PHP/MySQL multiple inserts

rakennedy75

Here is what I am doing. I created a for loop to add multiple fields in my form. The idea is that you select (say 3 for example) out of a drop down box and hit add, it adds three html fields to my page using the name of the textfield w/iteration added: field1, field2, field3. ( I am using the loop to create these: field<?=$i?>)

Now what I want to do is add these to my database (MySQL) and I am not sure how to do this since they are all going to be entered into the same col. Does anyone have any idea how you can do this or if it can't be don.

Normally I would name the field the same as the column in the database and enter it in that way. The problem with doing that is when you send them all at once, it takes the last one and overwrites the others.

example of a common insertion query I use:

db_connect();
query = "INSERT INTO myJobs VALUES ('$job', '$etc..')";
$result = mysql_query($query);
etc....

If anyone has any suggestions on how to go about doing this, I would appreciate it. Thanks for you time.

kevinsequeira

could u post any code you have, so far ?

reg
kevin

rakennedy75

NO PROBLEM:

this is the for loop that creates the input fields, this part works fine.

<?php	

// so that it starts with at least one field
	if (!isset($num)){
			$num = 1;
		}

for ($i = 1; $i <= $num; ++$i)
{
				?>
          <tr><td><input type="text" name="field<?=$i?>"></td></tr>
   <?php
}

the $num is given a value from a dropdown menu from the previous page.
This is all incased in a form and submitted using POST. The code I have in my original post for inserting the field is basically what i use to insert it. Of course the field names are going to be different.

Hopefully this will clear up my explanation, if not, I will be happy to explain in more detail.

Just so you know, what I am curious about is how you can submit multiple fields in the same column without overwriting them. I hope this makes sense.

Thanks again.

kevinsequeira

do u mean same column in the same row or on different rows ???

reg
kevin

rakennedy75

same column different row. So basically it would be like entering a completely different entry. So if for an example:

Using web design job database as an example:

if I get a request to bill 5 separate jobs, I want to select five and five feilds will pull up and I can enter all five jobs at one time opposed to entering one, than clicking another button to add another and so on. If I have 20 jobs this can get pretty tedious going back and forth.

So all five of these jobs don't have to be related at all, just to enter them into same column but different row so they can be searched separately at a different time.

There is more to it and this might not be the most practical example, but for simplicity I think it helps explain my goal here.

I don't even know if this is possible, thanks again for taking the time.

kevinsequeira

its pretty easy ...

so in the form u dynamically generate field name like field1, fileld2, field3 ..

in the page to which the form submits do this

<?php
while (list($name, $value) = each($HTTP_POST_VARS)) {
if (substr($name,0,5)== "field"){
if($value!=""){
$value = strip_tags(trim($value));
// insert query
}
}
}
}
?>

what you do is to check if the variables passed from the form starts with "field", if it does then you get the values for the variable.

just double check the (substr($name,0,5)== "field" line to see if it is right, try printing substr($name,0,5) to see if you get the number 1,2,3 from field1, field2, field3 ...

hope this helps
reg
kevin