Mass Checkbox Confusion

jjfletch

I've been trying to understand how to use checkboxes on forms, but nothing I've read seems to pertain to what I'm trying to do.

I've got a form that has multiple checkboxes, where each checkbox is associated with a text field.

For example:

Other A (checkbox_A) (textfield_A)
Other B (checkbox_😎 (textfield_😎
Other C (checkbox_C) (textfield_C)

The user should be able to select the box and then fill in the text field. The values will ultimately be stored in a mysql db.

I've read a lot about using arrays, etc., but I would think that each checkbox would have to be named differently...

In any case, I'm at a loss. Any help would be appreciated.

paulnaj

Hi jj,

Curious to know what you mean by 'associated with ...'?

But, anyway, here's a template that should give a clean view of what's going on with checkboxes ... come back if you don't get it, though.

<html>
<head>
	<title>Checkbox Test</title>
</head>
<body>
<form action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>" name="frm" method="GET">
<input type="checkbox" name="fred[]" value="1">Fred 1
<br><input type="checkbox" name="fred[]" value="2">Fred 2
<br><input type="checkbox" name="bill" value="3">Bill
<br><input type="submit" value="submit">
</form>
<?php echo '<pre>';	print_r($_GET);	echo '</pre>'; ?>
</body>
</html>

Paul 😉

jjfletch

Hi, thanks for the reply 🙂

Ok... let me try to be more specific....

Let's say the form is for a grocery list. On that form, there's 3 items:

Milk <input type="checkbox" name="milk_box"> <input type="text" name="milk_text" size="1">
Eggs <input type="checkbox" name="milk_box"> <input type="text" name="milk_text" size="1">
Bread <input type="checkbox" name="milk_box"> <input type="text" name="milk_text" size="1">

Joe checks the checkbox to indicate that he needs milk, and Joe fills in the textfield to state where he'll be buying the milk.

I want to be able to not only store that information in the database, but, when Joe looks up his grocery list, he should be able to see that he's checked the box indicating he needs milk, and what store he indicated he'll be buying the milk from.

Is this possible?

paulnaj

Hi again jj,

I'm still curious as to why people need to check a box AND fill in the amount ... surely you can tell whether your visitor wants an item or not by what they type in the text box.

But, I'm sure you've got reasons ...

<html>
<head>
	<title>Checkbox Test</title>
</head>
<body>
<form action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>" name="frm" method="GET">
<br>Milk <input type="checkbox" name="milk_box"> <input type="text" name="milk_text" size="1"> 
<br>Eggs <input type="checkbox" name="eggs_box"> <input type="text" name="eggs_text" size="1"> 
<br>Bread <input type="checkbox" name="bread_box"> <input type="text" name="bread_text" size="1"> 
<br><input type="submit" value="submit">
</form>
<?php
if(count($_GET)){
	foreach(array('milk', 'eggs', 'bread') as $item){
		if(isset($_GET[$item.'_box'])){
			echo '<br>'.ucfirst($item).' box checked.';
			if($_GET[$item.'_text'] != ''){
				echo '<br>'.ucfirst($item).' text = '.$_GET[$item.'_text'];
			}
		}
	}
}
?>
</body>
</html>

OK, the above first checks to see if each checkbox has been checked (using isset()). If a checkbox has been clicked, it then looks to see if there is any corresponding text.

Notice it doesn't bother to look at textboxes whose assoc. checkbox has not been clicked.

Hope that helps.
Paul.