Being entirely self-taught, mostly from online tutorials, there are many gaps in my knowledge that probably would not exist if I had received formal training. One of those gaps has to do with processing data collected from forms.
What do I need to do to gather and process data entered therein?
First, I figure I need to be sure that one of the checkboxes is marked and go though a dialogue with the user to confirm their intentions. This would be done how? A script language? If so, which one. I don't know what the tools are for doing this.
Second, I want to ensure that all of the required fields contain data and engage in a dialogue again to collect it. While I'm at it I'll also do some editing or parsing for appropriate alpha or numeric entries.
Third, I'd like to validate 'last/maiden name' entries against a known list. Maybe this is overkill but it should prevent some unnecessary site maintenance if it can be done easily.
Fourth, where do I put data that passes the tests so that I can display it on another page (Where Are They?) What are the tools for doing this? Can it be done with HTML or must I use something like MySQL (another learning curve acquisition challenge). And, related to this, how do I retrieve it to display on that other page? I plan to put a 'search' box on that page based on 'last/maiden name'.
Five, what relevant questions did I fail to ask because I'm dumb as a box of rocks?
I've found that I learn best from examples; so if you can point me to how-tos or other examples, I would very much appreciate that, too. Maybe the scope of the question and my ignorance are too great to address in a single thread like this one.
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