filtering ids from checkboxnames

Question

I have some checkboxes that can be checked. They look like

<input type="checkbox" name="order[123]" value="1">

Now I am checking the formdata and I filter the ids in the order-array this way, before i look them up in the database.

$orderids = preg_grep('/^\d+$/', array_keys($_POST['order']));

is there a more efficient way for doing this?

Answer 1

Using regex, you are ensuring no malicious strings are used, but not checking for viability in the database. (e.g. order[999999999999999999999999] would pass regex, but not be useful in the db.)

The truest validation would be to run them against your database-borne ids using array_intersect.

   $valid_ids=array_intersect(array_keys($_POST['order']),$db_orderids_array)