declaring variables

[SmokingMan]

I'm new to PHP and am learning it at home in my spare time. In declaing variables the book gives three formats that can be used. The third one being deprecated "$HTTP_POST_VARS['variable']". The other two are $variable and $_POST['variable'].Does it matter which form is used, or does that depend on the version of PHP being run? The book says the short form requires the register_globals configuration to be on. Is this a default setting or would I need to check with the hosting service as to whether or not this setting is on or not. Or is this something I need not worry about?I'm very new at this so please be patient

[imrie]

Well i personally use $variable. Create a php info file to find out about register_globals , my server config has this set to off and i can still use $variable.

[Synook]

The superglobal ($_...) arrays all serve specific functions, such as when sending forms to PHP pages. Have a look at http://www.w3schools.com/php/php_post.asp and http://www.w3schools.com/php/php_get.asp . $variable is just a normal variable, and $HTTP_POST_VARS is just an old name for $_POST. So use $variable.

[justsomeguy]

Don't count on register_globals being enabled. If you have a variable in an array like $_POST or $_GET, don't just use the variable name alone without getting it from the array first. If you have a form with a field called "username", this code would rely on register_globals:

<?phpif ($username != ""){  ...}?>

So it's going to fail if you move it to any server where register_globals is disabled (many production servers have it disabled). This is the right way to do it, and will work regardless of whether or not register_globals is enabled:

<?php$username = $_POST['username'];if ($username != ""){  ...}?>

It's not important to use the old-style $HTTP_POST_VARS, $HTTP_GET_VARS etc arrays, I've never seen a server running online with a version of PHP that doesn't support $_POST and $_GET.

[SmokingMan]

Thanks for the help. I only have a couple of hours on the weekends to try to work this. I appreciate the help.