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When a form is not completed correctly, we ask the user to review the form and resubmit. It is much easier on the user when the form saves the data that was entered so the user doesn't have to start from scratch. In addition, when redisplaying user data, we want to make sure we escape output.
Course
Build a Basic PHP Website: Escaping Output
Documentation
htmlspecialchars() converts special characters to HTML entities.
Let's set the value of these form
fields equal to the user data.
0:00
Currently we are setting the variables for
the form fields after the form post.
0:05
That means when we view
the form before it's submitted,
0:10
those variables won't exist.
0:13
So we would need to check
if those variables are set
0:15
before we could use
them in the form value.
0:18
But there's another way.
0:21
Let's set each of these variables to
an empty string at the beginning of our
0:22
script, then we know that the variable is
set and we can use it even if it's empty.
0:26
We can add each of these on one line,
putting them all together.
0:35
$project_id = $title
which equals $date which
0:39
equals $time which finally
equals our empty string.
0:44
Now let's use the variables to
update the form field values.
0:50
As we explored in the previous course,
0:59
it's a good idea to escape output
whenever you output user data.
1:01
Be sure to check the notes
associated with this video for
1:05
a more detailed explanation.
1:08
We'll use HTML special chars for this.
1:10
So our PHP will echo htmlspecialchars,
And our title.
1:15
Then close our php.
1:26
Let's copy that code for
$date and $time as well.
1:27
We have to do something a little
different for our select.
1:39
After I select value, let's break this up.
1:42
Then we can add a conditional,
1:53
if ($project_id == $item
1:57
Project_id Then
2:02
we're going to echo selected.
2:09
Now let's refresh the browser,
resubmitting the form data.
2:16
This time the fields we already
filled out are still complete.
2:20
So I can easily choose a project,
And submit the form again.
2:24
This time we're redirected to the task
list where we see our new task.
2:31
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