Whhaaatttt! Variables and arrays - Why does this take so long?

s_shrum

I have a template system that loops through an array struct. For each new row of the primary array I do the following:

$sRecord = $aTemplates['record'];

...where $aTemplates['record'] is the template (typically html code).

What I am finding is that when I run this line in a loop with about 250 rows it takes about 18 seconds to process. If I rem this one line out, my script completes in like .25 seconds!

I've even tried to put the array data in a variable and make the following call

$sRecord = $sNewRecord;

...it takes just as long.

Is there a fast way to do this or is this a bug or (I fear) is this normal?

TIA

drew010

thats pretty strange behaviour. how big are the html templates?? i just made a test script to see if it would take long for me i did this.

<?php

$html['row'] = file_get_contents("outputfile.txt");

for($i = 0; $i < 250; ++$i) {
  $sContents = $html['row'];
  echo 'x';
}

?>

outputfile.txt contains about 750kb of data, and i did that assignment 250 times, printing the x to make sure.
even if i changed
$sContents = $html['row'];
to
$sContents[$i] = $html['row'];
so it would keep a copy of each set of data, it still ran in under 1 second.

LoganK

Why even do that? Why not reference the main array directly? Or better yet - don't make a copy of the main array, pass by reference and make a link!

Weedpacket

Well, assigning the array into another variable can improve speed a tad (one less array lookup); and unless s_shrum is still using PHP3, $sRecord = $aTemplates['record'] doesn't copy the array until the contents of one variable or the other is altered.

s_shrum

Template file size is 6K

PHP version is 4.3.10

OS is Fedora Core 3

I'm doing some more testing. Will write back soon.

s_shrum

LoganK wrote:
Why even do that? Why not reference the main array directly? Or better yet - don't make a copy of the main array, pass by reference and make a link!

Correct me if I'm wrong but if I pass by ref, don't I end up modifying the original data thus making my template no longer a template?

I'm unfamiliar with the link aspect but am looking it up now in case I'm in err.

Weedpacket

The speed problem may have nothing to do with that line you're commenting out. It may be something you're doing with $sRecord that happens to go quickly when $sRecord isn't properly defined.

LoganK

s_shrum wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong but if I pass by ref, don't I end up modifying the original data thus making my template no longer a template?

I'm unfamiliar with the link aspect but am looking it up now in case I'm in err.

Yes you do...oops 😃

I think Weedpacket's last reply is what you need.