JS and/or D3 Methods of storing Dynamic User Inputs - javascript

My question is similar to the one posed here: storing user input in array
My use case is different in one crucial aspect, I do not have static inputs. At any one time, there could be anywhere from 1 to 3 user number inputs on my page. They are also removed dynamically too, so I can't just create them all, then style them as needed something like using display:hidden;.
My question is: What is a js solution that can store user inputs into an array robust to inputs that may or may not have been appended without an if clause for each array in the event the element hasn't been appended yet(!==null).
Or if d3 has a simpler approach than native javascript to store number inputs into an array, that would be an acceptable answer too. I postulated this selection: d3.selectAll('#input1,#input2,#input3') but I'm not sure if values can be retrieved and stored in an array from such a selection.
Here is a worked-out example:
The document could potentially have 3 inputs, but lets say the current state of the document only has 2 inputs with IDs: #input1 and #input2. So I need to store the values of the existing inputs, and a 0 for #input3 because it has not been created yet. I'm not sure how to create an array comprehension with these requirements. I was thinking something like:
my_array.push(d3.selectAll('#input1,#input2,#input3').each().value())
But like I said above, I want the array to contain the value for each input. push() would just add another item to the array. The array would exceed 3 values if the event listener was triggered more than 3 times, which is not what I want. I just want an array that is updated with the current values of all existing number inputs (and a value of 0 if input has not been appended yet).

Your question is not exactly clear, but it seems to me that you want to get all the values of the inputs, without knowing how many of them you have on the page.
If that's the case, you can simply use...
d3.selectAll("input[type=number]")
..., which will get all the inputs present on the page when you call the function.
Here is a demo, look at the console:
d3.select("button").on("click", function() {
var inputs = [];
d3.selectAll("input[type=number]").each(function() {
inputs.push(this.value);
})
console.log(inputs);
})
<script src="https://d3js.org/d3.v4.min.js"></script>
<div id="form">
<h1><b>Please enter data</b></h1>
<hr size="3" />
<br>
<label for="input 1">Input 1</label>
<input id="input1" type="number">
<br>
<label for="input 2">Input 2</label>
<input id="input2" type="number">
<br>
<label for="input 3">Input 3</label>
<input id="input3" type="text">
<br>
<hr>
</div>
<button>Submit</button>

Related

Jquery get values from dynamically generated input texts

Jquery get values from dynamically generated input texts
This is an example of what I am trying to achieve. Let me put the html code and describe afterwards
<div class="col-xs-3 ">
<label for="pointMap[0]-value">firstkey</label>
<input type="text" id="pointMap[0]-value" name="pointsValueMap[firstkey]" value="value1">
</div>
<div class="col-xs-3 ">
<label for="pointMap[1]-value">secondkey</label>
<input type="text" id="pointMap[1]-value" name="pointsValueMap[secondkey]" value="value2">
</div>
I would like to have all the values of however many of these kinds of input type text id (pointMap[i]-value). Please also suggest if there is a better way than having them an array when collected. My mind is blank on what should I be looping against, in a for loop, I am unable to find a terminating condition (size of these input texts).
Since you are using jQuery. You can use the attribute contains selector. There is whole list of such selectors in jQuery.
You can store values of such inputs in an array like this
var inputStore = []; //Where you want to store the values
$("input[name*=pointsValueMap]").each(function(){ //Will check for inputs with name containing pointsValueMap
inputStore.push($(this).val())
});

How to append additional sets of fields to html form

Example: let's say we have a form with 3 fields: pc, part_id, part_details. Sometimes you will want to add additional parts to database when adding pc, so part_id and part_details should be duplicated(part_id and part_details should be corresponding). What I want is the best way to append this two fields to the form?
I know if you just want to duplicate one field you can name the field like this:
<input type="text" name="part_id[]">
Then we can easily get the post data as array. But now we are duplicating more than one field, if we use the approach above at the post end the two/multiple arrays will not be relevant. The approach described here seems to be a good one http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/domform.html, but the fact that names are changing all the time makes it complicated to use the post data as well.
There is another possible approach described here Multiple Forms With Input Fields With The Same Name Attribute? Good Or Bad? . It gives an idea to duplicate the entire form. I am not sure if I understand it correctly, but when I try putting two identical forms in the same page and submit one of them, only data from this form will be submitted, the other one will be ignored. Also it is not suitable for my scenario as not all the fields should be duplicated.
So what is the best way to accomplish this duplicating job?
In the link you gave, they didn't duplicate the form, just the elements inside the form which is fine. If all you are adding is multiple parts to a single PC then there shouldn't be a problem. The parts will be linked via array indices (you can rely on the ordering).
The first instance of part_id[] will correspond to the first instance of part_details[]. This should be distinguishable in your server-side language. In PHP for instance, part_details[2] will correspond to part_id[2] etc.
You can use another level of indexing:
<input type="text" name="pc" />
<!-- First part -->
<input type="text" name="parts[0][part_id]" />
<input type="text" name="parts[0][part_details]" />
<!-- Duplicate part -->
<input type="text" name="parts[1][part_id]" />
<input type="text" name="parts[1][part_details]" />
<!-- Another duplicate part -->
<input type="text" name="parts[2][part_id]" />
<input type="text" name="parts[2][part_details]" />
The fields for each part (id and details) can be easily generated using jQuery.

Submitting multiple values for one input field

What I'm trying to do:
I'm trying to build a very simple visual layout builder.
The idea is that, the user selects a block, and it has some settings in it, those setting values are stored in the hidden input, and when the user saves the page, i store those values in the database.
Basic block is ok:
For example, user selects a 'text' block, it is added like this:
<div>
<input type="hidden" value="text" name="item_name[]">
<input type="hidden" value="" name="item_title[]">
<input type="hidden" value="sdsd" name="item_text[]">
</div>
Problem:
However, some of the blocks have more than one values for each field. For example, 'gallery' block, which has multiple image urls, image titles etc. I'm facing problem in finding a suitable way to put together the multiple values and submit.
Right now I'm adding them to a string with jQuery, separated with __. I can store the data and separate it, but the problem is that if I want to remove any image from it, it is very difficult because I have just added them in the string, so its hard to find it and remove it.
<div>
text item
<input type="hidden" value="gallery" name="item_name[]">
<input type="hidden" value="__http://img1.jpg__http://img2.jpg" name="img_path[]">
<input type="hidden" value="__img1__img2" name="img_title[]">
<input type="hidden" value="" name="img_desc[]"></input>
</div>
Question:
What would be the suitable way to send multiple values for the above block example, keeping in the mind that there will be multiple blocks having multiple input values?
Thanks.
Build a Javascript Array with all values.
Convert the array to JSON
Submit JSON as the value of the hidden field
On server side, use PHP json_decode function to convert JSON to PHP object or array

How to Generate a List of all Input name="" fields in a form with Javascript/JQuery

I'm sure there's a simple answer to this, but I'm a novice teaching myself Javascript and JQuery and I just don't know enough to figure it out myself. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.
I'm building a form that generates HTML emails for my company based on hundreds of different inputs entered by the form user. Rather than copying and pasting each and every input name into a $_POST line in the form's action script to retrieve the input's data, I'm wondering if there's a way to use Javascript/JQuery to generate a list of the name="" fields from each input on the form to make this easier?
For example, from the following slice of the code, how can I automatically generate a list that contains the name values "bottlespecial6image", "bottlespecial6imagewidth", "bottlespecial6imageheight", "bottlespecial6imagelink", and "bottlespecial6includeprice" (with the idea that my form has hundreds (if not thousands) of inputs, so copying/pasting seems inefficient):
<input type="text" name="bottlespecial6image" value=""/>
<input type="text" name="bottlespecial6imagewidth" value=""/>
<input type="text" name="bottlespecial6imageheight" value=""/>
<input type="text" name="bottlespecial6imagelink" value=""/>
<input type="radio" name="bottlespecial6includeprice" value="yes" checked="checked" />
<input type="radio" name="bottlespecial6includeprice" value="no" checked="checked" />
I apologize if this has already been covered here -- I searched around here for similar questions, but couldn't find anything.
To create a serialized array to submit, you'd use jQuery's serialize()
$('form').serialize();
to just get the names in an array, you can map them:
var inputs = $('form').find('input[name]'); //all inputs with a name in the form
var names = $.map(inputs, function(el) { return el.name });
FIDDLE
$("[name='yourrequiredname']")
will give you list of all elements by same name

Best practice for handling multiple copies of the same input fields client side?

I have a set of input fields that are "stacked" on top of each other.
<!-- This controls which data set you're looking at -->
<select class="EditorInput" id="Selector" name="Selector">
<option value="0">Link a new vendor</option>
<option value="1">The ACME Company</option>
<option value="2">Widgets Unlimited</option>
</select>
<!-- These values change based on the selection above -->
<input type="text" name="Price" />
<input type="text" name="SKU" />
<input type="text" name="Field3" />
<input type="text" name="Field4" />
<input type="text" name="Field5" />
<input type="text" name="Field6" />
<input type="text" name="Field7" />
<input type="text" name="Field8" />
Only one set shows at a time, but all set's values are kept in browser until submit. When you make a selection in the drop down, all of the input fields in the group change to show the user the values relevant to the selection. For example, choosing "The ACME Company" in the select field would make The ACME Company's price show in the price field, The ACME Company's SKU show in the SKU field, etc.
All data and all changes are stored client side. When data is saved (via AJAX), all of the values for each set are saved to the server at the same time.
Since submission is via AJAX, all the values don't necessarily have to be stored in input elements.
I can think of two main ways to do this:
Method 1
A single set of input elements, with data stored in a javascript object. On change of the select, the correct data is read out of the javascript variable and inserted into the fields. Any changes the user made to the first set are saved into the variable first. Choosing to add a new set saves the current values to a variable, then clears the values in the form.
Method 2
Have one whole set of input fields per option. Hide the non-active input sets. Changing the select shows/hides the right set. Adding a new set copies one of the existing sets, inserts the new input elements into the dom and clears the values of those new input elements.
Method 3
Use HTML 5 data to store multiple values, like:
<input type="text" name="Field8" value="$7.95" data-value-vendor-1="$6.99" data-value-vendor-2="$2.65" data-value-vendor-3="$12.24"/>
Then use javascript to switch the values into and out of "storage".
Which option make more sense? Or is there a better way? Also, with Method 1, where would the values for each set be stored? On the Select Option?
I would use a JSON-based data store and recycle the inputs, then submit the JSON store instead of form data. There are plenty of libraries (you're already using jQuery) to help with this on both the client and server end of things.

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