Question

i’m currently working on a script to randomize different values of input. Here is the main part of the php script:

$alive='';
if(isset($_GET['alive'])) {
$alive=$_GET['alive'];
}
$injured='';
if(isset($_GET['injured'])) {
$injured=$_GET['injured'];
}
$deceased='';
if(isset($_GET['deceased'])) {
$deceased=$_GET['deceased'];
}
$unkstat='';
if(isset($_GET['unkstat'])) {
$unkstat=$_GET['unkstat'];
}
$found='';
if(isset($_GET['found'])) {
$found=$_GET['found'];
}
$missing='';
if(isset($_GET['missing'])) {
$missing=$_GET['missing'];
}
$youth='';
if(isset($_GET['youth'])) {
$youth=$_GET['youth'];
}
$adult='';
if(isset($_GET['adult'])) {
$adult=$_GET['adult'];
}
$unkage='';
if(isset($_GET['unkage'])) {
$unkage=$_GET['unkage'];
}
$incidentid='';
if(isset($_GET['incidentid'])) {
$incidentid=$_GET['incidentid'];
}
$limit='';
if(isset($_GET['limit'])) {
$limit=$_GET['limit'];
}

mysql_connect ("$host", "$username", "$password") or die ("cannot connect");
mysql_select_db("$db_name")or die("cannot select DB");

$sql="INSERT INTO $tbl_name (given_name, family_name, gender, status, age, incidentid)
select First10.$gender, Last10.family_name,
(SELECT $gender from gender) AS Gender,
(SELECT * FROM status WHERE status IN ($alive $injured $deceased $unkstat $found $missing)) AS Status,
(SELECT * FROM age WHERE age IN ($youth $adult $unkage)) AS Age,
(SELECT $incidentid from incidentid) AS Incident_ID
from ( select fn.$gender, @fns := @fns + 1 as Sequence
from ( select $gender from fnames where $gender IS NOT NULL order by rand() limit 100) fn,
(select @fns := 0 ) vars ) First10
JOIN
( select ln.family_name, @lns := @lns + 1 as Sequence
from ( select family_name from lastnames order by rand() limit 100 ) ln,
(select @lns := 0 ) vars ) Last10
ON First10.Sequence = Last10.Sequence";

And the html is here:

<p>
Status: <BR>
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX name="alive" value="'alive'">Alive and Well<BR>
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX name="injured" value="'injured'">Injured<BR>
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX name="deceased" value="'deceased'">Deceased<BR>
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX name="unkstat" value="'unknown'">Unknown<BR>
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX name="found" value="'found'">Found<BR>
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX name="missing" value="'missing'">Missing<BR>
</p>

<p>
Age: <BR>
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX name="youth" value="'youth'">Youth (0-17)<BR>
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX name="adult" value="'adult'">Adult (18+)<BR>
<INPUT TYPE=CHECKBOX name="unkage" value="'unknown'">Unknown<BR>
</p

What I am trying to do is pull the values from the checkboxes and insert the checked values into a mysql query. The query will then search for these values in premade tables and insert them into a separate table. My problem here is that whenever I pull in the variables, I receive a syntax error that usually results in something like this:

‘SELECT * FROM status WHERE status IN (‘alive’ ‘injured’ ‘deceased’ )
AS Status’

It appears that the values within the parenthesis require commas to separate them, but I cannot think of, nor find a way to efficiently do this. Please advise. You guys are great 🙂

Answer 1

Create an array. Push each set value to the array using array_push. Then use implode(",",$array) to create comma separated value variable. Use that within your IN statement

Example in conjunction with PeeHaa’s response.

$vars = array('alive', 'injured', 'deceased', 'unkstat', 'found', 'etc', ); 
$result = array(); 
foreach($vars as $var) { 
   if (isset($_GET[$var])) {
     array_push($_GET[$var], $result);
   }
}
$result = implode(",",$result);