ASP Form Data

Lesardah · May 6th, 2004, 04:49 PM

How do I convert form variables to Session variables?

Say, for instance, that the user clicked on a checkbox and submitted the form, and the checkbox they submitted was called "item1" in the form handler. I know that when I do the following in the form handler, the following works to output the data:

<%
dim item1,item2

item1 = request.querystring("checkbox1")
item2 = request.querystring("checkbox2")

if item1="checkbox" then response.write("The item you selected is "&item1)
if item2="checkbox" then response.write("The item you selected is "&item2)

%>

This works perfectly, but if they close the page, everything goes away. I want what they selected to carry with them until they manually close the session by checking out.

How would I summarize all data from the form and attach/convert it to their session, so when they go somewhere else in my site, the results from the previous form sticks with them? Realistically, how could I take variable "item1" and have it apply to a final form?

Imar · May 7th, 2004, 02:48 AM

Hi there,

You can simply save the values you want to Session variables, and later use them again:

Code:

If item1 = "checkbox" Then 
  Session("CheckBox1") = True
End If

Later in your form, you can use this code to preselect the item again:

Code:

Dim CheckedString
If Session("CheckBox1") = True Then
  CheckedString = " checked=""checked"""
End If

...

<form>
<input name="checkbox" type="checkbox" value="checkbox"<%=CheckedString%> />
</form>

When the page is loaded, CheckedString will get a value if the Session value equals True. The value of " checked=""checked"" for the CheckedString variable will end up in the checkbox like this:

<input name="checkbox" type="checkbox" value="checkbox" checked="checked" />

causing the checkbox to be selected.

The example I gave is quite verbose, to demonstrate the concept. In reality, you can compact the code a bit by saving the checked="checked" string as the Session variable's value or by using Response.Write to write out the checkbox inside the If statement.
All solutions would work equally well, so it's just a matter of personal preference.

Cheers,

Imar
---------------------------------------
Imar Spaanjaars
Everyone is unique, except for me.
While typing this post, I was listening to: 3 Libras by A Perfect Circle (Track 18 from the album: Thirteenth Step) What's This?