Re: GET and POST

Shelly wrote:

----- Original Message ----- From: "Andy Hassall" <andy@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.php
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 6:32 PM
Subject: Re: GET and POST




On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 21:43:29 GMT, "Shelly" <sheldonlg.news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:



I have a question that is going to make me look stupid, but as I am new to
html and php (2 months), I'll as it anyway.

I have been using POST as the action and to get values that were input. I
understand that GET could also be used as the action (not just to get stuff
after the "?" which I understand).

a. When should GET be used and when should POST be used?
b. What is the difference between the two?


Over to the standard which has a brief explanation:

http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html#h-17.13.1



Thank you.  I read this.  I was looking for a complete description.

One thisg, though. I still cannot discern when it is best that I should use method GET and when it is best that I should choose method POST. So far, I have always used POST (because that is the first that I saw in an example).

Shelly 




Begin generalizations:

Post is normally the best to use. With the POST method your arguments are not visible in the URL, making it less obvious how your scripts could be compromised. I always try to use forms and the POST method to pass variables between pages (in general, this requires the site user to click on a button to cause the next action).

I only use GET when I don't have a way to use form submission (you can POST variables without using a form with curl or fsockopen, but the better alternative is to use session variables). I also use GET (if the logic/page flow will not let me use a form) if the variables are inconsequential.

I'd say you are best to stick with POST.

Here's more of the kind of discussion you seem to be after.
http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/whenToUseGet.html

--
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Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO
http://www.CycleTourist.com
Integrity is obvious.
The lack of it is common.
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