How can I pass php array to javascript array?

[conjurer]

Thanks to some help here I got this working awhile back to look at a file directory and pull out the names of images so I could do a display of random images. Now I would like to run it like a slide show and it seems like I need to hook it up to some javascript.

I found a javascript that does the slide show. It wants an array set up at the beginning called fadeimages - the format is like this:

var fadeimages=new Array()
//SET IMAGE PATHS. Extend or contract array as needed
fadeimages[0]=["Boat Roll Des Oct 06.jpg", "", ""] //plain image syntax
fadeimages[1]=["DSCN0459.jpg", "", ""]
fadeimages[2]=["Group 10-06.jpg", "", ""] 
fadeimages[3]=["IMGP0196.jpg", "", ""]
fadeimages[4]=["IMGP0223.jpg", "", ""]
fadeimages[5]=["IMGP0237.jpg", "", ""]

So I have some PHP code that pulls the array of photos like this:

    function file_type($file)
	{
       $path_chunks = explode("/", $file);
       $thefile = $path_chunks[count($path_chunks) - 1];
       $dotpos = strrpos($thefile, ".");
       return strtolower(substr($thefile, $dotpos + 1));
   	}

   $path = "assets/web_imgs/";
   $file_types = array('jpeg', 'jpg', 'ico', 'png', 'gif', 'bmp', 'html');
   $p = opendir($path);
       while (false !== ($filename = readdir($p))) 
	   {
           $files[] = $filename;
       }
   sort($files);
       foreach ($files as $file) 
	   {
           $extension = file_type($file);
           if($file != '.' && $file != '..' && array_search($extension, $file_types) !== false)
		   {
               $file_count++;
			   $picturesArray[] = $file;

       }
   }

 

So what I am wondering is how can I have it pass the array from the PHP -- $picturesArray[] into the Javascript array "fadeimages"

Is it doable?

[Piranha]

It is possible not possible to pass the array from PHP to JS. It is however possible to create a new array in JS, go through the PHP arrau one variable at a time and insert in the JS array.

var abc = new Array
<?php 
foreach ($array as $value)
{
?>
   abc.add(<?php $value; ?>)
<?php
}
?>

Note that this code won't work. It is just to show you how you can do it yourself.

[severeheadache]

I do this all the time. piece of cake. use JSON syntax. JSON = JavaScript Object Notation. There are a ton of libraries out there that will convert an array into a JSON string like:

1) Zend Framework (http://framework.zend.com/wiki/display/ZFDOCDEV/16.1.+Basic+Usage )

2) json.com: (http://mike.teczno.com/json.html)

so you encode your array (or object) as a string. then in your JS you simply eval it:

eval( '[yourJSONStringHere]' );

poof, now you have an array ready to go.

Another way to go, if you don't like the JSON approach is similar, build the actual JS code as a string in PHP and eval the string you built over in Javascript (thus cutting out the JSON encoder).

Hope this helps,

Mike