forms, functions and PHP

stakey

hi all,

beginner at PHP, doing an installation script for PHP project. at the moment im just throwing information from one page to another, which means the installation script is four pages long

1) enter mysql information
2) check mysql info, start session, connect to db, enter user information
3) check user info, create user account, enter site config information
4) check config info and enter into database

these are all functions in one page being called in the next

what i wanted to do for my own mental health was (if possible)

throw values from one function to another, allowing them to act like pages so i only have one install.php instead of install1.php, install2.php and so forth...



here is some example code

install.php


function step1()
{

if (!isset($_POST)) $_POST = ' ';
if (!isset($_POST)) $_POST = ' ';
if (!isset($_POST)) $_POST = ' ';

echo '<p>All fields are required.</p>';
echo '<form action="testfunction4.php" method="post">';
echo '<table border="0" cellspacing="4" cellpadding="0">';
echo '<tr><td>mySQL Server:::: </td><td><input type="text" name="mysql_server" value="'.htmlspecialchars($_POST).'"></td></tr>';
echo '<tr><td>mySQL Username:: </td><td><input type="text" name="mysql_user" value="'.htmlspecialchars($_POST).'"></td></tr>';
echo '<tr><td>mySQL Password:: </td><td><input type="password" name="mysql_pass" value="'.htmlspecialchars($_POST).'"></td></tr>';
echo '<tr><td colspan="2"><input type="submit" value="Submit" name="submit"></td></tr>';
echo '</table>';
echo '</form>';
}



error check on next page

install2.php

<?php


require_once 'install.php';


if (isset($_POST)) {

$error_str = ''; // initialise $error_str as empty
if (empty($_POST)) $error_str .= '<li>You did not spcify a server.</li>';
if (empty($_POST)) $error_str .= '<li>You did not specify a username.</li>';
if (empty($_POST)) $error_str .= '<li>You did not specify a password.</li>';

if (strlen($_POST) < 2) $error_str .= '<li>Server name must be longer than 1 letter.</li>';
if (strlen($_POST) < 4) $error_str .= '<li>Username must be longer than 3 letters.</li>';
if (strlen($_POST) < 4) $error_str .= '<li>Password must be longer than 3 letters.</li>';

if (!empty($error_str)) {

echo '<p>There were errors in the information you entered, they are listed below:</p>';
echo '<ul>'.$error_str.'</ul>';

step1();
exit; // die
}

} else {

step1();
}

?>

followed by a connection to db and what not

any suggestions???