Form Post

$_POST represents submitted form fields.

form_post.php

<?php
$nameInput = ;
$_POST["name"] = "  " . $nameInput . "  ";
$name = trim($_POST["name"] ?? "guest");
$label = $name === "" ? "guest" : $name;
$length = strlen($label);

echo "name=" . $label . "\n";
echo "length=" . $length . "\n";

<?php
$nameInput = ;
$_POST["name"] = "  " . $nameInput . "  ";
$name = trim($_POST["name"] ?? "guest");
$label = $name === "" ? "guest" : $name;
$length = strlen($label);

echo "name=" . $label . "\n";
echo "length=" . $length . "\n";

<?php
$nameInput = ;
$_POST["name"] = "  " . $nameInput . "  ";
$name = trim($_POST["name"] ?? "guest");
$label = $name === "" ? "guest" : $name;
$length = strlen($label);

echo "name=" . $label . "\n";
echo "length=" . $length . "\n";

form field cleanup Form fields are text, so a small cleanup step is usually the first move.