get textarea value, separate by new line, save to database php

Question

I have a textarea in my html named add-list. I want to get the value of the textarea per line break and then save it to my database. The problem is, when it saves the input to the database, the second and succeeding entries have a whitespace before the input.

Here is my function for getting the value:

public function add(){
        $checker = false;
        $names = $this->input->post('add-list');

            if (strpos($names, "\n") == TRUE ) { //newline found
                $names = nl2br(trim($this->input->post('add-list')));
                $namesArray = explode('<br />', $names);

                foreach($namesArray as $name) {
                    $checker = false;
                    $checker = $this->checkDatabase($name); //check if name already exists in database
                    if ($checker) {
                        echo "<script type='text/javascript'>alert('A site in your list already exists. Duplicate sites are not allowed.');</script>";
                    }

                    if (!$checker) {
                        $this->data_model->addCommunity($name);
                    }
                }

                $this->index();
                redirect(base_url());
            }

            else if (strpos($names, "\n") == FALSE) {
                $checker = $this->checkDatabase($names);
                if ($checker) {
                    echo "<script type='text/javascript'>alert('" . $names . " already exists. Duplicate sites are not allowed.'); window.location.href='".base_url()."'</script>";
                }

                if (!$checker) {
                    $this->data_model->addCommunity($names);
                    $this->index();
                    redirect(base_url());
                }
            }
    }

What I get in my database is like this:

firstName
 secondName //there's a whitespace before 's'

Help me please!!!

get it again from database and echo it in textarea see what is result. — Satish Sharma, May 23 '14 at 08:39
@SatishSharma when I echo it from the database, there's no space but when I use it for other purposes (like in concatenating with url), it gets the whitespace. — achll, May 23 '14 at 08:46
(example only) $url = "http://communities.com/".$list->name."/page.aspx"; — achll, May 23 '14 at 08:56
try with this `$url = "communities.com/".trim($list->name)."/page.aspx";` — Satish Sharma, May 23 '14 at 08:57
is there no way for me to remove the whitespace in the database? — achll, May 23 '14 at 08:58
you can also try `$your_new_string = str_replace(" ", "", $your_string);` for remove spaces from your string — Satish Sharma, May 23 '14 at 08:59

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:32

1

Why do you go all the way through nl2br and then explode instead of using explode with a line break? But just use the search or a search engine, e.g. Explode PHP string by new line (long time no PHP, so I might not be quite right).

edited May 23 '17 at 10:32

Community

1
1

answered May 23 '14 at 08:40

Matthias W.

1,039
1
11
23

if i do this, it saves
in the database. – achll May 23 '14 at 08:54
nl2br: "Returns string with `'
'` or `'
'` inserted before all newlines (`\r\n, \n\r, \n and \r`)." -- if you don't use nl2br there shouldn't be `'
'` or `'
'` at all. Instead try to explode for each newline (`\r\n, \n\r, \n and \r`) by yourself. You might have to "normalize" the new lines for different plattforms (as you might see in the thread referenced). – Matthias W. May 23 '14 at 09:01

get textarea value, separate by new line, save to database php

1 Answers1