implode a data from database to echo checkbox as checked

Question

I have a data array which is separated by a comma in database.

now, what i want to do is implode the strings from the column purpose.

and make that checkbox lists in my form echo checked; if the list is in the database.

hope you guys can help me out. Thank You!

Please stop storing CSVs in columns. This is not how they are meant to be used. 1 value per column. — user3783243, Jul 02 '18 at 02:32
Please, show us, what have you tried to solve the problem. Otherwise we won't help. — user4035, Jul 02 '18 at 02:35
Your database design is bad. You need to create a child table for storing purpose fields. — user4035, Jul 02 '18 at 02:37
Possible duplicate of [Is storing a delimited list in a database column really that bad?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3653462/is-storing-a-delimited-list-in-a-database-column-really-that-bad) — user3783243, Jul 02 '18 at 02:37
@user4035 you're right! my database design was bad. i can't convert it to different array string number because it's just store in one field. I will just figure it out how to do it with that kind of database structure. — curiosity, Jul 02 '18 at 03:34

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 02 '18 at 03:51

If you must do this, then:

$checkedPurposes = preg_split('/\s*,\s*/', $purposeColumnFromDatabase);
// then for each checkbox
if (in_array($purposeName, $checkedPurposes)) {
    // echo checked
}

The regex ensures that typos regarding the number of spaces around the commas don't matter.

As other users have said in the comments though, this is bad database design. If you can change the schema to move the purposes into their own table, you probably should.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 02 '18 at 04:02

1

Here's an example (Not the proper way to design your code though) .

$purposesFull=array('a','b','c','d','e');
$purposesFromDB='a,b,d';
$purposesFromDBArray=explode(',',$purposesFromDB);
foreach($purposesFull as $item){
    $checked = in_array($item,$purposesFromDBArray) ? ' checked' : '';
    echo '<input type="checkbox" name="purs[]"'.$checked.'>'.$item;
    echo '<br/>';
}

answered Jul 02 '18 at 04:02

Ashraf

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Your code has the correct output. i will try it first, based on my database. – curiosity Jul 02 '18 at 05:28
Thank you very much. you really got the correct answer. You picture out what the kind of output i want to display. without showing my code. – curiosity Jul 02 '18 at 05:44

implode a data from database to echo checkbox as checked

2 Answers2