Hallo everyone.
Thanks for a great website. I have been trying for a few days to get a safe, working php form that saves input to mysql.
I have looked at several examples from different websites.
The problem is that the form values are being stored to the database before the form validation process is complete.
I have tried wrapping the process.php code in a function and only calling the function after the validation code is done and implemented some checks in a desperate attempt to resolve the matter using some global variables and a function that checks if the validation has done their work. But even with all this.. the user input is written to the database before validation is complete.
for example.. if the user inputs his name with a preceding space, and submits the form, the preceding space ends up in the database. also a user can press the submit button multiple times and with every press, the information is stored to the database.. I imagine someone could write code to click that submit button millions of times until my server storage space runs out..
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Einston
I only have two files.. currently: 1: index.php and 2: testreqfields.php
<html>
<head>
<title>Registration Form</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
$inputisgood = false;
$nameisgood = false;
$surnameisgood = false;
$emailisgood = false;
$passwordisgood = false;
include "testreqfields.php";
?>
<link href = "registration.css" type = "text/css" rel = "stylesheet" />
<h2>Sign Up</h2>
<form name = "form1" action="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($_SERVER["PHP_SELF"]);?>" method = "post" enctype = "multipart/form-data" >
<div class = "container">
<div class = "form_group">
<label>First Name:</label>
<input type = "text" name = "name" value = "<?php echo $name;?>" required/>
<span class="error">* <?php echo $nameErr;?></span>
</div>
<div class = "form_group">
<label>Surname:</label>
<input type = "text" name = "surname" value = "<?php echo $surname;?>" required/>
<span class="error">* <?php echo $surnameErr;?></span>
</div>
<div class = "form_group">
<label>Email:</label>
<input type = "text" name = "email" value = "<?php echo $email;?>" required/>
<span class="error">* <?php echo $emailErr;?></span>
</div>
<div class = "form_group">
<label>Password:</label>
<input type = "password" name = "pwd" value = "<?php echo $pwd;?>" required/>
<span class="error">* <?php echo $pwdErr;?></span>
</div>
<div class = "form_group">
<label>Gender:</label>
<input type="radio" name="gender" value="female">Female
<input type="radio" name="gender" value="female">Male
</div>
<input type = "submit" name = "enq_submit" value = "Submit" />
</div>
</form>
</body>
</html>
<?php
function test_input($data) {
$data = trim($data);
$data = stripslashes($data);
$data = htmlspecialchars($data);
return $data;
}
function sql_process() {
//reset the global variable to be sure all code run again if there are errors in input.
global $inputisgood;
$inputisgood = false;
//establish connection
$servername = "localhost";
$config = parse_ini_file('../db_credentials/config.ini');
//create the connection
$conn = mysqli_connect ($servername, $config['username'], $config['password'], $config['dbname']);
//check connection
if (!$conn){
die('Could not connect: ' . mysqli_connect_error());
}
$sql = mysqli_select_db ($conn, $config['dbname']) or die("unable to connect to database");
//process
if (isset($_POST['enq_submit'])){
$reg_name = $_POST['name'];
$reg_surname = $_POST['surname'];
$reg_email = $_POST['email'];
$reg_pwd = $_POST['pwd'];
$sql = "INSERT INTO registration (reg_name, reg_surname, reg_email, reg_pwd)
VALUES ('$reg_name', '$reg_surname', '$reg_email', '$reg_pwd')";
echo("You have been signed up.");
if (!mysqli_query($conn,$sql)){
die('Error: ' . mysqli_error($conn));
}
} else {
echo("Kindly use the form to sign up:");
};
}
function ready_to_process () {
global $nameisgood, $surnameisgood, $emailisgood, $passwordisgood, $inputisgood;
if ($nameisgood) {
echo ("##Name is good");
}
if ($surnameisgood) {
echo ("##Surnameame is good");
}
if ($emailisgood) {
echo ("##Email is good");
}
if ($passwordisgood) {
echo ("##Password is good");
}
if ($nameisgood and $surnameisgood and $emailisgood and $passwordisgood) {
echo ("##All input is good!");
$inputisgood = true;
$nameisgood = $surnameisgood = $emailisgood = $passwordisgood = false;
}
}
// define variables and set to empty values
$nameErr = $surnameErr = $emailErr = $pwdErr = "";
$name = $surname = $email = $pwd = "";
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
if (empty($_POST["name"])) {
$nameErr = "Name is required";
} else {
$name = test_input($_POST["name"]);
if (!preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z ]*$/",$name)) {
$nameErr = "Only letters and spaces allowed";
} else {
$nameisgood = true;
}
}
if (empty($_POST["surname"])) {
$surnameErr = "Surname is required";
} else {
$surname = test_input($_POST["surname"]);
if (!preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z ]*$/",$surname)) {
$surnameErr = "Only letters and spaces allowed";
} else {
$surnameisgood = true;
}
}
if (empty($_POST["email"])) {
$emailErr = "Email is required";
} else {
$email = test_input($_POST["email"]);
if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
$emailErr = "Invalid email format";
} else {
$emailisgood = true;
}
}
if (empty($_POST["pwd"])) {
$pwdErr = "Password is required";
} else {
$passwordisgood = true;
}
ready_to_process();
if ($inputisgood) {
sql_process();
}
}
?>
