[RESOLVED] Read individual characters

[mpar612]

I am working on an app that stores info in a database table as "ABEJ" in a database. Then I have another table that lists what each letter stands for. For example, in ABEJ, "A" stands for "Stove", "B" stands for "Refrigerator", "E" stands for "Washer" and "J" stands for Dryer.

Is there a way that I can read the "ABEJ" and "decode" it and display what each letter stands for?

I hope I explained this well. Any guidance that could send me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[reddrum]

try this?:

$arr1 = preg_split("//", $str, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);

foreach($arr1 as $tmp){
   switch ($tmp) {
     case "a":
        echo "Stove";
     break
     case "b":
        echo "Refrigerator";
     break
   }
}

[mpar612]

Thanks! I see your logic there, but it is not working. I modified your code to suite my need and it is posted below. I just get a blank screen and I have errors set to display.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

$arr1 = preg_split("//", $exterior, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);

				 foreach($arr1 as $tmp){
				    switch ($tmp) {
				      case "A":
				         echo "Brick";
				      break
				      case "B":
				         echo "Aluminum";
				      break
					  case "C":
				         echo "Wood";
				      break
					  case "D":
				         echo "Cedar";
				      break
					  case "E":
				         echo "Vinyl";
				      break
					 case "F":
				         echo "Stone";
				      break
					 case "G":
				         echo "Log";
				      break
					  case "H":
				         echo "Block/Concrete";
				      break
					 case "Y":
				         echo "Other";
				      break
				   }
				 }

[laserlight]

Firstly, is it a fixed requirement that you must store such codes in the database? If not, then a better idea is to have more than one database table. You need one table to store the items (Stove, Refrigerator, etc), another table to store say, the buyer info, then a third table to serve as a join table between the items and the buyers (if that is your model).

If the requirement cannot be removed, then I would do something along these lines:

$items = array(
    'A' => 'Brick',
    'B' => 'Aluminum',
    'C' => 'Wood',
    'D' => 'Cedar',
    'E' => 'Vinyl',
    'F' => 'Stone',
    'G' => 'Log',
    'H' => 'Block/Concrete',
    'Y' => 'Other');

$len = strlen($code);
for ($i = 0; $i < $len; ++$i)
{
    echo $items[$code[$i]] . "<br />\n";
}

If it is possible that the code may contain an invalid index, then I would change:

echo $items[$code[$i]] . "<br />\n";

to:

echo (array_key_exists($code[$i], $items) ?
    $items[$code[$i]] : 'Invalid Index!') . . "<br />\n";

[reddrum]

Will that produce anything?

$arr1 = preg_split("//", $exterior, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY); 

                 foreach($arr1 as $tmp){ 
                    echo $tmp; 
                 }

[lquidsilver]

I dont know if this is something you would be looking for, but it works for me. Plus I'm pretty new to php myself. Anyway why not use the str_replace() function?

$str = ABCDEFGHY
$replace0 = str_replace("A","Brick<br>",$str);
$replace1 = str_replace("B","Aluminum<br>",$replace0); 
$replace2 = str_replace("C","Wood<br>",$replace1); 
$replace3 = str_replace("D","Cedar<br>",$replace2); 
$replace4 = str_replace("E","Vinyl<br>",$replace3); 
$replace5 = str_replace("F","Stone<br>",$replace4); 
$replace6 = str_replace("G","Log<br>",$replace5); 
$replace7 = str_replace("H","Block/Concrete<br>",$replace6); 
$replace8 = str_replace("Y","Other<br>",$replace7);
echo $replace8;

[laserlight]

Anyway why not use the str_replace() function?

Yes, str_replace() could be used, but not in the way you suggest. With your suggestion, a code of "AB" will become "Brick<br>B" and then "Aluminum<br>rick<br>Aluminum<br>". Rather, one must supply arrays as arguments for searching and replacing.

[mpar612]

Thank you all very much for your feedback. I learned a little something from everyone. Laserlight, your feedback worked perfectly. Thanks again!