[Resolved] Naming variables in for loop

[JaneDoe]

Hey guys... Im having trouble with trying to get the correct syntax for naming variables in a for loop. I would like to get the variables to be named 1startFormat, 2startFormat, 3startFormat, etc. When I do it like this I get a parse error. Anyone have any ideas why?

for ($i=1; $i<8; $i++)
{
 $i.startFormat =  $_POST[start.$i];
echo $1startFormat;
}

[tekky]

yup...

for ($i=1; $i<8; $i++)
{
$var = $i . 'startFormat'; //easiest way is to just set a variable to the name you want to use....
$postvar = 'start' . $i; //just to clean up the code
 $$var =  $_POST[$postvar]; //then use $$ to evaluate to $1startFormat = ......
echo $1.'startFormat'; //you have to enclose strings with either double quotes " or single quotes ' to make echo work.... 
/*
  difference between single and double quotes, are 
  1) php will parse variables inside double quotes like "Hi $name!".. this will output "Hi Bob!" or whatever $name equals...
  2) php will not parse variables inside single quotes 'Hi $name!" will output exactly that... 
 */
}

You were riddled with errors... I would recommend reading up at www.php.net on the commands you just used here.... ECHO FOR and I believe if you search the online docs for $$ you will find the "Variable variable" stuff

[laserlight]

I would like to get the variables to be named 1startFormat, 2startFormat, 3startFormat

Wait, you are trying to get PHP variables named with a number as the first character?
That isnt allowed in PHP, so you'll either have to change your requirements, or re-code PHP itself, and I think the former is easier.

Aside from that, you'll have to note that the form of variable variables should be
${'startFormat' . $i}
so if $i=1, then we get $startFormat1

[Weedpacket]

I'd also strongly recommend looking at using arrays, instead of doing all these backflips and jumping through hoops and whatnot just to avoid them.

[JaneDoe]

Okay... so I took into consideration everyone's suggestion and came up with this... but now im getting another error "Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded". I know Im doing stuff wrong but what is it now? Ive been looking at this too long and need someone with a clear head. By the way.... thanks for all the input.

   

for ($i=1; $i <8; $i++)
$var = $startFormat.$i; 
$postvar = 'start' . $i; 
$$var =  $_POST[$postvar];  

 if (floor($startFormat.$i) < $startFormat.$i) 
{
   if ($startFormat.$i < 1)
      {
          $start.$i = '12:30 AM';
      } else if (1 <= $startFormat.$i && $startFormat.$i < 12) 
     { 					
          $start.$i = floor($startFormat.$i ).':30 AM';
     } else if (12 <= $startFormat.$i && $startFormat.$i < 13)
    {	
          $start.$i = floor($startFormat.$i ).':30 PM';
     } else 
    {
          $start.$i = floor($startFormat.$i ) - 12; 
          $start.$i = $startFormat.$i.':30 PM';
    }

 } else {

 if ($startFormat.$i < 1)
  {
      $start.$i = '12:00 AM';
   } else if (1 <= $startFormat.$i && $startFormat.$i < 12) 
   { 			
       $start.$i = floor($startFormat.$i).':00 AM';
   } else if (12 <= $startFormat.$i && $startFormat.$i < 13)
  {	
       $start.$i = floor($startFormat.$i).':00 PM';
  } else
 {
     $start.$i = floor($startFormat.$i ) - 12; 
    $start.$i = $startFormat.$i .':00 PM';
 }

}
}

What this is suppose to do is... if startFormat is 8, then start1 should be 8:00 AM.... and for another example, if startFormat is 15.5, then start1 should be 3:30 PM. Get it?

[bunner_bob]

In line 2 you say:

$var = $startFormat.$i;

What that is doing is concatenating (sticking together) the values of two variable - $startFormat and $i. So if you've defined $startFormat somewhere else as, say "chicken", then as you loop through the loop , $var would be "chicken1", "chicken2", etc. If you DON'T define $startFormat somewhere else then I think it's basically empty, so you'd get simply "1", "2", etc.

If instead you want $var to be the value of a variable called $startFormat1, $startFormat2, and so on, you have to do it in two steps, which you can combine into one. First you have to set the name of the variable, by combining the unchanging "text" part of the name with the variable that tells which loop you're on:

$var_name = "$startFormat" . $i;

Then you can find the value of this variable by evaluating it, which is what the curly brackets do (this line includes both steps):

$var = {"$startFormat" . $i};

Or, using tekky's syntax, you could write:

$var_name = "$startFormat" . $i;
$$var = $var_name;

You have quite a number of instances of

$startFormat . $i

Throughout your script, which unless you define $startFormat elsewhere are just going to evaluate as the value of $i.

So - fix the second line of your script, and then replace all the instances of "$startFormat . $i" throughout with "$var" and you should be good.

• Bob

[tekky]

how about you tell us what the end result is supposed to be and we go from there? 😉

(if this hasnt previously been resolved)

[JaneDoe]

Thanx for all of your input... I got it figured out. =)