Checkbox with quantity field to array - php

Question

I'm trying to create something of a packing list that will export into an array that I can print out.
The basic code is as follows:
<form method='post' id='items' action='items.php'>
<input type="checkbox" name='list[]' value='sunglasses' />sunglasses
<input type='checkbox' name='list[]' value='sunblock' />sunblock
<input type='checkbox' name='list[]' value='socks' />Socks<input type="text" name="socks_qty">
<?php
if (isset($_POST['list'])) {
print_r($_POST['list']);
}
?>
Only items that are checked will appear in the array.
I would like to add functionality that will allow me to specify a quantity of SOME items (ie. socks)with a text input field next to the checkbox so that I can extract the quantity from the array somehow. I'm not sure the best way to approach this as not all items need to have a quantity and I'm not sure how to tie the quantity to a specific item.
The output might be something like 'list[socks][3]'.
What would be the best way to approach something like this?

Answer 1

You can use the item names as keys instead of values, then another key after that to indicate yes/no vs. quantity.
<input type="checkbox" name='list[sunglasses][checked]' value='1' />sunglasses
<input type='checkbox' name='list[sunblock][checked]' value='1' />sunblock
<input type='checkbox' name='list[socks][checked]' value='1' />Socks
<input type="text" name="list[socks][qty]">
Remember with checkboxes that you won't get anything in $_POST unless it was checked, so if you're going to use this to determine what you still need, you'll have to set some default false values for all the various keys and then update with the values from $_POST for the things that were checked.
Another possibility is to forgo the checkbox for things that you want a quantity of (unless the quantity is optional) because with a quantity > 0, the checkbox value is kind of redundant. Unless you want the ability to express that you have a certain number of socks, but you aren't bringing them. ;-)
<input type="checkbox" name='list[sunglasses]' value='1' />sunglasses
<input type='checkbox' name='list[sunblock]' value='1' />sunblock
socks<input type="number" name="list[socks]">