$_POST undefined index PHP error

Question

My html code which receives the string:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
    <title>title</title>
</head>
<body>
    <font face="Segoe UI" siz ="3">
    <form action="process.php" action="post">
    Suggestion: <input type="text" name="sgst" autocomplete="off">
    <input type="submit">
</form>
</font>
</body>
</html>

My PHP which processes it: (process.php)

<?php
    if ($_POST["sgst"]=="john") {
        echo "john";
    } else {
        echo "someone";
    }
?>

I am getting the error

Notice: Undefined index: sgst in C:\xampp\htdocs\test\process.php on line 2

Can anyone tell me what is causing the error?

in your form attribute please use method="post" instead of action="post". — Hardik Solanki
– Hardik Solanki, Commented Oct 13, 2014 at 12:26
It means no value was passed in. PHP notices can generally be ignored unless you're having other problems. — Anthony
– Anthony, Commented Oct 13, 2014 at 12:26
@hardiksolanki Yea, it was a typo. Probably result of not having sleep last night. Thank you! :D — blah
– blah, Commented Oct 13, 2014 at 12:33

David · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-13 12:27:28Z

1

You're re-using the action attribute on the form element:

<form action="process.php" action="post">

I'm surprised the form is even posting at all given that. Though given the symptoms it seems to at least be enough to confuse the POST. I think you meant to use the method attribute:

<form action="process.php" method="post">

A couple other notes:

You'll want to make use of isset() in your server-side code. The code shouldn't assume that all values will be posted, since the server can't control what a client sends it. Best to explicitly validate the data coming in before using it.
font elements are pretty dated, and if they're not officially deprecated they should be :) CSS styling would be the way to go for client-side UI styles.

answered Oct 13, 2014 at 12:27

David

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Comments

andrew · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-13 12:31:55Z

1

use isset

if(isset($_POST["sgst"]=="john")){

}

edited Oct 13, 2014 at 12:31

andrew

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answered Oct 13, 2014 at 12:29

user4137432

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Comments

Ronser · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-13 12:26:35Z

0

it shows undefined because at first the value is not initialized

use isset() inorder to check for value declared or not then it wont show error...

try this i have changed

<?PHP 
if (isset($_POST["sgst"])
{
   if ($_POST["sgst"]=="john") {
    echo "john";
   } else {
    echo "someone";
   }
}
?>

answered Oct 13, 2014 at 12:26

Ronser

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2 Comments

blah Over a year ago

No matter what name I enter now, it always says "someone".

Ronser Over a year ago

try this i have changed

bhushya · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-13 12:26:44Z

0

Try following

use Method attribute like method="post"in form tag instead of action="post"

answered Oct 13, 2014 at 12:26

bhushya

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Comments

Vinod VT · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-13 12:28:41Z

0

You are missing method attribute.

Using two forms- Remove first form.

Try this,

<form action="process.php" method="post">

 <?php
        if(!empty($_POST)){
        if ($_POST["sgst"]=="john") {
                echo "john";
            } else {
                echo "someone";
            }
        }
        ?>

answered Oct 13, 2014 at 12:28

Vinod VT

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Comments

Manish Jesani · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-13 12:35:41Z

0

<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
    <title>title</title>
</head>
<body>
    <font face="Segoe UI" siz ="3">
    <form action="process.php" method="post">
    Suggestion: <input type="text" name="sgst" autocomplete="off">
    <input type="submit">
</form>
</font>
</body>
</html>    


 if (isset($_POST["sgst"]) && $_POST["sgst"]=="john") {
            echo "john";
        } else {
            echo "someone";
        }

edited Oct 13, 2014 at 12:35

answered Oct 13, 2014 at 12:27

Manish Jesani

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