Parsing multiple checkbox values into php array

Question

I have a form which displays stock levels and I want the user to be able to delete multiple products so have provided checkboxes. the code is below:

echo "<form method='get'>
                        <input type='submit' name='removestock' value= 'Remove'>
                        <table class='display' border='0'>
                        <tr>
                        <th>Select</th>
                        <th>Name</th>
                        <th>Description</th>
                        <th>Price (£)</th>
                        <th>Quantity</th>
                        <th>Size</th>
                        </tr>";
                        echo "<tr>";
                        require ('connection.php');
                        $query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM items")or die(mysql_error());
                        while($results = mysql_fetch_array($query)){
                            echo "<td> <input type='checkbox' name='item' value='".$results['item_id']."'></td>";
                            echo "<td>" . $results['name'] . "</td>";
                            echo "<td>" . $results['description'] . "</td>";
                            echo "<td>" . $results['price'] . "</td>";
                            echo "<td>" . $results['quantity'] . "</td>";
                            echo "<td>" . $results['size_id'] . "</td>";
                            echo "</tr>"; 
                        }
                        echo "</table></form>";

And my parsing code is...

if(isset($_GET['removestock']) === true){
    $errors = array();
    $items = $_GET['item'];
    echo $items;
}

But for some reason it only displays the last item_id selected. Your help will be much appreciated! PS. I tried changing the checkbox name to name="items[]" and implemented a foreach loop to parse the data but it still did not work.

Answer 1

Use name=item [] for the checkboxes. This will give you the array.

Then use var_export ($ items)

Answer 2

Change this line:

"<td> <input type='checkbox' name='item' value='".$results['item_id']."'></td>";

To read:

"<td> <input type='checkbox' name='item[" . $results['item_id'] . "]'></td>";

And you will get your desired array in the variable.

Answer 3

The name of the checkbox should be

<input type='checkbox' name='item[]' value='".$results['item_id']."'>

This wil give you an array which you can read with a foreach

Answer 4

This always works for me:

    $i =0;
    while($results = mysql_fetch_array($query)){
        echo "<td> <input type='checkbox' name='item[".$i."]' value='".$results['item_id']."'></td>";
        echo "<td>" . $results['name'] . "</td>";
        echo "<td>" . $results['description'] . "</td>";
        echo "<td>" . $results['price'] . "</td>";
        echo "<td>" . $results['quantity'] . "</td>";
        echo "<td>" . $results['size_id'] . "</td>";
        echo "</tr>";

        $i++;
    }

Once posted, the item[] element will be an array.