HTML Form with PHP preview, print, submit

[btumpak]

HTML Form with preview button.

Upon clicking preview a new page will load with the data displayed and 2 buttons (print and submit).

I am having trouble previewing the data. The print (java) and submit to DB (php to mysql) should be easy.

Suggestions on how to display the data from the form onto the new page?

[sde]

it's difficult to give you a practical example without seeing your form, but here's a sample:

form_page.php

<form method="POST" action="processing_page.php"> <input type="text" name="field1" /> <input type="submit" value="Process this page" /> </form>

processing_page.php

PHP Code:

Below is the data you submitted
<hr />

Field1: <?php echo $_POST['field1']; ?>

[btumpak]

thanks sde, that worked perfect. So now I am able to display the data, but having problems getting it from there to my db. This worked when I used it directly from the initial form, but not from the preview...

Here is my code for process.php:

PHP Code:

$field1 = $_POST['field1'];
$field2 = $_POST['field2'];
$field3  = $_POST['field3];


$dbh = new PDO('mysql:host=host;dbname=DB', 'DB', pass') or die(PDO::errorInfo());


$sth = $dbh->prepare("
    INSERT INTO db (field1, field2, field3)
    VALUES (?, ?, ?)
");
$sth->execute(array($field1, $field2, $field3)) or die(array_pop($sth->errorInfo()));
$dbh = null;



// confirmation redirect page

echo header("Location: thankyou.html");

?> 


[sde]

is error reporting turned on so you see errors if they occur? are you seeing any errors or is it just directing to thankyou.html?

i know it's probably psuedo code, but you're missing a single quote for the array element of field3. $field3 = $_POST['field3'];

[btumpak]

yeah its just fake code...

error reporting is telling me this:

Column 'field1' cannot be null

It isn't redirecting me either... (nothing in the db as well)

[sde]

ok, so PDO must be replacing empty values with NULL, and your db is set so it won't be null.

are you sure you're sending values in field1 of the form? if field1 is allowed to be empty, then maybe something like this will do the trick:

PHP Code:

$field1 = $_POST['field1'] ? $_POST['field1'] : ''; 


it's just a guess, but maybe PDO is checking if $field1 is even set, .. if not, then it uses NULL, .. and my theory is if we set it to a blank string, it will enter a blank string.

but this should only be an issue if you are sending an empty field1 from the form in the first place. if you are populating field1 in the form and it is not submitting the data to the next page, then you have another issue.

[btumpak]

yes it is the later issue, the field is not blank .

I'm assuming that its not properly getting the data

[sde]

a good debugging tool is print_r.

at the top of your processing script, put this code. make sure there's no white space or anything printed to the screen above this since we're setting header information:

PHP Code:

<?php
header('content-type: text/plain');
print_r($_POST);
exit;

that will dump the $_POST array so you can see exactly what your form is sending.

[btumpak]

still not working... this is what is displayed:

Array
(
[Submit] => Submit
)

[sde]

if you post your html form, i'll test it and post if it works for me or not.

[btumpak]

here is my html form - if you 'd like to see my actual files, send me an email. thanks!

<form name="form1" method="post" action="../preview.php" onSubmit=""> <p>Field1 
    <input name="field1" type="text" id="field1"> </p> <p>Field 2 
    <input name="field2" type="text" id="field2"> </p> <p>Field 3 
    <input name="field3" type="text" id="field3"> </p> <p> <input type="preview" name="Preview" value="preview"> </p> </form>

[sde]

Your preview button should be type="submit"

Try running test.php (the script below) on your server and let me know if it works.

test.php

PHP Code:

<?php
if ($_POST) {
  header('content-type: text/plain');
  print_r($_POST);
  exit;
}
?>

<form name="form1" method="post" action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>" onSubmit="">

  <p>Field1
    <input name="field1" type="text" id="field1">
</p>
  <p>Field 2
    <input name="field2" type="text" id="field2">
  </p>
  <p>Field 3
    <input name="field3" type="text" id="field3">
</p>
  <p>
    <input type="submit" name="Preview" value="preview">
</p>
</form>

Your output should look like this:

Array
(
    [field1] => a
    [field2] => b
    [field3] => c
    [Preview] => preview
)

[btumpak]

that worked fine

[sde]

so then based off that, can you get your other script to work?