can't figure it out

ryneaux

Hello,

I have (I am sure it is simple to most) a bit of an obstacle I can't get over.

I have a configuration file in which I set many variable values. Some of them are the same but with a number added.

For example:

$my_var1="my_value";
$my_var2="the_other_value";
$my_var3="another_value";

and so on...

Then in the displayed page I am generating a list based on a incrementing variable which matches the total number of "my_var" variables.

For example:
$myi=1;
while ($tot_vars>=$myi){
echo '<table><tr><td>';

and this is where my problem is...how do I use the variable "$myi" and apend it to the end of a string "$my_var" to echo the actual value of "$my_var1,$my_var2,$my_var3" as this loops for the count of the number of variables?

echo '</td></tr></table>';
}

I would appreciate the help...if I should post this in "Newbies" let me know that this isn't the place, I just wasn't sure of my ranking yet.

Thanks,
Ryan

superwormy

You CAN do this, but you would be SOOOO much better off using arrays for this type of thing.

$my_variable_name = "keithsvar_";

for ($i = 0; $i < 5; $i++) {

$temp = $my_variable_name . $i;
$$temp = " my new value ";

}

print ($keithsvar_0);
print ($keithsvar_1);
print ($keithsvar_2);

ryneaux

Thank you for responding, but that is not quite it...

This that I am working on is for someone else, and he doesn't know any html and get's a bit excited when he sees a bunch of stuff he doesn't know what it is.

So, I am putting all of his content into a "config" file so he can change and edit the things on his page without having to search through a bunch of HTML code.

So, to get into more detail on what I am trying to do...

let's say on his page he is going to show a list of books in which he would suggest to his visitors to read. He puts his list of books, authors, short description of the book in the "config" file and how many total books he will be displaying.

for example:
(book number one, so the first to be displayed, all the varibles the title, the description, the author, etc. would be in the config file like this...)

$tot_books=10

$title1="Star Wars";
$author1="George Lucas";
$desc1="A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...";

$title2="the Empire Strikes Back"
$author2="George Lucas";
$desc2="A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...";

and so on...

I don't want to get into using MySQL and set up the tables and create an admin panel, I am trying to keep it a bit more simple for me, and for him...

So, on the page the code should be something like this...

include ("config.php");

$myi=1
while ($myi<=$tot_books){
$this_title="$title".$myi;
$this_author="$author".$myi;
$this_desc="$desc".$myi;
echo '<table><tr><td>';
echo $this_title;
echo '</td><td>';
echo $this_author;
echo '</td><td>';
echo $this_desc;
echo '</td></tr></table>';
$myi=$myi+1
}

but of course when I do it like this all that is returned is the value of "$myi"...
Not what I am looking for...

I need a way to put "$myi" on the end of "$title", "$author", "$desc"...so that when it goes through the loop it shows the actual content of those variables in the config file based on a prefix and then the value of $myi as the suffix...

So, my desired result is ...

Star Wars___________George Lucas__A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...
the Empire Strikes BackGeorge Lucas________A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

and so on (of course not including the lines)...

I hope this is a little more clear on what I am trying to accomplish...
Thanks again,
Ryan

superwormy

1: You should be able to do that through what I've shown you above.


<?php

$author1 = "Keith";
$book1 = "Keith's Book";

$author2 = "Kurt";
$book2 = "Kurt's Book";

$number = "1";

$total = 3;

while ($number < $total) {

$var_authorname = "author" . $number;
print ($$var_authorname);

$var_bookname = "book" . $number;
print ($$var_bookname);

print ("<br />");

$number++;

}

?>

2: You're much better off using arrays, and probably SHOULD be using arrays.

 

<?php

$book = array (

0 => array ( "book" => "Keiths Book", "author" => "Keith" ), 
1 => array ("book" => "kurts book", "author" => "Kurt"), 

);

foreach ($book as $value) {

print ($value['book'] . " :: " . $value['author'] . "<br />");

}

?>

ryneaux

PERFECT!

Thank you,

Yes, you are right I should be using arays the only problem there is the guy I am doing this for could possibly get confused not knowing which is the variable and which is the part he should edit. I have told him (in this situation) don't touch the ones with the dollar signs in front of them, you can edit the ones in quotes.

And it is easier for him.

Again, thank you so much!

Ryan

superwormy

no problem, glad I could help