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PHP code

Feedback: <textarea rows=”10” cols=”50” name=”feedbackText”>

</textarea><br />

<input type=”checkbox” name=”rememberMe” value=”yes” /> Remember Me<br />

</form>

The server-side code (in this case, written in PHP) looks something like this:

<?php

//send e-mail

mail(“you@yourdomain.com”, “User Feedback”, $feedbackText,

“From: feedback@{$_SERVER[‘SERVER_NAME’]}”);

//if flag is set, set cookies

if ($rememberMe == “yes”) {

setcookie(“personName”, $personName, time() + 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 365);

setcookie(“personEmail”, $personEmail, time() + 1000* 60 * 60 * 24 * 365);

}

This PHP code first sends the feedback e-mail using PHP’s

mail()

function and then checks to see if the

user wants to be remembered, meaning that the value of

$rememberMe

equals

yes

. If so, cookies are

used to store the user ’s name and e-mail address. Both cookies are set to expire a year after the current

day by using the PHP

time()

function and adding the value of 365 days in milliseconds (1000 millisec-

onds x 60 seconds x 60 minutes x 24 hours x 365 days).

In PHP, the values of form fields are made accessible as variables with the same name as the form field,

so the value in the text box named personName is accessible as a string variable

$personName

Remember to include at least the

getCookie()

function on the feedback form page to retrieve the value

of each cookie. Then, in the

onload

event handler, look for a cookie containing user information and, if

you find it, assign that information back into the form.

window.onload = function () {

var sName = getCookie(“personName”);

var sEmail = getCookie(“personEmail”);

if (sName && sEmail) {

var oForm = document.forms[“feedbackForm”];

oForm.personName.value = sName;

oForm.personEmail.value = sEmail;

}

};

This JavaScript code checks to see if both the person’s name and e-mail address have been stored in cook-

ies. If they have, the values are assigned to the appropriate fields in the form. Now, your users won’t have

to type in the same contact information each time they send feedback (well, at least for a year).

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Client-Server Communication

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