foreach and array of arrays

[AdRock]

Hopefully as easy one.

 

I have this array of values I want to put in a form input

$buttons = array();
$buttons['back'] = array('class' => 'back', 'name' => 'backbutton', 'id' => 'back-button', 'title' => 'Go Back');
$buttons['save'] = array('class' => 'save', 'name' => 'savebutton', 'id' => 'save-button', 'title' => 'Save');
$buttons['add'] = array('class' => 'add', 'name' => 'addbutton', 'id' => 'add-button', 'title' => 'Add');
$buttons['edit'] = array('class' => 'edit', 'name' => 'editbutton', 'id' => 'edit-button', 'title' => 'Edit');
$buttons['delete'] = array('class' => 'delete', 'name' => 'deletebutton', 'id' => 'delete-button', 'title' => 'Delete');
$buttons['archive'] = array('class' => 'archive', 'name' => 'archivebutton', 'id' => 'archive-button', 'title' => 'Archive');

What I want to to do is create an array like this if possible

$buttons = array($buttons['back'], $buttons['save'], $buttons['add'], $buttons['edit'], $buttons['delete'], $buttons['archive']);

and use a foreach loop like this

foreach($buttons as $button) {

    echo '<input type="button" '.$button.'/>';
}

 so it outputs a load of buttons depending what was in the buttons array and using the elements in each array to give the buttons values

 

I should end up with is

<input type="button" class="back" name="backbutton" id="back-button" title="Go Back" />
<input type="button" class="save" name="savebutton" id="save-button" title="Save" />
<input type="button" class="add" name="addbutton" id="add-button" title="Add" />
<input type="button" class="edit" name="editbutton" id="edit-button" title="Edit" />
<input type="button" class="delete" name="deletebutton" id="delete-button" title="Delete" />
<input type="button" class="archive" name="archivebutton" id="archive-button" title="Archive" />

[kicken]

Use a nested foreach loop to go through and build your attributes string, then output the input with the class and other attributes.

foreach ($buttons as $class=>$attrs){
   $attrString = '';
   foreach ($attrs as $name=>$value){
      //...build $attrString
   }

   //output the tag
}

Note your $buttons = array($buttons['back'], $buttons['save'], ...) bit is unnecessary. Your initial buttons array is already sufficient for outputting the tags using a loop.

[AdRock]

Thanks Kicken

 

The reason I put it in an array is becuase different pages may have different buttons. Some page only need 2 buttons and not all of them.  Will your code allow for that?

[buzzycoder]

This code might get you at right direction:

<?php
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'back', 'name' => 'backbutton', 'id' => 'back-button', 'title' => 'Go Back');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'save', 'name' => 'savebutton', 'id' => 'save-button', 'title' => 'Save');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'add', 'name' => 'addbutton', 'id' => 'add-button', 'title' => 'Add');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'edit', 'name' => 'editbutton', 'id' => 'edit-button', 'title' => 'Edit');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'delete', 'name' => 'deletebutton', 'id' => 'delete-button', 'title' => 'Delete');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'archive', 'name' => 'archivebutton', 'id' => 'archive-button', 'title' => 'Archive');

foreach ($buttons as $button) {
	extract($button);
	echo "<input type='button' class='$class' name='$name' id='$id' title='$title' />";
}
?>

[AdRock]

I was trying to simplify my problem and your solutions look sound but i can't get it to work for my case so I'll explain a bit more.

 

I've built my own MVC and in my config file I include on every page I have my array of buttons

 

I wanted to have them as constants but seeing as it's a pain, i thought if i add it here it should be made public

$buttons = array();
$buttons['back'] = array('class' => 'back', 'name' => 'backbutton', 'id' => 'back-button', 'title' => 'Go Back');
$buttons['save'] = array('class' => 'save', 'name' => 'savebutton', 'id' => 'save-button', 'title' => 'Save');
$buttons['add'] = array('class' => 'add', 'name' => 'addbutton', 'id' => 'add-button', 'title' => 'Add');
$buttons['edit'] = array('class' => 'edit', 'name' => 'editbutton', 'id' => 'edit-button', 'title' => 'Edit');
$buttons['delete'] = array('class' => 'delete', 'name' => 'deletebutton', 'id' => 'delete-button', 'title' => 'Delete');
$buttons['archive'] = array('class' => 'archive', 'name' => 'archivebutton', 'id' => 'archive-button', 'title' => 'Archive');

In my controller I add the array of buttons I want to appear in my form in my view file

$this->view->buttons = array('back', 'save');

Then in my view file, I would have my foreach where in this case I want to include buttons 'back' and 'save'

foreach ($this->buttons as $button) {

    echo '<input type="button" class="$button['class']" name="$button['name']" id="$button['id']" title="$button['title']" />';
}

I think the problem I've got is looping through the foreach loop and including the right button from the config file.

 

Would it be okay to define the array in a constant (i've read you need to serialize it first), then when i need to include it, unserialize it.

 

I just need a way to make more code more efficient so I can use one view and add as many buttons as I need

[Ch0cu3r]

Ignore

[buzzycoder]

Ok,this might help you to achieve your goal:

<?php
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'back', 'name' => 'backbutton', 'id' => 'back-button', 'title' => 'Go Back');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'save', 'name' => 'savebutton', 'id' => 'save-button', 'title' => 'Save');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'add', 'name' => 'addbutton', 'id' => 'add-button', 'title' => 'Add');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'edit', 'name' => 'editbutton', 'id' => 'edit-button', 'title' => 'Edit');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'delete', 'name' => 'deletebutton', 'id' => 'delete-button', 'title' => 'Delete');
$buttons[] = array('class' => 'archive', 'name' => 'archivebutton', 'id' => 'archive-button', 'title' => 'Archive');

$recs = array('back','save','delete'); //Array of buttons needed

foreach ($recs as $rec){

foreach ($buttons as $button) {
	extract($button);
	if ($class == $rec) {
		echo "<input type='button' class='$class' name='$name' id='$id' title='$title' />";
	}
}

}
?>

[Ch0cu3r]

Because your trying to reference $buttons from within your class you need to make the $buttons array accessible from your controller and/or view class. 

 

You're better of making a helper function to render your buttons in your view

function Button($name)
{
	global $buttons; // access the global $buttons array

	if(isset($buttons[$name]))
	{
		foreach($buttons[$name] as $attr_name => $attr_value)
			$attrs[] = sprintf('%s="%s"', $attr_name, $attr_value);

		return '<input type="submit" '.implode(' ', $attrs).'>';
	}

	return;
}

Then in your view to render the buttons for the view you'd use

foreach ($this->buttons as $button) {
    echo Button($button);
}

[AdRock]

Thanks all....got it working now with your help