Strange values returned when looping through array

Question

$rows = getChallengeList();
error_log(print_r($rows, 1));
?>
<table border="1">
    <tr><th>ID</th><th>Title</th><th>Description</th></tr>
    <?php foreach ($rows as $row): ?>
        <?php foreach($row as $chal): ?>
        <tr>
            <td><?= $chal['loyalty_challenges_id']; ?></td>
            <td><?= $chal['title']; ?></td>
            <td><?= $chal['description']; ?></td>
        </tr>    
        <?php endforeach; ?>
    <?php endforeach; ?>
</table>

The error_log returns this:

[11-Jan-2013 10:44:27] Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [loyalty_challenges_id] => 1
            [title] => New Customer Special
            [description] => Reward new customers with a free order of breadsticks after placing their second order during their first 30 days 
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [loyalty_challenges_id] => 2
            [title] => Frequent Flyer Special
            [description] => Reward long-time customers who order often with a free pizza
        )

)

But the values rendered by the loop look like this:

<table border="1">
    <tr><th>ID</th><th>Title</th><th>Description</th></tr>
    <tr>
        <td>1</td>
        <td>1</td>
        <td>1</td>
    </tr>    
    <tr>
        <td>N</td>
        <td>N</td>
        <td>N</td>
    </tr>    
    <tr>
        <td>R</td>
        <td>R</td>
        <td>R</td>
    </tr>    
    <tr>
        <td>2</td>
        <td>2</td>
        <td>2</td>
    </tr>    
    <tr>
        <td>F</td>
        <td>F</td>
        <td>F</td>
    </tr>    
    <tr>
        <td>R</td>
        <td>R</td>
        <td>R</td>
    </tr>    
</table>

Any idea what would cause that? It's been a while since I've worked with straight php, rather than CMS's that have their own array processing functions.

@njk - I was taught that it was preferable to do that if you were going to have a lot of HTML with php values interspersed than to echo out hundreds of lines of html just so you can stay inside a single php tag. — EmmyS
– EmmyS, Commented Jan 11, 2013 at 16:59
@EmmyS Check this out: Are PHP short tags acceptable to use? — jnthnjns
– jnthnjns, Commented Jan 11, 2013 at 17:02
@Asok - according to that answer, "As ThiefMaster mentions in the comments, as of PHP 5.4, <?= ... ?> tags are supported everywhere, regardless of shorttags settings. This should mean they're safe to use in portable code but that does mean there's then a dependency on PHP 5.4+". Not an issue - we own all our servers, so we have complete control over them. — EmmyS
– EmmyS, Commented Jan 11, 2013 at 17:13

mpaepper · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-11 16:52:25Z

5

You have one loop too much:

$rows = getChallengeList();
error_log(print_r($rows, 1));
?>
<table border="1">
    <tr><th>ID</th><th>Title</th><th>Description</th></tr>
    <?php foreach ($rows as $chal): ?>
        <tr>
            <td><?= $chal['loyalty_challenges_id']; ?></td>
            <td><?= $chal['title']; ?></td>
            <td><?= $chal['description']; ?></td>
        </tr>    
    <?php endforeach; ?>
</table>

answered Jan 11, 2013 at 16:52

mpaepper

4,0324 gold badges23 silver badges29 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Mark Baker Over a year ago

Explanation: when using $chal['loyalty_challenges_id']; against the $chal string value, the 'loyalty_challenges_id' value is cast to a numeric, giving 0, so it displays the character at offset 0 of the string, the first character in the string

EmmyS Over a year ago

Thanks. I could swear I already tried that and got empty strings back, but I guess not.

Ricardo Lohmann · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-11 16:58:06Z

You need just one foreach:

<?php foreach ($rows as $row): ?>
    <tr>
        <td><?php echo $row['loyalty_challenges_id']; ?></td>
        <td><?php echo $row['title']; ?></td>
        <td><?php echo $row['description']; ?></td>
    </tr>    
<?php endforeach; ?>

What's happening ?

When you loop thrue $chal you loop thrue each key, and when you try to access $chal['loyalty_challenges_id'];

is the same of

$rows[0]['loyalty_challenges_id']['loyalty_challenges_id']

which is translated to

$rows[0]['loyalty_challenges_id'][0]

That's why you get the first letter on each row.

xlecoustillier · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-11 16:52:35Z

0

Try :

<?php foreach ($rows as $row): ?>
    <tr>
        <td><?php echo $row['loyalty_challenges_id']; ?></td>
        <td><?php echo $row['title']; ?></td>
        <td><?php echo $row['description']; ?></td>
    </tr>    
<?php endforeach; ?>

answered Jan 11, 2013 at 16:52

xlecoustillier

16.4k15 gold badges64 silver badges88 bronze badges

Comments

crush · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-11 16:52:47Z

0

    <?php foreach($row as $chal): ?>
    <tr>
        <td><?= $chal['loyalty_challenges_id']; ?></td>
        <td><?= $chal['title']; ?></td>
        <td><?= $chal['description']; ?></td>
    </tr>    
    <?php endforeach; ?>

This foreach is unneeded. Remove it, and use $row['loyalty_challenges_id'] etc.

answered Jan 11, 2013 at 16:52

crush

17.1k10 gold badges65 silver badges104 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Strange values returned when looping through array

4 Answers 4

2 Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

4 Answers 4

2 Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Linked

Related