Insert array values into database in laravel
Stefan Izdrail
Founder & Senior Architect · 2026-06-29
Title: Inserting Array Values into a Database in Laravel - A Comprehensive Guide
Body:
Inserting array values into a database can sometimes be challenging for beginners. However, with the help of Laravel's built-in features, you can easily achieve this task with minimal effort. In this blog post, we will walk through an example that demonstrates how to insert question IDs, user IDs, and the corresponding English answers into the en_answers table using a form in Laravel.
1. Form Generation:
To create an interface for inputting your data, use index.blade.php as follows:
```html
```
In this code, we iterate through the questions and generate radio buttons for each question option. Each radio button will be associated with a unique name and its value will be the user's chosen answer. We also include a hidden input field to store the corresponding question ID in an array using the `question_id` variable.
2. Handling Form Submission:
In your controller, you need to retrieve these values from the request and save them into the database. Add the following code in your controller's store method:
```php
public function store(Request $request, User $user) {
$user_id = Sentinel::getUser()->id;
$answer = new EnAnswer();
$answer->user_id = $user_id;
$data = Input::get();
for($i = 1; $i < count($data['en_answer']); $i++) {
$answer->en_answer = $data['en_answer'][$i];
}
for($i = 1; $i < count($data['question_id']); $i++) {
$answer->question_id = $data['question_id'][$i];
}
//dd($answer);
//return $answer;
$answer->save();
return redirect('submitted')->with('status', 'Your answers successfully submitted');
}
```
In this code, we iterate through the submitted data and store it in the `$data` variable. We then use a for loop to insert each user's answer and the corresponding question ID into the database. Once all data is processed, we save the EnAnswer model to the database, and redirect with a success message.
3. Conclusion:
With this approach, you have now successfully created a form that allows users to input array values in Laravel. By utilizing the Laravel framework's built-in features like forms, controllers, and models, we have managed to simplify the data handling process while ensuring correct insertion into the database. Remember to always use unique names for your form elements, such as question_id[1], en_answer[1] in our example, so as not to encounter issues with duplicate primary key values when saving your data.