Alternating shaded rows on a table

[Anon]

I can't quite figure out the logic of what I want to do here, maybe some of you all can help me out.

I've created a dynamically generated table that lists out all of the events in a database. One of the fields that I display on the table is the date field. What I want the table to do is dynamically alter the shades of the rows of the table that have different dates. So if the first six rows had dates of

8/12/02
8/12/02
8/13/02
8/13/02
8/14/02
8/15/02

The first two rows would be shaded white, the next two rows would be shaded grey, the next one white, and the next one grey again and so on and so forth. Does anyone know how to do this? Please let me know if this is clear or not and thanks in advance.

[undertow]

Well here's what you'd do if you wanted every row to be an alternating color, then it's pretty easy to go to what you want to use.

First create a variable $switcher and set it to 1. Then let's say you have a loop that will print out each row, or if you're pulling them out of a DB, something like this:

while ($row = mysql_fetch_row($getrow)) {
 if ($switcher == 1)
  $bgcolor = "#FFFFFF";
 else
  $bgcolor = "#CCCCCC";

 printf('<tr bgcolor="%s"><td>%s</td></tr>', $bgcolor, $row[0]);

 $switcher *= -1;
}

What the last line does is multiply $switcher by -1 and restore it. Remembering back from Algebra class, multiplying a number by -1 repeatedly will alternate its sign (pos or neg). So each time through the loop, $bgcolor will get a different value.

Now to do what you want would be slightly more complicated, but still not too difficult. You'd could use something like this:

$lastrow = 'x' // This just so that it'll never match the value from the DB the first time through the loop
$lastcolor = '#FFFFFF' // Makes sure that white is always used first

while ($row = mysql_fetch_row($getrow)) {
 if ($lastrow == $row[0]) {
  $bgcolor = $lastcolor;
 }
 else {
  if ($switcher == 1) {
   $bgcolor = "#FFFFFF";
   $lastcolor = "#FFFFFF";
  }
  else
   $bgcolor = "#CCCCCC";
   $lastcolor = "#CCCCCC";
  }
 }

 // Print the row, same as first example
 $switcher *= -1; // Keep the variable alternating under either case
 $lastrow = $row[0]; // Current row will be last row for the next time through the loop
}

That should do it!

EDIT - Testing out the new php vB tag.

[undertow]

Oops, missing a semicolon and a typo, but you get the idea.

[Anon]

Thanks Geoff, worked like a charm once I figured out the typos!

[SiteCubed_com]

You could also use something like:

$switcher = ($switcher == 0 ? 1 : 0);

just to alternate between 0 and 1...