get value of UNchecked checkboxes?

mfacer

hey,

I have a list of checkboxes, for example

[ ] A
[ ] B
[ ] C
[ ] D

when the user presses the submit form button, I need to be able to tell which boxes have NOT been ticked. For example,

[x] A
[ ] B
[x] C
[ ] D

This returns A and C, but I need to know the boxes which have not been checked.

The list is made from the DB, so I have got a list of all the boxes in an array. I then compared the CHECKED values with that of the array. This then tells me which ones are checked... but I need to make another array of the boxes which are not checked.

I thought that it would simply be a for loop, something like

for ($x=0; $x<=sizeof($databasevalues); $x++)
{
 //is this value from the form in the list? 
 //if yes, ignore it, but if not....?
}

so basically I need to say that if the value from the form is NOT in the array from the DB, then the user has NOT selected it.

Is there any way of doing this??
Hope I have made myself clear enough!! thanks!!

BuzzLY

Try array_diff

Specifically:

$array1 = array(A, B, C, D); // contains all values
$array2 = array(A, C); // contains checked values
$array3 = array_diff($array1, $array2);
// $array3 will contain (B, D), or the unchecked values

Make sure the first array in array_diff is the full array, and the second array is the one that has the checked values.

And not to sound rude, but this really does fit into the RTFM category -- next time you have an array issue, make sure you check out the manual. You can view all array functions here

Hope that helps!

mfacer

hey, that works great!! my exact entries are this:

$array1 contains values:

1.1.2
1.1.3
1.1.5
1.1.7

$array2 contains values:

1.1.1
1.1.2
1.1.3
1.1.4
1.1.5
1.1.6
1.1.7

using the array_diff, I cannot return the values tho. It SHOULD contain...

1.1.1
1.1.4
1.1.6

the problem is when I use the following code I get the undefined offset...

$array3 = array_diff($array1, $array2); 

echo sizeof($array3);
for ($a=0;$a<=sizeof($array3);$a++)
{
	echo ":" . $array3[$a] . "<BR>";
}

it returns "3" as the number of records, but the error message:

Notice: Undefined offset: 0 in D:\Inetpub\wwwroot\timesheet\files\processStaff2Task.php on line 75

Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in D:\Inetpub\wwwroot\timesheet\files\processStaff2Task.php on line 75

Notice: Undefined offset: 2 in D:\Inetpub\wwwroot\timesheet\files\processStaff2Task.php on line 75

and nothing is outputted!!

any ideas?!?!!!

many thanks!!

mfacer

sorry, i drew the code wrong, I do in fact have the arrays the right order..

array1 contains the full list
array2 contains the checked list

BuzzLY

Yes... the problem is that your keys are not 0,1,2. In this case, they are 0,3,5. You won't know what your keys are, so you can't use a for loop. Use while() instead:

$array3 = array_diff($array1, $array2);

echo "Number of values: " . sizeof($array3). "<br>"; 
while (list($key, $val) = each($array3)) {
    echo "key $key = $val<br>\n";
}
?>

The results should look like this:

Number of values: 3
key 0 = 1.1.1
key 3 = 1.1.4
key 5 = 1.1.6

I recommend you turn off notices, or at least be aware that they are turned on. When you publish the website, notices should be turned off so that users never see them. If you don't know how to turn them off, RTFM.

HTH!

mfacer

...get in there!!

it works!! woohoo!! You know, I spent about 4 hours today working out how to compare the arrays.. I even searched the manual... but didnt "think" I could find anything!

Cheers dude! much appreciated!! :p :p :p

BuzzLY

You are welcome 🙂 Make sure you mark the thread resolved.

stolzyboy

i'll mark it for ya buzz, but for future use, the Mark Resolved link is at the bottom of the thread

mfacer

one more thing... can I then push the results in to another array?

	while (list($key, $val) = each($array3)) { 
    	//list each value in the array	
		array_push($uncheckedArray, $val);
		//echo "key $key = $val<br>\n"; 
	}

how do I resolve the thread?
thanks!!

stolzyboy

k, i won't mark it, look underneath the comments, tehre is a Mark Thread REsolved link, click it

BuzzLY

arraypush does work, but it doesn't create a new array if it doesn't already exist. A simpler way is:

foreach ($array3 as $value) {  

   $unCheckedArray[] = $value; 
}

Is there are reason you need to do this? Do you need your keys to be in a numerical sequence? You already have your values in an array ($array3), so I don't know the value of this step...

Incidentally, the while and foreach both work -- I am just showing you another way to loop through the array. You could have used foreach in getting the key AND value by using foreach($array3 as $key=>$value), too.

I know about the link, stolz... but I was under the impression that only the person that started the thread or a mod could mark it resolved. Besides, even if I could mark it myself, I like to let people know about marking it resolved, so that more people will learn to do this.

stolzyboy

Originally posted by BuzzLY
I know about the link, stolz... but I was under the impression that only the person that started the thread or a mod could mark it resolved. Besides, even if I could mark it myself, I like to let people know about marking it resolved, so that more people will learn to do this.

i know buzz, i was telling him how to use it for future use, and yes only thread starter and mods(from any forum) can mark it resolved

BuzzLY

Originally posted by stolzyboy
i'll mark it for ya buzz, but for future use, the Mark Resolved link is at the bottom of the thread

Sounded like you were telling me. But in any case, I think most people reading this will now know how to mark a thread resolved :p