title: PHP form (values disappearing, dont know how it is being processed)
body: <p>I'm a complete newbee in php (started just last week)</p>
  
  <p>Issue is like this:</p>
  
  <p>Basically, I was trying to ensure that once a sub-form is filled, then it is not altered. So, I used !isset to display the sub-form (i.e. if !isset is true) and if !isset is false, then it hides that sub-form and  shows the next sub-form (the individuals form has only been designed).</p>
  
  <pre><code>        &lt;?php include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/officespace/includes/functions.php');
  
      echo'&lt;html&gt;
          &lt;head&gt;
              &lt;title&gt; Create &lt;/title&gt;
          &lt;/head&gt;
  
      &lt;body&gt;';
  
      if(!isset($_POST["Category"])){
      /* if no category is selected, then this code will display the form to select the category*/
  
      Echo "Pls Select Category before clicking on Submit Category";
      /* Breaking out of PHP here, to make the form sticky by using a php code inside form action*/
      ?&gt;
      &lt;form action="&lt;?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?&gt;" method="post"&gt;
      &lt;fieldset&gt;
          &lt;legend&gt;Select the Category of Person: &lt;/legend&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
              &lt;input type="radio" name="Category" value="Individual" /&gt; Individual&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
              &lt;input type="radio" name="Category" value="Company, Pvt Ltd" /&gt; Company, Pvt Ltd&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
              &lt;input type="radio" name="Category" value="Company, Ltd" /&gt; Company, Ltd&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
              &lt;input type="radio" name="Category" value="Partnership Firm" /&gt; Partnership Firm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
              &lt;input type="radio" name="Category" value="LLP Firm" /&gt; LLP Firm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
              &lt;input type="radio" name="Category" value="HUF" /&gt; HUF&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
              &lt;input type="submit" name='Submit Category' value="Submit Category" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
      &lt;/fieldset&gt;
      &lt;/form&gt;
      &lt;?php
      } Else {
  
      $Category = $_POST["Category"];
  
  
          Echo "$Category";
          Echo "&lt;br /&gt;";
      /* Using swich statement to test the value of Category, and accordingly echo appropriate forms*/
          switch ($Category) {
              case "Individual":
              if(!isset($_POST['Submit_Data_for_Individual'])){
  
              //if no data for individual is submitted,
              //then this code will display the form to enter and submit data for Individual
  
                  Echo  /*displays message*/
                  "Pls Enter the Data for the Individual";
      ?&gt;
                  &lt;form action="&lt;?php Echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?&gt;" method="post"&gt; 
                  &lt;fieldset&gt;
                  &lt;br /&gt;
                      First Namee: &lt;input type="text" name="Individual_First_Name" /&gt;
                  &lt;br /&gt;
                      Middle Name: &lt;input type="text" name="Individual_Middle_Name" /&gt;
                  &lt;br /&gt;
                      Last Name: &lt;input type="text" name="Individual_Last_Name" /&gt;
                  &lt;br /&gt;
                      Date of Birth: &lt;input type="text" name="date_of_birth/incorporation" /&gt;
                  &lt;br /&gt;
                      Gender: 
                  &lt;br /&gt;
                      &lt;input type="radio" name="Gender" value="male" /&gt; Male
                  &lt;br /&gt;
                      &lt;input type="radio" name="Gender" value="female" /&gt; Female
                  &lt;br /&gt;
                      Email 1: &lt;input type="text" name="email_1" /&gt;
                  &lt;br /&gt;
                  &lt;input type="submit" name="Submit_Data_for_Individual" value="Submit Data for Individual" /&gt;
                  &lt;/fieldset&gt;
                  &lt;/form&gt;
      &lt;?php                               
                  }Else
                  {
                  $email_1 = $_POST["email_1"];
                  $Gender = $_POST["Gender"];
  
                  validate_email($email_1); // this is a custom function which i made
                  Echo $Gender; // just to see if value has been passes. problem lies here because its not showing anything
  
                  // run other validations here
                  // and if all valid then run mysqli insert query for individuals record
                  }
  
                  break;
              case "Company, Pvt Ltd":
                  echo "Company, Pvt Ltd";
                  break;
              case "Company, Ltd":
                  echo "Company, Ltd";
                  break;
              case "Company, Ltd":
                  echo "Company, Ltd";
                  break;
              case "Partnership Firm":
                  echo "Partnership Firm";
                  break;
              case "LLP Firm":
                  echo "LLP Firm";
                  break;
              case "HUF":
                  echo "HUF";
                  break;
              case NULL:
                  echo "Error: nothing selected";
                  break;
  
          }
      }
  
      echo '&lt;/body&gt;
  
  
      &lt;/html&gt;';
  
      ?&gt;
  </code></pre>