Are QUOTE MARKS required

[phppup]

While playing with some code, I wrote these few lines of script.

$_SESSION["favcolor"] = green;

echo "Session variable is ". $_SESSION["favcolor"] ;

I tested the code and everything worked fine.
But then, I noticed an error in my coding: I had accidentally forgotten the QUOTES around the word GREEN.

I corrected the code

$_SESSION["favcolor"] = "green";

But when I tested it, the page would not open/load.

Then I removed the quote marks and restored the line to it's original state
 

$_SESSION["favcolor"] = green;

And things worked fine.

Shouldn't the quote marks be required?
Why am I having this issue?
Is it really an issue, or should I just accept that it works WITHOUT the quotes and be satisfied with that result?

[NotionCommotion]

Quotes are normally required, however, see https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php for details.

The only way I would expect things to work find without them is if your code was something like this:

define("green", "Some important stuff");
$_SESSION["favcolor"] = green;

 

[requinix]

If you didn't have a constant named "green" then PHP was converting that to a string for you. But as of PHP 8, that will no longer happen and your script will die.

PHP raised a warning when it did that. If you didn't see the warning then your PHP is not set up correctly for development.

[Barand]

If you had error reporting tuned on, you would see a message like this

Quote

Notice: Use of undefined constant green - assumed 'green' in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\test\test.php on line xx

If the PHP processor comes across an unquoted string it assumes it is a defined constant. It then tries to find the value that was defined for that constant. If it cannot find one it then assumes it must be a string value 'green'. All this is a waste of time making your code less efficient, so always quote string literals.

[phppup]

As I said, 

Quote

I corrected the code

$_SESSION["favcolor"] = "green";

But when I tested it, the page would not open/load.

It seems that the CORRECT coding is NOT being allowed to function.

[requinix]

1 minute ago, phppup said:

It seems that the CORRECT coding is NOT being allowed to function.

If it doesn't function then it isn't correct. But it does need quotes.

[phppup]

And while we're discussing anomalies, I am trying to determine when a SUBMIT button with a value = 'submit' is clicked.

$A = $_POST['click1'];
    echo "<br>1 ".$A."<br>";echo "<br>2 ".$_POST['click1']."<br>";
 
if(isset($A))  { echo "YES, the value is: ". $A; } else { echo "NO the value is: " . $A; }
if(isset($A))  { echo "YES, the value is:".  $_POST['click1']; } else { echo "NO the value is: " .  $_POST['click1']; }
if(isset($_POST['click1']))  { echo "YES, the value is: ". $A; } else { echo "NO the value is: " . $A; }
if(isset($_POST['click1']))  { echo "YES, the value is:".  $_POST['click1']; } else { echo "NO the value is: " .  $_POST['click1']; }

None of my echo messages are grabbing $A, although I seem to have it declared.

What did I do wrong here?

Is there a better way to determine if a specific input='submit' is selected?

[requinix]

What's the markup for the button?

[phppup]

<input type="submit" id="click1" name="click1" value="SUBMIT">

 

[requinix]

Then the code you posted isn't wrong. Something else is.

[phppup]

@Barand (and others)

YES, I implemented error reporting and saw the warning [described above]. This brings me back to my initial question: Why isn't the correct coding be accepted?

[phppup]

@requinix  YES, I am beginning to think that low grade server fees come with a high price.

I suppose I should be happy that I've excelled to the point of catching the errors and seeking [something closer to] perfection.

Although it may have been easier when I didn't notice these mistakes and was simply happy to have a result generated.  LOL