How do update data using multidimensional array?

Question

I am tiring to update data into table_course

<?php

// update the ite_aps data into sgc table

require_once('../../includes/common.php');

$m = array();
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * from sgc where year = '2008'") or die(mysql_error());

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
  {
      //echo $row['nric'];
      $res =mysql_query("select COURSE_TITLE_LONG, CRSE_GRADE_OFF, UNT_EARNED, nric from ite where nric = '".$row['nric']."' AND STRM = '2008'")or die(mysql_error()); 
      $norows=mysql_num_rows($res);
      echo $norows."<br>";
      $update = 'UPDATE sgc SET meta_ite = ';
      while($rows = mysql_fetch_array($res))
      {
          for($i=0;$i<$norows;$i++){
          $data = array("course" => "'".$rows['COURSE_TITLE_LONG']."'" , "Grade" => "'".$rows['CRSE_GRADE_OFF']. "'" , "Unit" => "'".$rows['UNT_EARNED']."'");
          $m = serialize($data);
          }
          print $m."<br>";
          $update .= '"'.mysql_real_escape_string($m).'"'; 

      }
      $update .= 'WHERE nric = "'.$row['nric'].'" AND year = "2008"' ;
      print $update."<br>";
     // mysql_query($update);
    }

?>

I got below output for above coding

a:3:{s:6:"course";s:24:"'Personal Effectiveness'";s:5:"Grade";s:3:"'S'";s:4:"Unit";s:3:"'3'";}
a:3:{s:6:"course";s:16:"'Basic Numeracy'";s:5:"Grade";s:3:"'U'";s:4:"Unit";s:3:"'2'";}
a:3:{s:6:"course";s:23:"'Piping & Valve System'";s:5:"Grade";s:3:"'D'";s:4:"Unit";s:3:"'6'";}
a:3:{s:6:"course";s:24:"'Mechanical Fabrication'";s:5:"Grade";s:3:"'F'";s:4:"Unit";s:3:"'6'";}

the output format is: array(course,grade,unit)array(course,grade,unit) - in serialize

But, i want the output in this format: array(array(course,grade,unit),array(course,grade,unit)........) -in serialize

for example: a:5:{a:3:{s:6:"course";s:24:"'Personal Effectiveness'";s:5:"Grade";s:3:"'S'";s:4:"Unit";s:3:"'3'";}' a:3:{s:6:"course";s:16:"'Basic Numeracy'";s:5:"Grade";s:3:"'U'";s:4:"Unit";s:3:"'2'";}.......}

Please any one help me, because i am new for php mysql.

Thanks.

Answer 1

You're approaching the problem completely wrong. You don't need to serialize anything. I'd suggest reading on php.net what serialize() does and where it's useful. In order to update your database - you can issue only 1 query. Since it seems this is a school project, I won't try to solve it for you - the above tips should prove helpful for researching and getting to the conclusion on your own :)