1. PHP: Forms FdSc Module 109 Server side scripting and Database design
2011

2. Format From now on I will not be giving you complete worked examples
There will be “snippets” - Snippet is a programming term for a small region of re- usable source code (Wikipedia)
It will be up to you to incorporate these into worked examples of your own

3. Input boxes
Forename <INPUT TYPE='text' SIZE=20 MAXLENGTH=30 NAME='firstname'>
Parameter
Details
TYPE
Specifies the type of input control
(Password – will blank input)
SIZE
Textbox size on form
MAXLENGTH
Number of characters allowed in the textbox
NAME
Input box name used to gather data

4. Radio buttons
<INPUT TYPE='radio' NAME=‘sex' VALUE=male' CHECKED> >
Parameter
Details
TYPE
Specifies the type of input control
VALUE
Value returned if radio button is checked
CHECKED
Optional parameter – sets the default button
NAME
Input box name used to gather data

5. Radio buttons
<form> <input type="radio" name="sex" value="male" /> Male<br /> <input type="radio" name="sex" value="female" /> Female
</form>
Radio buttons let a user select ONLY ONE of a limited number of choices
Set each Radio Button to same name to group radio buttons
Form tags must be used around each set of buttons, or else only one button on the whole page will be allowed to be set

6. Check boxes
<INPUT TYPE='checkbox' NAME='course' VALUE='ITP L3' CHECKED>
Parameter
Details
TYPE
Specifies the type of input control
VALUE
Value returned if check box is ticked
CHECKED
Optional parameter – sets the default tick
NAME
Input box name used to gather data

7. Check boxes
<form> <input type="checkbox" name=“genre" value=“fiction" /> Fiction
<br /> <input type="checkbox" name=“genre" value=“biography" /> Biography
</form>
Check boxes let a user select ONE or MORE of a limited number of choices
Set each check box to the same name to group them

8. Select boxes
<SELECT NAME='names' MULTIPLE> <OPTION VALUE='' SELECTED> Mike Jones</OPTION> <OPTION VALUE=''> Tom White</OPTION> </SELECT>
Parameter
Details
NAME
Input box name used to gather data
SIZE
Number of items initially shown
SELECTED
Default selection on load
OPTION
An item in the list
MULTIPLE
Allows selection of more than one option
VALUE
Data used when item selected

9. Select boxes
<SELECT NAME="Residence" SIZE="1"> <OPTION SELECTED>Flat <OPTION>End terrace <OPTION>Terraced <OPTION>Semi <OPTION>Detached </SELECT> <SELECT NAME=“Laptop" MULTIPLE SIZE="4"> <OPTION SELECTED>Dual core <OPTION>Hard drive <OPTION SELECTED>SSD <OPTION>BlueRay <OPTION>LED backlight <OPTION SELECTED>USB 3.0 </SELECT>

10. Text box
<TEXTAREA NAME="Comments" ROWS="6" COLS="50">Add your comments here please</TEXTAREA>
Parameter
Details
NAME
Input box name used to gather data
OPTIONAL TEXT
Appears inside the box
ROWS
Number of visible rows in the box. Exceeding this amount introduces a vertical scroll bar.
COLS
Number of characters that can be typed before a new line is begun

11. Clear form Clears the form entries
<INPUT TYPE='reset' VALUE='Clear form'>
If a value is not specified, the default is “Reset”

12. Submitting a form
All forms need a submit button to send the data to the server
<INPUT TYPE='submit' VALUE='Place order'>
If a value is not specified, the default is “Submit”

13. Classroom example Create a form using all the data types described
The form can be one you will use in your project (create a ticket maybe)
Echo the submitted data back to the client
Position the returned data in a table
Add the date (using PHP) in UK format
Add a back button to return to the input page and a confirm button (to write data to MySQL)
Demonstrate it working