How to get values of dynamically generated textarea inputs with php - php

Question

I'm having a challenge with a mini project I'm working on and have googled for a solution for hours without a headway.
I have a column in my database table whose contents are generated by exploding a previous form inputs(separated by comma in the table). Now I need to get inputs (from users) for these values using textarea in a form. These inputs will be in arrays depending on the number of contents fetched from the db in the first place and then stored in another column in my table. The issue here is that each time I submit the form I get an undefined index notice for the name of the values in the textarea field, which is test-col [].
please see my code below:
<?php
$conn = mysqli_connect('localhost', 'root', '', 'myDb');
$users_id = mysqli_real_escape_string($conn, $_GET['id']);
$res = mysqli_query($conn, "SELECT tests FROM bal WHERE users_id = '$users_id'");
if ($res){
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_array($res)){
$tests = explode(',', $row['tests']);
foreach($tests as $test){
if ($test ==""){
continue;
}
echo '<div class="test-res" style="margin-top:10px;">
<form action="" method="post" role="form" class="form-horizontal">
<div class="form-group">
<label for= "test-col" class="form-label col-md-2">'.$test.' test</label>
<div class="col-md-10">
<textarea class="form-control" rows="3" name="test-col[]" placeholder="Test result"> </textarea>
</div>
</div>
</form>
</div>';
'<br /> <br />';
}
}
}
echo '<form action="" method="post">
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-success col-md-offset-5" name="sub-res">Send Result</button>
</form>';
?>
//to insert textarea values in db
<?php
if(isset($_POST['sub-res'])){
$conn = mysqli_connect('localhost', 'root', '', 'myDb');
foreach ($_POST ['test-col'] as $values){
$test_results = implode("<br>", $values);
}
$ins = mysqli_query($conn, "INSERT INTO bal (results) VALUES
('$test_results') WHERE users_id = '$users_id'");
if (!$ins){
die(mysqli_error());
}
else{
echo '<div class="alert alert-success">Successfully sent</div>';
}
}
?>

Answer 1

You have two forms - one in your while/foreach statement, and then one below. If you're submitting the second form, it won't contain values from the first.
Wrap the while in the form instead;
<form action="" method="post">
<?php
$conn = mysqli_connect('localhost', 'root', '', 'myDb');
$users_id = mysqli_real_escape_string($conn, $_GET['id']);
$res = mysqli_query($conn, "SELECT tests FROM bal WHERE users_id =
'$users_id'");
if ($res){
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_array($res)){
$tests = explode(',', $row['tests']);
foreach($tests as $test){
if ($test =="") {
continue;
}
echo '<div class="test-res" style="margin-top:10px;"><div class="form-group">
<label for= "test-col" class="form-label col-md-2">'.$test.' test</label><div class="col-md-10"><textarea class="form-control" rows="3" name="test-col[]" placeholder="Test result"> </textarea></div></div></div>';
'<br /> <br />' ;
}
}
}
?>
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-success col-md-offset-5" name="sub-res">Send Result</button>
</form>