How to retrieve and display an array with objects from php cell using a loop?

Question

In a Flex project, I have an array with objects in it. I want to save this array in a cell on a mysql table along with some other basic info like title, and an id.

EDIT: just clarifying since i seem to be getting responses explaining how to echo all the rows... I'm trying to echo the contents of an array that was serialized and placed in a single cell. This array has objects in it.

So, I have this code here to serialize the array, and insert it along with the other info into my DB:

function submitLogDbObj($array,$id,$title)
{
$title=mysql_real_escape_string($title);

return mysql_query("INSERT INTO logs (text,id,title) VALUES ('".serialize($array)."','$id','$title')");

}

Then for a test i'm trying to make a loop that will display the log in a way that looks like a conversation...

an object in my array would look something like:

[1] 
  icon = ""
  msg = "this is a test"
  name = "Them: "
  systemMsg = 0
[2]
  icon = ""
  msg = "yep it sure is"
  name = "You: "
  systemMsg = 0

So here's what i've got so far, but its not working! How can I make a loop that will take that array from the DB, unserialize it and then echo the convo in a way that looks like a chat log?

Thanks!

<?php

include_once("dbinfo.php");

$id= $_GET['id'];

$result = mysql_query("SELECT text,title FROM logs WHERE id='$id'")
or die(mysql_error()); 

$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);

if($result)
{

$log = unserialize($row['text']);

echo 'starting loop!';

echo "<ul>";

/* im not sure how to represent the length of an array in php thats why i just have $log.length */

for ($i = 1; $i <=$log.length; $i++)
{
    echo "<div id='logbox'>";
    echo "<li>";
    $name=$log[$i]['name'];
    $msg=$log[$i]['msg'];
    echo "$name - $msg";
    echo "</li>";
    echo "</div>";
    echo "<br />";
}
echo "</ul>";


echo 'finished loop!';

} 
else 
{
echo "Looks like this chat log has been deleted. Sorry!";
}

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 11:48:05Z

Well, there're a few things which could be better here:

The length of an array is found through count( $array ) or sizeof( $array )
$value . $otherValue means concatenate those two values. Since length is undefined in this context, $log.length means "$log.length".
The best way to loop through an array is foreach( $set as $val) or foreach( $set as $key => $val )
The preferred method of iterating through a SQL result is the while loop: while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)){ or do... while (see below). Unless you specifically and consciously only want one, then it would be best to use that. And if you do only want one, then put a Limit in the query.
Serialized arrays in databases has a redundant flavor. Are you sure that this is what you want?
Your serialized array, before it is inserted, should also be run through mysql_real_escape_string.
br really shouldn't be needed if you're surrounding something in its own div.
Indent properly or the kitten of death will come for you.

The improved code:

$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);

// row could be empty if there were no results
if($row) 
{
    // we've already grabbed the first value, so we need 
    // to invert while into do... while.
    do
    {
        $log = unserialize($row['text']);

        echo "<ul>";

        foreach( $log as $line )
        {
            // Are you sure this should be outside of the li?
            echo "<div id='logbox'>"; 
            echo "<li>";
            $name=$line['name'];
            $msg=$line['msg'];
            echo "$name - $msg";
            echo "</li>";
            echo "</div>";
        }
        echo "</ul>";
    }
    while( $row = mysql_fetch_array($result) );

    echo 'finished loop!';

} 
else 
{
    echo "Looks like this chat log has been deleted. Sorry!";
}

Makes sense! Thanks! and sorry about the indenting, stackoverflow messed it up for some reason, and I didnt feel like doing all the indenting using space since I cant tab on a stackoverflow post.

bcoughlan · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-30 03:03:33Z

0

Firstly, get into the habit of indenting your code properly, it will save you a lot of frustration when looking for errors.

You don't need to know the length of the array, you can just use a while loop: (coding from the hip here so let me know if you get errors)

$result = mysql_query("......") or die("Query failed");

//Keep going while $row isn't FALSE 
//mysql_fetch_array returns false when there are no more rows
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)){
    //You can close PHP tags here and insert the 
    //variables in the HTML, it often looks neater
    //and your editor can colour code HTML, helping
    //you to find problems
    ?>
    <div>
        <li><?php echo $row['name'] ?></li>
        <li><?php echo $row['msg'] ?></li>
    </div>
    <?php
}

See the "fetch array while loop" of this tutorial for more examples.

answered Jun 30, 2011 at 3:03

bcoughlan

26.7k20 gold badges96 silver badges149 bronze badges

2 Comments

brybam Over a year ago

Thanks for the tip, but I do indent properly, stackoverflow just really messed up the indenting pretty bad and I didnt feel like indening it all properly over again. and 2 I'm familiar with what you're suggesting for displaying all the rows in the mysql table. BUT if you look at my post you'll see its a serialized array that was in a cell im trying to display.

bcoughlan Over a year ago

Ah sorry I misread. use count($myVar) to get array length, and start $i at 0. To indent your code properly on SO just paste it, highlight it and click the {} icon (maybe you did that already, but usually works for me)

DobotJr · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-30 03:07:16Z

0

$result = mysql_query("SELECT text,title FROM logs WHERE id='$id'")
echo "<ul>";
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($results)) {
 $name = $row['name'];
 $msg = $row['msg'];

 //display data how ever you want 

}
echo "</ul>";

answered Jun 30, 2011 at 3:07

DobotJr

4,0499 gold badges38 silver badges51 bronze badges

1 Comment

brybam Over a year ago

I'm familiar with this method for displaying all the rows from my query, but if you look at my post its a serialized array in a single cell that contains multiple objects that im trying to echo to the page.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to retrieve and display an array with objects from php cell using a loop?

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

2 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related