How do I save data from a checkbox array into database

Question

 function check_uncheck(truefalse) { var boxes = document.forms[0].chkboxarray.length; var form = document.getElementById('checkForm'); for (var i = 0; i < boxes; i++) { if (truefalse) { form.chkboxarray[i].checked = true; } else { form.chkboxarray[i].checked = false; } } } 

 <form name="checkForm" id="checkForm" method="post" action="checkboxes1.php"> <input type="checkbox" name="chkboxarray" value="1" /><br /> <input type="checkbox" name="chkboxarray" value="2" /><br /> <input type="button" name="CheckAll" value="Check All Boxes" onclick="check_uncheck(true)" /> <input type="button" name="UncheckAll" value="Uncheck All Boxes" onclick="check_uncheck(false)" /> <input type="submit" value="Save"> </form> The snippet shows how it works without connection to a database 

I am trying to save the data that is sent from the checklist to a database but i'm stuck. I was thinking of using a foreach but I don't know what to put in it.

I though of putting it as:

foreach($_POST['id'] as $add){
insert into database...
}

How do I do this?

If I do this as Fred-ii and xjstratedgebx suggested where I just change name="chkboxarray" to name="chkboxarray[]" then the javascript code would stop working.

<?php
include '../conec.php';
mysql_select_db("test",$conec)or die('Database does not exist.') or die(mysql_error());

$sql = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM user WHERE state='Not Signed Up'");
?>

<form name="checkForm" id="checkForm" method="post" action="checkboxes1.php">
    <?php
    while($row = mysql_fetch_array($sql)){
        $id = $row['id'];
        $name = $row['name'];
        $lName= $row['lName'];
        $concate = $name.' '.$lName;
        echo '<input type="checkbox" name="chkboxarray" value="'.$id.'" />'.$concate.'<br />';
    }


    ?>
    <!--<input type="checkbox" name="chkboxarray" value="1" /><br />
    <input type="checkbox" name="chkboxarray" value="2" /><br />-->
    <input type="button" name="CheckAll" value="Check All Boxes" onclick="check_uncheck(true)" />
    <input type="button" name="UncheckAll" value="Uncheck All Boxes" onclick="check_uncheck(false)" />
    <input type="submit" value="Save">

</form>

<script type="application/javascript">
function check_uncheck(truefalse){
    var boxes = document.forms[0].chkboxarray.length;
    var form = document.getElementById('checkForm');
    for(var i=0;i < boxes;i++){
        if (truefalse) {
            form.chkboxarray[i].checked=true;
        } else {
            form.chkboxarray[i].checked=false;
        }
    }
}
</script>

Answer 1

If you change the name of your checkbox from "chkboxarray" to "chkboxarray[]", then any boxes that are checked when the form is submitted will pass their values as an array to the server under the key of "chkboxarray".

Basically, change this line:

echo '<input type="checkbox" name="chkboxarray" value="'.$id.'" />'.$concate.'<br />';

To:

echo '<input type="checkbox" name="chkboxarray[]" value="'.$id.'" />'.$concate.'<br />';

As a result, if you var_dump the $_POST super global, you should see something like:

array(1) {
    [chkboxarray]=>
    array(2) {
        [0]=>
        string(1) "3"
        [1]=>
        string(1) "4"
    }
}

In the example above, the checkboxes for id's 3 and 4 were checked, so they were sent to the server.

Once you have that array, inserting it into your database depends heavily on what you're trying to accomplish and your database's schema.

Hope that helps.

Also, in fairness, this is exactly what @Fred meant in his comment.

Edit 1

To make the javascript work with the change of the input name, you'll need to update all the places in your javascript where you were referencing the name of the input to the new name (chkboxarray[]).

The resulting code should look like this:

<script type="application/javascript">
    function check_uncheck(truefalse) {
        var boxes = document.forms[0]["chkboxarray[]"].length;
        var form = document.getElementById('checkForm');
        for (var i = 0; i < boxes; i++) {
            if (truefalse) {
                form["chkboxarray[]"][i].checked = true;
            } else {
                form["chkboxarray[]"][i].checked = false;
            }
        }
    }
</script>

I've created a fiddle to show this works for checking/unchecking all the boxes: https://jsfiddle.net/solvomedia/3Ln468u3/