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Storing form values
| DevNetwork Forums Forum Index -> PHP - Theory and Design
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Ree Programmer Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Posts: 165 Location: LT |
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:59 pm Post subject: Storing form values |
I usually handle form input this way: some form is on a form_page.php and POST goes to some other script (indicated in the "action" tag), for example, form_processor.php. If there was any problem with submitted data (empty/invalid fields), form_processor.php would redirect back to form_page.php and an appropriate message would be displayed. The problem is that upon redirection back to form_page.php, all form fields would be completely empty. I don't want the user to refill ALL the form fields if he made a mistake somewhere. I need the last submitted values stay after redirection. The only solution I can think of right now is sessions/cookies. Anything else you could recommend in this case?
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hawleyjr Master Joined: 13 Jan 2004 Posts: 719 Location: Jax FL USA |
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 1:26 pm Post subject: |
Store your form variables into a session variable. A rough example:
PHP:
//PROCESS PAGE $_SESSION['FORM_VARS'] = $_POST; //FORM PAGE <input type="text" name="my_txt" value="<?php echo isset($_SESSION['FORM_VARS']['my_txt'])?$_SESSION['FORM_VARS']['my_txt']:'';?>">
_________________ "The only 'intutive' interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned." -Bruce Ediger Fake it till you make it Hawleyjr.com
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omega-systems Forum Newbie Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 14 |
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:04 am Post subject: Re: Storing form values |
Using session you can lose other data (user can fill two forms simultaneously). Thats'why better use for processing and imagine same script. If user enter incorrect data or can't fill all fileds, you'll able to redisplay them. Regards, Michael. Project Manager Omega Systems Ltd Email: info@omega-systems.biz ICQ: 264962449 MSN: omega-systems@hotmail.com AIM: OmegaSys Ltd
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jayshields Developer Joined: 22 Aug 2005 Posts: 51 Location: Leeds, England |
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:17 am Post subject: |
imo sessions arent necessary in form processing. just combine the form processing script and the form display script into the same script using...
PHP:
<?php if (isset($_POST['submit'])) { //do something } ?>
to put the processing info into it. then it will keep all the post values because you will be redirecting to the same page. then just set the values of the inputs to the post values if they have already been set. _________________ Jay.
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Jenk Programmer Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 131 Location: London |
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 4:10 am Post subject: |
jayshields wrote:
imo sessions arent necessary in form processing. just combine the form processing script and the form display script into the same script using...
PHP:
<?php if (isset($_POST['submit'])) { //do something } ?>
to put the processing info into it. then it will keep all the post values because you will be redirecting to the same page. then just set the values of the inputs to the post values if they have already been set.
I've always had to use the following when using that exact criteria:
Code:
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit this form BEYOTCH!">
So I just use the name of a form element I am expecting to receive, insted. :p
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CoderGoblin Master Joined: 16 Mar 2004 Posts: 624 Location: Aachen, Germany |
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 4:25 am Post subject: Re: Storing form values |
omega-systems wrote:
Using session you can lose other data (user can fill two forms simultaneously).
Depends on how it is done. It is even more important to keep track of this now with tabbed browsers. I tend to give all my forms a unique identifier in the session. saving the form saves the information to the $_SESSION['form']['identifier]=values. On a sucessful save the form's values are emptied to prevent another save. This works quite well. _________________ If your question has been solved, please 'edit' the initial topic's Subject title to "[Solved]Orignal Title". Thanks
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McGruff Site Admin Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 2811 Location: Glasgow, Scotland |
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 1:23 pm Post subject: Re: Storing form values |
Ree wrote:
Anything else you could recommend in this case?
You shouldn't need redirects to make application controller decisions. "Application controller" logic is something which decides the flow of the application based on the state of something or other. In a script which deals with a form submission, this means deciding if the submission is processable (all required fields were filled in, and all values have validated) or if the form should be redisplayed (they're not). You'd want to redirect after processing a submission to avoid the refresh-resubmit problem but you don't need to do this for the resubmit case - as you've found it creates a complication in that you have to persist the submission somehow in order to redisplay submitted values. In OOP, I'd have a couple of request handler classes: one for form display which echo's back any POST values to the form (on first display POST is empty so you get an empty form) and one to process a valid submission. _________________ Marcus Baker's SimpleTest: unit testing for php. http://www.lastcraft.com
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arborint Programmer Joined: 25 Aug 2004 Posts: 132 |
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 4:34 pm Post subject: |
The most obvious thing to do is to not submit form_page.php to form_processor.php, but instead have the form processor submit to itself. It needs to support init, submit and done states, but it is the standard way to do it. The usual setup is to have the form submit to itself and then redirect when done. That solves both the problem of retaining values and the Back button problem as well.
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Maugrim_The_Reaper Programmer Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Posts: 214 Location: Ireland |
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 4:46 pm Post subject: |
See McGruff's post... Yes, you can submit back to the same file - but that does not make sense in all cases. For example I run an application which utilises a Page Controller and some basic MVC. I do not want the form to submit to the same page - but rather though a page controller to a separate command object... Your case is only standard in limited circumstances... _________________ Open-Source Game Developer http://blog.quantum-star.com Tutorial: Challenge/Response Login Process
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arborint Programmer Joined: 25 Aug 2004 Posts: 132 |
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:01 pm Post subject: |
I didn't say submit back to the same file or page as they don't mean much in this sense. I just said submit back to itself. I assumed that it would be some kind of controller that would have multiple states/commands. The implementation may vary.
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