Aptilis manual: Passing data between forms

Passing data between forms	Try online	Examples

Here we're going to see how to pass data across several forms.
Here are the different techniques we're using in that example:

We use one script, instead of 5, and we use a variable, c, to indicate at what stage we are.
We pass the data previously collected across the different stages in hidden form fields. Example:
```
<INPUT type="hidden" name="firstname" value="Teebo">
```
We print the whole forms directly, instead of using templates and the stuff command, which would be more flexible on a design point of view.

We call a script from a link:

<A href="/cgi-bin/aptilis.exe?file=/home/scripts/multi_forms.e.txt&c=1">Try...</A>

Here's the source of the aptilis program:

sub Init
	// Using an Init sub is a good idea to centralize
	// Initializations, especially if your script is going
	// to move between several servers.


	_ScriptUrl = "http://localhost/cgi-bin/aptilis.exe" $
	_ScriptPath = "f:/projects/aptilis/documentation/targets/local/scripts/multi_forms.e.txt" $

end Init


sub main

	Init()
	print("Content-type: text/html\n\n")


	// In our example all the forms have this part in common
	// Note the use of the c variable, though

	print("<HTML>\n")
	print("<HEAD>\n\t<TITLE>Our form, stage ", int(c)$, "</TITLE>\n</HEAD>\n")
	print("<BODY bgcolor=\"#FFFFD0\">\n")


	print("<H1>Our form, stage ", int(c)$, "</H1>\n")

	print("<FORM action=\"", _ScriptUrl$, "\" method=\"POST\">\n\n")
	print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"file\" value=\"", _ScriptPath$, "\">\n")




	// We use a control variable to know what to do
	select c
	case 1
		// The next stage
		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"c\" value=\"2\">\n\n")

		// We get their first name
		print("Please enter your first name:<BR>\n")
		print("<INPUT type=\"text\" name=\"firstname\" size=30><BR>\n")

		break

	case 2

		// The next stage
		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"c\" value=\"3\">\n\n")

		// This is the BIG SECRET!!
		// How we keep the data across forms
		// We have 'firstname' from the previous form.

		// Double quotes may break the html
		firstname = replace(firstname$, "\"", "'") $
		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"firstname\" value=\"", firstname$, "\">\n\n")


		// We get their first name
		print("Please enter your last name:<BR>\n")
		print("<INPUT type=\"text\" name=\"lastname\" size=30><BR>\n")

		break


	case 3

		// The next stage
		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"c\" value=\"4\">\n\n")

		// Keeping the data from previous forms
		lastname = replace(lastname$, "\"", "'") $
		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"firstname\" value=\"", firstname$, "\">\n")
		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"lastname\" value=\"", lastname$, "\">\n\n")

		print("Please type in your address:<BR>\n")
		print("<TEXTAREA name=\"address\" cols=30 rows=5></TEXTAREA>\n")

		break

	case 4
		// The next stage
		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"c\" value=\"5\">\n\n")

		// Keeping the data from previous forms
		// Here, we must make sure that carriage returns we may have in the address
		// won't break our HTML

		// get rid of those annoying char 13 coming from PCs
		address = replace(address$, "\r", "") $
		// and replace new lines by a code we invented, unlikely to appear in an address
		address = replace(address$, "\n", "&nl;") $

		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"firstname\" value=\"", firstname$, "\">\n")
		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"lastname\" value=\"", lastname$, "\">\n")
		print("<INPUT type=\"hidden\" name=\"address\" value=\"", address$, "\">\n\n")


		// the next (and last) part of our form
		print("You are a:<BR>\n")
		print("<INPUT type=\"radio\" value=\"Male\" name=\"sex\" checked> Man<BR>\n")
		print("<INPUT type=\"radio\" value=\"Female\" name=\"sex\"> Woman<BR>\n")

		break

	case 5
		// And finally...
		print("Here are the details you entered:<BR>\n")

		if sex = "Male" $
			print("Mr ")
		else
			print("Mrs ")
		end if


		print("<FONT color=\"#D00000\">", firstname$, "</FONT> ")
		print("<FONT color=\"#00D000\">", lastname$, "</FONT><BR>\n")

		// We're transforming address into a displayable piece of HTML text
		address = replace(address$, "<", "&lt;") $
		address = replace(address$, ">", "&lt;") $
		address = replace(address$, "&nl;", "<BR>") $

		print("<FONT color=\"#0000D0\">", address$, "</FONT><BR>\n")


		break

	end select



	// part 5 is not a form. so we don't need a submit button
	if c != 5
		print("<P><INPUT type=\"submit\">\n\n")
	end if


	// but since we're always printing the form header, we need that
	// in order to have a clean HTML page
	print("</FORM>\n")



	print("</BODY>\n</HTML>\n")

end main

Things learnt

Using a variable to indicate what part of the script to run.
Putting an Init sub at the begining of the program for easy porting.