php echo quotation marks error

Question

I'm having hard time with quotation marks. I have this line of code;

echo "<a href='$bName'_read.php?bid='$bid'&id='$next_id[id]'>NEXT</a>";

with 3 variables, $bName,$bid, and $next_id[id].

There is something wrong with the quotations I've used. I also tried this;

echo "<a href='".$bName."_read.php?bid=".$bid."&id=".$next_id['id']."'">";

but it's still not working.

Can anyone explain how quoting works in this case please?

None of those variables need to be quoted inside that string, but $bname should be {} enclosed as href='{$bname}_read.php?... and the entire href string should be quoted — Michael Berkowski
– Michael Berkowski, Commented Dec 28, 2014 at 17:34
For readability and unambiguity, they will all benefit from {} As in echo "<a href='{$bName}_read.php?bid={$bid}&id={$next_id['id']}'>NEXT</a>"; — Michael Berkowski
– Michael Berkowski, Commented Dec 28, 2014 at 17:35
only the url needs quotes. you might want to literally write down an example output, if this is not immediately obvious to you... — Karoly Horvath
– Karoly Horvath, Commented Dec 28, 2014 at 17:36
@PeeHaa Meh - it's messy no matter which approach - interpolation, concatenation, sprintf, they're all ugly for a url. — Michael Berkowski
– Michael Berkowski, Commented Dec 28, 2014 at 17:38

worldofjr · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-28 17:50:40Z

4

You don't need to put single quotes around every PHP variable. It should make sense in HTML instead, for example;

echo "<a href='{$bName}_read.php?bid={$bid}&amp;id={$next_id['id']}'>NEXT</a>";

You need curly braces ({}) around object and array variables, but it is also useful for normal variables. Also, the array index should be in quotes as it is a string (not required for integer indexes).

Additionally, I changed the ampersand (&) to & as & signifies the start of a special character code (just like &), so although in this case it wouldn't be a problem it is best practice to put the HTML char code in, even in a URL.

edited Dec 28, 2014 at 17:50

answered Dec 28, 2014 at 17:35

worldofjr

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2 Comments

Michael Berkowski Over a year ago

Inside the {} the array key [id] must be quoted or it will cause undefined constant id notices. {$next_id['id']}

worldofjr Over a year ago

Ah yes, well spotted.

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