Inserting checkbox array into database

hsmom314 · April 4, 2008

I am attempting to create an HTML form in PHP with checkboxes that dynamically populate based on the database records (this part works fine in the code below) and insert new records when submit is pressed (this part of the code is not working). Once the checkboxes are checked and submit is pressed, I would like to insert records into the database for each checkbox that is checked. In other words, each checkbox that is checked will be a separate record in the database - so if this user selects 3 checkboxes, the code will insert 3 new records. I am very new to PHP and the code below is from a tutorial that I found and the database does not update with the selected checkboxes. Since I can't seem to find any books on this type of programming, I am trying to learn how to do this by exploring sample code but I'm lost. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Debbie

<?php

  /* insert code to connect to your database here */  
	// Connect to the db.
  /* get the checkbox labels */
  $skills = get_checkbox_labels("const_skills");
  
  /* create the html code for a formatted set of
     checkboxes */
  $html_skills = make_checkbox_html($skills, 3, 400, "skills[]");

?>

<html>
<body>
<br>
<form name="skills" method="POST" action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>">
   Check off your web development skills:
   <? echo "$html_skills"; ?>
   <br>
   <input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
	</body>
</html>
<?php

function get_checkbox_labels($table_name) {

  /* make an array */
  $arr = array();
  
  /* construct the query */
  $query = "SELECT * FROM $table_name";
  
  /* execute the query */
  $qid = mysql_query($query);

  /* each row in the result set will be packaged as
     an object and put in an array */
  while($row= mysql_fetch_object($qid)) {
    array_push($arr, $row);
  }
  
  return $arr;
}

/* Prints a nicely formatted table of checkbox choices. 
   
   $arr is an array of objects that contain the choices
   $num is the number of elements wide we display in the table 
   $width is the value of the width parameter to the table tag
   $name is the name of the checkbox array 
   $checked is an array of element names that should be checked
*/   


function make_checkbox_html($arr, $num, $width, $name) {
  
  /* create string to hold out html */
  $str = "";
  
  /* make it */
  $str .= "<table width=\"$width\" border=\"0\">\n";
  $str .= "<tr>\n";

  /* determine if we will have to close add
     a closing tr tag at the end of our table */
  if (count($arr) % $num != 0) {
    $closingTR = true;
  }
  
  $i = 1;
  if (isset($checked)) {
    /* if we passed in an array of the checkboxes we want 
       to be displayed as checked */ 
    foreach ($arr as $ele) {
      $str .= "<td><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"$name\" value=\"$ele->id\"";
      foreach ($checked as $entry) {
    if ($entry == $ele->value) { 
      $str .= "checked";
          continue;
        }
      }
      $str .= ">";
      $str .= "$ele->value";

      if ($i % $num == 0) {
        $str .= "</tr>\n<tr>";
      } else {
        $str .= "</td>\n";
      }
      $i++;
    }
  
  } else {
    /* we just want to print the checkboxes. none will have checks */
    foreach ($arr as $ele) {
      $str .= "<td><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"$name\" value=\"$ele->id\">";
      $str .= "$ele->value";
      
      if ($i % $num == 0) {
        $str .= "</tr>\n<tr>";
      } else {
        $str .= "</td>\n";
      }
      $i++;
    }
  
  } 

  /* tack on a closing tr tag if necessary */
  if ($closingTR == true) {
    $str .= "</tr></table>\n";
  } else {
    $str .= "</table>\n";
  }

  return $str;
}


?>


<?php

/* the function we call to insert.
   the $skills argument is the skills array that
   is sent to the script when the user hits the submit button
*/
function insert_skills($uid, $skills) {
   
   /* first, we'll delete any entries this user already has
      in the table */
   purge_lookup("lookup_skills", $uid);
   
   /* now create the sql insert query */
   $query = create_checkbox_query($skills, "lookup_skills", $uid);
   
   /* execute the query */
   mysql_query($query);
}

/* helper function for insert_skills().
   removes all rows in $table with $uid */
function purge_lookup($table, $uid) {
  $q = "DELETE FROM $table, WHERE uid = '$uid'";
  mysql_query($q);
}

/* helper function for insert_skills(). 
   generates the sctual SQL query */
function create_checkbox_query($arr, $table, $uid) {
   $q = "INSERT INTO $table (uid, skill_id) VALUES";
  
   foreach ($arr as $check) {
     $q .=  " ( $uid , $check )" . ",";
   }
   
   /* remove the last comma and return */  
   return substr($q, 0, -1);
}

?>

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Inserting checkbox array into database

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