Question

I’m using PHP to show only selected records from a MySQL table. There’s a form with a submit button so the user can refine their search (“Show only records where fieldX = valueY”…)

To make the form sticky I’ve used this code:

<input type="checkbox" name="SBS" value="SBS" <?php if($_POST['SBS'] == 'SBS') echo'checked="checked" ' ?> />

The only problem is that I need the default value to be checked. I tried adding

$_POST['SBS'] = 'SBS';

at the top, but this obviously sets the variable every time the form is submitted, so I can’t turn it off!

Thanks

Answer 1

Don’t set $_POST['SBS']. Let the submit of the form do that.

If you want to default the checkbox to ticked, then you can use $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] to detect a GET or a POST.

This will use the $_POST if the form has been submitted, otherwise if it is a GET, it will default to checked.

<input type="checkbox" name="SBS" value="SBS" <?php if (($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST' && $_POST['SBS'] == 'SBS') || $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'GET') echo'checked="checked" ' ?> />

You could also use $_REQUEST['SBS'] instead of $_POST['SBS'] to default the value from the POST or from the query string, via a GET.