Run multiple variables through the same function - php

Question

This is the first time I have been dumbfounded on what to search for to find my answer. I generally don't ever create a post because there are umpteen thousand posts on the internet with my answer; certainly this is no exception. My problem with finding the answer is, I'm not quite sure what to even search for.
The below code works. That's not the problem. My problem is, what if I wanted to run this one thousand times. Surely I do not need to write this entire expression so many times to get the desired affect do I?
I have a feeling it has to do with an array, but I'm still at a point where I understand arrays one day and the next they are greek.
But anyway, long post for a simple question. Hopefully someone can help me out with this.
This is PHP.
$firstname = $validate->stripExcess($firstname);
$lastname = $validate->stripExcess($lastname);
$email = $validate->stripExcess($email);
$password1 = $validate->stripExcess($password1);
$password2 = $validate->stripExcess($password2);
This is the entire page:
<?php
session_start();
require("../classes/uservalidation.php");
$firstname = $lastname = $email = $password1 = $password2 = "";
if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == "POST") {
$firstname = $_POST['fname'];
$lastname = $_POST['lname'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$password1 = $_POST['password'];
$password2 = $_POST['verify'];
}
//create validation object
$validate = new userValidation;
//execite stripExcess method $vaidate
$firstname = $validate->stripExcess($firstname);
$lastname = $validate->stripExcess($lastname);
$email = $validate->stripExcess($email);
$password1 = $validate->stripExcess($password1);
$password2 = $validate->stripExcess($password2);
//
$returnValidate = $validate->register($firstname, $lastname, $email, $password1, $password2);
//check if the variable is an array -- (case when returnValidate has an error)
if (is_array($returnValidate)) {
$url = $returnValidate[0];
$errorMessage = $returnValidate[1];
//echo $url;
//exit();
}else{
$url = $returnValidate;
//echo $url;
//exit();
}
//Set the form values to SESSION vairbale to pass around
$_SESSION['fname'] = $firstname;
$_SESSION['lname'] = $lastname;
$_SESSION['email'] = $email;
$_SESSION['password1'] = $password1;
$_SESSION['password2'] = $password2;
//redirect to the correct page based on validate results
header("Location: " . $url, true, 303);
?>
And the class:
<?php
session_start();
require("../classes/uservalidation.php");
$firstname = $lastname = $email = $password1 = $password2 = "";
if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == "POST") {
$firstname = $_POST['fname'];
$lastname = $_POST['lname'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$password1 = $_POST['password'];
$password2 = $_POST['verify'];
}
//create validation object
$validate = new userValidation;
//execite stripExcess method $vaidate
$firstname = $validate->stripExcess($firstname);
$lastname = $validate->stripExcess($lastname);
$email = $validate->stripExcess($email);
$password1 = $validate->stripExcess($password1);
$password2 = $validate->stripExcess($password2);
//
$returnValidate = $validate->register($firstname, $lastname, $email, $password1, $password2);
//check if the variable is an array -- (case when returnValidate has an error)
if (is_array($returnValidate)) {
$url = $returnValidate[0];
$errorMessage = $returnValidate[1];
//echo $url;
//exit();
}else{
$url = $returnValidate;
//echo $url;
//exit();
}
//Set the form values to SESSION vairbale to pass around
$_SESSION['fname'] = $firstname;
$_SESSION['lname'] = $lastname;
$_SESSION['email'] = $email;
$_SESSION['password1'] = $password1;
$_SESSION['password2'] = $password2;
//redirect to the correct page based on validate results
header("Location: " . $url, true, 303);
?>

Answer 1

I don't know what are you want, but maybe:
$values = array("firstname", "lastname", "email", "password1", "password2");
foreach($values AS $value) {
$$value = $validate->stripExcess($$value);
}

Answer 2

Yes. If you have quite a few variables you can use an array of variables. Basically, the array is a very common structure in PHP. When you get values from $_GET and $_POST you also work with arrays. Nested Arrays and Arrays of objects, Nested arrays of objects all of these are widely used in php.
Try to var_dump $_GET and $_POST (when you send some values to the server) and analyze how the are formed when they have values.