The next chapter focuses on the topic that is likely responsible for piquing your
interest in learning more about PHP: user interactivity. We??™ll jump into data processing
via forms, demonstrating both basic features and advanced topics such as how to
work with multivalued form components and automated form generation. You??™ll also
learn how to facilitate user navigation by creating breadcrumb navigation trails and
custom 404 messages.
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C H A P T E R 1 3
Forms
You can throw about technical terms such as relational database, Web Services,
session handling, and LDAP, but when it comes down to it, you started learning PHP
because you wanted to build cool, interactive Web sites. After all, one of the Web??™s
most alluring aspects is that it??™s two-way media; the Web not only enables you to
publish information but also offers an effective means for interaction with peers,
clients, and friends. This chapter introduces one of the most common ways in which
you can use PHP to interact with the user: Web forms.
The majority of the material in this chapter should be relatively simple to understand,
yet understanding it is crucial for anybody who is interested in building even basic
Web sites. In total, this chapter discusses the following topics:
??? Understanding basic PHP and Web form concepts
??? Passing form data to PHP functions
??? Working with multivalued form components
??? Taking advantage of PEAR: the HTML_QuickForm package
??? Creating an auto-completion mechanism
PHP and Web Forms
What makes the Web so interesting and useful is its ability to disseminate information
as well as collect it, primarily through an HTML-based form.
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