POST in PHP AND redirect the user to that page?

Question

I'm a bit confused. How do I POST data to a URL and then redirect the user's browser to that location - all in one operation?

I see

header('Location: page.php?' . http_build_query($_POST)); 

but that is GET, not POST and ppl think thats really bad practice - PHP open another webpage with POST data (why?)

My kludgy workflow involves setting up a form and then submitting it via javascript - anything has to be better than that...

I think I can do a set of header() stmts but this action happens for the user way after the page has been geenrated, so i dont think that would work

Answer 1

You cannot redirect POST requests. As simple as that. Any redirect will always turn into a GET request.

If you want to receive POST data, then send that data to another page, you have two choices:

• if both pages are on the same server, use sessions to save the data server-side, don't make the client carry it over
• if the destination is on another server and you need to send the client there together with the data, set up another intermediate form like you are

Answer 2

Use AJAX to save the data before you leave the page. Use the answer you get back to fire a redirection to the new url right within the current page. Don't be affraid of Javascript and ajax. Try this light AJAX library: http://www.openjs.com/scripts/jx/