Should I use an array in a form / how?

I am programming a form this morning.* I don't understand arrays really well.* I think this is what I am needing to use, but I am really not sure.

I have a PHP script that checks a POP e-mail address and is suppose to take the incoming message and save it to a mySQL table based on the subject line.* Every now and then the subject line is broken with something like a <br /> and so I have a handful of messages that need to be indexed manually.* IE my script can't see a "Subject: Correspondence for message 123" --- it is being received as "Subject: Correspondence for <br />message 123"* I am trying to update the mySQL table with a form instead of continuing to use phpmyadmin to do these updates.* That is the background for my current project.*

What I am wanting to do in my form is call up all the incoming messages that have a message value of 0*(where they weren't automatically indexed) and I can read through the incoming message to see what their reference number is and type it in the field that I have called
"new_correspondence_received".* An example of my HTML code is below.

Where I am getting stuck is I have more than 1 message that wasn't indexed automatically I am not sure how to retrieve the values of: correspondence_reference*and new_correspondence_reference.* (The only reason I am displaying correspondence_received is to look for the reference number)* Can what I am trying to do be accomplished through an array to find out the values submitted?* How do you make array variables?* What changes need to be made to my form so I can find out the values being submitted?

Each message received that isn't automatically index is dispayed through this form, one <TR></TR> per message.* I know the mysql commands to update the table, I just need help to retrieve the form variable values.**Thanks for your help.* Ron

<tr><td width=200>
<font face="times new roman">
<center>
<input id=all type="checkbox" name="correspondence_reference" value="172" checked>
172
</center>
</td><td width=200>
<font face="times new roman">
<center>
<input type=text name="new_correspondence_reference" size=6 maxlength=30 value = "0">
</center>
</td><td width=400>
<textarea COLS=50 ROWS=10 name="correspondence_received">Message here</textarea>
</td></tr>

On 10/16/07, ron.php <ron.php@actsministries.org> wrote:
>
> I am programming a form this morning. I don't understand arrays really
> well. I think this is what I am needing to use, but I am really not sure.
>
> I have a PHP script that checks a POP e-mail address and is suppose to
> take the incoming message and save it to a mySQL table based on the subject
> line. Every now and then the subject line is broken with something like a
> <br /> and so I have a handful of messages that need to be indexed manually.
> IE my script can't see a "Subject: Correspondence for message 123" --- it is
> being received as "Subject: Correspondence for <br />message 123" I am
> trying to update the mySQL table with a form instead of continuing to use
> phpmyadmin to do these updates. That is the background for my current
> project.


You can strip the <br/> from the string using:

$string = str_replace ('<br/>', '', $string);

What I am wanting to do in my form is call up all the incoming messages that
> have a message value of 0(where they weren't automatically indexed) and I
> can read through the incoming message to see what their reference number is
> and type it in the field that I have called
> "new_correspondence_received". An example of my HTML code is below.
>
> Where I am getting stuck is I have more than 1 message that wasn't indexed
> automatically I am not sure how to retrieve the values of:
> correspondence_referenceand new_correspondence_reference. (The only reason I
> am displaying correspondence_received is to look for the reference number)
> Can what I am trying to do be accomplished through an array to find out the
> values submitted? How do you make array variables? What changes need to be
> made to my form so I can find out the values being submitted?
>
> Each message received that isn't automatically index is dispayed through
> this form, one <TR></TR> per message. I know the mysql commands to update
> the table, I just need help to retrieve the form variable values.Thanksfor your help. Ron
>
> <tr><td width=200>
> <font face="times new roman">
> <center>
> <input id=all type="checkbox" name="correspondence_reference" value="172"
> checked>
> 172
> </center>
> </td><td width=200>
> <font face="times new roman">
> <center>
> <input type=text name="new_correspondence_reference" size=6 maxlength=30
> value = "0">
> </center>
> </td><td width=400>
> <textarea COLS=50 ROWS=10 name="correspondence_received">Message
> here</textarea>
> </td></tr>


To make an array in an HTML form...

<input type="checkbox" name="correspondence_reference[172]" value="1"
checked /> 172
<input type="checkbox" name="correspondence_reference[173]" value="1" /> 172
<input type="checkbox" name="correspondence_reference[174]" value="1" /> 172
....

Do that for each reference value. Then, in your PHP when you're grabbing the
POST data, you can just loop through the array to see what's been "checked"
- actually, only the "checked" items will show in the array. So, let's say,
from above, the 172 and 174 checkboxes were checked, the POST array would
contain the following...

<?
foreach ($_POST['correspondence_reference'] as $index => $value) {
echo "$index => $value";
}
?>

// Output
172 => 1
174 => 1

It doesn't really matter what the "value" of the checkboxes are. As long as
you know the index, then you're good and you can use that information
appropriately. This is one approach. I know there are others though...

Good luck,
~Philip