parsing dynamic POST variable - php

Question

I have a form that may submit 1 line item or 200 to quote. using FPDF to create results and everything is working perfectly, but I was looking for a way to automate picking up post values. So far I have been doing them manually, which is very difficult to make code changes:
//conditional statement to verify values exist, otherwise we write a blank line
$item=$_POST['item3'];
$uprice=$_POST['uprice3'];
$udprice=$_POST['udprice3'];
$quan=$_POST['quan3'];
//add values to report
//repeat for next result
$item=$_POST['item4'];
$uprice=$_POST['uprice4'];
$udprice=$_POST['udprice4'];
$quan=$_POST['quan4'];
I was wondering if there is a way to add a variable inside the post value, like $_POST[$nextitem]?

Answer 1

You can loop until the next number is not available anymore:
<?php
$i = 1;
while (isset($_POST['item' . $i])) {
$item = $_POST['item' . $i];
$uprice = $_POST['uprice' . $i];
$udprice = $_POST['udprice' . $i];
$quan = $_POST['quan' . $i];
// do your stuff
$i++;
}
concatenating a string 'var' with int 1 will result in a string 'var1' in PHP.

Answer 2

I would just grab the entire array with $array = $_POST and then use foreach() loops to manipulate it later.
Alternatively, it sounds like you have an arbitrary number of things on your form. Do it like this:
<input type="text" name="item[]" />
<input type="text" name="quan[]" />
<input type="text" name="udprice[]" />
<input type="text" name="item[]" />
<input type="text" name="quan[]" />
<input type="text" name="udprice[]" />
<input type="text" name="item[]" />
<input type="text" name="quan[]" />
<input type="text" name="udprice[]" />
<input type="text" name="item[]" />
<input type="text" name="quan[]" />
<input type="text" name="udprice[]" />
You can see more about this in this very helpful answer: HERE
When you submit this arbitrary number of fields, you will end up with a nice multi-dimensional array. Iterate over it like this:
$i = count($_POST['item']);
$payload = array();
while ($i <= count($_POST['item']) {
$payload[] = array(
'item' => $_POST['item'][$i],
'udprice' => $_POST['item'][$i],
'quan' => $_POST['quan'][$i]
);
$i++;
}
Now $payload is a fancy array that can be inserted into databases and such.