LITTLEBLACKDOG.COM

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:14 pm Post subject: Need some PHP syntax with tags

I have a program that allows my customers to update their web page by filling out an Excel spreadsheet I paid for years ago that I have been customizing for different purposes - calendars, content. I was hoping this app would work because sometimes in this particular application, the content will not have bullet points and since I didn't know how handle it I was hoping and praying this would work but it did not.

Code: Select all

<?php echo <h2> $record['header1']; </h2> ?>


<?php echo <p> $record['para1']; </p> ?>


 <blockquote><?php echo <li> $record['bullet1']; </li> ?>


          <li><?php echo $record['bullet1-2']; </li> ?>


            <?php echo <li> $record['bullet1-3']; </li> ?>


            <?php echo <li> $record['bullet1-4']; </li> ?>


            <?php echo <li> $record['bullet1-5']; </li> ?>


            <?php echo <li> $record['bullet1-6']; </li> ?>


            <?php echo <li> $record['bullet1-7']; </li> ?>


    </blockquote>


<?php echo <p> $record['para1-end']; </p> ?>

So I made it like this and it works but, because there are not always going to be bullets in the content, I need to either come up with a way to make it conditional or I can't offer this which is a big bummer.

Code: Select all

<h2><?php echo $record['header1']; ?></h2>


<p><?php echo $record['para1']; ?></p>


 <blockquote><li><?php echo $record['bullet1']; ?></li>


          <li><?php echo $record['bullet1-2']; ?></li>


            <li><?php echo $record['bullet1-3']; ?></li>


            <li><?php echo $record['bullet1-4']; ?></li>


            <li><?php echo $record['bullet1-5']; ?></li>


            <li><?php echo $record['bullet1-6']; ?></li>


            <li><?php echo $record['bullet1-7']; ?></li>


    </blockquote>


<p><?php echo $record['para1-end']; ?></p>

Can anyone lend a hand so that the line items and blockquote only shows up if there is data in there?

Thanks in advance!

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:32 am Post subject:

Code: Select all




<blockquote>


<?php


   foreach ($record as $bullet)


   {


      echo "<li>$bullet</li>\n";


   }


?>


</blockquote>

The foreach statement loops through the $record array without you having to know how many elements are in it before hand. If nothing is in $record the loop just bails.

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:43 am Post subject:

Hmm, I see what you're doing there. Everything is just dumped into the $record array, things like 'header1', 'para1', and an arbitrary number of bullets.

Is there something that sets a maximum number of bullets allowed? I'd first run a quick loop to extract the bullets into a separate array, then my prior foreach code would work.

OOOOH!!! Just got an idea.

Code: Select all




<?php echo <h2> $record['header1']; </h2> ?> 


<?php echo <p> $record['para1']; </p> ?>


<blockquote>


<?php


foreach($record as $key => $val)


{


   if( substr($key, 0, 6) == 'bullet')


   {


      echo "<li>$val</li>\n";


   }


}


?>


</blockquote>

What this does is loop through all the key/value pairs in the $record array, if it encounters a key that begins with "bullet" (to cover the undefined number of 'bullet1-#' keys) it'll print that element's value into a list item.

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:50 am Post subject: I like what you're doing

but the spreadsheet the data is pulled from has these headers so I know where to get the data from. each of the 5 possible entries has 7 bullets numbered like this: bullet1, bullet1-2, bullet1-3, bullet1-4, bullet1-5, bullet1-6, bullet1-7 would be the first event and then the next would start bullet2, bullet2-2, bullet2-3... and so on, so each bullet is unique. When I ran your script it repeats the first entry/entry all the way down the page. Plus I'm getting extraneous bullets. It might be better for you to visualize.
The hard coded page is here: http://www.youngberghill.com/youngberg_hill_calendar-events.html and the dynamic one is here: http://www.youngberghill.com/youngberg_hill_calendar-events.php
I was using this:

Code: Select all

<h2><?php echo  $record['header1']; ?></h2>


<p><?php echo $record['para1']; ?>


<blockquote>


<?php


foreach($record as $key => $val)


{


   if( substr($key, 0, 6) == 'bullet')


   {


      echo "<li>$val</li>\n";


   }


}


?>


</blockquote> 


<?php echo $record['para1-end']; ?></p>

Thanks very much for your help!

Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:30 pm Post subject: this worked

I posted this at PHPFreaks and got something that did the job.

Code: Select all

<?php if(!empty($record['bullet1'])) echo "<li>".$record['bullet1']."</li>"; ?>


    <?php if(!empty($record['bullet1-2'])) echo "<li>".$record['bullet1-2']."</li>"; ?>


    <?php if(!empty($record['bullet1-3'])) echo "<li>".$record['bullet1-3']."</li>"; ?>


    <?php if(!empty($record['bullet1-4'])) echo "<li>".$record['bullet1-4']."</li>"; ?>


    <?php if(!empty($record['bullet1-5'])) echo "<li>".$record['bullet1-5']."</li>"; ?> 


    <?php if(!empty($record['bullet1-6'])) echo "<li>".$record['bullet1-6']."</li>"; ?>


    <?php if(!empty($record['bullet1-7'])) echo "<li>".$record['bullet1-7']."</li>"; ?>

It would be cool to use something that used less code like what you were thinking but this works fine too...