Problems With Php Mail() Function

**samporras** · January 24, 2007

hi guys.

I'm working on my frist PHP script and running into a few stumbling blocks (code below). The email is being sent successfully, but none of the variable data is populated. Here is the page http://www.sitesamurai.com/signupForm.php. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! :thumbup:

Sam

>$name = $_REQUEST["userName"];
$teamName = $_REQUEST["teamName"];
$phone = $_REQUEST["phone1"] . "-" . $_REQUEST["phone2"] . "-" . $_REQUEST["phone3"];
$city = $_REQUEST["city"];
$state = $_REQUEST["state"];
$zipCode = $_REQUEST["zipCode"];
$country = $_REQUEST["country"];
$comments = $_REQUEST["comments"];

function PopulateMessage($name,$teamName,$phone,$city,$state,$zipCode,$country,$comments)
{
	$sMessage = '<html><head><title>User Inquiry</title></head><body><p>';
	$sMessage .= '<strong>name:</strong><br>' . $name + '<br><br>';
	$sMessage .= '<strong>team name:</strong><br>' . $teamName . '<br><br>';
	$sMessage .= '<strong>phone:</strong><br>' . $phone . '<br><br>';
	$sMessage .= '<strong>city:</strong><br>' . $city . '<br><br>';
	$sMessage .= '<strong>state:</strong><br>' . $state . '<br><br>';
	$sMessage .= '<strong>zip code:</strong><br>' . $zipCode . '<br><br>';
	$sMessage .= '<strong>country:</strong><br>' . $country . '<br><br>';
	$sMessage .= '<strong>comments:</strong><br>' . $comments . '<br><br>';
	$sMessage .= '</p></body></html>';
   
	return $sMessage;
}

//populate email message
$Message =  PopulateMessage($name,$teamName,$phone,$city,$state,$zipCode,$country,$comments);

//populate email headers
$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0" . "\r\n";
$headers .= "Content-type:text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" . "\r\n";
$headers .= 'From: <xxx@xxxxx.com>' . "\r\n";

//send mail
mail("xxx@xxxxx.com","Test Email",$Message,$headers);

**samporras** · January 25, 2007

The email is being sent successfully, but none of the variable data is populated. Here is the page

I figured out what was going on.

I was using a type="button" input instead of a type="submit". The page was not posting which would explain why the variables i created were never populated. This leads me to another question. Does anyone know of a function that exists in php to redirect from one page to another? I was not able to find this in any of the books i own. I would like to call this function and redirect to another page after the mail() function has been executed.

Thanks.

Sam

Edited January 25, 2007 by samporras

**TCH-Don** · January 25, 2007

>header("Location: http://www.example.com/"); /* Redirect browser */

but you can't output anything first, not even a space in the code

**samporras** · January 25, 2007

>header("Location: http://www.example.com/"); /* Redirect browser */
but you can't output anything first, not even a space in the code

Thanks Don :thumbup:

I'm not 100% sure i follow what you're saying. What would i want to output when redirecting from one page to the other?

**click** · January 25, 2007

It's usually unintentional output that messes you up. For instance, a blank line above the opening "<?php" tag or in an included file. When Apache parses the page it will go ahead and send the headers and blank line before getting to the php header code. In this case, php will complain that the headers have already been sent.

**TCH-Don** · January 26, 2007

Or if in the code before the header location

you have a line for spacing besure there are no spaces in the line

always comment the blank lines before.

**click** · January 26, 2007

oh jeez, now I'm confused. :thumbup:

Just to clarify, once you're inside the <?php ?> tags you can use all the blank lines and spaces you want. You're only concerned about stuff that would be output to the browser.

**TCH-Don** · January 26, 2007

Whoops, you are right. :thumbup:

**surefire** · January 26, 2007

Two quick things. You can address some of these header issues by putting this at the very beginning of the php code (still can't have space or line break or any output before <?php)

><?php
ob_start();

The other thing is that you should consider replacing $_REQUEST with $_POST (or $_GET). It's more specific, and therefore more secure.

**TCH-Bruce** · January 26, 2007

I would also change this line:

>mail("xxx@xxxxx.com","Test Email",$Message,$headers);

to read like this:

>mail("xxx@xxxxx.com","Test Email",$Message,$headers  "-f".$myemail);

Set up $myemail to a valid from email address.

**carbonize** · January 29, 2007

Just some minor suggestions with your code

1 - Always use single quotes around strings and not doubles. This is because PHP reads through double quoted strings looking for variables everytime it comes cross it. Same applies to array keys. You only need double quotes when using special characters such as \n \t etc.

2 - use "NAME" <email@address.com> to add a more personal touch to your emails (I know you are only sending to yourself right now).

**samporras** · January 30, 2007

I would also change this line:
>mail("xxx@xxxxx.com","Test Email",$Message,$headers);
to read like this:
>mail("xxx@xxxxx.com","Test Email",$Message,$headers  "-f".$myemail);
Set up $myemail to a valid from email address.

Thanks Bruce. i thought i took care of that when i set up my $headers variable (line 4 of the below code). Is there a preferred way to declare a "from" email address?

>//populate email headers
$headers = "MIME-Version: 1.0" . "\r\n";
$headers .= "Content-type:text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" . "\r\n";
$headers .= 'From: <xxx@xxxxx.com>' . "\r\n";

**TCH-Bruce** · January 30, 2007

>"-f".$myemail

What you have sets the from in the email message. The above authenticates you as sending the message through the server.

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Problems With Php Mail() Function

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