PHP - A Simple HTML Form
PHP - A Simple HTML Form
The example below displays a simple HTML form with
two input fields and a submit button:
Example
<html>
<body>
<form action="welcome.php" method="post">
Name: <input type="text" name="name"><br>
E-mail: <input type="text" name="email"><br>
<input type="submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>
When the user fills out the form above and clicks
the submit button, the form data is sent for processing to a PHP file named
"welcome.php". The form data is sent with the HTTP POST method.
To display the submitted data you could simply echo
all the variables. The "welcome.php" looks like this:
<html>
<body>
Welcome <?php echo $_POST["name"]; ?><br>
Your email address is: <?php echo $_POST["email"]; ?>
</body>
</html>
The output could be something like this:
Welcome John
Your email address is john.doe@example.com
The same result could also be achieved using the
HTTP GET method:
Example
<html>
<body>
<form action="welcome_get.php" method="get">
Name: <input type="text" name="name"><br>
E-mail: <input type="text" name="email"><br>
<input type="submit">
</form>
</body>
</html>
and "welcome_get.php" looks like this:
<html>
<body>
Welcome <?php echo $_GET["name"]; ?><br>
Your email address is: <?php echo $_GET["email"]; ?>
</body>
</html>
The code above is quite simple. However, the most
important thing is missing. You need to validate form data to protect your
script from malicious code.
Think SECURITY when processing PHP
forms!
This page does not contain any form validation, it
just shows how you can send and retrieve form data.
However, the next pages will show how to process
PHP forms with security in mind! Proper validation of form data is important to
protect your form from hackers and spammers!
GET vs. POST
Both GET and POST create an array (e.g. array( key1
=> value1, key2 => value2, key3 => value3, ...)). This array holds
key/value pairs, where keys are the names of the form controls and values are
the input data from the user.
Both GET and POST are treated as $_GET and $_POST.
These are superglobals, which means that they are always accessible, regardless
of scope - and you can access them from any function, class or file without
having to do anything special.
$_GET is an array of variables passed to the
current script via the URL parameters.
$_POST is an array of variables passed to the
current script via the HTTP POST method.
When to use GET?
Information sent from a form with the GET method
is visible to everyone (all variable names and values are
displayed in the URL). GET also has limits on the amount of information to
send. The limitation is about 2000 characters. However, because the variables
are displayed in the URL, it is possible to bookmark the page. This can be
useful in some cases.
GET may be used for sending non-sensitive data.
Note: GET
should NEVER be used for sending passwords or other sensitive information!
When to use POST?
Information sent from a form with the POST method
is invisible to others (all names/values are embedded within
the body of the HTTP request) and has no limits on the amount
of information to send.
Moreover POST supports advanced functionality such
as support for multi-part binary input while uploading files to server.
However, because the variables are not displayed in
the URL, it is not possible to bookmark the page.
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