MySql/PHP - How can I insert data into 2 different tables at the same time (using Array)

Question

I have a form that creates request. By clicking on the 'Create Request' button all the information is added to the 'Requests_Table'. This is working perfectly. Each request has more than one item (at least one)... and each item is comprised of its own characteristics (that's why I want to store this info on a separate table 'SerialNumber_Table'.

So, I need help inserting the Serial number information (Type,Model,Serial number) into 'SerialNumber_Table'. I believe I'll also need to use mysql_insert_id(); to associate each serial number with the correct request_id.

` //Variables for Serial Numbers

    $machineType = mysql_prep($_POST['machineType']);
    $machineModel = mysql_prep($_POST['machineModel']);
    $serialNumber = mysql_prep($_POST['serialNumber']);

            <fieldset class="row2">
            <h1><?php echo $LANG['hardware_details']; ?></h1>
            <p style="margin: 10px 0 10px 0; ">
                <p style="margin: 10px 0 10px 0; font-size:12px; padding: 0;"><?php echo $LANG['delete_machines']; ?></p>
                <input type="button" value="<?php echo $LANG['add_machines']; ?>" onClick="addRow('dataTable')" style="width: 100px; padding: 2px 5px 2px 5px; background: #e1e1e1; color: #000; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; cursor: pointer;" /> 
                <input type="button" value="<?php echo $LANG['remove_machines']; ?>" onClick="deleteRow('dataTable')" style="width: 130px; margin-left: 10px; padding: 2px 5px 2px 5px; background: #e1e1e1; color: #000; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; cursor: pointer;" /> 
            </p>
           <table id="dataTable" class="form" border="1">
              <tbody>
                <tr>
                    <td><input type="checkbox" style=" width: 30px; "/></td>
                    <td>
                        <label style="margin-left: 10px;"><?php echo $LANG['machineType']; ?></label>
                        <input type="text" value="" id="machineType" name="machineType[]" style="width: 70px; margin: 5px 10px 10px 10px; ">
                     </td>
                     <td>
                        <label for="" style="margin-left: 10px;"><?php echo $LANG['machineModel']; ?></label>
                        <input type="text" value="" id="machineModel" name="machineModel[]" style="width: 70px; margin: 5px 10px 10px 10px;">
                     </td>
                     <td>
                        <label for="" style="margin-left: 10px;"><?php echo $LANG['serialNumbers']; ?></label>
                        <input type="text" value="" id="serialNumber" name="serialNumber[]" style="width: 120px; margin: 5px 10px 10px 10px;">
                     </td>
                </tr>
                </tbody>
            </table>
            <div class="clear"></div>
        </fieldset>

            <!-- End Dynamic Forms for Serial Numbers -->

` How could I achieve such a task? If it is any help, I have posted the entire code for this page at http://aerco.com.br/stackoverflow/source.txt

Anyone can point me in the right direction here? Thanks in advance for any thoughts

Answer 1

I could not get what is yout exact need, but for my understanding, You can insert into one table using code and another using MySQL trigger.

Explained over here: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/triggers.html

Answer 2

would the user be the one to supply the serial or is it predefined? this should be the code you need for inserting

$query = "INSERT INTO serialnumber_table(Type,Model,Serial number,request_id) VALUES ($machineType, $machineModel,$serial_number,request_id)

request_id should be gotten from requests table.

if my understanding is correct, insert after this code

$query = "INSERT INTO requests(
                    request_date, requester_name, requester_email, client_name, client_country, opportunity_number, machine_quantity, severity, specialist, created_by, sales_connect
                ) VALUES (
                    '{$request_date}', '{$requester_name}', '{$requester_email}', '{$client_name}', '{$client_country}', '{$opportunity_number}', '{$machine_quantity}', '{$severity}', '{$specialist}', '{$created_by}', '{$sales_connect}'
                )";