Hi all, I'm currently designing a complex multi-page form for a new site. It's an application form which requires lots of going into one page, filling out a few fields, then submitting it, which returns to the main form.

 

The problem is that there are a lot of form submissions required throughout the process, and large amounts of data being passed via hidden inputs.

 

I've noticed this system runs quite slowly, and I'm not too sure about the speed at which php handles different things. Could someone explain to me which is the fastest of the following options?

 

- Lots of hidden inputs

- Adding data to a session

- Creating temporary database entries

 

Many thanks!

Sessions are the way to go in my opinion.

I'd agree with Jock.

 

From a speed perspective:

 

Session vs DB should be fairly similar as either way the bulk of the data is stored on server not the client machine, whereas the hidden inputs need re-posting to the server on each page which means the users connection speed will be a factor and the form will get progressively slower the further through it they get.

 

... the only reason to save them to a DB would be if you want to tie the form to a user login so that someone can come back to the form if they crash out half way through. If the form takes more than 5 minutes to complete it would probably be kinder to the user if that was the way it worked.

Thanks both...I was hoping that would be the answer! If database and sessions are similar I'm going to go for the former - saving drafts of such an involved procedure just makes good sense.

 

Cheers for the help!