30-second rule for POST data?

[brownshoe]

I'm working on some scripts that get data from HTML forms via the "post" method.  The scripts take the post data and use it to do various basic SQL statements. (duh?)

 

However, I'm having a problem with them:  When I click "submit" on the form, the script on the next page behaves as if it is receiving no post data.  If I leave it alone for 30 seconds, then hit "refresh" on my browser (and resend post data), it finds the post data and works just like I wanted it to in the first place.

 

What's going on here, and what's the way around it?

[redarrow]

post ur code please magic cristall ball gon to bed...........

[brownshoe]

Here's a sample of the script that handles the post data:

 

//assign post information

$pilot=$_POST[PilotID];
$AircraftID=$_POST[AircraftID];
$registration=$_POST[registration];

//get info

$query="SELECT `UserID`, `first_name`, `last_name` from `users` WHERE `UserID`='$pilot'";

$result=mysql_query($query);

$row=mysql_fetch_array($result);

$firstname=$row["first_name"];
$lastname=$row["last_name"];

//remove row from authorized_pilots

$drop_query="DELETE FROM `authorized_pilots` WHERE `PilotID`='$pilot' AND `AircraftID`='$AircraftID' LIMIT 

1";

$drop_result=mysql_query($drop_query);


//echo success message and link back to homepage

echo "<p align=\"center\">$firstname $lastname is no longer authorized to fly $registration.<br>
<a href=\"pilothome.php\">Back to Pilot Homepage</a></p>";

 

This is the form that sends the information:

 

echo "<td>

<form action=\"drop_pilot.php\" method=\"post\">

<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"PilotID\" value=$PilotID>
<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"AircraftID\" value=$AircraftID>
<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"registration\" value=$registration>
<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Remove\"></form></td>";
echo "</tr>";

[FForce2195]

Change

<form action=\"drop_pilot.php\" method=\"post\">

into

 

<form action="drop_pilot.php" method="post">

.

 

And you may want to remove all backslashes.

[Bendude14]

No dont remove your backslashes there escaping the Quotation marks.

 

Where abouts are the vars set for your input values?

 

value=$PilotID

value=$AircraftID

value=$registration

[brownshoe]

Thanks for the help!

 

I know the backslashes are there for a reason 

 

The form is actually part of a bunch of forms in a table (a script generates one for each row) like so:

while ($pilot_row=mysql_fetch_array($pilots)) {

$firstname=$pilot_row["first_name"];
$lastname=$pilot_row["last_name"];
$location=$pilot_row["location"];
$PilotID=$pilot_row["PilotID"];

echo "<tr>";
echo "<td>$firstname $lastname</td>";
echo "<td>$location</td>";
echo "<td>

<form action=\"drop_pilot.php\" method=\"post\">

<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"PilotID\" value=$PilotID>
<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"AircraftID\" value=$AircraftID>
<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"registration\" value=$registration>
<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Remove\"></form></td>";
echo "</tr>";

}

 

Is it cool to have more than one form on a page like that, or is that causing some kind of problem?  Like I said, if you wait 30 seconds, then hit "refresh" and then "resend post data" it works just fine.

 

 

[Bendude14]

Does each form have its own submit button?

 

Do they all post to the same place?

 

 

[brownshoe]

The rows are generated by the "while" loop.  Each row has its own submit button.

 

They all post to "drop_pilot.php"

[Bendude14]

try adding quote around your values variables

[brownshoe]

hmmm... that doesn't seem to matter... I tried single quotes and double quotes (with backslashes) and it's still doing the same thing.  What weirds me out is that it WORKS, you just have to refresh the page and resend the data for the script to find the post data.

[Bendude14]

well thats a sign that the vars are not be filled until after the first POST are you sure the issues is not higher up where you are querying your DB for the relevant info to fill the form?

 

Try checking the source code before you submit at all to make sure there correct values are in the hidden fields.

[brownshoe]

Do you think it has to do with the fact that one of the values is coming from outside the loop?  AircraftID is constant for the whole page, so I didn't include it in the loop.  Maybe I'll try altering my query so it picks that up, too...

[Bendude14]

check the html source and see if the values are there...

[brownshoe]

Ah ha!

 

Here's what's coming up in the source...

 

<form action="drop_pilot.php" method="post">

<input type="hidden" name="PilotID" value="$PilotID">
<input type="hidden" name="AircraftID" value="$AircraftID">
<input type="hidden" name="registration" value="$registration">
<input type="submit" value="Remove">

And such.  Looks like it's not showing the values right...

[Bendude14]

lol how we overlooked that i dont no hahaha

 

 

<input type="hidden" name="AircraftID" value=\"echo $AircraftID\">

 

your not echo the values to the page

[brownshoe]

Hmmm...

 

I got the values to show up in the source just by taking the quotes away.  The whole thing is part of a big "echo" statement, so I don't think I really need the "echo" in each field.

 

But it still hasn't solved the problem.  The HTML source is looking much more tidy...

 

<form action="drop_pilot.php" method="post">

<input type="hidden" name="PilotID" value=1>
<input type="hidden" name="AircraftID" value=2>
<input type="hidden" name="registration" value=N348SP>
<input type="submit" value="Remove"></form>

 

So yeah... got THAT problem fixed.  Still have to wait 30 seconds (I'm serious... I'm timing it) and then refresh the page to make it work.

[brownshoe]

This might help...

 

It ALSO works on the first try if I wait long enough before hitting "submit" on the form.  It just has to be 30 seconds or more since the last time I posted something...

[brownshoe]

Seems to work fine as long as I wait a while between posts.  Could it be something with the browser or the server storing the data for 30 seconds?  Is there some way to force it to clear itself so a new post can be entered?

 

Thanks for the help, bendude.  I'm sure the thing with not displaying the right values in the hidden fields had SOMETHING to do with it.  Runs better now, but still hafta wait a little.

 

I'm off to bed.  Thanks again!

[Bendude14]

how large is the DB query? its not taking that long to retrieve the info from the DB is it?

[brownshoe]

DB query is pretty simple...

 

$pilots_query="SELECT `authorized_pilots`.`PilotID`, `authorized_pilots`.`AircraftID`, `users`.`UserID`, 

`users`.`first_name`, `users`.`last_name`, `users`.`location`  FROM `authorized_pilots`, `users` WHERE 

`users`.`UserID`=`authorized_pilots`.`PilotID` AND `authorized_pilots`.`AircraftID`='$aircraft' ORDER BY 

`users`.`first_name` ASC";

 

Since the form is on a page that takes post data from a form on the previous page to itself, is it possible the old post data remains valid for 30 seconds and somehow blocks the new stuff?  It just seems really strange to me that the post data won't be sent for 30 seconds.  You can either let the page with the form sit for 30 seconds, or refresh the target page 30 seconds after you submit.  Do I need to somehow close my scripts or something?  I'm guessing since PHP is a server-side language that this 30 second thing has something to do with the server.  Is there some way I can manually make my post data from the previous form expire sooner?