrafelman

Well you need some sort of database, since it sounded like you want the data to still be there if you navigate away from the page in your browser. What type of storage depends on your needs. For example, do you want these messages to appear for everyone who views this webpage, or should they only see the ones they've posted?

If it's the former, I'd say a SQL database (e.g. SQLite if a full-fledged DBMS isn't "allowed") would be a good solution. Otherwise, you could just dump each POST'ed value into a text file on the server, using some sort of separator value between each message after ensuring that either a) you don't allow that separator value to appear in the POST'ed data, or b) you escape that value in some way if it does appear.

If it's the latter, then you could always use some form of the web storage built into modern day browsers.

EDIT: You'll also want to be more specific in what is not "allowed", since a database is nothing more than a collection of data stored for later use, so your question doesn't make sense if that isn't allowed ("How do I display a collection of data in a <div>? Note that collections of data are not allowed to be used.").

cgooders

Thanks for all the advice and I will keep plugging away at it, I understand I may not have been clear from the start but I want the collection of data to be shown in a div without the use of a database so was looking for an alternative for a database to store my data...which then would be placed into the browser by using PHP I believe. Anyways thanks for the advice, I will try to crack it when I re visit it.

traq

...what is the basis for the requirement of "not using a database [DBMS?]"?

meaning, you don't want to pay extra for a web host that supports databases?

or is this a homework assignment, and they specifically want you to be practicing something else?

(Nothing against you either way. Just trying to clarify, so we can offer useful suggestions.)

Weedpacket

cgooders wrote:
was looking for an alternative for a database to store my data...

As bradgrafelman said, anything you store your data in would be a database. He suggests that maybe you're thinking of a DBMS.

I want the collection of data to be shown in a div without the use of a database

How you show it should have nothing to do with how you store it - and vice versa.

cgooders

Well I got it working, I went down the file root so when a comment was submitted it was added to my comment.txt file and it works a treat.

Traq, it was just a homework assignment nothing special just something to get me learning new elements within PHP. I'm more front end at the minute but the more I look into PHP and how the back end of a website works it intrigues me more and more so would like to try and get to a good standard for at least 1 programming language.

Thanks again people.