[RESOLVED] parse error: cannot parse auto-generated HTML inputs

[barneyk_pbl]

I'm trying to use this

	$act=$_POST['btnSub'];
	print_r($_POST);
	if ($act=="Submit Changes"){
		$count=$_POST['txtChecks'];
		$n=1;
		echo __line__." : $n of $count<br>";
		while ($n<$count){
			$id="txtKey".$n;
			$mark="chkDel".$n;
			echo __line__." : txtKey$n, chkDel$n<br>";
			$rec=$_POST['txtKey.$n'];
			$chk=$_POST['chkDel$n'];
			echo __line__." : record $n, #$rec is $chk<br>";
			$n+=1;
		}
	}

to get values from an input form

	echo "<form name=\"frmDup\" method=\"post\" action=\"clear_dups.php\">";
		echo "<table border=\"1\">";
			if($a>1){
				while($rs2=mysql_fetch_assoc($rslt2)){
					$key=$rs2["GoogleKey"];
					$item=$rs2["ItemID"];
					$date=$rs2["OrderDate"];
					$status=$rs2["OrderStatus"];
					$name=$rs2["NameFull"];
					$dateordered=$rs2["DateOrdered"];
					$item=$rs2["ItemID"];
					echo "<tr><td><input type=\"text\" name=\"txtKey$n\" value=\"$key\">
					</td<td>$date</td><td>$dateordered</td><td>$status</td><td>$name</td>";
					echo "<td>$item</td>";
					echo "<td><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"chkDel$n\"></td></tr>";
					$n+=1;
					$total+=1;
				}
			}
		}
		echo "<tr><td><input type=\"text\" name=\"txtChecks\" value=\"$total\"></td>";
		echo "<td><input type=\"submit\" name=\"btnSub\" value=\"Submit Changes\">";
		echo "</td></tr></table>";
	echo "</form>";

but the parsing returns

Array ( [txtKey1] => 910213071096206 [chkDel1] => on [txtKey2] => 161456663147919 [chkDel2] => on [txtKey3] => 111925169794090 [chkDel3] => on [txtChecks] => 13 [btnSub] => Submit Changes ) 23 : 1 of 13
27 : txtKey1, chkDel1
30 : record 1, # is
27 : txtKey2, chkDel2
30 : record 2, # is
27 : txtKey3, chkDel3
30 : record 3, # is
27 : txtKey4, chkDel4
30 : record 4, # is
27 : txtKey5, chkDel5
30 : record 5, # is
27 : txtKey6, chkDel6
30 : record 6, # is
27 : txtKey7, chkDel7
30 : record 7, # is 

What am I overlooking that prevents output from the form? I've done this before, but it's been a while since I've had occasion to work with PHP.

Oh, yeah, a view script on the form shows HTML tags properly formatted/numbered.

[bradgrafelman]

First problem I notice is this:

            $rec=$_POST['txtKey.$n']; 
            $chk=$_POST['chkDel$n']; 

The first line is looking for an array index named 'txtKey', followed by a period, followed by a dollar sign, followed by the letter 'n'. The second one isn't much different (just lost the period). See the manual page for [man]string[/man] to see how variables are interpolated inside of strings (or how they aren't, as is the case with single-quoted strings).

However, I would suggest you instead name your HTML field like:

<input type="text" name="txtKey[]" value="$key">

so that $_POST['txtKey'] will be an array of values (which you can then easily manipulate/iterate over/whatever).

[barneyk_pbl]

Ouch! That hurts 🙂! I had forgotten about the single/double quote dichotomy.

OK, I made the requisite changes to the HTML, and I can now see the key values.

Array ( [txtKey] => Array ( [0] => 165344957328716 [1] => 328811202804245 [2] => 924530876958696 [3] => 857266511596833 [4] => 916032832764021 [5] => 111925169794090 [6] => 753280165511277 [7] => 371084396106374 [8] => 923034682408788 [9] => 747620289528385 [10] => 910213071096206 [11] => 161456663147919 ) [chkDel] => Array ( [0] => on [1] => on [2] => on [3] => on [4] => on ) [txtChecks] => 13 [btnSub] => Submit Changes ) 23 : 1 of 13

But I do not get the equivalent chkDel values for the txtKey values,i.e., I don't have a chkDel value for each txtKey value. In fact, even one of the checked values is missing - there should be six (6).

If I must do it this way, how do I achieve that chkDel on/off value for each txtKey value?

I've never been able to wrap my head around much of the array stuff, so I pretty much shy away from arrays. I'm OK with the arrays returned by mysql_query(), but past that ...

Is there some way I can merge the two arrays such that I get that on/off value for each element?

[bradgrafelman]

What is this data being used for? Are you trying to display multiple items from a DB result set and allow the user to edit/update them en masse? If so, how were you planning on correlating the data items received with the entries in the database? In other words, how do you know which row to update with which value?

The problem with checkboxes is that they won't be sent in the form data if you don't check them, so the array indexes won't match up. One way to correct this is to use the 'fieldName[n]' notation so that PHP knows that you want the array index for that value to be 'n'. Example:

<input type="text" name="txtKey[123]" value="$key">
<input type="checkbox" name="chkDel[123]">

Now, you can use a [man]foreach[/man] loop (using the $index => $value[/b] form) with $_POST['txtKey'] and you'll not only have the data, but you'll also have the index/key for that data as well (123 in my example above) which you could use to uniquely identify a row in the DB (e.g. use the ItemID column's values rather than a simple counter variable).

From there, you can use [man]isset/man or [man]empty/man to check if $_POST['chkDel'][$item_id] is set (where $item_id is the array index/key from the foreach() loop mentioned above). This would tell you whether the user checked the box for that specific element.

[barneyk_pbl]

OK, I adjusted the original HTML to

echo "<tr><td>$key</td<td>$date</td><td>$dateordered</td>";
echo "<td>$status</td><td>$name<td>$item</td></td>";
echo "<td><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"chkDel[$key]\"></td></tr>";

Then the parsing code to

if ($act=="Submit Changes"){
$count=$POST['txtChecks'];
$recs=$POST['chkDel'];
//print_r($recs);
$n=0;
echo line."<br>";
foreach ($recs as $key => $chk){
echo line." : $key, $chk<br>";
$n+=1;
}
}

The foreach() values will allow the manipulation I need, methinks.

In answer to your question, these values are from a [almost] .csv file provided by Google Checkout. (I'm helping a friend get his store/school set up.) Google has a unique ID for every transaction. Unfortunately, those are not unique IDs for the Capt. For instance, John Doe submits payment data for a class - transaction one (1) - but then thinks it was the wrong one, so he cancels and submits for a different class - transactions two (2) and three (3) - then discovers he was right the first time, cancels the new one and resubmits the old one, but only pays half - transaction four (4) and a future transaction five (5).

Now, that's all well and good for Google, and I understand the need for it, but the Capt just needs to see the finished - albeit not necessarily the latest - transaction.

So I now have several unique IDs from Google for what is essentially a single transaction on the Capt's part. So I set up a form that will allow him to view all existing transactions and mark all but the one (1) relevant to his needs as deleted. Doesn't really delete anything, just marks a boolean field for reference in other queries.

Since I won't know on any given [almost] .csv file, I set up one form to kill multiples before they're input into the database, and another to allow for multiple entries from separate .csv files. (At some point those will likely be merged.) The form for table data was easy, as there are MySQL-generated unique ids there, but the .csv stuff was really eating my lunch.

OK, I think I can mark this one as resolved - if I can find the correct button 😃.

[barneyk_pbl]

barneyk_pbl;10984189 wrote:

OK, I think I can mark this one as resolved - if I can find the correct button 😃.

Found it!

[bradgrafelman]

barneyk_pbl;10984190 wrote:

Found it!

That's just an icon for your reply; to mark a thread resolved, click the link on the Thread Tools menu above.