Looping through Array Values with $SQL output - php

Question

I have a list of serialized data that I unserialize and store into an array.
$employee_data = unserialize($entry, '63');
Which results in an expected output:
Array ( [0] =>
Array ( [First] => Joe
[Last] => Test
[Birth Date] => 01/01/2011
)
[1] =>
Array ( [First] => Mike
[Last] => Miller
[Birth Date] => 01/01/1980
)
)
Ive been trying, unsuccessfully, to insert these records into a table in MySQL using foreach() or something like:
$employee_array = array();
$k = 1;
for($n=0; $n<count($employee_data); $n++ ){
$employee_array['employee_first_name'.$k] = $employee_data[$n]['First'];
$employee_array['employee_last_name'.$k] = $employee_data[$n]['Last'];
$employee_array['employee_birthdate'.$k] = $employee_data[$n]['Birth Date'];
$SQL = "INSERT INTO employee_test (
employee_first_name,
employee_last_name,
employee_birthdate
)
VALUES (
'$employee_first_name.$k',
'$employee_last_name.$k',
'$employee_birthdate.$k'
)"
$k++;
};
Each employee in the array needs to be entered into a new row in the table, however the number of employees will vary from 1 to 10+
We've tried
foreach($employee_array as $key => $value)
with the same results.
The actual results we're hoping for is the SQL Statement to be:
insert into employee_test(
employee_first_name,
employee_last_name,
employee_birthdate)
VALUES(
'Joe',
'Test',
'01/01/2011');
insert into employee_test(
employee_first_name,
employee_last_name,
employee_birthdate)
VALUES(
'Mike',
'Miller',
'01/01/1980');

Answer 1

Keep in mind that your sql statement is not escaped. For example, a name with an apostrophe like "0'neil" will break your sql. I would also familiarise yourself with php's foreach: https://www.php.net/manual/en/control-structures.foreach.php.
I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to accomplish by adding the index to the name and sql value, but I would do something like this:
foreach($employee_data as $key => $value){
// $employee_array is not necessary
$employee_array[$key]['employee_first_name'] = $value['First'];
$employee_array[$key]['employee_last_name'] = $value['Last'];
$employee_array[$key]['employee_birthdate'] = $value['Birth Date'];
// Needs escaping
$SQL = "INSERT INTO employee_test (
employee_first_name,
employee_last_name,
employee_birthdate
)
VALUES (
'{$value['First']}',
'{$value['Last']}',
'{$value['Birth Date']}'
)";
echo $SQL;
};

Answer 2

The first implementation wont work as your calling a variable rather than the key in your array.
'$employee_first_name.$k',
Should be
$employee_array['employee_first_name'.$k]
You are also creating the SQL statement every iteration of the for loop, so in this implementation only the last employee will save.
Also I don't see the reasoning in doing it that way anyway you may as well just use the employee_data array and the $k variable can also be made redundant.
$SQL = "";
for($n=0; $n<count($employee_data); $n++ ){
$SQL .= "INSERT INTO employee_test (
employee_first_name,
employee_last_name,
employee_birthdate
) VALUES (";
$SQL .= "'".$employee_data[$n]['First']."',";
$SQL .= "'".$employee_data[$n]['Last']."',";
$SQL .= "'".$employee_data[$n]['Birth Date']."'";
$SQL .= ");";
};
Ive not tested but it should give you an idea.
You will also have issues with the date formatted that way, Your database would likely require the date in yyyy/mm/dd format
Finally I would not recommend inserting values like this, look at the PDO library for placeholders.

Answer 3

I think I understand what you're trying to do here. You are using the = operator, effectively setting $SQL to a new value each time your loop iterates. If you adapt your code, you will be able to append to $SQL variable each time.
//I used this array for testing. Comment this out
$employee_data = array(
0 => array(
"first" => "test",
"last" => "tester",
"birth date" => "01/01/1970"
),
1 => array(
"first" => "bob",
"last" => "david",
"birth date" => "02/02/1972"
),
);
//Start SQL as a blank string
$SQL = "";
//Do your iteration
foreach( $employee_data as $key=>$value ){
$first = $value['first'];
$last = $value['last'];
$birthDate = $value['birth date'];
//append this query to the $SQL variable. Note I use `.=` instead of `=`
$SQL .= "INSERT INTO employee_test(
`employee_first_name`,
`employee_last_name`,
`employee_birthdate`)
VALUES(
'$first',
'$last',
'$birthDate'
);";
}
//output the query
echo $SQL;
There are much easier ways of doing this though. Look into prepared statements :)