PHP - echoing out POST variables

Question

I have a problem with some POST variables that I cannot see anything wrong with so I was hoping someone would be able to spot what is wrong?

This is the 'simple search' form:

<div id ="form">
<form enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post" action="testdocs-db.php" name="search" id="search" class="search">
<input type="hidden" name="dosearch" value="true">
<table border=0>
<tr>
  <td class="label">File Type:</td>
  <td>
<?php     doSelectMultiple("filetype", $options_filetype, $filetype, "");   ?>
  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td class="label">File Name:</td>
  <td>
    <input id="filename" name="filename" class="text" value="<?php echo($filename); ?>">
  </td>
  <td>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td class="label">File Size:</td>
  <td>
    <input id="filesize_min" name="filesize_min" class="text" value="<?php echo($filesize_min); ?>"><div id="kb">(kb min)</div>
  </td>
  <td>
    <input id="filesize_max" name="filesize_max" class="text" value="<?php echo($filesize_max); ?>"><div id="kb">(kb max)</div>
  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td class="label"># Results:</td>
  <td>
    <input id="numresults" name="numresults" class="text"
    <?php
    if (strlen($numresults) >= 1)
    {
        echo ("value=\"$numresults\"");
    }
    else
    {
        echo ("value=\"10\"");
    }
    ?> >
  </td>
  <td>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td class="label">Order By:</td>
  <td>
<?php     doSelect("orderby", 1, $options_orderby, $orderby, "");   ?>
  </td>
  <td>
<?php     doSelect("orderbyad", 1, $options_orderbyAD, $orderbyAD, "");   ?>
  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td class="label">Output Format:</td>
  <td>
<?php     doSelect("outputformat", 1, $options_outputformat, $outputformat, "");   ?>
  </td>
  <td>
<?php     doSelect("outputlocation", 1, $options_outputlocation, $outputLocation, "");   ?>
  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td>&nbsp;</td>
  <td><input type="submit" class="submit" value="Search"></td>
  <td>&nbsp;</td>
</tr>

So, if I hit the submit button everything is fine and the search values are displayed and the form remembers the field values so you can tweak your search criteria if you want to.

However, I also have another 'advanced search' form that I am trying to do this with but it doesn't work for some reason:

<div id="advancedsearch" class="advancedsearch">
<form enctype="multipart/form-data" class="advancedsearchform" action="testdocs-db.php" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="advancedsearchsubmit" value="1"/>
<input type="hidden" name="hiddenfiletype" id="hiddenfiletype"/>
<input type="hidden" name="hiddenfilename" id="hiddenfilename"/>
<input type="hidden" name="hiddenfilesize_min" id="hiddenfilesize_min"/>
<input type="hidden" name="hiddenfilesize_max" id="hiddenfilesize_max"/>
<input type="hidden" name="hiddennumresults" id="hiddennumresults"/>
<input type="hidden" name="hiddenorderby" id="hiddenorderby"/>
<input type="hidden" name="hiddenorderbyad" id="hiddenorderbyad"/>
<input type="hidden" name="hiddenoutputformat" id="hiddenoutputformat"/>
<input type="hidden" name="hiddenoutputlocation" id="hiddenoutputlocation"/>

<script type="text/javascript">
$("#filetype").change(copyFiletype);
$("#filename").change(copyFilename);
$("#filesize_min").change(copyFileSizeMin);
$("#filesize_max").change(copyFileSizeMax);
$("#numresults").change(copyNumResults);
$("#orderby").change(copyOrderBy);
$("#orderbyad").change(copyOrderByAD);
$("#outputformat").change(copyOutputFormat);
$("#outputlocation").change(copyOutputLocation);

function copyFiletype()
{
    var valueToCopy=$("#filetype option:selected").val();
    $("#hiddenfiletype").val(valueToCopy);
}

function copyFilename()
{
    var valueToCopy=$("#filename").val();
    $("#hiddenfilename").val(valueToCopy);
}

function copyFileSizeMin()
{
    var valueToCopy=$("#filesize_min").val();
    $("#hiddenfilesize_min").val(valueToCopy);
}

function copyFileSizeMax()
{
    var valueToCopy=$("#filesize_max").val();
    $("#hiddenfilesize_max").val(valueToCopy);
}

function copyNumResults()
{
    var valueToCopy=$("#numresults").val();
    $("#hiddennumresults").val(valueToCopy);
}

function copyOrderBy()
{
    var valueToCopy=$("#orderby option:selected").val();
    $("#hiddenorderby").val(valueToCopy);
}

function copyOrderByAD()
{
    var valueToCopy=$("#orderbyad option:selected").val();
    $("#hiddenorderbyad").val(valueToCopy);
}

function copyOutputFormat()
{
    var valueToCopy=$("#outputformat option:selected").val();
    $("#hiddenoutputformat").val(valueToCopy);
}

function copyOutputLocation()
{
    var valueToCopy=$("#outputlocation option:selected").val();
    $("#hiddenoutputlocation").val(valueToCopy);
}
</script>

<p>
<input type="radio" name="andor" value="AND" checked /> match <span class="all">all</span> of these |
match <span class="any">any</span> of these <input type="radio" name="andor" value="OR" />
</p>

<div class="dropdown">
<select name="tags[]" class="tags">
<option value="tags" selected="selected">tags</option>
<option value="agent">agent</option>
<option value="extension">extension</option>
</select>

<select name="operands[]" class="operands">
<option>please select a tag</option>
</select>

<select name="values[]" class="values">
<option>please select a tag</option>
</select>

<img class="addButton" src="images/blank.gif" alt="add" onclick="addNew();"/>
<img class="deleteButton" alt="delete" src="images/delete1.png" onclick="remove(this)" onmouseover="this.src='images/delete.png'" onmouseout="this.src='images/delete1.png'"/>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>

<div class="clonecontainer"></div>

<div class="advancedsearchsubmit"><input type="submit" class="submit" value="Advanced Search"/></div>
</form>
</div>

When the advanced search form is submitted, the variables are set as follows:

    // hidden input values from simple search
    $filetype= doPost('hiddenfiletype', $filetype);
    $filename= doPost('hiddenfilename', $filename);
    $filesize_min= doPost('hiddenfilesize_min', $filesize_min);
    $filesize_max= doPost('hiddenfilesize_max', $filesize_max);
    $numresults= doPost('hiddennumresults', $numresults);
    $orderby= doPost('hiddenorderby', $orderby);
    $orderbyAD= doPost('hiddenorderbyad', $orderbyAD);
    $outputformat= doPost('hiddenoutputformat', $outputformat); 
    $outputLocation= doPost('hiddenoutputlocation', $outputLocation);

The simple search variables are done similarly, except they echo out properly:

    /* do the search */
    $filetype       = doPost('filetype', $filetype);
    $filename       = doPost('filename', $filename);
    $filesize_min   = doPost('filesize_min', $filesize_min);
    $filesize_max   = doPost('filesize_max', $filesize_max);
    $numresults     = doPost('numresults',   $numresults);
    $outputformat   = doPost('outputformat', $outputformat);
    $orderby        = doPost('orderby',      $orderby);
    $orderbyAD      = doPost('orderbyad',    $orderbyAD);
    $outputLocation = doPost('outputlocation', $outputLocation);

Sorry for the heaps of code, didn't want to miss out anything important.

If anyone can spot what I'm doing wrong then I would love to know!

Thanks,

Martin

UPDATE

doPost method:

 FUNCTION doPost($st, $default)
 {
    if (isset($_POST[$st]))
        return $_POST[$st];
    else
        return $default;
 }

The advanced search builds the query fine but the form fields aren't echoing the values that should be set to them.

Complete code can be seen here (without the massive JS files): http://pastebin.com/eydtyEYK

what exactly doesn't work? none of the fields in advanced search are getting posted/echoed? — Elijan
– Elijan, Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 12:24
Don't know if this is an issue but you're missing the: $(document).ready(function() { ... you functions here ... }); — Phill Pafford
– Phill Pafford, Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 12:26

Cups · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-22 14:17:28Z

1

When trying to work out what is being passed between, HTML, JS and PHP in a POST method form then use one of these methods to test actual output vs your own expectations.

var_dump( $_POST );
var_export( $_POST );
print_r($_POST, 1);

The first one is usually the best to use.

answered Apr 22, 2011 at 14:17

Cups

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5 Comments

martincarlin87 Over a year ago

Thank you, I see that when the advanced search is submitted it is along the lines of

array(14) { ["advancedsearchsubmit"]=> string(1) "1" ["hiddenfiletype"]=> string(5) "excel" ["hiddenfilename"]=> string(4) "test" ["hiddenfilesize_min"]=> string(3) "123" ["hiddenfilesize_max"]=> string(3) "456" ["hiddennumresults"]=> string(2) "12" ...

but I am setting these POST variables to the same name as the PHP variables and they don't show?

Cups Over a year ago

Well if you take hiddenfiletype ("excel") what is the result of doPost() on that? Again use var_dump( doPost() ); and chase this variable to ground till you find where this is going wrong. Echo and var_dump() variables out onto the page - even if it means just making a mini application till you get it debugged.

martincarlin87 Over a year ago

The problem is that when the advanced search form is submitted, I am taking these post values and setting them to variables and echoing these variables out as the text input values. The same values used to build a mysql query which works fine, it's just the remembering of the search form values that doesn't work and I can't see how to fix it :S

Cups Over a year ago

<input type="hidden" name="hiddenfiletype" id="hiddenfiletype" value="" /> Add the missing VALUE attribute as was previously suggested by k102, if that does not work have JQuery throw up an alert box, or log to your console the value of say, filetype and look for proof that what is being sent/recieved by each layer is what is expected. Investigate.

martincarlin87 Over a year ago

thanks, added in the value attribute for each hidden input but that didn't solve it. it was a good idea though. i printed out the POST variables and here is a little snippet:

[advancedsearchsubmit] => 1     [hiddenfiletype] =>      [hiddenfilename] => 123     [hiddenfilesize_min] => 456     [hiddenfilesize_max] => 789     [hiddennumresults] => 11

so the variables are set and I am setting these to the same variable as the simple search so I just don't know why the values aren't setting properly :(

k102 · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-22 12:35:21Z

0

Can it be as simple as follows: in this input

<input type="hidden" name="hiddenfiletype" id="hiddenfiletype"/>

there is no value. Or maybe im dumb :)

answered Apr 22, 2011 at 12:35

k102

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2 Comments

Tanner Ottinger Over a year ago

That wouldn't be it. It doesn't matter if the field doesn't have a value(or an empty one), it still submits.

k102 Over a year ago

I thought that these fields have wrong values when they're echoed from the post.

martincarlin87 · Accepted Answer · 2011-04-26 12:27:54Z

I eventually solved it by copying the values of the form inputs to the hidden inputs using javascript when the advanced search button was clicked, like so:

function copy() {

 var filetype=$("#filetype option:selected").val();
 $("#hiddenfiletype").val(filetype);

 var filename=$("#filename").val();
 $("#hiddenfilename").val(filename);

 var filesize_min=$("#filesize_min").val();
 $("#hiddenfilesize_min").val(filesize_min);

 var filesize_max=$("#filesize_max").val();
 $("#hiddenfilesize_max").val(filesize_max);

 var numresults=$("#numresults").val();
 ("#hiddennumresults").val(numresults);

 var orderby=$("#orderby option:selected").val();
 $("#hiddenorderby").val(orderby);

 var orderbyad=$("#orderbyad option:selected").val();
 $("#hiddenorderbyad").val(orderbyad);

 var outputformat=$("#outputformat option:selected").val();
 $("#hiddenoutputformat").val(outputformat);

 var outputlocation=$("#outputlocation option:selected").val();
 $("#hiddenoutputlocation").val(outputlocation);
}

In the form:

<div class="advancedsearchsubmit"><input type="submit" class="submit" onclick="copy();" value="Advanced Search"/></div>

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