extract a numeric indexed array in php

Question

I have a few dynamicaly build input fields in a form that looks like this:

<input type="text" class="form-control" name="person[]" placeholder="Person" />
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="function[]" placeholder="Function" />

<input type="text" class="form-control" name="person[]" placeholder="Person" />
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="function[]" placeholder="Function" />

<input type="text" class="form-control" name="person[]" placeholder="Person" />
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="function[]" placeholder="Function" />

Because i write my input name like this: person[] & function[] i get an numeric indexed array in my $_POST array. Because the input fields are made dynamicaly it is never known for sure how many person[] & function[]index numbers there will be in the $_POST.

How do i handle this? In other words what if i would like to INSERT person[0] + function[0] & person[1] + function[1] + ... (variable amount of person's & their functions) into my database? how could i extract this so it is possible to do this?

NOTE: Every person has his own function so it is important that it stays together.

I did not got very far so i cannot provide more code i have tried:

foreach ($_POST['person'] as $value){
...
}

This gives me a list of that specific array person[] inside of the $_POST but this isn't usefull to me..

are these inputs dynamic, meaning there is a button + add more that involves javascript? — Kevin
– Kevin, Commented Oct 7, 2014 at 12:18
@Ghost it is with a + add more that i have implemented using jQuery — Peter
– Peter, Commented Oct 7, 2014 at 12:24
@Peter if you are using jQuery, I would create new IDs for each person/function pair. You can be certain that the IDs and users are paired in that case. — i alarmed alien
– i alarmed alien, Commented Oct 7, 2014 at 13:05

Jeff Lambert · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-07 12:17:48Z

2

It sounds like there are the same number of 'people' as there are 'functions'. If this is the case, then you can do something like this:

foreach($_POST['person'] as $key => $value) {
    echo 'Person ' . $value . ' has function ' . $_POST['function'][$key] . '<br>';
}

answered Oct 7, 2014 at 12:17

Jeff Lambert

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1 Comment

Steve Over a year ago

you could add: if(count($_POST['person'])==count($_POST['function']){...

i alarmed alien · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-09 18:32:06Z

This form design will lead to problems if you don't have a way to ensure that the person and the function inputs are tied together in some way. Imagine someone is filling in the form, and they leave the function blank for one person:

Person    Function

Anna      array_map
Betty
Claire    count
          date_format

Rather than knowing that Betty's function is blank, the form logic will pair up Betty with count and Claire with date_format. It is therefore better to group each person/function combination with an ID so you can distinguish them. It is easy enough to do with an iterator in either JS or PHP.

New form:

<input type="text" class="form-control" name="persfunc[1][p]" placeholder="Person" />
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="persfunc[1][f]" placeholder="Function" />

<input type="text" class="form-control" name="persfunc[2][p]" placeholder="Person" />
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="persfunc[2][f]" placeholder="Function" />

<input type="text" class="form-control" name="persfunc[3][p]" placeholder="Person" />
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="persfunc[3][f]" placeholder="Function" />

<input type="text" class="form-control" name="persfunc[4][p]" placeholder="Person" />
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="persfunc[4][f]" placeholder="Function" />

You can then use a function like this to process the data:

    # gather up all the 'persfunc' data from $_POST
    if (! empty($_POST['persfunc'])) {
        # initialise an array for the results
        $pers_func_arr = array();

        foreach ($_POST['persfunc'] as $pf) {
            # make sure that both $persfunc[x]['p'] and $persfunc[x]['f'] have values
            if (
                isset($pf['p'])
                && isset($pf['f'])
                && strlen($pf['p']) > 0
                && strlen($pf['f']) > 0
            ) {
                # you've got a pair! Do whatever you want with them.

                # e.g. print out the name/function pair:
                echo "<p>Person " . $pf["p"]
                    . " has function " . $pf["f"]."</p>";

                # e.g. add them to a data structure for later use
                $pers_func_arr[] = array( $pf["p"], $pf["f"] );
            }
        }
    }

Give this form the dodgy input data from before, and check the output:

Person Anna has function array_map

Missing full data for person_2

Person Claire has function count

Missing full data for person_person_4

This is a much more robust way to handle the form data than just trusting your inputs will match up, and it doesn't require a lot more coding.

Dave · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-07 12:18:33Z

0

Something like this would probably work

$sql = "INSERT INTO tbl (Person,Function) VALUES ";
$components = array();

$totalitemcount = count($_POST['person']);

for ($i=0;$i<=$totalitemcount;$i++) {
    $components[] = "('".$_POST['person'][$i]."','".$_POST['function'][$i]."')";
}

$insertstring = implode(",",$components);

$finalsql = $sql.$insertstring;

//do insert here

answered Oct 7, 2014 at 12:18

Dave

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3 Comments

Sharky Over a year ago

you should note that there is absolutely no escaping of data, and it is prone to sql injection

Dave Over a year ago

aye forgot to mention that bit :) user should really do that themselves or ideally use a pdo/mysqli prepare etc.

Peter Over a year ago

I will give it a try, look what is best and come back! @Sharky i am familiar with PDO and prepared statements & binds ;) so that is not the issue. Thanks anyway!

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