Problems with form processing: array_key_exists() and while (list($k,$v) = each($arr))

[Spartacus]

Hello,

I have an HTML form I'd like to process.

<select name="items[]" multiple>
<option value="doughnuts">Hot Doughnuts</option>
<option value="coffee">Hot Brewed Coffee</option>
<option value="tea">Hot Tea</option>
<option value="cake">Sponge Cake</option>
<option value="chips">Hot Chips</option>
</select>

The problem I have it where I follow the Programming PHP book:

// Should the 's' be the name of the select tag, or the name of
// the submit button?

if (array_key_exists( 's', $_POST ))
{
$selected = "User selected these options:\n\n";

while (list($k, $v) = each($_POST['items']))
{
// Is $v "doughnuts" or "Hot Doughnuts"?
$selected .= "$v\n"
}

// ...
}

Thanks for your help.

--
Spartacus

[Toby A Inkster]

Spartacus wrote:

// Should the 's' be the name of the select tag, or the name of
// the submit button?

Either.

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
[Geek of HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python/Apache/Linux]
[OS: Linux 2.6.12-12mdksmp, up 115 days, 22:05.]

dict, thes & ency
http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2007/0...ict-thes-ency/

[Spartacus]

Toby A Inkster wrote:

Spartacus wrote:

>// Should the 's' be the name of the select tag, or the name of
// the submit button?

Either.

Were there any other potential problems with the code I posted? I
presume not otherwise you'd have said so. Thanks for your help. I'll use
the select tag name instead since PHP is complaining that it's not an array.

-Spartacus

[Toby A Inkster]

Spartacus wrote:

Were there any other potential problems with the code I posted? I
presume not otherwise you'd have said so.

Not that I noticed. And $v will be "doughnuts", not "Hot Doughnuts".

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
[Geek of HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python/Apache/Linux]
[OS: Linux 2.6.12-12mdksmp, up 11:23.]

dict, thes & ency
http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2007/0...ict-thes-ency/

[Spartacus]

Toby A Inkster wrote:

Spartacus wrote:

>Were there any other potential problems with the code I posted? I
presume not otherwise you'd have said so.

Not that I noticed. And $v will be "doughnuts", not "Hot Doughnuts".

Thanks Toby very much. I've solved the problem by changing to:

array_key_exists( 'moreof', $_POST );

which is the name of my select tag.

I've also changed the value="" in the option tags to be the same as the
key, just to verify it works.

I was getting odd errors even when no such keys existed. I had changed
them all and still I was getting my old ones. Maybe my stupid browser
cached them or something. So I renamed the HTML form and the PHP script
and it worked just fine.

Again thanks for your help.

--
Spartacus

[Toby A Inkster]

Spartacus wrote:

I've also changed the value="" in the option tags to be the same as the
key, just to verify it works.

This:

<option value="Foo">Foo</option>

can be written as this:

<option>Foo</option>

That is, when the value attribute is missing, the option's text content is
used instead.

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
[Geek of HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python/Apache/Linux]
[OS: Linux 2.6.12-12mdksmp, up 18:36.]

dict, thes & ency
http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2007/0...ict-thes-ency/

[Toby A Inkster]

Spartacus wrote:

while (list($k, $v) = each($_POST['items']))

By the way, most people would say that the following is more readable:

foreach ($_POST['items'] as $k=>$v)

and it's functionally equivalent. (Indeed, after parsing I believe PHP
treats them exactly the same.)

--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
[Geek of HTML/SQL/Perl/PHP/Python/Apache/Linux]
[OS: Linux 2.6.12-12mdksmp, up 18:38.]

dict, thes & ency
http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2007/0...ict-thes-ency/