UPDATE a field publically

9 posts by 3 authors in: Forums > CMS Builder
Last Post: July 29, 2009   (RSS)

By eduran582 - July 24, 2009

Hi all!

My question deals with a public user (no access to the CMSB program) being able to update certain fields within an existing table.

The user would be able to access a list of information that would be extracted from a table and then, by means of a drop-down field, select an answer that when "submitted" would update a particular field within that record in the table. This information, I'm guessing, would all be contained within a <form> container.

Example: The "Hearing Officer" would access a list of individuals with brief information that would include a separate drop-down field that would contain a choice (based on the hearing). The "choice" field is contained in the same table the information is gathered from and would be updated once the choice (or choices in the event there are several individuals) is "submitted" (POSTed).

I looked through the fine example given by Dave in his "userSignup.php" and "addForm.php" files but both seemed to deal with ADDING a record and not UPDATING. I'm not that familiar with mySQL so don't know the difference, which I'm sure there is, so am asking for help.

Do-able? [crazy]

TIA!
Eric

Re: [eduran582] UPDATE a field publically

By ross - July 24, 2009

Hi Eric

Thanks for posting!

There are going to be some options on this one for you. It will basically be a variation on the add form. This may end up being something we need to look at for you through consulting though as it will start to get fairly technical.

How comfortable are you working with PHP. If I explained the general idea, would you be able to run with that?

Let me know :)
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Re: [eduran582] UPDATE a field publically

By Dave - July 27, 2009

Hi Eric,

I'm not sure I follow. So this is to update an existing record in the database, right?

What are all the fields in the form, and what fields in the database do you want to update with them?

You can use this handy debug code to show what a form is submitting:

<xmp><?php print_r($_REQUEST); ?></xmp>
Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com

Re: [Dave] UPDATE a field publically

By eduran582 - July 27, 2009

Hi Dave,

Thanks for replying! Your right; to update a field in an existing table; actually the same field in several records contained within the table. The only field I want to update, at this time, is the selection made from the drop-down field ("finding"). There is an associated field in the table for this record ("hearing_finding") and I was going to update with whatever is entered in the drop-down for each record. I'm using the "title" field as the index to find each record when updating in the "POST" page:

(loop starts)

$cite=$_POST["cite$nnbr"];
$result=$_POST["find$nnbr"];

mysql_query("UPDATE cms_citations SET hearing_finding = '$result' WHERE title = '$cite'");

(loop ends)

Do you need to see the page with all the code?

Eric

Re: [eduran582] UPDATE a field publically

By Dave - July 27, 2009

Ok, and you need to run that code for however many fields groups are submitted? What if we put a loop around it that checks if the input field exists?

<?php
foreach (range(1,100) as $nnbr) {
if (!array_key_exists("cite$nnbr")) { continue; }

$cite = mysql_real_escape_string( $_POST["cite$nnbr"] );
$result = mysql_real_escape_string( $_POST["find$nnbr"] );
$query = "UPDATE cms_citations SET hearing_finding = '$result' WHERE title = '$cite'";
print "$query<br/>\n"; // debug, just print queries for now


//mysql_query($query);
}

Does that help?
Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com

Re: [Dave] UPDATE a field publically

By eduran582 - July 27, 2009

Thanks again for the quick reply!

That's great code for the update page. However, my problem is getting the variable from the drop-down from the page where the information is submitted FOR the page that handles the updates.

I have no problem with receiving the $_POST["cite$nnbr"] variable(s) (cite1 variable="AC1234567", cite2 variable="AC9876543", etc) but nothing comes through for the $_POST["find$nnbr"] variable except whatever is listed in the form field name="finding" (find1 variable ="finding", find2 variable = "finding"). Consequently, the only thing updated in the table/field is the cite variable.

Thanks again for the [better] sql code and, before I forget, thanks again for the GREAT price on CMSB you ran the last couple of days! I picked up two more license for future cite use!

Eric

Re: [eduran582] UPDATE a field publically

By Dave - July 28, 2009

Hi Eric,

Oh I get it. Ok, so you need either a unique name for each finding field, or if you want to submit multiple field values with the same form field name you need to add [] to the end. Like this: <select name="finding[]">. That will set $_POST['finding'] to be an array of values.

I don't know exactly how your form is intended to work but if you can do it with <select name="finding$nbr"> it will be simpler as all the fields may have the same number, where as with an array you'll need to loop through.

To see what's getting submitted use this debug code:
<xmp><?php print_r($_POST); ?></xmp>

Hope that helps! If there are still issues and you are able to attach the form page to this thread or post an example url that would help.
Dave Edis - Senior Developer
interactivetools.com

Re: [Dave] UPDATE a field publically

By eduran582 - July 29, 2009

Thanks again, Dave, for the fine support! Your examples and explaination helped me in figuring out what I needed to do!

Eric