php batch editing

jcollins2006

Hi,

I'm attempting to perform a batch action on a series of rows in a MySQL table. Ideally, what I want to happen is for a user to press an "Approve" or "Delete" button and have the script do the associated task (either approve the selected message(s) for display on the site or remove the selected message(s) entirely).

Here's the code I'm working with:

<?php

if (!eregi("modules.php", $PHP_SELF)) {
    die ("You can't access this file directly...");
}

$index = 1;
$pagetitle = "List Unapproved Items";
include("modules/Buzz/common/shared.inc");
include("header.php");

if($_POST['approve'] && isset($_POST['selected'])){
    $selected_ids = implode(',', $_POST['selected']);
    $sql = "UPDATE ub_items 
	    SET cleared = 'YES' 
	    WHERE itemid IN ($selected_ids)";
    sql_query($sql, $dbi);
}

if($_POST['delete'] && isset($_POST['selected'])){
    $selected_ids = implode(',', $_POST['selected']);
    $sql = "DELETE FROM ub_items 
	    WHERE itemid IN ($selected_ids)";
    sql_query($sql, $dbi);
}

OpenTable();
?>
<table border="0" width="500" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
    <tr>
	<td align="left" width="360">
	    <form name="report" method="POST" action="modules.php?name=Buzz&amp;file=report">
  Project: 
<?php
$sql = "SELECT proj_name, pid
	FROM ub_project 
	WHERE status='active'
	ORDER BY proj_name";
$projects = idNametoArray($sql);
echo mysql_error();
$proj_select['ALL'] = 'All';
$proj_select['NONE'] = '--';
foreach($projects as $k => $v) $proj_select[$k] = $v;
echo arrayToSelect($proj_select, "projid", $_POST['projid']);
?>
	    <input name="go" type="submit" value="Go">
	    </form>
	</td>
	<td align="right" width="70">
	    <input name="approve" type="submit" value="Approve">
	</td>
	<td align="right" width="70">
	    <input name="delete" type="submit" value="Delete" 
		onclick="return confirm('Are you sure you want to delete these activities?');">
	</td>
    </tr>
    </form>
</table>

I think I may have the FORM tag in the wrong place, but I really don't know where to start. Again, I want a site admin to be able to check selected messages and perform a batch action on them -- either approve or delete and have the database respond accordingly.

Thanks for any help!

Jim

devinemke

it's not clear from your post exactly how you are collecting the data from the user (since you did not post what idNametoArray() or arrayToSelect() do) but i will assume that the form has checkboxes next to records that are to be approved or deleted. i also don't understand why you have 2 forms.

anyway, here is a simplified example:

<?php
if (!isset($_POST['submit']))
{
	echo '
	<form action="" method="POST">
	<input type="checkbox" name="list[]" value="1">1<br>
	<input type="checkbox" name="list[]" value="2">2<br>
	<input type="checkbox" name="list[]" value="3">3<br>
	<input type="checkbox" name="list[]" value="4">4<br>
	<input type="checkbox" name="list[]" value="5">5<br>
	<input type="submit" name="submit" value="approve">
	<input type="submit" name="submit" value="delete">
	</form>
	';
}
else
{
	if (isset($_POST['list']))
	{
		if ($_POST['submit'] == 'approve') {$sql = 'SELECT *';}
		if ($_POST['submit'] == 'delete') {$sql = 'DELETE';}
		$sql .= ' FROM table WHERE id IN(' . implode(',', $_POST['list']) . ')';

	echo $sql; // just for testing
}
else
{
	echo 'you did not check any records';
}
}
?>

Roger_Ramjet

So what happens at the moment?

jcollins2006

Originally posted by Roger Ramjet
So what happens at the moment?

Nothing happens. When you press the "Delete" button, a javascript-controlled window pops up asking you to confirm. Beyond that, it executes no other code... I was asked to implement batch editing after one of our other coders abandoned the project.

Also, the second FORM tag is in error. I've edited it out, but that should clarify.

Thanks!

Roger_Ramjet

So you click OK in the pop-up and??

guess

Pop-up closes and the main page just sits there.

Answer, your javascript pop-up function is wrong. It is not returning true to the onSubmit="fncPopUp()" so nothing is posted.

jcollins2006

Originally posted by Roger Ramjet
So you click OK in the pop-up and??

guess

Pop-up closes and the main page just sits there.

Answer, your javascript pop-up function is wrong. It is not returning true to the onSubmit="fncPopUp()" so nothing is posted.

Yes, that's partially right. To be honest, I'd like to get rid of the pop-up window altogether. Is there a way to re-work the script so you simply click "Approve" or "Delete" and the action that is chosen occurs? The PHP code that controls what (in theory) should happen is posted in my code example above (if(isset($_POST['approve']... etc.). I'm very sorry if I'm being unclear and vague; I'm still sifting through files trying to figure out how this particular application was coded.

Again, thanks for any help you can provide.

Roger_Ramjet

Simply remove the onClick bit from the submit button tag.

I'm no javascript expert, just enough to get by, but I'm sure that it should be onSubmit="return confirm('Are you sure you want to delete these activities?');" in the form tag anyway, not in the input tag. Never actually used confirm() myself.

jcollins2006

____<td align="right" width="70"> 
________<input name="approve" type="submit" value="Approve"> 
____</td>

The above is what currently exists... there's no javascript function called at all when you want to simply approve a batch of entries.

Shouldn't the input NAME be passed up to:

if($_POST['approve'] && isset($_POST['selected'])){
    $selected_ids = implode(',', $_POST['selected']);
    $sql = "UPDATE ub_items 
	    SET cleared = 'YES' 
	    WHERE itemid IN ($selected_ids)";
    sql_query($sql, $dbi);
}

if($_POST['delete'] && isset($_POST['selected'])){
    $selected_ids = implode(',', $_POST['selected']);
    $sql = "DELETE FROM ub_items 
	    WHERE itemid IN ($selected_ids)";
    sql_query($sql, $dbi);
}

... by default or do I need to do something special to get the approve button to utilize the above code? I noticed the first FORM tag closes before the Approve and Delete buttons, so I can see how those two buttons wouldn't know how to handle the SUBMIT attribute. Am I making any sense?

Roger_Ramjet

Well, whomever coded this is probably more of an html expert than me. I've no idea why the 2 buttons would be outside the form. To me that means they do nothing, and any values the have would not be included in the post data even if clicking them set something. And why the 'GO' button on the form itself.

Look, my answer to problems like this is to assume that the last fella was a W****ER. He was anyway or his code would contain the comments that explain it's functionality. So scrap it and write your own. It will be quicker to do that than trying to understand and fix this dross. I could have coded this page and another like it in the time we have been nutting this out here; and as I said I'm no html guru.

Roger_Ramjet

It is seeing stuff like this code and your problems with it that has turned me into a grumpy old man these last few years. Since the internet hit the headlines every man, his dog and his 13 year old nephew thinks they are a programmer. Well, I'm a software engineer. I'm used to working in teams writing code that is intended to last for years. So it has to well structured, commented and documented: not lashed together any old how. How the hell else is anyone going to maintain or modify it. I hope they sacked the person who wrote it and gave it a lousy referance to boot. B****y amatuers like that have ruined my profession, and undercut the wages all to boot.