How to send an array of Flex checkboxes to a mysql server?

Question

I am using FB for PHP 4.5, ZendAMF, and I read that I do not need to use HTTPService for what I want to do.

Table structure:

people: {pID, pName}
departments: {deptID, deptName}
people_departments: {pID, deptName}

I have a slightly complex flex script, People.mxml. In the PersonAdd state, I have a form which will be used to send data to the mysql server. In that form , I have a repeater that will create a checkbox for every department in my database. When I click the Add button, I want to insert data into the people and people_departments tables.

Repeater code:

<mx:HBox>
  <mx:Repeater id="checkBoxRepeater"
               dataProvider="{getDepartmentsResult.lastResult}">
    <s:CheckBox id="deptCB"
                label="{checkBoxRepeater.currentItem.deptName}"/>
  </mx:Repeater>
</mx:HBox>

In my peopleService.php file, I will have the function createPerson(People $item,$deptArray) and inside that function, I will execute two SQL queries. One query will insert data into the People table and the other one will insert data into people_departments, with people_departments.pID = ID of newly inserted person.

As you can see, in the Repeater code above, the checkbox as the attribute label. However, when I send the dept_Array (of type ArrayCollection) to the server, the former needs to contain deptIDs. How can I do so?

This is how I create the dept_Array in People.mxml to send to the server:

protected function button_clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
{
 var dept_array:Array=[];
 var idx:int;
 var getDepts_array:ArrayCollection=new ArrayCollection;
 getDepts_array=getDepartmentsResult.lastResult as ArrayCollection;
 var len:int=getDepts_array.length;
 for (idx=0; idx < len; idx++)
 {
  if (deptCB[idx].selected)
  {
   dept_array.push(deptCB[idx].label); //here I need to be able to push the ID of selected department.
  }
 }
}

[Edit] I am using an s:Checkbox and I do not have the data property. mx:Checkbox does but I cannot use the mx:Checkbox component in my project.

I would appreciate any help. Also, is there is a better way to do this?

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 27 '11 at 08:15

try to bind the selected property with your getDepartmentsResult to save the selected state :

<mx:HBox>
  <mx:Repeater id="checkBoxRepeater"
               dataProvider="{getDepartmentsResult.lastResult}">
    <s:CheckBox id="deptCB"
                label="{checkBoxRepeater.currentItem.deptName}" selected={checkBoxRepeater.currentItem.deptSelected}/>
  </mx:Repeater>
</mx:HBox>

After that iterate on your collection to get the selected department:

protected function button_clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void
{
 var dept_array:Array=[];
 var idx:int;
 var getDepts_array:ArrayCollection=new ArrayCollection;
 getDepts_array=getDepartmentsResult.lastResult as ArrayCollection;
 var len:int=getDepts_array.length;
 for each (var dept:Object in getDepts_array) {
    // ...
}
  if (dept.selected)
  {
   dept_array.push(dept.label); //here I need to be able to push the ID of selected department.
  }

} }

That would not work, because first, I do not have the `deptSelected` field in my table, and secondly, `selected` is a boolean attribute. What I eventually did is fire up the documentation as usual, and scrutinize the whole list. I found one attribute that could take a string, and I _cheated_ a bit and used the `automationName` property to do what I wanted to do. — Shailen, Jul 28 '11 at 05:01

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 28 '11 at 05:18

I solved the problem by using the attribute automationName to send the ID related to the itemName displayed as the checkbox label.

Note that the data attribute does not exist for the spark checkbox. If you use the mx:Checkbox, you have data, and you can use it to send the ID linked to your item in question.

<mx:Tile id="myTile">
  <mx:Repeater id="checkBoxRepeater"
               dataProvider="{getItemsResult.lastResult}"
               startingIndex="0">
  <s:CheckBox label="{checkBoxRepeater.currentItem.myItemName}"
              id="checkbox"
              automationName="{String(checkBoxRepeater.currentItem.myItemID)}"
              change="checkbox_changeHandler(event,event.currentTarget.repeaterIndex)"/>^
  </mx:Repeater>
</mx:Tile>

I know that this may not be the best solution, but I am apparently the first person to do this commonplace task, and this worked for me.

And then, the send the array of the IDs of the selected checkboxes, I use the following code, defined in my submitBtn_clickHandler function:

var items_array:Array=[];
var idx:int;
var getitems_array:ArrayCollection=new ArrayCollection;
getitems_array=getItemsResult.lastResult as ArrayCollection;
var len:int=getitems_array.length;
for (idx=0; idx < len; idx++)
  {
    var element:CheckBox=myTile.getElementAt(idx) as CheckBox;
    if (element.selected)
    {
      items_array.push(element.automationName);
    }
  }

I then pass items_array as an additional parameter to my ItemService.createItem function.

How to send an array of Flex checkboxes to a mysql server?

2 Answers2

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