Keeping a value stored in a variable after reloading the class

[Noskiw]

Currently, I'm trying to write a contact form, and perhaps I'm overcomplicating it, but I have a public variable called $EquationAnswer that stores the answer to the Captcha method (randomised maths question) and whenever the page reloads, it creates a new instance of the Contact class, which then erases the value that has been stored in that variable.

 

What I'm trying to achieve is keeping the value stored even after a new instantiation of the class. I remember from a class at University that static was a way to do this, but this was in C#.

<?php

class Contact
{
	public $EquationAnswer;

	public function CaptchaCreation()
	{
		$SignArray = array('+', '×', '-');

		$NumberOne = rand(1, 9);
		$NumberTwo = rand(1, 4);

		if($NumberOne < $NumberTwo)
			$SignIndex = rand(0, 1);
		else
			$SignIndex = rand(0, 2);

		$Sign = $SignArray[$SignIndex];

		$EquationString = $NumberOne." ".$Sign." ".$NumberTwo;

		switch($Sign)
		{
			case "+":
				$Answer = $NumberOne + $NumberTwo;
				break;
			case "-":
				$Answer = $NumberOne - $NumberTwo;
				break;
			case "×":
				$Answer = $NumberOne * $NumberTwo;
				break;
		}

		$this->EquationAnswer = $Answer;

		return $EquationString;
	}

	public function EchoContactForm()
	{
		$CaptchaMessage = $this->CaptchaCreation();

		echo "<form method='POST' action=''>\n\n";
		echo "\t\t\t\t\t<table>\n\n";
		echo "\t\t\t\t\t\t<tr><td>Name: </td><td><input type='text' name='name' /></td></tr>\n";
		echo "\t\t\t\t\t\t<tr><td>Email: </td><td><input type='text' name='email' /></td></tr>\n";
		echo "\t\t\t\t\t\t<tr><td>Subject: </td><td><input type='text' name='subject' /></td></tr>\n";
		echo "\t\t\t\t\t\t<tr><td>Message: </td><td><textarea rows=5 name='message'></textarea></td></tr>\n";
		echo "\t\t\t\t\t\t<tr><td>What is: ".$CaptchaMessage."?</td><td><input type='text' name='captcha' /></td><td></td></tr>\n";
		echo "\t\t\t\t\t\t<tr><td colspan=2 style='text-align: right'><input type='submit' name='submit' value='Send' /></td></tr>\n\n";
		echo "\t\t\t\t\t</table>\n\n";
		echo "\t\t\t\t</form>\n";
	}

	public function ContactFormValidation($Name, $Email, $Subject, $Message, $CaptchaInput, $CaptchaAnswer)
	{
		echo $CaptchaAnswer;

		$ErrorsArray = array();

		if(strlen($Name) == 0)
			array_push($ErrorsArray, "You must provide a name.");
		if(strlen($Email) == 0)
			array_push($ErrorsArray, "You must provide an email.");
		if(strlen($Message) == 0)
			array_push($ErrorsArray, "You must provide a message.");
		if(strlen($CaptchaInput) == 0)
			array_push($ErrorsArray, "You must provide an answer to the maths question.");
		if($CaptchaInput != $CaptchaAnswer)
			array_push($ErrorsArray, "Incorrect captcha answer.");

		if(count($ErrorsArray) > 0)
		{
			echo "There are ".count($ErrorsArray)." Errors: <br />";

			foreach($ErrorsArray as $E)
				echo $E."<br />";
		}
		else
		{
			return true;
		}
	}
}

?>

^ That's the Contact class, and the main function that I want to focus on is the last one, "ContactFormValidation()".

 

From the contact form page (which is within a template), I want it to send the EquationAnswer variable to that function so that it can compare what the user has input.

<?php

//Instantiate the contact class
include './inc/PHP/classes/ContactClass.php';
$ContactClass = new Contact;

if(!isset($_POST['submit']))
{
	$ContactClass->EchoContactForm();
}
else
{
	$NameInput = $_POST['name'];
	$EmailInput = $_POST['email'];
	$SubjectInput = $_POST['subject'];
	$MessageInput = $_POST['message'];
	$CaptchaInput = $_POST['captcha'];
	$CaptchaAnswer = $ContactClass->EquationAnswer;

        //Tried echoing out what is in the variable but it produces nothing because the contact class is a new instance.
	//echo $CaptchaAnswer;

	if($ContactClass->ContactFormValidation($NameInput, $EmailInput, $SubjectInput, $MessageInput, $CaptchaInput, $CaptchaAnswer) == true)
	{
		//Mail function
	}
}

?>

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Cheers.

[requinix]

C#'s static works in the application pool, which PHP does not have. PHP does have sessions, however, so you can put the value in there instead.

[Noskiw]

C#'s static works in the application pool, which PHP does not have. PHP does have sessions, however, so you can put the value in there instead.

 

I have considered using sessions, but was trying to avoid them for now. Is there perhaps any other way (not cookies)?

[KevinM1]

I have considered using sessions, but was trying to avoid them for now. Is there perhaps any other way (not cookies)?

PHP is essentially a fire-and-forget environment. Once a particular script has executed, it's done. So, there's no shared memory or whatever for you to store values in. Because of that, you're left with the following options:

 

Sessions

Cookies

Flat file

Database

[Noskiw]

Well I guess, since using a flat file is just ridiculous, and a database is too much processing for such a simple task, I'll have to use sessions. Thanks for your insights guys.