Inserting multiple rows into MySQL at once

Question

I am trying to submit a table full of information at once, and cannot find the answer. It has no problem submitting one set of information to the DB, but i need to insult between 1 and 50 of the same value at once. Here is an example:

We are recording lap times, therefore we need to be able to fill in a table on a web app, with loads of names, and event times. Therefore, we will need to add loads of SQL entries at once.

I have tried just copy and pasting the form info, but this results in a blank set of data in phpmyadmin.

Here is the code:

<?php


$host = "localhost";
$databasename = "pe_results";
$databaseusername = "root";
$databasepassword = "";

$conn = mysql_connect("$host", "$databaseusername", "$databasepassword"); 
mysql_select_db("$databasename", $conn); 

        if (isset($_POST['Name'])) { 
        $Name = $_POST['Name'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['Short'])) { 
        $Short = $_POST['Short'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['Med'])) { 
        $Med = $_POST['Med'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['Long'])) { 
        $Long = $_POST['Long'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['VLong'])) { 
        $VLong = $_POST['VLong'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['Extreme'])) { 
        $Extreme = $_POST['Extreme'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['LJump'])) { 
        $LJump = $_POST['LJump'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['HJump'])) { 
        $HJump = $_POST['HJump'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['Shotputt'])) { 
        $Shotputt = $_POST['Shotputt'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['Discuss'])) { 
        $Discuss = $_POST['Discuss'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['Javelin'])) { 
        $Javelin = $_POST['Javelin'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['Date'])) { 
        $Date = $_POST['Date'];
        }
        if (isset($_POST['Year'])) { 
        $Year = $_POST['Year'];
        }



           $i = count($Name);

for ($i=0;$i<10;$i++) {
$n = $Name[$i];
$s = $Short[$i];
$me = $Med[$i];
$lng = $Long[$i];
$slng = $VLong[$i];
$ext = $Extreme[$i];
$ljump = $LJump[$i];
$hjump = $HJump[$i];
$shot = $Shotputt[$i];
$disc = $Discuss[$i];
$jav = $Javelin[$i];
$date = $Date[$i];
$year = $Year[$i];

//and so on with more variable...

$sql="INSERT INTO results_main (`Name`, `Short`, `Med`, `Long`, `Vlong`, `Extreme`, `LJump`, `HJump`, `Shotputt`, `Discuss`, `Javelin`, `Date`, `Year`)
            VALUES ('$n', '$s', '$me', '$lng', '$slng', '$ext', '$ljump', '$hjump', '$shot', '$disc', '$jav', '$date', '$year')";

}


    $result = mysql_query($sql) or die(mysql_error ());;
        if($result){
echo"<br/>Everythings been saved";
echo "<BR>";
echo "<a href='index.php'>Back to the main page</a>";
}

else {

echo $result = mysql_query($sql,$conn) or die (mysql_error ());
}

// close connection 
mysql_close($conn);
?>

Also find HTML below

<?php
// Create connection
$con=mysqli_connect("127.0.0.1","root","","pe_results");

// Check connection
if (mysqli_connect_errno($con))
  {
  echo "Uh oh, tell chris that " . mysqli_connect_error() . "NO DATA WILL BE SAVED";
  }
?>
    <a href="results.php"><div id="1" >Results</div></a>
    <a href="record.php"><div id="2">Record</div></a>
    <a href="overview.php"><div id="3">Overview</div></a>
    <div id="4">Blank</div>
   <form name="input_primary" action="process.php" method="post">

    <font color="#FFFFFF"><strong>Date:</strong></font><input name="Date" type="date" />

   <font color="#FFFFFF"><strong>Year:</strong></font><select name="Year">
        <option value="7">Year 7</option>
        <option value="8">Year 8</option>
        <option value="9">Year 9</option>
        <option value="10">Year 10</option>
        <option value="11">Year 11</option>
        <option value="12">Year 12</option>
        <option value="13">Year 13</option>
       </select>
       <input type="submit" value="Save results!" name="submit" />


<table width="200" border="1px solid black" id="maintab">
  <tr>
    <th scope="col">Name</th>
    <th scope="col">100m</th>
    <th scope="col">200m</th>
    <th scope="col">400m</th>
    <th scope="col">800m</th>
    <th scope="col">1500m</th>
    <th scope="col">Long Jump</th>
    <th scope="col">High Jump</th>
    <th scope="col">Shotputt</th>
    <th scope="col">Discus</th>
    <th scope="col">Javelin</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>
        <input name="Name" type="text" />
    </td>
    <td> 
        <input name="Short" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Med" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td> 
        <input name="Long" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="VLong" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Extreme" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="LJump" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="HJump" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Shotputt" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Discuss" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Javelin" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
  </tr>

Answer 1

Storing your data across multiple arrays is unsafe because its so easy to get out of order and cause errors. Instead store data into an associative array like this:

$people = array();
$people[] = array('Name' => $name, 'Short' => $short ....);

The above code creates and array of arrays and the inner arrays are associative arrays so you can use the following syntax to get the name of the first person:

$people[0]['Name'];

Everything stays together and if certain values arn't set for certain people it will not seep into the other peoples records.

I see you were using POST variables. The above associative array can be easily passed around with ajax (if thats what your using, just an option) by using json_encode and json_decode. This helps preserve data structures when your passing it through multiple languages.

Lastly to insert a large number of records I would suggest a PDO statement as one ofthe easiest and cleanest way to do this. Check out a great tutorial here http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/why-you-should-be-using-phps-pdo-for-database-access/

Hope this helps, good luck!

Answer 2

Add brackets [] to ALL your names in your html-form (where it makes sense). The bracket [] tells that elements are treated as dynamic arrays.

In your html-form, do something like this:

<form name="input_primary" action="process.php" method="post">

    <font color="#FFFFFF"><strong>Date:</strong></font><input name="Date" type="date" />
   <font color="#FFFFFF"><strong>Year:</strong></font><select name="Year">
        <option value="7">Year 7</option>
        <option value="8">Year 8</option>
        <option value="9">Year 9</option>
        <option value="10">Year 10</option>
        <option value="11">Year 11</option>
        <option value="12">Year 12</option>
        <option value="13">Year 13</option>
       </select>
       <input type="submit" value="Save results!" name="submit" />


<table width="200" border="1px solid black" id="maintab">
  <tr>
    <th scope="col">Name</th>
    <th scope="col">100m</th>
    <th scope="col">200m</th>
    <th scope="col">400m</th>
    <th scope="col">800m</th>
    <th scope="col">1500m</th>
    <th scope="col">Long Jump</th>
    <th scope="col">High Jump</th>
    <th scope="col">Shotputt</th>
    <th scope="col">Discus</th>
    <th scope="col">Javelin</th>
  </tr>
<?php
//Repeat element inside loop 10 times
for($i=0;$i<10;$i++) {
?>
  <tr>
    <td>
        <input name="Name[]" type="text" />
    </td>
    <td> 
        <input name="Short[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Med[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td> 
        <input name="Long[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="VLong[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Extreme[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="LJump[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="HJump[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Shotputt[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Discuss[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
    <td>
         <input name="Javelin[]" type="text" size="10px" />
    </td>
  </tr>
<?php
}
?>
</table>
</form>

And in your PHP code do something like this:

//Create initial query for sql-insert.
$sql="INSERT INTO results_main (`Name`, `Short`, `Med`, `Long`, `Vlong`, `Extreme`, `LJump`, `HJump`, `Shotputt`, `Discuss`, `Javelin`, `Date`, `Year`) VALUES ";


$date = $Date; //Do like this if date-element is only occur once (at top) (then no need for brackets)
$year = $Year; //Do like this if year-element is only occur once (at top) (then no need for brackets)

$cnt = count($Name);    
for ($i=0;$i<$cnt;$i++) {
    //Use mysql_escape_string to escape strings (when needed) BEFORE adding to the $sql.
    $n = $Name[$i];
    $s = $Short[$i];
    $me = $Med[$i];
    $lng = $Long[$i];
    $slng = $VLong[$i];
    $ext = $Extreme[$i];
    $ljump = $LJump[$i];
    $hjump = $HJump[$i];
    $shot = $Shotputt[$i];
    $disc = $Discuss[$i];
    $jav = $Javelin[$i];

    //Insert each row separated with a comma
    $sql .= "('$n', '$s', '$me', '$lng', '$slng', '$ext', '$ljump', '$hjump', '$shot', '$disc', '$jav', '$date', '$year'),";
}

$useQuery = substr($sql, 0, -1); //Delete last comma
$result = mysql_query($useQuery); //Do the actual insert

then of course, read up on PDO instead of using mysql_query etc. Do this soon because mysql_* functions like this are deprecated and will be removed in the future. PDO is a better alternative because it's oop, it's safer and more flexible. Start from here... http://www.php.net/manual/en/intro.pdo.php

Answer 3

If I understood your Question right what you wanna do is name the fields with a [] So

<select name="Year">

Becomes

<select name="Year[]">

Then you'll be able to loop through the submitted values, example:

foreach($_POST['Year'] as $k=>$v){
 echo $v." - This is the value";
 echo $k." - This is the key";
}

EDIT:

(string)$insert;
if(is_array($_POST['Year'])){
    foreach($_POST['Year'] as $k=>$v){  
         $insert .= "(".$_POST['Name'][$k].", ".$_POST['Short'][$k].", ".$_POST['Med'][$k].", ".$_POST['Long'][$k].", ".$_POST['VLong'][$k].", ".$_POST['Extreme'][$k].", ".$_POST['LJump'][$k].", ".$_POST['HJump'][$k].", ".$_POST['Shotputt'][$k].", ".$_POST['Discuss'][$k].", ".$_POST['Javelin'][$k].", ".$_POST['Date'][$k].", ".$_POST['Year'][$k]."),"; 
    }
     $insert = substr_replace($insert ,0,-1);
}else{
    $insert .= "($_POST['Name'], $_POST['Short'], $_POST['Med'], $_POST['Long'], $_POST['VLong'], $_POST['Extreme'], $_POST['LJump'], $_POST['HJump'], $_POST['Shotputt'], $_POST['Discuss'], $_POST['Javelin'], $_POST['Date'], $_POST['Year'])"; 
}
$sql="INSERT INTO results_main 
(`Name`, `Short`, `Med`, `Long`, `VLong`, `Extreme`, `LJump`, `HJump`, `Shotputt`, `Discuss`, `Javelin`, `Date`, `Year`)
VALUES 
".$insert;

This should do the trick to get everything into only one query instead of doing multiple queries for each row