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up vote 1 down vote favorite

I'm fairly new to PHP, so please bare with me...

I have a page with a few checkboxes. You can make any combination of selections. 

<form action="result.php" method="post">
    <p>
        <label>
            <input type="checkbox" name="CheckboxGroup1[]" value="choice" id="choice">
            option 1
        </label>
        <br>
        <label>
            <input type="checkbox" name="CheckboxGroup1[]" value="range-all" id="range-all">
            option 2
        </label>
        <br>
        <label>
            <input type="checkbox" name="CheckboxGroup1[]" value="range-two" id="range-two">
            option 3
        </label>
        <br>
        <label>
            <input type="checkbox" name="CheckboxGroup1[]" value="range-two" id="range-two">
            option 4
        </label>
        <br>
        <label>
            <input type="checkbox" name="CheckboxGroup1[]" value="range-other-two" id="range-other-two">
            option 5
        </label>
        <br>

    </p>
    <p>
        <input type="submit">
    </p>
</form>

Once you submit your selection, the form takes you to the next page where it compares the array of checkbox selections against a predefined array of options. 

<?php

    $options = array("choice", "range-all", "range-two", "range-other-two");
    $checkboxes = $_POST['CheckboxGroup1'];
    $intersection = array_intersect($options, $checkboxes);
    $results = print_r($intersection, true);

    //these are various scenarios based on what the user could choose
    $scen1var = array("choice", "range-all");
    $scen1 = print_r($scen1var, true);

    $scen2var = array("choice", "range-two");
    $scen2 = print_r($scen2var, true);

    $scen3var = array("choice", "range-other-two");
    $scen3 = print_r($scen3var, true);

    $scen4var = array("range-all", "range-other-two");
    $scen4 = print_r($scen4var, true);

    if ($results === $scen1) { 
        echo "choice and range all";
    }
    elseif ($results === $scen2) {
        echo "range  consumables and range  both";
    }
    //The elseif's carry on in this manner
    else {
        echo "something else";
    }

?>

I am having an issue now where the first "if statement" works but the elseif doesn't. also, if I change the first "if statement" to compare $results to any other $scen ie. $scen2, $scen3, it doesn't work and just jumps to the "else" part.

I have a feeling I'm not making sense, so please let me know if I could explain a little more in detail...

Also this way I'm doing this seems a little overboard. Surely there is an easier way??

Any help will be much appreciated!

Thanks, Patrick

share|improve this question
    
Why are you using print_r() for comparisons? You can compare two arrays $array_1 === $array_2 just as well, no? –  amsross Feb 13 at 16:35
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2 Answers

up vote 0 down vote accepted

The problem is that array_intersect does not preserve the key of the array.

<?php

$array1 = array(2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12);
$array2 = array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6);

var_dump(array_intersect($array1, $array2));
var_dump(array_intersect($array2, $array1));

?>

Yields the following:

array(3) {
  [0]=> int(2)
  [1]=> int(4)
  [2]=> int(6)
}

array(3) {
  [1]=> int(2)
  [3]=> int(4)
  [5]=> int(6)
}

You will have to replace 

$scen1var = array("choice", "range-all");
$scen2var = array("choice", "range-two");
$scen3var = array("choice", "range-other-two");
$scen4var = array("range-all", "range-other-two");

for

$scen1var = array(1=>"choice", 2=>"range-all");
$scen2var = array(1=>"choice", 3=>"range-two");
$scen3var = array(1=>"choice", 4=>"range-other-two");
$scen4var = array(2=>"range-all", 4=>"range-other-two");

I strongly suggest you change your approach to this problem because this might not be as reliable as it seems..

This is my suggestion :

$checkboxes = $_POST['CheckboxGroup1'];
if(count($checkboxes) == 2 && 
   in_array('choice', $checkboxes) && 
   in_array('range-all', $checkboxes)
){
    // choice and range only
}
// etc.

Of course, there is plenty of way to do this kind of stuff. Another approach.

$choice = false;
$range_all = false;
$range_two = false;
$range_other_two = false;
foreach($_POST['CheckboxGroup1'] as $checkbox)
{
    if($checkbox == 'choice')
    {
        $choice = true;
    }
    elseif($checkbox == 'range_all')
    { 
        $range_all = true;
    }
    //etc
}

if($choice && $range_all && !$range_two && !$range_other_two)
{
    // choice and range_all only.
}
// etc.
share|improve this answer
    
Hi Nico, thanks for your speedy reply. I will alter and let you know... Do you think you could suggest anything another approach for me to research? Many Thanks! –  user3306818 Feb 13 at 17:32
    
@user3306818 see my edit –  Nico Feb 13 at 17:55
    
Thank you so much. It seems to make sense to me. I will give it a try! Thanks again! –  user3306818 Feb 13 at 18:04
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up vote 0 down vote

Your array indices are off.

Add this above your if/else block: print_r($results);

You'll see that selecting choice and range-two outputs Array ( [0] => choice [2] => range-two ) and not Array ( [0] => choice [1] => range-two ), which is what $scen2 is equal to.

share|improve this answer
    
Thanks for this! Makes sense! –  user3306818 Feb 13 at 17:42
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