Php Undefined index, when storing a variable - php

Question

Problem: Need to store field value when doing this query on my database. Have a couple pages that's using this same syntax but for some odd reason this isn't cooperating..
HTML
<form method="post" action="listPage.php">
<fieldset>
<legend>Pull some data</legend>
<label for="name">Name</label>
<input type="text" name="name" id="name" maxlength="255" />
<hr />
<br />
<input type="submit" value="find event" />
</fieldset>
</form>
listPage.php
<?php
//CONNECT TO DATABASE
$user="root";
$password="";
$database="db";
$connection=mysql_connect('localhost',$user,$password);
#mysql_select_db($database) or die( "Unable to select database");
echo "NOT running...";
//STORE ALL DATA FROM PREVIOUS FORM
if (isset($_POST['name'])) {
$name = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['name']);
$query="SELECT event FROM events WHERE event='$name'";
$result=mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error());
$num=mysql_numrows($result);
echo "running...";
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
echo $row['event'] . " // ";
echo "<br />";
}
}
mysql_close($connection);
?>

Answer 1

Check to see if the post value is set before doing anything with it. (Also, don't forget to call mysql_real_escape_string() on it).
It may not be set if this code occurs on the page when it initially loads or is refreshed after having data posted to it.
// Don't attempt any of this unless you actually have a $_POST value
if (isset($_POST['name'])) {
$name = mysql_real_escape_string($_POST['name']);
$query="SELECT event FROM events WHERE event='$name'";
$result=mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error());
$num=mysql_numrows($result);
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
echo $row['event'] . " // ";
echo "<br />";
}
}

Answer 2

I couldn't quickly find any documentation regarding possible reserved words for POST or html form variables, so I went to
http://www.w3schools.com/TAGS/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml_form_method_post
and changed fname field to name, (clicked edit and click me button) and the POST variable was not passed or recognized.
So you might consider changing the name of your field to something other than name.