How to use line break in the PHP variable that will be stored in a database table?

Question

My question is the following, I have a field in a MYSQL table that stores data and this data is displayed to the user.

This data is entered by users, however, users can also add information in this table field and this information is concatenated with the old ones (i.e., the value is not replaced).

Only when it is displayed it is kind of bizarre everything in one row. See the table and the view in html.

Output on Page

Just to be clear, I first inserted Flamengo, then Vasco, then Botafogo, then Palmeiras and finally Santos.

Only I would like every time I add data in this field, the items are displayed on the HTML page breaking line. That is, Each club stayed in one line.

I’ve been able to make room for information, but the break in line is breaking me.

If you can help me, I’d be grateful.

I used AJAX to send the data and PHP to query the Mysql database.

I don’t think we need to add the code to that question.

I hope I’ve been as clear as possible. Thank you!

I entered the Code to better detail the situation.

<div class="modal" tabindex="-1" id="modal-observacoes">
  <div class="modal-dialog">
    <div class="modal-content">
      <div class="modal-header bg-success">
        <button class="close" aria-label="close" data-dismiss="modal">
                                    <span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
                                </button>
        <h4 class="modal-title">Inserir Observações na Atividade</h4>
      </div>

      <div class="modal-body bg-success">

        <form id="inserir-observacoes">

          <div class="form-group col-lg-12" style="font-size: 120%">
            <label for="observacoes-modal">Observações - Máximo de 500 caracteres</label>
            <textarea class="form-control" name="observacoes-modal" id="observacoes-modal" style="resize: none" rows="4" maxlength="500" required></textarea>
          </div>

          <input type="text" name="codigo-modal-observacoes" id="codigo-modal-observacoes">
          <input type="submit" class="btn btn-primary" name="enviar-modal-observacoes" id="enviar-modal-observacoes" value="Inserir">


        </form>

        <!--
                                <div id="confirmacao-inserir-informacoes">
                                    
                                    <h4></h4>
                                    
                                </div>
                                -->


      </div>

    </div>
  </div>
</div>


<!-- PARTE PHP QUE FAZ REALIZA O RECEBIMENTO DOS DADOS E EXECUTA A QUERY -->
<?PHP

 if($_POST)
        {
                        
            
            //PREENCHE AS VARIÁVEIS COM OS DADOS VINDOS DOS CAMPOS DO FORMULÁRIO
            $observacoes = !empty($_POST["observacoes-modal"]) ? " \n" . $_POST["observacoes-modal"] : null;
            $codigo  = !empty($_POST["codigo-modal-observacoes"]) ? $_POST["codigo-modal-observacoes"] : null;
            
            
            
            $pesquisar_observacoes = "UPDATE tbl_atividades SET DETALHES = CONCAT(DETALHES, '$observacoes'), DATA_DETALHES = NOW(), DETALHE_VISUALIZADO = '$resultado' WHERE codigo = $codigo"; 
            $operacao_insercao_observacoes = mysqli_query($conecta, $pesquisar_observacoes) or die("Erro no Update");   
            
     }
     
?>

I WAS ABLE TO FIX IT WITH SAM’S ANSWER. I ADDED A
CONCATENATED WITH THE TEXT COMING FROM THE FORM IN THE PHP VARIABLE ENTERING THE UPDATE QUERY.

But now I’m faced with another problem. When the column has the value 'null' in the database, I cannot concatenate with the value coming from the form.

Answer 1

"- Only I would like every time I add data in this field, the items are displayed on the HTML page breaking line. That is, Each club stayed in one line."

One of the many alternatives, which I thought was quite simple, is to add a line break at each value added in your database. And when showing, already in PHP, use the function nl2br.

To facilitate reproduction, I will use a string part by part - that symbolizes you inserting the parts one by one in your database:

<?php
$str = 'Flamengo'.PHP_EOL;
$str .= 'Vasco'.PHP_EOL;
$str .= 'Botafogo'.PHP_EOL;
$str .= 'Atlético'.PHP_EOL;
$str .= 'Santos'.PHP_EOL;

echo $str;
// Mosta: Flamengo Vasco Botafogo Atlético Santos

echo nl2br($str);
/* Mostra:
Flamengo
Vasco
Botafogo
Atlético
Santos
*/

The constant PHP_EOL represents a line break according to the operating system running PHP. If Windows: \r\n, if UNIX: \n and if MAC: \r.

Recommended reading: PHP: Predefined Constants;

Recommended reading: PHP: nl2br

---

Nothing stops you from putting some character between each value and then replacing it with an HTML line break:

<?php
$str = 'Flamengo'.'+';
$str .= 'Vasco'.'+';
$str .= 'Botafogo'.'+';
$str .= 'Atlético'.'+';
$str .= 'Santos'.'+';

echo $str;
// Mosta: Flamengo+Vasco+Botafogo+Atlético+Santos+Flamengo

echo str_replace('+', '<br>', $str);
/* Mostra:
Flamengo
Vasco
Botafogo
Atlético
Santos
*/

But think to me: if you have the constant PHP_EOL made for line breaks, why use any character to do her service?!

Not to mention if you enter some value that contains such a character, it will be transformed into a line break!

---

"- Works in column varchar?" - Sam

Yes! It works! See:

mysql> EXPLAIN `quebra_ln`;
+---------+--------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
| Field   | Type         | Null | Key | Default | Extra |
+---------+--------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
| valores | varchar(100) | YES  |     |         |       |
+---------+--------------+------+-----+---------+-------+
1 row in set (0.14 sec)

mysql> SELECT * FROM `quebra_ln`;
+-----------------------------------------------+
| valores                                       |
+-----------------------------------------------+
| Flamengo
Vasco
Botafogo
Atlético
Santos
 |
+-----------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

In PHP, you can run this script to confirm:

<?php
$mysql = new \PDO(...);

$valor1 = 'Flamengo'.PHP_EOL;

$mysql->query("INSERT INTO `quebra_ln` VALUES ('$valor1');");

$valor2 = 'Vasco'.PHP_EOL;
$valor3 = 'Botafogo'.PHP_EOL;
$valor4 = 'Atlético'.PHP_EOL;
$valor5 = 'Santos'.PHP_EOL;

$mysql->query("UPDATE `quebra_ln` SET `valores` = CONCAT(`valores`, '$valor2');");
$mysql->query("UPDATE `quebra_ln` SET `valores` = CONCAT(`valores`, '$valor3');");
$mysql->query("UPDATE `quebra_ln` SET `valores` = CONCAT(`valores`, '$valor4');");
$mysql->query("UPDATE `quebra_ln` SET `valores` = CONCAT(`valores`, '$valor5');");

$select = $mysql->query("SELECT * FROM `quebra_ln`;");

$res = $select->fetch(\PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);

echo nl2br($res['valores']);
/* Mostra:
Flamengo
Vasco
Botafogo
Atlético
Santos
 */

---

And finally: HTML passes the line breaks normally to PHP by textarea and the like.

This means that if you add the line breaks normally in a textarea, you can store in the database without adding the PHP_EOL. So, when displaying this data, just use the function nl2br().

Ahhhh, and there’s more: if you’re going to display these records in a textarea, do not need to use the function nl2br() to break the lines. The textarea will already take care of breaking such lines for you:

echo '<textarea>';
echo $res['valores'];
echo '</textarea>';

_{(Based on the previously exemplified query)}

With the contribution of Andrei Coelho.