Single and double quotes for echo lists of a tags retrieving data from dbase

[Skorpio]

I have a navigation list displaying which is a mix of html and php, everything is working fine however now I want to convert this block of code into a function but am having major problems with quotes.

The line of code I currently have is 

$data = $db->query("SELECT * FROM menu")->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);

foreach ($data as $row) { ?>
     <li><a href="<?php echo $row['url']; ?>" title="<?php echo $row['title']; ?>"><?php echo $row['icon'] . ' ' . $row['header']; ?></a></li>

<?php
	}
?>

As I say everything works using the above but now I am trying to echo the full li out and am having major issues with single and double quotes.

I currently have 

echo "<li><a href='#' title='the title'><i class='fas fa-user site-nav--icon'></i> Help</a></li>";

Now I am trying to use the $row['url'], $row['title'], $row['icon'] & $row['header'] as per the top example but I cannot get the combination of quote marks correct, whether to use double, single or a combination.

I would be grateful if someone could suggest the correct syntax for the a tag then I can work through the rest.

Thanks

[Barand]

Use {..} around the complex variables, e.g.

echo "<li><a href='{$row['url']}' title='{$row['title']}'><i class='fas fa-user site-nav--icon'></i> Help</a></li>";
                   ^___________^         ^_____________^

 

[gw1500se]

Embedding PHP like that is confusing, hard to debug and unnecessary. Use double quotes but escape those you want to keep as HTML and be consistent. Single quotes are OK for indices.

<li>
<?php
echo "<a href=\"$row['url']\" title=\"$row['title']\">$row['icon'].\" \".$row['header']";
?>
</a></li>

 

[Skorpio]

17 minutes ago, Barand said:

Use {..} around the complex variables, e.g.

echo "<li><a href='{$row['url']}' title='{$row['title']}'><i class='fas fa-user site-nav--icon'></i> Help</a></li>";
                   ^___________^         ^_____________^

 

Thanks for this. It gives me part of the solution however I get the echo and quotes printed on screen. When I look at the colour coding in brackets the closing single quote, square bracket and closing brace are highlighted in red

Edited November 17, 2020 by Skorpio

[Skorpio]

16 minutes ago, gw1500se said:

Embedding PHP like that is confusing, hard to debug and unnecessary. Use double quotes but escape those you want to keep as HTML and be consistent. Single quotes are OK for indices.

<li>
<?php
echo "<a href=\"$row['url']\" title=\"$row['title']\">$row['icon'].\" \".$row['header']";
?>
</a></li>

 

Thanks for this however as I say I want to put the whole navigation code block into a function so the closing a and li would be an issue. From trying the code I get 

Quote

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '' (T_ENCAPSED_AND_WHITESPACE), expecting identifier (T_STRING) or variable (T_VARIABLE) or number (T_NUM_STRING) in C:\xampp\htdocs\kevinpowell1\index.php on line 44

 

[Barand]

19 minutes ago, gw1500se said:

Embedding PHP like that is confusing, hard to debug and unnecessary. Use double quotes but escape those you want to keep as HTML and be consistent. Single quotes are OK for indices.

<li>
<?php
echo "<a href=\"$row['url']\" title=\"$row['title']\">$row['icon'].\" \".$row['header']";
?>
</a></li>

 

Simple and easy to debug it may be, but unfortunately it doesn't get past the syntax parser

Quote

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '' (T_ENCAPSED_AND_WHITESPACE), expecting identifier (T_STRING) or variable (T_VARIABLE) or number (T_NUM_STRING) inC:\inetpub\wwwroot\test\noname24.php on line 2

 

[gw1500se]

Sorry.

echo "<a href=\"$row['url']\" title=\"$row['title']\">$row['icon'] $row['header']";

Got carried away with my escape quotes.

[Skorpio]

47 minutes ago, Barand said:

Use {..} around the complex variables, e.g.

echo "<li><a href='{$row['url']}' title='{$row['title']}'><i class='fas fa-user site-nav--icon'></i> Help</a></li>";
                   ^___________^         ^_____________^

 

Thanks, when I put in the additional $row information I again added too many quotes. This has solved the issue which has resulted in the following code

foreach ($data as $row) { 
     echo "<li><a href='{$row['url']}' title='{$row['title']}'><i class='{$row['icon']}'></i> {$row['header']}</a></li>";
}

If I use the quotes around the {$row['header']} -> '{$row['header']}' they print out on screen. Removing the 2 single quotes has solved the issue and when I view source I get the following

<li><a href='?page=home' title='Home Page'><i class='fas fa-home site-nav--icon'></i> Home</a></li>

 

[Phi11W]

58 minutes ago, Skorpio said:

echo "<li><a href='{$row['url']}' title='{$row['title']}'><i class='{$row['icon']}'></i> {$row['header']}</a></li>";

Just a thought, but did you ever consider using sprintf() instead of echo()? 

sprintf( '<li><a href="%s" title="%s"><i class="%s"></i> %s</a></li>' 
   , $row['url'] 
   , $row['title'] 
   , $row['icon'] 
   , $row['header'] 
   ); 

Regards,   Phill  W. 

[Skorpio]

1 minute ago, Phi11W said:

Just a thought, but did you ever consider using sprintf() instead of echo()? 

sprintf( '<li><a href="%s" title="%s"><i class="%s"></i> %s</a></li>' 
   , $row['url'] 
   , $row['title'] 
   , $row['icon'] 
   , $row['header'] 
   ); 

Regards,   Phill  W. 

I hadn't thought of any alternatives other than return and echo the function which I have now,

function navmenu($db){
        
   $data = $db->query("SELECT * FROM menu")->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
        
   foreach ($data as $row) { 
      return "<li><a href='{$row['url']}' title='{$row['title']}'><i class='{$row['icon']}'></i> {$row['header']}</a></li>";
   }
           
}

then

// Navigation Menu Function
echo navmenu($db);

 

[jodunno]

Hello Skorpio,

I just want to add a method to accomplish the task of separating single and double quotes: use single quotes to echo html with double quotes then concatenate variables, arrays and constants. Using your original code and the code suggested by Barand as a basis:

echo '<li><a href="' . $row['url'] . '" title="' . $row['title'] . '"><i class="fas fa-user site-nav--icon"></i> Help</a></li>';

it is probably what you were looking to accomplish.

Barand is a superb coder! I don't know gw1500se but gw1500se is also a pro, so i am not trying to step on anyones toes here. I see what you are doing and i think i can help you see what you should've been doing instead. Some people do not like spaghetti code (mixing php with html) so use whatever method suits you best. Again, i am just trying to add a method that is successful for me whenever i use the pasta :-)

Best wishes,

John