Question

I have a JSON array that is on a page. It is added to as time goes on by some user interaction. When the user is done they need to submit this array to a page where their information is added to a mySQL table via php. My call to the page via AJAX is as follows where answersArray is the array

$.ajax({
    type: "POST",
    dataType: "json",
    data: answersArray,
    url: 'sendToUsersFeedback.php',
});

The array looks like this:

[
    {
        "USERID": "3",
        "INDVID": "0",
        "RATING": "1",
        "CONFIDENCE": "8"
    },
    {
        "USERID": "3",
        "INDVID": "1",
        "RATING": "1",
        "CONFIDENCE": "88"
    }
]

This is where I get confused. I need to decode this incoming json and then loop through it added a new record for each array item (USERID, INDVID, RATING and CONFIDENCE make up one record etc..) I could have as many as 20 in this array. I know USERID is not unique. Already have that set up.

It is the php side I get messed up on. How do I decode an incoming array and go through it. I have tried the following

$sql = json_decode(data,true);
foreach( $data as $row ) {
    $sql[] = '("'.mysql_real_escape_string($row['USERID']).'", '.$row['INDVID'].','.$row['RATING'].','.$row['CONFIDENCE'].')';
}
mysql_query('INSERT INTO users_feedback (USERID, INDVID, RATING. CONFIDENCE) VALUES '.implode(',', $sql));

Am I close? I’m very confused. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

First, give a name to your data you’re posting :

$.ajax({
    type: "POST",
    dataType: "json",
    data: {
      my_data: answersArray
    },
    url: 'sendToUsersFeedback.php',
});

Then, in your PHP code, recover your data :

$data = $_POST['my_data'];
$sql = json_decode($data, true);
...

You should be aware that everybody can edit JSON in the client-side, so insert data into a database this way is extremely dangerous.