Strange form submit behavior in IE

[Donny Bahama]

I have a form in one php page (addcomment.php) that submits to another (antibot.php) The code is below:

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<h2>User Login</h2>
<div class="loginwrap"><div class="badrobot">
<img src="img/badrobot.jpg" width="190" height="358" alt="BAD ROBOT!"></div>
<div class="loginexplan"><p>You have to log in before your message will be posted. But 
<strong>don't worry</strong> - this is <em>very</em> easy, and will only take you a minute. 
Best of all, you should only have to do this once. After that, this website should recognize 
you and you'll be allowed to post comments on all DHS57 interactive pages without logging in again.</p>
<p>This minor security measure is made necessary by 'bad robots' all over the internet. 
Without this, the interactive pages of DHS57.com (like the one that brought you here) would 
be filled with nasty, vulgar things that no one really wants to see. (Or maybe you do, but not 
here you won't!) If you want to know more about internet 'robots', you can 
<a href="antibot.php">click here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> If you're seeing this page every time, please 
<a href="contact.php?msgid=57119">ask the webmaster for assistance</a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="clearing"></div>
</div>
    <h4>Steps for logging in:</h4>
    <ol><li>Enter the first three or four letters of your last (or maiden) name in the box below. 
    (You may enter in your entire last/maiden name if you like.)</li>
    <li>Click the &ldquo;Look Me Up&rdquo; button</li>
    <li>Follow the simple instructions on the next page.</li>
    <div class="namelookup">
        <form action="antibot.php" method="post">    
        <input type='hidden' name='return2' value='<? echo $return2; ?>'>
        <input type='hidden' name='eventid' value='<? echo $eventid; ?>'>
        <input type='hidden' name='postmsg' value='<? echo $postmsg; ?>'>
        <br><label for="cmname">Last name</label><br>
            <input type="text" name="cmname" size="20" maxsize="20"> 
            <input class="lookupbutton" type="submit" name="lookmeup" value="Look Me Up">
        </form>
    </div>

If $_POST['lookmeup'] isn't set in antibot.php, it displays an informational page about bots, comment spam, etc.

Here's where the weirdness comes in...

In FF, I can type a name into the cmname input and hit enter - and FF behaves as it should. But in IE, I have to actually click the "lookmeup" (submit) button. If I don't - if I just hit the enter key, antibot.php behaves as though $_POST['lookmeup'] isn't set.

Has anyone ever encountered anything similar? Is there any kind of workaround? Thanks in advance!

[spinal007]

That's because the value of a button is only actually submitted when you click on it.
it seems that when you press enter, FF will simulate a click on the submit control.
IE however is submitting the form, without simulating this click, therefore the value of the submit button isn't sent with the form.

on your form and field elements, add a bit of code onkeypress that checks for the 'enter' key. When it's pressed, simulate a click on the submot button - button.click()

[Donny Bahama]

Interesting. So, armed with that knowledge, (I didn't want to use javascript, so) I added a hidden input with name="postid" and value="addcomment". Then, in the handler page, I changed

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if (isset($_POST['lookmeup'])) {

to

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if ($_POST['postid'] == "addcomment") {

Works like a charm. Thanks for the lesson, Diego!

[spinal007]

Well I could have told you to do that before...
You said something about 'bots' and I thought you needed the click event to filter out spam bots (they don't click).
Now that I've read your post properly, I'm glad the info helped.