Self submit error

teccus

I have made a signup script which submits to its self to error check. If there is an error, it displays the error in the form but keeps all the information that the user entered before.

Example of how I do this:

This work all fine for text boxes, but doesn't work at all for list boxes and radio tick boxes.

This is the code I am currently using to attempt to do it.

Does anyone know how I could do this?

Anon

This isn't a PHP problem; it's an HTML problem. If you want to maintain the selected state of a radio button, you need to use a conditional statement (if) and set the CHECKED value as appropriate.

Anon

Radio buttons turn on when the property "checked" is included, and in a list box, the property selected is indicated with the word "selected."

It gets a little complex, I do it as follows myself (which is not to say its the only way):

Radio buttons (assuming there is two, one for each sex):
<?
if($Gender == "male") {
$checkedValueMale = " checked";
} elseif($Gender == "female") {
$checkedValueFemale = " checked";
}

?>
<input type="radio" name="Gender" value="male"<? echo($checkedValueMale); ?>>
<input type="radio" name="Gender" value="female"<? echo($checkedValueFemale); ?>>

Thus, the value determines which radio button is checked. If you use the $checkedValueMale or $checkedValueFemale multiple times in your page, make sure you unset them before each use.

Lists are a bit more complicated, and requires the original values to be either in a recordset from a database or in an array.
<?
var $listValues = array("Red","Green","Yellow");
?>

<select name="color">
<?
for($i=0;$i<count($listValues);$i++) {

$selectValue = "";
if($color == $listValues[$i]) $selectValue = " selected";
echo("<option value=\"$listValues[$i]\"$selectValue>$listValues[$i]</option>\n");

}
?>
</select>

If the color selected on the prior page ($color) is equal to the specific element in the array, it gets selected.

HTH, they both work fine for me,

Jim

amcgrath

Jim, doing this:
<select name="color">
<?
for($i=0;$i<count($listValues);$i++) {

$selectValue = "";
if($color == $listValues[$i]) $selectValue = " selected";
echo("<option value=\"$listValues[$i]\"$selectValue>$listValues[$i]</option>\n");

}
?>
</select>

would mean once $listValues[$i] equals $color, then all the following values will have $selectValue = "selected". A suggestion to you is this:

<select name="color">
<? while(list(,$v) = @each($listValues)) {
$sel = ($color == $v ? "SELECTED" : " ");
echo "<option $sel value=\"$v\">$v";
}

Anon

Look at it again.

<?
for($i=0;$i<count($listValues);$i++) {

$selectValue = "";
if($color == $listValues[$i]) $selectValue = " selected";
echo("<option value=\"$listValues[$i]\"$selectValue>$listValues[$i]</option>\n");

}
?>

At the beginning of each iteration of the loop the value of $selectValue is set to nothing. It will only work the time the if conditional is true. After that occurs, the value is set to nothing and the if statement will not prove true anymore, thus keeping the value to nothing.

But I will look at your method, I am always open to improvements.

Thanks,

Jim

Anon

The very fact that he had to look again shows why this is not a good way to write code. If you have two alternative, you should use IF/ELSE. That is,
in bare outline form, instead of saying:

  $a = 1;
  if (something)
    $a = 2;

say:

  if (something)
    $a = 2;
  else
    $a = 1;

Anon

They both end up with the same outcome. Both work the same, though one compacts the code a bit more than the other, unless someone can show me that performance is enhanced one way over the other I would say either method is perfectly okay and usable.

<?
for($i=0;$i<count($listValues);$i++) {

$selectValue = "";
if($color == $listValues[$i]) $selectValue = " selected";
echo("<option value=\"$listValues[$i]\"$selectValue>$listValues[$i]</option>\n");

}
?>

versus

<?
for($i=0;$i<count($listValues);$i++) {

if($color == $listValues[$i]) {
$selectValue = " selected";
} else {
$selectValue = "";
}

echo("<option value=\"$listValues[$i]\"$selectValue>$listValues[$i]</option>\n");

}
?>

Both do the exact same thing, setting the default value of $selectValue to "" unless the $color passed from the prior page equals the option value in the array or recordset being created.

Again, I offered only one solution among a possibility of a hundred. The more that chime in the better, helps us learn and hone our skills.

Jim

Anon

This has nothing to do with performance (and I hope nothing I said previously gave any hint that it did) but rather readability. If you don't think that's important, then your certainly entitled to your opinion--but I couldn't disagree more.

Anon

Readability is important (as my boss at work always stresses) and again both are readable, though I can see how your suggestion is a bit more so (as shown with Allen's comment). Though neither has any problem a commment or two couldn't fix.

Have a great weekend.

Jim