Conditional Across Php and HTML

Question

As a long time Java user, the idea of conditional statements is not new to me. I've recently begun learning php and came across a difficulty when trying to access data from a dropdown list and displaying it. Here is the HTML:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
     <title>Bob's Auto Parts - Place an Order</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form action = "/processorder.php" method="post"> 
        <table style = "border: opx;">
        <tr style = "background: #cccccc;">
            <td style = "width: 150px; text-align: center;">Item</td>
            <td style = "width: 15px; text-align: center;">Quantity</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>Tires</td>
            <td><input type = "text" name = "tireqty" size = "3" maxlength = "3" /></td>
        </tr>       
        <tr>
            <td>Oil</td>
            <td><input type = "text" name = "oilqty" size = "3" maxlength = "3" /></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Spark Plugs</td>
        <td><input type = "text" name = "sparkqty" size = "3" maxlength = "3" /></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>How did you find Bob's</td>
        <td><select name = "find">
        <option value = "a">I'm a regular customer</option>
        <option value = "b">TV advertising</option>
        <option value = "c">Phone directory</option>
        <option value = "d">Word of mouth</option>
        </select>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td colspan = "2" style = "text-align: center;"><input type = 
 "submit" value = "Submit Order" /></td>
        </tr>           
        </table>
     </form>    
</body>
</html>

And the corresponding php:

        <!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Bob's Auto Parts - Order Results</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Bob's Auto Parts</h1>
<h2>Order Results</h2>
    <?php
        echo "<p>Order processed at: ";
        echo date('H:i, jS F Y');
        echo "</p>";

        // create short variable names
        $tireqty = $_POST['tireqty'];
        $oilqty = $_POST['oilqty'];
        $sparkqty = $_POST['sparkqty'];

        echo '<p>Your order is as follows: </p>';
        echo htmlspecialchars($tireqty). ' tires<br / >';
        echo htmlspecialchars($oilqty). ' bottles of oil<br / >';
        echo htmlspecialchars($sparkqty). ' spark plugs<br / >';

        /* is the same as...

        echo '<p>Your order is as follows: </p>';
        echo htmlspecialchars($tireqty); echo ' tires<br / >';
        echo htmlspecialchars($oilqty); echo ' bottles of oil<br / >';
        echo htmlspecialchars($sparkqty); echo ' spark plugs<br / >';

        */

        $totalqty = 0;
        $totalqty = $tireqty + $oilqty + $sparkqty;
        echo "<p>Items ordered: ".$totalqty."<br />";
        $totalamount = 0; 

        define('TIREPRICE', 100); 
        define('OILPRICE', 10);
        define('SPARKPRICE', 4); 

        $totalamount = $tireqty * TIREPRICE +
                       $oilqty * OILPRICE +
                       $sparkqty * SPARKPRICE;

        echo "Subtotal: $".number_format($totalamount, 2)."<br />"  ;

        $taxrate = 0.10; // local sales tax is 10% 
        $totalamount = $totalamount * (1 + $taxrate); 
        echo "Total including tax: $".number_format($totalamount, 2)."</p>";
        echo '$find'; 

        /* good for making sure forms are filled out...

        echo 'isset($tireqty): '.isset($tireqty).'<br />';
        echo 'isset($nothere): '.isset($nothere).'<br />';
        echo 'empty($tireqty): '.empty($tireqty).'<br />';
        echo 'empty($nothere): '.empty($nothere).'<br />'; 

        */


        if ($find == "a"){
                echo "<p>Regular Customer</p>";
        }

        elseif ($find == "b"){
                echo "<p>Customer referred by TV advert</p>";
        }

        elseif ($find == "c"){
                echo "<p>Customer referred by phone directory</p>";
        }

        elseif ($find == "d"){
                echo "<p>Customer referred by word of mouth</p>"; 
        }

        else {
                echo "<p>We do not know how this customer found us</p>";            
        }
    ?>      
</body>
</html>

Simply put, the results page always displays what is contained in the "else" statement, even when another option is pressed. Any advice/suggestions are really appreciated. Thanks.

Where does `$find` come from? Do you have a form you submit? — j08691, Jun 15 '17 at 02:50
Try echoing `$find` and seeing what its value is, if it's not what you expected, you should be able to figure out why. — CJ Burkey, Jun 15 '17 at 02:52
No. There's a lot of other stuff and so I put the relevant parts. The other pieces of code work they way they are supposed to (from the html to the php file), so it's not that kind of issue. — scoopfaze, Jun 15 '17 at 02:52
There is a submit form in the html that links to the php, yes. — scoopfaze, Jun 15 '17 at 02:53
Please post a [mcve] including your form and the PHP you use to process it. — j08691, Jun 15 '17 at 02:54
form elements require an array POST/GET and we don't know what the form's method is and if there is an array assigned to the `$find` variable. — Funk Forty Niner, Jun 15 '17 at 02:56
seeing the edit, there is no array assigned to that variable and as a side note: `echo '$find'` that won't echo out in single quotes. — Funk Forty Niner, Jun 15 '17 at 02:59
I can't seem to find where you assign a value to `$find` from the ` — Carl Binalla, Jun 15 '17 at 03:03

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 15 '17 at 02:57

You can refer here to check whether you missed something. I have tested this already and its working as is.

<form action="" method="POST">
    <table>
        <tr>
            <td>How did you find Bob's</td>
            <td>
                <select name = "find">
                    <option value = "a">I'm a regular customer</option>
                    <option value = "b">TV advertising</option>
                    <option value = "c">Phone directory</option>
                    <option value = "d">Word of mouth</option>
                </select>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
    <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit"/>
</form>
<?php
    if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {
        $find = $_POST['find'];
        if ($find == "a"){
            echo "<p>Regular Customer</p>";
        }

        elseif ($find == "b"){
                echo "<p>Customer referred by TV advert</p>";
        }

        elseif ($find == "c"){
                echo "<p>Customer referred by phone directory</p>";
        }

        elseif ($find == "d"){
                echo "<p>Customer referred by word of mouth</p>"; 
        }

        else {
                echo "<p>We do not know how this customer found us</p>";            
        }
    }
?>

Conditional Across Php and HTML

1 Answers1