[RESOLVED] Re-use of POST and SESSION Variables in a script?

Rivet

Intuitively I feel like the answer to this should be "Yes, iti's fine to do that, but experience isn't bearing it out. For instance, if I should use

 $code=($_POST['code']);
if ($code != $_SESSION["d"]) {
  die("The code was " . $_SESSION["d"] .. $code. " You'll have to try again with a new code.");
 }

what should I use in another instance on the same page to refer to the sambe variable again in a different section of the script?
Can I reuse, for instance,

($code != $_SESSION["d"];
or
$code or
'code' or 
"code" ?
[/PhP]
In this case I'm actually trying to recap the visitor's responses for him, including his name, address and Comments, just prior to the "SUBMIT" button being clicked on. 
Whatever I use results in  notices, syntax errors or warnings & notices. 

What got me started on this was collecting an e-mail address on the form page and then asking for an e-mail confirmation on the check page. "email" was collected on the first page and then on the check page I asked for the e-mail again, assigning it to "email2".  All I wanted to do was see if email  and email2 were exactly the same with an if() statment, but never got it to work. 

Is it ME, or is there some contraints on re-using a $_POST assignment a second  or eve a third time? I've even tried sessions with the same results. I can't even tell which part of the statements are the problem here. :(

I'm not sure I'm being very clear here so if I should post over in Newbies or more informtion is needed, I'll happily do what's required. 

TIA,

Rivet`

bradgrafelman

Rivet;11029287 wrote:
For instance, if I should use
 $code=($_POST['code']);
if ($code != $_SESSION["d"]) {
  die("The code was " . $_SESSION["d"] .. $code. " You'll have to try again with a new code.");
 }
what should I use in another instance on the same page to refer to the sambe variable again in a different section of the script?

Depends on what you mean by "section." If you're still in the same scope (see [man]language.variables.scope[/man]), then you'd of course use the same name you gave the variable here. If you aren't talking about being in the same scope, then you can't refer to it at all.

Rivet;11029287 wrote:

Can I reuse, for instance,

($code != $_SESSION["d"];
or
$code or
'code' or 
"code" ?
[/PhP][/quote]Not entirely sure what you're asking here; the first is an expression (terminated by a semicolon for whatever reason), the second is a variable, and the third and fourth are both (constant) strings. As for "reusing" the first two, see the bit above about variable scope.

[QUOTE=Rivet;11029287]In this case I'm actually trying to recap the visitor's responses for him, including his name, address and Comments, just prior to the "SUBMIT" button being clicked on.[/quote]Your PHP script won't even be executed until [i]after[/i] the user submits the form (i.e. causes his browser to make a request back to your server), so I'm not sure how you're expecting anything to happen [i]prior[/i] to that being done.

[QUOTE=Rivet;11029287]What got me started on this was collecting an e-mail address on the form page and then asking for an e-mail confirmation on the check page. "email" was collected on the first page and then on the check page I asked for the e-mail again, assigning it to "email2".  All I wanted to do was see if email  and email2 were exactly the same with an if() statment, but never got it to work.[/quote]How exactly did you store the first value? I'm assuming in a session variable? Can you show us the exact code you used to handle both the initial form submission (i.e. where you store the first address given) and the subsequent conformation (i.e. where you try to later retrieve that same value and compare it with a second POST'ed(?) value)?

[QUOTE=Rivet;11029287]Is it ME, or is there some contraints on re-using a $_POST assignment a second  or eve a third time? I've even tried sessions with the same results.[/quote]No, there's no limit to how many times you can reference an item inside the [b]$_POST[/b] array (or any other array, for that matter) within a given script. The only limitation is that there actually has to have been something POST'ed in the request; for example, you can't access something that was POST'ed in one page request on subsequent requests (such as in the case of a "confirm" form submission) unless the user is actually POST'ing the data all over again.

[QUOTE=Rivet;11029287]I can't even tell which part of the statements are the problem here.[/quote]We'd have to see the actual code and the PHP error messages to help you, but PHP has already done most of the work for us; the error message will already point out what the problem is.

traq

Rivet;11029287 wrote:
if I should use
 $code=($_POST['code']);
if ($code != $_SESSION["d"]) {
  die("The code was " . $_SESSION["d"] .. $code. " You'll have to try again with a new code.");
 }
what should I use in another instance on the same page to refer to the sambe variable again in a different section of the script?

If you want to refer to the same variable, yes, use the same variable.

Rivet;11029287 wrote:

Can I reuse, for instance,

($code != $_SESSION["d"];
or
$code or
'code' or 
"code" ?
[/PhP][/quote]
I'm uncertain what you mean by that, or what you're trying to do.  That snippet is not even valid PHP.  Can you explain more clearly?

[QUOTE=Rivet;11029287]In this case I'm actually trying to recap the visitor's responses for him, including his name, address and Comments, just prior to the "SUBMIT" button being clicked on. 
Whatever I use results in  notices, syntax errors or warnings & notices. [/quote]
You should share the content of those errors if you expect anyone to help you with them.

[QUOTE=Rivet;11029287]Is it ME, or is there some contraints on re-using a $_POST assignment a second  or eve a third time? I've even tried sessions with the same results. I can't even tell which part of the statements are the problem here. :([/quote]
What do you mean by "POST assignment"?  In your first example, you're not assigning any value to $_POST: you're assigning a value [i]from[/i] (an index of) $_POST [i]to[/i] a normal variable ([font=monospace]$code[/font]).

Once you assign a value to a variable, you can use that variable however you like - even assigning a new value - as long as it's in the same scope.  I think we need a better explanation from you about what you're trying to achieve.  

You should also Read The Friendly Manual's section on [B][man]variables[/man][/B].

Weedpacket

Could you provide some real code that exhibits the problem you're trying to explain? So that we can run it and see for ourselves what you're on about? If it requires more than just copying the code into "test.php" and then running "php test.php" from the command line, provide whatever instructions are necessary to replicate the behaviour.

NogDog

On a bit of a side note, the first line of this serves no real purpose except to obscure the source of the "code" being tested:

$code=($_POST['code']);
if ($code != $_SESSION["d"]) {

You can simply do this:

if($_POST['code'] != $_SESSION["d"]) {

Even if you're going to use the "code" value elsewhere in the script and feel you'll save some typing by copying the value to a simple scalar variable named $code, if you instead just use $_POST['code'], it's always obvious where that variable came from, which can simplify maintenance/debugging.

Rivet

EXCELlent response and quesions! I remove everything that's causing me issues in order to go back to a workable-code start-point. Thus, I'll have to recreate the errors to show them here. Later today after my honey-do list is out of the way for the day I'll be back with code a little more descriptive and which I think will answer your questions. Hopefully it'll make a lot more sense that way.

I sincerely appreciate your assistance here.

Rivet`

Rivet

Yes, will do so later this afternoon.

Thanks

Rivet

I seem to have lost ground since yesterday in that now I'm getting a Warning that's pretty hard to understand. So, unable to get past it, I'm starting there and will go back to my original query when I can get past this one. I would swear I've done nothing to the code since yesterday but ... obviously I did but darned if I can see it!
Following are three PHP sections: form.php which works fine (I think), formcheck.php where I want to show the user their entry information (and shows some notes to myself in the process), plus a text-output from my browser, which is served by my localhost.

form.php:
Xampp 1.7.3 and PHP 5.3.x

This script operates OK; no errors, notices or warnings. It's the next page, formcheck.php that pops up errors, warnings or notices, depending on what I'm trying to do.

These scripts contain none of the other problem codes I'm trying to use; figured I'd first get this one out of the way as the warning makes 0 sense to me. The Warning claim I might be using something from PHP 4.2.3 but I've checked everything and it seems to be available in PHP 5.3 unless I've missed it. The rest of the warning means nothing at all to me.
Whatever I've done to cause that Warning is beyond me; it worked perfectly yesterday.

Three files follow: form.php, formcheck.php, and the text data from the formcheck.php output via localhost which contains the Warning.

form.php:
Xampp 1.7.3 and PHP 5.3.x
This script operates OK; no errors, notices or warnings. It's the next page, formcheck.php that pops up errors, warnings or notices, depending on what I'm trying to do.

Three files follow: output.php, formcheck.php, and the text data from the formcheck.php output via localhost.

<?php
session_start();
// prevent page caching in PHP:
header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate'); //HTTP/1.1
header('Expires: Sun, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT');
header('Pragma: no-cache'); //HTTP/1.0
	echo "<p>Todays date is ".date(" jS  F Y ")."</p>";
?>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
<title> Contact Form</title>
</head>
<body>
<html>
<?php
echo "<H1> Webmaster Contact Form </H1>";
   $a= mt_rand(-900,999);
   $b= mt_rand(-999,999);
   $c= mt_rand(-999,999);
   $d=($a.$b.$c);
   echo "Your Temporary Code is : " . $d;
// put $d into the session so you can check it on subsequent pages
	$_SESSION["d"] = $d;
?>
<form action="formcheck.php" method="post">
<p> Enter your <b>Temporary Code </b> here : </b> <input type="text" name="code" size="14 "  maxlength="12">  , including dashes.  <br />
How many DASHES are there in your <b> Temporary Code? </b> <input type="text" name="dash" size="3" maxlength="5">
<?php
$e = substr_count($d, '-');
	$_SESSION["e"] = $e;
echo "<br />"." Number of Dashes is: "." ".$e;
?>
<p> Enter Your Name :  <input type="text" name="name" length="20" maxlength="25" value="Robert">  </p>
<?php
	$_SESSION["name"] = $name;
?>
<p> Your E-mail Address : <input type="text" name="email" size="30" maxlength="40" value="nobody@spamcop.net"> <br />
<?php
	$SESSION["email"] = $email;
?>
<br /><br /> Do you want a Response to your e-mail? <br />
<input type="radio" name="respond" value="Yes" checked="checked" > Yes, please. <br />
 <input type="radio" name="respond" value="No"> No, please don't <br />
 <input type="radio" name="respond" value=" It does not matter"> It does not matter<br /><br />
<b>COMMENTS:</b> <br />
<textarea name="comments" rows="10" cols="55" wrap="physical">  </textarea> > </p>
<p> <input type="submit" value="NEXT">
<input type=  "reset" value="Clear Form" />
</p>
</form>
</body>
</html>

Then formcheck, where I think the problen is:

<?php
$respond = $_POST['respond'];
echo "<br /><br />" . "Wants e-mail Response? " . $respond . "<br /><br />";
$comments=$_POST['comments'];
echo "comments"."<br />";
echo str_replace("/",$_POST['comments'],"");
  $comments= stripslashes($_POST['comments']);
echo $comments;
$ip=$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
echo "<br /><br />" . "Your ip is: " . $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] . "<br />";
?>

And finally browser output served from localhost (XAMPP 1.7.3):

formcheck.php
I have removed the mail() function code to concentrate on the present errors.
The intent is to let the user see his input for one last verification before it gets mailed. I plan to simply add the mail() to this page.

Please Continue: 

My E-mail: web-master@hcs-classof64.net
Your Entered Name is: Robert
Your stripped name is : Robert
nobody@spamcop.net is valid 
Please confirm your e-mail address: [INPUT BOX SHOWN HERE ] <---- Nothing is echoed here.

Wants e-mail Response? Yes

comments
This is the comments textarea. It will echoe to the browserpage. 


Your ip is: [B]::1 [/B] <--- localhost <---- Apparently this is what you get when using localhost; uses real IP when tried on remote server.

* [B]Warning[/B]: [B]Unknown[/B]: Your script possibly relies on a session side-effect [B]which existed until PHP 4.2.3.[/B] Please be advised that the session extension does not consider global variables as a source of data, unless register_globals is enabled. You can disable this functionality and this warning by setting session.bug_compat_42 or session.bug_compat_warn to off, respectively in[B] Unknown on line 0[/B]

Final note: Yes, I know the "value=..." used in form.php isn't for the user to see; it's there for my own benefit right now and to make TSing easier. The only field that has to be filled in to get the form to work is the number of dashes; the others all have values assigned to them.

Many thinks for reading,

Rivet`

traq

... when discussing a Warning/error, you really should quote the Warning prominently (and early).

I assume you're talking about the register_globals warning. Yes, I can see you did post it, but I almost skipped over it (since it's at the bottom of your post, mixed in (oddly) with other stuff inside a

 box.  Came very close to just saying "tl;dr").

The register_globals warning might come up when you have an undeclared variable in your script, and a matching index also exists in one of $_GET/$_POST/$_COOKIE.  register_globals would automatically turn those indexes into normal variables (as a shortcut, so you didn't have to do [font=monospace]$myvar = $_POST['myvar'][/font]).  It was a horrendous security risk, but so many scripts came to rely on the behavior that it was difficult to simply [I]cut[/I] the "feature."  Kinda the same situation we're in now, with magic quotes and ext/mysql.

anyway, it's probably coming from this (and a few subsequent) line, where you use the undeclared variable [font=monospace]$name[/font] as a value in an assignment.[code=php]<?php 
    $_SESSION["name"] = $name;

Rivet

Thanksk but I'm still confused although you've come close, I'm sure.

Since $email is defined here, and works for validating the email. and can be echoed successfully else where in the same script, What's the "undeclared" variable in:

<?php  

    $_SESSION["name"] = $name; ?

But as soon as I add that SESSION statement, I get "Notice: Undefined index: nobody@spamcop.net in C:\xampp\htdocs\formcheck.php on line 43 .
Well, line 43 is above the added session statement, in the code where email is being validated. It makes no sense to me.
Can you add any light to this?

TIA

bradgrafelman

In this code snippet:

<?php 
session_start(); 
// prevent page caching in PHP: 
header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate'); //HTTP/1.1 
header('Expires: Sun, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT'); 
header('Pragma: no-cache'); //HTTP/1.0 
    echo "<p>Todays date is ".date(" jS  F Y ")."</p>"; 
?> 
<!DOCTYPE html> 
<head> 
<title> Contact Form</title> 
</head> 
<body> 
<html> 
<?php 
echo "<H1> Webmaster Contact Form </H1>"; 
   $a= mt_rand(-900,999); 
   $b= mt_rand(-999,999); 
   $c= mt_rand(-999,999); 
   $d=($a.$b.$c); 
   echo "Your Temporary Code is : " . $d; 
// put $d into the session so you can check it on subsequent pages 
    $_SESSION["d"] = $d; 
?> 
<form action="formcheck.php" method="post"> 
<p> Enter your <b>Temporary Code </b> here : </b> <input type="text" name="code" size="14 "  maxlength="12">  , including dashes.  <br /> 
How many DASHES are there in your <b> Temporary Code? </b> <input type="text" name="dash" size="3" maxlength="5"> 
<?php 
$e = substr_count($d, '-'); 
    $_SESSION["e"] = $e; 
echo "<br />"." Number of Dashes is: "." ".$e; 
?> 
<p> Enter Your Name :  <input type="text" name="name" length="20" maxlength="25" value="Robert">  </p> 
<?php 
    $_SESSION["name"] = $name; 
?>

You use $name before you ever define such a variable. Thus, $name is an undefined variable. (Furthermore, I'm not even sure why you're trying to assign anything to the session variable at this point; the user hasn't even seen the form yet that asks for his/her name, and the same goes for $email in the subsequent PHP statement.)

Rivet;11029373 wrote:
Since $email is defined here, and works for validating the email. and can be echoed successfully else where in the same script

In the first code snippet you posted, $email is not defined before you attempt to assign it to a session variable. Either you're mistaken, or you haven't shown us all of your code.

Rivet;11029373 wrote:
But as soon as I add that SESSION statement, I get "Notice: Undefined index: nobody@spamcop.net in C:\xampp\htdocs\formcheck.php on line 43 .

Can you point out which line that is in the code you posted above?

Rivet

[FONT=Verdana][/FONT]
I think, in all fairness, that I should SUSPEND this thread as I've decided I'm not useing valuable resources (you & other posters) to good advantage.

I hesitate to call it RESOLVED, because it isn't, but I think coming back at a later time with better details is the logical thing to do. The reasoning is that I'm finding missing ">" tags at the end of Input statements, and even an extra one in one instamce, among other such silliness.
Also, the errors and notices coming back now from PHP are going all over the place even though I've removed all blank lines in the code: Usually the error will specify a line in a completely different Input, say, several line before the one where I caused the error and even in one case, well beyond the end of the script by about 9 lines or so, where there are not even any blank ilnes and the script is properly terminated. It seems to change in unexpected ways willy-nilly which is telling me there is something basic I think I know which I don't, in reality but I'm only beginning to be able to pinpoint any or them.

I will of course appreciate any and all responses to this thread in the meantime.

Last questions for now:
1. Is there a way to mark a post as "Abandoned" or "Suspended" or whatever might mean the same thing?
and
2. Would I be better off taking my problems to Newbies or Coding? If so, which?

Best Regards,

Rivet`
I've looked hard but only found RESOLVED as a possibility?

traq

Rivet;11029387 wrote:
I think, in all fairness, that I should SUSPEND this thread as I've decided I'm not useing valuable resources (you & other posters) to good advantage.

We're here to help, so helping is not a "Waste of resources." If I thought you were a complete waste of time, I simply wouldn't waste my time answering: I'd go do something else. Please be assured that, as long as I keep offering advice, I'm doing so of my own free will. 🙂

If you feel the need to go refactor your code before continuing this thread, that is, of course, your decision.

otherwise:

...make sure you're seeing all of your errors.
[indent](the fact that you don't mention anything like "Notice: undefined variable: $name in ..." makes me suspect you're not.
do/make sure: [font=monospace]error_reporting( -1 );[/font] at the very beginning of your scripts.)[/indent]
...take your errors one-at-a-time. First error first; ignore the others.

...don't ask questions based on what you assume is wrong; ask based on what the error is.
[indent](To put it another way, if your car makes a weird noise and doesn't start, and you're not sure but you think the noise is coming from the right front tire, you don't tell the mechanic that you need new tires. You tell the mechanic that your car is making a weird noise and won't start.)[/indent]

Rivet;11029387 wrote:
Also, the errors and notices coming back now from PHP are going all over the place ... sually the error will specify a line in a completely different Input, say, several line before the one where I caused the error

That's normal: PHP doesn't know where your error is; only where the problem became so bad that it couldn't be ignored any longer. You almost always have to backtrack. For example:

<?php
$string = 'hello, world;
// do something else
if( strpos( $string,'hello' ) === 0 ){
    print '"hello" is the first word in the string';
}

...will report the problem as "unexpected "hello" (T_STRING) on line 4 ...". PHP has no way of knowing that the actual mistake was forgetting a closing quote on line 2; just that, when the next quote came around, there was an unexpected string after it.

Rivet

traq;11029393 wrote:
We're here to help, so helping is not a "Waste of resources." If I thought you were a complete waste of time, I simply wouldn't waste my time answering: I'd go do something else. Please be assured that, as long as I keep offering advice, I'm doing so of my own free will. 🙂

If you feel the need to go refactor your code before continuing this thread, that is, of course, your decision..

Thanks; I guess it's jsut frustration talking. Sorry.

QUOTE=traq;11029393]otherwise:

Hmm, OK, I'll go try the error_reporting statement; and look it up first so I know what to expect. i was not aware of that.

QUOTE=traq;11029393]...don't ask questions based on what you assume is wrong; ask based on what the error is.
[indent](To put it another way, if your car makes a weird noise and doesn't start, and you're not sure but you think the noise is coming from the right front tire, you don't tell the mechanic that you need new tires. You tell the mechanic that your car is making a weird noise and won't start.)[/indent]

That's normal: PHP doesn't know where your error is; only where the problem became so bad that it couldn't be ignored any longer. You almost always have to backtrack. For example:

<?php
$string = 'hello, world;
// do something else
if( strpos( $string,'hello' ) === 0 ){
    print '"hello" is the first word in the string';
}

I have seen that "unexpected" string, several times in fact. Along with several others like "undefined variable" or "undeclared variable".

At the moment I've removed all the "bad" code and except for not having the mail() entered yet, everything is currently working 100%.
I have the e-mail requested in the opening form, and then, of the check page, I re-ask for an e-mail confirmation.
Then I have a third page, where I've used SESSIONS to get the originally entered e-mail address, I get the confirmation e-mail address from the check page, and then on the third page I am trying to use $_POST to pull the confirmation e-mail in so I can make a comparison between the two. I've also tried to set a session variable back on the seconc page so I'd have it available on the third page, but ... anything I do on that second page throws a notice or warning, sometimes more than one.

page 1: ask for e-mail. Put it into Session array.

page 2: $email=($_POST['email']);
print_r session; email is there; fine.
ask for confirmation email.
put email2 into session array <---------- fails; forget notice or waring that comes up. "Undefined, I think.

page 3: echo email; OK.
$email2=$_POST['email2']
echo email2; <---------- fails; forget exact message.
Fails; throws warnings in page 2.
tried

Right now my problems are using SESsioNS properly and seeing email2 in any way at all

I WILL be back, and thanks for the information and pep-talk.

Regards,

Rivet`

bradgrafelman

Rivet;11029421 wrote:
page 1: ask for e-mail. Put it into Session array.

How can "page 1" store the e-mail in a session variable when you've only just asked for it? If "page 1" is indeed where you display the form asking for the user's e-mail, then you won't actually get that data until the user submits the form (which I'm assuming is pointing to "page 2" below...?).

Rivet;11029421 wrote:
page 2: $email=($_POST['email']);
print_r session; email is there; fine.
ask for confirmation email.
put email2 into session array <---------- fails; forget notice or waring that comes up. "Undefined, I think.

Again, how can you expect page 2 to store information that it hasn't received yet? Or am I misunderstanding your use of page numbers and what you mean by "ask for ..." ?

Rivet

OK! I think I'm getting somewhere now!

Originally Posted by Rivet

page 1: ask for e-mail. Put it into Session array.
How can "page 1" store the e-mail in a session variable when you've only just asked for it? If "page 1" is indeed where you display the form asking for the user's e-mail, then you won't actually get that data until the user submits the form (which I'm assuming is pointing to "page 2" below...?).

Yes, it points to page 2. then your'e saying, the SESSION belongs on page2 a la:
So in other words, with

<p> Your E-mail Address : <input type="text" name="email" size="30" maxlength="40" value="nobody@spamcop.net"> <br />

on page 1, the SESSIONs statement

	$_SESSION["email"] = $email;

belongs on page 2??

That feels counter-intuitive to me because my first experience with SESSIONs occured on page 1, the form, as so:

 ...
   $d=($a.$b.$c);
   echo "Your Temporary Code is : " . $d;
// put $d into the session so you can check it on subsequent pages
	$_SESSION["d"] = $d;
...

And it works fine when print-r kis executed on page 2 for the sessions array. So, it'd apparently OK for the random code $d but NOT with the email variables?
I can ask for, and get, the session variable $d just fine but not $email.

Assuming I've made sense here, why can't I create the session variable on page 1 and see it on page 2, as I've already done with
$d? The originally entered email address succesfully made it into the array.

So on page 2 I ask for the email con firmation, calling it $email2 in this case.
I set the email2 variable up in page 2 the same as I did on page 1, and assign it to the session on page 2, as I did on page 1.
But when page 2 Submit is pressed, and brings up page 3, page 3 cannot see email2. print_r will show "email2 but after the =, is blank; meaning the variable didn't make it into the array. The other variables are still there though, from page1.

Is that description any help?

And finally, in your earlier post, you mentioned adding error_reporting( -1 );" " to the begining of the page. I've done so but am only using working code with problem code commented out. But I can find absolutely nothing to tell me what it's about; not even in the manual or any of many other searched locations. I'd like to see more information about it and what other such suffixes it might be capable of.
Any chance you could suggest a link or location where I might learn more about it?
99% of the lookups seem to simply say to turn the message off, but ignoring something doesn't seem like the way to learn these things. I've noticed already that some notices and warnings might be negligible but ... ignorance that way isn't bliss.

Thanks much,

Rivet`
ERROR STATEMENT

dalecosp

You cannot assign a value to a SESSION variable until it is received by a handler form. PHP is all server-side ... nothing is executed INSIDE the browser.

Page One:

<html>
   <head><title>Can I remember your name?</title></head>
   <body style="margin:50px;">
      <form method='post' action='page2.php'>
         <label for="name">Your Name, please:</label>  <input type='text' name='the_name' /> <br />
         <input type="submit" value="Go to Page 2" />
      </form>
   </body>
</html>

Page Two is the "handler":

<?php

session_start(); // this must be first
$_SESSION['name'] = $_POST['the_name'];

echo "<html>
   <head><title>I am going to remember your name</title></head>
   <body>
      <p>Your name is: ".$_POST['the_name'].", and I am going to remember it in my SESSION data ... yay!</p>
      <p><a href='page3.php'>Go to Page Three</a</p>
   </body>
</html>
";
?>

Page 3 is another page that remembers the session data:

<?php

session_start();

echo "<html>
   <head><title>Hey, I remember you!</title></head>
   <body>
      <p>Hi!  I remember you!  Your name is: ".$_SESSION['name']."</p>
   </body>
</html>
";
?>

Any chance you could suggest a link or location where I might learn more about it?

http://php.net/manual/en/errorfunc.configuration.php#ini.error-reporting
http://php.net/manual/en/errorfunc.constants.php

Rivet

Thankk you dalecosp!

I believe that's exactly the explanation/demo I need! I've been slowly coming around to that but there's a situation I don't understand (I understandk your code; it's not that at all.).

If that works, and first blush it does, then why does the following work on Page 1?

...
   echo "Your Temporary Code is : " . $d;
// put $d into the session so I can check it on subsequent pages
	$_SESSION["d"] = $d;

$d is a random integer created with mt_rand(n,n).

Does it work simply because there is no POST involved?
I'd appreciate your thoughts; it seems to be what led me astray all along here.

Regards,

Rivet`

bradgrafelman

Rivet;11029433 wrote:
$d is a random integer created with mt_rand(n,n).

Does it work simply because there is no POST involved?

It works because $d exists at the time you're trying to use it.

On your "page 1" script, you're trying to access POST'ed data even though you've just sent the form that supplies that information. The user hasn't even seen the form at this point. After all of the PHP code has been executed and the HTML markup to display the form has been sent to the user, the HTTP transaction is done and the user is left with your form displayed on his/her computer. Once he/she fills out the form and submits it, his/her browser sends a second POST request back to your server (presumably to this "page 2" script). It is at that point that you've been supplied with the user's response to the form displayed as a result of the "page 1" request.

Also note that another reason this:

$_SESSION["email"] = $email;

never worked is because you never defined a variable called $email.

Rivet

bradgrafelman;11029437 wrote:
It works because $d exists at the time you're trying to use it.

On your "page 1" script, you're trying to access POST'ed data even though you've just sent the form that supplies that information. The user hasn't even seen the form at this point. After all of the PHP code has been executed and the HTML markup to display the form has been sent to the user, the HTTP transaction is done and the user is left with your form displayed on his/her computer. Once he/she fills out the form and submits it, his/her browser sends a second POST request back to your server (presumably to this "page 2" script). It is at that point that you've been supplied with the user's response to the form displayed as a result of the "page 1" request.

Also note that another reason this:
$_SESSION["email"] = $email;  
never worked is because you never defined a variable called $email.

YES, I finally understand where I've been wrong now. Once I get something in my head, it's pretty hard to separate it out when it's not as straight forward (to me) as I thought it was.

I FINALLY have it working and even feel like I understand what's happening.

I thank everyone for the attention and unfortunately <grin> will likely be back with other issues, I'm sure. I'll leave this thread open for a couple more days and hope when I come back it'll only be to mark it RESOLVED. I finally have everything working that I need from sessions, and a few of these posts relegated to a Writer.odt file for future reminders.

A great forum with great responses.

Rivet`