Display 'all fields required' error using PHP (and hide it by default)

Question

I was wondering how I could display an 'all fields required' notice AFTER the form has been submitted but hide it before. Here's my code:

if (isset($_POST['region'], $_POST['description'], $_POST['remarks']) && !empty   ($_POST['region']) && !empty($_POST['description']) && !empty($_POST['remarks']) )
{
     $region = mysql_escape_string($_POST['region']);
     $description = mysql_escape_string($_POST['description']);
     $remarks = mysql_escape_string($_POST['remarks']); 

     if (strlen($region>50)) {
         $error .= "Only 50 characters are allowed in the region field.";
     }

     else {
           if (strlen($description>500)) {
               $error .= "Only 500 characters are allowed in the region field.";
           }

           else {
              mysql_query("INSERT INTO register (region, description, remarks) VALUES(
                        '$region', 
                        '$description', 
                        '$remarks') ") or die('Not saved. ' . mysql_error()); 
           }

     }
}

else {
    $error.= "Please fill all the fields.";
}
echo $error;
?>

//form starts here

However, using this shows 'Please fill all the fields' even when the page is loaded for the first time (without submitting inputs). How do I go about this? Plus, even the nested 'if's aren't working. Those strings can still be submitted :(

Answer 1

check if user request is POST or GET.

It will be easiest to achieve by simply checking if $_POST is set.

/* ... */
else if (isset($_POST)) { 
          $error.= "Please fill all the fields.";
        }

I'm pretty sure you can achieve the same by checking $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST' , may be a little bit cleaner.