name attribute on html element. PHP loves it so use it.

Years ago, when I was fiddling with PHP, I found out that I needed name attribute on html element even I have a form having id, action to url and post method. I have my html tags having ids. This was surprising as I was sure that it was enough.

For input controls to be posted back to the server from a form, I needed to assign each relevant input control a name, not an id. id is good for Javascript to locate elements in the DOM, though name can be used for the same which I don’t prefer so I used both of them if I needed to use PHP.

The ‘name’ is a must.  It becomes the array index into the request array, $_GET or $_POST.  This script illustrates the essential moving parts of an HTML form and a PHP action script.

Examine the following example:

";

// SHOW HOW TO DO FORM INPUT, VALIDATION, AND THANK YOU PAGE

// IF THERE IS SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN POSTED
if (!empty($_POST)) {
    
    // THIS IS THE VALIDATION PROCESS - ONLY TWO RESULTS
    // EITHER A FAILURE PAGE OR A THANK YOU PAGE
    // CHECK TO SEE IF IT IS WHAT WE EXPECT
    if ($_POST["xyz"] != 'XYZ') {
        // CREATE ERROR PAGE IF DATA FAILED VALIDATION
        echo PHP_EOL . "SORRY YOU DID NOT ENTER XYZ";
    } else {
        // CREATE THANK YOU PAGE IF DATA PASSED VALIDATION
        echo PHP_EOL . "THANK YOU, ";
        die("ALL DONE NOW");
    }
    
}
// END OF PHP - DROP INTO HTML TO PUT UP THE FORM
?>

ENTER 'XYZ' IN UPPER CASE LETTERS HERE: