Redirect if form empty?

rocky48 · May 26, 2014

Hi

I am trying to check whether all the form has been filled in in a questionaire on my site.

If any entry has not been made I want it to re-present the script for the form again.

I have tried this, but it runs the form whatever the state.

<?php session_start();
$_SESSION['Test']=$_POST['VID'];
print_r ($_POST);
$mail = $_POST['email'];
$Vrate = $_POST['rate'];
$Verse_imp = $_POST['Vimp'];
$site_sug = $_POST['site'];
$Site_imp = $_POST['Simp'];

if (empty($email)) {
    echo '$mail is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
    require('questionnaire.html');

}
if (empty($Vrate))
{
    echo '$Vrate is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
     require('questionnaire.html');
}
if (empty($Verse_imp)){
    echo '$Verse_imp is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
     require('questionnaire.html');
}
if (empty($site_sug))
{
    echo '$site_sug is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
     require('questionnaire.html');
}
if (empty($Site_imp))
{
    echo '$Site_imp is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
     require('questionnaire.html');
}
?>

This is unfinished code thats why I have left the echos in. Before I add the require it detected the empty line OK.

Any suggestions?

jazzman1 · May 26, 2014

You should consider of using some loop construction just for better design. Can you post your html form?

rocky48 · May 26, 2014

Hi

Here is the html form:

<?php session_start();
$_SESSION['Test']=$_POST['VID'];
?>

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<!--
Design by Free CSS Templates
http://www.freecsstemplates.org
Released for free under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

Name       : Yosemite  
Description: A two-column, fixed-width design with dark color scheme.
Version    : 1.0
Released   : 20091106

-->
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta name="keywords" content="" />
<meta name="description" content="" />
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>1066 Cards 4U - Questionnaire</title>
<link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" />
</head>
<body>
<div id="wrapper"><!--Start Wrapper-->
<div id="menu"><!--Start Menu-->
		<ul>
			<li class="current_page_item"><a href="index.php">Home</a></li>
			<li><a href="Links.html">Links</a></li>
			<li><a href="Verse_Menu.html">Verses</a></li>
			<li><a href="Techniques.html">Techniques</a></li>
			<li><a href="News.html">News</a></li>
			<li><a href="Gallery.html">Gallery</a></li>
			<li><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></li>
			<li><a href="stats1.html">Stats</a></li>
		</ul>
</div><!-- end menu -->
<div id="header"><!--Start Header-->
		<div id="logo">
			<h1><a href="http://www.1066cards4u.co.uk">1066 Cards 4U</a></h1>
</div><!-- end wrapper -->
</div><!-- end header -->
<div id="page"><!--Start Page-->
<div id="page-bgtop"><!--Start Page-bgtop-->
<div id="page-bgbtm"><!--Start Page-bgbtm-->
<div id="content"><!--Start Content-->
		 <h1>Feedback Questionnaire</h1>
<p>We are sorry that we have had to resort to this method of getting feedback, but users seem reluctant to give any feedback.  We can tell from our stats that there is a very strong contingent in California, USA and we would like to get your opinion of our site and the FREE verse utility.  We would also value your opinion elsewhere in the world.<br />
All questions must be answered before you proceed to the normal input form.
</p> 
</br>

	<p>
<form NAME=feedback action="Qstore.php" method="post">
<strong>Your email address:</strong> <input type="email" size="20" name="email"/><br/><br/>
Please rate the Verse Utility</br>
<input type="checkbox" name="rate" value="1"> 1
<input type="checkbox" name="rate" value="2"> 2
<input type="checkbox" name="rate" value="3"> 3
<input type="checkbox" name="rate" value="4"> 4
<input type="checkbox" name="rate" value="5"> 5	<br/><br/>	
<strong>Are there any ways we can improve the utility?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="Vimp" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<strong>What do you think of the site as a whole?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="site" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<strong>How do you think we can improve the site?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="Simp" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<strong>Any other comments?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="Simp" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<input type="submit" value="Submit"/>
</p>
</div><!-- end content -->

<div id="sidebar"><!--Start Sidebar-->
			
					<div id="search" <!--Start Search-->
					<form method="get" action="http://1066cards4u.co.uk">
						<div><!--Start Submit-->
							<input type="text" name="s" id="search-text" value="" />
							<input type="submit" id="search-submit" value="GO" />
						</div><!-- end submit -->
					</form>
					</div><!-- end Search -->
					<div style="clear: both;"> </div>
				
				
		</div><!-- end #sidebar -->
		<div style="clear: both;"> </div>
	</div><!-- end page-bgtop -->
	</div><!-- end page-bgbtm -->
	</div><!-- end page -->
</div>

<div id="footer"><!--Start Footer-->
		<p>Copyright (c) 2008 Sitename.com. All rights reserved. Design by <a href="http://www.freecsstemplates.org/" rel="nofollow">FreeCSSTemplates.org</a>.</p>
</div><!-- end footer -->
</body>
</html>

Also, when this form has been filled in correctly I want to proceed to another php script.

What I am doing is trying to force users to fill the questionnaire, as I have slipped this in between a set of scripts.

jazzman1 · May 26, 2014

which one are you trying to use? Neither of those two forms do not fitt to be checked from your php script. What result you're getting by calling - print_r ($_POST); in the third line of your script?

Edited May 26, 2014 by jazzman1

rocky48 · May 26, 2014

This is the print_r output

Array ( => [Vimp] => [site] => [simp] => => ) $mail is either 0, empty, or not set at all$Vrate is either 0, empty, or not set at all$Verse_imp is either 0, empty, or not set at all$site_sug is either 0, empty, or not set at all$Site_imp is either 0, empty, or not set at all

rocky48 · May 26, 2014

The above is when form is empty.

Here is the output when filled in:

Array ( => another@gmail.com [rate] => 5 [Vimp] => Yes [site] => Rubbish [simp] => None => ) $mail is either 0, empty, or not set at all

Jacques1 · May 26, 2014

You've called your variable $mail, but you're checking for $email.

Besides that, this is all a bit weird. What's the point of the empty() checks? The variables obviously do exist, because you've defined them right above this part. So why not just check for !$your_variable?

Or rather: Why not leave out all the superfluous variables and use the $_POST array directly? This makes your code much shorter and will also prevent warnings if the POST parameters do not exist at all.

There are also issues with your HTML. You're missing the closing tag of the form, and you cannot have multiple checkboxes with the same name (well, this is actually a PHP issue). If you want an array of values, you need the bracket syntax: rate[].

jazzman1 · May 26, 2014

Ops....it was my fault the form exists There is no closing form tag to the first form. You cannot use nested forms in one html document.

EDIT: Jacques1 is alredy answered, sorry for the double reply

Edited May 26, 2014 by jazzman1

rocky48 · May 26, 2014

I admit to the first mistake and the missing form tag, but I thought empty checks whether the variable has a value.

If you don't fill this value in the form this would surely be a null value?

I agree with removing the variables and using the POSTed ones.

Apart from picking holes in my coding, nobody has attempted to answer my question!!

Edited May 26, 2014 by rocky48

jazzman1 · May 26, 2014

Apart from picking holes in my coding, nobody has attempted to answer my question!!

You've called your variable $mail, but you're checking for $email.

Jacques1 · May 26, 2014

I admit to the first mistake and the missing form tag, but I thought empty checks whether the variable has a value.

To be exact, it yields true if the variable doesn't exist, or if it has a falsy value. So empty($var) is the same as !isset($var) || !$var

In your code above, you know for sure that the variable exists, so you can jump straight to !$var. There's simply no need for empty(). I'm not saying that it's wrong, but it's overly complicated and makes no sense from a technical perspective.

Also be aware that the string "0" is considered falsy as well. This can lead to unintended behaviour, but it should be OK in your case.

rocky48 · May 27, 2014

Apart from picking holes in my coding, nobody has attempted to answer my question!!

Jacques1 - I rerally don't understand what you are getting at? How else am I going to check if the user has completely filled in the form (Apartr from Isset())?

I have corrected the form now as you have pointed out the mistakes.

How about helping by giving me some clues to solve the orginal question? - How do you return to the form if any of the fields has not been filled in?

Here is the php code:

<?php session_start();
$_SESSION['Test']=$_POST['VID'];
print_r ($_POST);
$mail = $_POST['email'];
$Vrate = $_POST['rate'];
$Verse_imp = $_POST['Vimp'];
$site_sug = $_POST['site'];
$Site_imp = $_POST['Simp'];


if (empty($mail)) {
    echo '$mail is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
}
elseif (require('VInput.php'));

if  (empty($Vrate))
{
    echo '$Vrate is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
    }
elseif (require('VInput.php'));

if (empty($Verse_imp))
{
    echo '$Verse_imp is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
    }
elseif (require('VInput.php'));

if (empty($site_sug))
{
    echo '$site_sug is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
    }
elseif (require('VInput.php'));

if (empty($Site_imp))
{
    echo '$Site_imp is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
    }
elseif (require('VInput.php'));
?>

I have since added the elseif to make it run the next code if the form has been completely filled in.

Here is the form:

<div id="content"><!--Start Content-->
		 <h1>Feedback Questionnaire</h1>
<p>We are sorry that we have had to resort to this method of getting feedback, but users seem reluctant to give any feedback.  We can tell from our stats that there is a very strong contingent in California, USA and we would like to get your opinion of our site and the FREE verse utility.  We would also value your opinion elsewhere in the world.<br />
All questions must be answered before you proceed to the normal input form.
</p> 
</br>

	<p>
<form NAME=feedback action="Qstore.php" method="post">
<strong>Your email address:</strong> <input type="email" size="20" name="email"/><br/><br/>
Please rate the Verse Utility</br>
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="1"> 1
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="2"> 2
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="3"> 3
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="4"> 4
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="5"> 5	<br/><br/>	
<strong>Are there any ways we can improve the utility?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="Vimp" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<strong>What do you think of the site as a whole?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="site" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<strong>How do you think we can improve the site?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="Simp" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<strong>Any other comments?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="Simp" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<input type="submit" value="Submit"/>
</form>
</p>
</div><!-- end content -->

I have changed the checkboxes to radio buttons as |I only want one checked.

Please help.

Jacques1 · May 27, 2014

Jacques1 - I rerally don't understand what you are getting at? How else am I going to check if the user has completely filled in the form (Apartr from Isset())?

I understand that you want to check if the fields are empty, and this is perfectly fine. The problem is that you don't understand how empty() works, which is why I'm trying to explain it.

But of course we can leave it at that if you don't care.

How about helping by giving me some clues to solve the orginal question? - How do you return to the form if any of the fields has not been filled in?

You don't need to. Make a single script which displays the form and processes all form submissions. If the input is wrong, the user stays on the same page and sees the form again. If everything is fine, you redirect the user to some other page.

This solves two problems at the same time: You get your form, and the user won't accidentally submit the form data again by refreshing the page (see the POST/redirect/GET pattern):

<?php

// the form processing logic
$field_empty = false;
if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST')
{
    if (empty($_POST['test_field']))
    {
        $field_empty = true;
    }
    else
    {
        // The input is fine. Save it and then redirect the user
        header('Location: https://yoursite.com/success.php');
        exit;
    }
}
?>
<?php if ($field_empty): ?>
    <p>You did not fill out the form.</p>
<?php endif; ?>
<!-- Your form -->
<form method="post">
    <label for="test-field">Please fill out the field.</label>
    <input id="test-field" type="text" name="test_field">
    <input type="submit">
</form>

Edited May 27, 2014 by Jacques1

jazzman1 · May 27, 2014

Use the header() php function with some get parameter to it if you wat to redirect the validated script to the basic form in case it failed.

Without going into details about validation of client's email.

Qstore.php

if (empty($mail)) {
   header('Location: form.php?action=error'); exit;
}

form.php

<?php if(isset($_GET['action']) && $_GET['action'] == 'error') echo '<p style=color:red>your email is either 0, empty, or not set at all</p>';?>
<form NAME=feedback action="Qstore.php" method="post">
<strong>Your email address:</strong> <input type="email" size="20" name="email"/><br/><br/>
Please rate the Verse Utility</br>
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="1"> 1
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="2"> 2
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="3"> 3
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="4"> 4
<input type="radio" name="rate" value="5"> 5	<br/><br/>	
<strong>Are there any ways we can improve the utility?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="Vimp" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<strong>What do you think of the site as a whole?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="site" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<strong>How do you think we can improve the site?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="Simp" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<strong>Any other comments?:</strong> <br/><textarea name="Simp" rows="5" cols="30"></textarea><br/><br/>
<input type="submit" value="Submit"/>
</form>

You should go to the source (php.net) to learn how to validate user's email address.

Edited May 27, 2014 by jazzman1

Jacques1 · May 27, 2014

Use the header() php function with some get parameter to it if you wat to redirect the validated script to the basic form in case it failed.

That's not really a good idea, because then you have to save all user input in the session so that you can restore it on the form page. And you again run into the refresh issue.

I would do it the other way round as explained above: You do the processing on the form page. And then you redirect on success.

jazzman1 · May 27, 2014

That's not really a good idea, because then you have to save all user input in the session so that you can restore it on the form page.

Well, personally I am using javascript to do this and return only true or false in the server side if the test passed...I don't like to waste the server resources with stupid things

rocky48 · May 28, 2014

Hi Jazzman1

Have you an example of the javascript code that will evalueate the form?

Does this go on the form page?

rocky48 · May 28, 2014

Hi Jazzman1

Found this Js Function code on the internet, but was only evalueating one field.

Have I got the sytax right for multiple fields?

function validateForm()
{
var a=document.forms["feedback"]["email"].value;
if (a==null || a=="")
  {
  alert("Email address must be entered");
  return false;
  }
var b=document.forms["feedback"]["rate"].value;
if (b==null || b=="")
  {
  alert("A Site Rating must be entered");
  return false;
  }
var c=document.forms["feedback"]["Vimp"].value;
if (c==null || c=="")
  {
  alert("Your Verses Utility improvement comments must be entered");
  return false;
  }
var d=document.forms["feedback"]["site"].value;
if (d==null || d=="")
  {
  alert("Your site comments must be entered");
  return false;
  }
var e=document.forms["feedback"]["Simp"].value;
if (e==null || e=="")
  {
  alert("Your site improvement comments must be entered");
  return false;
  }
var f=document.forms["feedback"]["other"].value;
if (f==null || f=="")
  {
  alert("Your other comments must be entered");
  return false;
  }   
}

To use it according to the snippet you add ' onsubmit="return validateForm()" ' to the form.

It did not work, just went to the action file, with no data entered into the form.

rocky48 · May 28, 2014

Hi Jazzman

Forgot <script> tag.

It seemed to work, but when it got to the site rating radio buttons it would not accept that one had been selected.

Do I need different code for this type of input?

jazzman1 · May 28, 2014

@rocky48, there is nothing wrong to use PRG pattern as shown in my example. The whole point of using it, is to prevent the same data to be sent to the server multiple times by reloading the form page. For more information - http://web.archive.org/web/20061211082049/http://www.theserverside.com/patterns/thread.tss?thread_id=20936

I prefer to use javascript because this increases the speed of the application if the validation somehow failed, however you don't have to trust it because javascript could be easily disabled from some malicious user. You must be sure that the user input fields validation exists on the server side as well.

For a newbie in javascript i recommend you of using jquery validation plugin - http://jqueryvalidation.org/documentation/

Edited May 28, 2014 by jazzman1

rocky48 · May 30, 2014

Thanks again jazzman1!

I am now trying to learn jQuery. It's very powerful scripting language.

The solution:

<script>
$( "#questionnaire" ).validate({
  rules: {
    rate: {
      required: true
    },
     Vimp: {
      required: true
    },
     email: {
      required: true,
      email: true
    },
     site: {
      required: true
    },
     Simp: {
      required: true
    },
     other: {
      required: true
    }
  }
});
</script>

Jacques1 · May 31, 2014

HTML natively provides validation attributes:

<input type="email" name="email" required>

And, unlike jQuery validation, this doesn't require JavaScript. The only reason for using jQuery would be if your users primarily run around with old versions of Internet Explorer.

I also don't see how client-side validation solves your original problem. But if you're happy, I guess we can leave it at that.

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Redirect if form empty?

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