$_POST values changing or disappearing inside foreach loop - php

Question

Prior to this foreach loop $_POST['encounterName'] contains a predefined name. Inside the loop its value changes to ".json" so the first string in file_put_contents reads ".json.json". As well $_POST['basicTrainingSectionSlide'], $_POST['basicTrainingContentHeader'], and
$_POST['basicTrainingContentText'] lose their values. After the foreach loop, all values go back to normal. What is happening here?
$i = 0;
$j = 0;
foreach($_POST['Sections'] as $order){
if(strcmp($order, "Section") == 0){
file_put_contents($_POST['encounterName'].".json", "\t\t[\n", FILE_APPEND);
file_put_contents($_POST['encounterName'].".json", "\t\t\t\"Section\",\n", FILE_APPEND);
file_put_contents($_POST['encounterName'].".json", "\t\t\t\"".$_POST['basicTrainingSectionSlide'][$i]."\"\n", FILE_APPEND);
file_put_contents($_POST['encounterName'].".json", "\t\t],\n", FILE_APPEND);
$i++;
}
else if(strcmp($order, "Text") == 0){
file_put_contents($_POST['encounterName'].".json", "\t\t[\n", FILE_APPEND);
file_put_contents($_POST['encounterName'].".json", "\t\t\t\"Text\",\n", FILE_APPEND);
file_put_contents($_POST['encounterName'].".json", "\t\t\t\"".$_POST['basicTrainingContentHeader'][$j]."\"\n", FILE_APPEND);
file_put_contents($_POST['encounterName'].".json", "\t\t\t\"".$_POST['basicTrainingContentText'][$j]."\"\n", FILE_APPEND);
file_put_contents($_POST['encounterName'].".json", "\t\t],\n", FILE_APPEND);
$j++;
}
}
This is what the $_post array contains:
array(11) { ["encounterName"]=> string(8) "Violence" ["encounterHint"]=> string(0) "" ["basicTrainingSectionSlide"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(1) "1" [1]=> string(1) "6" } ["basicTrainingContentHeader"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(1) "2" [1]=> string(1) "4" } ["basicTrainingContentText"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(1) "3" [1]=> string(1) "5" } ["contextText_1"]=> string(0) "" ["contextText_2"]=> string(0) "" ["contextText_3"]=> string(0) "" ["contextText_4"]=> string(0) "" ["contextText_5"]=> string(0) "" ["submit_form"]=> string(6) "Submit" } array(11) { ["encounterName"]=> string(8) "Violence" ["encounterHint"]=> string(0) "" ["basicTrainingSectionSlide"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(1) "1" [1]=> string(1) "6" } ["basicTrainingContentHeader"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(1) "2" [1]=> string(1) "4" } ["basicTrainingContentText"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(1) "3" [1]=> string(1) "5" } ["submit_form"]=> string(6) "Submit" }
Some added information:
-The form that is filled out sends its post data to a separate php file for processing.
-The $_POST['Sections'] is sent via this function:
function returnValues() {
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "final.php",
data:{ Sections: $sectionOrder },
success: function(data){
console.log(data);
}
})
}
from a .js file onsubmit of the form tag.

Answer 1

Assuming that $_POST['Sections'] contains something like:
array(11) {
["encounterName"]=> string(8) "Violence"
["encounterHint"]=> string(0) ""
["basicTrainingSectionSlide"]=> array(2) {
[0]=> string(1) "1"
[1]=> string(1) "6" }
["basicTrainingContentHeader"]=> array(2) {
[0]=> string(1) "2"
[1]=> string(1) "4" }
["basicTrainingContentText"]=> array(2) {
[0]=> string(1) "3"
[1]=> string(1) "5" }
["contextText_1"]=> string(0) ""
["contextText_2"]=> string(0) ""
["contextText_3"]=> string(0) ""
["contextText_4"]=> string(0) ""
["contextText_5"]=> string(0) ""
["submit_form"]=> string(6) "Submit"
}
array(11) {
["encounterName"]=> string(8) "Violence"
["encounterHint"]=> string(0) ""
["basicTrainingSectionSlide"]=> array(2) {
[0]=> string(1) "1"
[1]=> string(1) "6" }
["basicTrainingContentHeader"]=> array(2) {
[0]=> string(1) "2"
[1]=> string(1) "4" }
["basicTrainingContentText"]=> array(2) {
[0]=> string(1) "3"
[1]=> string(1) "5" }
["submit_form"]=> string(6) "Submit"
}
I would do something like this:
$i = 0;
$j = 0;
foreach($_POST['Sections'] as $order){
$fn = $order['encounterName'] . ".json";
$appText = "";
if(strcmp($order, "Section") == 0){
$appText .= "\t\t[\n";
$appText .= "\t\t\t\"Section\",\n";
$appText .="\t\t\t\"" . $order['basicTrainingSectionSlide'][$i] . "\"\n";
$appText .= "\t\t],\n";
file_put_contents($fn, $appText, FILE_APPEND);
$i++;
} elseif(strcmp($order, "Text") == 0){
$appText .= "\t\t[\n";
$appText .= "\t\t\t\"Text\",\n";
$appText .= "\t\t\t\"" . $order['basicTrainingContentHeader'][$j] . "\"\n";
$appText .= "\t\t\t\"" . $order['basicTrainingContentText'][$j] . "\"\n";
$appText .= "\t\t],\n";
file_put_contents($fn, $appText, FILE_APPEND);
$j++;
}
}
Since you are in a foreach loop and iterating over the array $_POST['Sections'], to call the elements of that array, you need to use $order. That is how you defined the loop. You kept calling $_POST and those indexes shouldn't exist.
If you were using $_POST, the first occurrence of encounterName would be located at $_POST['Sections'][0]['encounterName'] and would contain the string Violence. So, in the loop, $fn = $order['encounterName'].".json"; should be assigned Violence.json as a String.
I am unsure what the if statement is looking for. Since $order is an Array, not a String, strcmp() should return NULL. See notes here. Since both if statements would fail, your file would not be appended in either case. Please comment if you want to clarify that.
I tested the following on http://phpfiddle.org/lite :
<?php
$order = array();
if(strcmp($order, "Section")){
echo "Success";
} else {
echo "Fail";
}
?>
I got the following results:
E_WARNING : type 2 -- strcmp() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given -- at line 5
Fail
This code is untested.