Trying to update MySQL from HTML using PHP; connection works, but nothing gets updated

Question

I'm trying to build an HTML form to update a MySQL database using PHP. When I load the page, the table populates exactly as I intend for it. However, when I change something in one of the text boxes and click the update button, the change doesn't get posted to the database. It just reloads the database into the form/table right where I began. For reference, the name field is just a concatenation of first and last I use as the primary key/id. Where did I go wrong?

<html>
<body>

<?php

define( 'DB_SERVER', '123.234.345.456' );
define( 'DB_USERNAME', 'subad' );
define( 'DB_PASSWORD', 'password' );
define( 'DB_NAME', 'membership' );
$link = mysqli_connect( DB_SERVER, DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD, DB_NAME);
if ( $link === false ) {die( "ERROR: Could not connect. " . mysqli_connect_error() );}
$sql = 'SELECT * FROM members WHERE county = "abc"';
$result = mysqli_query( $link, $sql )or die( "Error With $sql" );

?>

<?php

if(isset($_POST['update'])){
try{$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=123.234.345.456;dbname=membership", "subad", "password");
$pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);} 
catch(PDOException $e){die("ERROR: Could not connect. " . $e->getMessage());}
try{
  $first = $_POST['first'];
  $last = $_POST['last'];
  $phone = $_POST['phone'];
  $email = $_POST['email'];

$sql = "UPDATE members SET first=:first, last=:last, phone=:phone, email=:email WHERE name=:name";

$stmt = $pdo->prepare($sql);

$stmt->bindValue(":first", $first, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$stmt->bindValue(":last", $last, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$stmt->bindValue(":phone", $phone, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$stmt->bindValue(":email", $email, PDO::PARAM_STR);
$stmt->bindValue(":name", $name, PDO::PARAM_STR);

$stmt->execute();}
catch(PDOException $e){die("ERROR: Could not able to execute $sql. " . $e->getMessage());}

}

unset($pdo);?>

<form method="post" action="<?php $_PHP_SELF ?>">
<table width="400" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="2">
<tr>

<?php while($row = mysqli_fetch_array($result)) {$first = $row['first']; $last = $row['last']; $email = $row['email']; $phone = $row['phone']; $name = $row['name']; ?>

<td width="100"></td>
<td><?=$name?></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="100">First</td>
<td><input name="first" type="text" value="<?=$first?>"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="100">Last</td>
<td><input name="last" type="text" value="<?=$last?>"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="100">Email</td>
<td><input name="email" type="text" value="<?=$email?>"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="100">Phone</td>
<td><input name="phone" type="text" value="<?=$phone?>"></td>
</tr>

<?php } ?>
<tr>
<td>
<input name="update" type="submit" id="update" value="Update">
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>

</body>
</html>

@FunkFortyNiner I've always just used mysqli to pull results into HTML. But I figured PDO would be better for the update push since it would be multiple at a time. — Gianni HIll, Jan 09 '19 at 00:47
Possible duplicate of [Multiple inputs with same name through POST in php](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7880619/multiple-inputs-with-same-name-through-post-in-php) — miken32, Jan 09 '19 at 00:57
I added the [] for arrays in the `name=""` field, but it didn't change anything. When I `print_r($first)` after hitting the update button, it shows the array of $first, but does not effect the sql database. — Gianni HIll, Jan 09 '19 at 02:11

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 09 '19 at 04:48

This doesn't look right to me

<form method="post" action="<?php $_PHP_SELF ?>">

I don't see where $_PHP_SELF is set and you're not actually echoing it out. Also you are probably thinking of $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"] but that is likely not what you want. Try just leaving action empty and it will post to the current url:

<form method="post" action="">

Trying to update MySQL from HTML using PHP; connection works, but nothing gets updated

1 Answers1