Changes not picked up by script

I discovered that where data is fetched from a database is important in a PHP script. I have a simple form for user registration. If the user is registered, the user's registration key is passed to the script, data is fetched and the fields of the form are automatically filled in. The user can then make any changes and submit them. The problem was that the changes were not being picked up by the script, but they showed up in HTTP_POST_VARS. Could this be a sequencing (program flow) problem? Here's how the page flows, a mix of pseudocode and "straight from the file" PHP. The problem was that the data was fetched at the very head of the script. When the data fetch was to the beginning of the display block averything worked fine. Hope this helps someone - Miles Thompson ------- start of script ------- connect to database, etc. if nUserKey passed to form fetch values and assign to variables e.g. $cUsername, $cFirstName, $cCity etc. Note - This is the original location for the data fetch. Set cChkOK = 'yes' - control variable for whether update executes Function definitions to check for empty fields and to set flag values, validity of email address etc. If any fail they set cChkOK = "no" Action Block ************ If SUBMIT or UPDATE value present Switch statement Case Add Check that cUsername not already taken. Display error message if it is, Call functions which check fields Create and store SQL statement to variable $sql Case Update Call functions which check fields, etc. If any check fails, cChkOK = 'no' Create and store SQL statement to variable $sql The code: $sql = "update bidder set cUsername = '$cUsername', cFirstName = '$cFirstName', etc., etc., cCity = 'ScCity' where nUserKey = $nUserKey" End of switch statement If cChkOK = 'yes' and hidden variable on form is set Echo $sql - for debugging Execute $sql If executes OK, display success message and return endif SUBMIT or UPDATE else When the fetching of the data was moved here, both Add and Update routines worked. DISPLAY form echo "<table>"; echo "<form method=\"post\" action=\"$PHP_SELF\">"; echo "<tr> <td>" . $arr_lbl[ lbl_cUsername ] . "</td> <td> <input type=\"text\" name=\"cUsername\" value = \"$cUsername\"$cDisabled size=10> </td></tr>"; echo "<tr> <td>" . $arr_lbl[ lbl_cEmail ] . "</td> <td> <input type=\"text\" name=\"cCity\" value=\"$cCity\" size=30 maxlength=30> </td> </tr>"; a couple of hidden fields, submit buttons, etc. close the form close the table end of the else. -------------- end of script -------