PHP | Get input name through $_POST[]

Question

HTML example:

  <form method="post" id="form" action="form_action.php">
    <input name="email" type="text" />
  </form>

User fills input field with: [email protected]

echo $_POST['email']; //output: [email protected]

The name and value of each input within the form is send to the server. Is there a way to get the name property? So something like..

echo $_POST['email'].name; //output: email

EDIT: To clarify some confusion about my question;

The idea was to validate each input dynamically using a switch. I use a separate validation class to keep everything clean. This is a short example of my end result:

//Main php page
if (is_validForm()) {
    //All input is valid, do something..
}

//Separate validation class    
function is_validForm () {
    foreach ($_POST as $name => $value) {
        if (!is_validInput($name, $value)) return false;
    }
    return true;
   }

function is_validInput($name, $value) {
    if (!$this->is_input($value)) return false; 

    switch($name) {
        case email: return $this->is_email($value);  
        break;
        case password: return $this->is_password($value);
        break;
//and all other inputs
        }
    }

Thanks to raina77ow and everyone else!

You know that the array key is actually the name, so when you know the key why would you need to do that? Perhaps you can suggest what you're trying to do. — Alvin Wong
– Alvin Wong, Commented Nov 14, 2012 at 11:28

raina77ow · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-14 11:23:56Z

23

You can process $_POST in foreach loop to get both names and their values, like this:

foreach ($_POST as $name => $value) {
   echo $name; // email, for example
   echo $value; // the same as echo $_POST['email'], in this case
}

But you're not able to fetch the name of property from $_POST['email'] value - it's a simple string, and it does not store its "origin".

answered Nov 14, 2012 at 11:23

raina77ow

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2 Comments

Waleed Khan Over a year ago

Careful about mass-assignment attacks, though.

asprin Over a year ago

@WaleedKhan Care to elaborate? I'm coming across that term for the first time

DonCallisto · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-14 11:24:25Z

3

foreach($_POST as $key => $value)
{
 echo 'Key is: '.$key;
 echo 'Value is: '.$value;
}

answered Nov 14, 2012 at 11:24

DonCallisto

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Comments

Adam · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-14 11:26:02Z

1

If you wanted to do it dynamically though, you could do it like this:

foreach ($_POST as $key => $value)
{
    echo 'Name: ', $key, "\nValue: ", $value, "\n"; 
}

answered Nov 14, 2012 at 11:26

Adam

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Comments

user1386320 · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-14 11:26:43Z

1

Loop your object/array with foreach:

foreach($_POST as $key => $items) {
    echo $key . "<br />";
}

Or you can use var_dump or print_r to debug large variables like arrays or objects:

echo '<pre>' . print_r($_POST, true) . '</pre>';

Or

echo '<pre>';
var_dump($_POST);
echo '</pre>';

answered Nov 14, 2012 at 11:26

user1386320

Comments

Nikhil Girraj · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-14 11:33:58Z

1

Actually I found something that might work for you, have a look at this-

http://php.net/manual/en/function.key.php

This page says that the code below,

<?php
$array = array(
    'fruit1' => 'apple',
    'fruit2' => 'orange',
    'fruit3' => 'grape',
    'fruit4' => 'apple',
    'fruit5' => 'apple');

// this cycle echoes all associative array
// key where value equals "apple"
while ($fruit_name = current($array)) {
    if ($fruit_name == 'apple') {
        echo key($array).'<br />';
    }
    next($array);
}
?>

would give you the output,

fruit1
fruit4
fruit5

As simple as that.

answered Nov 14, 2012 at 11:33

Nikhil Girraj

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Comments

xelber · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-14 11:27:23Z

0

current(array_keys($_POST)) should give you what you are looking for. Haven't tested though.

answered Nov 14, 2012 at 11:27

xelber

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Comments

Mikeys4u · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-09 09:52:35Z

0

Nice neat way to see the form names that are, or will be submitted

<?php
$i=1;
foreach ($_POST as $name => $value) {
echo "</b><p>".$i." ".$name; 
echo " = <b>".$value; 
$i++;
}
?>

Just send your form to this script and it will show you what is being submitted.

answered Dec 9, 2013 at 9:52

Mikeys4u

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Comments

dognose · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-14 11:25:44Z

-2

You can use a foreach Loop to get all values that are set.

foreach ($_POST AS $k=>$v){
    echo "$k is $v";
}

Your example

echo $_POST['email'].name; //output: email

wouldnt make sense, since you already know the name of the value you are accessing?

answered Nov 14, 2012 at 11:25

dognose

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4 Comments

asprin Over a year ago

$k would be the key of the array and $v would be the value of that key

dognose Over a year ago

Please go, read and understand the difference between double quotes and single quotes before rating other posts down. thx.

asprin Over a year ago

Oh that I thought you were referring to $k=>$v

user1178560 Over a year ago

@dognose, See my comment for clarification. Thanks for help!

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