Jump to content

function question: returning values from dynamically generated/assigned variable


animus

Recommended Posts

[b]PROBLEM:[/b]

I am having trouble returning values from a function that dynamically creates/assigns variables based on database entries. The idea is to have just a page call to the database and have php make my page. However, each page will have a ton of links to other products and parts of the site. Therefore, I just want to have each page’s links/images/resources handled in the following way:

<a title="<? echo $image_description_151; ?>" href="<? echo $image_url_151; ?>"><? echo $image_title_151; ?></a>

I have got this to work when it is not encapsulated within a function.

Any thoughts?


[b]DB STRUCTURE:[/b]

[color=red]DB:[/color] Pages Table
      Links Table
      Images Table
      Resources Table
     
Pages table houses 1 Primary Key page_id and the foreign keys for the other tables
Links table houses link_title, link_description, link_url, active & page_id (foreign key)
Images and resources tables are exact same structure as links (i.e. resoure_title, images_title)

[color=red]PHP:[/color]1 php file 'dbhook.php' (login information for DB)
        1 php to return values from DB


[b]PHP SCRIPT:[/b]

<?php
$myPage=1;
$myPageData = array("link","image","resource");
$myPageData_length = count($myPageData);
for($i=0;$i<=($myPageData_length-1);$i++){
getData($myPage,$myPageData[$i]);
}

function getData($page,$searchOn){

### Function to retrive all page data from database ####

/*
Date: 07.13.06    
Varible structure:
VARIABLE_title_NUMBER, VARIABLE_description_NUMBER, VARIABLE_url_NUMBER
where NUMBER is the link number on the page & VARIBLE is what section of database to look under, all three should be used on each link line
[color=orange]example: <a title="<? echo $VARIABLE_description_NUMBER; ?>" href="<? echo $VARIABLE_url_NUMBER; ?>"><? echo $VARIBLE_title_NUMBER; ?></a>[/color]
*/

//create a plural variable for the DB query
$plural = $searchOn."s";

//include my hook into the database
include('dbhook.php');

//connect to mySQL
mysql_connect(localhost,$username,$password);

//select the correct database
@mysql_select_db($database) or die("I am sorry but I do not see the database you requested");

//assign query variables
$query="SELECT aagtest.$plural.".$searchOn."_title, aagtest.$plural.".$searchOn."_description, aagtest.$plural.".$searchOn."_url, aagtest.$plural.active FROM aagtest.pages LEFT JOIN aagtest.$plural ON aagtest.pages.page_id = aagtest.$plural.page_id WHERE aagtest.$plural.page_id =$page";

//perform querys
$result=mysql_query($query);
$totalNumberOfFields=mysql_num_fields($result);
$totalNumberOfFields=$totalNumberOfFields-1;

//set arrays for processing returned results
$myLinks=array();

//determine row amounts
$num=mysql_num_rows($result);

#loop through returned results and dynamically create varibles
#assign these varible names to dynamically created array values
$linkNum=0;
for($i=0;$i<=($num-1);$i++){
for($z=0;$z<=($totalNumberOfFields-1);$z++){
$myColumnHeading=mysql_field_name($result,$z);
$myVar=$myColumnHeading."_".$linkNum;
$info=@mysql_result($result,$linkNum,$myColumnHeading);
$myLink=$myVar;
$$myLink=$myLinks[$linkNum][$z]=$info;
}
$linkNum++;
}
mysql_close();
}

?>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

i didn't slog through all your code, but it sounds to me like you'd be better off using an array rather than ending your variables in _number.  perhaps restructure your data as:

[code]$image[NUMBER_here] = array
(
  'title' => "Image NUMBER's title",
  'description' => "Image NUMBER's description",
  'url' => "Image NUMBER's url"
);[/code]

then you can simply pass through all of the $image array with a foreach and you'll have all your images displayed:

[code]<?php
foreach ($image AS $sub_array)
{
  echo '<a title="'.$sub_array['description'].'" href="'.$sub_array['url'].'">'.$sub_array['title'].'</a>';
}
?>[/code]

simply build the array of info as such in each of your query's rows, assign it to a temporary array value, and make the array of image info arrays as the function's return value.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is more than a year old. Please don't revive it unless you have something important to add.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.