Re: 'Require' and 'Select' lists

On Friday 13 May 2005 02:20 am, Richard Lynch wrote: > On Thu, May 12, 2005 8:41 pm, Andre Dubuc said: > > I've had some rather odd intermittent behavior with a select list drawn > > by a > > 'require' on my production site. Sometimes, rather than displaying 'In > > USA/Canada' from the '<option selected>In USA/Canada</option>' > > code in > > the required file, it will display a blank. Yet, if I try to duplicate > > this behavior on the development box, it will display as coded. > > > > Since I use this text string as a validator for user input, it really > > messes > > up the database/code functions that rely on it. > > In that case, your validation routines aren't very good. > > You have to assume the data coming from the browser is completely messed > up in malicious ways. If not providing that item in the menu will break > your script or hash your data, then that's really a bigger problem than > the one you think you have. > > > <?php require("provcountry.sty"); ?> > > > > [snippet of 'require' text (provcountry.sty)] > > <tr> > > <td><b>State &nbsp;</b></td> > > <td><SELECT NAME=selstate> > > <option selected>In USA/Canada</option> > > I'd try using an html entity on the '/' in USA/Canada > > > <option value="Alabama">Alabama</option> > > . . . > > </SELECT></td> > > </tr> > > > > [snippet of some validating code verifying $selstate that relies on > > $selstate] > > > > <?php > > if (($_POST['selstate'] != "In > > USA/Canada")&&($_POST['typstate'] != "")) > > die ("<h5><br><br>Please choose from 'In USA/Canada' or > > type in 'Other > > State'. > > <br>Do not use both<br><br>Click 'Back' on your browser to > > re-enter information</h5>"); > > ?> > > > > Any ideas why this is happening? > > It's quite possible that some sort of php.ini setting with Magic Quotes or > something is altering the '/' character as well. > > What *IS* in $_POST['selstate'] when it breaks? Log it and see what the > data is.` Thanks for the info, Richard. The errant behavior is intermittent and hard to replicate, but it has forced me to recode this part completly. [This code was my first attempt at PHP two years ago, and it's a bad mix of html/php - I certainly wouldn't do it that way again.] I've replaced the 'In USA/Canada' with 'In USA or Canada' eliminating the possibility of the slash causing problems. However, the behavior continues intermittently. I've duplicated it one time. If I click on the 'State' dropdown list, allow the mouse to scan through it, but do not choose a value, and then immediately go to the previous or next field and click on it, the box where 'USA or Canada' appears will be blank (despite '<option selected value="In USA or Canada">In USA or Canada</option>'). For the life of me, I cannot figure why it's doing that. As a hack, I've included a new routine checking for blank or null value for $selstate that snags problems before they hit the database. However, I'd rather know why this is happening. Logging it - $_POST['selstate'] is blank (after it messes up as above) -- no surprise, since that is what the browser displays. Any other ideas? Regards, Andre