English
English
With the widespread use of web applications, forms have become the primary way users input data. Efficiently storing and displaying this data is a critical skill for any web developer. PHP, known for its simplicity and powerful capabilities, is commonly used for handling form submissions.
This article focuses on two key functionalities: how to store form data in a MySQL database and how to display that data on a web page, with complete code examples included.
After a form is submitted, PHP is typically used to capture the submitted data and store it in a database. Here is an example of how to use PHP to insert form data into a MySQL database:
<?php
// Database connection configuration
$host = "localhost";
$username = "root";
$password = "";
$database = "mydb";
// Connect to database
$conn = mysqli_connect($host, $username, $password, $database);
// Check connection
if (!$conn) {
die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error());
}
// Get form data
$name = $_POST['name'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$message = $_POST['message'];
// Build SQL query
$sql = "INSERT INTO form_data (name, email, message) VALUES ('$name', '$email', '$message')";
// Execute query
if (mysqli_query($conn, $sql)) {
echo "Data stored successfully";
} else {
echo "Data storage failed: " . mysqli_error($conn);
}
// Close connection
mysqli_close($conn);
?>
This code demonstrates the full process: connecting to the database, retrieving form data via $_POST, constructing an SQL INSERT statement, and executing it. In production, always sanitize inputs to prevent SQL injection.
Once the data is stored, you may want to display it on a web page for review or management. The following PHP example shows how to retrieve and output form data from a MySQL database:
<?php
// Database connection configuration
$host = "localhost";
$username = "root";
$password = "";
$database = "mydb";
// Connect to database
$conn = mysqli_connect($host, $username, $password, $database);
// Check connection
if (!$conn) {
die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error());
}
// Query the database
$sql = "SELECT * FROM form_data";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);
// Display data
if (mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
echo "Name: " . $row['name'] . "<br>";
echo "Email: " . $row['email'] . "<br>";
echo "Message: " . $row['message'] . "<br><br>";
}
} else {
echo "No data available";
}
// Close connection
mysqli_close($conn);
?>
This script connects to the database, queries the form_data table, and uses a loop to display each row's data on the web page.
Through the examples above, you’ve seen how to use PHP functions to manage form submissions: inserting submitted data into a MySQL database and retrieving and displaying it on a web page. You can build on this foundation by adding features like input validation, pagination, search functionality, and more to create a robust data management system.
