how to insert multiple fields into mysql

Question

Hi I'm trying to submit a webform and insert the data into mysql. The problem I have is that I have setup the fields to have multiple input boxes. For example instead of just "name" I have "first name", "last name" and my address is divided into many fields to ensure the end user does not miss certain parts of their address.

The problem I have is that I can't submit those multiple fields into mysql. If I wanted to simply submit the "name" field I can, but not first name + last name. To be more clear, I have a column named "name" and I want the "firstname" and "lastname" both to be stored there. Same thing with the address.

Here is my html code

<ul>            
    <li id=name">
        <label class="description" for="element_1">Name </label>
        <span>
            <input id="first" name= "first" class="element text" maxlength="255" size="8" value=""/>
            <label>First</label>
        </span>
        <span>
            <input id="last" name= "last" class="element text" maxlength="255" size="14" value=""/>
            <label>Last</label>
        </span> 
    </li>
    <li id="phone">
        <label class="description" for="element_2">Phone </label>
        <span>
            <input id="parea" name="parea" class="element text" size="3" maxlength="3" value="" type="text" /> -
            <label for="parea">(###)</label>
        </span>
        <span>
            <input id="pfirst" name="pfirst" class="element text" size="3" maxlength="3" value="" type="text" /> -
            <label for="pfirst">###</label>
        </span>
        <span>
            <input id="plast" name="plast" class="element text" size="4" maxlength="4" value="" type="text" />
            <label for="plast">####</label>
        </span>
    </li>
    <li id="email">
        <label class="description" for="element_3">Email </label>
        <div>
            <input id="email1" name="email1" class="element text medium" type="text" maxlength="255" value=""/> 
        </div> 
    </li>
    <li id="address">
        <label class="description" for="element_4">Address </label>
        <div>
            <input id="street" name="street" class="element text large" value="" type="text">
            <label for="element_4_1">Street Address</label>
        </div>
        <div>
            <input id="element_4_2" name="element_4_2" class="element text large" value="" type="text" />
            <label for="element_4_2">Address Line 2</label>
        </div>
        <div class="left">
            <input id="element_4_3" name="element_4_3" class="element text medium" value="" type="text" />
            <label for="element_4_3">City</label>
        </div>
        <div class="right">
            <input id="element_4_4" name="element_4_4" class="element text medium" value="" type="text" />
            <label for="element_4_4">State / Province / Region</label>
        </div>
        <div class="left">
            <input id="element_4_5" name="element_4_5" class="element text medium" maxlength="15" value="" type="text" />
            <label for="element_4_5">Postal / Zip Code</label>
        </div>
    </li>
</ul>

And my PHP variables are as such:

$name=$_POST['name'];
$email=$_POST['email'];
$address=$_POST['address'];
$pod=$_POST['pod'];
$sku=$_PST['sku'];
$description=$_POST['description'];
$problem=$_POST['problem'];
$phone=$_POST['phone'];

shaunhusain · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-20 19:48:17Z

4

$name=$_POST['first'] ." ". $_POST['last'];
$email=$_POST['email'];
$address=$_POST['address'];
$pod=$_POST['pod'];
$sku=$_PST['sku'];
$description=$_POST['description'];
$problem=$_POST['problem'];
$phone=$_POST['phone'];

answered Jun 20, 2011 at 19:48

shaunhusain

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6 Comments

Bing Over a year ago

And do wrap them in mysql_real_escape_string before passing them to your database. Never trust user input. Little Bobby Tables might come visit..

shaunhusain Over a year ago

Good tip @Bing thanks for the amendment, also I personally would keep these data elements separated in my DB for ease of searching etc. it's simpler to concatenate a few parts or search across multiple columns than to break one down (parse) later down the line.

Drewdin Over a year ago

Trim it too! mysql_real_escape_string(trim($_POST['problem']))

maestro416 Over a year ago

thanks a lot that helped! I was trying to figure out how to connect them and initially did it as $_POST['first'.'last']; no wonder it didnt work. lol

maestro416 Over a year ago

how do i use the escape string? is it mysql_real_escape_string = ("$name, $email... etc");?

|

Adithya Surampudi · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-20 19:49:31Z

0

Ideally you need to redesign your table but for making it work with the existing schema, you need to serialize and de-serialize data. see

http://php.net/manual/en/function.serialize.php

So in name column you store something like {firstname:lastname}

$name[0] = $firstname;
$name[1] = $lastname;
$ser = serialize($name); \\--->put this in db

answered Jun 20, 2011 at 19:49

Adithya Surampudi

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