[RESOLVED] $variable .=

cabcree

Yes, newbie talking here. This site has been so helpful! But, alas, I have yet another question.

I have noticed that at times that there is a . before the = for a statement. Why sometimes and not others? What is it's purpose?

I'm writing some code (to which is basically out of a book right now) and it will show a line as such:

$display_block = "<h1>Nascar Drivers - Product Detail</h1>";

And then later for the same var it shows this:

	$display_block .= "
	<table cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"2\" border=\"1\" width=\"98%\"> 
	<tr>
	<th>Product</th>
	<th>Qty</th>
	<th>Price</th>
	<th>Total Price</th>
	<th>Action</th>
	</tr>";

The difference really being the . before the =. But not always. I have been trying to find the pattern and reason. If there is a link to view that would work. Thanks!

Piranha

I think this is easiest to show by an example. First without the dot.

$test = "one";
echo $test;  // Outputs "one"
$test = "two";
echo $test; // Outputs "two"

As you see it will replace the variable with the new value. Now with a dot.

$test = "one";
echo $test;  // Outputs "one"
$test .= "two";
echo $test; // Outputs "onetwo"

It adds the new string to the end of the old one. It is the same as writing:

$test = "one";
echo $test;  // Outputs "one"
$test = $test . "two";
echo $test; // Outputs "onetwo"

cabcree

Ahhh...that makes a lot of sense. Thank you!