#22155 [Opn->Bgs]: $_POST[varname] not interpreted

ID: 22155 Updated by: sniper@php.net Reported By: glyn@tomkins.net -Status: Open +Status: Bogus Bug Type: *General Issues Operating System: Win2K and Linux PHP Version: 4.3.0 New Comment: Sorry, but your problem does not imply a bug in PHP itself. For a list of more appropriate places to ask for help using PHP, please visit http://www.php.net/support.php as this bug system is not the appropriate forum for asking support questions. Thank you for your interest in PHP. Variables inside single quotes are NOT expanded. You need to read the manual more carefully. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2003-02-10 17:30:21] glyn@tomkins.net I am a PHP-newbie but having read the language reference I believe that the two attached scripts should work the same. In the first example, the form_block variable is defined within double quotes. In this example the escape character is used before every " within the block. In the second example which fails to give the expected result, the form_block variable is defined within single quotes and whereever " occur within the form, there is no escape character. there are no other differences between the two scripts. The VALUE="$_FORM(varname)" are within the html in formblock to ensure that previously entered values are redisplayed. Try the two out and you see that in the first example, the fields are initially blank and in the second example, $_FORM(var) is displayed. In the first when you enter a value and the form errors out, the original values are retained as expected - in the second, the form always reverts to $_FORM(var) I have recrated this problem under Windows/Apache and Linux/Apache. See phpinfo at the end. So why not simply use double quotes? I want to use the single quotes because i am using NetObjects Fusion for my web site development and am not in control of the html generated - ie I can not use "s because I can not generate the html with escape characters. If I can do this I plan to publish a tutorial on how simple it is to use PHP with netObjects to validate forms thus promoting PHP within the NOF community. Currently my workaround means using a separate form and PHP script/error page which is less elegant to the end user. Example 1: works as expected. <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>All-In-One Feedback Form</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <? $form_block =" <FORM METHOD=\"POST\" ACTION=\"$_SERVER[PHP_SELF]\"> <P><strong>Your Name:</strong><br> <INPUT type=\"text\" NAME=\"sender_name\" VALUE=\"$_POST[sender_name]\" SIZE=30></P> <P><strong>Your E-Mail Address:</strong><br> <INPUT type=\"text\" NAME=\"sender_email\" VALUE=\"$_POST[sender_email]\" SIZE=30></P> <P><strong>Message:</strong><br> <TEXTAREA NAME=\"message\" COLS=30 ROWS=5 WRAP=virtual>$_POST[message]</TEXTAREA></P> <INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"op\" value=\"ds\"> <P><INPUT TYPE=\"submit\" NAME=\"submit\" VALUE=\"Send This Form\"></p> </FORM>"; if ($_POST[op] != "ds") { //they need to see the form echo "$form_block"; } else { echo "<p>OK</p>"; //check value of $_POST[sender_name] if ($_POST[sender_name] == "") { $name_err ="<font color=red>Please enter your name!</font><br>"; $send ="no"; } //check value of $_POST[sender_email] if ($_POST[sender_email] == "") { $email_err ="<font color=red>Please enter your e-mail address!</font><br>"; $send ="no"; } //check value of $_POST[message] if ($_POST[message] == "") { $message_err ="<font color=red>Please enter a message!</font><br>"; $send ="no"; } if ($send != "no"){ //it's ok to send,so build the mail $msg ="E-MAIL SENT FROM WWW SITE \n"; $msg .="Sender's Name:$_POST[sender_name]\n"; $msg .="Sender's E-Mail:$_POST[sender_email]\n"; $msg .="Message:$_POST[message]\n \n"; $to ="glyn@tomkins.net"; $subject ="All-in-One Web Site Feedback"; $mailheaders ="From:My Web Site <>\n"; $mailheaders .="Reply-To:$_POST[sender_email]\n\n"; //send the mail mail($to,$subject,$msg,$mailheaders); //display confirmation to user echo "<P>Mail has been sent!</p>"; } else { //print error messages echo "$name_err"; echo "$email_err"; echo "$message_err"; echo "$form_block"; } } ?> Example 2: does not work as expected <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>All-In-One Feedback Form</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <? $form_block =' <FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="$_SERVER[PHP_SELF]"> <P><strong>Your Name:</strong><br> <INPUT type="text" NAME="sender_name" VALUE="$_POST[sender_name]" SIZE=30></P> <P><strong>Your E-Mail Address:</strong><br> <INPUT type="text" NAME="sender_email" VALUE="$_POST[sender_email]" SIZE=30></P> <P><strong>Message:</strong><br> <TEXTAREA NAME="message" COLS=30 ROWS=5 WRAP=virtual>$_POST[message]</TEXTAREA></P> <INPUT type="hidden" name="op" value="ds"> <P><INPUT TYPE="submit" NAME="submit" VALUE="Send This Form"></p> </FORM>'; if ($_POST[op] != "ds") { //they need to see the form echo "$form_block"; } else { //check value of $_POST[sender_name] if ($_POST[sender_name] == "") { $name_err ="<font color=red>Please enter your name!</font><br>"; $send ="no"; } //check value of $_POST[sender_email] if ($_POST[sender_email] == "") { $email_err ="<font color=red>Please enter your e-mail address!</font><br>"; $send ="no"; } //check value of $_POST[message] if ($_POST[message] == "") { $message_err ="<font color=red>Please enter a message!</font><br>"; $send ="no"; } if ($send != "no"){ //it's ok to send,so build the mail $msg ="E-MAIL SENT FROM WWW SITE \n"; $msg .="Sender's Name:$_POST[sender_name]\n"; $msg .="Sender's E-Mail:$_POST[sender_email]\n"; $msg .="Message:$_POST[message]\n \n"; $to ="glyn@tomkins.net"; $subject ="All-in-One Web Site Feedback"; $mailheaders ="From:My Web Site <>\n"; $mailheaders .="Reply-To:$_POST[sender_email]\n\n"; //send the mail mail($to,$subject,$msg,$mailheaders); //display confirmation to user echo "<P>Mail has been sent!</p>"; } else { //print error messages echo "$name_err"; echo "$email_err"; echo "$message_err"; echo "$form_block"; } } ?> PHP info for my Win2k server: PHP Version 4.3.0 System Windows NT localhost 5.0 build 2195 Build Date Dec 27 2002 05:28:00 Server API CGI/FastCGI Virtual Directory Support enabled Configuration File (php.ini) Path C:\WINNT\php.ini PHP API 20020918 PHP Extension 20020429 Zend Extension 20021010 Debug Build no Thread Safety enabled Registered PHP Streams php, http, ftp, compress.zlib PHP info for my Linux server: PHP Version 4.3.0RC2 System Linux ns1.xxx.com 2.4.19PIII #1 Fri Oct 18 10:21:27 EDT 2002 i686 Build Date Dec 2 2002 21:40:37 Configure Command './configure' '--with-mysql' '--with-apxs=/usr/sbin/apxs' Server API Apache Virtual Directory Support disabled Configuration File (php.ini) Path /usr/local/lib/php.ini PHP API 20020918 PHP Extension 20020429 Zend Extension 20021010 Debug Build no Thread Safety disabled Registered PHP Streams php, http, ftp, compress.zlib ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=22155&edit=1