Defined Variable in PHP script has undefined variable error

Question

I'm recieving an issue in the following php code. I am recieiving an unknown variable error in line 146, (echo $newrecord) variable. I'm not sure what is wrong with this variable, I have defined it in the IF statement, and am simply echoing if it is successful. I originally had that segment of code (after ) at the top of the script, but it was causing issues with the mandatory field error messages displaying properly. Any help is appreciated!

<!DOCTYPE HTML>  
<html>
<head>
<style>
.error {color: #FF0000;}
</style>
</head>
<body>  

<?php
// define variables and set to empty values
$nameErr = $emailErr = $genderErr = $websiteErr = $subErr = "";
$name = $email = $gender = $comment = $website = $sub = $newrecord = "";

if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
  if (empty($_POST["Name"])) {
    $nameErr = "Name is required";
  } else {
    $name = test_input($_POST["Name"]);
    // check if name only contains letters and whitespace
    if (!preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z ]*$/",$name)) {
      $nameErr = "Only letters and white space allowed"; 
    }
  }

  if (empty($_POST["Email"])) {
    $emailErr = "Email is required";
  } else {
    $email = test_input($_POST["Email"]);
    // check if e-mail address is well-formed
    if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
      $emailErr = "Invalid email format"; 
    }
  }

  if (empty($_POST["Website"])) {
    $website = "";
  } else {
    $website = test_input($_POST["Website"]);
    // check if URL address syntax is valid (this regular expression also allows dashes in the URL)
    if (!preg_match("/\b(?:(?:https?|ftp):\/\/|www\.)[-a-z0-9+&@#\/%?=~_|!:,.;]*[-a-z0-9+&@#\/%=~_|]/i",$website)) {
      $websiteErr = "Invalid URL"; 
    }
  }

  if (empty($_POST["Comment"])) {
    $comment = "";
  } else {
    $comment = test_input($_POST["Comment"]);
  }

  if (empty($_POST["gender"])) {
    $genderErr = "Gender is required";
  } else {
    $gender = test_input($_POST["gender"]);
  }

if (empty($_POST["Subscription"])) {
    $subErr = "Subscription is required"; }
 else {
    $sub = test_input($_POST["Subscription"]);
    }
}

function test_input($data) {
  $data = trim($data);
  $data = stripslashes($data);
  $data = htmlspecialchars($data);
  return $data;
}
?>

<h2>Southern Tier Daily News</h2>
<form method="post" action="Newspaper3.php">
<input type="hidden" name="submitted" value="true"/>

<img src="https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/dnews.com/content/tncms/custom/image/5eec4204-483e-11e6-93c8-97ef236dc6c5.jpg?_dc=1468334339" alt="HTML5 Icon" style="width:128px;height:128px;">
    <p><span class="error">* required field.</span></p>
<form method="post" action="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($_SERVER["PHP_SELF"]);?>">
<fieldset>
 <legend>Newspaper Subscription Request</legend>  
  Name: <input type="text" name="Name" value="<?php echo $name;?>">
  <span class="error">* <?php echo $nameErr;?></span>
  <br><br>
  E-mail: <input type="text" name="Email" value="<?php echo $email;?>">
  <span class="error">* <?php echo $emailErr;?></span>
  <br><br>
  Website: <input type="text" name="Website" value="<?php echo $website;?>">
  <span class="error"><?php echo $websiteErr;?></span>
  <br><br>
  Comment: <textarea name="Comment" rows="5" cols="40"><?php echo $comment;?></textarea>
  <br><br>
  Gender:
  <input type="radio" name="gender" <?php if (isset($gender) && $gender=="female") echo "checked";?> value="female">Female
  <input type="radio" name="gender" <?php if (isset($gender) && $gender=="male") echo "checked";?> value="male">Male
  <span class="error">* <?php echo $genderErr;?></span>
    <br><br>
  Subscription:
   <select name="Subscription">
       <option value=""></option>
   <option value="Daily">Daily</option>
   <option value="Evening">Evening</option>
   <option value="Weekly">Weekly</option>
   <option value="Monthly">Monthly</option>
</select> 
  <span class="error">* <?php echo $subErr;?></span>

  <br><br>
  <input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit"> 
<br><br>
<a href="https://www.google.com/">Visit Admin Page</a>
 </fieldset>
</form>

<?php
echo "<h2>Your Input:</h2>";
echo $name;
echo "<br>";
echo $email;
echo "<br>";
echo $website;
echo "<br>";
echo $comment;
echo "<br>";
echo $gender;
echo "<br>";
echo $sub;
?>

<?php

if (isset($_POST['submitted'])) {

include('connect-mysql.php');

$fname = $_POST['Name'];
$femail = $_POST['Email'];
$fcomment = $_POST['Comment'];
$fsubsciption = $_POST['Subscription'];
$sqlinsert = "INSERT INTO newspaper (Name, Email, Comment, Subscription) VALUES ('$fname',
'$femail', '$fcomment', '$fsubsciption')";

      if (!mysqli_query($dbcon, $sqlinsert))  {
           die('error inserting new record');       

  }     // end of nested if statement

        $newrecord = "1 record added to the database";

}  // end of main if statement

?>

<?php

echo $newrecord

?>



</body>
</html>

What happens if the code inside the if is never executed?

Juan
– Juan

2017-08-31 20:22:58 +00:00
Commented Aug 31, 2017 at 20:22 — Juan
– Juan, Commented Aug 31, 2017 at 20:22

Jonathan DeLorenzo · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-31 20:55:24Z

2

newrecord is defined and initialized inside the if statement, therefore if your code opts to the else, it will skip the if and your newrecord variable won't exist.

answered Aug 31, 2017 at 20:55

Jonathan DeLorenzo

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Comments

ReenL · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-31 20:24:59Z

0

$newrecord is defined within an if statement, when the if is not executed the variable is not available. You can define it by default adding $newrecord = ''; before you start the if for the submit.

answered Aug 31, 2017 at 20:24

ReenL

964 bronze badges

1 Comment

Kevin Over a year ago

Ok that variable error is now gone, thanks! The web page loads properly now, but upon populating all fields and pressing Submit button I am getting back my "error inserting new record" defined error message displaying. Any ideas? I also noticed after clicking Submit, that I also have my "Gender is required" message displaying, and the value is being cleared out after pressing submit.

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