Multiple Submit buttons, how do determine which one was clicked? - php

Question

I have a form with multiple submit buttons.
Each submit button is an IMG SRC trash can which denotes the delete icon for messages in a web based messaging mail inbox
what is the best way to figure out which submit button icon was clicked so that I can then write the PHP/MySQL code to DELETE the message?
if(!empty($_POST)){
// How do I figure out which submit button has been clicked to get the ID of the message to delete?
}
<form method="POST">
<input src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_1">
<input src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_2">
<input src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_3">
<input src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_4">
...
<input src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_100">
</form>

Answer 1

Set value for each submit button and check that in php and find which one is clicked
<form method="POST">
<img src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_1" name="submit_btn" value="1">
<img src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_2" name="submit_btn" value="2">
<img src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_3" name="submit_btn" value="3">
<img src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_4" name="submit_btn" value="4">
...
<img src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_100" name="submit_btn" value="100">
</form>
echo $_POST['submit_btn']; will give you the value of which submit button is clicked

Answer 2

Give each button a name=""
Then you can do something like
isset($_POST['button_name']) {
// execute code here if true
}

Answer 3

THE solution of this problem is to use the NAME attribute of the tag input/button.
<input type="submit" name="submitSave" value="Save"/>
<input type="submit" name="submitAddComment" value="Add comment"/>
or
<button type="submit" name="submitSave">Save</button>
<button type="submit" name="submitAddComment">Add comment</button>
I think you can also use the value attribute of button tag, this is definitively not possible with input tag.
If you need to use an ID or another variable, use name="submitDelete[888]"
Then, check it with PHP:
if( isset($_POST['submitDelete']) ) {
echo key($_POST['submitDelete']);// Displays the ID to delete, e.g. 888.
}

Answer 4

So many years later, I like button because it allows to display a text or an image independently of the value returned.
Here is an illustration of possibilities which fits the title of this post and more cases than the OP.
<?php
if(!empty($_POST['id'])){
echo 'button '. $_POST['id'] .' clicked';
} elseif ('create' === ($_POST['action'] ?? '')) {
echo 'create clicked'; // ?action=create
} elseif (isset($_POST['action'])) {
echo 'refresh clicked'; // ?action
} elseif (isset($_POST)) {
echo 'Default clicked'; // ?
}
?>
<form method="POST">
<!-- Original Post examples -->
<button type="submit" name="id" value="1"><img src="http://www.foo.com/img.png"></button>
<button type="submit" name="id" value="2"><img src="http://www.foo.com/img.png"></button>
...
<button type="submit" name="id" value="100"><img src="http://www.foo.com/img.png"></button>
<!-- Additional possibilities -->
<!-- ?action=create -->
<button type="submit" name="action" value="create">New element</button>
<!-- ?action -->
<button type="submit" name="action">Refresh</button>
<!-- ? -->
<button type="submit">Default</button>
</form>

Answer 5

you can give a name and a value to each of your buttons. It will then show up under $_POST['submit']
<img src="http://www.foo.com/img.png" id="button_4" name='submit' value='4' />

Answer 6

You have to pass your value to the current file by declearing name and value for each.. then you can echo in your php script in order to know which one is clicked.