php and mysql - putting checkboxes into mysql

porco

Hi I have a bit of a problem figuring this one out. I have a members table in a mysql database and a form to enter details of a new user. I have a set of checkboxes in the form called $interests, and there are six (ie. Government, People, Recreation etc).

The trouble is I can't figure out how to get the contents of these checkboxes into the database. I want it to enter all the checked values into the interests field in the database.

Here is what I have so far.....

include ("phpmodules/dbfuncs.inc");
$link = connectToDatabase();
if(!$link)
{
print "database connection error";
mysql_close($link);
exit();
}

		 // insert new member's details into members table
		 $query = "insert into members (loginname, password, password2, fname, lname, address, city, state, country, email, interests, question, answer) values (\"$loginname\",\"$password\",\"$password2\",\"$fname\",\"$lname\",\"$address\",\"$city\",\"$state\",\"$country\",\"$email\",\"$interests\",\"$question\",\"$answer\")";
	   $result = mysql_query($query);

	   mysql_close($link);

Frederick

Not sure if this is waht you want, but here you go.

box 1 name: interest1
box 2 name: interest2
box 3 name: interest3

$str = "$interest1, $interest2, $interest3";

$query = "INSERT INTO members (loginname,password,password2,fname,lname,address,city,state,country,email,interests,question,answer) 
VALUES ('$loginname','$password','$password2','$fname', '$lname','$address','$city','$state','$country','$email','$str','$question','$answer')";

porco

mmm tried it every which way.. couldn't get it to work.

My current way gets the last value entered in the text boxes. I am just trying to loop through them somehow, but progress is slow 🙂

By the way thanx for the suggestion. I can see what you were getting at but would not work for me.

porco

To give you a better idea of what I am stuck on, I am trying this;

while($result = mysql_fetch_array($interests))

........................

At present I always get the last checkbox ticked entered into the table. I am trying to get all the checked options put into the table instead, obviously.

I thought if I could somehow use the mysql_fetch_array function to empty the $interests array I would be there..

Any advice anyone.

leatherback

Hi,

What is the name you gave the checkboxes? In order to get each checked value through to the next page, you have to make sure it is an array. So the name should be interests[] instead of interests.

Use
print_r($_POST)
to see what is actually transmitted to the page. THat will most likely help you in debugging.

Also remember: Your "Register_GLOBALS" is most likely switched to "OFF", which is a basic safety feature in the newer versions of PhP. This means you will have to get hte defined variables from the posted data array, before you can use them:

$interests = $_POST[interests]

Hope this helps?

porco

I used print_r($_POST) and the array definately holds all of the values, but yes I had somewhere along the line undone the [] in $interests[]. Thats the trouble with debugging, sometimes the testing is half of the problem if its not documented properly or approached systematically.

So the output into the database is Array. I know this contains the Array values and I just can't extract them for some reason.

porco

$interests = join(', ' , $_POST['interests'] );

I had this before and for some reason had pushed it aside. It simply needs to be placed before the query is run. This is a classic example of undisciplined debugging practises

Thankyou for the help everyone, I am learning a lot. There are so many ways to skin a cat....

The help in debugging was of great use. 🆒