Get form checkbox values and pass them through pagination? - php

Question

I need to get values from some selected checkboxes and pass those values through pagination in php/mysql. If on another page user selects other checkboxes, I need to add their values to array selected earlier.
I need this for a product comparison page. In short I need to:
get the checkbox values
store them
include the checkbox values from other pages in pagination
and when user selects "compare" send that array to compare page.
Anybody know how to do this? Related examples would be appreciated?

Answer 1

There are different ways to maintain state across pages, including cookies, session variables, hidden inputs, passing them in the querystring, persisting to database, etc. In this case I would probably use a session variable.
For more info on PHP session see PHP Sessions.

Answer 2

One solution would be to load all of the pages at once in their own divs inside of a form. When you click on a new page link, hide all divs except the one you need to show. That way all checkboxes are submitted in the same form, making it easier to handle server-side. That of course depends on how heavy each individual page is and how many pages there are.
Another solution would be to keep a session variable, tracking what was clicked. Each time someone clicks to go to another page. POST to the server a list of the checkboxes.

Answer 3

You could do it by using javascript to store the checkbox selection in a cookie. Here's some sample code to get you going in the right direction.
var aa_checkbox;
function init_checkbox(){
//setup blank cb cookie
if(!Cookie.read('cb')){
Cookie.write('cb', JSON.encode({}));
}
//setup "associative array" to match what is currently in the cookie
aa_checkbox = JSON.decode(Cookie.read('cb'));
//set up each checkbox with class="remember_cb"
$$('input.remember_cb').each(function(el){
//mark checked if it is in the cookie
if(aa_checkbox[el.name]){
el.checked = 'checked'
}
//setup onclick event to put checkbox status in the
el.addEvent('click', function(){
if(el.checked){
aa_checkbox[el.name] = 1;
}else{
delete(aa_checkbox[el.name]);
}
})
})
//save aa_checkbox back into cookie upon leaving a page
window.onbeforeunload = function(){Cookie.write('cb', JSON.encode(aa_checkbox));};
setup_form();
return true;
}
function setup_form(){
//set up form so that it adds the inputs upon submit.
$$('form.remember_cb_form').each(function(form){
form.addEvent('submit', function(ev){
//clean up previously inserted inputs
var aa_hidden_insert = $$('input.hidden_insert');
$each(aa_hidden_insert, function(el){
el.parentNode.removeChild(el);
})
var el_form = this;
//insert hidden elements representing the values stored in aa_checkbox
$each(aa_checkbox, function(i_value, s_name){
if(i_value){
var el_input = document.createElement('input');
el_input.type = 'hidden';
el_input.value = i_value;
el_input.name = s_name;
el_input.setAttribute('class', 'hidden_insert');
el_form.appendChild(el_input);
}
});
});
});
}
window.addEvent('domready', init_checkbox);
There is a working demo here and a more thorough explanation here

Answer 4

Your pagination links could actually perform a form POST, then read the checkbox[] in ur php script, and update a hidden form element or add the value to a session, anything stateful. so your anchor could look something like
<a href="#" onclick="document.myform.submit()">next&lt/a>