[RESOLVED] SESSION variables for radio and checkboxes

tryin_to_learn

Hi,

This may be one of those painfully obvious questions that I'm just not seeing. However, I'm NOT seeing it so here's the question:

I'm using session variables in my forms by adding a value attribute that holds the session variable that was set by the POST value. For example, a first name field looks like this:

First Name <input type="text" name="firstName" id="firstName" value="' . $_SESSION["firstName"] . '" size="20">

The first name session variable was set like this:

$_SESSION['firstName'] = $_POST['firstName'];

How do I do the same thing for radio buttons and checkboxes that all have the same name and that already have a set value? For example, how would I format the HTML field so it can hold $_SESSION['conferenceAttending']?

Here's how I set the session variable:

$_SESSION['conferenceAttending'] = $_POST['conferenceAttending']['value'];

And here's the corresponding place in the HTML:

	
<input type="radio" value="1" name="conferenceAttending">Attending Pre-Conference Only<br><input type="radio" value="2" name="conferenceAttending"> Attending General Conference Only<br><input type="radio" value="3" name="conferenceAttending"> Attending Both<br>

How can I add the information from the conferenceAttending session variable so when a user brings up the form again, the radio button they checked will still be checked, will be resubmitted after they make whatever edits they make to the page, etc. I'm thinking maybe I have to insert a CHECKED attribute in the HTML based on the value of conferenceAttending, but I'm not real sure how to do that.

crazychris

use name="conferenceAttending[]" which will return an array of values, assigning these to the session will give you
$SESSION['conferenceAttending'][0]=1
$SESSION['conferenceAttending'][1]=2
and so on

cbj4074

Because I'm a nice guy...

This covers pretty much everything you could want with respect to generating forms and maintaining input selections. Try it in a browser.

<?php
session_start();

//Create arrays for each of your various input options.
//It'll make your life a lot easier.
//The $key=>$value format herein is input name=>display text.
$radio_options = array(
'option_1' => 'Radio 1',
'option_2' => 'Radio 2',
);

$checkboxes = array(
'cb_1' => 'Checkbox 1',
'cb_2' => 'Checkbox 2',
'cb_3' => 'Checkbox 3',
'cb_4' => 'Checkbox 4',
);

$menu_options = array(
'first' => 'First Choice',
'second' => 'Second Choice',
'third' => 'Third Choice',
);

//See if the form was POSTed and proceed accordingly.
if (count($_POST, 1) > 0) {
	//Clear any previously-set session data, since we're
	//going to overwrite it with the POST data.
	unset($_SESSION['your_form']);

//Iterate through the POST data and assign each
//value to a session array.
foreach ($_POST as $key=>$value) {
	$_SESSION['your_form'][$key] = $value;
}

//Copy all of the new session values to local vars for easy access and less typing.
foreach ($_SESSION['your_form'] as $key=>$value) {
	$$key = $value;
	//Now, for example, $text will have the whatever value was POSTed in the "text" field. Sweet.
}
}

?>
<html>
<head>
<title>Testing...</title>
</head>
<body>
<pre>
<?php print_r($_SESSION['your_form']) ?>
</pre>
<form name="form" method="post" action="<?php echo $_SESSION['PHP_SELF'] ?>">
<table>
	<tr>
		<td valign="top">text</td>
		<td><input name="text" type="text" value="<?php echo $text ?>" /></td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td valign="top">radios</td>
		<td>
			<table>
				<?php
				foreach ($radio_options as $k=>$v) {
					echo '<tr><td>' . $v . '</td><td>';
					if ($radios == $k) {
						echo '<input name="radios" type="radio" value="' . $k . '" checked="checked" />';
					}
					else {
						echo '<input name="radios" type="radio" value="' . $k . '" />';
					}
					echo '</td></tr>';
				}
				?>
			</table>
		</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td valign="top">checkboxes</td>
		<td>
			<table>
				<?php
				foreach ($checkboxes as $k=>$v) {
					echo '<tr><td>' . $v . '</td><td>';
					if ($_SESSION['your_form'][$k] == 'on') {
						echo '<input name="' . $k . '" type="checkbox" value="on" checked="checked" />';
					}
					else {
						echo '<input name="' . $k . '" type="checkbox" value="on" />';
					}
					echo '</td></tr>';
				}
				?>
			</table>
		</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td>menu</td>
		<td>
			<select name="menu">
				<?php
				foreach ($menu_options as $k=>$v) {
					if ($menu == $k) {
						echo '<option value="' . $k . '" selected="selected">' . $v . '</option>';
					}
					else {
						echo '<option value="' . $k . '">' . $v . '</option>';
					}
				}
				?>
			</select>
		</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td colspan="2" align="center"><input name="submit_button" type="submit" value="Submit" /></td>
	</tr>
</table>
</form>
</body>
</html>

When you've mastered this, the next step will be generating all of your form inputs dynamically, using for loops and arrays. Then, you can just say something like $num_checkboxes = 6; and you will magically have 6 checkboxes instead of 4, and you won't have to key in the variable names manually. Good luck, and let me know if any of my code needs further explanation.

tryin_to_learn

cbj4074, awesome. Just awesome. You definitely qualify as a nice guy. I'm saving this chunk of code for future projects. Thanks.

crazychris, thanks also for the tip about arrays. I had read about that at one point, but hadn't fully understood it. Your post helped. Thanks.