PHP empty field validation

Question

I have a enrollment form where users have to input there address. I am using PHP for validation and currently I check to make sure the field is not empty. Here is my code:

Answer 1

You already use trim() on the insert, why not call it once in the beginning, and test that value?

$user_address = trim($_POST['address']);

if (empty($user_address)) {
    $msg = 'You must enter an address' ;
} else {
    $address = mysqli_real_escape_string($dbc, strip_tags($user_address)) ;
}