[Resolved] dynamic insert/update to multiple tables

hot_ice83

Hi,

I'm trying to make a recipe page using PHP and MySQL. For this I decided to make two tables (recipe and ingredients) and have a one-to-many relationship (because 1 recipe can have many ingredients). Structure of the table is as follows:

Table Recipe {
id int not null auto_increment,
name varchar(30),
directions text,
date date,
submitted_by varchar(30),
picURL varchar(50)
}

Table Ingredients {
ing_id int not null auto_increment,
id int,
quantity int,
units varchar(15),
items varchar(50)
}

Ok here's what I'm trying to do. In a single page, I'd like to be able to add/edit/delete all the above rows/fields. However, I'd like the ingredient form to be dynamic because there could be just one ingredient, or there could be ten, or hundred. However, it is unpleasant to show 100 rows for the ingredient form when all we might need (usually) might be 5 or 6. For now my solution was a loop and counter, with PHP's ability to print out html codes:

if (isset ($_POST['i_value']))   {  	$i= $_POST['i_value']; }

As you can see I've used a hidden form to store $i's value and within the document I have a button which increments the hidden value via javascript. The textfields of ingredients have been made into arrays too in the form (name = "textfield[$i]").

But when I do want to add new rows for the ingredients, anything I've typed up in the other fields disappear and will have to start over again. In other words, it has to reload because for $i to attain its value, $i_value has to be submitted.

Is there any other way I can still make it dynamic, while not reloading the page? I've thought about using session variables, but it seems to be a big variable for something as little as this.

😕

mrhappiness

using a template engine like smart e. g. it would be quite easy or you create new form elements using javascript (if enabled at the client's browser)

PallaviDalvi

dont know if this helps...but u can add textboxes dynamically.

var txt=document.createElement("<INPUT type=textbox value=hi id=chk size=20 >");
document.body.appendChild(txt);

similarly other elements can also be added. hopefully this helps u a bit... get back if u need more help.

tsinka

Hi,

another solution using PHP would be something like this:

for ($cnt=0;$cnt<$i;$cnt++) {
  $text = isset($_POST['textfield'][$cnt]) ? $_POST['textfield'][$cnt] : "";

  echo "<input type='textbox' name='textfield[$cnt]' value='$text'>";

  // or using textareas
  echo "<textarea name='textfield[$cnt]'>$text</textarea>";
}

// or
$textCount = 0;
if (isset($_POST['textfield']) && is_array($_POST['textfield'])) {
  $textCount = count($_POST['textfield']);
  while (list($key,$value) = each($_POST['textfield'])) {
    echo "<input type='textbox' name='textfield[$key]' value='$value'>";
  }
}

for ($cnt=$textCount;$cnt<$i;$cnt++) {
    echo "<input type='textbox' name='textfield[$cnt]' value=''>";
}

If $i starts with 1 you might need $cnt=1;$cnt<=$i.... nearly same for the second example $cnt=$textCount+1;$cnt<=$i....

Additionally you might need to escape the ' chars in the values because you would break the HTML code otherwise. Depending on the values submitted and the input type used you might need to use htmlspecialchars or htmlentities before setting the values again.

Thomas

hot_ice83

Hi all thanks for your reply.

I'm not really sure what a template engine is. Could you elaborate on that or maybe point me to some documentation? Thanks.

Pallavi, thank you. That's exactly the kind of code i'm looking for. I'm looking up references right now on what kind of parameters it can take.

Tsinka, thats the code which i use to parse my forms. very similar actually except that i didnt use a while loop, i used a for.

thanks all. Will do a bit more research on this "new" stuff. Will post again after some developments.

hot_ice83

Hi again.

Just a little PHP coding help needed. I want to make a list dynamic according to values in a database.

The select query should return values like "FFD", "FFDM" etc and I want the list to select them if the values are returned.

Something like <?php if (strcmp("FFD", $row['name'])) {echo selected; } ?>
But $row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result1) only fetches one row at a time. And even if I do a loop it seems that $row doesn't reset itself, i.e. After running it once, it doesnt reset back to the first value of the database.

Any ideas on how to do this?
I was thinking more like storing an array of the results from select (like the whole thing, not just 1 row like mysql_fetch_assoc() returns) and from there use foreach. However, I'm not sure whether I can actually do this.

Thanks

hot_ice83

sorry about my last post
I've just found the solution and it now works.
Didn't know it was just as easy as
$rowArr[] = $row;
😃

hot_ice83

In case anyone has actually followed this thread, or if anyone else has any troubles similar to mine, I'd like to post up the solutions that I found concerning dynamic elements. I hope this helps others too.

🆒

var td=document.createElement("<td align='center' width='30px'>");
var td2=document.createElement("<td align='center' width='50px'>");
var td3=document.createElement("<td align='center'>");
var tr=document.createElement("<tr>");

Thats to create new elements (whether it be a table column or a form, anything is possible (almost))

tr.appendChild(td);
tr.appendChild(td2);
tr.appendChild(td3);

and thats to insert them into the document (or in this case, I've inserted them into the <tr> that I have just created.

and last but not least, I've used document.getElementById('something').something to change attributes dynamically too.

Thanks tsinka, pallavi, and happiness for your help.