process problems

[doddsey_65]

i have a form for which the data is sent to a process page via jquery like so:

 

jQuery.post('<?php echo $this->site_root; ?>/modules/new_post_process.php',{ 
        message:jQuery("#message_contents").val() } ,function(data)
        {

etc...

 

new_post_process checks the contents of message like so:

 

if (empty($message) && empty($error))
    {
        $is_error = true;
        $error = 'Please Enter A Message';
    }

 

the problem is that it always throws this message even when the textarea isnt empty. however after the error has appeared if i submit again it goes through fine. I suppressed the error and tried and the database gets populated with an empty value which means it is indeed empty. so why does it work on the second time around? I am using CKEditor for the textarea. everything else gets submitted normally but this textarea. heres the full code:

 

 

the textarea:

 

<textarea cols="80" rows="10" id="message_contents"></textarea>

jQuery("#new_post_form").submit(function()
    {
jQuery.post('<?php echo $this->site_root; ?>/modules/new_post_process.php',{ 
        user_name:jQuery("#user_name").val(),
        redirect_url:jQuery("#redirect_url").val(),
        subject:jQuery("#subject_field").val(),
        forum_id:jQuery("#fid").val(),
        topic_id:jQuery("#tid").val(),
        method:jQuery("#method").val(),
        message:jQuery("#message_contents").val() } ,function(data)
        { 
            if (data == 1)
                {
                    jQuery("#process_info").removeClass().addClass("subject_okay").html("<img src=\"<?php echo $this->template_path; ?>icons/small_tick.png\" alt=\"icon\" />Redirecting...").fadeIn("slow");
                    var URL = jQuery("#redirect_url").val();
                    document.location = URL;
                }
                else
                { 
                    jQuery("#reply_btn").css("visibility", "visible");
                    jQuery("#draft_btn").css("visibility", "visible");
                    jQuery("#process_info").removeClass().addClass("subject_error").html('<img src="<?php echo $this->template_path; ?>icons/small_error.png" alt="icon" /> ' + data).fadeIn("slow");
                }
        });

 

and the process page:

 

if (isset($_POST['subject']))
{
$message = $_POST['message'];

if (empty($message) && empty($error))
    {
        $is_error = true;
        $error = 'Please Enter A Message';
    }
if (empty($error) && $is_error == false)
    {
        $query = $link->prepare("INSERT INTO 
                ".TBL_PREFIX."posts
                (p_fid, p_tid, p_poster, p_name,
                p_content, p_time_posted)
                VALUES
                ('$forum_id', '$topic_id', '$user_name',
                '$subject', '$message', '".$config['time_now']."')
                ") or die(print_link_error());

echo "1";
    }
    else
    {
        echo $error.'-'.$message;
    }