Codeigniter Form Validation?

Hi Randy,

Thanks for taking the time to help em out here. Your above syntax solution did help but if a user presses "submit" and get presented with error messages the value of ID is lost, which is a problem but as for the error messages they are gone!

But I think I may have found a work around to the problem. I think CI Flashdata might be a better soltion to my problem. I was looking into it today and I think that might be the right move to make. What do you think? I'm not sure if your familiar with CI flashdata but do you think it's the right move to make? Either way, I'll work through it and figure it out.

http://ellislab.com/codeigniter/user-guide/libraries/sessions.html (a little more of than half way down)

Thanks again Randy!

I'm not that familiar with it, but I am familiar with sessions and session-like behavior. Whether or not this kind of solution is the right approach depends on what this data is. When they first visit the page, you seem to have the data. Where are you getting it from? Why can't you get it from the same place on this second screen?

Randy,

This is how I'm extracting the data.

I make a function in my model_data (which handles all database information. extracting, deleting, updating etc.. all database info. is handled in my model_data)

The below syntax gets the ID, year, make and model

function display_car_to_insert_price($id)
{
 $this->db->select('id,year,make,model');
 $query = $this->db->get_where('tbl_car_description',
 array(
  'id' => $id)
 );
  if($query->num_rows()) return $query->result();
  return null;
}

The next step is the site controller. The site controller basically does all of the "heavy" lifting of the website. Form validation, new member registration, etc .....

The below syntax gets data from the function above display_car_to_insert_price($id) and displays it in the view.

    public function update_price_of_car($id)
    {

if (($this->session->userdata('is_logged_in') == 1)){

if(is_null($id)) return false;
$this->load->model('model_data');
    $data['updateprices'] = $this->model_data->display_car_to_insert_price($id);
$this->load->view('view_pricing_information',$data);

} else {
  // maybe load another view and carry the values over?
  echo anchor('site/login', 'Login!');

The last step is the view. My view is called view_pricing_information.php. The view displays all of the information that being extracted from the database onto my website. I'm putting the "updateprices" into an array. Below is my entire syntax for my view. It's rather long but the first approx 65 lines are the most important. Tell me what you think. Thanks.

  <style type="text/css" media="screen">
  label{display: block}
 </style>

 <?php

  $userid = $this->session->userdata('id').'<br>';
  // https://teamtreehouse.com/forum/codeigniter-form-validation
  if (!isset($id)) $id = "";

   echo 'This is the ID of the User = '."$userid".'<br>';

   echo (isset($error)) ? $error : "";

     if(isset($updateprices) && !is_null($updateprices))
     {
       echo "Car# " . $updateprices[0]->id . "<br />";

   foreach ($updateprices as $prices)
       {
   echo 'ID Of Vehicle: '.$prices->id.'<br>';
   echo 'Year: '.$prices->year.'<br>';
   echo 'Make: '.$prices->make.'<br>';
   echo 'Model: '.$prices->model.'<br>';
   echo '<hr>';

   $id = $prices->id;
   $year = $prices->year;
   $make = $prices->make;
   $model = $prices->model;
   echo "$id".'<br>';

       }
     }

   echo form_open('site/form_validate_cars'); 

   // print_r($this->session->flashdata('test'));

   echo validation_errors();

      if(!isset($updateprices) || is_null($updateprices)) {
       echo 'Bummer! $carprices doesn\'t exist any more.'.'<br>';
       }

   if(!isset($updateprices) || is_null($updateprices)) {
      echo 'Bummer! $carprices doesn\'t exist any more.'.'<br>';
      }

   if(!isset($updateprices) || is_null($updateprices)) {
       echo "Bummer! doesn't exist any more.";
       }


   $data = array(
          'cardescription_id'    => 
          "$id", // this would have to be the ID of the vehicle in the database
          'caruser_id' => 
          "$userid" //  number of the user
        );

       echo form_hidden($data);


   echo form_label('Value:','value');

   $data = array(
    'name' => 'value',
    'id' => 'value',
    'value' => set_value('value')
   );

   echo form_input($data);

   // -----------------

   echo form_label('Exterior Color:','exterior_color');

   $data = array(
    'name' => 'exterior_color',
    'id' => 'exterior_color',
    'value' => set_value('exterior_color')
   );

   echo form_input($data);

   // -----------------

   echo form_label('Interior Color', 'interior_color');

   $data = array(
    'name' => 'interior_color',
    'id' => 'interior_color',
    'value' => set_value('interior_color')
   );

   echo form_input($data);

   // -----------------

   echo form_label('Mileage:','mileage');

   $data = array(
    'name' => 'mileage',
    'id' => 'mileage',
    'value' => set_value('mileage')
    );

   echo form_input($data);

   // -----------------

  echo '<br>';

  echo form_label('Engine:','engine');

  $data = array(
   '4Cyl' => '4Cyl',
   '6Cyl' => '6Cyl',
   'V8' => 'V8'
  );

  echo form_dropdown('engine',$data,'4Cyl');

  // -----------------

  echo '<br>';

  echo form_label('Transmission:','transmission');

  $data = array(
   'Automatic' => 'Automatic',
   'Standard' => 'Standard'
  );

  echo form_dropdown('transmission',$data,'Automatic');

  // -----------------

  echo '<br>';

  echo form_label('Gas Type:','gas_type');

  $data = array(
   'Gasoline' => 'Gasoline',
   'Diesel' => 'Diesel',
   'Electric' => 'Electric'
  );

  echo form_dropdown('gas_type',$data,'Gasoline');

  // -----------------

  echo form_label('State:','state');

  $data = array(
   'Texas' => 'Texas',
   'California' => 'California',
   'Florida' => 'Florida',
   'Nevada' => 'Nevada'
  );

  echo form_dropdown('State',$data,'California');

  echo '<br>';

  echo form_submit('SubmitDealerInfo','Submit!');

  echo form_close();

      ?>

Where is update_price_of_car() getting called? I'm guessing this is getting called in a controller somewhere.

Yes Randy, it's getting called in my "Site Controller"

Below is a condensed version of my "Site Controller"

Please advise. Thanks again, appreciate the help!

<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');

class Site extends CI_Controller {

public function update_price_of_car($id)
{

if (($this->session->userdata('is_logged_in') == 1)){

if(is_null($id)) return false;
$this->load->model('model_data');
    $data['updateprices'] = $this->model_data->display_car_to_insert_price($id);
$this->load->view('view_pricing_information',$data);

} else {
  // notes to myself: maybe load another view and carry the values over?
  echo anchor('site/login', 'Login!');
}
}

I think this is where the function gets defined, not where it gets called. Do you have code in a function in here named "edit" or something that call this function? Or is the framework calling this function automatically because the action is "update_price_of_car"?

Hi Randy,

I actually found a work around to this issue I was having. Note: it's the not greatest solution but it works. I think ultimately my solution lays with CI flash data.

This is what I did (not sure why I didn't think of this before) but the error messages I'm displaying in another view.

Part of my form if ($this->form_validation->run() == FALSE) {
$this->load->view('view_error_information', $data); }

View_error_information view <?php if (($this->session->userdata('is_logged_in') == 1)){ echo (isset($error)) ? $error : ""; echo validation_errors(); } else { echo anchor('site/login', 'Login!'); }
?>

Sorry I wasn't more help: I just couldn't figure out enough from the code you posted to be helpful. Glad you got it working!

You were def. helpful!

Thanks again Randy!

Hi Randy,

Thanks for the reply. I'm defining my variables in the if statement.

   $id = $prices->id;
   $year = $prices->year;
   $make = $prices->make;
   $model = $prices->model;

When I use those variables in the array they aren't working. I'm not sure why?

If the $carprices variable is not set, then that code that defines the variable is not executed. When you encounter the error, does the $carprices variable have a value?

Randy,

Initially the variable $carprices is set. I'm confident it's set because I can see the year, make, model and ID of the vehicle. I'm only getting the error message when I click "submit" and the same view is loaded.

"When you encounter the error, does the $carprices variable have a value?"

No, the it's saying it's the variable is undefined (error message below). How can it be defined one second and literally one second later (after I click submit) it becomes undefined? I don't understand that.

Below is the error message. I'm only displaying one error message because I'm getting the same exact error message for year, make and model.

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Notice

Message: Undefined variable: id

Filename: views/view_pricing_information.php

Line Number: 55

Thanks, any help would be greatly appreciated.

It looks to me like the $carprices variable doesn't exist any more. When someone clicks Submit, I suspect the page is refreshing. The variable might exist when the page first loads but might not exist after the Submit button is clicked.

How about this? Would you mind trying something for me? You have two lines of code that looks like this:

...
echo validation_errors();

$data = array(
...

In between these two blocks of code, can you add the following code?

...
echo validation_errors();

if(!isset($carprices) || is_null($carprices)) {
    echo "Bummer! $carprices doesn't exist any more.";
}

$data = array(
...

With that code in place, what happens when you get the CodeIgniter "A PHP Error was encountered" error? Do you see this new message?

Hi Randy,

My apol. for the my delayed response.

I tried your syntax, I'm still getting the error messages like I said in my previous reply when I click "submit" but now I'm also getting your echo message of "Bummer! $carprices doesn't exist any more." before I even click "submit". What should I do next?

Thanks Randy, Shane

PS. I had to make one small change to your syntax.

I took the syntax echo "Bummer! $carprices doesn't exist any more.";

and changed it to this echo 'Bummer! $carprices doesn\'t exist any more.';

I reason why I had to change it from single quotes to double quotes is because I was getting the below error message

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Notice

Message: Undefined variable: carprices

Filename: views/view_pricing_information.php

Line Number: 62