[ This has been informally submitted to the mailing list
  yesterday. -- KK ]

I can have

<input type="text" name="sem[326-436-02]" value="x">
<input type="text" name="sem[326-436-03]" value="y">

and have php return $sem as an array to me, if I chose to import my form
variables into the normal namespace.

I cannot have that with

<input type="text" name="sem[326-436-02][startdate]" value="x">
<input type="text" name="sem[326-436-03][enddate]" value="y">

and get a two dimensional array returned?

Instead, I get

key 326-185-01][sem_beginn value 16.02.1998

key 326-185-01][sem_ende value 20.02.1998

printed by the following code:

 function save_record($i) {
    global $sem;

    for (reset($sem); $i = key($sem); next($sem)) {
      printf("key %s  value %s<p>\n", $i, $sem[$i]);
    }
  }

and

    for (reset($sem[$i]); $j = key($sem[i]); next($sem[i])) {
      printf("key %s  value %s<p>\n", $j, $sem[$j]);
    }

explodes (with $i having the value "326-185-01") with an error

Warning: Variable passed to reset() is not an array or object in
/webpages/verwaltung/sem/details.php3
on line 240