a variable name based on another variable?

pck76

Hi,

I have a set of variables in a DB that differ by the last digit:

image_name_1
image_name_2
etc

the last digit represents the language, eg 1= english, and is stored in a superglobal

I tried to display the row like this:

$language = $_POST['language']; //this is a single digit eg 1,2,3 etc
echo "<h3> $row['image_name_{$language}'] </h3>";

..but it gives me an error:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_ENCAPSED_AND_WHITESPACE, expecting T_STRING or T_VARIABLE or T_NUM_STRING

I suppose this is due to the substitution of $language inside another variable? How can I solve this?
thanks,
Patrick

coldwerturkey

echo "<h3>{$row['image_name_'.$language]}</h3>\n";

just like a string

pck76

thanks coldwerturkey

how can I do a similar thing with variable names?
eg, if I wanted to assign values to $var1, $var2, $var3 and so on, how could I do something like

for ($i = 1; $i < 10; $i++) {
$var{$i} = 'somevalue';
}

coldwerturkey

$variable = "var";

for ($i = 1; $i < 10; $i++) {
	${$variable.$i} = $i;
}

echo $var1; //outputs "1"
echo $var2; //outputs "2"
echo $var3; //outputs "3"
//ect

swordgrass

oh! i see now a way for treat vars.
Oh! i m newbie here, thanks for this forum

laserlight

swordgrass wrote:
oh! i see now a way for treat vars.

Yes, but do not use variable variables unless you have a compelling reason to. Usually, arrays would suffice.

coldwerturkey

laserlight;10930080 wrote:
Yes, but do not use variable variables unless you have a compelling reason to. Usually, arrays would suffice.

ie:

<?php
$var_array = array();

for ($i = 1; $i < 10; $i++) {
	$var_array[] = $i;
}

foreach ($var_array as $key => $value) {
	echo $value.", "; //outputs "1, 2, 3 ..etc.. 9"
}
//or
echo $value[0]; //outputs "1"
echo $value[1]; //outputs "2"
//etc
?>

pck76

Hi guys,

how can I reuse that with constants?

eg I have to check whether several constants exist, and if so echo another constant eg:

if (VARIABLE_1_AMOUNT) {echo CORRECT_AMOUNT_1;}
if (VARIABLE_2_AMOUNT) {echo CORRECT_AMOUNT_2;}
if (VARIABLE_3_AMOUNT) {echo CORRECT_AMOUNT_3;}
//and so on...

instead of writing all these, can i use something like

for ($i=0; $i<10; $i++) {
   if (VARIABLE_[B]$i[/B]_AMOUNT) {echo CORRECT_AMOUNT_[B]$i[/B];}
}

?
thanks,
Patrick

coldwerturkey

let me google that for you

pck76

ahah awesome 😃