select all checkboxes if none are select in php query - php

Question

I have a script wher users can find exercise from a database, I have checkboxes for the user to find specific exercises the script works fine when a least 1 checkbox is selected from each checkbox group however I would like it that if no checkboxes was selected then it would the results of all checkboxes.
my checkbox form looks like this
<form action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>" method="post" name="criteria">
<p><strong>MUSCLE GROUP</strong></p>
<input type="checkbox" name="muscle[]" id="abdominals" value="abdominals"/>Abdominals<br />
<input type="checkbox" name="muscle[]" id="biceps" value="biceps" />Biceps<br />
<input type="checkbox" name="muscle[]" id="calves" value="calves" />Calves<br />
ect...
<br /><p><strong>EQUIPMENT (please select a least one)</strong></p>
<input type="checkbox" name="equipment[]" id="equipment" value="bands"/>Bands<br />
<input type="checkbox" name="equipment[]" id="equipment" value="barbell" />Barbell<br />
<input type="checkbox" name="equipment[]" id="equipment" value="dumbbell" />Dumbbell<br />
ect....
<input type="submit" name="sub" value="Generate Query" />
</form>
and here is my script
<?php
if(isset($_POST['muscle']) && !empty($_POST['muscle'])){
if(isset($_POST['equipment']) && !empty($_POST['equipment'])){
//get the function
include ($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] .'/scripts/functions.php');
$page = (int) (!isset($_GET["page"]) ? 1 : $_GET["page"]);
$limit = 14;
$startpoint = ($page * $limit) - $limit;
// Runs mysql_real_escape_string() on every value encountered.
$clean_muscle = array_map('mysql_real_escape_string', $_REQUEST['muscle']);
$clean_equipment = array_map('mysql_real_escape_string', $_REQUEST['equipment']);
// Convert the array into a string.
$muscle = implode("','", $clean_muscle);
$equipment = implode("','", $clean_equipment);
$options = array();
if(array($muscle))
{
$options[] = "muscle IN ('$muscle')";
}
if(array($equipment))
{
$options[] = "equipment IN ('$equipment')";
}
$fullsearch = implode(' AND ', $options);
$statement = "mytable";
if ($fullsearch <> '') {
$statement .= " WHERE " . $fullsearch;
}
if(!$query=mysql_query("SELECT * FROM {$statement} LIMIT {$startpoint} , {$limit}"))
{
echo "Cannot parse query";
}
elseif(mysql_num_rows($query) == 0) {
echo "No records found";
}
else {
echo "";
while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($query)) {
echo "".$row['name'] ."</br>
".$row['description'] ."";
}
}
echo "<div class=\"new-pagination\">";
echo pagination($statement,$limit,$page);
echo "</div>";
}
}
Im new with php so my code may not be the best. If anyone can help me or point me in the right direction I would be very greatful.

Answer 1

OK - I think I have figured it all out. You were right - the main problem was in your isset and isempty calls. I created some variations on your file, and this shows what is going on. Note - since I don't have some of your "other" functions, I am only showing what is going wrong in the outer parts of your function.
Part 1: validating function
In the following code, I have added two JavaScript functions to the input form; these were loosely based on scripts you can find when you google "JavaScript validation checkbox". The oneBoxSet(groupName) function will look through all document elements; find the ones of type checkBox, see if one of them is checked, and if so, confirms that it belongs to groupName. For now, it returns "true" or "false". The calling function, validateMe(formName), runs your validation. It is called by adding
onclick="validateMe('criteria'); return false;"
to the code of the submit button. This basically says "call this function with this parameter to validate the form". In this case the function "fixes" the data and submits; but you could imagine that it returns "false", in which case the submit action will be canceled.
In the validateMe function we check whether at least one box is checked in each group; if it is not, then a hidden box in the "all[]" group is set accordingly.
I changed the code a little bit - it calls a different script (muscle.php) instead of the <?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?> you had... obviously the principle is the same.
After this initial code we will look at some stuff I added in muscle.php to confirm what your original problem was.
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
// go through all checkboxes; see if at least one with name 'groupName' is set
// if so, return true; otherwise return false
function oneBoxSet(groupName)
{
var c=document.getElementsByTagName('input');
for (var i = 0; i<c.length; i++){
if (c[i].type=='checkbox')
{
if (c[i].checked) {
if (c[i].name == groupName) {
return true; // at least one box in this group is checked
}
}
}
}
return false; // never found a good checkbox
}
function setAllBoxes(groupName, TF)
{
// set the 'checked' property of all inputs in this group to 'TF' (true or false)
var c=document.getElementsByTagName('input');
// alert("setting all boxes for " + groupName + " to " + TF);
for (var i = 0; i<c.length; i++){
if (c[i].type=='checkbox')
{
if (c[i].name == groupName) {
c[i].checked = TF;
}
}
}
return 0;
}
// this function is run when submit is pressed:
function validateMe(formName) {
if (oneBoxSet('muscle[]')) {
document.getElementById("allMuscles").value = "selectedMuscles";
//alert("muscle OK!");
}
else {
document.getElementById("allMuscles").value = "allMuscles";
// and/or insert code that sets all boxes in this group:
setAllBoxes('muscle[]', true);
alert("No muscle group was selected - has been set to ALL");
}
if (oneBoxSet('equipment[]')) {
document.getElementById("allEquipment").value = "selectedEquipment";
//alert("equipment OK!");
}
else {
document.getElementById("allEquipment").value = "allEquipment";
// instead, you could insert code here that sets all boxes in this category to true
setAllBoxes('equipment[]', true);
alert("No equipment was selected - has been set to ALL");
}
// submit the form - function never returns
document.forms[formName].submit();
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<form action="muscle.php" method="post" name="criteria">
<p><strong>MUSCLE GROUP</strong></p>
<input type="checkbox" name="muscle[]" id="abdominals" value="abdominals"/>Abdominals<br />
<input type="checkbox" name="muscle[]" id="biceps" value="biceps" />Biceps<br />
<input type="checkbox" name="muscle[]" id="calves" value="calves" />Calves<br />
<input type="hidden" name="all[]" id="allMuscles" value="selectedMuscles" />
etc...<br>
<br /><p><strong>EQUIPMENT (please select a least one)</strong></p>
<input type="checkbox" name="equipment[]" id="equipment" value="bands"/>Bands<br />
<input type="checkbox" name="equipment[]" id="equipment" value="barbell" />Barbell<br />
<input type="checkbox" name="equipment[]" id="equipment" value="dumbbell" />Dumbbell<br />
<input type="hidden" name="all[]" id="allEquipment" value="selectedEquipment" />
<br>
<input type="submit" name="sub" value="Generate Query" onclick="validateMe('criteria'); return false;" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
Part 2: what's wrong with the PHP?
Now here is a new start to the php script. It checks the conditions that you were testing at the start of your original script, and demonstrates that you never get past the initial if statements if a check box wasn't set in one of the groups. I suggest that you leave these tests out altogether, and instead get inspiration from the code I wrote to fix any issues. For example, you can test whether equipmentAll or muscleAll were set, and create the appropriate query string accordingly.
<?php
echo 'file was called successfully<br><br>';
if(isset($_POST['muscle'])) {
echo "_POST[muscle] is set<br>";
print_r($_POST[muscle]);
echo "<br>";
if (!empty($_POST['muscle'])) {
echo "_POST[muscle] is not empty!<br>";
}
else {
echo "_POST[muscle] is empty!<br>";
}
}
else {
echo "_POST[muscle] is not set: it is empty!<br>";
}
if(isset($_POST['equipment'])) {
echo "_POST[equipment] is set<br>";
print_r($_POST['equipment']);
echo "<br>";
if (!empty($_POST['equipment'])) {
echo "_POST[equipment] is not empty!<br>";
}
else {
echo "_POST[equipment] is empty!<br>";
}
}
else {
echo "_POST[equipment] is not set: it is empty!<br>";
}
if(isset($_POST['all'])) {
echo "this is what you have to do:<br>";
print_r($_POST['all']);
echo "<br>";
}
// if(isset($_POST['muscle']) && !empty($_POST['muscle'])){
// if(isset($_POST['equipment']) && !empty($_POST['equipment'])){
If you call this with no check boxes selected, you get two dialogs ('not OK!'), then the following output:
file was called successfully
_POST[muscle] is not set: it is empty!
_POST[equipment] is not set: it is empty!
this is what you have to do:
Array ( [0] => allMuscles [1] => allEquipment )
If you select a couple of boxes in the first group, and none in the second:
file was called successfully
_POST[muscle] is set
Array ( [0] => abdominals [1] => calves )
_POST[muscle] is not empty!
_POST[equipment] is not set: it is empty!
this is what you have to do:
Array ( [0] => selectedMuscles [1] => allEquipment )
I do not claim to write beautiful code; but I hope this is functional, and gets you out of the fix you were in. Good luck!