Forms and Form Data

Maintaining State In Web Fields

• Since every request to a server is a new request, your script has to start from scratch.
• You need some way to keep track of previous states to create a user "session" for a users visit to your site.
• Much of this state information can be carried along nicely in form fields, but you may have other internal state information that you need to carry.
• One way of accomplishing this is via the use of form fields that are "hidden".
• These fields are passed back and forth from the browser, but never actually appear on the screen.
• These fields can be set, read, and modified by your browser to create virtual session on a per user basis for maintaining important information.