How to reference an array in order to add values in a column

Question

I have a survey form where the user checks off choices. When s/he clicks on the submit button, the form saves the results, then displays the checked options. At this point, the user can further check the options that s/he considers his/her top three, then submit again to update the "top" records in the table.

The checkboxes save a value of "1". I need to validate to ensure no more than three have been selected, and that's where I'm stuck. I know I first need to test whether or not the total exceeds three, and use the answer to drive a switch_event.

I know that to reference an array, I need to use $this->get("arrayname", "default"). The PHP I am trying to use in an PHP action is:

if (array_sum(array_column($this->get("arrayname", "default")  , 'top3')) <=3)
{return "fail";}
else
{ return "pass";}
}

My problem is that I cannot figure out how to identify the array. The documentation and forum posts I can find suggest that "arrayname" should be an action name, something like save_data29, but when I place the debugger as the first action of the relevant submit section. The resulting array has no action-related name:

Array
(
    [option] => com_chronoforms6
    [cont] => manager
    [chronoform] => working-survey
    [response_id] => 282
    [event] => submit
    [responses] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [response_id] => 23369
                    [top3] => 
                )

            [1] => Array
                (
                    [response_id] => 23370
                    [top3] => 1
                )

            [2] => Array
                (
                    [response_id] => 23371
                    [top3] => 1
                )

        )

    [service_area] => Preschool Teacher Assistant
    [submit] => page2
    [_ga] => GA1.2.226007831.1505575861
    [__atuvc] => 3|30,0|31,0|32,1|33,7|34
    [fbfb6ec875e9779d7005eb6b867b3811] => 7f1ab2111bb644771c5980efa8d9104f
    [_gid] => GA1.2.1539954469.1536195266
    [426df58a549166024cb9cd825c5f8cae] => 19a6186025c963b92c3ff23898271779
)

Using the above array, I would expect the nested functions to calculate a sum of "2", and thus "pass".

I have tried several options to read the [responses] array:

$this->get("responses", "default")
$this->get("[responses]", "default")
$this->get("responses.[n]", "default")

But the actual result is:

Array
(
    [php45] => Array
        (
            [returned] => default
            [var] => default
        )

)

When I put a debugger after the save action, I see an array with an action name like save_data29 (see below). I did try putting the PHP action below the save, and try save_data29, even though it seems to me it defeats the validation since the data has already been saved, but the php45 array shows the same result.

So how should I identify the "responses" array in order to add the values in the column? Or is there a better approach?

Thanks in advance.

Array
(
    [save_data29] => Array
        (
            [data] => Array
                (
                    [response_id] => 23371
                    [top3] => 1
                    [modified] => 2018-09-06 00:55:26
                )

            [_success] => Data saved successfully
            [log] => Array
                (
                    [0] => UPDATE `inyht_cf6_service_detail` AS `Data29` SET `top3` = '1', `modified` = '2018-09-06 00:55:26' WHERE `aid` = '23371';
                )

            [var] => Array
                (
                    [top3] => 1
                    [modified] => 2018-09-06 00:55:26
                )

        )

)

farscape · Accepted Answer

Thanks Healyhatman. That did it. For anyone reading this later, for my form, the working answer is the following in a PHP action, followed by a switch_event that used 'pass' and 'fail' as the events.

if ( array_sum(array_column($this->data("responses", "default"), 'top3')) <= 3 ) {
  return 'pass';
} else {
  return 'fail';
}

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How to reference an array in order to add values in a column