[FX.php List] GET vs. POST in a web app

[Andrew Denman]

This should get the GETs going:
http://us.php.net/manual/en/function.urlencode.php

As far as the GET/POST thing, does it have to be all or nothing?  When
editing a user profile or logging in I would only use POST, while when doing
a search it would be more acceptable to use a GET.

Andrew Denman

-----Original Message-----
From: fx.php_list-bounces at mail.iviking.org
[mailto:fx.php_list-bounces at mail.iviking.org] On Behalf Of Bob Patin
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 11:10 AM
To: FX.php Discussion List
Subject: [FX.php List] GET vs. POST in a web app

I'm finishing up a large project for a client whose users will be a  
group of hospitals and physicians. The whole project is finished--or  
should I say, it WAS finished--until the end client (a hospital  
person) noticed that using the BACK button caused the POST warning to  
come up, since so many pages were displaying the results of various  
POSTs.

So my client asked me if I could go through the site and replace all  
the POSTs with GETs. I cautioned him, pointing out the fact that  
everything would be in the clear, including passwords, but he asked  
me to go forward with the change anyway.

So I did so... and immediately saw that logins didn't work because  
the @ sign in emails would break the URL in a GET. I then saw that  
editing a user's profile, which contained email addresses, as well as  
possible URLs, would also not work using GETs.

So to have an answer ready for them, here's my question: is there a  
way, using a GET command, to make it work with @ signs and various  
other special symbols that URLs use? I don't want to go down this  
road, but I'm anticipating their insistence on trying to make this work.

Before you tell me, I know and agree that using GETs like this is an  
awful idea, but the client (the end-user) is concerned about how the  
BACK button causes problems. How do you guys get around this, or do you?

Thanks,

Bob Patin
Longterm Solutions
bob at longtermsolutions.com
615-333-6858
http://www.longtermsolutions.com

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