Getting output formatted better

sgtpepper

I am using the following code to convert three digits from one filed in a tabel into actual words from another field in a different table. The outputed results are grouped together. I would like to be able to have the results formatted. This is hard to explain....but I will try.

Basically, the results I am currently getting look like this (These results are displayed by <? echo $display; ?> listed in the code below:

2 story New Englander Detached Full Unfinished Bulkhead Concrete Clapboard Shingle Oil Hot Air Wood Frame Electric 100 Amp Circuit Breaker Public Drilled Well Gravel Gravel Sloping Eat-in-Kitchen 1st Floor Laundry Deck Ceiling Fan Living Room Dining Room Kitchen 1/2 Bath Master Bedroom

I would like to be able to somehow have the code do the following:

Text I choose - 2 story
different text I choose - New Englander
different text I choose - Detached
different text I choose - Unfinished
etc...

How can I do this? It looks like I need to somehow put it in a table.

<?
$split_features = "$row[features]";
$i = 0;
?>
<?
for ($i = 0; $i <= 85; $i += 3)
{
?>

<?
$currCode = substr($split_features,$i ,3);
$query2="SELECT long_name, code FROM features WHERE code = '$currCode'";
$result2=mysql_query($query2) or die (mysql_error());
while ($row2 = mysql_fetch_array($result2)) // this will grab the results from query
$display = "$row2[long_name]";
?>
<? echo $display; ?>
<?
}
?>
<?
}
?>

kevinsequeira

<?
$split_features = $row[features];
$i = 0;
echo '<table border=1 width=100%>';
for ($i = 0; $i <= 85; $i += 3){
  $currCode = substr($split_features,$i ,3);
  $query2="SELECT long_name, code FROM features WHERE code = '".$currCode."'";
  $result2=mysql_query($query2) or die (mysql_error());
  while ($row2 = mysql_fetch_array($result2)){ // this will grab the results from query
    $display = $row2[long_name];
    echo '<tr><td>'.$display.'</td></tr>'; 
  }
}
echo '</table>';
?>

u get the general idea from this , u can modify it to display headers etc

reg
kevin

paulnaj

Hi Sarge,

There are many ways of killing this particular cat, but here's one, using an HTML table.
Hope it helps!

$split_features = $row[features]; 
echo "<table border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\" cellspacing=\"1\">";
for ($i = 0; $i <= 85; $i += 3){ 
    $currCode = substr($split_features, $i, 3); 
    $query2 = "SELECT long_name, code FROM features WHERE code = '".$currCode."'"; 
    $result2 = mysql_query($query2) 
                      or die (mysql_error()); 
    while ($row2 = mysql_fetch_array($result2)){
        echo "<tr><td>".$row2[code]."</td><td>".$row2[long_name]."</td><tr>"; 
    }
} 
echo "</table>";

PS. Contrary to some people's advice, it's not a particulary good idea to embed variables in strings. For example, in your code you use ...
$query2="SELECT long_name, code FROM features WHERE code = '$currCode'";
... where $currCode is embedded in the SELECT string.

Three reasons ...
1) harder to debug
2) slower
3) You lose the colour-coding of php in any php-editor as it becomes part of a string.

The only benefit is that it might be quicker to type!

sgtpepper

Thanks for the last bit of code, but the problem is that it uses an html table....but it is displaying my 'code' field in the database. I would like to be able to specify the text that gets placed in the cell. Also, I would like to be able to have the display output in mulitple cells in a table....not one long verticle display.

paulnaj

Why don't you post an example of how you need it laid out?

sgtpepper

Ok. Basically, this code

<?
$split_features = "$row[features]";
$i = 0;
?>

<?
for ($i = 0; $i <= 85; $i += 3)
{
?>

<?
$currCode = substr($split_features,$i ,3);
$query2="SELECT long_name FROM features WHERE code = '$currCode'";
$result2=mysql_query($query2) or die (mysql_error());
while ($row2 = mysql_fetch_array($result2)) // this will grab the results from query
$display = "$row2[long_name]";
?>
<? echo $display; ?>
<?
}
?>

Is displaying like this:
Log Crawl Space Concrete Log Siding Shingle Oil Hot Air Log Home Electric Gravel Private Private Fields Wooded Other specify in rmk Public Refrigerator Dishwasher Electric Stove Eat-in-Kitchen Fireplace, Wood MBR w/bth Circuit Breaker Circuit Breaker Circuit Breaker Living Room Dining Room Kitchen Master Bedroom

I would like to try to have it somehow like this:

My describtion text: Log my different text: Oil
my different text: Crawl Space my different text: electric
my different text:Concrete my different text: Wooded
my different text:Log Siding etc....
my different text:Shingle

paulnaj

Well, the first thing I notice is that the order of the 'unformatted' items doesn't match the order in which you (seem to) want to use the items in the 'formatted' list.

Is there any pattern in the (unformatted) results that we can use?