Executing PHP code from DB - php

Question

This question has been asked multiple times before,
but I have a different situation from those I've read.
My Database multiple forms that are to be loaded upon user request. This is not the problem and I can handle this. Within these forms, there are fields that are filled dynamically from 2 queries.
One of my fields that is to be filled from the database looks like this:
<label class="itemLabel" for="name">Name : </label>
<input name="name" type="text" class="itemInput" value="<? echo $queryB[1]; ?>" readonly="readonly" />
as you can see, the value is set to be a PHP code echo $queryB[1] ... When I got the form from the DB and echoed it, the fields got the value <? echo $queryB[1]; ?> instead of the actual value.
I've tried to use eval($myForm) where my form is retrieved from the DB, but nothing appeared in the place where the form should appear. I would appreciate if someone can help me with this.

Answer 1

Your PHP instance has short_open_tag disabled.
Change it to:
<?php echo $queryB[1]; ?>
...and it should do what you expect.

Answer 2

There is nothing different in your situation and it is exactly the same as others.
and the answer is the same as well: do not mix the code and the data.
Do not store the code in the database.
Do not pass GO, do not collect $200
Implement some sort of placeholders or - even better - some form builder and create these forms on the fly, based on the data from database.
Why not to store only relevant data in the database, like
name
type
value
class
and some flags like disabled, readonly and such?
take a look at http://pear.php.net/package/HTML_QuickForm2/

Answer 3

Building on my comment and Col Shrapnel's answer, here is a simple placeholder example. You should really maintain the HTML in a flat file (as it effectively seems to be part of the view in your application), but for simplicity's sake let's say it still resides in the database. Store the following value:
<label class="itemLabel" for="name">Name : </label>
<input name="name" type="text" class="itemInput" value="{queryValue}" readonly="readonly" />
Now, when you load the value from the database, you can replace the placeholder from the text:
$html = str_replace('{queryValue}', $queryB[1], $htmlTemplate);
This is an incredibly simplified example, and masks a load of potential issues regarding placeholder names, formats etc., but it might get you started.
Alternatively, if you decide to opt for the file route, you could have two files:
view.phtml:
<label class="itemLabel" for="name">Name : </label>
<input name="name" type="text" class="itemInput" value="<?php echo $this->value; ?>" readonly="readonly" />
In your current PHP script:
class View {
public function render($file) {
// check for file existence etc.
require_once $file;
}
}
$view = new View();
$view->value = $queryB[1];
$view->render('view.phtml');