How can I determine the current php array number - php

Question

Good Afternoon.
I'm attempting to make an array list with one of the key values being ($_REQUEST['qty#']), where "#" would be the current number of the item within the array (as it pertains to a field in a form that gathers this info).
For example:
$itemdetails = array(
array(
'qty' => ($_REQUEST['qty1']),
'price' => 0.70,
'pn' => 'TV-1000',
array(
'qty' => ($_REQUEST['qty2']),
'price' => 0.99,
'pn' => 'TV-5000'));
Is there any way that I can automatically have the number in ($_REQUEST['qty']) be determined without having to type in the numbers manually?
Just wondering. My next guess would be to enter it all into a database and pull it from there.
Thanks a bunch in advance.

Answer 1

You would need to loop ...
$itemdetails = array(
array(
'price' => 0.70,
'pn' => 'TV-1000'
),
array(
'price' => 0.99,
'pn' => 'TV-5000'
)
);
foreach ( $itemdetails as $k => &$item ) {
$item['qty'] = $k + 1;
}

Answer 2

What you should do is pass an array of data via POST/GET.
To do this in your inputs, you make the name value = qty[] for each input. Note the array syntax [] here.
PHP will automatically take all values for input with that array syntax and build an array out of it in $_POST/$_REQUEST.
So you would be able to access your array like
var_dump($_POST['qty']);
var_dump($_REQUEST['qty']);
That however still doesn't give the ability to match this to the price/pn as you need. So, let's take the array syntax one step further and actually put a key value in it like this:
<input name="qty[0]" ... />
<input name="qty[1]" ... />
By doing this you will be able to know exactly which array index matches which item (assuming you know the order the inputs were displayed in).
The would make $_POST['qty'][0] be the first item, $_POST['qty'][1] be the next and so on.
So assuming you also have you prices/pn in an array like this:
$item_array = array(
0 => array('price' => 123, 'pn' = 'ABC'),
1 => array('price' => 456, 'pn' = 'XYZ'),
...
);
You could then easily loop through the input quantities and build you final array like this:
$itemdetails = array();
foreach ($_REQUEST['qty'] as $key => $value) {
$itemdetails[$key] = $item_array[$key];
$itemdetails[$key]['qty'] = $value;
)
Also note, that if you are expecting this data to be passed via POST, it is considered best practice to use the $_POST superglobal rather than the $_REQUEST superglobal.