creating a php variable for mysql

Question

We have a list of dates that is drawn from a MySQL database. That part is pretty straight forward and works just fine, do a $query, step through the array, find those that meet conditions, echo some html code and the date itself.

The issue we are hoping to remedy is that this list appears in three separate places on the webpage. Each time it appears, the php code is run, database query made and results echo'd.

What I am wondering is if there is a way to create a php variable at the beginning and then simply echo that variable in all three spots, rather than running the code three times.

I have tried the noob ideas of simply using:

$date = ( ...all the php query / echo code... );
and
$date = { ...all the php query / echo code... };

As well as permutations there of. But to no avail.

You could also use a function with property's to hold the values — Ruben
– Ruben, Commented Dec 9, 2011 at 12:51

middus · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-09 13:15:51Z

1

Yes, you can store it in a variable at the top of your php file:

// query ...
// but don't echo, store in a string
$date = 'this contains what is supposed to be echoed later on.';

Then later on:

echo $date;

And again elsewhere:

echo $date;

Regarding your comment:

$date = ''; // this will hold all dates
while($tourtime = fetch_result_from_db(...)){ // 'the loop', whatever yours look like
    // instead of echoing, append to the string $date
    $date .= "<span class=\"dates\">". date ("j F Y", $tourtime) . "</span><br />";
}

.= appends (concatenates) strings.

Bonus: If you have lots of data, it might be better w.r.t. efficiency to collect all rows first and then join them into a string in a single operation. You can do this like this:

$rows = array();
while($tourtime = fetch_result_from_db(...)){
    $rows[] = "<span class=\"dates\">". date ("j F Y", $tourtime) . "</span><br />";
}
$date = implode($rows);

edited Dec 9, 2011 at 13:15

answered Dec 9, 2011 at 12:56

middus

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2 Comments

MrCycling Over a year ago

This is basically what we want to do, but not sure how to create the string. The current code loops through and does an echo "<span class=\"dates\">". date ("j F Y", $tourtime) . "</span><br />" . What do we change to make it store the various rows as a long string (multiple instances of the above example) ?

MrCycling Over a year ago

Thanks for the extra information. That should work like a charm and save a couple of db queries. Will play a bit with both of them, our date list usually numbers from 1 to maybe 20 dates at the most.

ern0 · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-09 12:56:42Z

Yes, you can give values to variables much more before you're using it. Feel free to do it.

If the 3 points have different parameters, you should create the variable as a template-like style.

 // beginning of the code
 $statementTemplate = "select * from x where a=8 and b<9 order by #";

 //... some code...

 // point 1
 $statement = str_replace("#","name",$statementTemplate);
 // perform statement

 //... some code...

 // point 2
 $statement = str_replace("#","name desc",$statementTemplate);
 // perform statement

 //... some code...

 // point 3
 $statement = str_replace("#","lastmodify",$statementTemplate);
 // perform statement

Don't afraid, programs may do anything!

str_replace? Is that supposed to be a poor man's prepared statement?
But this is the answer for the question. The dude is a newbie and he/she is not sure that it's possible to use a variable later, or what can we do with them.

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