Adding multiple values into Session to insert in a pivot table - php

Question

I have three tables delivery-request_item, items and a pivot table delivery-request_item. In my create.blade.php, I have button, which will add one of the items with its corresponding quantity selected by the user.
My solution was to put the item and quantity to the Session. Now my problem is that I can only create one record, if I decided to add another item, the previous item gets overridden.
create.blade.php
{{Form::open(array('method'=>'POST','url'=>'delivery-requests'))}}
{{Form::text('requested_by', Auth::user()->email)}}
<div>
{{Form::label('Shows Items from table')}}
{{Form::select('item_id', $items)}}
{{Form::label('Quantity')}}
{{Form::text('item_quantity')}}
{{Form::submit('add item',array('name'=>'addItem'))}}
{{Form::submit('remove item', array('name' => 'removeItem'))}}
</div>
<hr>
<div>
<table>
<theader>
<tr>
<td>ITEM NAME</td>
<td>QUANTITY</td>
</tr>
</theader>
<!-- loop through all added items and display here -->
#if(Session::has('item_id'))
<h1>{{ Session::get('item_id') }}</h1>
#endif
#if(Session::has('item_quantity'))
<h1>{{ Session::get('item_quantity')}}</h1>
#endif
</table>
</div>
{{Form::submit('submit', array('name' => 'submit'))}}
{{Form::close()}}
DeliveryRequestsController#Store
if(Input::has('addItem'))
{
Session::flash('item_id', Input::get('item_id'));
Session::flash('item_quantity', Input::get('item_quantity'));
$data = Session::all();
$item = Item::lists('item_name','id');
return View::make('test')->with('data',$data)->with('items',$item);
}

Answer 1

Two things.
You need to make the session an array, otherwise you'll always overwrite.
You need to not use flash() as this data will be removed as soon as another request is made, that's what flash data is, data that persists until the next request.
Try this:
if(Input::has('addItem')) {
if(Session::has('items')) {
Session::push('items', [
'id' => Input::get('item_id'),
'qty' => Input::get('item_quantity')
]);
} else {
Session::put('items', [
'id' => Input::get('item_id'),
'qty' => Input::get('item_quantity')
]);
}
}
Session::push() works with arrays stored in a session, and then obviously Session::put() is used if it doesn't exist.
Remember that this data will be persist, and will need to be cleared upon certain instances, like once you've finished with it.
For more information about sessions, read this: http://laravel.com/docs/session