In PHP, the predefined
$_POST variable is used to collect values in a form with
method="post".
The $_POST Variable
The
predefined $_POST variable is used to collect values from a form sent with
method="post".Information sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits on the amount of information to send.
Note: However, there is an 8 Mb max size for the POST method, by default (can be changed by setting the post_max_size in the php.ini file).
Example
<form
action="welcome.php" method="post">
Name: <input type="text" name="fname" />
Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
<input type="submit" />
</form>
When
the user clicks the "Submit" button, the URL will look like this:Name: <input type="text" name="fname" />
Age: <input type="text" name="age" />
<input type="submit" />
</form>
http://www.domainname.com/welcome.php
The
"welcome.php" file can now use the $_POST variable to collect form
data (the names of the form fields will automatically be the keys in the $_POST
array):
Welcome <?php echo
$_POST["fname"]; ?>!<br />
You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old.
You are <?php echo $_POST["age"]; ?> years old.
When to use method="post"?
Information
sent from a form with the POST method is invisible to others and has no limits
on the amount of information to send.However, because the variables are not displayed in the URL, it is not possible to bookmark the page.
The PHP $_REQUEST Variable
The
predefined $_REQUEST variable contains the contents of both $_GET, $_POST, and
$_COOKIE.The $_REQUEST variable can be used to collect form data sent with both the GET and POST methods.
Example
Welcome <?php echo
$_REQUEST["fname"]; ?>!<br />
You are <?php echo $_REQUEST["age"]; ?> years old.
You are <?php echo $_REQUEST["age"]; ?> years old.
