Restrict Foreach Loop From Inserting Blank MySQL Rows

Question

I am having an issue. I have a bunch of inputs that share the same name. This creates arrays which are placed into the database and that all works fine but I am having a major dilemma in trying to keep the blank rows of inputs from creating blank entries in the database table.

The code is as such:

foreach($_POST['datetime'] as $dbrow=>$startdate) {
if(isset($_POST['def'])) {
$start = $startdate; 
$abc = $_POST['abc'][$dbrow];
$def = $_POST['def'][$dbrow];
$ghi = $_POST['ghi'][$dbrow];


$db_insert = "INSERT INTO tablename (start, abc, def, ghi) VALUES('$start', '$abc', '$def', '$ghi')";

This is fine and dandy but I cant get the if statement to work. The form that is using POST to get the users information has 5 rows of inputs each with fours columns (start, abc, def, ghi). If I enter data in the form and submit it, then all the data goes to the database (yay - success), if I only enter the data in rows 1-4 then the database still enters 5 rows of data. What am I doing wrong?

---------------------EDIT--------------------- Ok so upon a deeper look what appears to be happening is the code keeps wanting to submit ALL of rows of dynamically generated inputs whether they contain content or not. So I devised the following code:

$db_tur = count(array_filter($start_date));
for($db_total_used_rows=0;$db_total_used_rows<=$db_tur;$db_total_used_rows++){


$db_start_date = $_POST['datetime'][$db_total_used_rows]; 
$db_abc = $_POST['abc'][$db_total_used_rows];
$db_def = $_POST['def'][$db_total_used_rows];
$db_ghi = $_POST['ghi'][$db_total_used_rows];


}

$db_insert = .....;

In theory what this does is $db_tur counts up all of the inputs being used under the start_date variable. I then break it into a count array which should be able to be used as $db_total_used_rows. However this doesnt seem to be limiting the total number of rows of inputs being inserted into the database. So I guess its back to the drawing board unless someone else has a better idea of how to accomplish this. I'm so ready to give up right now.

Why are you checking if if(isset($_POST['def'])) is set? Why not just if(isset($startdate))? — Amal
– Amal, Commented Oct 8, 2013 at 18:03
why dont you check the values coming in & if they are empty, skip running the query for them. — Bhrugesh Patel
– Bhrugesh Patel, Commented Oct 8, 2013 at 18:03
There are some SQL injection vulnerabilities in this code... — Charles
– Charles, Commented Oct 8, 2013 at 18:05
Thanks for the quick responses guys. I'll try out some of the answers. @ Charles, ya I just retyped a bunch of the code just to give a jist of what was going on it isnt the finalized secured code. — John Smith
– John Smith, Commented Oct 8, 2013 at 18:16

Barmar · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-08 18:26:08Z

1

Use this loop structure:

foreach ($_POST['datetime'] as $dbrow => $start) {
    $abc = $_POST['abc'][$dbrow];
    $def = $_POST['def'][$dbrow];
    $ghi = $_POST['ghi'][$dbrow];
    if (!empty($abc) && !empty($def) && !empty($ghi) && !empty($start)) {
        $db_insert = ...;
        ...
    }
}

You could change && to || if it's OK for the user to leave some of the fields blank -- it will only skip rows where all fields are blank.

edited Oct 8, 2013 at 18:26

answered Oct 8, 2013 at 18:09

Barmar

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7 Comments

John Smith Over a year ago

Just to clarify, are you suggesting removing the part of the loop where I am adding a row count to each POSTED variable? Ie. removing the $abc = $_POST['abc'][$dbrow];

John Smith Over a year ago

Awesome, can't wait to try it out!

John Smith Over a year ago

Ok the good news is that it partially worked. There are no longer any blank entries being made. However it still is producing a minimum of five records. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is because of the fact that the rows of inputs are generated through a loop with a minimum number of rows being generated on page load (5).

Barmar Over a year ago

If it's creating 5 records, but not any blank records, what's in the other records if the user only fills in one of the records?

John Smith Over a year ago

Using the code that you provided it replicates the data on all five records. If I fill out two rows of inputs then the first row will enter correctly but the second row will be replicated across the other 4 records.

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Machavity · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-08 18:03:33Z

0

Except for checkboxes, all form fields will POST, even when empty. So if def is a text box it will always be present in your POST. A better test would be

if(!empty($_POST['def'])) {

answered Oct 8, 2013 at 18:03

Machavity♦

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1 Comment

Barmar Over a year ago

That only checks if all rows are blank. It doesn't filter out individual blank rows.

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