Simple Seat Reservation With PHP MySQL (Free Download)

Welcome to a tutorial on how to create a simple seat reservation system with PHP and MySQL. Need to offer seat reservations for a vehicle, room, or auditorium? Well, here is a simple one that I have made – Read on!

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

DOWNLOAD & NOTES

Here is the download link to the example code, so you don’t have to copy-paste everything.

 

EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Source code on GitHub Gist

Just click on “download zip” or do a git clone. I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

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PHP MYSQL SEAT RESERVATION

All right, let us now get into the details of creating a seat reservation system with PHP and MYSQL.

 

 

 

PART 1) THE DATABASE

1A) SEATS

1-database.sql
-- (A) SEATS
CREATE TABLE `seats` (
  `seat_id` varchar(16) NOT NULL,
  `room_id` varchar(16) NOT NULL
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4;
 
ALTER TABLE `seats`
  ADD PRIMARY KEY (`seat_id`,`room_id`);
  • seat_id Primary key.
  • room_id Primary key.

This should be self-explanatory, the available seats that each room has. Just change room_id to vehicle_id if it is for passenger service.

 

1B) SESSIONS

1-database.sql
-- (B) SESSIONS
CREATE TABLE `sessions` (
  `session_id` bigint(20) NOT NULL,
  `room_id` varchar(16) NOT NULL,
  `session_date` datetime NOT NULL
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4;
 
ALTER TABLE `sessions`
  ADD PRIMARY KEY (`session_id`),
  ADD KEY `room_id` (`room_id`),
  ADD KEY `session_date` (`session_date`);
 
ALTER TABLE `sessions`
  MODIFY `session_id` bigint(20) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, AUTO_INCREMENT=2;
  • session_id Primary key, auto-increment.
  • room_id Foreign key, the session will be held in this room.
  • session_date Date when the session is happening.

Next, we have a “sessions” table to hold what event is happening in which room and date. You can rename this to “trips” for passenger services, or maybe even “lessons” for education services.

 

 

1C) RESERVATIONS

1-database.sql
-- (C) RESERVATIONS
CREATE TABLE `reservations` (
  `session_id` bigint(20) NOT NULL,
  `seat_id` varchar(16) NOT NULL,
  `user_id` bigint(20) NOT NULL
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4;
 
ALTER TABLE `reservations`
  ADD PRIMARY KEY (`session_id`,`seat_id`,`user_id`);
  • session_id Primary and foreign key.
  • seat_id Primary and foreign key.
  • user_id Primary and foreign key.

Lastly, a table to record the reservations – Which user made a reservation for which session and seat(s).

 

1D) DUMMY DATA

1-database.sql
-- (D) DUMMY DATA
-- (D1) DUMMY SEATS
INSERT INTO `seats` (`seat_id`, `room_id`) VALUES
('A1', 'ROOM-A'),
('A2', 'ROOM-A'),
('A3', 'ROOM-A'),
('A4', 'ROOM-A'),
('B1', 'ROOM-A'),
('B2', 'ROOM-A'),
('B3', 'ROOM-A'),
('B4', 'ROOM-A'),
('C1', 'ROOM-A'),
('C2', 'ROOM-A'),
('C3', 'ROOM-A'),
('C4', 'ROOM-A');
 
-- (D2) DUMMY SESSION
INSERT INTO `sessions` (`session_id`, `room_id`, `session_date`) VALUES
(1, 'ROOM-A', '2077-06-05 08:00:00');
 
-- (D3) DUMMY RESERVATION
INSERT INTO `reservations` (`session_id`, `seat_id`, `user_id`) VALUES
('1', 'B2', '555'),
('1', 'A4', '888');

To help you better understand, here are some dummy data and examples

  • (D1) Here, we have a single ROOM-A with 12 seats.
  • (D2) Then, the room is open for booking in CyberPunk 2077.
  • (D3) Dummy reservations – User 555 booked seat B2, and user 888 booked seat A4.

 

 

PART 2) PHP RESERVATIONS LIBRARY

2-reserve-lib.php
<?php
class Reserve {
  // (A) CONSTRUCTOR - CONNECT TO DATABASE
  private $pdo = null;
  private $stmt = null;
  public $error = null;
  function __construct () {
    $this->pdo = new PDO(
      "mysql:host=".DB_HOST.";dbname=".DB_NAME.";charset=".DB_CHARSET,
      DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, [
      PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
      PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_ASSOC
    ]);
  }
 
  // (B) DESTRUCTOR - CLOSE DATABASE CONNECTION
  function __destruct () {
    if ($this->stmt !== null) { $this->stmt = null; }
    if ($this->pdo !== null) { $this->pdo = null; }
  }
 
  // (C) HELPER FUNCTION - RUN SQL QUERY
  function query ($sql, $data=null) : void {
    $this->stmt = $this->pdo->prepare($sql);
    $this->stmt->execute($data);
  }
 
  // (D) GET SEATS FOR GIVEN SESSION
  function get ($sessid) {
    $this->query(
      "SELECT sa.`seat_id`, r.`user_id` FROM `seats` sa
      LEFT JOIN `sessions` se USING (`room_id`)
      LEFT JOIN `reservations` r USING(`seat_id`)
      WHERE se.`session_id`=?
      ORDER BY sa.`seat_id`", [$sessid]
    );
    $sess = $this->stmt->fetchAll();
    return $sess;
  }
 
  // (E) SAVE RESERVATION
  function save ($sessid, $userid, $seats) {
    $sql = "INSERT INTO `reservations` (`session_id`, `seat_id`, `user_id`) VALUES ";
    $data = [];
    foreach ($seats as $seat) {
      $sql .= "(?,?,?),";
      array_push($data, $sessid, $seat, $userid);
    }
    $sql = substr($sql, 0, -1);
    $this->query($sql, $data);
    return true;
  }
}
 
// (F) DATABASE SETTINGS - CHANGE TO YOUR OWN!
define("DB_HOST", "localhost");
define("DB_NAME", "test");
define("DB_CHARSET", "utf8mb4");
define("DB_USER", "root");
define("DB_PASSWORD", "");
 
// (G) NEW CATEGORY OBJECT
$_RSV = new Reserve();

This may seem confusing at first, but keep calm and look closely.

  • (A, B, G) The constructor automatically connects to the database when $_RSV = new Reserve() is created. The destructor closes the connection.
  • (C) function query() A helper function to run an SQL query.
  • (D & E) There are only 2 functions for this project!
    • function get() Get the seats for the given session.
    • function save() Save the given reservation request. Doh.
  • (F) Remember to change the database settings to your own.

 

 

PART 3) RESERVATION PAGE

3A) THE HTML

3a-reservation.php
<?php
// (A) FIXED FOR THIS DEMO
$sessid = 1;
$userid = 999;
 
// (B) GET SESSION SEATS
require "2-reserve-lib.php";
$seats = $_RSV->get($sessid);
?>
 
<!-- (C) DRAW SEATS LAYOUT -->
<div id="layout"><?php
foreach ($seats as $s) {
  $taken = is_numeric($s["user_id"]);
  printf("<div class='seat%s'%s>%s</div>",
    $taken ? " taken" : "",
    $taken ? "" : " onclick='reserve.toggle(this)'",
    $s["seat_id"]
  );
}
?></div>
 
<!-- (D) LEGEND -->
<div id="legend">
  <div class="seat"></div> <div class="txt">Open</div>
  <div class="seat taken"></div> <div class="txt">Taken</div>
  <div class="seat selected"></div> <div class="txt">Your Selected Seats</div>
</div>
 
<!-- (E) SAVE SELECTION -->
<form id="ninja" method="post" action="4-save.php">
  <input type="hidden" name="sessid" value="<?=$sessid?>">
  <input type="hidden" name="userid" value="<?=$userid?>">
</form>
<button id="go" onclick="reserve.save()">Reserve Seats</button>

This HTML page should be pretty self-explanatory once you read through section-by-section.

  1. The session ID and user ID are fixed for this demo – Tie these into your own system.
  2. Use the PHP library, to get the seats for the given session.
  3. <div id="layout"> Choose a seat.
  4. <div id="legend"> “Color code” for the seats.
  5. <form id="ninja"> A hidden form to submit the chosen seats that the user has chosen.

 

3B) THE JAVASCRIPT

3b-reservation.js
var reserve = {
  // (A) CHOOSE THIS SEAT
  toggle : seat => seat.classList.toggle("selected"),
 
  // (B) SAVE RESERVATION
  save : () => {
    // (B1) GET SELECTED SEATS
    var selected = document.querySelectorAll("#layout .selected");
 
    // (B2) ERROR!
    if (selected.length == 0) { alert("No seats selected."); }
 
    // (B3) NINJA FORM SUBMISSION
    else {
      var ninja = document.getElementById("ninja");
      for (let seat of selected) {
        let input = document.createElement("input");
        input.type = "hidden";
        input.name = "seats[]";
        input.value = seat.innerHTML;
        ninja.appendChild(input);
      }
      ninja.submit();
    }
  }
};

Just some simple Javascript to toggle the seat selection, and submit the hidden form to confirm the reservation. Take note, I assumed that the user can book multiple seats here – If that is not the case, change the Javascript on your own.

 

 

3C) CONFIRMATION PAGE

4-save.php
<?php
// (A) LOAD LIBRARY
require "2-reserve-lib.php";
 
// (B) SAVE
$_RSV->save($_POST["sessid"], $_POST["userid"], $_POST["seats"]);
echo "SAVED";

Lastly, this is as simple as it gets – Save the reservation request when the hidden form is submitted.

 

EXTRAS

That’s all for the tutorial, and here is a small section on some extras and links that may be useful to you.

 

BAREBONES EXAMPLE ONLY

Of course, this is only a barebones working example. Everyone has their own rules and existing systems, so here are a couple of “to-do” items on your plate:

  • Tie in with the user and login system.
  • No admin backend and reports – Do your own.
  • Reservation rules –
    • Only allow registered users to reserve?
    • Allow users to reserve multiple seats?
    • Allow users to change or cancel reservations afterward?
    • Close reservations N hours before the session starts?
    • Confirm reservation only after payment/deposit?
  • Double-check the reservation (4-save.php) before saving – Someone else may have booked the seat while the user is still filling in the reservation form.
  • Send a confirmation email to the user?

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

 

THE END

Thank you for reading, and we have come to the end. I hope that it has helped you to better understand, and if you want to share anything with this guide, please feel free to comment below. Good luck and happy coding!

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