Php://Input <> $_Post

PHP php://input vs $_POST

The reason is that php://input returns all the raw data after the HTTP-headers of the request, regardless of the content type.

The PHP superglobal $_POST, only is supposed to wrap data that is either

application/x-www-form-urlencoded (standard content type for simple form-posts) or
multipart/form-data (mostly used for file uploads)

This is because these are the only content types that must be supported by user agents. So the server and PHP traditionally don't expect to receive any other content type (which doesn't mean they couldn't).

So, if you simply POST a good old HTML form, the request looks something like this:

POST /page.php HTTP/1.1

key1=value1&key2=value2&key3=value3

But if you are working with Ajax a lot, this probaby also includes exchanging more complex data with types (string, int, bool) and structures (arrays, objects), so in most cases JSON is the best choice. But a request with a JSON-payload would look something like this:

POST /page.php HTTP/1.1

{"key1":"value1","key2":"value2","key3":"value3"}

The content would now be application/json (or at least none of the above mentioned), so PHP's $_POST-wrapper doesn't know how to handle that (yet).

The data is still there, you just can't access it through the wrapper. So you need to fetch it yourself in raw format with file_get_contents('php://input') (as long as it's not multipart/form-data-encoded).

This is also how you would access XML-data or any other non-standard content type.

If isset $_POST

Most form inputs are always set, even if not filled up, so you must check for the emptiness too.

Since !empty() is already checks for both, you can use this:

if (!empty($_POST["mail"])) {
    echo "Yes, mail is set";    
} else {  
    echo "No, mail is not set";
}

Setting POST variable without using form

Yes, simply set it to another value:

$_POST['text'] = 'another value';

This will override the previous value corresponding to text key of the array. The $_POST is superglobal associative array and you can change the values like a normal PHP array.

Caution: This change is only visible within the same PHP execution scope. Once the execution is complete and the page has loaded, the $_POST array is cleared. A new form submission will generate a new $_POST array.

If you want to persist the value across form submissions, you will need to put it in the form as an input tag's value attribute or retrieve it from a data store.

Using $_POST to get select option value from HTML

Use this way:

$selectOption = $_POST['taskOption'];

But it is always better to give values to your <option> tags.

<select name="taskOption">
  <option value="1">First</option>
  <option value="2">Second</option>
  <option value="3">Third</option>
</select>

Send value of submit button when form gets posted

The button names are not submit, so the php $_POST['submit'] value is not set. As in isset($_POST['submit']) evaluates to false.

<html>
<form action="" method="post">
    <input type="hidden" name="action" value="submit" />
    <select name="name">
        <option>John</option>
        <option>Henry</option>
    <select>
<!-- 
make sure all html elements that have an ID are unique and name the buttons submit 
-->
    <input id="tea-submit" type="submit" name="submit" value="Tea">
    <input id="coffee-submit" type="submit" name="submit" value="Coffee">
</form>
</html>

<?php
if (isset($_POST['action'])) {
    echo '<br />The ' . $_POST['submit'] . ' submit button was pressed<br />';
}
?>

HTML Form POST is null

This code is working. You need to add some condition, that checks, if $username is posted or not.

Something like that:

if(count($_POST)){
    $username ='';
    if(isset($_POST['user'])){
        $username = $_POST['user'];
    if ($username==null || !$username)
         echo 'username is null';
     echo strlen($username);
     echo $username;
   }

 }

php://input $_POST?

$_POST gives you form variables, which show up in the page like this:

POST /some_path HTTP/1.1

myvar=something&secondvar=somethingelse

But what you're getting isn't a valid query string. It probably looks something like this:

POST /some_path HTTP/1.1

{'this':'is a JSON object','notice':'it\'s not a valid query string'}

php://input gives you everything after the headers in raw form, so in this case I think it's the only way to get what you want.

How to get input field value using PHP

Use PHP's $_POST or $_GET superglobals to retrieve the value of the input tag via the name of the HTML tag.

For Example, change the method in your form and then echo out the value by the name of the input:

Using $_GET method:

<form name="form" action="" method="get">
  <input type="text" name="subject" id="subject" value="Car Loan">
</form>

To show the value:

<?php echo $_GET['subject']; ?>

Using $_POST method:

<form name="form" action="" method="post">
  <input type="text" name="subject" id="subject" value="Car Loan">
</form>

To show the value:

<?php echo $_POST['subject']; ?>

Send email with PHP from html form on submit with the same script

EDIT (#1)

If I understand correctly, you wish to have everything in one page and execute it from the same page.

You can use the following code to send mail from a single page, for example index.php or contact.php

The only difference between this one and my original answer is the <form action="" method="post"> where the action has been left blank.

It is better to use header('Location: thank_you.php'); instead of echo in the PHP handler to redirect the user to another page afterwards.

Copy the entire code below into one file.

<?php 
if(isset($_POST['submit'])){
    $to = "email@example.com"; // this is your Email address
    $from = $_POST['email']; // this is the sender's Email address
    $first_name = $_POST['first_name'];
    $last_name = $_POST['last_name'];
    $subject = "Form submission";
    $subject2 = "Copy of your form submission";
    $message = $first_name . " " . $last_name . " wrote the following:" . "\n\n" . $_POST['message'];
    $message2 = "Here is a copy of your message " . $first_name . "\n\n" . $_POST['message'];

    $headers = "From:" . $from;
    $headers2 = "From:" . $to;
    mail($to,$subject,$message,$headers);
    mail($from,$subject2,$message2,$headers2); // sends a copy of the message to the sender
    echo "Mail Sent. Thank you " . $first_name . ", we will contact you shortly.";
    // You can also use header('Location: thank_you.php'); to redirect to another page.
    }
?>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
<title>Form submission</title>
</head>
<body>

<form action="" method="post">
First Name: <input type="text" name="first_name"><br>
Last Name: <input type="text" name="last_name"><br>
Email: <input type="text" name="email"><br>
Message:<br><textarea rows="5" name="message" cols="30"></textarea><br>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit">
</form>

</body>
</html>

Original answer

I wasn't quite sure as to what the question was, but am under the impression that a copy of the message is to be sent to the person who filled in the form.

Here is a tested/working copy of an HTML form and PHP handler. This uses the PHP mail() function.

The PHP handler will also send a copy of the message to the person who filled in the form.

You can use two forward slashes // in front of a line of code if you're not going to use it.

For example: // $subject2 = "Copy of your form submission"; will not execute.

HTML FORM:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
<title>Form submission</title>
</head>
<body>

<form action="mail_handler.php" method="post">
First Name: <input type="text" name="first_name"><br>
Last Name: <input type="text" name="last_name"><br>
Email: <input type="text" name="email"><br>
Message:<br><textarea rows="5" name="message" cols="30"></textarea><br>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit">
</form>

</body>
</html>

PHP handler (mail_handler.php)

(Uses info from HTML form and sends the Email)

<?php 
if(isset($_POST['submit'])){
    $to = "email@example.com"; // this is your Email address
    $from = $_POST['email']; // this is the sender's Email address
    $first_name = $_POST['first_name'];
    $last_name = $_POST['last_name'];
    $subject = "Form submission";
    $subject2 = "Copy of your form submission";
    $message = $first_name . " " . $last_name . " wrote the following:" . "\n\n" . $_POST['message'];
    $message2 = "Here is a copy of your message " . $first_name . "\n\n" . $_POST['message'];

    $headers = "From:" . $from;
    $headers2 = "From:" . $to;
    mail($to,$subject,$message,$headers);
    mail($from,$subject2,$message2,$headers2); // sends a copy of the message to the sender
    echo "Mail Sent. Thank you " . $first_name . ", we will contact you shortly.";
    // You can also use header('Location: thank_you.php'); to redirect to another page.
    // You cannot use header and echo together. It's one or the other.
    }
?>

To send as HTML:

If you wish to send mail as HTML and for both instances, then you will need to create two separate sets of HTML headers with different variable names.

Read the manual on mail() to learn how to send emails as HTML:

http://php.net/manual/en/function.mail.php

Footnotes:

In regards to HTML5

You have to specify the URL of the service that will handle the submitted data, using the action attribute.

As outlined at https://www.w3.org/TR/html5/forms.html under 4.10.1.3 Configuring a form to communicate with a server. For complete information, consult the page.

Therefore, action="" will not work in HTML5.

The proper syntax would be:

action="handler.xxx" or
action="http://www.example.com/handler.xxx".

Note that xxx will be the extension of the type of file used to handle the process. This could be a .php, .cgi, .pl, .jsp file extension etc.

Consult the following Q&A on Stack if sending mail fails:

PHP mail form doesn't complete sending e-mail