Loading data into textarea from mySQL

[scarlson]

Currently I have my users logging into my site and what I am wanting is to check to see if they have a form already filled out or if not, they need to fill out the form.  They are directed to one area where I am doing the check to see if they have this form already filled out and if so, then it will pre-load all the data in the fields (6 text boxes and 34 textarea boxes - some of the textarea boxes might be filled in but doesn't have to).  The user can then edit the textarea boxes and submit this and update the database.  If this is the first time, they will fill out what they want and insert into the database.

 

My question is:  I have already hard-coded the form so what do I need to do to pre-load all of these textarea boxes?  I have each textarea box named the same as the field name in the database already.  Would I store all the info in an array and then do a IF loop to load all the data in the textarea boxes?  Any examples or suggestions would be great. 

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

[boo_lolly]

it's usually done like this:

<text area name="somename" value="<?php print $userinput; ?>">

 

does that answer your question?

[scarlson]

Well not sure.  The textarea box is already created so do I have to call that textarea box by it's id or form name, this is where I am confused.

[cooldude832]

it's usually done like this:

<text area name="somename" value="<?php print $userinput; ?>">

 

does that answer your question?

 

The textarea input type does not have a syntax acceptable even close to that

its

<textarea name="somename">
//The stuff in the box here
</textarea>

but yes you just echo it in the body just like you are echoing it out normally

[boo_lolly]

cooldude, yeah sorry it's been a while since i've messed with textarea html. same principle, different syntax. thanks for clearing that up.

[scarlson]

Ok I understand what I need to do but......  Here is a small sample of my form that I have:

 

<form id="setup" name="setup" method="post" action="data_setup.php">
    
    
    <table width="200" border="1" bordercolor="#000000">
      <caption>
        Account Information
      </caption>
      
      <tr>
        <td>
            <label>First Name
              <input type="text" name="fName" id="fName" />
              </label>
          
          </td>
        <td>
            <label>Last Name
              <input type="text" name="lName" id="lName" />
              </label>
     
          </td>
        <td>
            <label>Address
              <input type="text" name="address" id="address" />
              </label>
         
          </td>
        <td>
            <label>Zip Code
              <input type="text" name="zip" id="zip" />
              </label>
         
          </td>

 

There is a lot more to this.  Will I need to do a "IF" loop with the exact same code in each one but one pre-loaded with my data if they have filled this out before?

 

Something like:

If ($seller_id_rows == 1){    //tells me that the user has setup form already
//create my full form with pre-loaded data and a submit button to UPDATE database

}

else {
//create my full form with blank data fields with a submit button to INSERT INTO database
}

 

Does this seem like the right place to start at?

 

[boo_lolly]

you've got somewhat of the right idea. in my opinion, you should use $_SESSIONs to determine if a user has submitted a form instead of relying on $_POST. since $_POST is handled on the browser-side, there's no real way to tell if a user has submitted a form once, or more than once, for instance:

if (isset($_POST)) {

 

so you should use sessions since your data is being transferred to another page (data_setup.php). this way you can save information and use it from page to page. at least, that's what i do with form validation/handling.

[scarlson]

you've got somewhat of the right idea. in my opinion, you should use $_SESSIONs to determine if a user has submitted a form instead of relying on $_POST. since $_POST is handled on the browser-side, there's no real way to tell if a user has submitted a form once, or more than once, for instance:

if (isset($_POST)) {

 

so you should use sessions since your data is being transferred to another page (data_setup.php). this way you can save information and use it from page to page. at least, that's what i do with form validation/handling.

 

I am using SESSIONS to determine if the user is logged in already and if not sent back to the login page.  So I know that I have a logged in user, but a brand new user or one who is there to edit their items might show up so I need a way to handle each scenario.  That is why I was thinking of the IF/ELSE to do this.  I will know if the user has already been there before because a value from the my login table will be set in 2 other tables already, which I will check for.

 

I will just keep plugging away on this.  I will post some of my code tonight if I haven't gotten it figured out yet.