Wicked Cool PHP

#25: Fetching Form Variables Consistently and Safely

You should pull form data from predefined server variables. All data passed on to your web page via a posted form is automatically stored in a large array called $_POST, and all GET data is stored in a large array called $_GET. File upload information is stored in a special array called $_FILES (see "#54: Uploading Images to a Directory" on #54: Uploading Images to a Directory for more information on files). In addition, there is a combined variable called $_REQUEST.

To access the username field from a POST method form, use $_POST['username']. Use $_GET['username'] if the username is in the URL. If you don't care where the value came from, use $_REQUEST['username'].

<?php $post_value = $_POST['post_value']; ...