Weird Undefined variable php error

Question

I'm working on a CMS using PHP OOP. And in this CMS, there's a feature which admins of a website can add another admin. What I did for this, is that I created a form and added the action. This file is called admin_new.php and goes like this:

    <?php 
if (isset($_POST['submit'])){
    $username = $_POST['uname'];
    $email = $_POST['email'];
    $password = $_POST['pass'];
    $groups = $_POST['groups'];
    if($groups == "Main Admin"){
        $level = 1;
    }else if($groups == "Administrator"){
        $level = 2;
    }else if($groups == "Content Creator"){
        $level = 3;
    }else if($groups == "Social Media Manager"){
        $level = 4;
    }else{
        $level = 5;
    }
    if (filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL) === false) {
        $notice['email_validation'] = "The email that you have entered is not a valid one";
    }else{
        $registration = new Register();
        $notice = $registration->CheckUname($username,$email,$password,$groups‌,$level);
    }   
}
?>
<div class="content-wrapper">
    <section class="content-header">
        <h1>
            Add New Admin
            <small>You can add new admin here</small>
        </h1>
        <ol class="breadcrumb">
            <li class="active">addnewadmin.php</li>
        </ol>
    </section>
    <section class="content">
        <div class="row">
            <div class="col-md-6">
                <div class="box box-primary">
                    <div class="box-header with-border">
                        <h3 class="box-title">Required Information</h3>
                    </div>
                    <?php 
                    if(isset($notice['email_validation'])) {
                        echo "
                            <div class='alert alert-danger'>
                                <strong>Hey!</strong> ".$notice['email_validation'].".
                            </div>
                        ";
                    }
                    if(isset($notice['username_exists'])) {
                        echo "
                            <div class='alert alert-danger'>
                                <strong>Hey!</strong> ".$notice['username_exists'].".
                            </div>
                        ";
                    }
                    if(isset($notice['email_exists'])) {
                        echo "
                            <div class='alert alert-danger'>
                                <strong>Hey!</strong> ".$notice['email_exists'].".
                            </div>
                        ";
                    }
                    if(isset($notice['success_message'])) {
                        echo "
                            <div class='alert alert-success'>
                                <strong>Hey!</strong> ".$notice['success_message'].".
                            </div>
                        ";
                    }
                    ?>
                    <form role="form" method="POST" action="">
                        <div class="box-body">
                            <div class="form-group">
                                <label>User name</label>
                                <input type="text" class="form-control" placeholder="Enter username" name="uname" required>
                            </div>
                            <div class="form-group">
                                <label for="exampleInputEmail1">Email address</label>
                                <input type="email" class="form-control" id="exampleInputEmail1" placeholder="Enter email" name="email" required>
                            </div>
                            <div class="form-group">
                                <label for="exampleInputPassword1">Temporary password</label>
                                <input type="password" class="form-control" id="exampleInputPassword1" placeholder="Enter password" name="pass" required>
                            </div>
                            <div class="form-group">
                                <label>Group admin</label>
                                <select class="form-control" name="groups">
                                    <option value="Main Admin">Main Admin</option>
                                    <option value="Administrator">Administrator</option>
                                    <option value="Content Creator">Content Creator</option>
                                    <option value="Social Media Manager">Social Media Manager</option>
                                    <option value="Analyst">Analyst</option>
                                </select>
                            </div>
                        </div>
                        <div class="box-footer">
                            Visit <a href="https://zite.pouyavagefi.com/documentation/types.php">admin types</a> documentation to know the differences between each admin.
                        </div>
                        <div class="box-footer">
                            <button name="submit" type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button>
                        </div>
                    </form>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </section>
</div>

As you can see I have called a class named Register and this class also goes here:

    <?php 
class Register
{   
    protected $notice = array();
    private $db;
    public function __construct()
    {
        $this->db = new Connection();
        $this->db = $this->db->dbConnect();
    }
    public function CheckUname($username,$email,$password,$groups,$level)
    {
        if(!empty($username)&&!empty($email)&&!empty($password)&&!empty($groups)&&!empty($level))
        {
            $chk1 = $this->db->prepare("SELECT user_name FROM admins WHERE user_name = ?");
            $chk1->bindParam(1,$username);
            $chk1->execute();
            if($chk1->rowCount() == 1)
            {
                $notice['username_exists'] = "Try different username";
                return $this->notice;
            }else{
                $chk2 = $this->db->prepare("SELECT email_address FROM admins WHERE email_address = ?");
                $chk2->bindParam(1,$email);
                $chk2->execute();
                if($chk2->rowCount() == 1)
                {
                    $notice['email_exists'] = "The email address that you have entered is already exists in database";
                    return $this->notice;
                }else{
                    $this->NewAdmin($username,$email,$password,$groups,$level);
                    $notice['success_message'] = "New admin was successfully added";
                    return $this->notice;
                }
            }
        }
    }
    public function NewAdmin($username,$email,$password,$groups,$level)
    {
        if(!empty($username)&&!empty($email)&&!empty($password)&&!empty($groups)&&!empty($level))
        {
            $reg = $this->db->prepare("INSERT INTO admins (user_name, email_address, password_hash, group_admin, date_joined, admin_level) VALUES ( ?, ?, ?, ?, NOW(), ?)");
            $reg->bindParam(1,$username);
            $reg->bindParam(2,$email);
            $reg->bindParam(3,$password);
            $reg->bindParam(4,$groups);
            $reg->bindParam(5,$level);
            $reg->execute();
        }
    }
    public function getNotice()
    {
        return $this->notice;
    }
}
?>

So it look basically fine and perfect but the ONLY problem with this is that, whenever I try to submit in the form, I get this error:

Undefined variable: groups‌ in admin_new.php on line 22

And line 22 of admin_new.php is this:

$notice = $registration->CheckUname($username,$email,$password,$groups‌,$level);

So you can see in the code that I have defined the $groups variable already and it gets the groups value in the form. Therefore I REALLY don't know why am I getting this error ?!

So if you know what should I do or what is my fault, please let me know.. I really really appreciate that. Thanks

Have you tried to output each variable to check they contain something and go from there? — Jaquarh, Sep 23 '17 at 19:52
Another thing though, seperate from the error is you never return `$this->notice` as anything but null because you declare `$notice` rather than `$this->notice['param'] = 'arg'` — Jaquarh, Sep 23 '17 at 19:54
Guys can you write your comments as answer !! I can't understand what your talking about in this comment section — , Sep 23 '17 at 19:55

Nikola Kirincic · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-23T20:13:04.447

2

You are getting this error since $groups in call

$notice = $registration->CheckUname($username,$email,$password,$groups‌‌,$level);

$groups is written in different encoding and has non-ASCII characters. Probably one or more of the letters is in different language typed. Just type it in regular latin or copy over from above one of the variable mention. That should solve the problem.

Edit: In addition to future problems, if you stumble upon similar issue, just convert code to ASCII encoding and back to UTF-8, and all NON-ASCII characters will be replaced with some generic replacement like underscore or questionmark

edited Sep 23 '17 at 20:13

answered Sep 23 '17 at 19:56

Nikola Kirincic

3,651
1
24
28

How to check if its non-ascii or not – Sep 23 '17 at 20:04
@chris85, try copy paste just that part of code here: http://utils.paranoiaworks.org/diacriticsremover/ – Nikola Kirincic Sep 23 '17 at 20:04
Can you give some refrence or articles about what your talking – Sep 23 '17 at 20:04
Ah, I see, there is trailing content. – chris85 Sep 23 '17 at 20:07
1

@wrephebiajou After `$groups` and before the `,` you have a non-ascii character. – chris85 Sep 23 '17 at 20:08
@wrephebiajou, not sure which editor or IDE you use, but most of them offer you change of encoding. Try to convert from UTF-8 to US-ASCII, and you will get questionmark or other replacement in place of NON-ASCII character – Nikola Kirincic Sep 23 '17 at 20:08
I got u :))), I had to remove white spaces from value of select option field :)) – Sep 23 '17 at 20:10

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 23 '17 at 19:57

0

In below function you have used $groups1 instead of $groups >> Update with $groups.

public function NewAdmin($username,$email,$password,$groups,$level)
    {
        if(!empty($username)&&!empty($email)&&!empty($password)&&!empty($groups)&&!empty($level))
        {
            $reg = $this->db->prepare("INSERT INTO admins (user_name, email_address, password_hash, group_admin, date_joined, admin_level) VALUES ( ?, ?, ?, ?, NOW(), ?)");
            $reg->bindParam(1,$username);
            $reg->bindParam(2,$email);
            $reg->bindParam(3,$password);
            $reg->bindParam(4,$groups1);
            $reg->bindParam(5,$level);
            $reg->execute();
        }
    }

edited Sep 23 '17 at 19:57

chris85

23,846
7
34
51

answered Sep 23 '17 at 19:55

Gaurang Doshi

84
5

2

Why don't you make the correction in your answer? – chris85 Sep 23 '17 at 19:58
That was just for testing issue.. Now the question is updated and the problem exists – Sep 23 '17 at 20:00

Weird Undefined variable php error

2 Answers2