Printing validation message on the same page in PHP - php

Question

Hi I have this function in handling upload errors.
function error($error, $location, $seconds = 5)
{
header("Refresh: $seconds; URL=\"$location\"");
echo 'Error :' . $error . ' Please correct before proceeding.';
exit;
}
Since this is echo's the message, you know the message shows not in the same page and you need to hit browser back to return to the original content page.
What I wanted is the validation messages to be shown on the same page, so I tried changing the code to following.
function error($error)
{
$ErrMsg = 'Error :' . $error . ' Please correct before proceeding.';
}
And later in the form in a table I have something like following to call the massage.
<td><?php if(!empty($ErrMsg)) echo $ErrMsg; ?></td>
However this method doesn't seems to be giving me the solution I need, which is to print the validation message on the same page.
Can anyone help?
thanks.

Answer 1

You could use ajax to call the error function and output the message on the page.
Or you could set a $_POST, $_GET, or $_SESSION variable to pass the error message onto the next page.
Session example:
function error($error)
{
$_SESSION['ErrMsg'] = 'Error :' . $error . ' Please correct before proceeding.';
}
And later...
<td>
<?php if (!empty($_SESSION['ErrMsg'])) {
echo $_SESSION['ErrMsg'];
}?>
</td>
If the form posts to the same page it's on, you could try something like this:
function uploadValidation()
{
$errorReason = '';
// do validation here
// if something goes wrong $errorReason = 'reason for error'
if (!empty($errorReason)) {
return 'Error :' . $errorReason . ' Please correct before proceeding.';
} else {
// success stuff
// maybe return thanks message or redirect somewhere else?
return 'You upload real good!';
}
}
$validationMessage = uploadValidation();
?>
And later in the form in a table I have something like following to call the massage.
<td><?= $validationMessage ?></td>

Answer 2

Add { after your if... codes and just before echo and a closing } after your echo... codes.

Answer 3

It's actually pretty hard to tell what you are trying to achieve based on your description. But try this:
<?php
function error($error) {
return 'Error :' . $error . ' Please correct before proceeding.';
}
?>
And then:
<td><?php echo error('YOUR ERROR CODE') ?></td>