PHP form (values disappearing, dont know how it is being processed)
<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>
