Building the HTML Form
Step 1 is to build the form document to retrieve user date. If you already experienced using HTML forms, this should be review, however, if not we recommend a brief visit through the Tizag HTML Forms Tutorial. The code below shows a simple html form document set up to retrieve some personal knowledge about our user.
Input Fields
Input fields are the simplest forms to grasp. As mentioned in the Forms Tutorial, just be sure to place the name attribute within the tags and specify a name for the field. Also be aware that for our forms action we have placed the $PHP_SELF super global to send our form to itself. We will be integrating more PHP code into our form as we continue on so be sure to save the file with a .php extension.
Code:
<html> <head> <title>Personal INFO</title> </head> <body> <form method="post" action="<?php echo $PHP_SELF;?>"> First Name:<input type="text" size="12" maxlength="12" name="Fname">:<br /> Last Name:<input type="text" size="12" maxlength="36" name="Lname">:<br />
Radios and Checkboxes
The catch with radio buttons lies with the value attribute. The text you place under the value attribute will be displayed by the browser when the variable is called with PHP.
Check boxes require the use of an array. PHP will automatically place the checked boxes into an array if you place [] brackets at the end of each name.
Code:
... Gender::<br /> Male:<input type="radio" value="Male" name="gender">:<br /> Female:<input type="radio" value="Female" name="gender">:<br /> Please choose type of residence::<br /> Steak:<input type="checkbox" value="Steak" name="food[]">:<br /> Pizza:<input type="checkbox" value="Pizza" name="food[]">:<br /> Chicken:<input type="checkbox" value="Chicken" name="food[]">:<br />
Textareas
In reality, textareas are oversized input fields. Treat them the same way, just be aware of the wrap attribute and how each type of wrap will turn out. PHP relys on this attribute to display the textarea.
Code:
... <textarea rows="5" cols="20" name="quote" wrap="physical">Enter your favorite quote!</textarea>:<br />
Drop Down Lists & Selection Lists
These two forms act very similar to the already discussed radio and checkbox selections. To name a selection form, place the name attribute within the select tags at the beginning of the form, and then place the appropriate value to fit each option.
Code:
... Select a Level of Education:<br /> <select name="education"> <option value="Jr.High">Jr.High</option> <option value="HighSchool">HighSchool</option> <option value="College">College</option></select>:<br /> Select your favorite time of day::<br /> <select name="TofD" size="3"> <option value="Morning">Morning</option> <option value="Day">Day</option> <option value="Night">Night</option></select>:<br />
Be sure to check through your code to double check for bugs or errors especially look at each name attribute to be sure your names are all correct. As far as names go, you can copy the ones shown or simply make up your own, just be sure you remember what they are. Your form should be similar to the one shown here.
Display:
Submission Button
We mentioned that the submission button was missing. Nows the time to throw it into the existing code. The button is the same as any submission button, the only thing we need to be sure to add is a name to it so we can call it later using PHP.
Code:
... <input type="submit" value="submit" name="submit"><br /> </form><br />
Retrieving Form Data - Setting up Variables
In PHP there lies an array used to call data from our form. Its a superglobal of PHP and its one that is great to have memorized. $_POST retrieves our form data and outputs it directly to our browser. The best way to do this, is to make variables for each element in our form, so we can output this data at will, using our own variable names. Place the following lines of code at the top of your form file using the correct PHP syntax.
Code:
<?php $Fname = $_POST["Fname"]; $Lname = $_POST["Lname"]; $gender = $_POST["gender"]; $food = $_POST["food"]; $quote = $_POST["quote"]; $education = $_POST["education"]; $TofD = $_POST["TofD"]; ?>
All we are doing here is making easier variable names for our form output. With the above statements, we can call our data with ease! Any capital letters under the name attribute must match up with your statements above, avoid overly complicated names to simplify your debugging process and it can save you some frustration as well.
$PHP_SELF; - Submission
For the form action, we will call PHPs $PHP_SELF; array. This array is set up to call itself when submitted. Basically, we are setting up the form to call "formexample.php", itself. Heres a glypmse of how to do just that.
Code:
... $quote = $_POST["quote"]; $education = $_POST["education"]; $TofD = $_POST["TofD"]; ?> <html> <head> <title>Personal INFO</title> </head> <body> <form method="post" action="<?php echo $PHP_SELF;?>">
We now have a completed form ready to receive data and display results. However, we need to adjust things so that once the data has been submitted we are directed to the results. Typically, we have a completely new .php file that receives our HTML form data. In this scenario, we will use an if statement to display first our form, and then our form results upon submission. This is a practical method when entering information into databases as you learn more.
For now heres a look at our completed form document thus far.
Code:
<?php $Fname = $_POST["Fname"]; $Lname = $_POST["Lname"]; $gender = $_POST["gender"]; $food = $_POST["food"]; $quote = $_POST["quote"]; $education = $_POST["education"]; $TofD = $_POST["TofD"]; ?> <html> <head> <title>Personal INFO</title> </head> <body> <form method="post" action="<?php echo $PHP_SELF;?>"> First Name:<input type="text" size="12" maxlength="12" name="Fname"><br /> Last Name:<input type="text" size="12" maxlength="36" name="Lname"><br /> Gender:<br /> Male:<input type="radio" value="Male" name="gender"><br /> Female:<input type="radio" value="Female" name="gender"><br /> Please choose type of residence:<br /> Steak:<input type="checkbox" value="Steak" name="food[]"><br /> Pizza:<input type="checkbox" value="Pizza" name="food[]"><br /> Chicken:<input type="checkbox" value="Chicken" name="food[]"><br /> <textarea rows="5" cols="20" name="quote" wrap="physical">Enter your favorite quote!</textarea><br /> Select a Level of Education:<br /> <select name="education"> <option value="Jr.High">Jr.High</option> <option value="HighSchool">HighSchool</option> <option value="College">College</option></select><br /> Select your favorite time of day:<br /> <select name="TofD" size="3"> <option value="Morning">Morning</option> <option value="Day">Day</option> <option value="Night">Night</option></select><br /> <input type="submit" value="submit" name="submit"> </form>
Page Display
At this point we have a completed form with correct action and submission. We now need to do a little programming to achieve what we want displayed before and after a certain event. Before the user submits any information. We need to first direct them to our form (obviously) and second, we will display their results using our variable names.
PHP offers an excellent way to create this effect using an if statement. Place the following lines near the top of your formexample.php file.
Code:
<?php $Fname = $_POST["Fname"]; $Lname = $_POST["Lname"]; $gender = $_POST["gender"]; $food = $_POST["food"]; $quote = $_POST["quote"]; $education = $_POST["education"]; $TofD = $_POST["TofD"]; if (!isset($_POST[submit])) { // if page is not submitted to itself echo the form ?>
Echo Back the Results
Here, we echo back the results in a boring, line by line method, just to show some basic syntax.(feel free to be creative here) We use the else clause of our if statement to direct the users to our results section.
Code:
... <option value="Night">Night</option></select> <input type="submit" value="submit" name="submit"> </form> <? } else { echo "Hello, ".$Fname." ".$Lname.".<br />"; echo "You are ".$gender.", and you like "; foreach ($food as $f) { echo $f."<br />"; } echo "<i>".$quote."</i><br />"; echo "Youre favorite time is ".$TofD.", and you passed ".$education."!<br />"; } ?>
Heres the completed code
Code:
<?php $Fname = $_POST["Fname"]; $Lname = $_POST["Lname"]; $gender = $_POST["gender"]; $food = $_POST["food"]; $quote = $_POST["quote"]; $education = $_POST["education"]; $TofD = $_POST["TofD"]; if (!isset($_POST[submit])) { // if page is not submitted to itself echo the form ?> <html> <head> <title>Personal INFO</title> </head> <body> <form method="post" action="<?php echo $PHP_SELF;?>"> First Name:<input type="text" size="12" maxlength="12" name="Fname"><br /> Last Name:<input type="text" size="12" maxlength="36" name="Lname"><br /> Gender:<br /> Male:<input type="radio" value="Male" name="gender"><br /> Female:<input type="radio" value="Female" name="gender"><br /> Please choose type of residence:<br /> Steak:<input type="checkbox" value="Steak" name="food[]"><br /> Pizza:<input type="checkbox" value="Pizza" name="food[]"><br /> Chicken:<input type="checkbox" value="Chicken" name="food[]"><br /> <textarea rows="5" cols="20" name="quote" wrap="physical">Enter your favorite quote!</textarea><br /> Select a Level of Education:<br /> <select name="education"> <option value="Jr.High">Jr.High</option> <option value="HighSchool">HighSchool</option> <option value="College">College</option></select><br /> Select your favorite time of day:<br /> <select name="TofD" size="3"> <option value="Morning">Morning</option> <option value="Day">Day</option> <option value="Night">Night</option></select><br /> <input type="submit" value="submit" name="submit"> </form> <? } else { echo "Hello, ".$Fname." ".$Lname.".<br />"; echo "You are ".$gender.", and you like "; foreach ($food as $f) { echo $f."<br />"; } echo "<i>".$quote."</i><br />"; echo "Youre favorite time is ".$TofD.", and you passed
".$education."!<br />"; } ?>
