Form Field Check

gjcluttrell · 01-31-2013, 06:17 PM

I have a form written in PHP & one of the fields is the last name. I have some javascript that checks & throws a message that says "ATTENTION: Please enter a last name" if the user forgets to enter a last name/leave that field blank. Is there a way I can use javascript to just throw a message that says you must remove the - or ' from this field before continuing. For instance, at this time, in the last name field, if a user does not enter a last name & th esubmit button is pressed, a box pops up saying "Please enter a last name". If there anyway to edit the last name field java code so if the user last a trailing space or a - or a . it will throw a message telling them only letters are allowed in this field? Here is my code. I greatly appreciate your help.

Code:

<html
<head>
<title>New</title>
</head>
</html>

<p> <b><i>To go to the main page <a href="http://tp-o-flow/flow/index.html">click here</a>.</b></i></p>
<b> <i> This is the initial entry page. This information <u> will not </u> notify. </b> </i>

<?php
ini_set('display_errors',1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

if( isset($_POST) && !empty($_POST) )
{
     $host	= "localhost";
     $user	= "uname";
     $pw	= "password";
     $db	= "flow";
        
     $conn = mysql_connect( $host, $user, $pw )
     or die( "Error! Unable to connect to database server: <br/>" . mysql_error() );

     $rs = mysql_select_db( $db, $conn )
     or die( "Error! Unable to connect to database:  <br/>" . mysql_error() );
          
	foreach($_POST as $key=>$value)
	{
		${$key}=mysql_real_escape_string($value);
	}
	
     $strSQL = "INSERT INTO psrinfo
     	( fname, mname, lname, location, employee, status, oth_date, dock)
     	VALUES
     	( '" . $fname . "', '" . $mname . "', '" . $lname . "',  '" . $location . "', '" .$employee ."', '" .$status ."', '".$oth_date ."', '".$dock."')";
	 	 	 
     if (!mysql_query( $strSQL, $conn )){
     	echo( "Unable to save data to database: <br/>" . mysql_error() . "<br/>" . $strSQL . "</span><br/>" );
     }
     else{
     	header( "Location: index.html" );
		exit;
     }
}
?>
<html>

<head>
<title> Application </title>

<script type="text/javascript">
var valid;

function d2(v) { return (v<10)?("0"+v):v; }

function confirmation() {
		msg="You're about the enter the following information:";
		msg+="\n"; 
		msg+="\ndock: " + document.forms[0].dock.value;
        msg+="\nName: " + document.forms[0].fname.value + " " + document.forms[0].lname.value;
        msg+="\nStatus: " + document.forms[0].status.value;
		msg+="\nLocation: " + document.forms[0].location.value;
		msg+="\nEmployee: " + document.forms[0].employee.value;
		msg+="\nDate: " + document.forms[0].oth_date.value;
		msg+="\n\nIf this information is correct, click OK, if not click cancel to edit.";
		var answer = confirm(msg)
	if (answer){
		// send data to server
	}
	else{
		// don't send anything and return to your page
	}
	
	
	 if(document.forms[0].fname.value == "") {   
                alert("ATTENTION: Please enter a first name.");   
                document.forms[0].fname.focus();  
                return(false)
}

	 if(document.forms[0].mname.value == "") {   
                alert("ATTENTION: Please enter a middle name. If no middle name enter 'none'");   
                document.forms[0].mname.focus();  
                return(false)
}


	 if(document.forms[0].lname.value == "") {   
                alert("ATTENTION: Please enter a last name.");   
                document.forms[0].lname.focus();  
                return(false)

}


	 if(document.forms[0].location.value == "") {   
                alert("ATTENTION: Please choose a location.");   
                document.forms[0].fname.focus();  
                return(false)
}
	
	 if(document.forms[0].employee.value == "") {   
                alert("ATTENTION: Please choose PENDING or UNASSIGNED.");   
                document.forms[0].employee.focus();  
                return(false)
}	
	
	 if(document.forms[0].oth_date.value == "") {   
                alert("ATTENTION: Please enter data in the DATE field. If there is no date, enter 0000-00-00");   
                document.forms[0].oth_date.focus();  
                return(false)
}	
	 if(document.forms[0].dock.value == "") {   
                alert("ATTENTION: Please enter dock NO. If there is no dock NO, enter NO dock");   
                document.forms[0].dock.focus();  
                return(false)
}	



}

</script>

</head>
<body>
<body style="background-image:url(FadedBG.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-attachment:fixed; background-position:center;">
<form method="post" action="new.php">

<b>dock No: (Example 210)</b> <br />
<input type="text" name="dock" size="30" /><br />

<b>First Name:</b> <br />
<input type="text" name="fname" size="30" /><br />

<b>Middle Name:</b> <br />
<input type="text" name="mname" size="30" /><br />

<b>Last Name:</b> <br />
<input type="text" name="lname" size="30" /><br />

<b>Status:</b> <br />
<select name="status" /> <br />
<option value="Seal">Seal</option>
<option value="Try">Try</option>
<option value="Sent">Sent</option>
</select>
</br>

<b>Location: </b><br />
<select name="location" /> <br />
<option value="OfficeA">OfficeA</option>
<option value="OfficeB">OfficeB</option> 
<option value="OfficeC">OfficeC</option> 
</select>
</br>

<b>Unassigned or Pending:
<br> </b> 
<select name="employee" /><br />
<option value="Unassigned">Unassigned</option> 
<option value="Pending">Pending</option>
<option value="Unassigned">Unassigned</option>
</select> 
</br> 

<b>Original Date: (Example YYYY-MM-DD)</b> <br />
<input type="text" name="oth_date" size="30" /><br />

<br>

<input type="submit" value="Submit" onclick="return confirmation(this.form);"/>

</form>
</body>
</html>

Philip M · 01-31-2013, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gjcluttrell

If there anyway to edit the last name field java code so if the user last a trailing space or a - or a . it will throw a message

Be aware that Java and Javascript are entirely different programming languages, in spite of the confusingly similar names. Rather like Austria and Australia!

Form validation of the pattern if(document.forms[0].lname.value == "") - that is blank - is barely worthy of the name, and virtually useless, as even a single space, an X or a ? will return false, that is pass the validation. A proper name may only contain letters, hyphen, space and apostrophe.
Numeric values, such as zip codes, phone numbers and dates, should be validated as such. Ditto email addresses. This topic has been covered many times before in this forum.

Forms names are obsolete - use an id rather than a name. Likewise docuemnt.forms[0] is considered undesirable.

To permit only letters, hyphens, apostrophes in a field:

Code:

var lstn = document.forms[0].lname.value;
lstn = lstn.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g,"");  // strip leading and trailing spaces
lstn = lstn.toLowerCase().replace(/\d[a-z]/g,function(w){return w.toUpperCase()});  // capitalise first letter of each word, other letters lower-case
document.forms[0].lname.value = lstn;  // write it back to the field
if (/[^a-z\-\'\s]/gi.test(lstn)) {  // test for invalid characters
alert ("Only letters, hyphens and apostrophe (and intermediate space) allowed in this field");  // remove \s if spaces not allowed
document.forms[0].lname.value = "";  // clear the field
document.forms[0].lname.focus(); // and refocus on it
return false;
}

All your other fields should be properly validated in a similar way.

See anything wrong here?

Code:

 if(document.forms[0].location.value == "") {   
                alert("ATTENTION: Please choose a location.");   
                document.forms[0].fname.focus();  
                return(false)

All advice is supplied packaged by intellectual weight, and not by volume. Contents may settle slightly in transit.

felgall · 01-31-2013, 08:31 PM

Don't forget that the JavaScript validation is simply for your visitor's convenience so that if they have JavaScript enabled that they get immediate feedback on errors rather than being told about them all after they submit the form. Some visitors (including all those trying to bypass your security on the form) will not have JavaScript available and so you will need to repeat all the validations on the server so as to ensure that the data is actually valid before you use it.