Question

I’ve just started using jQuery. One thing I’ve been using it for is adding rows to a table that is part of a form.

When I add a new row, I give all the form elements names like 'name_' + rowNumber. I increment rowNumber each time I add a row.

I also usually have a Remove Row Button. Even when a row is removed, the rowNumber count stays the same to keep from repeating element names.

When the form is submitted, I set a hidden element to equal the rowNumber value from jQuery. Then in PHP, I count from 1 to the rowNumber value. Then for each value, I perform an isset($_REQUEST['name'_ . index]). This is how I extract the form elements that remained after deleting rows in jQuery.

Does anyone here have a better technique for accounting for deleted rows?

Answer 1

For some of our simpler tables, we use a field name such as ‘name[]’, though for JavaScript they would need a usable id.

It does add some complexity in that ‘name[0]’ has to assume ‘detail[0]’ is the correct element.

PHP will create an array and append elements if the field name ends with [] similar to

<input name="field[]" value="first value" />
<input name="field[]" value="second value" />

// is roughly the same as

$_POST['field'][] = 'first value';
$_POST['field'][] = 'second value';