PHP : insert multiple check boxes values into one MySQL column

Question

I want to write a simple PHP function to insert values of 10 and 20 check boxes. Now, the issue is: should I insert all values in a single column of MySQL table or should I

Answer 1

Please you try this

<?php
if(isset($_POST['submit']))
{
//in here you get games array
   $mygames = $_POST['games'];  
}

?>


<form method="post" action="">
Games You Like: <br/>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="1"><label>Football</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="2"><label>Basket Ball</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="3"><label>Pool</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="4"><label>Rugby</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="5"><label>Tennis</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="6"><label>Cricket</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="7"><label>Table Tennis</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="8"><label>Hockey</label><br>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit">
</form>

Answer 2

I put the game name into the brackets and changed their values to true:

<form method="post" action="">
Games You Like: <br/>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[Football]" value="true"><label>Football</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[Basket]" value="true"><label>Basket Ball</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[Pool]" value="true"><label>Pool</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[Rugby]" value="true"><label>Rugby</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[Tennis]" value="true"><label>Tennis</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[Cricket]" value="true"><label>Cricket</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[Table]" value="true"><label>Table Tennis</label><br>
<input type="checkbox" name="games[Hockey]" value="true"><label>Hockey</label><br>
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit">
</form>

After submission this will result in an array like this:

$_POST["games"] = Array ( [Tennis] => true [Cricket] => true [Table] => true ) 
// all other values false

You can easily store and later manipulate this array if you store it as an JSON string in your database. For that you need a single varchar or text column.

json_encode($_POST["games"])
// {"Tennis":"true","Cricket":"true","Table":"true"}

Answer 3

use implode function to convert returned array into a string an then insert it into database as normal

if(isset($_POST['submit'])){
   $result = implode(",",$_POST['games']);

}

hopefully this will help you. Regards Imran Qasim

Answer 4

Try this whole example,

Table Structure

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `games` (
  `id` int(12) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `game_name` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB  DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=1;

<?php
include_once("yourconfig.php"); //include your db config file
extract($_POST);
$check_exist_qry="select * from games";
$run_qry=mysql_query($check_exist_qry);
$total_found=mysql_num_rows($run_qry);
if($total_found >0)
{
    $my_value=mysql_fetch_assoc($run_qry);
    $my_stored_game=explode(',',$my_value['game_name']);
}

if(isset($submit))
{
    $all_game_value = implode(",",$_POST['games']);
    if($total_found >0)
    {
        //update
        $upd_qry="UPDATE games SET game_name='".$all_game_value."'";
        mysql_query($upd_qry);

    }
    else
    {
        //insert
        $ins_qry="INSERT INTO games(game_name) VALUES('".$all_game_value."')";
        mysql_query($ins_qry);
    }
}

?>
<form method="post" action="">
Games You Like: <br/>
    <input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="1" <?php if(in_array(1,$my_stored_game)){echo "checked";}?>><label>Football</label><br>
    <input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="2" <?php if(in_array(2,$my_stored_game)){echo "checked";}?>><label>Basket Ball</label><br>
    <input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="3" <?php if(in_array(3,$my_stored_game)){echo "checked";}?>><label>Pool</label><br>
    <input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="4" <?php if(in_array(4,$my_stored_game)){echo "checked";}?>><label>Rugby</label><br>
    <input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="5" <?php if(in_array(5,$my_stored_game)){echo "checked";}?>><label>Tennis</label><br>
    <input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="6" <?php if(in_array(6,$my_stored_game)){echo "checked";}?>><label>Cricket</label><br>
    <input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="7" <?php if(in_array(7,$my_stored_game)){echo "checked";}?>><label>Table Tennis</label><br>
    <input type="checkbox" name="games[]" value="8" <?php if(in_array(8,$my_stored_game)){echo "checked";}?>><label>Hockey</label><br>
    <input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit">
</form>

this is just basic example and query i have added in this example, you can learn from this basic example and i think this is very useful for you... if useful than give correct answer for this solution

Answer 5

Firstly very straight to point, I prefer doing names like this from different checkboxes

BasketBall;Cricket;Tennis

You can do that by

implode(";",$array);

and then write that in mySQL table...

To get those values Just use

$array = explode(";",$urVariable);

For different values use

numberOne = $array[1]; // returns Cricket

to change any value use Just get the values and rewrite in ";" form..

I like this as it is simple to implement and do job perfectly!