Re: Multipage form redux

Jim Moseby wrote:

-----Original Message----- From: Jack Jackson [mailto:jackson.linux@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 3:47 PM To: php >> "[php] PHP General List" Subject: Re: [PHP] Multipage form redux hi, my first attempt at a sessions-based form is starting at http://pastebin.com/322696 and I have a question. What I want to do is, after the user answers the questions in section one and they are error checked, I want to write the answers to $_SESSION() and then continue down the script to the next page of questions. I do *not* want to re-send the answers from page one as $_POST vars back to the user and have the user submit the answers to page 2 plus the $_POST answers from page 1. What I am doing now is clearly wrong, basically : if (empty($error)) {

        include_once($page2);

} because that's keeping it all in one script. But how should I be getting to the next page, sending headers to a new script, and at the end of the chain the script which pulls it all together? Thanks in advance, JJ

This seems so simple to me. As I understand it, you want to split a data entry session into several pages. You don't want to collect the data and submit it all at the end, but instead commit it to session variables along the way. Am I missing something? Here's how I would do it in a nutshell: Page1 // User enters first batch of data, presses SUBMIT at bottom. Data is POSTed to Page2 Page2 // Commit data from page 1 to session variables, then displays form for next batch of data. User presses SUBMIT, posts data to Page 3. Page3 // Commit data from page 2 to session variables, then displays form for next batch of data. User presses SUBMIT, posts data to Page 4. ... etc etc etc (Each page begins by assigning data from the previous page to session variables) Page515 // Displays all session variables set in previous pages, asks user to confirm. User confirms by pressing SUBMIT, confirmation POSTed to page 516, who writes it all to the database, and sends confirmation email. Personally, I would take the advice of a previous poster and start off assigning a username and password to the user. Then store each page in the database as the user progresses. That way, if he is interrupted in the middle of the process, he won't lose all his data and have to start over. He can just enter his username and pick up where he left off. You will just have to write a script that purges old incomplete records. (A great job for cron!) JM

Right. Except I would rather have it working in a session because I specifically do not want to have the form sending $_POST data back and forth to the browser six times for several reasons. SO I'd like to Page1 // User enters first batch of data, presses SUBMIT at bottom. Data is cleaned and written to SESSION, user passed to Page2 repeat as necessary to last page. At last page, process and error check newest input, then commit it, plus all previously stored session info to db. Does this make sense? Thanks in advance