Submiting a form with variables packed into an associative array

Question

I have a complex form created in flash that submits to a
shopping cart. I was having trouble getting the variables in the
right format for the shopping cart to accept.
So I created a bridging script in php that fills in the
hidden fields of a form then uses javascript to submit it to the
cart. This works but I would like to submit the variables directly
to the cart and eliminate the need for a bridge.
At the moment I am simply using
getURL("bridge.php", "_self", "POST");
to POST the variables to the bridge.
The bridge code is
<?php
$id[txt_1] = "$colortext";
$id[txt_2] = "$xheight";
$id[txt_3] = "$xwidth";
$id[txt_4] = "$nopanels";
$id[txt_5] = "$shutterstyle";
$id[txt_6] = "$squarearea";
$id[txt_7] = "$finish";
$id[txt_8] = "$bifoldoption";
$id[txt_9] = "$slidingoption";
$id[txt_10] = "$hingedoption";
$id[txt_11] = "$totalprice";
$id[txt_12] = "$colorcode";
$products_id = "28";
?>
<form
action="product_info.php?products_id=28&action=add_product"
method="post" name="MyForm" target="_self">
<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Submit">
<input name="id[txt_1]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_1]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_2]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_2]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_3]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_3]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_4]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_4]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_5]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_5]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_7]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_7]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_6]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_6]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_8]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_8]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_9]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_9]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_10]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_10]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_11]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_11]); ?>">
<input name="id[txt_12]" type="hidden" value="<?php
print($id[txt_12]); ?>">
<input name="products_id" type="hidden" value="28">
</form>
<script type="text/javascript"
language="JavaScript"><!--
document.MyForm.submit();
//--></script>
I am trying to create in flash 8 the equivalent of the above
form using the function below.
function submitvars() {
var id: Array = new Array();
id.txt_1 = colortext;
id.txt_2 = xheight;
id.txt_3 = xwidth;
id.txt_4 = nopanels;
id.txt_5 = shutterstyle;
id.txt_6 = squarearea;
id.txt_7 = finish;
id.txt_8 = bifoldoption;
id.txt_9 = slidingoption;
id.txt_10 = hingedoption;
id.txt_11 = totalprice;
id.txt_12 = colorcode;
var myvar:LoadVars = new LoadVars();
myvar.id = id;
myvar.products_id = '28';
myvar.send("product_info.php?products_id=28&action=add_product",
"_self", "POST");
So far the variable products_id = ‘28’ transfers
over to the cart fine but not the variables in the ‘id’
array

Answer 1

You're welcome.
I've never used register globals, couldn't figure that out,
thanks for explaining.
The other way to do it if you want to send an array of simple
data (usually all of one data type like string or number) is to use
array.join("delimiter_sequence"); in flash. You can then assign it
to a single property of your loadvars (e.g. 'id') and use explode
in php with the same delimiter to recreate an array. This does not
give you an associative array though, just a regular numeric
indexed one.
To send complex data like arrays and objects, you can use
other encoding techniques. You can even use json: json.org has a
json class(es) for flash and php 5 has json encoding/decoding
support for example.
Another way is to use amfphp and remoting, which does all the
work for you. And of course, you have XML support as well at both
ends, so you can always represent complex data in XML if you
prefer. You may want to investigate these or other methods on
future occasions.