How to store selected <options> into PHP array?

Question

So I'm trying to store the selected <option></option> tags into an array. I've searched everywhere and can't find any "Good" way of doing it.

<form action='most-liked.php'>
            <select multiple name='choose-category' style='display: inline-block;'>
            <?php
                $allCategories = ["All", "Sport", "Automotive", "Comedy", "Misc"];
                $htmlOutput = "";
                $i=0;
                    for($i;$i<sizeof($allCategories);$i++)
                    {
                        $htmlOutput .= "<option value='".$allCategories[$i]."'>".$allCategories[$i]."</option>";
                    }   
                echo $htmlOutput;
            ?>
            </select>
</form>

I was wondering if there is a way of adding the selected options into the array on the fly without reloading the whole page...E.g when they choose one of the <option>'s it's value will stored. Im thinking there may be a way of doing this with jQuery?

I was thinking maybe using a $_GET[] or something. But not too sure how I'd do it.

Javascript/JQuery cannot directly interact with PHP. They can only do that by the GET or POST method, which can be done by either submitting a form, or using Ajax. — Ahs N
– Ahs N, Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 10:35

Praveen Kumar Purushothaman · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-08 10:34:54Z

1

Change the name of the <select> to:

choose-category[]

So your code will now look like:

<select multiple name='choose-category[]' style='display: inline-block;'>

Also, it is better to avoid -s in names, so this would be the right one:

<select multiple name='choose_category[]' style='display: inline-block;'>

And you can access it using:

$_REQUEST["choose_category"]

Which gives you an array!

answered Jul 8, 2015 at 10:34

Praveen Kumar Purushothaman

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3 Comments

James111 Over a year ago

Using that $_REQUEST[] Doesn't return anything? Do I have to put the $_REQUEST[] inside an if(isset($_POST['button'])){ echo $_REQUEST['choose_category']]} for it to actually print?

Praveen Kumar Purushothaman Over a year ago

No no,.. I just gave $_REQUEST in general. Use either $_GET or $_POST.

James111 Over a year ago

How would I print out the selected values with the form I have in my question and the changes that I've made with the <select name='choose_category'>? I can't seem to get it to actually print. Sorry Im not a huge expert in PHP.

Meenesh Jain · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-08 10:33:52Z

0

change your select

from

 <select multiple name='choose-category' style='display: inline-block;'>

to

<select multiple name='choose_category[]' style='display: inline-block;'>

now your choose_category is a array and when you will submit it. you will get a post array with all those values that were selected

answered Jul 8, 2015 at 10:33

Meenesh Jain

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Comments

Sarath Kumar · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-08 10:37:58Z

0

you can do like below using jQuery..

<form action='most-liked.php'>
            <select id="Category" multiple name='choose-category' style='display: inline-block;'>
            <?php
                $allCategories = ["All", "Sport", "Automotive", "Comedy", "Misc"];
                $htmlOutput = "";
                $i=0;
                    for($i;$i<sizeof($allCategories);$i++)
                    {
                        $htmlOutput .= "<option value='".$allCategories[$i]."'>".$allCategories[$i]."</option>";
                    }   
                echo $htmlOutput;
            ?>
            </select>
</form>
<script>
var foo = []; 
 $('#Category').change(function() {
     $('#Category :selected').each(function(i, selected){ 
          foo[i] = $(selected).text(); 
    });   alert(foo);
 }); 

</script>

answered Jul 8, 2015 at 10:37

Sarath Kumar

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2 Comments

James111 Over a year ago

I guess I could use this option if I was going to use AJAX?

Sarath Kumar Over a year ago

yes to avoid reloading you should use Ajax or this type of js

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