multiple options...use array??

[cyronuts]

Hi, I've written the following, to select all options from the db table and then present to user in a form for single or multiple select. I can't figure out how to then write back a multiple select to the db...should 'prod_options be declared as an array after the POST is made, if so, how?

<td><select name="prod_options" multiple size="8" width="15">
<?
// list of possible options comes from db
$cat_array=get_options();
foreach ($cat_array as $thiscat)
{
echo "<option value=\"";
echo $thiscat["opt_display"];
echo "\"";
// if existing product, put in current catgory
if ($edit && $thiscat["opt_display"] == $prod["opt_display"])
echo " selected";
echo ">";
echo $thiscat["opt_display"];
echo "\n";
}
?>
</select>
</td>

[frigidman]

To do multiples on one variable name, put it in the FORM as this:

prod_options[]

Yes, with square brackets. That turns the input into an array for you of values selected in the multiple select. This also works good for checkboxes with the same "name" value.

[Mega]

<td><select name="prod_options" multiple size="8" width="15"> 
<?php
// =========================
// list of possible options
// comes from db 
// =========================
$cat_array=get_options();

foreach ($cat_array as $thiscat){
	echo "<option value='{$thiscat['opt_display']}"; 

// =======================
// if existing product,
// put in current catgory
// ======================= 
( isset($edit) && ($thiscat["opt_display"] == $prod["opt_display"]) ) ? $selected = 'selected' : $select = '';

echo " $selected>{$thiscat['opt_display']}</option>\n"; 
} 
?> 
</select> 
</td>

i went ahead and used:

<?php
print_r($_POST);
echo <<<EOF
<form action="?" method="post">
<select name="prod_options" multiple size="8" width="15"> 
<option value="123">123</option>
<option value="456">456</option>
</select>
<input type='submit'>
</form>
EOF;
?>

and no matter what, the only way i could get it to be 123 is if i selected 123 on its own o_0

[Mega]

Originally posted by frigidman
To do multiples on one variable name, put it in the FORM as this:

prod_options[]

Yes, with square brackets. That turns the input into an array for you of values selected in the multiple select. This also works good for checkboxes with the same "name" value.

heh i just figured that out as i posted:

Array ( [prod_options] => Array ( [0] => 123 [1] => 456 ) ) 

[cyronuts]

Frigidman,

I guess I confused about where to put it in the form?

[frigidman]

Oh, sorry... i was in a hurry on that post.

<SELECT NAME="prod_options[]" MULTIPLE SIZE=10>
<OPTION VALUE="bleah">bleah
<OPTION VALUE="blah">blah
</SELECT>

Then in your script, reference the $prod_options as an array. Loop through it for all values selected as it will be a single dimensional array. So if you selected both bleah and blah, it would be like this:

echo $prod_options[0];
echo "<BR>";
echo $prod_options[1];

returns:
bleah
blah

OR:
foreach($prod_options as $index => $selectedvalue){
echo $selectedvalue."<BR>";
}

You can now imagine how complex you can get. You can do wacky hashs in form elements and the like... passing variables from checkboxes and things like:

<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX NAME="somehash['item1']" VALUE="232">
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX NAME="somehash['item1']" VALUE="453">
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX NAME="somehash['item2']" VALUE="453">
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX NAME="somehash['item2']" VALUE="786">
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX NAME="somehash['item2']" VALUE="658">

You can imagine the possibilities 😃

[cyronuts]

Thanks, wow, let me try and digest all of this, and thanks for your help.

The logic is that there are unlimited product options that could be associated with a product, and the owner can select one, two or more of these items to go with each product. I guess my next question after that is, I guess it doesn't matter the number of options selected, or if they change, because I am using the array to store all the possible options?

[frigidman]

Right.

I did this for linking products together on an administration side. A multiple select of all products on the form to edit a product, you could select any number of other products to 'link' it too.

I used a multiple select, with the bracket trick, and it works like a champ, since every product has a unique ID and you dont have to worry bout dups.

[cyronuts]

Randall,

Thanks for your help, here is my processing side script - it looks long but it is mostly repetitive. I guess waht doesn't make sense to me is: how do I know how many options the administrator might be sending back to the db associated with a particular product???

<?

require_once("sc_fns.php");

if ($POST['catid'] == "" or $POST['prod_name'] == "" or $POST['prod_num'] == "" or $POST['prod_price'] == "" or $POST['ship_one'] == "" or $POST['tax_exempt'] == "" or $POST['ship_two'] == "" or $POST['decl_bal'] == "" or $POST['ship_three'] == "" or $POST['curr_inv'] == "" or $POST['ship_weight'] == "" or $POST['special'] == "" or $POST['max_qty_purchase'] == "" or $POST['lg_image'] == "" or $POST['max_qty_purch'] == "" or $POST['sm_image'] == "" or $POST['prod_options'] == "" or $POST['rel_prods'] == "" or $POST['prod_description'] == "" or $POST['add_email_confirm'] == "")

{
admin_header();
echo "<FONT FACE='ARIAL' SIZE='1' COLOR='FF0000'><BR>Error. You did not complete the entire form.<BR>You must enter information for each field to enter your product.<BR>Please try again, thank you.<BR></FONT>";
display_product_form();
do_html_footer();
exit;
}

$POST['catid'] = addslashes($POST['catid']);
$POST['prod_name'] = addslashes($POST['prod_name']);
$POST['prod_num'] = addslashes($POST['prod_num']);
$POST['prod_price'] = addslashes($POST['prod_price']);
$POST['ship_one'] = addslashes($POST['ship_one']);
$POST['tax_exempt'] = addslashes($POST['tax_exempt']);
$POST['ship_two'] = addslashes($POST['ship_two']);
$POST['decl_bal'] = addslashes($POST['decl_bal']);
$POST['ship_three'] = addslashes($POST['ship_three']);
$POST['curr_inv'] = addslashes($POST['curr_inv']);
$POST['ship_weight'] = addslashes($POST['ship_weight']);
$POST['special'] = addslashes($POST['special']);
$POST['max_qty_purchase'] = addslashes($POST['max_qty_purchase']);
$POST['lg_image'] = addslashes($POST['lg_image']);
$POST['max_qty_purch'] = addslashes($POST['max_qty_purch']);
$POST['sm_image'] = addslashes($POST['sm_image']);
$POST['prod_options'] = addslashes($POST['prod_options']);
$POST['rel_prods'] = addslashes($POST['rel_prods']);
$POST['prod_description'] = addslashes($POST['prod_description']);
$POST['add_email_confirm'] = addslashes($POST['add_email_confirm']);

db_connct();

mysql_select_db("book_sc");
$query = "INSERT INTO products values ('".$POST['catid']."', '".$POST['prod_name']."', '".$POST['prod_num']."', '".$POST['prod_price']."', '".$POST['ship_one']."', '".$POST['tax_exempt']."', '".$POST['ship_two']."', '".$POST['decl_bal']."', '".$POST['ship_three']."', '".$POST['curr_inv']."', '".$POST['ship_weight']."', '".$POST['special']."', '".$POST['max_qty_purchase']."', '".$POST['lg_image']."', '".$POST['max_qty_purch']."', '".$POST['sm_image']."', '".$POST['prod_options']."', '".$POST['rel_prods']."', '".$POST['prod_description']."', '".$POST['add_email_confirm']."')";

$result = mysql_query($query);
if ($result)
admin_header();
echo "<FONT FACE='ARIAL' SIZE='1' COLOR='0000FF'><BR>Thank you. One new product has been entered into the cart database.</FONT>";
display_product_form();
do_html_footer();

?>

</body></html>

[frigidman]

By storing just "$POST['prod_options']" into the db, you will actually be storing the value "Array" ... since $POST['prod_options'] is an array (or empty), depending on if they selected anything ot not.

You will have to parse that variable somehow to store into your database. If you db field for that is a long text field, then you could store it as a commadelimited list of options, only if the options dont have commas in them.

It all depends on what the data is, and how you wish to deal with it later, and how you wish to store it. There are so many different ways to do it from that point, that it would be a fruitless attempt on my part to try to suggest even a couple, heh.

Just know that $_POST['prod_options'] will either be an Array or empty. So, you should decide what to do with that data then from there.

You could also use "serialize()" and "unserialize()" on that var into the database if you DONT want to parse it. (you can look those up for exact details at php.net).

[cyronuts]

OK, I'm getting the logic...

I was also confused on the syntax....I can use prod_options[] on the FORM, and then still reference it as $_POST['prod_options'] in the script, knowing the value will be that of the array. Then, I can parse the array on the script side...I think I got it.

Thanks amillion

[cyronuts]

One more questions, unrelated to what you helped me with...

I have a mysql table, which holds two cols: page_name, which designates an html page name, and page_code, which designates the code associated with that page name.

I am looking on the forum right now, but can't seem to find, how to present the page when a link is clicked.

ie., if I have a link called 'splash', what is the code for when a user clicks on the link to get them to view the 'splash' html code?

I know this is probably very simple, but I can't seem to find a snippet.

[frigidman]

You might want to start a new thread topic with that question =) let others dive in on the response.

basically, you will need to pass a variable in either POST or GET stating which page to view, then, using that variable contents, you look up one row from a mysql database, pulling out the html into another variable, and then echo the entire variable as as a webpage.

Short logic flow:

<?PHP
incoming var: $page
connect to mysql, change to database
make a sql query like:
$sql = "select page_code from database where page_name='$page'";
put that that returned row column into a variable like $htmlpage
then echo $htmlpage;
?>

Then call the php script like: gimmiepage.php?page=splash