Problem: Forms and Array names

[Hylian]

Hi all 🙂. Have a confusing problem that's been stumping me for awhile (just got back to doing PHP after a year, and some things are slow getting back)

First off, at the first page, select "Bivoli Tempari" from the drop down list so you get some of the options where the problem lies. The ammount doesn't matter, haven't gotten to that part yet

http://members.lycos.co.uk/swgclaire/test/

After you selected "Bivoli Tempari", you'll get a page listing information pulled from a text file .

The overall function of the program is to determine how long it will take to make an item in StarWars Galaxies, and select the best times to make the components needed, so the finished product is completed by the earliest date.

I wanted to add some flexibiliy to the program, so say if someone had already crafted one of the components (ie. Carbosyrup in Bivoli), they could choose not to include it in the calculations.

There in lies the problem. I don't know how to "align" the "components" field (either hidden or a select box), with the "include_components" field (the checkboxes) using a loop (since the fields are an array, I figure that would be the best option)

You can see this by checking all components, except Carbosyrup and going to the next page. It says that carbosyrup is selected, and the tissue is not.

Here's the code that displays the last page:

	echo count($_POST['components'])." Components Total - ".count($_POST['include_components'])." Conponents Included<br>";
	for($i="0";$i < count($_POST['components']); $i++){
		echo $glo_itemname[$_POST['components'][$i]]." - Include? <font color=#ff0000>".$_POST['include_components'][$i]."</font> (ID: ".$_POST['components'][$i].")<br>";
	}
 

What I'm looking for is how to "align" the component and include_component fields properly. The "on" in red is what the HTML itself is passing, so I'm wondering if checkboxes are the right option or what.

Sorry if I confused the heck out of you!

[Hylian]

I'll try to make it a little less confusing, and perhaps try to jog someone elses memory since I can't seem to jog my own...

The "include_components" field is a checkbox, so when it's not selected, it doesn't pass a value, yet when it is, it passes "on"

So when it's unchecked, the array is missing a field, and then the values are "offset" (ie. when Carbosyrup isn't checked, the include states of the other 3 components get shifted since no variable is passed for "not included"). Of course this only happens when the only unchecked components are NOT the last ones (ie. uncheck the tissue, yet check everything else, they get passed since the array doesn't have a "hole" till th end)

I've thought about using yes/no radio buttons, yet the entire component section is generated on the fly (try listing another food and you'll see), and since I'm using the [] on the form element name to make it an array, it would just double the included states wouldn't it?

Thanks for any help, and the /templates folder may be of some use to view the templates