[thelist] Forms and passing variables

[Ken Schaefer]

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From: "Rachel Cunliffe" <r.cunliffe at auckland.ac.nz>
Subject: [thelist] Forms and passing variables


: I have a form with many fields in it, which processes it using php on
: another page.  If there are required fields which are missing, it goes
: back to the previous page (using header location) with an error code
: appended to the file name, e.g. index.php?error=1.  My problem is that
: the form does not remember what was entered in the first time (even
: though I am using echo $variable; in the text attribute.. Obviously
: because while the form variables were passed onto the second page, they
: have not been passed back to the first page.
:
: Is there a way of passing it back, without having to do
: index.php?error=1&variable1=foo&variable2=bar etc?  A simple way of
: passing them back would be greatly appreciated.. Or do I really *have*
: to recode the way the form is processed and do it all on the same page?

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I would do it the second way. Surely it can't be that hard...

- - - - - - -
If the form has been posted back

    cut all your existing validation code
    and paste it here. Insert code to
    redirect to next page if validation passes

Otherwise

    do what you were doing already
    (ie setting up the form's initial state)

Display Form Here
- - - - - - -

Of course, if you wanted to keep your existing two page split, just about
all the existing state management systems would work: database, cookies,
data-in-URI

Cheers
Ken