How to get PHP $_GET array?

Question

Is it possible to have a value in $_GET as an array?

If I am trying to send a link with http://link/foo.php?id=1&id=2&id=3, and I want to use $_GET['id'] on the php side, how can that value be an array? Because right now echo $_GET['id'] is returning 3. Its the last id which is in the header link. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Put all the ids into a variable called $ids and separate them with a ",":

$ids = "1,2,3,4,5,6";

Pass them like so:

$url = "?ids={$ids}";

Process them:

$ids = explode(",", $_GET['ids']);

Answer 2

You could make id a series of comma-seperated values, like this:

index.php?id=1,2,3&name=john

Then, within your PHP code, explode it into an array:

$values = explode(",", $_GET["id"]);
print count($values) . " values passed.";

This will maintain brevity. The other (more commonly used with $_POST) method is to use array-style square-brackets:

index.php?id[]=1&id[]=2&id[]=3&name=john

But that clearly would be much more verbose.

Answer 3

See How do I create arrays in a HTML <form>? in the PHP and HTML FAQ.