Question

Ok, so basically I have data I have added to an html table and a save button. I want this button to submit the data in the table to a php function so that I can modify my mysql database using the data. I have the tools to modify the database, as long as I can get the data. However, I have no clue how to do this. What is the best way to accomplish this?

Answer 1

In Addition to what @John Conde said, for every record presented in the table, you should create it’s respective hidden field i.e. a <input type="hidden"... />
Considering that tables have rows and columns, I will make some assumptions:

1. I will assume that the rows are equivalent to the data you have on a per record basis
2. That the columns are the fields you will update with data on a per record basis

Going on this assumption (let me assume 3 fields i.e. 3 columns and 2 records)

        Field 1    Field 2    Field 3
Row 1     a          b          c
Row 2     d          e          f

For each of these we’ll create corresponding input fields in the form we’ll create to contain the submit button like so:

<form action="" method="post">
    <!--Row 1-->
    <input type="hidden" name="field_1[]" value="a" />
    <input type="hidden" name="field_2[]" value="b" />
    <input type="hidden" name="field_3[]" value="c" />
    <!--Row 2-->
    <input type="hidden" name="field_1[]" value="d" />
    <input type="hidden" name="field_2[]" value="e" />
    <input type="hidden" name="field_3[]" value="f" />
    <!-- more rows if they exist -->
    <input type="submit" name="my_btn" value="POST IT!" />
</form>    

On the PHP side, you could then process the form fields, like so:

foreach($_POST["field_1"] as $id=>$field1_value){
    $field2_value = $_POST["field_2"][$id];
    $field3_value = $_POST["field_3"][$id];
    .......
}

Hope this helps