Grabbing checkbox values

[Amer Neely]

I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
that are checked, so I can then delete those files.

Does each checkbox name have to be unique? I was hoping to just group
them under one name, and select from that array.

PHP is not my native language - I'm coming at this from Perl, so bear
with me, things are a little different in that country.

I've tried:
foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
{
echo "$field = $value<br>";
}
but that just grabs the last entry in the group.

The line in question is:
<input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
echo("$allfiles[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>

--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

[Amer Neely]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

Amer Neely wrote:

I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
that are checked, so I can then delete those files.
>
Does each checkbox name have to be unique? I was hoping to just group
them under one name, and select from that array.
>
PHP is not my native language - I'm coming at this from Perl, so bear
with me, things are a little different in that country.
>
I've tried:
foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
{
echo "$field = $value<br>";
}
but that just grabs the last entry in the group.
>
The line in question is:
<input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
echo("$allfiles[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>

I've changed the code for the above line so the name now is unique for
each element. That now lets me grab whichever one/s are checked. But,
another problem has arisen.

I also have a JavaScript toggle to 'Select/Unselect All' checkboxes,
which works fine. But the 'checked' status doesn't seem to be getting
passed to the PHP code. So, when I display the items checked, it is
incorrect. Refreshing the page also doesn't seem to correct it. Only
physically clicking the checkboxes seems to work.

--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

[flamer die.spam@hotmail.com]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values


Amer Neely wrote:

I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
that are checked, so I can then delete those files.
>
Does each checkbox name have to be unique? I was hoping to just group
them under one name, and select from that array.
>
PHP is not my native language - I'm coming at this from Perl, so bear
with me, things are a little different in that country.
>
I've tried:
foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
{
echo "$field = $value<br>";
}
but that just grabs the last entry in the group.
>
The line in question is:
<input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
echo("$allfiles[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>
>
--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

in html, if your checkbox is called "blah123" then when its checked it
will have the variable name of blah123 with a value of blah123, if it
is unchecked then blah123==null. the easy way is:

if (!empty($_POST['blah123'])) { do stuff }

Flamer.

[Rogats]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

php is not to "grab" the checkboxes, it comes and goes as lessons for
the yum mathematical calus on webpage stuff!
Use the html to expose your own web pages!

Amer Neely wrote:

I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
that are checked, so I can then delete those files.
>
Does each checkbox name have to be unique? I was hoping to just group
them under one name, and select from that array.
>
PHP is not my native language - I'm coming at this from Perl, so bear
with me, things are a little different in that country.
>
I've tried:
foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
{
echo "$field = $value<br>";
}
but that just grabs the last entry in the group.
>
The line in question is:
<input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
echo("$allfiles[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>
>
--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

[Amer Neely]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

flamer die.spam@hotmai l.com wrote:

Amer Neely wrote:

>I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
>list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
>that are checked, so I can then delete those files.
>>
>Does each checkbox name have to be unique? I was hoping to just group
>them under one name, and select from that array.
>>
>PHP is not my native language - I'm coming at this from Perl, so bear
>with me, things are a little different in that country.
>>
>I've tried:
> foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
> {
> echo "$field = $value<br>";
> }
>but that just grabs the last entry in the group.
>>
>The line in question is:
><input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
>echo("$allfile s[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>

>
in html, if your checkbox is called "blah123" then when its checked it
will have the variable name of blah123 with a value of blah123, if it
is unchecked then blah123==null. the easy way is:
>
if (!empty($_POST['blah123'])) { do stuff }
>
Flamer.
>

Hmmm. OK, so I will need to also walk through each of the new input
names, and check them with the 'empty' function. I'll work on that. Thanks.


--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

[Amer Neely]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

flamer die.spam@hotmai l.com wrote:

Amer Neely wrote:

>I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
>list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
>that are checked, so I can then delete those files.
>>
>Does each checkbox name have to be unique? I was hoping to just group
>them under one name, and select from that array.
>>
>PHP is not my native language - I'm coming at this from Perl, so bear
>with me, things are a little different in that country.
>>
>I've tried:
> foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
> {
> echo "$field = $value<br>";
> }
>but that just grabs the last entry in the group.
>>
>The line in question is:
><input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
>echo("$allfile s[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>
>>
>--
>Amer Neely
>w: www.softouch.on.ca/
>b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
>Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
>"We make web sites work!"

>
in html, if your checkbox is called "blah123" then when its checked it
will have the variable name of blah123 with a value of blah123, if it
is unchecked then blah123==null. the easy way is:
>
if (!empty($_POST['blah123'])) { do stuff }
>
Flamer.
>

I can now grab the selected elements, but only if they are selected by
mouse clicks. If I use the JavaScript toggle to select/unselect all,
nothing gets passed to the PHP. This works in Perl, so it has to be
doable in PHP I would think.

--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

[Michael Fesser]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

..oO(flamer die.spam@hotmai l.com)

>in html, if your checkbox is called "blah123" then when its checked it
>will have the variable name of blah123 with a value of blah123

It will have the value of the 'value' attribute.

>if it
>is unchecked then blah123==null.

If unchecked then the checkbox is not submitted at all.

Micha

[Michael Fesser]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

..oO(Amer Neely)

>I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
>list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
>that are checked, so I can then delete those files.

Only checked checkboxes will be submitted by the browser.

>Does each checkbox name have to be unique?

No, you can use the same name, but different values. To make this work
in PHP you have to add brackets to the name, see below.

>I've tried:
foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
{
echo "$field = $value<br>";
}
>but that just grabs the last entry in the group.
>
>The line in question is:
><input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
>echo("$allfile s[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>

Some things:

1) You should not use $_REQUEST. This array contains data from different
sources, so you don't know where all the values actually came from. Use
the array that corresponds with the used method in your form, which
should be $_POST in this case.

2) Instead of $allfiles[$i] you can just use the variable $i as the
value of your checkboxes, that's enough. When processing the form use
that value to lookup the filenames in your $allfiles array.

3) To process multiple form controls that share the same name you have
to add square brackets to their name, e.g. "DeleteThis[]". This causes
PHP to store all the values in an array instead of a scalar.

So the code could look something like this:

if (isset($_POST['DeleteThis')) {
foreach ($_POST['DeleteThis'] as $index) {
if (isset($allfile s[$index])) {
// perform action to delete the file
}
}
}

The code for the checkboxes like I would probably write it:

printf("<label> <index type='checkbox' name='DeleteThi s[]'
value='%u'>&nbs p;%s</label><br>\n", $i, $allfiles[$i]);

HTH
Micha

[dudordoo123456@yahoo.dk]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

script, not html, this way post becomes fully clear.

Rogats wrote:

php is not to "grab" the checkboxes, it comes and goes as lessons for
the yum mathematical calus on webpage stuff!
Use the html to expose your own web pages!
>
Amer Neely wrote:

I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
that are checked, so I can then delete those files.

Does each checkbox name have to be unique? I was hoping to just group
them under one name, and select from that array.

PHP is not my native language - I'm coming at this from Perl, so bear
with me, things are a little different in that country.

I've tried:
foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
{
echo "$field = $value<br>";
}
but that just grabs the last entry in the group.

The line in question is:
<input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
echo("$allfiles[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>

--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

[Deniel Keplar]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

after you succeed, post your reply, I want to know how also.

Amer Neely wrote:

>
Hmmm. OK, so I will need to also walk through each of the new input
names, and check them with the 'empty' function. I'll work on that. Thanks.
>

[Amer Neely]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

Michael Fesser wrote:

.oO(Amer Neely)
>

>I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
>list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
>that are checked, so I can then delete those files.

>
Only checked checkboxes will be submitted by the browser.
>

>Does each checkbox name have to be unique?

>
No, you can use the same name, but different values. To make this work
in PHP you have to add brackets to the name, see below.
>

>I've tried:
> foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
> {
> echo "$field = $value<br>";
> }
>but that just grabs the last entry in the group.
>>
>The line in question is:
><input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
>echo("$allfile s[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>

>
Some things:
>
1) You should not use $_REQUEST. This array contains data from different
sources, so you don't know where all the values actually came from. Use
the array that corresponds with the used method in your form, which
should be $_POST in this case.
>
2) Instead of $allfiles[$i] you can just use the variable $i as the
value of your checkboxes, that's enough. When processing the form use
that value to lookup the filenames in your $allfiles array.
>
3) To process multiple form controls that share the same name you have
to add square brackets to their name, e.g. "DeleteThis[]". This causes
PHP to store all the values in an array instead of a scalar.
>
So the code could look something like this:
>
if (isset($_POST['DeleteThis')) {
foreach ($_POST['DeleteThis'] as $index) {
if (isset($allfile s[$index])) {
// perform action to delete the file
}
}
}
>
The code for the checkboxes like I would probably write it:
>
printf("<label> <index type='checkbox' name='DeleteThi s[]'
value='%u'>&nbs p;%s</label><br>\n", $i, $allfiles[$i]);
>
HTH
Micha

I can get the checked boxes only if the user clicks them with the mouse.
Which is fine, but I also have some JavaScript that lets me toggle the
boxes 'select / unselect all'. This is the part that is now giving me
grief. In Perl I can do:

my @infiles=param( 'DeleteThis');

which gets an array of all checked entries in the 'DeleteThis' group.
And this works with my JavaScript code. The 'param' function is part of
a perl module (CGI.pm) that deals with form parsing. Is there anything
like that for PHP? It would make life so much easier.

--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

[Jerry Stuckle]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

Amer Neely wrote:

flamer die.spam@hotmai l.com wrote:
>

>Amer Neely wrote:
>>

>>I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
>>list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those checkboxes
>>that are checked, so I can then delete those files.
>>>
>>Does each checkbox name have to be unique? I was hoping to just group
>>them under one name, and select from that array.
>>>
>>PHP is not my native language - I'm coming at this from Perl, so bear
>>with me, things are a little different in that country.
>>>
>>I've tried:
>> foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
>> {
>> echo "$field = $value<br>";
>> }
>>but that just grabs the last entry in the group.
>>>
>>The line in question is:
>><input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
>>echo("$allfil es[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>

>>
>>
>in html, if your checkbox is called "blah123" then when its checked it
>will have the variable name of blah123 with a value of blah123, if it
>is unchecked then blah123==null. the easy way is:
>>
>if (!empty($_POST['blah123'])) { do stuff }
>>
>Flamer.
>>

>
Hmmm. OK, so I will need to also walk through each of the new input
names, and check them with the 'empty' function. I'll work on that. Thanks.
>
>

Amer,

No. It's much easier than that. Have all the checkboxes names the
same, with square brackets ( "[]" ) following. The you will be able to
use an array on the PHP side, i.e.


<input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s[]" value="<?php
echo("$allfiles[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>>


To process the input, all you need is:

foreach ($_POST['DeleteThis'] as $delfile) {
// Validate the filename is OK here
unlink $delfile;
}

This will work whether the checkbox is set via a mouse click or javascript.

Of course, you will want to validate your filenames. That part I left
out because I have no idea what the criteria is.

--
=============== ===
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attgl obal.net
=============== ===

[Amer Neely]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

Deniel Keplar wrote:

after you succeed, post your reply, I want to know how also.
>
Amer Neely wrote:

>Hmmm. OK, so I will need to also walk through each of the new input
>names, and check them with the 'empty' function. I'll work on that. Thanks.
>>

>

Will do.

In the mean time, here is the JS code I use to toggle checkboxes on or
off. You will have to edit to suit your situation. Specifically, this is
hard-coded to work on the first form on a page (forms[0]) so you would
change that to either a form name or specify which form you want to work
with.

function CheckAll(value) // toggles checkboxes on/off
{
for (i=0; i < document.forms[0].length; i++)
{
document.forms[0].elements[i].value);
if ( document.forms[0].elements[i].name =~ 'DeleteThis')
{
document.forms[0].elements[i].checked=value;
}
}
}

The function is called like this:
<a href="#" style="color:re d; text-decoration:none "
onClick="CheckA ll(1);return false;">Select All</a>&nbsp;•&nbsp; <a
style="color:re d; text-decoration:none " href="#" onClick="CheckA ll(0);
return false;">Unselec t All<br /></a>

--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

[Amer Neely]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

Jerry Stuckle wrote:

Amer Neely wrote:

>flamer die.spam@hotmai l.com wrote:
>>

>>Amer Neely wrote:
>>>
>>>I've got a dynamically built form with checkboxes for each element ( a
>>>list of file names in a directory). I need to grab only those
>>>checkboxes
>>>that are checked, so I can then delete those files.
>>>>
>>>Does each checkbox name have to be unique? I was hoping to just group
>>>them under one name, and select from that array.
>>>>
>>>PHP is not my native language - I'm coming at this from Perl, so bear
>>>with me, things are a little different in that country.
>>>>
>>>I've tried:
>>> foreach ($_REQUEST as $field =$value)
>>> {
>>> echo "$field = $value<br>";
>>> }
>>>but that just grabs the last entry in the group.
>>>>
>>>The line in question is:
>>><input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s" value="<?php
>>>echo("$allfi les[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>
>>>
>>>
>>in html, if your checkbox is called "blah123" then when its checked it
>>will have the variable name of blah123 with a value of blah123, if it
>>is unchecked then blah123==null. the easy way is:
>>>
>>if (!empty($_POST['blah123'])) { do stuff }
>>>
>>Flamer.
>>>

>>
>Hmmm. OK, so I will need to also walk through each of the new input
>names, and check them with the 'empty' function. I'll work on that.
>Thanks.
>>
>>

>
Amer,
>
No. It's much easier than that. Have all the checkboxes names the
same, with square brackets ( "[]" ) following. The you will be able to
use an array on the PHP side, i.e.
>
>
<input type="checkbox" name="DeleteThi s[]" value="<?php
echo("$allfiles[$i]")?>">&nbsp;<?p hp echo("$allfiles[$i]")?><br>>
>
>
To process the input, all you need is:
>
foreach ($_POST['DeleteThis'] as $delfile) {
// Validate the filename is OK here
unlink $delfile;
}
>
This will work whether the checkbox is set via a mouse click or javascript.
>
Of course, you will want to validate your filenames. That part I left
out because I have no idea what the criteria is.
>

OK, I have your code inserted, but it gives me an error when I use my
'Select All' JS:

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in show_spam4.php on
line 116

If I click any box with the mouse it returns 'on' for the output.

[116] foreach ($_POST['DeleteThis'] as $value)
{
echo "$value<br> ";
}

--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"

[Amer Neely]

Re: Grabbing checkbox values

Deniel Keplar wrote:

after you succeed, post your reply, I want to know how also.
>
Amer Neely wrote:

>Hmmm. OK, so I will need to also walk through each of the new input
>names, and check them with the 'empty' function. I'll work on that. Thanks.
>>

>

Found a couple of good articles here:
http://www.webreference.com/programming/php/

Follow Part 1 and Part 2.

--
Amer Neely
w: www.softouch.on.ca/
b: www.softouch.on.ca/blog/
Perl | MySQL programming for all data entry forms.
"We make web sites work!"