Serialize array & put results into hidden text field? - php

Question

I'm currently encountering a problem which is baffling me. There will be a lack of PHP mixed with HTML due to using a MVC Framework.
What i've got:
Form A on Page 1 with a submit button which directs user input from Form A to page 2 with a chunk of text for the user to read before continuing, a hidden text field which will contain a serialized array from Form A and a submit button to continue to the validation of user input.
My forms direct to the correct pages as required, the post array can be seralized providing I do not put it into a text field. The HTML from form A follows:
<form action="/RegisterInformation" method="POST">
<div class="row">
<div class="large-12 columns">
<input type="text" name="Username" placeholder="Username, ex: JohnDoe ">
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="large-4 columns">
<input type="password" name="Password" placeholder="Password">
</div>
<div class="large-4 columns">
<input type="password" name="cpassword" placeholder="Confirm Password">
</div>
<div class="large-4 columns">
<input type="text" name="email" placeholder="Email, ex: JohnDoe#provider.com">
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="large-12 columns">
<textarea name="Referral" placeholder="Where Did You Hear About Us?"></textarea>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="large-4 columns">
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Continue" class="button">
</div>
</div>
</form>
The redirect to page 2:
<div class="row">
<div class=" large-12 columns">
<p>
<?php echo $data['PreregisterInformation']; ?>
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="large-12 columns">
<form action="/Continue" method="POST">
<input type="text" name="SubmitInfo" value="<?php echo serialize($_POST); ?>">
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Continue" class="button">
</form>
</div>
</div>
With the current example, i've got the text field set to being visible, so I can see what's going on.. But this is where it gets strange.
What i'm getting is two different types of results.
The first, is that when I echo the serialized array outside a input field. I get the desired results:
a:6:{s:8:"Username";s:1:"s";s:8:"Password";s:1:"4";s:9:"cpassword";s:1:"4";s:5:"email";s:3:"asd";s:8:"Referral";s:3:"asd";s:6:"submit";s:8:"Continue";}
The second is when I use the following:
<input type="text" name="SubmitInfo" value="<?php echo serialize($_POST); ?>">
Which passes an invalid serialized array to page 3 breaking the whole process.
I assume it's not a HTML related error, but the new line break in the serialized array definition a:6. I have made an attempt to rectify this problem by removing the new line break with str_replace:
$Ser = serialize($_POST);
$Ser = nl2br($Ser);
$Ser = str_replace("<br>","00",$Ser);
echo $Ser;
which has proven not to work.

Answer 1

This is not a direct solution of your problem, but have you tried json_encode or avoiding the hidden field by storing the date into $_SESSION?