PHP/MySQL INSERT same data INTO two Tables - php

Question

I have two forms that share some same columns: NAME, EMAIL, NOMINEE, DEPT, RANK and TIMESTAMP
and I want to store those same columns in a new table called: TEACHING_AWARD_ALL_NOMINATIONS.
I have came up with the code to store each data into different table and then there should be some code to store the shared columns into TEACHING_AWARD_ALL_NOMINATIONS table.
I haven't came up with the code yet, please help!!!!
$srr = array_map('mysql_escape_string', $_REQUEST);
if ($srr['NOMINATIONTYPE'] == 'STUDENT')
$fields = Array('NAME', 'EMAIL', 'NOMINEE', 'DEPT', 'COURSE', 'YEARTERM', 'REQUIRED_FOR_MAJOR', 'MAJOR_LEARNING_OBJECTIVES', 'WHAT_EXTENT_INSTRUCTOR_HELP', 'RANK', 'RANK_COMMENT', 'TEXTBOX_1', 'TEXTBOX_2', 'TEXTBOX_3', 'TEXTBOX_4', 'TEXTBOX_5');
else if ($srr['NOMINATIONTYPE'] == 'FACULTY')
$fields = Array('NAME', 'EMAIL', 'NOMINEE', 'DEPT', 'RANK', 'TEXTBOX_1', 'TEXTBOX_2', 'TEXTBOX_3');
else die('error: no nomination type');
foreach ($fields as $f)
$$f = $srr[$f];
$qry = "INSERT INTO TEACHING_AWARD_".$srr['NOMINATIONTYPE']."_NOMINATIONS (";
foreach ($fields as $f) $qry .= $f . ", ";
$qry = substr($qry, 0, -2);
$qry .= ") VALUES (";
foreach ($fields as $f) $qry .= "'" . $$f . "', ";
$qry = substr($qry, 0, -2);
$qry .= ")";
$result = mysql_query($qry) or die('An error ocurred: '.mysql_error());
echo 'Success! Thank you for submitting your nomination.';

Answer 1

WARNING! As noted in comments your original code is using deprecated functions and suffers from potential security issues.
Check out the refactored solution that is using PDO, and yes you
should use PDO too (instead of your current approach).
Check out the code below, untested but should do your job. As written above it uses PDO - check the docs here
// obviously, first set your connection parameters $DbHost, $DbName etc.
//connect to mysql
$dbh = new PDO("mysql:host=".$DbHost.";dbname=".$DbName, $DbUser, $DbPass, array(PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT => true));
$dbh->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
$dbh->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES, false);
$dbh->query('SET NAMES UTF8'); //assuming you use utf-8 encoding
//provide values array
$values = $YourValuesArray;
//set field types
$fields = array();
$fieldsStudent = Array('NAME', 'EMAIL', 'NOMINEE', 'DEPT', 'COURSE', 'YEARTERM', 'REQUIRED_FOR_MAJOR', 'MAJOR_LEARNING_OBJECTIVES', 'WHAT_EXTENT_INSTRUCTOR_HELP', 'RANK', 'RANK_COMMENT', 'TEXTBOX_1', 'TEXTBOX_2', 'TEXTBOX_3', 'TEXTBOX_4', 'TEXTBOX_5');
$fieldsFaculty = Array('NAME', 'EMAIL', 'NOMINEE', 'DEPT', 'RANK', 'TEXTBOX_1', 'TEXTBOX_2', 'TEXTBOX_3');
$fieldsAll = array_intersect($fieldsStudent, $fieldsFaculty);
//pick the proper field set or die
$fields = ($srr['NOMINATIONTYPE'] == 'STUDENT') ? $fieldsStudent : $fieldsFaculty;
if(empty($fields)) die('error: no nomination type');
//set tables
$table = 'TEACHING_AWARD_'.$srr['NOMINATIONTYPE'].'_NOMINATIONS';
$tableAll = 'TEACHING_AWARD_ALL_NOMINATIONS';
//construct fields string
$strFields = implode(",", $fields);
$strFieldsAll = implode(",", $fieldsAll);
//construct the placeholders string
$strIns = implode(",", array_map(function($item){ return ":".$item; }, $fields));
$strInsAll = implode(",", array_map(function($item){ return ":".$item; }, $fieldsAll));
//insert specific data
$sql = "INSERT INTO $table ($strFields) VALUES ($strIns)";
$sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
//bind values to placeholders
foreach ($fields as $f)
{
$sth->bindValue(':' . $f, $values[$f]);
}
$sth->execute();
//insert all data
$sql = "INSERT INTO $tableAll ($strFieldsAll) VALUES ($strInsAll)";
$sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
//bind values to placeholders
foreach ($fieldsAll as $f)
{
$sth->bindValue(':' . $f, $values[$f]);
}
$sth->execute();
EDIT:
As per your comment, to select a UNIONed set of results using PDO you can use the below (untested) code:
//connect to mysql
$dbh = new PDO("mysql:host=".$DbHost.";dbname=".$DbName, $DbUser, $DbPass, array(PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT => true));
$dbh->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
$dbh->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES, false);
$dbh->query('SET NAMES UTF8'); //assuming you use utf-8 encoding
$sql = "SELECT NAME, EMAIL, NOMINEE, DEPT, RANK, TIMESTAMP, 'STUDENT' AS TYPE FROM TEACHING_AWARD_STUDENT_NOMINATIONS
UNION
SELECT NAME, EMAIL, NOMINEE, DEPT, RANK, TIMESTAMP, 'FACULTY' AS TYPE FROM TEACHING_AWARD_FACULTY_NOMINATIONS";
$sth = $dbh->prepare($sql);
$sth->execute();
//init result array
$results = array();
//fetch the results into an array
while($row = $sth->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC))
$results[] = $row;
//show results or do whatever else you need
print_r($results);

Answer 2

You could try making two arrays, one for the "shared" columns (NAME, EMAIL, etc.) and another for the "type-specific" columns (COURSE, YEARTERM, etc.). Then, when you are building up your SQL statement, do a foreach on the "shared" columns followed immediately by the "type-specific" columns to simulate the entire table. It might look something like this:
$qry = "INSERT INTO TEACHING_AWARD_".$srr['NOMINATIONTYPE']."_NOMINATIONS (";
foreach ($fields_shared as $f) $qry .= $f . ", ";
foreach ($fields_typespecific as $f) $qry .= $f . ", ";
$qry = substr($qry, 0, -2);
$qry .= ") VALUES (";
foreach ($fields_shared as $f) $qry .= "'" . $$f . "', ";
foreach ($fields_typespecific as $f) $qry .= "'" . $$f . "', ";
$qry = substr($qry, 0, -2);
$qry .= ")";
I would also agree with th3falc0n's comment about looking into preparing your SQL statements with more robust tools.
Another consideration: rather than enter redundant data into a TEACHING_AWARD_ALL_NOMINATIONS table, why not simply make that a view that pulls all shared columns from each type-specific table (likely using a UNION statement)? This prevents redundant data and would make data maintenance easier (e.g. when a nomination is deleted from one of the type-specific table, it automatically vanishes from the ALL_NOMINATIONS view, etc.).