Variable names that include variables....

mychl · 09-22-2003, 09:03 PM

Heres what I got.... PHP, mysql, apache

Input a number, line_items=x

Then for x times take in item_".$counter
counter++

Then for x times insert into table (item_name) values ($item??????);

How can I add another variable, say counter2 to the end of another variable description.

Input comes in as $item_1, $item_2, etc...

I need to be able to set something like $item_$counter2 to get the contents of $item_1 when $counter2=1.

Any ideas???

crabboy · 09-22-2003, 11:08 PM

Why dont you just use an array?

$Array[$id] = $element;

mychl · 09-23-2003, 08:18 AM

I tried, and still am, but I don't know if I can pass an array as a hidden input type in an html form.

Can I have an array of strings?

mychl · 09-23-2003, 09:52 AM

Lets say I have 3 variables getting passed to next.php.

$item_1
$item_2

also I have a counter getting passed... $num_items=2

Then on next.php I have a for loop, that will set $temp_item=$item_(here I want the for counter to be appended to the variable name)

It should look like this

$temp_item=$item_1;
$temp_item=$item_2;

Thanks

crabboy · 09-23-2003, 10:38 AM

I see what you are trying to do now. I have some html/php code that does this, but unfortunatly it is at home. I'll look it up later and post it.

mychl · 09-23-2003, 10:41 AM

Thanks, would really appreciate it. I've been working on this for 3 days now... I might be getting close, but can't tell until I nail it.

crabboy · 09-24-2003, 12:10 AM

Ok. Here is how I do it. It seems a bit different than what you are asking, but here it goes anyway.

The HTML code below is likely not valid. I had to delete soooo much stuff, that I didn't care if the tags matched. Just using it to display the name= stuff.

HTML code:

Code:

<INPUT TYPE="hidden" name=Total value="37"">
<INPUT TYPE="hidden" name=PictureIDForPlace0 value="406""><table border="1" width="100%">

   ... deleted stuff ...
<input type="button" onClick="PermittedString0.value=move(this.form.Permitted0,this.form.NotPermitted0, this.form.Permitted0)" value="<<">
<input type="button" onClick="PermittedString0.value=move(this.form.NotPermitted0,this.form.Permitted0, this.form.Permitted0)" value=">>">

<select multiple size="7" name="NotPermitted0" style="width:100">

<option value="1">lq</option>
<option value="2">lq</option>
<option value="3">lq</option>
<option value="4">lq</option>
<option value="5">lq</option>
<option value="6">lq</option>
<option value="7">lq</option>
</select>
</td>
<td>
<select multiple size="7" name="Permitted0" style="width:100">
<option value="1">dude</option>
<option value="2">dude</option>
<option value="3">dude</option>
<option value="4">dude</option>
<option value="5">dude</option>
<option value="6">dude</option>
<option value="7">dude</option>
</select>
</td></tr></table></center>

<INPUT TYPE="hidden" name=PermittedString0 value="1:2:3:4:">    </td>

... All over again, until I hit the total of 37 ...

<INPUT TYPE="hidden" name=PictureIDForPlace1 value="407""><table border="1" width="100%">

PHP code:
I did not write the InputParse class, and I have no clue who did.

Code:

class InputParse
{
  function InputParse()
  {

  }

  function validateInputs()
  {
    global $HTTP_POST_VARS;
    global $HTTP_GET_VARS;
    $vars = count($HTTP_POST_VARS) > 0 ? $HTTP_POST_VARS :
              (count($HTTP_GET_VARS) > 0 ? $HTTP_GET_VARS : array() );
    $cleanvars = array();
    reset($vars);
    while( list($var, $value) = each($vars) )
    {
      $cleanvars[$var] = $this->validateInput($value);
    }
    return $cleanvars;
  }

  /* private: sanitise a single variable */
  function validateInput($var)
  {
    if (get_magic_quotes_gpc())
    {
      $var = stripslashes($var);
    }
    $var = strip_tags($var);
    $var = htmlspecialchars($var);
//    $var = str_replace("\n", " ", $var);
    $var = str_replace("\r", " ", $var);
    $var = trim($var);

    return $var;
  }
}

?>

Code:

function pictureSubmit()
{
   $input = new InputParse();
   $vars = $input->validateInputs();

// deleted stuff

   $Total = $vars[Total];

   for ( $i = 0; $i < $Total; $i++ )
   {
      $PictureID = $vars["PictureIDForPlace".$i];
      $PermittedString = $vars["PermittedString".$i];

   ... the rest ...

The code above does look a bit confusing. If you need more help I can clean it up a bit.

mychl · 09-24-2003, 07:13 AM

Thanks crabboy, but look what I found......

$item_array=array();
for($j=0;$j<$line_items;$j++){
$temp_name="item_name$j";
$temp_desc="item_description_$j";
$temp_revenue="item_revenue_$j";
mysql_query("insert into invoice_items(invoice_number,line_item,item_description,item_revenue,item_shipped)
values ('$invoice_number','${$temp_name}','${$temp_desc}','${$temp_revenue}','')")
or die(mysql_error());
$count=$j+1;
echo "Line Item ".$count." for Invoice ".$invoice_number." has been added.";
echo "<blockquote>Item: ".${$temp_name}."<BR>";
echo "Description: ".${$temp_desc}."<BR>";
echo "Revenue: ".${$temp_revenue}."<BR></blockquote>";
}

Using {} arount a variable name lets you access the contents of that variable.... so
$temp_variable='Temporary Value';
${$temp_variable}=Temporary Value

I was so thrilled when I found this.... I had a script similar to what you posted almost done, then this popped up in documentation....

Thanks again for your help...