FOR looping while grabbing part of the data from $_POST - php

Question

It has been awhile since I have messed with for loops and was wondering if this is possible:
Here is what I have:
$mn = $_POST['mnpoints'];
$mi = $_POST['mipoints'];
$in = $_POST['inpoints'];
$wi = $_POST['wipoints'];
These grab numbers from a form once the submit button is clicked it will the use the following code to update the MySQL database
for ($i = 0; $i <=4; $i++ )
{
mysql_query("UPDATE " . $db_table . " SET `score` = `score` + <VARIABLE HERE> WHERE id=$i") or die (mysql_error());
}
What would be the best way to accomplish this? I can always change the variables to be $m1 - $m4 and the just use $m$i
Just wondering if there is another way or a better way
Thanks

Answer 1

Put your variables into an array:
$values = array($mn, $mi, $in, $wi);
Then iterate over it using foreach, or index it using $i.
Note: Your code is vulnerable to SQL injection attacks. I strongly suggest you read up on mysqli, prepared statements etc.:
http://php.net/manual/en/book.mysqli.php
The mysql interface is officially deprecated and should not be used anymore.

Answer 2

How does 'mnpoints' and 'inpoints' etc... relate to "score"?If you're just looking at dumping all those values and adding them togetherm, then:
$score = $mn + $mi + $in + $wi;
$sql = "UPDATE ... SET score=score+$score";

Answer 3

function bulkUpdateSingleColumn($table, $id_column, $update_column, array &$idstovals){
$sql = "update $table set $update_column = CASE $id_column ";
foreach($idstovals as $id=>$val){
$sql .= " WHEN '$id' THEN '$val' \n";
}
$sql .= " END
WHERE $id_column in (" . implode(',', array_keys($idstovals)) . ")";
//debugging info
echo '<small>'.$sql.'</small>';
$idstovals=array();
db_query($sql);
done();
}