add a new box each time a button is clicked..

ElectricRain

Alright, Ive had a few attempts at this, but I cant seem to get my head around the necesary logic. (if indeed it can be)

What I have, is a site where its necesary to repeat the same input box a undefined number of times, to collect a range of different prices for different styles of the same product.
So leaving say.. a dozen input boxes when only 2 may be needed on this occasion is untidy, and instead I came up with the idea that we should begin with one box, and a button that creates another new box.. and when clicked again another new box, and so on.
The question is, can this be done in php?

My first idea was to display $n number of boxes and increase $n each time the button is clicked, but a second click negates the first, so this didnt work.
Then I wanted to try populating an array with each new value, but again, it works for the first click but not again.

samudasu

You could try something like this example. It'll let you add as many form fields as you'd like. The client will need to have javascript enable for it to work.
http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/domform.html

ElectricRain

Is javascript the only way it can be done then?

samudasu

It's not the only way but i think it's an elegant way to do it. Doing it strictly with PHP, your script would have to submit to the server each time you clicked the add button. Using the javascript DOM method would automatically add a new form field without connecting to the server. It also shows up instantly so the user won't be waiting for the new input box each time the add button is clicked. The major problem arises when the client has javascript disabled.

ElectricRain

Yea.. it just seems like a shame because the rest of my site.. although using javascript now n then for neatness, is by no means dependant on it- ie there is backup php in place to do everything the javascripts would do, if the client has javascript disabled. After all the work I put in to do that, it seems like an awful shame to be forced to use javascript and javascript only for such a fundamental function.