如何仅更新php中的修改值

Question

I'm using Codeigniter for building a website. The website has an option called 'update record' which allows the user to update 50 different values. The update page has the old value along with an empty text box for the user to enter the new value. Updating the whole record even though the user has not actually updated anything makes no sense (website uses MySQL database). I've tried using hidden form field with the original value and tried to update only modified fields. Though it is working fine, the process looks so lengthy every time comparing the old value with the new one and updating only if there is a change.

Is there a better way to do this (with or without using codeigniter)? Just curious to know. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I would parse the post array and remove any entries that don't have a value for updated (which would mean the input was submitted empty).

Then you could only update the modified records

I don't know how code igniter passes the post array into the controller after form submission but you could do something like

<?php
foreach ($postData as $key => $value) {
    if (empty($value)) {
        unset($postData[$key]);
    }
}

The only place this would fall down is if you legitimately want to store an empty record as the updated value.