Undefined index and variable errors

PHP
1

Newbie issue. I’m having some problems with a form that when loaded on an IIS platform running PHP 5.3 throws the following errors:

PHP Notice: Undefined index: validate
PHP Notice: Undefined variable: validated
PHP Notice: Undefined index: name
PHP Notice: Undefined index: email
PHP Notice: Undefined index: sub
PHP Notice: Undefined variable: msg

I’m fairly new to PHP, but it does boggle :confused: my mind that the same form works flawlessly in my MAMP development environment with both PHP 5.2 and 5.3.

I’ve posted the code I’m using below, if anyone can provide advice/tips/guidance, I would be very grateful. It’s a simple form with some simple validation.


<?php
if( $_POST['validate'] == 'yes' ) {
		
	if(trim($_POST['name']) == '') { // Make sure there is a name
		$hasError = true;
	}
	else {
		$name = stripslashes(htmlentities(trim($_POST['name'])));
	}
	
	if(trim($_POST['sub']) == '') { // Make sure there is a subject
		$hasError = true;
	}
	else {
		$sub = stripslashes(htmlentities(trim($_POST['sub'])));
	}

	if(trim($_POST['email']) == '') { // Make sure the email is filled out correctly
		$hasError = true;
	}
	elseif (!preg_match("/^[A-Z0-9._%-]+@[A-Z0-9._%-]+\\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i", trim($_POST['email']))) {
		$hasError = true;
	}
	else {
		$email = trim($_POST['email']);
	}

	if(trim($_POST['msg']) == '') { // Make sure there is a msg.
		$hasError = true;
	}
	else {
			$msg = stripslashes(htmlentities(trim($_POST['msg'])));
	}
	
	if(isset($_POST['fireinthehole'])) {
		$thehole = true;
	}

	// If the fields not filled correctly, display an error.
	// Else, send the message.
	if (isset($hasError)) {
		echo '<p class="error">Please check that all fields contain valid information. Thank you.</p>';
	}
	elseif (isset($thehole)) {
		echo '<p class="error">What are you playing at?</p>';
	}
	else {
		$validated = true; // Validation succeeded. Make sure the form does not display again.
		$emailTo = 'Put your own email address here'; 
		$body = "Name: $name \
\
Email: $email \
\
Subject: $sub \
\
Comments:\
 $msg";
		$headers = 'From: ToyPC Contact Form < '.$emailTo.'>' . "\\r\
" . 'Reply-To: ' . $email;
		
		mail($emailTo, $sub, $body, $headers);
		$emailSent = true;
		?>
		<p><strong>Email Successfully Sent!</strong></p>
		<p>Thank you for contacting us. Your message has been sent, and we will be in touch with you shortly.</p>
		<?php 
	} // end error response
} // end if( $_POST['validate'] == 'yes')
?>
<!-- Begin the form -->
<?php if(!$validated) { ?>
<form method="post" action="#form">
	<fieldset>
		<label for="f_name" class="form_label">Name:</label>
		<input type="text" maxlength="255" id="f_name" name="name" value="<?php echo
		stripslashes(htmlentities($_POST['name'])); ?>" /><br />
		<label for="f_email" class="form_label">Email:</label>
		<input type="text" maxlength="255" id="f_email" name="email" value="<?php echo
		stripslashes(htmlentities($_POST['email'])); ?>" /><br />
		<label for="f_sub" class="form_label">Subject:</label>
		<input type="text" maxlength="255" id="f_sub" name="sub" value="<?php echo
		stripslashes(htmlentities($_POST['sub'])); ?>" /><br />
		<label for="f_msg" class="form_label">Message:</label>
		<textarea rows="0" cols="0" id="f_msg" name="msg" ><?php echo
		stripslashes(htmlentities($msg)); ?></textarea>
	</fieldset>
	
	<fieldset class="hideme">
		<label for="fireinthehole">Checkbox for spam reduction</label>
		<input type="checkbox" id="fireinthehole" name="fireinthehole" value="1" />
	</fieldset>
	
	<fieldset>
		<input type="hidden" name="validate" value="yes" />
		<input type="submit" value="Submit" class="submit" />
	</fieldset>
</form>
<?php } /* end if( !$validated ) */ ?>
2

If the form hasn’t been posted, then the keys to the $_POST array won’t exist yet. You can get rid of the error by checking with array_key_exists( key, array ) instead of just using $_POST[key]

Also, you can set $validated = ‘’; at the top of your script so that it doesn’t come back as an undefined variable and just check that $validated != ‘’ lower down.

Your error reporting settings might be more paranoid on the new setup than the old. As long as this is a development environment, that’s a good thing.

3

Just change


if( $_POST['validate'] == 'yes' ) {

to:


if( isset($_POST['validate']) ) {
4

Thanks Cute Tink and cranial-bore, fixed my issues with your help advice!