Master Form V4 and Master Form .PHP
Functional Differences

This is about differences between Master Form V4 and Master Form .PHP. Not feature differences, but functional differences.

There are 4 primary functional differences between Master Form V4 and Master Form .PHP

1. Language and Database Differences

Master Form V4 is written with Perl CGI and Master Form .PHP is written with PHP. Perl CGI is a bit more picky during installation. Other than that, the language difference generally doesn't make that much difference. The software does what it does regardless what language it is written in.

A more dramatic difference is the database. Master Form V4 can append form information to plain text files. Master Form .PHP always stores the form information in a MySQL table.

Master Form V4's plain text files can be any plain text format, including CSV, and can be downloaded with FTP. Master Form .PHP has only one format, MySQL tables, but the table data can be exported by downloading the data as a CSV file.

2. Template Location Differences

Master Form V4 uses separate plain text files for database and email templates.

Master Form .PHP uses no database templates because all data is stored in a MySQL table. Master Form .PHP's email templates are in the software's control panel, not separate files.

3. Form Processing Differences

Forms using Master Form V4 submit to the software where it is installed on the server.

Forms using Master Form .PHP submit to the thank-you page. The thank-you page has some PHP code to bring in form handling functions from where Master Form .PHP is installed.

Because of that difference, the auto-submission protection is different, too.

• Auto-submission protection for Master Form V4 forms needs special fields to signal the software when a submission appears to be from a robot.

• Spammers' robots never get to see the installation location of Master Form .PHP. And the thank-you page URL is obfuscated.

Master Form V4 needs a special hidden field for customizing a thank-you page, and the URL in the address bar is then the URL of the Master Form V4 software. Master Form .PHP is always ready to customize the thank-you page the form is submitted to and the URL in the address bar is the actual URL of the thank-you page.

4. Multi-page Form Differences

The second and subsequent pages of Master Form V4 multiple-page forms have the URL of the software in the browser's address bar. That's because Master Form V4 grabs a copy of the page, customizes it with previously obtained form information, and then displays the modified page from within itself.

With Master Form .PHP, it's quite different. The form pages submit to each other in sequence. The URL in the browser's address bar is the URL of the current form page.

Although Master Form V4 and Master Form .PHP have many features in common, there are major differences in how they function.

Will Bontrager