Coolpctips

These are the steps we need to follow:

<form id="personal_details" action="process.php" method="post">
 <fieldset>
  <legend>Personal Details</legend>
  <label for="name">Name</label>
  <input type="text" name="name"/>
  <label for="age_range">Age</label>
  <select name="age_range">
   <option value="">Please select an age range</option>
   <option value="1">0-12</option>
   <option value="2">12-16</option>
   <option value="3">16-21</option>
   <option value="4">21-30</option>
   <option value="5">30-50</option>
   <option value="6">50+</option>
  </select>
  <label for="sports">Please select your favourite sports</label>
  <input type="checkbox" name="sports[]" value="soccer" />&nbsp;Soccer<br />
  <input type="checkbox" name="sports[]" value="swimming" />&nbsp;Swimming<br />
  <input type="checkbox" name="sports[]" value="cycling" />&nbsp;Cycling<br />
  <input type="checkbox" name="sports[]" value="kayaking" />&nbsp;Kayaking<br />
  <input type="checkbox" name="sports[]" value="volleyball" />&nbsp;Volleyball<br />
  <input type="checkbox" name="sports[]" value="basketball" />&nbsp;Basketball<br />
  <button type="button" onclick="processDetails();">Submit</button>
  <div style="clear:both;"></div>
 </fieldset>
</form>

/*
 * jQuery Form Plugin
 * version: 2.36 (07-NOV-2009)
 * @requires jQuery v1.2.6 or later
 *
 * Examples and documentation at: http://malsup.com/jquery/form/
 * Dual licensed under the MIT and GPL licenses:
 *   http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
 *   http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
 */
;(function($) {

/*
 Usage Note:
 -----------
 Do not use both ajaxSubmit and ajaxForm on the same form.  These
 functions are intended to be exclusive.  Use ajaxSubmit if you want
 to bind your own submit handler to the form.  For example,

 $(document).ready(function() {
  $('#myForm').bind('submit', function() {
   $(this).ajaxSubmit({
    target: '#output'
   });
   return false; // <-- important!
  });
 });

 Use ajaxForm when you want the plugin to manage all the event binding
 for you.  For example,

 $(document).ready(function() {
  $('#myForm').ajaxForm({
   target: '#output'
  });
 });

 When using ajaxForm, the ajaxSubmit function will be invoked for you
 at the appropriate time.
*/

/**
 * ajaxSubmit() provides a mechanism for immediately submitting
 * an HTML form using AJAX.
 */
$.fn.ajaxSubmit = function(options) {
 // fast fail if nothing selected (http://dev.jquery.com/ticket/2752)
 if (!this.length) {
  log('ajaxSubmit: skipping submit process - no element selected');
  return this;
 }

 if (typeof options == 'function')
  options = { success: options };

 var url = $.trim(this.attr('action'));
 if (url) {
  // clean url (don't include hash vaue)
  url = (url.match(/^([^#]+)/)||[])[1];
    }
    url = url || window.location.href || '';

 options = $.extend({
  url:  url,
  type: this.attr('method') || 'GET',
  iframeSrc: /^https/i.test(window.location.href || '') ? 'javascript:false' : 'about:blank'
 }, options || {});

 // hook for manipulating the form data before it is extracted;
 // convenient for use with rich editors like tinyMCE or FCKEditor
 var veto = {};
 this.trigger('form-pre-serialize', [this, options, veto]);
 if (veto.veto) {
  log('ajaxSubmit: submit vetoed via form-pre-serialize trigger');
  return this;
 }

 // provide opportunity to alter form data before it is serialized
 if (options.beforeSerialize && options.beforeSerialize(this, options) === false) {
  log('ajaxSubmit: submit aborted via beforeSerialize callback');
  return this;
 }

 var a = this.formToArray(options.semantic);
 if (options.data) {
  options.extraData = options.data;
  for (var n in options.data) {
    if(options.data[n] instanceof Array) {
   for (var k in options.data[n])
     a.push( { name: n, value: options.data[n][k] } );
    }
    else
    a.push( { name: n, value: options.data[n] } );
  }
 }

 // give pre-submit callback an opportunity to abort the submit
 if (options.beforeSubmit && options.beforeSubmit(a, this, options) === false) {
  log('ajaxSubmit: submit aborted via beforeSubmit callback');
  return this;
 }

 // fire vetoable 'validate' event
 this.trigger('form-submit-validate', [a, this, options, veto]);
 if (veto.veto) {
  log('ajaxSubmit: submit vetoed via form-submit-validate trigger');
  return this;
 }

 var q = $.param(a);

 if (options.type.toUpperCase() == 'GET') {
  options.url += (options.url.indexOf('?') >= 0 ? '&' : '?') + q;
  options.data = null;  // data is null for 'get'
 }
 else
  options.data = q; // data is the query string for 'post'

 var $form = this, callbacks = [];
 if (options.resetForm) callbacks.push(function() { $form.resetForm(); });
 if (options.clearForm) callbacks.push(function() { $form.clearForm(); });

 // perform a load on the target only if dataType is not provided
 if (!options.dataType && options.target) {
  var oldSuccess = options.success || function(){};
  callbacks.push(function(data) {
   $(options.target).html(data).each(oldSuccess, arguments);
  });
 }
 else if (options.success)
  callbacks.push(options.success);

 options.success = function(data, status) {
  for (var i=0, max=callbacks.length; i < max; i++)
   callbacks[i].apply(options, [data, status, $form]);
 };

 // are there files to upload?
 var files = $('input:file', this).fieldValue();
 var found = false;
 for (var j=0; j < files.length; j++)
  if (files[j])
   found = true;

 var multipart = false;
// var mp = 'multipart/form-data';
// multipart = ($form.attr('enctype') == mp || $form.attr('encoding') == mp);

 // options.iframe allows user to force iframe mode
 // 06-NOV-09: now defaulting to iframe mode if file input is detected
   if ((files.length && options.iframe !== false) || options.iframe || found || multipart) {
    // hack to fix Safari hang (thanks to Tim Molendijk for this)
    // see:  http://groups.google.com/group/jquery-dev/browse_thread/thread/36395b7ab510dd5d
    if (options.closeKeepAlive)
     $.get(options.closeKeepAlive, fileUpload);
    else
     fileUpload();
    }
   else
    $.ajax(options);

 // fire 'notify' event
 this.trigger('form-submit-notify', [this, options]);
 return this;


 // private function for handling file uploads (hat tip to YAHOO!)
 function fileUpload() {
  var form = $form[0];

  if ($(':input[name=submit]', form).length) {
   alert('Error: Form elements must not be named "submit".');
   return;
  }

  var opts = $.extend({}, $.ajaxSettings, options);
  var s = $.extend(true, {}, $.extend(true, {}, $.ajaxSettings), opts);

  var id = 'jqFormIO' + (new Date().getTime());
  var $io = $('<iframe id="' + id + '" name="' + id + '" src="'+ opts.iframeSrc +'" ></iframe>');
  var io = $io[0];

  $io.css({ position: 'absolute', top: '-1000px', left: '-1000px' });

  var xhr = { // mock object
   aborted: 0,
   responseText: null,
   responseXML: null,
   status: 0,
   statusText: 'n/a',
   getAllResponseHeaders: function() {},
   getResponseHeader: function() {},
   setRequestHeader: function() {},
   abort: function() {
    this.aborted = 1;
    $io.attr('src', opts.iframeSrc); // abort op in progress
   }
  };

  var g = opts.global;
  // trigger ajax global events so that activity/block indicators work like normal
  if (g && ! $.active++) $.event.trigger("ajaxStart");
  if (g) $.event.trigger("ajaxSend", [xhr, opts]);

  if (s.beforeSend && s.beforeSend(xhr, s) === false) {
   s.global && $.active--;
   return;
  }
  if (xhr.aborted)
   return;

  var cbInvoked = 0;
  var timedOut = 0;

  // add submitting element to data if we know it
  var sub = form.clk;
  if (sub) {
   var n = sub.name;
   if (n && !sub.disabled) {
    options.extraData = options.extraData || {};
    options.extraData[n] = sub.value;
    if (sub.type == "image") {
     options.extraData[name+'.x'] = form.clk_x;
     options.extraData[name+'.y'] = form.clk_y;
    }
   }
  }

  // take a breath so that pending repaints get some cpu time before the upload starts
  setTimeout(function() {
   // make sure form attrs are set
   var t = $form.attr('target'), a = $form.attr('action');

   // update form attrs in IE friendly way
   form.setAttribute('target',id);
   if (form.getAttribute('method') != 'POST')
    form.setAttribute('method', 'POST');
   if (form.getAttribute('action') != opts.url)
    form.setAttribute('action', opts.url);

   // ie borks in some cases when setting encoding
   if (! options.skipEncodingOverride) {
    $form.attr({
     encoding: 'multipart/form-data',
     enctype:  'multipart/form-data'
    });
   }

   // support timout
   if (opts.timeout)
    setTimeout(function() { timedOut = true; cb(); }, opts.timeout);

   // add "extra" data to form if provided in options
   var extraInputs = [];
   try {
    if (options.extraData)
     for (var n in options.extraData)
      extraInputs.push(
       $('')
        .appendTo(form)[0]);

    // add iframe to doc and submit the form
    $io.appendTo('body');
    io.attachEvent ? io.attachEvent('onload', cb) : io.addEventListener('load', cb, false);
    form.submit();
   }
   finally {
    // reset attrs and remove "extra" input elements
    form.setAttribute('action',a);
    t ? form.setAttribute('target', t) : $form.removeAttr('target');
    $(extraInputs).remove();
   }
  }, 10);

  var domCheckCount = 50;

  function cb() {
   if (cbInvoked++) return;

   io.detachEvent ? io.detachEvent('onload', cb) : io.removeEventListener('load', cb, false);

   var ok = true;
   try {
    if (timedOut) throw 'timeout';
    // extract the server response from the iframe
    var data, doc;

    doc = io.contentWindow ? io.contentWindow.document : io.contentDocument ? io.contentDocument : io.document;
    
    var isXml = opts.dataType == 'xml' || doc.XMLDocument || $.isXMLDoc(doc);
    log('isXml='+isXml);
    if (!isXml && (doc.body == null || doc.body.innerHTML == '')) {
      if (--domCheckCount) {
      // in some browsers (Opera) the iframe DOM is not always traversable when
      // the onload callback fires, so we loop a bit to accommodate
      cbInvoked = 0;
      setTimeout(cb, 100);
      return;
     }
     log('Could not access iframe DOM after 50 tries.');
     return;
    }

    xhr.responseText = doc.body ? doc.body.innerHTML : null;
    xhr.responseXML = doc.XMLDocument ? doc.XMLDocument : doc;
    xhr.getResponseHeader = function(header){
     var headers = {'content-type': opts.dataType};
     return headers[header];
    };

    if (opts.dataType == 'json' || opts.dataType == 'script') {
     // see if user embedded response in textarea
     var ta = doc.getElementsByTagName('textarea')[0];
     if (ta)
      xhr.responseText = ta.value;
     else {
      // account for browsers injecting pre around json response
      var pre = doc.getElementsByTagName('pre')[0];
      if (pre)
       xhr.responseText = pre.innerHTML;
     }     
    }
    else if (opts.dataType == 'xml' && !xhr.responseXML && xhr.responseText != null) {
     xhr.responseXML = toXml(xhr.responseText);
    }
    data = $.httpData(xhr, opts.dataType);
   }
   catch(e){
    ok = false;
    $.handleError(opts, xhr, 'error', e);
   }

   // ordering of these callbacks/triggers is odd, but that's how $.ajax does it
   if (ok) {
    opts.success(data, 'success');
    if (g) $.event.trigger("ajaxSuccess", [xhr, opts]);
   }
   if (g) $.event.trigger("ajaxComplete", [xhr, opts]);
   if (g && ! --$.active) $.event.trigger("ajaxStop");
   if (opts.complete) opts.complete(xhr, ok ? 'success' : 'error');

   // clean up
   setTimeout(function() {
    $io.remove();
    xhr.responseXML = null;
   }, 100);
  };

  function toXml(s, doc) {
   if (window.ActiveXObject) {
    doc = new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLDOM');
    doc.async = 'false';
    doc.loadXML(s);
   }
   else
    doc = (new DOMParser()).parseFromString(s, 'text/xml');
   return (doc && doc.documentElement && doc.documentElement.tagName != 'parsererror') ? doc : null;
  };
 };
};

/**
 * ajaxForm() provides a mechanism for fully automating form submission.
 *
 * The advantages of using this method instead of ajaxSubmit() are:
 *
 * 1: This method will include coordinates for  elements (if the element
 * is used to submit the form).
 * 2. This method will include the submit element's name/value data (for the element that was
 * used to submit the form).
 * 3. This method binds the submit() method to the form for you.
 *
 * The options argument for ajaxForm works exactly as it does for ajaxSubmit.  ajaxForm merely
 * passes the options argument along after properly binding events for submit elements and
 * the form itself.
 */
$.fn.ajaxForm = function(options) {
 return this.ajaxFormUnbind().bind('submit.form-plugin', function() {
  $(this).ajaxSubmit(options);
  return false;
 }).bind('click.form-plugin', function(e) {
  var target = e.target;
  var $el = $(target);
  if (!($el.is(":submit,input:image"))) {
   // is this a child element of the submit el?  (ex: a span within a button)
   var t = $el.closest(':submit');
   if (t.length == 0)
    return;
   target = t[0];
  }
  var form = this;
  form.clk = target;
  if (target.type == 'image') {
   if (e.offsetX != undefined) {
    form.clk_x = e.offsetX;
    form.clk_y = e.offsetY;
   } else if (typeof $.fn.offset == 'function') { // try to use dimensions plugin
    var offset = $el.offset();
    form.clk_x = e.pageX - offset.left;
    form.clk_y = e.pageY - offset.top;
   } else {
    form.clk_x = e.pageX - target.offsetLeft;
    form.clk_y = e.pageY - target.offsetTop;
   }
  }
  // clear form vars
  setTimeout(function() { form.clk = form.clk_x = form.clk_y = null; }, 100);
 });
};

// ajaxFormUnbind unbinds the event handlers that were bound by ajaxForm
$.fn.ajaxFormUnbind = function() {
 return this.unbind('submit.form-plugin click.form-plugin');
};

/**
 * formToArray() gathers form element data into an array of objects that can
 * be passed to any of the following ajax functions: $.get, $.post, or load.
 * Each object in the array has both a 'name' and 'value' property.  An example of
 * an array for a simple login form might be:
 *
 * [ { name: 'username', value: 'jresig' }, { name: 'password', value: 'secret' } ]
 *
 * It is this array that is passed to pre-submit callback functions provided to the
 * ajaxSubmit() and ajaxForm() methods.
 */
$.fn.formToArray = function(semantic) {
 var a = [];
 if (this.length == 0) return a;

 var form = this[0];
 var els = semantic ? form.getElementsByTagName('*') : form.elements;
 if (!els) return a;
 for(var i=0, max=els.length; i < max; i++) {
  var el = els[i];
  var n = el.name;
  if (!n) continue;

  if (semantic && form.clk && el.type == "image") {
   // handle image inputs on the fly when semantic == true
   if(!el.disabled && form.clk == el) {
    a.push({name: n, value: $(el).val()});
    a.push({name: n+'.x', value: form.clk_x}, {name: n+'.y', value: form.clk_y});
   }
   continue;
  }

  var v = $.fieldValue(el, true);
  if (v && v.constructor == Array) {
   for(var j=0, jmax=v.length; j < jmax; j++)
    a.push({name: n, value: v[j]});
  }
  else if (v !== null && typeof v != 'undefined')
   a.push({name: n, value: v});
 }

 if (!semantic && form.clk) {
  // input type=='image' are not found in elements array! handle it here
  var $input = $(form.clk), input = $input[0], n = input.name;
  if (n && !input.disabled && input.type == 'image') {
   a.push({name: n, value: $input.val()});
   a.push({name: n+'.x', value: form.clk_x}, {name: n+'.y', value: form.clk_y});
  }
 }
 return a;
};

/**
 * Serializes form data into a 'submittable' string. This method will return a string
 * in the format: name1=value1&name2=value2
 */
$.fn.formSerialize = function(semantic) {
 //hand off to jQuery.param for proper encoding
 return $.param(this.formToArray(semantic));
};

/**
 * Serializes all field elements in the jQuery object into a query string.
 * This method will return a string in the format: name1=value1&name2=value2
 */
$.fn.fieldSerialize = function(successful) {
 var a = [];
 this.each(function() {
  var n = this.name;
  if (!n) return;
  var v = $.fieldValue(this, successful);
  if (v && v.constructor == Array) {
   for (var i=0,max=v.length; i < max; i++)
    a.push({name: n, value: v[i]});
  }
  else if (v !== null && typeof v != 'undefined')
   a.push({name: this.name, value: v});
 });
 //hand off to jQuery.param for proper encoding
 return $.param(a);
};

/**
 * Returns the value(s) of the element in the matched set.  For example, consider the following form:
 *
 *  <form><fieldset>
 *   <input name="A" type="text" />
 *   <input name="A" type="text" />
 *   <input name="B" type="checkbox" value="B1" />
 *   <input name="B" type="checkbox" value="B2"/>
 *   <input name="C" type="radio" value="C1" />
 *   <input name="C" type="radio" value="C2" />
 *  </fieldset></form>
 *
 *  var v = $(':text').fieldValue();
 *  // if no values are entered into the text inputs
 *  v == ['','']
 *  // if values entered into the text inputs are 'foo' and 'bar'
 *  v == ['foo','bar']
 *
 *  var v = $(':checkbox').fieldValue();
 *  // if neither checkbox is checked
 *  v === undefined
 *  // if both checkboxes are checked
 *  v == ['B1', 'B2']
 *
 *  var v = $(':radio').fieldValue();
 *  // if neither radio is checked
 *  v === undefined
 *  // if first radio is checked
 *  v == ['C1']
 *
 * The successful argument controls whether or not the field element must be 'successful'
 * (per http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/interact/forms.html#successful-controls).
 * The default value of the successful argument is true.  If this value is false the value(s)
 * for each element is returned.
 *
 * Note: This method *always* returns an array.  If no valid value can be determined the
 *    array will be empty, otherwise it will contain one or more values.
 */
$.fn.fieldValue = function(successful) {
 for (var val=[], i=0, max=this.length; i < max; i++) {
  var el = this[i];
  var v = $.fieldValue(el, successful);
  if (v === null || typeof v == 'undefined' || (v.constructor == Array && !v.length))
   continue;
  v.constructor == Array ? $.merge(val, v) : val.push(v);
 }
 return val;
};

/**
 * Returns the value of the field element.
 */
$.fieldValue = function(el, successful) {
 var n = el.name, t = el.type, tag = el.tagName.toLowerCase();
 if (typeof successful == 'undefined') successful = true;

 if (successful && (!n || el.disabled || t == 'reset' || t == 'button' ||
  (t == 'checkbox' || t == 'radio') && !el.checked ||
  (t == 'submit' || t == 'image') && el.form && el.form.clk != el ||
  tag == 'select' && el.selectedIndex == -1))
   return null;

 if (tag == 'select') {
  var index = el.selectedIndex;
  if (index < 0) return null;
  var a = [], ops = el.options;
  var one = (t == 'select-one');
  var max = (one ? index+1 : ops.length);
  for(var i=(one ? index : 0); i < max; i++) {
   var op = ops[i];
   if (op.selected) {
    var v = op.value;
    if (!v) // extra pain for IE...
     v = (op.attributes && op.attributes['value'] && !(op.attributes['value'].specified)) ? op.text : op.value;
    if (one) return v;
    a.push(v);
   }
  }
  return a;
 }
 return el.value;
};

/**
 * Clears the form data.  Takes the following actions on the form's input fields:
 *  - input text fields will have their 'value' property set to the empty string
 *  - select elements will have their 'selectedIndex' property set to -1
 *  - checkbox and radio inputs will have their 'checked' property set to false
 *  - inputs of type submit, button, reset, and hidden will *not* be effected
 *  - button elements will *not* be effected
 */
$.fn.clearForm = function() {
 return this.each(function() {
  $('input,select,textarea', this).clearFields();
 });
};

/**
 * Clears the selected form elements.
 */
$.fn.clearFields = $.fn.clearInputs = function() {
 return this.each(function() {
  var t = this.type, tag = this.tagName.toLowerCase();
  if (t == 'text' || t == 'password' || tag == 'textarea')
   this.value = '';
  else if (t == 'checkbox' || t == 'radio')
   this.checked = false;
  else if (tag == 'select')
   this.selectedIndex = -1;
 });
};

/**
 * Resets the form data.  Causes all form elements to be reset to their original value.
 */
$.fn.resetForm = function() {
 return this.each(function() {
  // guard against an input with the name of 'reset'
  // note that IE reports the reset function as an 'object'
  if (typeof this.reset == 'function' || (typeof this.reset == 'object' && !this.reset.nodeType))
   this.reset();
 });
};

/**
 * Enables or disables any matching elements.
 */
$.fn.enable = function(b) {
 if (b == undefined) b = true;
 return this.each(function() {
  this.disabled = !b;
 });
};

/**
 * Checks/unchecks any matching checkboxes or radio buttons and
 * selects/deselects and matching option elements.
 */
$.fn.selected = function(select) {
 if (select == undefined) select = true;
 return this.each(function() {
  var t = this.type;
  if (t == 'checkbox' || t == 'radio')
   this.checked = select;
  else if (this.tagName.toLowerCase() == 'option') {
   var $sel = $(this).parent('select');
   if (select && $sel[0] && $sel[0].type == 'select-one') {
    // deselect all other options
    $sel.find('option').selected(false);
   }
   this.selected = select;
  }
 });
};

// helper fn for console logging
// set $.fn.ajaxSubmit.debug to true to enable debug logging
function log() {
 if ($.fn.ajaxSubmit.debug && window.console && window.console.log)
  window.console.log('[jquery.form] ' + Array.prototype.join.call(arguments,''));
};

})(jQuery);

$("document").ready(function() {
 $("#personal_details").submit(function() {
  processDetails();
  return false;
 });
});

function processDetails() {
 var errors = '';
 
 // Validate name
 var name = $("#personal_details [name='name']").val();
 if (!name) {
  errors += ' - Please enter a name\n';
 }
 // Validate age range
 var age_range = $("#personal_details [name='age_range']").val();
 if (!age_range) {
  errors += ' - Please select and age range\n';
 }
 // Validate sports selection
 var sports = $("#personal_details [name='sports[]']:checked").length;
 if (!sports) {
  errors += ' - Please select your favourite sports\n';
 }
 
 if (errors) {
  errors = 'The following errors occurred:\n' + errors;
  alert(errors);
  return false;
 } else {
  // Submit our form via Ajax and then reset the form
  $("#personal_details").ajaxSubmit({success:showResult});
  return false;
 }
 
}

function showResult(data) {
 if (data == 'save_failed') {
  alert('Form save failed, please contact your administrator');
  return false;
 } else {
  $("#personal_details").clearForm().clearFields().resetForm();
  alert('Form save success');
  return false;
 }
}

<script type="text/javascript">
 google.load("jquery", "1.4");
</script>

<?php
// Retrieve form data
$name = $_POST['name'];
$age_range = $_POST['age_range'];
$sports = $_POST['sports'];
if (!$name || !$age_range || !$sports) {
 echo "save_failed";
 return;
}
// Convert sports array to a serialized string
$sports_list = serialize($sports);

$db = array(
 'host' => 'localhost',
 'login' => 'username_here',
 'password' => 'password_here',
 'database' => 'write_database_name_here',
);
$link = @mysql_connect($db['host'], $db['login'], $db['password']);
if (!$link) {
 echo "save_failed";
 return; 
}
mysql_select_db($db['database']);

// Clean variables before performing insert
$clean_name = mysql_real_escape_string($name);
$clean_age_range = mysql_real_escape_string($age_range);
$clean_sports_list = mysql_real_escape_string($sports_list);
// Perform insert
$sql = "INSERT INTO details (name, age_range_ID, sports) VALUES ('{$clean_name}', {$clean_age_range}, '{$clean_sports_list}')";
if (@mysql_query($sql, $link)) {
 echo "success";
 @mysql_close($link);
 return;
} else {
 echo "save_failed";
 @mysql_close($link);
 return;
}
?>