How can I save these same variable names into a mySQL column using PHP

Question

How can I save the below

cv_skills=MySQL&cv_skills=HTML&cv_skills=AutoCAD

as

MySQL,HTML,AutoCAD

into the cv_skills column of my mySQL database?

Currently I am doing implode but it does not work

$cv_skills = mysql_real_escape_string(implode( ',', $_POST["cv_skills"]));

In this question I have shown the variables as GET just to show how are passed. I am using POST for sure :)

`cv_skills=MySQL&cv_skills=HTML&cv_skills=AutoCAD` that implies a GET and you're using POST in the query. — Funk Forty Niner, Mar 06 '16 at 15:41
@Fred-ii- yes, I know. I posted it this way to make known how the variables are passed. — EnexoOnoma, Mar 06 '16 at 15:42
what about the query to INSERT/UPDATE? maybe that's failing you. Are you using `mysql_` to connect with also? — Funk Forty Niner, Mar 06 '16 at 15:44
oh hold on. As a few said, you're overwriting your query here using the same parameters. Use different ones `cv_skills1=MySQL&cv_skills2=HTML&cv_skills3=AutoCAD` - *"I am using POST for sure"* then show us your HTML form that goes with this. — Funk Forty Niner, Mar 06 '16 at 15:48
if you're using a form with this (which I suspect contains `name="cv_skills"` for multiple fields and didn't assign them as arrays such as `name="cv_skills[]"` and not using a `foreach` and not using a post method, then that could be the reason. It's unknown because you haven't show us enough (PHP) code and for the query itself. I'm guessing here. — Funk Forty Niner, Mar 06 '16 at 15:53
you have been given answers below now. I am out of the loop. Wishing you well. — Funk Forty Niner, Mar 06 '16 at 16:02

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 06 '16 at 15:52

In the current way that you pass the variables to your PHP script they will just get continuously overridden. If you change the variable to the following

cv_skills[]=MySQL&cv_skills[]=HTML&cv_skills[]=AutoCAD

you can then access the data like this

$_POST['cv_skills'][0] == 'MySQL'
$_POST['cv_skills'][1] == 'HTML'
$_POST['cv_skills'][2] == 'AutoCAD'

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 06 '16 at 15:54

First you need to change the way you are passing the cv_skills variable. Change to an array for example cv_skills[]=HTML&cv_skills[]=AutoCAD; etc.

I would suggest using json_encode($_POST['cv_skills']) to save it with the exact same name. And then pass it to the database.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:24

If you are reusing field names you cannot take values from PHP superglobals. Instead, you need to parse request body manually.

You can read raw POST data from the 'php://input' wrapper [reference]. Parsing the string is trickier; you can use a combination of explode() and rawurldecode().

As about the database, explaining how to interact with MySQL is way beyond the scope of this site. I can only suggest you have a look at How can I prevent SQL-injection in PHP and get a reasonably recent book (mysql_real_escape_string() does not even exist any more in latest PHP versions).

How can I save these same variable names into a mySQL column using PHP

3 Answers3