Saving multiple HTML textareas in CodeIgniter - php

Question

I would like to grab the values of several textarea fields and save them to the database. For now I have four of each with different values and I want to batch save these values, the textarea fields are:
<textarea name="compedia[]"></textarea>
<textarea name="specification[]"></textarea>
and the save function:
function saveCOA(){
$labref=$this->uri->segment(3);
$data= $this->input->post('compedia');
$data1= $this->input->post('specification');
$compedia=array(
'labref'=>$labref, //NDQA201303001
'compedia'=>$data,
'specification'=>$data1
);
foreach ($compedia as $value) {
$this->db->insert('coa_body',$value);
}
}
When I print_r($value) it returns :
NDQA201303001
Array ( [0] => Alphy [1] => poxy [2] => alphy [3] => poxy )
Array ( [0] => poxy [1] => alphy [2] => poxy [3] => alphy )
and when I try to save, it returns:
A Database Error Occurred
Error Number: 1054
Unknown column 'NDQA201303001' in 'field list'
INSERT INTO `coa_body` (`NDQA201303001`) VALUES ('')
Filename: C:\xampp\htdocs\NQCL\system\database\DB_driver.php
Line Number: 330
How should the syntax be so as to loop over all the textarea values and save them to the database at once?

Answer 1

I hope that
count($data) == count($data1); //Always True!
If that's the case the following will work:
for ($i=0;$i<count($data);$i++) {
$insert_data = array(
'labref'=>$labref, //NDQA201303001 - Same for all the rows
'compedia'=>$data[$i],
'specification'=>$data1[$i]
);
$this->db->insert('coa_body',$insert_data);
}
Check this Link: CodePad.org
Update:
Suggested by Rcpayan:
//This will reduce number of context switching,
//even though loping is doubled!
for ($i=0;$i<count($data);$i++) {
$insert_data[$i] = array(
'labref'=>$labref, //NDQA201303001
'compedia'=>$data[$i],
'specification'=>$data1[$i]
);
}
$this->db->insert_batch('coa_body',$insert_data);

Answer 2

You could do something like this, it's a bit longer but can also deal with compedia and specification not being equal. This solutions assumes a few things:
You want the value of labref to be the same for each row inserted
If the number of values for compedia and specification aren't equal, you still want to insert the row, but the 'missing' values will be set to NULL.
$labref = $this->uri->segment(3);
$compedia_data = $this->input->post('compedia');
$specification_data = $this->input->post('specification');
//Calculate which array is larger, so we can loop through all values
$max_array_size = max(count($compedia_data), count($specification_data));
//Iterate through the arrays
for ($i = 0; $i < $max_array_size; $i++)
{
$this->db->set('labref', $labref);
//If we still have a value(s) for compedia, then assign the value, otherwise set to NULL
if array_key_exists($i, $compedia_data)
{
$this->db->set('compedia', $compedia_data[$i]);
}
else
{
$this->db->set('compedia', NULL);
}
//If we still have a value(s) for specification, then assign the value, otherwise set to NULL
if array_key_exists($i, $specification_data)
{
$this->db->set('specification', $specification_data[$i]);
}
else
{
$this->db->set('specification', NULL);
}
//Insert into table: 'coa_body'
$this->db->insert('coa_body');
}
Alternatively, you could change the loop to assign the values to an array, then batch insert these values. This might offer better performance.
//Initial other relevant code is included in the example above (excluded here for brevity)
$insert_array = new array();
//Iterate through the arrays
for ($i = 0; $i < $max_array_size; $i++)
{
$row_array = new array();
$row_array['labref'] = $labref;
//If we still have a value(s) for compedia, then assign the value, otherwise set to NULL
if array_key_exists($i, $compedia_data)
{
$row_array['compedia'] = $compedia_data[$i];
}
else
{
$row_array['compedia'] = NULL;
}
//If we still have a value(s) for specification, then assign the value, otherwise set to NULL
if array_key_exists($i, $specification_data)
{
$row_array['specification'] = $specification_data[$i];
}
else
{
$row_array['specification'] = NULL;
}
//Add current row to the insert array, so it can be added to the database
$insert_array[$i] = $row_array;
}
//Insert into table: 'coa_body'
$this->db->insert_batch('coa_body', $insert_array);