PHP variables not being passed to the next page - php

Question

So I have two files. The first is the index.php in the root folder the other is an index.php found in a controller folder named post_link. I want to pass email, password, and action from the form in index.php of the root to the index.php of post_link but its just passing empty values when I try to get them using, filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'value'). How do I pass variables from index.php of the root to the index.php of post_link?
index.php of the root:
<?php
session_start();
require_once('model/fields.php');
// Add header
include '/view/header.php';
// Add fields with optional initial message
$validate = new Validate();
$fields = $validate->getFields();
$fields->addField('first_name');
$fields->addField('last_name');
$fields->addField('password');
$fields->addField('email', 'Must be a valid email address.');
// Makes sure the pages uses a secure connection
if(!isset($_SERVER['HTTPS'])) {
$url = 'https://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
header("Location: " . $url);
exit();
}
$action = filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'action');
if ($action === NULL) {
$action = 'login';
$email = '';
} else {
$action = strtolower($action);
}
if ($email == '') {
$login_message = 'Login or register if you are a new user.';
}
else {
$login_message = '<span class="error">Invalid email.</span>';
}
?>
<main>
<h2>Login</h2>
<form action="post_list" method="post" class="aligned">
<fieldset>
<legend>Customer Login</legend>
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="login">
<label>Email:</label>
<input type="text" class="text" name="email">
<br>
<label>Password: </label>
<input type="text" class="text" name="password">
<br>
<label> </label>
<input type="submit" value="Login">
<br>
</fieldset>
</form>
<form action="." method="post" class="aligned">
<fieldset>
<legend>Customer Registration</legend>
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="reset">
<label>You must be registered to view posts</label>
<input type="submit" value="Register here">
</fieldset>
</form>
<p><?php echo $login_message; ?></p>
</main>
<?php include 'view/footer.php'; ?>
index.php of the controller:
<?php
// session_start();
require_once('../model/database.php');
require_once('../model/customers_db.php');
require_once('../model/validate.php');
$action = filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'action');
if ($action === NULL) {
$action = 'login';
$email = '';
} else {
$action = strtolower($action);
}
switch ($action) {
case 'login':
$email = filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'email');
$password = filter_input(INPUT_POST,'password');
if (is_valid_customer_login($email)) {
$_SESSION['is_valid_customer'] = true;
$customer = get_customer($email);
$first_name = $customer['firstName'];
$last_name = $customer['lastName'];
if (is_valid_customer_login_password($email, $password)) {
include('../view/customer_menu.php');
} else {
$login_message = '<span class="error">Invalid password.</span>';
include('../index.php');
}
} else {
if ($email == '') {
$login_message = 'Login or register if you are a new customer.';
}
else {
$login_message = '<span class="error">Invalid email.</span>';
}
}
break;
case 'reset':
// Reset values for variables
$first_name = '';
$last_name = '';
$email = '';
$password ='';
// Load view
include 'view/register.php';
break;
case 'register':
// Copy form values to local variables
$first_name = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'first_name'));
$last_name = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'last_name'));
$email = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'email'));
$password =trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'password'));
// Validate form data
$validate->text('first_name', $first_name);
$validate->text('last_name', $last_name);
$validate->email('email', $email);
$validate->password('password', $password);
// Load appropriate view based on hasErrors
if ($fields->hasErrors()) {
include 'view/register.php';
} else {
add_customer($first_name, $last_name, $email, $password);
include 'view/customer_menu.php';
}
break;
case 'logout':
$_SESSION = array(); // Clear all session data from memory
session_destroy(); // Clean up the session ID
$login_message = 'You have been logged out.';
include('view/login.php');
break;
}
?>

Answer 1

This ain't gonna work this way, You have to use the action as "post_list/index.php". So modify your form as:
<form action="post_list/index.php" method="post" class="aligned">
<fieldset>
<legend>Customer Login</legend>
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="login">
<label>Email:</label>
<input type="text" class="text" name="email">
<br />
<label>Password: </label>
<input type="text" class="text" name="password">
<br>
<label> </label>
<input type="submit" value="Login">
<br>
</fieldset>