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@NogDogMar 06.2016 — #If I were going to store the form data in a separate text file (as opposed to, perhaps, a database), I'd probably format it as JSON. Then you could simply read the file in and apply PHP json_decode() function to it:
At that point, $data in this example is an array you can loop through via foreach() to do whatever you want with it.@NogDogMar 07.2016 — #Just want to point out that these two statements are functionally synonymous, so you might as well use the second:
?
As far as how I would solve your issue, I don't yet have a clear understanding of what these input files look like (maybe I'm just too tired to glean the necessary information from all the posts here). A nice clean sample of what the text file looks like (within [noparse]@NogDogMar 07.2016 — #
Well...I was assuming they were going to actually use [s]printf() with place-holders and replacement args, just didn't feel like typing them out. :p@NogDogMar 07.2016 — #@NogDogMar 08.2016 — #
All except for the line where you echo out the closing </select> tag -- and assuming I didn't make any silly mistakes. ?@NogDogMar 09.2016 — #And in the spirit of DRY code (Don't Repeat Yourself), you could make a little helper function to safely/cleanly output any variables:
@NogDogMar 10.2016 — #Pardon me if I missed this earlier, but why to you read from the one file and immediately write to another file? Unless I'm missing something (which I may have), you should only need to read the data in from the "in" file. Then the option is to either write the fields into an array (probably an array of arrays in this case), or somewhat simpler (at least in terms of amount of code) is to just read/parse each line as you're ready to use it in the form output.
To that end, you'll need [i]some[/i] kind of loop to set each option in the select element, either a foreach loop on the aforementioned array, or a while loop on the reading of the text file line by line.@NogDogMar 10.2016 — #Nah, I'd just read it in and use what you get within the script: processing data in RAM is much more efficient than disk I/O.
No guarantees this works, but it's just things rearranged a bit and tightened up to remove superfluous code -- and maybe even work:
@NogDogMar 10.2016 — #Actually tested it this time, made a few tweaks, and seems to "work". I used this as the courses.txt file:
The revised PHP form file:
@NogDogMar 10.2016 — #The beauty of PHP is that it has all sorts of built-in functions that can provide many ways to accomplish the same goals. That's also a bit of its ugliness: there's almost always more than one way to do anything, and not necessarily one "correct" or "best" way, so the way I might prefer to do something may be at odds with what someone else would (just as legitimately) do.
A general goal to strive for is simplicity and compartmentalization -- which if/when you get into object-oriented PHP will become especially important (in particular the compartmentalization aspect).
For now, try to keep related tasks together, and try to avoid writing essentially the same code multiple times (a.k.a. "Keep it DRY"): that's where user-defined functions and various looping structures can help a lot.
PS: Those ini_set() and error_reporting() lines are there to make debugging a bit simpler, by showing any warnings or errors right in the browser. In a "real" production environment, I'd turn off the "display_errors" setting (setting it to 0 or FALSE), so as not to potentially spew info on the screen that you would not want a malicious user to see. ?
[RESOLVED] On a PHP form, generate a drop-down list based on a text file
New to PHP and trying to set up a course registration form using only PHP and text files, no JavaScript or MySQL. I’ve completed a few HTML contact forms with the associated PHP files but I can’t push the HTML out of my head to move forward with this.
I have index1.php set up and was hoping to paste a .jpg of it. When I call it up on the localhost it displays fine with an input box for Student Name and an input box for Student Number. At this time I have the course options in the HTML body.
[COLOR=”#FF0000″][B]My question: How can I change this to PHP to pull from a text file I’ve created with the course name and course code? Can this also be done using radio buttons?
[COLOR=”#0000FF”]index1.php code below:
[CODE]<?php
?>
<html>
<head>
<title>Registration Form</title>
<style>
body{background-color: #ffffe6; width:610px;}
h1 {color: #29a3a3;}
.inputbox {padding: 7px; border: #F0F0F0 2px solid; border-radius: 4px;}
.btn {padding: 10px;background-color: #29a3a3; border: solid thin #000000; color: #FFF; font-weight: bolder; cursor: pointer;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Course Registration</h1>
<form name=”regfrm” method=”post” action=””>
<fieldset><legend><strong>Student Information</strong></legend>
<dl>
<dt>Student Name:</dt>
<dd><input class=”inputbox” name=”studentname” type=”text” id=”studentname” required autofocus placeholder=”Please enter your first and last name” tabindex=”10″ size=”50″></dd>
<br>
<br>
<dt for=”number”>Student Number:</dt>
<dd><input class=”inputbox” name=”studentnumber” type=”text” required id=”studentnumber” placeholder=”Please enter using the following format: PX-03-046″ tabindex=”20″ size=”50″></dd>
</dl>
<br>
</fieldset>
<br>
<fieldset><legend><strong>Available Courses</strong></legend>
<p>Please select the course you want to enrol in (select one):
<br>
<label>
<input name=”course” type=”radio” value=”afd” id=”course_0″ tabindex=”30″ >
Animation Film Design:AFD-250</label>
<br>
<label>
<input name=”course” type=”radio” value=”ds” id=”course_1″>
Digital Sculpture:DS-410</label>
<br>
<label>
<input name=”course” type=”radio” value=”ha” id=”course_2″>
History of Animation:HA-240</label>
<br>
<label>
<input name=”course” type=”radio” value=”ve” id=”course_3″>
Visual Effects:VE-298</label>
<br>
</p>
</fieldset>
<div>
<p>
<input name=”reset” type=”reset” tabindex=”40″ value=”Clear Form” class=”btn”>
<input name=”submit” type=”submit” tabindex=”50″ value=”Submit Form” class=”btn”>
</p>
</div>
</form>
</body>
</html>
Thank you!
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0
@NogDogMar 06.2016 — #If I were going to store the form data in a separate text file (as opposed to, perhaps, a database), I'd probably format it as JSON. Then you could simply read the file in and apply PHP json_decode() function to it:[code=php]
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents('name_of_file.json'), true);
[/code]At that point, $data in this example is an array you can loop through via foreach() to do whatever you want with it.
0
@NogDogMar 07.2016 — #Just want to point out that these two statements are functionally synonymous, so you might as well use the second:[code=php]
echo sprintf("stuff goes here");
printf("stuff goes here");
[/code]?
As far as how I would solve your issue, I don't yet have a clear understanding of what these input files look like (maybe I'm just too tired to glean the necessary information from all the posts here). A nice clean sample of what the text file looks like (within [noparse]
...[code=html]...[/code][/noparse] tags) would make life a bit simpler for those of us who'd like to help, but have had a long weekend and are inherently lazy on top of that. ?0
@NogDogMar 07.2016 — #As to how to display something this line works just as well as sprint or printf:
echo "stuff goes here";
[/QUOTE]
Well...I was assuming they were going to actually use [s]printf() with place-holders and replacement args, just didn't feel like typing them out. :p
0
@NogDogMar 07.2016 — #[code=php]
$fh = fopen('/path/to/course_file.txt', 'r');
while(($row = fgetcsv($fh)) != false) {
if(count($row == 3) {
printf(
"<input type='radio' name='course' value='%s'>%s %s<br>n",
htmlentities($row[1]),
htmlentities($row[0]),
htmlentities($row[1])
);
}
}
[/code]0
@NogDogMar 08.2016 — #Would this code replace...
[code=php]<?php[/QUOTE]
// Generate the form
//echo " Select a Course: <select name="course">n";
$DB = fopen ($datafile, 'r') or die ("$datafile cannot be opened for reading.");
while ($record = fgets ($DB) ) {
$field = explode (",", htmlentities (trim ($record)));
echo " <option value="$field[0]">$field[1]</option>n";
}
fclose ($DB);
echo " </select>n";
?>[/code]
All except for the line where you echo out the closing </select> tag -- and assuming I didn't make any silly mistakes. ?
0
@NogDogMar 09.2016 — #And in the spirit of DRY code (Don't Repeat Yourself), you could make a little helper function to safely/cleanly output any variables:[code=php]
// this should be defined outside of any loops or ifs:
function clean($text, $charset = 'UTF-8')
{
return htmlentities(trim($text), ENT_QUOTES | HTML401, $charset);
}
// usage:
echo ' <option value="'.clean($field[1]).'">'.clean($field[0]).' '.clean($field[1])."</option>n";
// or (in this case easier to read, I think):
printf(
" <option value="%s">%s %s</option>n",
clean($field[1]),
clean($field[0]),
clean($field[1])
);
[/code]0
@NogDogMar 10.2016 — #Pardon me if I missed this earlier, but why to you read from the one file and immediately write to another file? Unless I'm missing something (which I may have), you should only need to read the data in from the "in" file. Then the option is to either write the fields into an array (probably an array of arrays in this case), or somewhat simpler (at least in terms of amount of code) is to just read/parse each line as you're ready to use it in the form output.To that end, you'll need [i]some[/i] kind of loop to set each option in the select element, either a foreach loop on the aforementioned array, or a while loop on the reading of the text file line by line.
0
@NogDogMar 10.2016 — #Nah, I'd just read it in and use what you get within the script: processing data in RAM is much more efficient than disk I/O.No guarantees this works, but it's just things rearranged a bit and tightened up to remove superfluous code -- and maybe even work:
[code=php]
<html>
<head>
<title>Registration Form</title>
<style>
body{background-color: #ffffe6; width:610px;}
h1 {color: #29a3a3;}
.inputbox {padding: 7px; border: #F0F0F0 2px solid; border-radius: 4px;}
.btn {padding: 10px;background-color: #29a3a3; border: solid thin #000000; color: #FFF; font-weight: bolder; cursor: pointer;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<?php
// Sanitization and Validation coding will go here
// Initialize and set variables
$studentname = " ";
$studentnumber = " ";
$courses = " ";
$datafile = "coursesfinal.txt";
$in = fopen ('course.txt', 'r') or die ("courses.txt cannot be opened for reading.");
?>
<h1>Course Registration</h1>
<form method="post" action="index.php">
<fieldset><legend><strong>Student Information</strong></legend>
<dl>
<dt>Student Name:</dt>
<dd><input class="inputbox" name="studentname" type="text" id="studentname" value="<?php echo $studentname;?>" required autofocus placeholder="Please enter your first and last name" tabindex="10" size="50"></dd>
<br>
<br>
<dt>Student Number:</dt>
<dd><input class="inputbox" name="studentnumber" type="text" id="studentnumber" value="<?php echo $studentnumber;?>" required placeholder="Please enter using the following format: PX-03-046" tabindex="20" size="50"></dd>
</dl>
<br>
</fieldset>
<br>
<fieldset><legend><strong>Course Selection</strong></legend>
<br>
Select a Course:<select name="courses" tabindex="30">n";
<option value="-1" >Available Courses...</option>
<?php
while(($field = fgetcsv($in, null, ':')) != false) {
if (count($row) > 1) {
echo "
<option value="$field[1]">$field[0] $field[1]</option>";
}
}
?>
</select>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</fieldset>
<div>
<p>
<input name="reset" type="reset" tabindex="40" value="Clear Form" class="btn">
<input name="submit" type="submit" tabindex="50" value="Submit Form" class="btn">
</p>
</div>
</form>
</body>
</html>
[/code]0
@NogDogMar 10.2016 — #Actually tested it this time, made a few tweaks, and seems to "work". I used this as the courses.txt file:<i>
</i>Animation Film Design:AFD-250:6
Digital Sculpture:DS-410:4
History of Animation:HA-240:6
Visual Effects:VE-298:4
The revised PHP form file:
[code=php]
<html>
<head>
<title>Registration Form</title>
<style>
body{background-color: #ffffe6; width:610px;}
h1 {color: #29a3a3;}
.inputbox {padding: 7px; border: #F0F0F0 2px solid; border-radius: 4px;}
.btn {padding: 10px;background-color: #29a3a3; border: solid thin #000000; color: #FFF; font-weight: bolder; cursor: pointer;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<?php
ini_set('display_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);
// Sanitization and Validation coding will go here
// Initialize and set variables
$studentname = " ";
$studentnumber = " ";
$courses = " ";
$in = fopen ('courses.txt', 'r') or die ("courses.txt cannot be opened for reading.");
?>
<h1>Course Registration</h1>
<form method="post" action="index.php">
<fieldset><legend><strong>Student Information</strong></legend>
<dl>
<dt>Student Name:</dt>
<dd><input class="inputbox" name="studentname" type="text" id="studentname" value="<?php echo $studentname;?>" required autofocus placeholder="Please enter your first and last name" tabindex="10" size="50"></dd>
<br>
<br>
<dt>Student Number:</dt>
<dd><input class="inputbox" name="studentnumber" type="text" id="studentnumber" value="<?php echo $studentnumber;?>" required placeholder="Please enter using the following format: PX-03-046" tabindex="20" size="50"></dd>
</dl>
<br>
</fieldset>
<br>
<fieldset><legend><strong>Course Selection</strong></legend>
<br>
Select a Course:<select name="courses" tabindex="30">n";
<option value="-1" >Available Courses...</option>
<?php
while(($fields = fgetcsv($in, null, ':')) != false) {
if (count($fields) > 1) {
echo "
<option value="$fields[1]">$fields[0] $fields[1]</option>";
}
}
?>
</select>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</fieldset>
<div>
<p>
<input name="reset" type="reset" tabindex="40" value="Clear Form" class="btn">
<input name="submit" type="submit" tabindex="50" value="Submit Form" class="btn">
</p>
</div>
</form>
</body>
</html>
[/code]0
@NogDogMar 10.2016 — #The beauty of PHP is that it has all sorts of built-in functions that can provide many ways to accomplish the same goals. That's also a bit of its ugliness: there's almost always more than one way to do anything, and not necessarily one "correct" or "best" way, so the way I might prefer to do something may be at odds with what someone else would (just as legitimately) do.A general goal to strive for is simplicity and compartmentalization -- which if/when you get into object-oriented PHP will become especially important (in particular the compartmentalization aspect).
For now, try to keep related tasks together, and try to avoid writing essentially the same code multiple times (a.k.a. "Keep it DRY"): that's where user-defined functions and various looping structures can help a lot.
PS: Those ini_set() and error_reporting() lines are there to make debugging a bit simpler, by showing any warnings or errors right in the browser. In a "real" production environment, I'd turn off the "display_errors" setting (setting it to 0 or FALSE), so as not to potentially spew info on the screen that you would not want a malicious user to see. ?