Using an array to populate other variables using a foreach - php

Question

In simple terms I have a form which has three identical entry fields. The names are different; however, when posted they have the same structure just different name prefix (ie three systems have different name prefixes: they would be windowstitle, mactitle, linuxtitle etc).
Currently I have a process that will only work one namesake out ie windowstitle (if the form is filled out, of course)
The code looks something like this:
<?php
$title = $_POST['windowstitle'];
//validate info or redirect
if ($title != "" ) {
$title = mysql_real_escape_string($title);
$sql = "insert into newwindows (title) values ('$title');
$result = mysql_query($sql) or die ("Could not insert data into DB: " . mysql_error());
?>
Also the form block looks something like this
<form action="newuserprocess.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
<div class="form">
<h3>Windows</h3>
<!-- title of system name -->
<p><label for="windowstitle"> edition of system </lable></p>
<input type="text" name="windowstitle" size=20 /><br />
</div>
<div class="form">
<h3>Mac</h3>
<!-- title of system name -->
<p><label for="mactitle"> edition of system </lable></p>
<input type="text" name="mactitle" size=20 /><br />
</div>
<p><input type="submit" id="submit" class="bigbutton" value="Upload" /></p>
</form>
However, that leaves other forms left out with the only difference being the db I wanted entered and the post value prefix different.
So I came up with what I thought was a clever solution:
<?php
$arr = array('windows', 'mac', 'linux');
foreach ($arr as &$value) {
$title = $_POST['$valuetitle'];
//validate info
if ($title != "" ) {
$title = mysql_real_escape_string($title);
$sql = "insert into new$value (title) values ('$title');
$result = mysql_query($sql) or die ("Could not insert data into DB: " . mysql_error());
}
?>
However, this does not work. I know partly why; because '' makes the variable appear as is, thus my $_Post will always come back as $value. Another reason is the same with my new$value database name. What is the proper format for this? How do I make this work?

Answer 1

you probably want
$title = $_POST[$value . 'title'];
and
$sql = "insert into new$value (title) values ('$title')";

Answer 2

Another reason is the same with my new$value database name. My question is what is the proper format for this?
I'd surround $value in brackets {$value} for clarity. Your format works but could be clearer. See some tests: http://ideone.com/A2kWU
Also, if you are not changing the values in array $arr then you should just use
foreach ($arr as $value) { //...
to prevent accidental changes. In this case it won't be a big deal, though, since you're just using the array once.

Answer 3

Edit your code like:
<?php
$arr = array('windows', 'mac', 'linux');
foreach ($arr as $value) {