php validation

[lc21]

I have managed to create a script in javascript to ensure that the user can only enter a certain amount of characters in a text area. If users have javascript turned off how can I check for this in PHP?

 

Thank you.

[GingerRobot]

Use the strlen() function.

[lc21]

Thanks, how do I get the string stored in a variable though as the text area just has a name can I use that name and set it to a variable then use the strlen function?

[GingerRobot]

Yep. If your method is post and the name of the text area was textarea:

 

<?php
if(strlen($_POST['textarea']) > 100){
//too long
}else{
//length ok
}
?>

[182x]

Good tip could come in handy.

[lc21]

When the data from a text area is stored in a database does it loose all the white space or when outputting it again is there a way to retain this?

[drewbee]

I always recomend doing a trim() of the variable to clean off any additional whitespace that may exist.

 

<?php
if (strlen(trim($_POST['myVar'])) > 0)
{
  // Do it!!
}
else
{
  // Please enter a value
}
?>

[GingerRobot]

When the data from a text area is stored in a database does it loose all the white space or when outputting it again is there a way to retain this?

 

Use the nl2br() function when you output data that came from a text box. It converts all new lines(\n) to html

<br />

tags.