PHP: simple form encoding/decoding

Question

Hi guys,

Probably, this question has been asked before, though, I'll ask it again.

Currently, I'm facing a problem with form encoding. When posting my form, all spaces are replaced by the "+" character. I would like to replace this "+" character by a real space.

Does someone has a PHP solution for this?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers, Lennart

Answer 1

Can't reproduce

<form>
<input type=text name="a" value="text with spaces">
<input type=submit>
</form>
<?php if (isset($_GET['a'])) echo $_GET['a'] ?>

no spaces at all. What i m doing wrong?

Answer 2

This shouldn't happen if the browser behaves correctly. My assumption would be that a javascript is messing with your data. Replacing spaces with pluses is done when encoding urls, maybe that will help.

You can use firebug to check for any js interference.

Answer 3

Mmm...i haven't thought about the javascript factor.

I'm using AJAX (x = in this case JSON) for handling the form posts etc, so there might be some interference somewhere?

Are there some functions in js available who do the trick for me?

Answer 4

I'm using AJAX (x = in this case JSON) for handling the form posts etc

Then let's see the code.

Possibly you're doing something like trying to form-encode your data manually before another component also form-encodes it. Replacing a space with + is quite standard and expected for form-encoding, but if you accidentally do it twice then you're going to be left with an encoded + at the end of it.

If you are using the JavaScript escape function: don't. (When you need to URL-encode a form value for inclusion in a parameter, the proper method is encodeURIComponent. escape is a fruity non-standard encoding of its own which you should almost never have any need to use.)