将表结构化的表单数据存储到数据库中-正确的方法？

Question

This is going to be a long read, so please bear with me. I'm pretty good at PHP, but my knowledge in database designing is poor. I'm working on it as I've realized that having command over designing a database is the most important thing while working with applications and how things get so easier if you get the hang of it. The inception of this thread is also because of my weak knowledge about database interaction.

I basically have around 40 forms whose structure is similar to the image given below:

The number of columns and rows vary from one form to another, but they more or less follow a similar structure as shown above.

WHAT I'M PLANNING TO ACHIEVE

• Use a single / same php page to process (ie, insert data into database) all the 40 forms. In other words, I intend to use the same <form action="process.php"> for all the forms.
• Avoid hard-coding; keep the code in process.php as much dynamic as possible.

ROADBLOCKS

• The number of parameters in each form vary, so I need to figure out a way to find out the number of rows present in each form.
• Finding it difficult to decide how to name the elements (radio buttons, checkboxes, dropdowns, textareas, textboxes etc) being used in the form.
• I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to proceed with the insertion. Inserting one row at a time seems to be appropriate, but how would I achieve this? For example, if I use a loop, in the first iteration data related to Ambiance should be inserted. In the second loop data related to TV Room should be inserted and so on. The problem is how to code accordingly?

WHAT I'VE IN MIND

• The columns of the form (parameter, meets requirement, observation, status, remarks) become the fields of the MySql table.

• Then insert one row at a time in the table using a loop.

• Use arrays for naming the elements used in the form. For example, ambiance[requirement], ambiance[observation], ambiance[status], ambiance[remarks] for elements in the first row and room[requirement], room[observation], room[status], room[remarks] for the second row and so on. Then insertion can be done in a single line by using INSERT INTO tablename (implode(',', array_keys($ambiance))) VALUES (implode(',', $ambiance))

WHAT THIS IS NOT ABOUT

• Asking to supply / post code.

• Give me teh codez is not my way of operating. I'm just seeking instructions on how to go about with the task.

WHAT THIS IS ABOUT

• Asking for suggestions.

• Determining if I'm going in the right direction.

• Asking if there are alternate ways.

Answer 1

I have done something similar but not exactly the same. I used these two tables:

• Form
  • ID
  • Name (eg feedback, comments, survey)

---

• FormFields**
  • ID
  • FormID
  • Caption (eg name, company, address)
  • SubCaption (eg enter your full name)
  • Required
  • DataType (eg integer, number, string, email)
  • MaxLength

** Look at the schema of a database table for more ideas.

In your case you need another pair of tables:

• FormSubmission
  • ID
  • Date

---

• FormSubmissionValues
  • ID
  • FormSubmissionID
  • FormFieldID (can be used to deduce FormID or you can add FormID in FormSubmission table)
  • Value (a field large enough to accommodate any value)

There were several catches. I'll note down a few:

• The UI needs to vary depending on datatype (small 10 character input for integer/number, checkbox for boolean, textarea for text)
• Not sure how to handle list boxes. Perhaps you need another table for this
• You cannot use indexes properly since everything is stored in a generic text field
• Client side validation is possible but difficult
• The tables need to be very generic. Based on my experience this requires extra effort to ensure that x works with all y .