PHP 101 (part 3) - Chocolate Fudge And Time Machines - Checking The Boxes (
Page 8 of 9 )
In addition to their obvious uses, arrays
and loops also come in handy when processing forms in PHP. For example,
Here's a simple example which demonstrates how arrays can be used when processing
checkboxes in an HTML form:
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<?
// check for $submit
if (!$submit)
{
//
and display form
?>
<form action="jukebox.php4" method="GET">
<input type="checkbox"
name="artist[]" value="Bon Jovi">Bon Jovi
<input type="checkbox" name="artist[]"
value="N'Sync">N'Sync
<input type="checkbox" name="artist[]" value="Boyzone">Boyzone
<input
type="checkbox" name="artist[]" value="Britney Spears">Britney Spears
<input
type="checkbox" name="artist[]" value="Jethro Tull">Jethro Tull
<input type="checkbox"
name="artist[]" value="Crosby, Stills &
Nash">Crosby, Stills & Nash
<br>
<input
type="submit" name="submit" value="Select">
</form>
<?
}
// or display
the selected artists
else
{
?>
<b>And here are your selections:</b>
<br>
<?
//
use a "for" loop to read and display array elements
for($count = 0; $count <
sizeof($artist); $count++)
{
echo "<i>$artist[$count]</i><br>";
}
}
?>
</body>
</html>
In this case, when the form is submitted, PHP will automatically create an array
variable named $artist, and populate it with the items selected. This is useful
when you need to group related form data together.
The same technique can be applied to "multiple select" list boxes:
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<?
// check for $submit
if (!$submit)
{
//
and display form
?>
<form action="jukebox.php4" method="POST">
<select
name="artist[]" size="6" multiple>
<option value="Bon Jovi">Bon Jovi</option>
<option value="N'Sync">N'Sync</option>
<option value="Boyzone">Boyzone</option>
<option value="Britney Spears">Britney Spears</option>
<option value="Jethro
Tull">Jethro Tull</option>
<option value="Crosby, Stills & Nash">Crosby,
Stills & Nash</option>
</select>
<br>
<input type="submit" name="submit"
value="Select">
</form>
<?
}
// or display the selected artists
else
{
?>
<b>And
here are your selections:</b>
<br>
<?
// use a "for" loop to read
and
display array elements
for($count = 0; $count < sizeof($artist); $count++)
{
echo "<i>$artist[$count]</i><br>";
}
}
?>
</body>
</html>
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