How to prevent rows with default values being submitted to MySQL database - php

Question

I have a form with 2 sections, each of which starts out with one row and to which further rows can be added using a script. You can see the form on the bottom of this page.
The form uses default values and I am looking for a way of not submitting rows that contain default values (to both MySQL database and via email). Because people may only complete one row (i.e. at Waged or Unwaged rate), often I will only want one row of information to be submitted. The current code for the form is below.
Thanks for any help in advance,
Nick
HTML:
<form method="post" name="booking" action="bookingengine.php">
<fieldset>
<h2>Waged/Organisation Rate</h2>
<p>
<input type="text" name="name[]">
<input type="text" name="email[]">
<input type="text" name="organisation[]">
<input type="text" name="position[]">
</p>
<p><span class="add">Add person</span></p>
</fieldset>
<fieldset>
<h2>Unwaged Rate</h2>
<p>
<input type="text" name="name2[]">
<input type="text" name="email2[]">
</p>
<p><span class="add">Add person</span></p>
</fieldset>
<p><input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit" value="Submit and proceed to payment page" class="submit-button" /></p>
</form>
Script:
<script>
$(function() {
var defaults = {
'name[]': 'Name',
'name2[]': 'Name',
'email[]': 'Email',
'email2[]': 'Email',
'organisation[]': 'Organisation',
'position[]': 'Position'
};
// separating set and remove
// note that you could add "defaults" as an arg if you had different
// defaults for different fieldsets
var setDefaults = function(inputElements) {
$(inputElements).each(function() {
var d = defaults[this.name];
if (d) {
// set with jQuery
// we don't need the data - just check on the class
$(this).val(d)
.addClass('default_value');
}
});
};
var removeDefaults = function(inputElements) {
$(inputElements).each(function() {
if ($(this).hasClass('default_value')) {
$(this).val('')
.removeClass('default_value');
}
});
};
setDefaults(jQuery('form[name=booking] input'));
$("span.add").click(function() {
// get the correct fieldset based on the current element
var $fieldset = $(this).closest('fieldset');
var $inputset = $('p', $fieldset)
.first()
.clone()
.insertBefore($('p', $fieldset).last());
// add a remove button
$inputset.append('<span class="remove">Remove</span>');
setDefaults($('input', $inputset));
// return false; (only needed if this is a link)
});
// use delegate here to avoid adding new
// handlers for new elements
$('fieldset').delegate("span.remove", {
'click': function() {
$(this).parent().remove();
}
});
// Toggles
$('form[name=booking]').delegate('input', {
'focus': function() {
removeDefaults($(this));
},
'blur': function() {
// switch to using .val() for consistency
if (!$(this).val()) setDefaults(this);
}
});
});
</script>
PHP:
<?php
$emailFrom = "****";
$emailTo = "****";
$subject = "****";
$body = "****" . "\n\n";
$row_count = count($_POST['name']);
$row_count2 = count($_POST['name2']);
$values = array();
for($i = 0; $i < $row_count; $i++) {
// variable sanitation...
$name = trim(stripslashes($_POST['name'][$i]));
$email = trim(stripslashes($_POST['email'][$i]));
$organisation = trim(stripslashes($_POST['organisation'][$i]));
$position = trim(stripslashes($_POST['position'][$i]));
// this assumes name, email, and telephone are required & present in each element
// otherwise you will have spurious line breaks.
$body .= "Name: " . $name . " Email: " . $email . " Organisation: " . $organisation . " Position: " . $position . "\n\n";
//prepare the values for MySQL
$values[] = '(\'' . $name . '\',\'' . $email . '\',\'' . $organisation . '\',\'' . $position . '\')';
}
mysql_select_db($database, $connection);
$query1 = "INSERT INTO conference (Name, Email, Organisation, Position) VALUES " . implode(',', $values);
$result1 = mysql_query($query1);
if (!$result1) {
die('Invalid query: ' . mysql_error());
}
$body .= "****" . "\n\n";
$values = array();
for($i = 0; $i < $row_count; $i++) {
// variable sanitation...
$name = trim(stripslashes($_POST['name2'][$i]));
$email = trim(stripslashes($_POST['email2'][$i]));
// this assumes name, email, and telephone are required & present in each element
// otherwise you will have spurious line breaks.
$body .= "Name: " . $name . " Email: " . $email . "\n\n";
//prepare the values for MySQL
$values2[] = '(\'' . $name . '\',\'' . $email . '\')';
}
$query2 = "INSERT INTO conference (Name, Email) VALUES " . implode(',', $values2);
$result2 = mysql_query($query2);
if (!$result2) {
die('Invalid query: ' . mysql_error());
}
// send email
$success = mail($emailTo, $subject, $body, "From: <$emailFrom>");
// redirect to success page
if ($success){
print "<meta http-equiv=\"refresh\" content=\"0;URL=/conference/payment.html\">";
}
else{
print "<meta http-equiv=\"refresh\" content=\"0;URL=error.htm\">";
}
?>

Answer 1

I would use an IF statement in PHP assuming any validation you have has returned no errors.
For example
// SET VARIABLES
$name2 = $_POST['name2'];
// SET CORRECT VALUES
if($name2 == "Surname") { $name2 = ""; }
// RUN DB FUNCTIONS
I would do this for each default value allowing me to insert just what I need or want from the default values and remove or change the rest. It also means user data remains in tact.
I hope this helps you get on the right track :)