php form validation of option field depending on radio field value select from option

Question

I have a form that when on my radio field value they select yes a new field appears to select a city. The drop down options of city starts with select from. I need the first option value which is select from to be empty. So the validation on the specific field only happens when the user selects yes from the radio option and it validates to force the user to select a value.

The html part of the form:

<li>            
  <label for="printed">Printed:</label>
  No<input type="radio" name="printed" value="no" class="morefrom" checked >
  Yes<input type="radio" name="printed" value="yes" class="morefrom">
</li>
<li>
  <div id="collectfrom">
    <label for="fromstore">Collect From:</label>
    <select name="fromstore">
      <option value=" ">Choose from</option>
      <option value="nicosia">Nicosia</option>
      <option value="limassol">Limassol</option>
      <option value="paphos">Paphos</option>
    </select>
  </div>
</li>

The jquery to show the option values if yes is selected:

$(document).ready(function(){
  $('#collectfrom').css('display','none');
  $('.morefrom').click(function(){
    if ($('input[name=printed]:checked').val() == "yes" ) {
        $('#collectfrom').slideDown(); //Slide Down Effect
    } else {
        $('#collectfrom').slideUp();  //Slide Up Effect
    }
  });
});

And the validation in php

if($printed == "yes"){
  if(empty($fromstore)){ $action['result'] = 'error'; array_push($text,'You forgot your city'); }
}

Obviously the php validation is wrong. Any help?

NEW EDIT:

Hi,

here is the complete index.php:

//setup some variables/arrays
$action = array();
$action['result'] = null;

$text = array();

//check if the form has been submitted
if(isset($_POST['signup'])){

//cleanup the variables
//prevent mysql injection
$name = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['name']);
$surname = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['surname']);
$address = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['address']);
$postcode = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['postcode']);
$contactnumber = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['contactnumber']);
$email = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['email']);
$mobile = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['mobile']);
$hypernumber = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['hypernumber']);
$fromstore = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['fromstore']);
$hcardnumber = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['hcardnumber']); 

//quick/simple validation
if(empty($name)){ $action['result'] = 'error'; array_push($text,'You forgot your name'); }
if(empty($surname)){ $action['result'] = 'error'; array_push($text,'You forgot your surname'); }
if(empty($address)){ $action['result'] = 'error'; array_push($text,'You forgot your address'); }
if(empty($postcode)){ $action['result'] = 'error'; array_push($text,'You forgot your postcode'); }
if(empty($contactnumber)){ $action['result'] = 'error'; array_push($text,'You forgot your contact number'); }
if(empty($email)){ $action['result'] = 'error'; array_push($text,'You forgot your email'); }
if(empty($mobile)){ $action['result'] = 'error'; array_push($text,'You forgot your mobile'); }
if($printed == "yes"){
          if(empty($_POST['fromstore'])){ $action['result'] = 'error'; array_push($text,'You forgot your city'); }
    }


if($action['result'] != 'error'){

    if($printed == "yes")
            {


           if($fromstore == "nicosia")
           {
            $file = file("nicosia.txt");

            list($hcardnumber) = explode(",", $file[0]);

            $fp = fopen("nicosia.txt", "w+");
            for($i = 1; $i < sizeof($file); ++$i) {
            fwrite($fp, trim($file[$i]) . "\n");
            }
            fclose($fp);


            echo "Your card number is: $hcardnumber.";      
           }else if ($fromstore == "limassol")
           {
            $file = file("limassol.txt");

            list($hcardnumber) = explode(",", $file[0]);

            $fp = fopen("limassol.txt", "w+");
            for($i = 1; $i < sizeof($file); ++$i) {
            fwrite($fp, trim($file[$i]) . "\n");
            }
            fclose($fp);


            echo "Your card number is: $hcardnumber.";      
           }else if ($fromstore == "paphos")
           {
            $file = file("paphos.txt");

            list($hcardnumber) = explode(",", $file[0]);

            $fp = fopen("paphos.txt", "w+");
            for($i = 1; $i < sizeof($file); ++$i) {
            fwrite($fp, trim($file[$i]) . "\n");
            }
            fclose($fp);


            echo "Your card number is: $hcardnumber.";      
           }


            }else if ($printed == "no"){

    $file = file("all.txt");

            list($hcardnumber) = explode(",", $file[0]);

            $fp = fopen("all.txt", "w+");
            for($i = 1; $i < sizeof($file); ++$i) {
            fwrite($fp, trim($file[$i]) . "\n");
            }
            fclose($fp);


            echo "Your card number is: $hcardnumber.";      
    }
            //add to the database
    $add = mysql_query("INSERT INTO `users` VALUES(NULL,'$name','$surname','$address','$postcode','$contactnumber','$email','$mobile','$hypernumber','$printed','$fromstore',0,'$hcardnumber')");

    if($add){

        //get the new user id
        $userid = mysql_insert_id();

        //create a random key
        $key = $name . $email . date('mY');
        $key = md5($key);

        //add confirm row
        $confirm = mysql_query("INSERT INTO `confirm` VALUES(NULL,'$userid','$key','$email')"); 

        if($confirm){

            //include the swift class
            include_once 'inc/php/swift/swift_required.php';

            //put info into an array to send to the function
            $info = array(
                'name' => $name,
                'email' => $email,
                'key' => $key,
                'hcardnumber' => $hcardnumber);

            //send the email
            if(send_email($info)){

                //email sent
                $action['result'] = 'success';
                array_push($text,'Thanks for signing up. Please check your email for confirmation!');

            }else{

                $action['result'] = 'error';
                array_push($text,'Could not send confirm email');

            }

        }else{

            $action['result'] = 'error';
            array_push($text,'Confirm row was not added to the database. Reason: ' . mysql_error());

        }

    }else{

        $action['result'] = 'error';
        array_push($text,'User could not be added to the database. Reason: ' . mysql_error());

    }

}

$action['text'] = $text;

}

?>

<?php
include 'inc/elements/header.php'; ?>

<?= show_errors($action); ?>

<form method="post" action="">

   <fieldset>

        <ul>
        <li>
            <label for="name">Name:</label>
            <input type="text" name="name" />
        </li>
        <li>
            <label for="surname">Surname:</label>
            <input type="surname" name="surname" />
        </li>
        <li>
            <label for="address">Address:</label>
            <input type="address" name="address" />
        </li>
        <li>
            <label for="postcode">Post Code:</label>
            <input type="postcode" name="postcode" />
        </li>
        <li>
            <label for="contactnumber">Contact Number:</label>
            <input type="contactnumber" name="contactnumber" />
        </li>
        <li>
            <label for="email">Email:</label>
            <input type="text" name="email" />  
        </li>
        <li>
            <label for="mobile">Mobile:</label>
            <input type="mobile" name="mobile" />
        </li>
        <li>
            <label for="hypernumber">Hypercard Number:</label>
            <input type="hypernumber" name="hypernumber" />
        </li>
        <li>            
            Printed:
            <label for="printed_no">No</label>
            <input type="radio" name="printed" value="no" class="morefrom" checked="checked" id="printed_no">
                    <label for="printed_yes">Yes</label>
                    <input type="radio" name="printed" value="yes" class="morefrom">
        </li>
        <li>
        <div id="collectfrom">
                <label for="fromstore">Collect From:</label>
            <select name="fromstore" id="fromstore">
                <option value="">Choose from</option>
                <option value="nicosia">Nicosia</option>
                <option value="limassol">Limassol</option>
                <option value="paphos">Paphos</option>

        </select>
        </div>
        </li>
 <li>
            <input type="hidden" name="hcardnumber" value="<?php echo $hcardnumber ?>"/>
        </li>

        <li>
            <input type="submit" value="Signup Now" class="large blue button" name="signup" />          
        </li>
    </ul>

</fieldset>

</form>

I still cant get the form to validate and check if radio button checked yes then check the fromstore if option value has been selected.

Id recommend using the $_GET and $_POST arrays to access form variables — gunnx, May 15 '12 at 20:57
Seeing how you take `$printed` and/or it's current value, same as `$fromstore` would help us. Because I have a feeling you forgot or misplaced something by taking it from the form (aka taking it from `$_GET/$_POST`, because I do not see that part of php. You do have form, don't you (because I see none in the html you provided)? Html has `
` used for form submition. — Andrius Naruševičius, May 15 '12 at 20:58

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:04

For a start, the value of $fromstore is always going to be at least a space character and never empty in your example, as you're providing it with a text value in your HTML (even a space is still sent as a text value). Remove the space from what you're sending to PHP and the if(empty()) condition will start evaluating properly.

Secondly, the element is best used when your form input has an associated ID. That way when you click on the label itself, the form element automatically gains focus (far better for accessibility and usability). Each input should have an associated label that describes simply what the input is for / represents.

Modify your HTML to look a bit more like this:

<li>            
    Printed:
    <label for="printed_no">No</label>
    <input type="radio" name="printed" value="no" class="morefrom" checked="checked" id="printed_no">
    <label for="printed_yes">Yes</label>
    <input type="radio" name="printed" value="yes" class="morefrom">
</li>
<li>
    <div id="collectfrom">
        <label for="fromstore">Collect From:</label>
        <select name="fromstore" id="fromstore">
            <option>Choose from</option>
            <option value="nicosia">Nicosia</option>
            <option value="limassol">Limassol</option>
            <option value="paphos">Paphos</option>
        </select>
    </div>
</li>

Also, You haven't included the element in your code snippet above, are you definitely setting it and having your PHP script run? I would assume you are, but just want to make sure ;)

Finally, you appear to be relying on PHP's register_globals setting being enabled, which is very old practice and you should be thinking about updating yourself to use more widely accepted methods. Most servers nowadays won't have register_globals enabled and you may find your scripts breaking if you ever migrate from one server to another.

Have a look here for more info:

Why is REGISTER_GLOBALS so bad?

In this case, update your PHP to:

if($_POST['printed'] == "yes"){
    if(empty($_POST['fromstore'])){ 
        $action['result'] = 'error';

        /* I assume $text used below is a variable instantiated
         * somewhere else in this script and isn't sent from the
         * form. Thus I've left it as $text instead of $_POST['text']
         */
        array_push($text,'You forgot your city');
    }
}

Hope this helps,

Neal

havent found a solution yet for the validation.changed my forms to rsforms pro but cannot implement php to read modify text files depending on the users form options. — Chris, May 20 '12 at 14:04

php form validation of option field depending on radio field value select from option

1 Answers1