PHP pre-defined error displaying

[Matt Morgan]

I have created a form on my website but for some reason 3 sections of the form arenot submitting correctly. After clicking submit I recieve this on screen:
'We are very sorry, but there were error(s) found with the form you submitted. These errors appear below.

The RAID you entered do not appear to be valid.
The Accessories you entered do not appear to be valid.
The Guarantee you entered do not appear to be valid.


Please go back and fix these errors.'

This is the PHP for the form:

if(isset($_POST['email'])) {
 
    $email_to = "[e-mail]";
 
    $email_subject = "Custom Form";
 
 
    function died($error) {
        echo "We are very sorry, but there were error(s) found with the form you submitted. ";
        echo "These errors appear below.<br /><br />";
        echo $error."<br /><br />";
        echo "Please go back and fix these errors.<br /><br />";
        die();
    }
    if(!isset($_POST['first_name']) ||
       !isset($_POST['last_name']) ||
       !isset($_POST['email']) ||
       !isset($_POST['role']) ||
       !isset($_POST['ram']) ||
       !isset($_POST['raid']) ||
       !isset($_POST['hdd1']) ||
       !isset($_POST['hdd2']) ||
       !isset($_POST['os']) ||
       !isset($_POST['gpu']) ||
       !isset($_POST['extras']) ||
       !isset($_POST['accessories']) ||
       !isset($_POST['guarantee']) ||
       !isset($_POST['customer']) ||
       !isset($_POST['budget'])) {    
    }
 
    $first_name = $_POST['first_name']; 
    $last_name = $_POST['last_name']; 
    $email_from = $_POST['email']; 
    $Role = $_POST['role']; 
    $Memory_Size = $_POST['ram'];
    $RAID = $_POST['raid']; 
    $Hard_Drive_1 = $_POST['hdd1']; 
    $Hard_Drive_2 = $_POST['hdd2']; 
    $Operating_System = $_POST['os'];
    $Graphics_Card = $_POST['gpu']; 
    $Optional_Extras = $_POST['extras']; 
    $Accessory_Packs = $_POST['accessories'];
    $Guarantee = $_POST['guarantee']; 
    $Customer_Specifics = $_POST['customer']; 
    $Maximum_Budget = $_POST['budget']; 
 
    $error_message = "";
    $email_exp = '/^[A-Za-z0-9._%-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,4}$/';
  if(!preg_match($email_exp,$email_from)) {
    $error_message .= 'The Email Address you entered does not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
    $string_exp = "/^[A-Za-z .'-]+$/";
  if(!preg_match($string_exp,$first_name)) {
    $error_message .= 'The First Name you entered does not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(!preg_match($string_exp,$last_name)) {
    $error_message .= 'The Last Name you entered does not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Role) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Role you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Memory_Size) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The RAM you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($RAID) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The RAID you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }
  if(strlen($Hard_Drive_1) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The HHD1 you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Hard_Drive_2) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The HDD2 you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Operating_System) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The OS you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Graphics_Card) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The GPU you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Optional_Extras) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Extras you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Accessory_Packs) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Accessories you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }
  if(strlen($Guarantee) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Guarantee you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Customer_Specifics) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Customer Specifics you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }
  if(strlen($Maximum_Budget) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Maximum Budget you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }
  if(strlen($error_message) > 0) {
    died($error_message);
  }
    $email_message = "Form details below.\n\n";
 
    function clean_string($string) {
      $bad = array("content-type","bcc:","to:","cc:","href");
      return str_replace($bad,"",$string);
    }
 
    $email_message .= "First Name: ".clean_string($first_name)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Last Name: ".clean_string($last_name)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Email: ".clean_string($email_from)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Role: ".clean_string($Role)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Memory Size: ".clean_string($Memory_Size)."\n";
    $email_message .= "RAID: ".clean_string($RAID)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Hard Drive 1: ".clean_string($Hard_Drive_1)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Hard Drive 2: ".clean_string($Hard_Drive_2)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Operating System: ".clean_string($Operating_System)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Graphics Card: ".clean_string($Graphics_Card)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Optional Extras: ".clean_string($Optional_Extras)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Accessory Packs: ".clean_string($Accessory_Packs)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Guarantee: ".clean_string($Guarantee)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Customer Specifics: ".clean_string($Customer_Specifics)."\n";
    $email_message .= "Maximum Budget: ".clean_string($Maximum_Budget)."\n";
 
// create email headers
$headers = 'From: '.$email_from."\r\n".
'Reply-To: '.$email_from."\r\n" .
'X-Mailer: PHP/' . phpversion();
@mail($email_to, $email_subject, $email_message, $headers); 
?>
 
 
Thank you for requesting a quote.
 
<?php
}
die();
?>
 
<body>
</body>
</html>
 
 

I was getting the error for every field entered but seems to just be the three now.

[Dormilich]

can you print out the invalid values?

[Matt Morgan]

This is the PHP sections for the RAID field, as well as the relevant HTML.

    !isset($_POST['raid']) ||
 
    $RAID = $_POST['raid'];
 
    if(strlen($RAID) < 2) {
        $error_message .= 'The RAID you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
      }
 
    $email_message3 .= "RAID: ".clean_string($RAID)."\n";
 
    <tr>
                    <td align="left" valign="top">
                      <label for="raid">RAID </label>                 </td>
                     <td align="left" valign="top">
                      <select name="raid">
                        <option value="raid"> </option>
                        <option value="Y">Yes*</option>
                        <option value="N">No</option>
                      </select>
                      <span class="style8">(*Requires 2 identical Hard Drives)</span></td>
                    </tr>
 
 
 

The Accessories Field:

    !isset($_POST['accessories']) ||
 
    $Accessory_Packs = $_POST['accessories'];
 
    if(strlen($Accessory_Packs) < 2) {
        $error_message .= 'The Accessories you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
      }
 
    $email_message9 .= "Accessory Packs: ".clean_string($Accessory_Packs)."\n";
 
    <tr>
                    <td align="left" valign="top">
                      <label for="accessories">Accessory Packs [2]</label>                 </td>
                    <td align="left" valign="top">
                     <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="0" checked="checked"/> 
                      None <br />
                      <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="1" /> 
                      Pack 1  <br />
                      <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="2" /> 
                      Pack 2 <br />
                      <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="3" /> 
                      Pack 3 <br />
                      <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="4" /> 
                      Pack 4 <br />
                      <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="5" /> 
                      Pack 5 <br />
                      <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="6" /> 
                      Pack 6 <br />
                      <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="Other" /> 
                      Other (Please Specify) <br />                  </select>                  </td>
                    </tr>
 
 
 

The Guarantee Field:

    !isset($_POST['guarantee']) ||
 
    $Guarantee = $_POST['guarantee'];
 
    if(strlen($Guarantee) < 2) {
        $error_message .= 'The Guarantee you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
      }
 
    $email_message10 .= "Guarantee: ".clean_string($Guarantee)."\n";
 
    <tr>
                    <td align="left" valign="top">
                      <label for="guarantee">Guarantee </label>                 </td>
                     <td align="left" valign="top">
                      <select name="guarantee">
                    <option value="guarantee"> </option>
                    <option value="0">No Extension</option>
                    <option value="1">1 Year Extension</option>
                    <option value="2">2 Year Extension</option>
                    </select></td>
                    </tr>
 
 
 

[Dormilich]

in pretty much every case, you mark valid answers as invalid.
Raid:
- values (strlen): raid (4), Y (1), N (1)
Accessories:
- values (strlen): 0 (1), 1 (1), … , 6 (1), Other (5)
Guarantee:
- values (strlen): guarantee (9), 0 (1), 1 (1), 2 (1)

[Matt Morgan]

So how do I get around this. I only understand basic PHP so I'm not very good at it.

[Dormilich]

change the condition for a failure.

example: you expect only integers to be given ($_POST['myint'])

$value = filter_input(INPUT_POST, "myint", FILTER_VALIDATE_INT);
if (false === $value)
{
    // myint is not an integer
}

[Matt Morgan]

Hi, I've attempted some changes to the values on the PHP however it appears to have made things worse!

I now recieve these error messages:
We are very sorry, but there were error(s) found with the form you submitted. These errors appear below.

The RAID you entered do not appear to be valid.
The Accessories you entered do not appear to be valid.
The Guarantee you entered do not appear to be valid.
The Maximum Budget you entered do not appear to be valid.


Please go back and fix these errors.


This is the code for the error messages:

    $error_message = "";
    $email_exp = '/^[A-Za-z0-9._%-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,4}$/';
  if(!preg_match($email_exp,$email_from)) {
    $error_message .= 'The Email Address you entered does not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
    $string_exp = "/^[A-Za-z .'-]+$/";
  if(!preg_match($string_exp,$first_name)) {
    $error_message .= 'The First Name you entered does not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(!preg_match($string_exp,$last_name)) {
    $error_message .= 'The Last Name you entered does not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Role) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Role you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Memory_Size) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The RAM you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($RAID) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The RAID you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }
  if(strlen($Hard_Drive_1) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The HHD1 you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Hard_Drive_2) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The HDD2 you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Operating_System) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The OS you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Graphics_Card) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The GPU you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Optional_Extras) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Extras you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
  if(strlen($Accessory_Packs) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Accessories you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }
  if(strlen($Guarantee) < 2) {
    $error_message .= 'The Guarantee you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }
    $string_exp = "/^[A-Za-z .'-]+$/";
  if(!preg_match($string_exp,$Customer_Specifics)) {
    $error_message .= 'The Customer Specifics you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }
    $string_exp = "/^[A-Za-z .'-]+$/";
  if(!preg_match($string_exp,$Maximum_Budget)) {
    $error_message .= 'The Maximum Budget you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }
  if(strlen($error_message) > 0) {
    died($error_message);
  }
 

I assume it's this ' if(strlen($Guarantee) < 2) {' that needs to be changed for the ones flagging as Errors. What should they be changed to?

[Stewart Ross]

This thread follows on from a previous thread: http://bytes.com/topic/php/answers/9...ror-unexpected

-Stewart

[Matt Morgan]

Im assuming that it's this section ' if(strlen($Guarantee) < 2) {' that needs to be changed for the ones flagging as Errors (RAID, Accessories, Guarantee). What would you suggest setting them as?

[Dormilich]

What would you suggest setting them as?

what values do you expect (do you have given in the HTML)?

if you set numbers, check for a number (e.g. post #6), if you set strings, check if the received string matches one of the valid strings.

[Matt Morgan]

RAID HTML is

<tr>
                <td align="left" valign="top">
                  <label for="raid">RAID </label>                 </td>
                 <td align="left" valign="top">
                  <select name="raid">
                    <option value="raid" selected="selected"> </option>
                    <option value="Y">Yes*</option>
                    <option value="N">No</option>
                  </select>
                  <span class="style8">(*Requires 2 identical Hard Drives)</span></td>
                </tr>

Accessories HTML is

<tr>
                <td align="left" valign="top">
                  <label for="accessories">Accessory Packs [2]</label>                 </td>
                <td align="left" valign="top">
                 <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="0" checked="checked"/> 
                  None <br />
                  <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="1" /> 
                  Pack 1  <br />
                  <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="2" /> 
                  Pack 2 <br />
                  <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="3" /> 
                  Pack 3 <br />
                  <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="4" /> 
                  Pack 4 <br />
                  <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="5" /> 
                  Pack 5 <br />
                  <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="6" /> 
                  Pack 6 <br />
                  <input type="checkbox" name="accessories" value="Other" /> 
                  Other (Please Specify) <br />                  </select>                  </td>
                </tr>

Guarantee HTML is:

<tr>
                <td align="left" valign="top">
                  <label for="guarantee">Guarantee </label>                 </td>
                 <td align="left" valign="top">
                  <select name="guarantee">
                <option value="guarantee" selected="selected"> </option>
                <option value="0">No Extension</option>
                <option value="1">1 Year Extension</option>
                <option value="2">2 Year Extension</option>
                </select></td>
                </tr>

[Dormilich]

I think (hope) with that you can answer the question what values you expect for each field.

[Matt Morgan]

Honestly have no idea. I've only recently started using PHP.

[Dormilich]

this has nothing to do with PHP. this is pure HTML (at this point):

what are the possible values for the guarantee field?

[Matt Morgan]

guarantee, 0, 1, 2. So 4 values?

[Dormilich]

4 possible values, of which one will be (regularly) submitted.

what does the value "guarantee" stand for?

[Matt Morgan]

a 'tab' space, so appearance is blank on the form.

[Matt Morgan]

I changed Guarantee to

if(strlen($Guarantee) < 4) {
    $error_message .= 'The Guarantee you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';
  }

but still recieve an error when submitting the form.

Also attempted this with RAID:

if(strlen($RAID) < 3) Y (1), N (2)) {
    $error_message .= 'The RAID you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }

but instead recieve a Parse Error: Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ',' in /www/zymichost.com/m/y/c/mycustombuiltpc/htdocs/CustomForm.php on line 75

[Dormilich]

of course. there are 3 valid values with a string length < 4 (the numbers). does the "guarantee" value bear any meaning (to the script)? if not, it can be regarded as invalid value and then you only have the numbers left, for which I already showed you a way to verify them.

[Matt Morgan]

I have now tried it as you suggested, Raid:
- values (strlen): raid (4), Y (1), N (1)
as

if(strlen($RAID) < raid (4) Y (1), N (1)) {
    $error_message .= 'The RAID you entered do not appear to be valid.<br />';   
  }

But still get the Parse Error.


Guarantee " " will never be selected, so will never be a chosen value.

[Dormilich]

I have now tried it as you suggested, Raid:
- values (strlen): raid (4), Y (1), N (1)

that wasn’t a suggestion, just what strlen() on that values would produce.

Guarantee " " will never be selected, so will never be a chosen value.

that leaves you with the numbers. and I already showed you how to validate numbers. (but you are aware that " " won’t be passed, ain’t you?)

[Matt Morgan]

So I would just need to put

if(strlen($Guarantee) < (3) {

[Dormilich]

do you know what the strlen() function does?

[Matt Morgan]

I believed it is for a string, I'm assuming I'm wrong?

[Dormilich]

yea, but what does it actually do?

[Matt Morgan]

Returns the length of the string?

[Dormilich]

correct.

does that functionality (returning the string length) help you validating the input?

[Matt Morgan]

I'm guessing not as it isn't working.

[Dormilich]

disregarding PHP, describe in words how you you would determine, when the input of the guarantee field is valid.

[Matt Morgan]

It's a drop down menu, so whenever one of the 3 options are selected, 4 fields, "[blank]", none, 1 yr extension, 2 yr extension

[Dormilich]

none, 1 yr extension, 2 yr extension

now we have the meaning (intention) of the choosable options, but what are the values sent to the server script?

[Matt Morgan]

Not really sure, assuming a number(s)?

[Dormilich]

and how would you check if something is a number?


edit: hey, this is my 6,000th post!

[Matt Morgan]

Another guess = $number?

[Dormilich]

? ? ?

[Matt Morgan]

I'm not really sure. Error messages shouldn't have '$strlen' is about as far as I'm following, although it's sending numbers, but it shouldn't.

[zorgi]

@Dormilich
Hey Dormilich congratulations on your 6000

[Dormilich]

why shouldn’t it send numbers?

[Matt Morgan]

so it's sending numbers as representations of:
none, 1 yr extension, 2 yr extension?

[Dormilich]

you wrote the HTML, didn’t you?

[Matt Morgan]

Yes,I know how to write it, just don't understand how it then relates to the functions in PHP.

[Dormilich]

your input does not relate to PHP functions (unless I misinterpret the term "relate"). what you have is input (either from $_GET or $_POST […]) and you need to validate these strings by means of PHP function. which function(s) to choose for that purpose depends on what the input is supposed to be. e.g. strlen() gives you the length of the string, if that is a statement you can work with depends on your validation strategy.

[Matt Morgan]

so you're suggesting not having POST and having GET instead?

[Dormilich]

it doesn’t matter whether it is $_POST or $_GET, the validation required is the same.

[Matt Morgan]

So if that is all fine, then it is purely the second half of the error messages causing the problems, but I don't know/ understand what to change these to.

[Dormilich]

what was the message again?

[Matt Morgan]

We are very sorry, but there were error(s) found with the form you submitted. These errors appear below.

The RAID you entered do not appear to be valid.
The Accessories you entered do not appear to be valid.
The Guarantee you entered do not appear to be valid.

Please go back and fix these errors.

[Dormilich]

I thought it were a PHP error message. nevertheless, the problem is your validation strategy. the last time we were at "how would you check that a variable is an integer?" any ideas?

[Matt Morgan]

They are predefined error messages on the PHP which, when an error occurs, display on the screen. I honestly have no idea.

[Dormilich]

you have no idea what the difference between 1 and "q" is?