Beginner Question - How to populate HTML form from PHP/MySQL

[Mark]

I have found many examples of how to access an HTML text field from
PHP, but cannot find the reverse - how to load an HTML form from a
MySQL database.

Specifically, I have an HTML form which contains several text boxes
that correspond to the fields in a MySQL file. What I want to do is
call a PHP form that reads one record from MySQL and then populates
all of the HTML fields on the calling form.

The call to MySQL is not a problem - that works and I can use "Echo"
to verify that I have successfully read a record. Now, how do I get
that data back into the original HTML form?

Thanks!!
Mark Jones

[Marcin Dobrucki]

Mark wrote:

The call to MySQL is not a problem - that works and I can use "Echo"
to verify that I have successfully read a record. Now, how do I get
that data back into the original HTML form?

Assuming you have something that came from the db stored in a
variable, then it's a simple case of telling html that there is a value
to be used, eg for text and textarea:

$foo = "something from db"
$bar = "something very long from db"

....
<input type="text" name="short" value="$foo">
<textarea name="long">$bar</textarea>
....

/Marcin

[FLEB]

Regarding this well-known quote, often attributed to Marcin Dobrucki's
famous "Wed, 03 Dec 2003 16:39:43 GMT" speech:

Mark wrote:

The call to MySQL is not a problem - that works and I can use "Echo"
to verify that I have successfully read a record. Now, how do I get
that data back into the original HTML form?

Assuming you have something that came from the db stored in a
variable, then it's a simple case of telling html that there is a value
to be used, eg for text and textarea:

$foo = "something from db"
$bar = "something very long from db"

...
<input type="text" name="short" value="$foo">
<textarea name="long">$bar</textarea>
...

/Marcin

Be sure that's written right, though... you can't just insert variables
into straight HTML...

(method 1)

....
<input type="text" value="<?php echo $foo; ?>">
<textarea><?php echo $bar; ?></textarea>
....

(method 2)

<?php
....
echo "<input type=\"text\" value=\"$foo\">\n";
echo "<textarea>$bar</textarea>";
....
?>

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