PHP Full Stack Development
PHP Form Handling
PHP - A Simple HTML Form
The example below displays a simple HTML form with two input fields and a
submit button:
<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 [email protected]
The same result could also be achieved using the HTTP GET method:
Same example, but the method is set to GET instead of POST:
<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, and it does not include any validation.
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.
Developers prefer POST for sending form data.
PHP Form Validation
Think SECURITY when processing PHP forms!
These 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!
The HTML form we will be working at in these chapters, contains various
input fields: required and optional text fields, radio buttons, and a submit
button:
The validation rules for the form above are as follows:
Field Validation Rules
Name Required. + Must only contain letters and whitespace
E-mail Required. + Must contain a valid email address (with
@ and .)
Website Optional. If present, it must contain a valid URL
Comment Optional. Multi-line input field (textarea)
Gender Required. Must select one
First we will look at the plain HTML code for the form:
Text Fields
The name, email, and website fields are text input elements, and the
comment field is a textarea.
The HTML code looks like this:
Name: <input type="text" name="name">
E-mail: <input type="text" name="email">
Website: <input type="text" name="website">
Comment: <textarea name="comment" rows="5" cols="40"></textarea>
Radio Buttons
The gender fields are radio buttons and the HTML code looks like this:
Gender:
<input type="radio" name="gender" value="female">Female
<input type="radio" name="gender" value="male">Male
<input type="radio" name="gender" value="other">Other
The Form Element
The HTML code of the form looks like this:
<form method="post" action="<?php echo
htmlspecialchars($_SERVER["PHP_SELF"]);?>">
When the form is submitted, the form data is sent with method="post".
What is the $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] variable?
The $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] is a super global variable that returns the filename of
the currently executing script.
So, the $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] sends the submitted form data to the page
itself, instead of jumping to a different page. This way, the user will get error
messages on the same page as the form.
What is the htmlspecialchars() function?
The htmlspecialchars() function converts special characters into HTML entities.
This means that it will replace HTML characters like < and > with < and >. This
prevents attackers from exploiting the code by injecting HTML or Javascript code
(Cross-site Scripting attacks) in forms.
Warning!
The $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] variable can be used by hackers!
If PHP_SELF is used in your page then a user can enter a slash / and then
some Cross Site Scripting (XSS) commands to execute.
Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of computer security vulnerability typically found
in Web applications. XSS enables attackers to inject client-side script into Web pages
viewed by other users.
Assume we have the following form in a page named "test_form.php":
<form method="post" action="<?php echo $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"];?>">
Now, if a user enters the normal URL in the address bar like
"http://www.example.com/test_form.php", the above code will be translated
to:
<form method="post" action="test_form.php">
So far, so good.
However, consider that a user enters the following URL in the address bar:
http://www.example.com/test_form.php/%22%3E%3Cscript%3Ealert('hack
ed')%3C/script%3E
In this case, the above code will be translated to:
<form method="post"
action="test_form.php/"><script>alert('hacked')</script>
This code adds a script tag and an alert command. And when the page loads,
the JavaScript code will be executed (the user will see an alert box). This is
just a simple and harmless example how the PHP_SELF variable can be
exploited.
Be aware of that any JavaScript code can be added inside the <script> tag! A
hacker can redirect the user to a file on another server, and that file can hold
malicious code that can alter the global variables or submit the form to
another address to save the user data, for example.
How To Avoid $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] Exploits?
$_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] exploits can be avoided by using the
htmlspecialchars() function.
The form code should look like this:
<form method="post" action="<?php echo
htmlspecialchars($_SERVER["PHP_SELF"]);?>">
The htmlspecialchars() function converts special characters to HTML
entities. Now if the user tries to exploit the PHP_SELF variable, it will result in
the following output:
<form method="post"
action="test_form.php/"><script>alert('hacked')</
script>">
The exploit attempt fails, and no harm is done!
Validate Form Data With PHP
The first thing we will do is to pass all variables through PHP's
htmlspecialchars() function.
When we use the htmlspecialchars() function; then if a user tries to
submit the following in a text field:
<script>location.href('http://www.hacked.com')</script>
- this would not be executed, because it would be saved as HTML escaped
code, like this:
<script>location.href('http://www.hacked.com')</script>
;
The code is now safe to be displayed on a page or inside an e-mail.
We will also do two more things when the user submits the form:
1. Strip unnecessary characters (extra space, tab, newline) from the user
input data (with the PHP trim() function)
2. Remove backslashes \ from the user input data (with the PHP
stripslashes() function)
The next step is to create a function that will do all the checking for us
(which is much more convenient than writing the same code over and over
again).
We will name the function test_input().
Now, we can check each $_POST variable with the test_input() function,
and the script looks like this:
// define variables and set to empty values
$name = $email = $gender = $comment = $website = "";
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
$name = test_input($_POST["name"]);
$email = test_input($_POST["email"]);
$website = test_input($_POST["website"]);
$comment = test_input($_POST["comment"]);
$gender = test_input($_POST["gender"]);
}
function test_input($data) {
$data = trim($data);
$data = stripslashes($data);
$data = htmlspecialchars($data);
return $data;
}
Notice that at the start of the script, we check whether the form has been
submitted using $_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"]. If the REQUEST_METHOD is
POST, then the form has been submitted - and it should be validated. If it has
not been submitted, skip the validation and display a blank form.
However, in the example above, all input fields are optional. The script works
fine even if the user does not enter any data.
The next step is to make input fields required and create error messages if
needed.
PHP - Required Fields
From the validation rules table on the previous page, we see that the
"Name", "E-mail", and "Gender" fields are required. These fields cannot be
empty and must be filled out in the HTML form.
Field Validation Rules
Name Required. + Must only contain letters and whitespace
E-mail Required. + Must contain a valid email address (with
@ and .)
Website Optional. If present, it must contain a valid URL
Comment Optional. Multi-line input field (textarea)
Gender Required. Must select one
In the previous chapter, all input fields were optional.
In the following code we have added some new variables: $nameErr,
$emailErr, $genderErr, and $websiteErr. These error variables will hold
error messages for the required fields. We have also added an if else
statement for each $_POST variable. This checks if the $_POST variable is
empty (with the PHP empty() function). If it is empty, an error message is
stored in the different error variables, and if it is not empty, it sends the user
input data through the test_input() function:
// define variables and set to empty values
$nameErr = $emailErr = $genderErr = $websiteErr = "";
$name = $email = $gender = $comment = $website = "";
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
if (empty($_POST["name"])) {
$nameErr = "Name is required";
} else {
$name = test_input($_POST["name"]);
}
if (empty($_POST["email"])) {
$emailErr = "Email is required";
} else {
$email = test_input($_POST["email"]);
}
if (empty($_POST["website"])) {
$website = "";
} else {
$website = test_input($_POST["website"]);
}
if (empty($_POST["comment"])) {
$comment = "";
} else {
$comment = test_input($_POST["comment"]);
}
if (empty($_POST["gender"])) {
$genderErr = "Gender is required";
} else {
$gender = test_input($_POST["gender"]);
}
}
PHP - Display The Error Messages
Then in the HTML form, we add a little script after each required field, which
generates the correct error message if needed (that is if the user tries to
submit the form without filling out the required fields):
<form method="post" action="<?php echo
htmlspecialchars($_SERVER["PHP_SELF"]);?>">
Name: <input type="text" name="name">
<span class="error">* <?php echo $nameErr;?></span>
<br><br>
E-mail:
<input type="text" name="email">
<span class="error">* <?php echo $emailErr;?></span>
<br><br>
Website:
<input type="text" name="website">
<span class="error"><?php echo $websiteErr;?></span>
<br><br>
Comment: <textarea name="comment" rows="5" cols="40"></textarea>
<br><br>
Gender:
<input type="radio" name="gender" value="female">Female
<input type="radio" name="gender" value="male">Male
<input type="radio" name="gender" value="other">Other
<span class="error">* <?php echo $genderErr;?></span>
<br><br>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
The next step is to validate the input data, that is "Does the Name field
contain only letters and whitespace?", and "Does the E-mail field contain a
valid e-mail address syntax?", and if filled out, "Does the Website field
contain a valid URL?".
PHP - Validate Name
The code below shows a simple way to check if the name field only contains
letters, dashes, apostrophes and whitespaces. If the value of the name field
is not valid, then store an error message:
$name = test_input($_POST["name"]);
if (!preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z-' ]*$/",$name)) {
$nameErr = "Only letters and white space allowed";
}
The preg_match() function searches a string for pattern, returning true if the
pattern exists, and false otherwise.
PHP - Validate E-mail
The easiest and safest way to check whether an email address is well-formed
is to use PHP's filter_var() function.
In the code below, if the e-mail address is not well-formed, then store an
error message:
$email = test_input($_POST["email"]);
if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
$emailErr = "Invalid email format";
}
PHP - Validate URL
The code below shows a way to check if a URL address syntax is valid (this
regular expression also allows dashes in the URL). If the URL address syntax
is not valid, then store an error message:
$website = test_input($_POST["website"]);
if
(!preg_match("/\b(?:(?:https?|ftp):\/\/|www\.)[-a-z0-9+&@#\/%?=~_|
!:,.;]*[-a-z0-9+&@#\/%=~_|]/i",$website)) {
$websiteErr = "Invalid URL";
}
PHP - Validate Name, E-mail, and URL
Now, the script looks like this:
// define variables and set to empty values
$nameErr = $emailErr = $genderErr = $websiteErr = "";
$name = $email = $gender = $comment = $website = "";
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
if (empty($_POST["name"])) {
$nameErr = "Name is required";
} else {
$name = test_input($_POST["name"]);
// check if name only contains letters and whitespace
if (!preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z-' ]*$/",$name)) {
$nameErr = "Only letters and white space allowed";
}
}
if (empty($_POST["email"])) {
$emailErr = "Email is required";
} else {
$email = test_input($_POST["email"]);
// check if e-mail address is well-formed
if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
$emailErr = "Invalid email format";
}
}
if (empty($_POST["website"])) {
$website = "";
} else {
$website = test_input($_POST["website"]);
// check if URL address syntax is valid (this regular
expression also allows dashes in the URL)
if
(!preg_match("/\b(?:(?:https?|ftp):\/\/|www\.)[-a-z0-9+&@#\/%?=~_|
!:,.;]*[-a-z0-9+&@#\/%=~_|]/i",$website)) {
$websiteErr = "Invalid URL";
}
}
if (empty($_POST["comment"])) {
$comment = "";
} else {
$comment = test_input($_POST["comment"]);
}
if (empty($_POST["gender"])) {
$genderErr = "Gender is required";
} else {
$gender = test_input($_POST["gender"]);
}
}
The next step is to show how to prevent the form from emptying all the input
fields when the user submits the form.
PHP - Keep The Values in The Form
To show the values in the input fields after the user hits the submit button,
we add a little PHP script inside the value attribute of the following input
fields: name, email, and website. In the comment textarea field, we put the
script between the <textarea> and </textarea> tags. The little script
outputs the value of the $name, $email, $website, and $comment variables.
Then, we also need to show which radio button that was checked. For this,
we must manipulate the checked attribute (not the value attribute for radio
buttons):
Name: <input type="text" name="name" value="<?php echo $name;?>">
E-mail: <input type="text" name="email" value="<?php echo
$email;?>">
Website: <input type="text" name="website" value="<?php echo
$website;?>">
Comment: <textarea name="comment" rows="5" cols="40"><?php echo
$comment;?></textarea>
Gender:
<input type="radio" name="gender"
<?php if (isset($gender) && $gender=="female") echo "checked";?>
value="female">Female
<input type="radio" name="gender"
<?php if (isset($gender) && $gender=="male") echo "checked";?>
value="male">Male
<input type="radio" name="gender"
<?php if (isset($gender) && $gender=="other") echo "checked";?>
value="other">Other
