Question

I have a form that is dynamically generated. Containing recurring lists of hidden fields, that represent selections within my application.

A form would typically look something like this:

<form>
    <fieldset>
        <input type="hidden" name="key1" value="value1"/>
        <input type="hidden" name="key1_option" value="option1"/>
    </fieldset>
    <fieldset>
        <input type="hidden" name="key2" value="value1"/>
        <input type="hidden" name="key2_option" value="option2"/>
    </fieldset>
</form>

Is there a better way to do something like this?

The main difficulty I am facing is that you lose the logical grouping of the fieldsets when you submit the form and try to interpret the input on the backend.

Answer 1

The logic behind the HTML structure will be lost of course, the only information transmitted is what’s inside the form-tag. But I guess you already know that.

Why don’t you use arrays to name your variables?

<form>
    <fieldset>
        <input type="hidden" name="keyset[0][key]" value="value1"/>
        <input type="hidden" name="keyset[0][option]" value="option1"/>
    </fieldset>
    <fieldset>
        <input type="hidden" name="keyset[1][key]" value="value1"/>
        <input type="hidden" name="keyset[1][key]" value="option2"/>
    </fieldset>
</form>

Is there a reason you group your items like that?