Question

I have setup a form that allows a user to make selections from drop-down lists, and clicking the submit button will redirect them to the appropriate page based off of their selections. Here is the PHP:

<?PHP
function redirect($where){ 
header("Location: $where");
}
if ($_REQUEST['os1'] == 'xp' && $_REQUEST['browser'] == 'ffx'){
redirect('http://mysite.com/index.php/prodemo/prodemo-categories/73-prodemo-xp-        firefox');
}elseif($_REQUEST['os1'] == 'xp' && $_REQUEST['browser'] == 'ie8'){
redirect('http://mysite.com/index.php/prodemo/prodemo-categories/72-prodemo-xp-ie');
}elseif($_REQUEST['os1'] == 'win7' && $_REQUEST['browser'] == 'ie8'){
redirect('http://mysite.com/index.php/prodemo/prodemo-categories/74-prodemo-win7-ie');
}elseif($_REQUEST['os1'] == 'win7' && $_REQUEST['browser'] == 'ffx'){
redirect('http://mysite.com/index.php/prodemo/prodemo-categories/75-prodemo-win7-  firefox');

}
?>

I am manually telling the query where to take the user.

My dilemma is that I want a simple line that says:
“Hi, _. How can I help you?”

The blank would be filled in by the name that is inputted on the form as the Caller’s name.
Here is an example of the form:

<form action="" method="post" name="form1">
Caller's Name: <input type="text" name="callersname" /><br />
<select name="os1">     <option selected="selected" value="xp">XP</option> 
<option value="win7">Win7</option>    </select> <br />
<select name="browser"> <option selected="selected"    value="ie8">IE8</option> 
<option value="ffx">Firefox</option></select> <br />
<input   type="submit" value="Next" />

I’m very new to PHP. If I create a PHP page to post the caller’s name, then how do I avoid the page redirecting to that php page instead of the redirect I have manually setup with the drop-down menu options selected?

Thanks for any advixce

Answer 1

If you want to store the user’s name on a page other than the first page or the same page that is processing the form values (IE the script that’s getting the redirect) you want to store that information either in a database, or more simply in a session.

First, initialize the session on each page where you need to pull that information from:

session_start();

Then, create a session variable (unique to every user/browser) like so:

$_SESSION['user_name'] = $_REQUEST['callersname'];

Now, on the page you wish to retrieve their name (IE Hi ) just do so like this:

echo "Hi {$_SESSION['callersname']} welcome to mcdonalds how may I help you?";