How to update model column with more than one input - php

Question

I am working on a Laravel 4 project and I am trying to add a bunch of services to the services column in a simple service table. the columns are formatted as:
id userID services price
What I would like it to do is when a user selects the services all the services that user selects get's put into the services column to look like:
id userID services price
1 5 clean $4.95
2 5 unload $7.95
3 5 dance $1.95
4 5 vacuum $12.95
5 5 clean $4.95
basically all the services are in different input fields. So they aren't related.
I tried adding an array to the model but it gives an error:
Array to String conversion
Part of my Controller
$service = new Service();
$service->userID = $user->id;
$service->services = array(
Input::get('rooms'),
Input::get('pr_deodorizer'),
Input::get('pr_protectant') .
Input::get('pr_sanitzer'),
Input::get('fr_couch'),
Input::get('fr_chair'),
Input::get('fr_sectional'),
Input::get('fr_ottoman')
);
var_dump($service->services);die;
$service->save();

Answer 1

Laravel won't understand that you want to create various new instances of the model from just the array, so for each of the services, you'll have to create a separate instance of the Service model for each, eg.
$service = new Service();
$service->userID = $user->id;
$service->services = Input::get('rooms');
$service->save();
One idea.. perhaps you could group your services into a PHP array on your form using the square bracket notation:
<div>
<label for="room">Room</label>
<input type="text" id="room" name="services[]">
</div>
<div>
<label for="pr_deodorizer">Deodorizer</label>
<input type="text" id="pr_deodorizer" name="services[]">
</div>
<div>
<label for="pr_protectant">Protectant</label>
<input type="text" id="pr_protectant" name="services[]">
</div>
and then loop through the selected services in your Controller:
foreach(Input::get('services') as $service)
{
$service = new Service();
$service->userID = $user->id;
$service->services = $service;
$service->save();
}
... That's not tested, and I don't know what the format of your data is, but should give you a start on the problem..