The form (form.htm) posts a value from a text box (id='first_name') into a script (test.php) that checks the data entered. The script takes an array of required fields from a config file (config.php) and uses these to validate the data that comes from form.htm.

If the required fields ($required) are not filled in then an error message is displayed. If they are then a 'Thank You' message is displayed.

My problem is with the following script:

<?php

require_once("config.php");
if ($required)
{
	$require = explode(",",$required);
	for($n=0; $n<count($require); $n++);
	{
		$field = $require[$n];
		if(!$_POST[$field])
		{
			print $msg['required'];
		}
		else
		{
			print 'Thank You';
		}
	}
}
?>

Regardless of what is entered on the form, the error message is displayed. However if i replace if(!$_POST[[B]$field[/B]]) with if(!$_POST[[B]'first_name'[/B]])...which is the name of the required form field...the script works perfectly.

Is there a problem with the way I am trying to access the $field variable with $_POST?

Sorry if its unclear :o

Thanks for your help,
JameZ ;)

Just a little extra point...

The script needs to be done this way as the required fields need to be defined in one place (config.php).

Thanks,
JameZ ;)

With the If statement are you trying to compare the posted values with the variables in the config.php array ?
if so, you should try ask if the posted values are the same as those static values in the config.php array.
i.e.

if(!$_POST['first_name'] == $field) {
{
			print $msg['required'];
		}
		else
		{
			print 'Thank You';
		}

Try placing this at the beginning of your script:

if (!isset($_POST)) {
	$_POST = $HTTP_POST_VARS;
}

ReDuX:
Yeah thats exactly what i want to do but the code you provided will only check a specifically defined field....i.e. the first_name that you put in the code.

That works but its not exactly what i need - I need the script to access the config.php file to get the required fields.....its all about ease of use for the end-user.

Basically I want the required fields ONLY to be defined in the config.php file. It just will make it easier...if i decide to distribute the script...for the user to say what required fields they want to add - if ya get me :)

iceboxman:
Thanks for your suggestion - Welcome to the forum by the way :)

The thing about your code example is it will only check to see if there are values in the $_POST variable. Plus $_POST is a replacement for $HTTP_POST_VARS so the second part is not needed :)

Thanks for all your support though....any other ideas?

JameZ

ReDuX:
iceboxman:
Thanks for your suggestion - Welcome to the forum by the way :)

The thing about your code example is it will only check to see if there are values in the $_POST variable. Plus $_POST is a replacement for $HTTP_POST_VARS so the second part is not needed :)

Thanks for all your support though....any other ideas?

JameZ

Thansk for welcoming me. The reason I provided that code is because if your PHP version is < 4.1.0 then $_POST will not hold anything. you could do a print_r($_POST) to see what exactly is held in $_POST.

I find having it show you the contents of your variables is one of the best ways to find a starting point of where to troubleshoot. Just looking at the code, however, it looks sound assuming you set $required = 'first_name' in the config file.

hehehe yeah never thought about it like that. Yeah print_r() is very useful for displaying what a variable holds - especially arrays and the $_POST variable.

I managed to fix the code and it all works perfectly now. If anyone is interested then the code is:

if($ValidData['Required'])
{
	foreach(explode(",",$ValidData['Required']) as $field)
	{
		if(empty($_POST[$field]))
		{
			$field			= str_replace("_"," ",$field);
			$field			= ucwords($field);
			$empty_fields	= "<li><b><font color=\"".$Colour['Required']."\">$field </font></b></li>";

			if($empty_fields)
			print $empty_fields .$ErrorMsg['Required'];
		}
	}
}

Thanks for all your support guys :)
JameZ

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