regenerate variables?

Hi, I know, the topic looks freaky, let me explain. I have a formular with many input fields called for example "firm[0]", "firm[1] etc. Now I submit and have the values of this variables. But I have so many input fields, that I want to generate the variables by reading the names from a mysql table. I have an table with a field called "firm". Now I read the name "firm" from the table in a variable called $field, put in in a loop an do like this: echo "$" . $field[$counter]; Now I have back my "$firm[0]". But how can I generate from this a variable to get back my value of this? I hope you understand me, great thanks for any help, because I get nearly crazy from this problem. best regards, Christian Springub