How to make multiple checkboxes work with php and sql - php

Question

How would I pass an array of multiple checkboxes and values through php, saving to a sql database, as well as being able to pull up the saved data back on the client side?
For example, I have an array that saves checkbox values in the way of '"checked"""checked""""', but not only do I want to save the checked value, I also want to save the form data, as follows :
Apples : Checked
Oranges : Not Checked
Bananas : Checked
Tomatoes : Checked
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated, please answer with context of how to do, not just code - still learning!
Here is the code THAT WORKS for this question
processing code :
$salesman = $data['data-invoice-salesman']; // this is an array
$salesman_array = array(); // create new array
$salesman_names = array(1 => "User1",2 => "User2",3 => "User3",4 => "User4",5 => "User");
for($i = 1; $i <= 5; $i++){ // loop from 1 to 5
if(in_array($i, $salesman)){ // if value exists (has been selected), stack 'checked', if not, stack ''.
$salesman_array[$salesman_names[$i]] = "checked";
} else {
$salesman_array[$salesman_names[$i]] = "";
}
}
$salesman_json = mysqli_real_escape_string($this->_con, json_encode($salesman_array)); // encode the array into JSON and then escape it.
form code THAT WORKS :
<?php
$salesmand = json_decode($invoice['Invoice']['salesman'], true);
$salesman_names = array(1 => "User1",2 => "User2",3 => "User3",4 => "User4",5 => "User5");
foreach ($salesman_names AS $i => $name) {
if ($salesman[$name] == "checked") {
echo '<input type="checkbox" name="data-invoice-salesman[]" value="'.$i.'" checked/> '.$name.'<br>';
} else {
echo '<input type="checkbox" name="data-invoice-salesman[]" value="'.$i.'" /> '.$name.'<br>';
}
}
?>
</div>

Answer 1

Add an array that maps the indexes to the name:
$salesman_names = array(
1 => "Joe Smith",
2 => "Fred Flintston",
3 => "George Jetson",
4 => "John Hamm",
5 => "Alan Smithee"
);
Then in your loop, you can do:
$salesman_array[$salesan_names[$i]] = "checked";
The JSON that's saved in the database might then look like:
{"Joe Smith":"checked", "Fred Flintson": "", "George Jetson","checked", "John Hamm":"", "Alan Smithee":""}
To display the checkboxes, you would refer to the $salesman_array when displaying it:
$salesman = json_decode($invoice['Invoice']['salesman'], true);
foreach ($salesman_names AS $i => $name) {
if ($salesman[$name] == "checked") {
echo '<input type="checkbox" name="data-invoice-salesman[]" value="'.$i.'" checked/> '.$name.'<br>';
} else {
echo '<input type="checkbox" name="data-invoice-salesman[]" value="'.$i.'" /> '.$name.'<br>';
}
}