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How to set an HTML value attribute (with spaces)

When I use PHP to set the value of an input element of an HTML form, it works fine if I have no data spaces.

<input type="text" name="username" <?php echo (isset($_POST['username'])) ? "value = ".$_POST["username"] : "value = \"\""; ?> />

If I enter "Jonathan" as the username, it will be returned to me, as expected. However, if I enter the Big Ted, I only get the Big ones when I submit the form.

Note that the variable $_POST["Username"] correct; when I repeat it using PHP it is set to "Big Ted".

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5 answers

To quote. Otherwise, the space will simply become an attribute separator and that’s all after the spaces are considered as attributes of the elements. Right page in web browser and view source. It should not look like this (also see Syntax Highlights):

 <input value=Big Ted>

but rather it

 <input value="Big Ted">

Not to mention that it still breaks when someone has a quote in his name (and your code is thus sensitive to XSS attacks ). Use htmlspecialchars() .

Kickoff example:

 <input value="<?php echo (isset($_POST['username']) ? htmlspecialchars($_POST['username']) : ''); ?>">
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 <input type="text" name="username" <?php echo (isset($_POST['username'])) ? "value = '".$_POST["username"]' : "value = ''"; ?> />

You must wrap the result of the variable with quotation marks so that the browser can know what the contents of the input are.

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 <input type="text" name="username" <?php echo (isset($_POST['username'])) ? ('value = "'.$_POST["username"].'"') : "value = \"\""; ?> />

Keep in mind the use of your quote.

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As you can see, it is not PHP5 or even a PHP question at all.
Basic HTML knowledge is a must for anyone who wants to be a PHP user.

And using templates, it looks more neat:

Getting the code of the data part:

 $username = ""; if isset($_POST['username'])) $username = htmlspecialchars($_POST["username"]);

And the template code:

 <input type="text" name="username" value="<?=$username?>">

If you divide the code into 2 parts, it will become more convenient and readable.

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just make sure you put a colon after the field, for example:

  <option value="'.$row['name'].'">
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