Any way to break up data into array? - php

Question

Problem
So a have some php code that gets student info from the db and outputs that info. The info is outputted in a input so the user can edit that info. Then when the user is done editing the info, I need to get the data, which I have. My problem is that I don't know how to break up that info so it's easy for me to alter the info in the db.
Student Table
studentID | firstname | lastname | teacherID
PHP Code that has the inputs
<form action="server/edit/students.php" method="post">
<table>
<tr>
<th>Student ID</th>
<th>Firstname</th>
<th>Lastname</th>
<th>Teacher's Firstname</th>
<th>Teacher's Lastname</th>
</tr>
<?php
// get student info
$getStudent = $link->prepare("SELECT * FROM students");
$getStudent->execute();
$getStudent = $getStudent->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
$value = 0; // counts rows
// loop through each student
foreach ($getStudent as $student) {
$studentID = $student['studentID'];
$firstname = $student['firstname'];
$lastname = $student['lastname'];
$teacherID = $student['teacherID'];
// get teacher
$getTeacher = $link->prepare("SELECT * FROM teachers
WHERE teacherID = :teacherID");
$getTeacher->execute(array(
"teacherID" => $teacherID
));
$getTeacher = $getTeacher->fetchAll();
// loop through each teacher
foreach ($getTeacher as $teacher) {
$teacherFirstname = $teacher['firstname'];
$teacherLastname = $teacher['lastname'];
// output data
echo "
<tr>
<td><input type='text' name='studentID-$value' value='$studentID'></td>
<td><input type='text' name='firstname-$value' value='$firstname'></td>
<td><input type='text' name='lastname-$value' value='$lastname'></td>
<td><input type='text' name='teacherFirst-$value' value='$teacherFirstname'></td>
<td><input type='text' name='teacherLast-$value' value='$teacherLastname'></td>
</tr>
";
}
// add to row
$value += 1;
}
?>
</table>
<button type="submit" name="update">Update</button>
</form>
PHP Code that alters the db
$dataCount = 0;
foreach ($_POST as $data) {
if($dataCount % 5 === 0) {
echo "<br><br>";
echo $data . ", ";
} else {
echo $data . ", ";
}
$dataCount++;
}
What the form loops like on the screen
StudentID Firstname Lastname Teacher's Firstname Teacher's Lastname
_______________________________________________________________________________________
1 Bill Roy Jonathan Kung
2 Travis Roy Shanin Harnik

Answer 1

The easiest thing to do is use an array name in your input fields. This way your $_POST will be in a bunch of grouped arrays that are easily looped through:
<form action="server/edit/students.php" method="post">
<table>
<tr>
<th>Student ID</th>
<th>Firstname</th>
<th>Lastname</th>
<th>Teacher's Firstname</th>
<th>Teacher's Lastname</th>
</tr>
<?php
// get student info
$getStudent = $link->prepare("SELECT * FROM students");
$getStudent->execute();
$getStudent = $getStudent->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
$value = 0; // counts rows
// loop through each student
foreach ($getStudent as $student) {
$studentID = $student['studentID'];
$firstname = $student['firstname'];
$lastname = $student['lastname'];
$teacherID = $student['teacherID'];
// get teacher
$getTeacher = $link->prepare("SELECT * FROM teachers WHERE teacherID = :teacherID");
$getTeacher->execute(array(
"teacherID" => $teacherID
));
$getTeacher = $getTeacher->fetchAll();
// loop through each teacher
foreach ($getTeacher as $teacher) {
$teacherFirstname = $teacher['firstname'];
$teacherLastname = $teacher['lastname'];
// output data
?>
<tr>
<td><input type='text' name='student[<?php echo $studentID ?>][firstname]' value='<?php echo $firstname ?>' /></td>
<td><input type='text' name='student[<?php echo $studentID ?>][lastname]' value='<?php echo $lastname ?>' /></td>
<td><input type='text' name='student[<?php echo $studentID ?>][teacherFirst]' value='<?php echo $teacherFirstname ?>' /></td>
<td><input type='text' name='student[<?php echo $studentID ?>][teacherLast]' value='<?php echo $teacherLastname ?>' /></td>
</tr>
<?php
}
// add to row
$value += 1;
}
?>
</table>
<button type="submit" name="update">Update</button>
</form>
When processing the $_POST you loop through the $_POST['student'] array and the keys will be the ids and the rest of the data is contained in the array.