Pass back values to form to populate it? (lots of values) - php

Question

I need to pass back a large string of results to a form, so that the form can read those results from the URL and then populate the form with them. Problem is, the link ends up being:
&key=value&key=value ... until it can't process anymore (I assume a URL has a length limit?) resulting in my form not being able to fully populate. I need another way to pass values back to my form file.
VIEW.php file (basically just a table of values right as they are from the database, with the first column "id" being a link. When I click on "id", it goes back to my add.php(form page) and populates the form with the data matching that id)
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>ID</th>
<th>NAME</th>
<th>MANUFACTURER</th>
<th>MODEL</th>
<th>DESCRIPTION</th>
<th>ON HAND</th>
<th>REORDER</th>
<th>COST</th>
<th>PRICE</th>
<th>SALE</th>
<th>DISCOUNT</th>
<th>DELETED</th>
<th></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<?php } ?>
<?php
// loop to fetch data
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
echo "<tr>";
echo "<td>
<a href='molszewski1_a2_add.php'>$row[id]</a></td>";
echo "<td>$row[name]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[manufac]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[model]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[descrip]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[onhand]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[reorder]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[cost]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[price]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[sale]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[discont]</td>";
echo "<td>$row[deleted]</td>";
$status = "$row[deleted]";
echo "<td><a href='molszewski1_a2_delete.php?id=$row[id]&flag=$status&sort=$sort'>";
$status = "$row[deleted]";
if ($status == 'n') {
$flag = "restore";
echo "delete";
} else if ( $status == 'y') {
$flag = "delete";
echo "restore";
}
echo "</a></td>";
echo "</tr>";
} ?>
<?php { ?>
</tbody>
</table>
ADD.php (form page where the form is supposed to fetch the data and populate it)
<?php
// If no form has been submitted, present form
if (empty($_GET))
{
add_form();
}
// if a form has been submitted
else
{
// if form_validity() == 1, proceed to connect
if (form_validity() == 1)
{
// connect to mysql + database
connect();
$saleItem = "n";
$discountItem = "n";
if( array_key_exists( 'saleItem', $_GET ) && $_GET['saleItem'] == 'y' )
{ $saleItem = "y"; }
if( array_key_exists( 'discountItem', $_GET ) && $_GET['discountItem'] == 'y' )
{ $discountItem = "y"; }
// get values from form, insert into database
$sql=("INSERT INTO inventory (name,
manufac,
model,
descrip,
onhand,
reorder,
cost,
price,
sale,
discont,
deleted)
VALUES ('$_GET[itemName]',
'$_GET[manufacturer]',
'$_GET[model]',
'$_GET[description]',
'$_GET[numberOnHand]',
'$_GET[reorderLevel]',
'$_GET[cost]',
'$_GET[sellingPrice]',
'$saleItem',
'$discountItem', 'n')");
// if the query doesn't work, display error message
if (!(mysql_query($sql))) { die ("could not query: " . mysql_error()); }
add_form();
// redirect to view.php after form submission
// use php instead
echo "<meta http-equiv='REFRESH' content='0;url=molszewski1_a2_view.php'>";
}
else
{
// if form is not valid (form_validity returns 0), display error messages
add_form();
}
}
?>
FUNCTIONS.php (all my functions for stuff like the form)
<?php function page_navigation(){ ?>
<div class="center">
<input type="button" value="ADD" />
<input type="button" value="VIEW" />
<input type="button" value="VIEW DELETED" />
<input type="button" value="VIEW ACTIVE" />
<br />
<br />
</div>
<?php } ?>
<?php function add_form() { ?>
<form action="molszewski1_a2_add.php" method="get" id="form">
<table width="529px">
<tr>
<td>ITEM NAME</td>
<td><input name="itemName" size="30" type="text" value="<?php echo $_GET["itemName"] ?>"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>MANUFACTURER</td>
<td><input name="manufacturer" size="30" type="text" value="<?php echo $_GET["manufacturer"] ?>"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>MODEL</td>
<td><input name="model" size="30" type="text" value="<?php echo $_GET["model"] ?>"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DESCRIPTION</td>
<td><textarea name="description" rows="3" cols="20"><?php echo $_GET["description"] ?></textarea></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ON HAND</td>
<td><input name="numberOnHand" size="30" type="text" value="<?php echo $_GET["numberOnHand"] ?>"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>REORDER LEVEL</td>
<td><input name="reorderLevel" size="30" type="text" value="<?php echo $_GET["reorderLevel"] ?>"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>COST</td>
<td><input name="cost" size="30" type="text" value="<?php echo $_GET["cost"] ?>"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>SELLING PRICE</td>
<td><input name="sellingPrice" size="30" type="text" value="<?php echo $_GET["sellingPrice"] ?>"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>SALE ITEM</td>
<td>
<input type="checkbox" name="saleItem" value="y" <?php if( isset( $_GET['saleItem'] ) ){ ?> checked="checked" <?php } ?> />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DISCOUNTED ITEM</td>
<td>
<input type="checkbox" name="discountItem" value="y" <?php if( isset( $_GET['discountItem'] ) ){ ?> checked="checked" <?php } ?> />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2"><input type="submit" value="save" name="submit" id="submit" /></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
<?php } ?>

Answer 1

Use method="post" and $_POST (instead of $_GET).
POST requests can be much larger than GET requests as GET requests are limited by the maximum length of a URL. POST requests are limited by the size of the max_post_size ini-value which is usually a few megabytes.