form validation - NOOB

[aeafisme23]

First of all I have researched on phpfreaks and to no avail there was nothing as "BASIC" as i needed.

I just want SIMPLE error handling messages to go to the corresponding column, i do not want it above, below, i want it in specific columns where i stated i need below. NO JAVASCRIPT. Keep it noobish for me, meaning no db interaction just simple :)  THANKS :)

Contactform.php

[code]
<form name="cform" method="post" action="formdisplay.php">
<table><tr>
<td><p>First Name:</p></td>
<td><input type="text" maxlength="25" name="firstname"></td>
<td>if error i want it to go here on submit, I DO not want javascript at all, and i do not want it
to go to display results, i wanted it validated here using php</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p>Last Name:</p></td>
<td><input type="text" maxlength="25" name="lastname"></td>
<td>error handling</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
[/code]


Formdisplay.php

[code]
<p>Display Results</p>
<?php
echo "<p>Name: " . $firstname . " " . $lastname . "</p>";
?>
[/code]


http://www.phpfreaks.com/forums/index.php/topic,36973.0.html  I thought the main posting was goign to help me but only found out that it was very very advanced for a noob such as myself. Much help is appreciated.

[Caesar]

What criteria do you want to use to check against the data & validate the posted form values? (If not from a db)

Also... http://www.php.net is a good place to start before even doing anything. Why tackle such things if you have not out in the effort to learn the basics? And yes, such validation can be done using the most basic understanding/experience with PHP.