PHP/MySQL "Quiz" Game - Form Input Value - php

Question

Alright, so I've been working on this for two days now - my code is somewhat sloppy & jumbled but I've gone over hundreds of questions, websites, etc. etc. looking for an answer or simply an explanation I understood; unfortunately, I still have been unsuccessful in my attempts.
I am build a "Quiz" Game in PHP/HTML - the website references a database, specifically, a tabled labeled "answers" which holds the following information:
- ID: Auto-Increment
- Question: Varchar
- Answer: Varchar
- Comment: Varchar
Now, for a little information on the site - Once a user logs in, he/she can "play" the game; the game is simply an HTML form, which above it displays a random "answers table" question. The form has 4 user inputs but only requires two. Let me get into the code details and then I will ask my question:
My index.php page (which contains the game form) is currently:
<?php # index.php
session_start();
//check session first
if (!isset($_SESSION['email'])){
include ('../includes/header.php');
}else
{
session_start();
include ('../includes/header.php');
require_once ('../../mysql_connect.php');
$query = "SELECT * FROM answers ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 1";
$result = #mysql_query ($query);
$num = mysql_num_rows($result);
if ($num > 0) { // If it ran OK, display all the records.
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC)) {
?>
<div class="newGame">
<h2>Are you a Question Master?<hr /></h2>
<h3 style="color:#000">Find Out Now!</h3>
</div>
<br />
<div class="newGameContain">
<form action="gameSubmit.php" method="post" autocomplete="off">
<h2><? echo $row["Question"]."<hr />"; ?></h2>
<h3>Enter Player Answers</h3>
<p><input type="text" placeholder="Player 1" name="player1" value="<? echo $_POST['player1']; ?>" /> <input type="text" placeholder="Player 2" name="player2" value="<? echo $_POST['player2']; ?>" /></p>
<p><input type="text" placeholder="Player 3" name="player3" value="<? echo $_POST['player3']; ?>" /> <input type="text" placeholder="Player 4" name="player4" value="<? echo $_POST['player4']; ?>" /></p>
<p><input type="submit" class="submitButton" /> <input type="reset" class="resetButton" value="Reset" /> </p>
<input type="hidden" name="ID" value="<?php echo $row["ID"]; ?>" />
<input type="hidden" name"Answer" value="<?php echo $row['Answer']; ?>" />
<input type="hidden" name="submitted" value="TRUE" />
</form>
<p></p>
</div>
<br />
<?php
} //end while statement
} //end if statement
mysql_close();
//include the footer
include ("../includes/footer.php");
}
?>
Then my gameSubmit.php page (form action) looks like this - I will only give a snapshot, not the whole thing:
<?php # index.php
session_start();
//check session first
if (!isset($_SESSION['email'])){
include ('../includes/header.php');
}else
{
session_start();
include ('../includes/header.php');
require_once ('../../mysql_connect.php');
$query = "SELECT * FROM answers ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 1";
$result = #mysql_query ($query);
$num = mysql_num_rows($result);
if ($num > 0) { // If it ran OK, display all the records.
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC)) {
?>
<? if (isset($_POST['submitted'])){
$correct1Msg = "<div class='correct1Msg'><p style='color:#000;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;'>Player 1 entered the <span id='answerUnder'>correct answer</span>.</p></div><p></p>";
$correct2Msg = "<div class='correct2Msg'><p style='color:#000;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;'>Player 2 entered the <span id='answerUnder'>correct answer</span>.</p></div><p></p>";
$incorrect1Msg = "<div class='incorrect1Msg'><p style='color:#F00;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;'>Player 1 entered the <span id='answerUnder'>incorrect answer</span>.</p></div><p></p>";
$incorrect2Msg = "<div class='incorrect2Msg'><p style='color:#F00;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;'>Player 2 entered the <span id='answerUnder'>incorrect answer</span>.</p></div><p></p>";
$player1Answer = $_POST['player1'];
$player2Answer = $_POST['player2'];
$player3Answer = $_POST['player3'];
$player4Answer = $_POST['player4'];
$questionID = $row['ID'];
if ($questionID == "1" && $player1Answer != "Red"){
echo $incorrect1Msg;
}elseif ($questionID == "2" && $player1Answer != "4"){
echo $incorrect1Msg;
}else {
echo $correct1Msg;
}
if ($questionID == "1" && $player2Answer == "Red"){
echo $correct2Msg;
}elseif ($questionID == "2" && $player2Answer == "4"){
echo $correct2Msg;
}else{
echo $incorrect2Msg;
}
}
?>
<?php
} //end while statement
} //end if statement
mysql_close();
//include the footer
include ("../includes/footer.php");
}
?>
As a note, the gameSubmit.php page also has identical message and if...elseif... statements for player3Answer & player4Answer.
So my question is...
If a user is logged in and opens the index.php page, he/she is prompted with the "echo $row ["Question"]" (which is a question pulled from the MySQL database using $query = "SELECT * FROM answers ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 1"; - The user then proceeds to enter an answer in each player's respective text input. Once the user clicks the submit button, the form redirects to gameSubmit.php - once loaded, if(isset($_POST['submitted'])){ launches and cross checks each users answer and displays the respective message.
Currently, my form redirects to gameSubmit.php, however, it doesn't reference the previous question for the correct answer - thus its sheer luck the identical answer appears when "grading" the answers.
What do I need to do/what needs to be corrected in order to achieve input validation on the form action page?
Once again, I simply want to retrieve a question at random and on submit check the inputted answers with the correct answer - I would also like my code to be able to retrieve the correct answer rather than me having to type out each answer, so that way, if a record gets added, I dont have to update the code.
Thank for your time and the help, it is much appreciated! (It's finals week and I couldn't be more stressed)
Rockmandew

Answer 1

Just pass a POST element from index page to gameSubmit.php with the question id.
Add a hidden element in index page like..
<input type="hidden" name="questionId" value="<?php echo $row['id']; ?>">
So, You can get the question id in pageSubmit.php using $_POST['questionId']