changing a lists sort order inline - php

Question

I have a list
Each row has a common input field "sort_order" that's stored in MySQL db.
<input name="sort_order" type="text" value="<?php echo $cat['sort_order']; ?>" size="3" />
I want to be able to change the sort order inline, without going into the edit form.
How do I get all the values into the database. I think I need to loop through each row adding the sort_order[row_id] and value to an array. But I am stuck on how to achieve this.
all the values are posting according to firePHP. sort_order[50] 1, sort_order[51] 2 etc.
New Attempt at explaining:
I have a list view with 2 input fields.
<input name="cat_id" type="hidden" value="<?php echo $cat['cat_id']; ?>" />
<input name="sort_order" type="text" value="<?php echo $cat['sort_order']; ?>" size="3" />
I have a function that's called on post in the controller:
public function sortOrderUpdate(){
//collect the values of cat_id and sort_order from each input into a array
//$this->request->post['sort_order']
//$this->request->post['cat_id']
//send to the model
$this->model_cat->updateCatSortOrder($sortorderarray);
}
And the database model file function:
public function updateCatSortOrder($sortorderarray){
foreach((int)$sortorderarray as $sort){
$this->db->query("UPDATE cat SET sort_order='" . (int)$sort['sort_order'] . "' WHERE cat_id = '" . (int)$sort['cat_id'] . "'");
}
}
Whats the best way to achieve this?

Answer 1

Just use empty square brackets:
<input type="text" name="sort_order[]" value"<?php echo $sort_order; ?>" />
You can then access the input as an array, saving you from building it yourself. It'll be stored as $_POST['sort_order'] (or $_GET, depending on the method attribute specified in your <form> tag).
On a related note, you should probably escape $sort_order when echoing it:
<input type="text" name="sort_order[]" value"<?php echo htmlspecialchars($sort_order); ?>" />

Answer 2

i would not recommend using [ ] in html names.
<input type="text" name="sort_order_<?php echo $row_id; ?>" value"<?php echo $sort_order; ?>" />
say, you have 50 input fields, when posted, you can build an array this way:
$sortorder = array();
for($i=0; $i<50; $i++){
$sortorder[] = $_REQUEST['sort_order_' . $i];
}

Answer 3

Ok this seems to work:
<input name="cat_id[]" type="hidden" value="<?php echo $cat['cat_id']; ?>" />
<input name="sort_order[]" type="text" value="<?php echo $cat['sort_order']; ?>" size="3" />
Controller:
public function updateCatSortOrder(){
$sortvals = $this->request->post['sort_order']; //$this->request->post same as $_POST
$row = $this->request->post['cat_id'];
$n = count($this->request->post['cat_id']);
$sortorder = array();
for($i=0; $i<$n; $i++){
$sortorder[] = array(
'cat_id' => $row[$i],
'sort_order' => $sortvals[$i]
);
}
$this->model_cat->updateCatSortOrder($sortorder);
}
Model:
//UPDATE CAT SORT ORDER
public function updateCatSortOrder($sortorder){
foreach($sortorder as $sort){
$this->db->query("UPDATE cat SET sort_order='" . $this->db->escape($sort['sort_order']) . "' WHERE cat_id = '" . $this->db->escape($sort['cat_id']). "'");
}
}