Inserting multiple rows into MySQL at once - php

Question

I am trying to submit a table full of information at once, and cannot find the answer. It has no problem submitting one set of information to the DB, but i need to insult between 1 and 50 of the same value at once. Here is an example:
We are recording lap times, therefore we need to be able to fill in a table on a web app, with loads of names, and event times. Therefore, we will need to add loads of SQL entries at once.
I have tried just copy and pasting the form info, but this results in a blank set of data in phpmyadmin.
Here is the code:
<?php
$host = "localhost";
$databasename = "pe_results";
$databaseusername = "root";
$databasepassword = "";
$conn = mysql_connect("$host", "$databaseusername", "$databasepassword");
mysql_select_db("$databasename", $conn);
if (isset($_POST['Name'])) {
$Name = $_POST['Name'];
}
if (isset($_POST['Short'])) {
$Short = $_POST['Short'];
}
if (isset($_POST['Med'])) {
$Med = $_POST['Med'];
}
if (isset($_POST['Long'])) {
$Long = $_POST['Long'];
}
if (isset($_POST['VLong'])) {
$VLong = $_POST['VLong'];
}
if (isset($_POST['Extreme'])) {
$Extreme = $_POST['Extreme'];
}
if (isset($_POST['LJump'])) {
$LJump = $_POST['LJump'];
}
if (isset($_POST['HJump'])) {
$HJump = $_POST['HJump'];
}
if (isset($_POST['Shotputt'])) {
$Shotputt = $_POST['Shotputt'];
}
if (isset($_POST['Discuss'])) {
$Discuss = $_POST['Discuss'];
}
if (isset($_POST['Javelin'])) {
$Javelin = $_POST['Javelin'];
}
if (isset($_POST['Date'])) {
$Date = $_POST['Date'];
}
if (isset($_POST['Year'])) {
$Year = $_POST['Year'];
}
$i = count($Name);
for ($i=0;$i<10;$i++) {
$n = $Name[$i];
$s = $Short[$i];
$me = $Med[$i];
$lng = $Long[$i];
$slng = $VLong[$i];
$ext = $Extreme[$i];
$ljump = $LJump[$i];
$hjump = $HJump[$i];
$shot = $Shotputt[$i];
$disc = $Discuss[$i];
$jav = $Javelin[$i];
$date = $Date[$i];
$year = $Year[$i];
//and so on with more variable...
$sql="INSERT INTO results_main (`Name`, `Short`, `Med`, `Long`, `Vlong`, `Extreme`, `LJump`, `HJump`, `Shotputt`, `Discuss`, `Javelin`, `Date`, `Year`)
VALUES ('$n', '$s', '$me', '$lng', '$slng', '$ext', '$ljump', '$hjump', '$shot', '$disc', '$jav', '$date', '$year')";
}
$result = mysql_query($sql) or die(mysql_error ());;
if($result){
echo"<br/>Everythings been saved";
echo "<BR>";
echo "<a href='index.php'>Back to the main page</a>";
}
else {
echo $result = mysql_query($sql,$conn) or die (mysql_error ());
}
// close connection
mysql_close($conn);
?>
Also find HTML below
<?php
// Create connection
$con=mysqli_connect("127.0.0.1","root","","pe_results");
// Check connection
if (mysqli_connect_errno($con))
{
echo "Uh oh, tell chris that " . mysqli_connect_error() . "NO DATA WILL BE SAVED";
}
?>
<div id="1" >Results</div>
<div id="2">Record</div>
<div id="3">Overview</div>
<div id="4">Blank</div>
<form name="input_primary" action="process.php" method="post">
<font color="#FFFFFF"><strong>Date:</strong></font><input name="Date" type="date" />
<font color="#FFFFFF"><strong>Year:</strong></font><select name="Year">
<option value="7">Year 7</option>
<option value="8">Year 8</option>
<option value="9">Year 9</option>
<option value="10">Year 10</option>
<option value="11">Year 11</option>
<option value="12">Year 12</option>
<option value="13">Year 13</option>
</select>
<input type="submit" value="Save results!" name="submit" />
<table width="200" border="1px solid black" id="maintab">
<tr>
<th scope="col">Name</th>
<th scope="col">100m</th>
<th scope="col">200m</th>
<th scope="col">400m</th>
<th scope="col">800m</th>
<th scope="col">1500m</th>
<th scope="col">Long Jump</th>
<th scope="col">High Jump</th>
<th scope="col">Shotputt</th>
<th scope="col">Discus</th>
<th scope="col">Javelin</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<input name="Name" type="text" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Short" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Med" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Long" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="VLong" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Extreme" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="LJump" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="HJump" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Shotputt" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Discuss" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Javelin" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
</tr>

Answer 1

If I understood your Question right what you wanna do is name the fields with a []
So
<select name="Year">
Becomes
<select name="Year[]">
Then you'll be able to loop through the submitted values, example:
foreach($_POST['Year'] as $k=>$v){
echo $v." - This is the value";
echo $k." - This is the key";
}
EDIT:
(string)$insert;
if(is_array($_POST['Year'])){
foreach($_POST['Year'] as $k=>$v){
$insert .= "(".$_POST['Name'][$k].", ".$_POST['Short'][$k].", ".$_POST['Med'][$k].", ".$_POST['Long'][$k].", ".$_POST['VLong'][$k].", ".$_POST['Extreme'][$k].", ".$_POST['LJump'][$k].", ".$_POST['HJump'][$k].", ".$_POST['Shotputt'][$k].", ".$_POST['Discuss'][$k].", ".$_POST['Javelin'][$k].", ".$_POST['Date'][$k].", ".$_POST['Year'][$k]."),";
}
$insert = substr_replace($insert ,0,-1);
}else{
$insert .= "($_POST['Name'], $_POST['Short'], $_POST['Med'], $_POST['Long'], $_POST['VLong'], $_POST['Extreme'], $_POST['LJump'], $_POST['HJump'], $_POST['Shotputt'], $_POST['Discuss'], $_POST['Javelin'], $_POST['Date'], $_POST['Year'])";
}
$sql="INSERT INTO results_main
(`Name`, `Short`, `Med`, `Long`, `VLong`, `Extreme`, `LJump`, `HJump`, `Shotputt`, `Discuss`, `Javelin`, `Date`, `Year`)
VALUES
".$insert;
This should do the trick to get everything into only one query instead of doing multiple queries for each row

Answer 2

Add brackets [] to ALL your names in your html-form (where it makes sense). The bracket [] tells that elements are treated as dynamic arrays.
In your html-form, do something like this:
<form name="input_primary" action="process.php" method="post">
<font color="#FFFFFF"><strong>Date:</strong></font><input name="Date" type="date" />
<font color="#FFFFFF"><strong>Year:</strong></font><select name="Year">
<option value="7">Year 7</option>
<option value="8">Year 8</option>
<option value="9">Year 9</option>
<option value="10">Year 10</option>
<option value="11">Year 11</option>
<option value="12">Year 12</option>
<option value="13">Year 13</option>
</select>
<input type="submit" value="Save results!" name="submit" />
<table width="200" border="1px solid black" id="maintab">
<tr>
<th scope="col">Name</th>
<th scope="col">100m</th>
<th scope="col">200m</th>
<th scope="col">400m</th>
<th scope="col">800m</th>
<th scope="col">1500m</th>
<th scope="col">Long Jump</th>
<th scope="col">High Jump</th>
<th scope="col">Shotputt</th>
<th scope="col">Discus</th>
<th scope="col">Javelin</th>
</tr>
<?php
//Repeat element inside loop 10 times
for($i=0;$i<10;$i++) {
?>
<tr>
<td>
<input name="Name[]" type="text" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Short[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Med[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Long[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="VLong[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Extreme[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="LJump[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="HJump[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Shotputt[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Discuss[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
<td>
<input name="Javelin[]" type="text" size="10px" />
</td>
</tr>
<?php
}
?>
</table>
</form>
And in your PHP code do something like this:
//Create initial query for sql-insert.
$sql="INSERT INTO results_main (`Name`, `Short`, `Med`, `Long`, `Vlong`, `Extreme`, `LJump`, `HJump`, `Shotputt`, `Discuss`, `Javelin`, `Date`, `Year`) VALUES ";
$date = $Date; //Do like this if date-element is only occur once (at top) (then no need for brackets)
$year = $Year; //Do like this if year-element is only occur once (at top) (then no need for brackets)
$cnt = count($Name);
for ($i=0;$i<$cnt;$i++) {
//Use mysql_escape_string to escape strings (when needed) BEFORE adding to the $sql.
$n = $Name[$i];
$s = $Short[$i];
$me = $Med[$i];
$lng = $Long[$i];
$slng = $VLong[$i];
$ext = $Extreme[$i];
$ljump = $LJump[$i];
$hjump = $HJump[$i];
$shot = $Shotputt[$i];
$disc = $Discuss[$i];
$jav = $Javelin[$i];
//Insert each row separated with a comma
$sql .= "('$n', '$s', '$me', '$lng', '$slng', '$ext', '$ljump', '$hjump', '$shot', '$disc', '$jav', '$date', '$year'),";
}
$useQuery = substr($sql, 0, -1); //Delete last comma
$result = mysql_query($useQuery); //Do the actual insert
then of course, read up on PDO instead of using mysql_query etc. Do this soon because mysql_* functions like this are deprecated and will be removed in the future. PDO is a better alternative because it's oop, it's safer and more flexible. Start from here... http://www.php.net/manual/en/intro.pdo.php

Answer 3

Storing your data across multiple arrays is unsafe because its so easy to get out of order and cause errors. Instead store data into an associative array like this:
$people = array();
$people[] = array('Name' => $name, 'Short' => $short ....);
The above code creates and array of arrays and the inner arrays are associative arrays so you can use the following syntax to get the name of the first person:
$people[0]['Name'];
Everything stays together and if certain values arn't set for certain people it will not seep into the other peoples records.
I see you were using POST variables. The above associative array can be easily passed around with ajax (if thats what your using, just an option) by using json_encode and json_decode. This helps preserve data structures when your passing it through multiple languages.
Lastly to insert a large number of records I would suggest a PDO statement as one ofthe easiest and cleanest way to do this. Check out a great tutorial here http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/why-you-should-be-using-phps-pdo-for-database-access/
Hope this helps, good luck!