Combine variable to make new variable

[themonkey40]

I have the variable $id and I want to make it $id1, $id2, $id3...

$adder = 1;

$id.$adder++; 

That makes the variable just 1 and not $id1.

How can I code it so that it will make $id1?

[Stevish]

The way to do what you're asking is with eval()

<?php
for($adder = 1; $adder < 10; $adder++)
   eval('$id' . $adder . ' = "whatever";');
?>

However, that's probably not the best way. A better way would be to use an array:

<?php
$id = array();
$id[1] = "one";
$id[2] = "two";
for($adder = 3; $adder < 10; $adder++)
   $id[$adder] = "Something";
?>

This way you can use things like foreach loops (to loop through all the id variables even if you don't know how many variables there are) and array functions that will do a lot of cool stuff.

[themonkey40]

Not totally making sense to me. Let me give you more code to explain better.

$adder = 1;

while($adder <= $count)
    
    $id1=$_POST['id1'];
    $desc1=$_POST['desc1'];
    $value1=$_POST['value1'];
    $num1=$_POST['num1'];
    
    updateSpec($id1,$desc1,$value1,$num1) 

I want to be able to repeat

    $id1=$_POST['id1'];
    $desc1=$_POST['desc1'];
    $value1=$_POST['value1'];
    $num1=$_POST['num1']; 

without copying and pasting the code and changing the number 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and so on.

[criterion9]

Something like this?

$adder = 1;

while($adder <= $count){
    
    $id[$adder]=$_POST['id1'];
    $desc[$adder]=$_POST['desc1'];
    $value[$adder]=$_POST['value1'];
    $num[$adder]=$_POST['num1'];
    
    updateSpec($id[$adder],$desc[$adder],$value[$adder],$num[$adder]) ;
    
    $adder++;
} 

[Mindzai]

Like Stevish says you should really use an array for this. For example, if you create your forms like so:

<input type="text" name="id[]" value="this is id 1" />
<input type="text" name="id[]" value="this is id 1" />
<input type="text" name="id[]" value="this is id 1" />

Then you will receive post data as an array:

echo $_POST['id'][0]; // this is id 1
echo $_POST['id'][1]; // this is id 2 

I don't see why you would need to create a whole new set of variables when the data is already there in the post array. What purpose does copying all the data serve?

[themonkey40]

yes Could it also work like this?

$adder = 1; 

while($adder <= $count){ 
     
    $id[$adder]=$_POST['id[$adder]']; 
    $desc[$adder]=$_POST['desc[$adder]']; 
    $value[$adder]=$_POST['value[$adder]']; 
    $num[$adder]=$_POST['num[$adder]']; 
     
    updateSpec($id[$adder],$desc[$adder],$value[$adder],$num[$adder]) ; 
     
    $adder++; 
} 

I need both numbers to change.

[themonkey40]

here is the form page code:

<tbody>
<?php
$num_adder= 1;
$desc_adder= 1;
$value_adder = 1;
$id_adder = 1;
                                 while($spec=mysql_fetch_array($sql)) { ?>
        <tr>
            <td width="10%" valign="top"><input type="text" size="2" value="<?php echo $spec['num']; ?>" name="num<?php echo $num_adder++; ?>"></td>
            <td width="30%" valign="top"><input type="text" size="30" value="<?php echo $spec['descriptor']; ?>" name="desc<?php echo $desc_adder++; ?>"></td>
            <td width="30%" valign="top"><textarea name="value<?php echo $value_adder++; ?>"><?php echo $spec['value']; ?></textarea></td>
            <input type="hidden" value="<?php echo $spec['id']; ?>" name="id<?php echo $id_adder++;?>">
            <td width="30%"></td>
        </tr>
<?php } ?>
                        </tbody>

[themonkey40]

would something like this work?

$count = 25;
for($adder = 1; $adder < $count; $adder++) 
   $id[$adder] = $_POST['id[$adder]']; 

would it then do this 25 times?

[themonkey40]

would something like this work?

$count = 25
for($adder = 1; $adder < $count; $adder++) 
   $id[$adder] = $_POST['id[$adder]']; 
updateSpec($id[$adder],$desc[$adder],$value[$adder],$num[$adder]); 

or to Mindzai point, count I just do

$count = 25
for($adder = 1; $adder < $count; $adder++) 
$_POST['id[$adder]']; 
$_POST['desc[$adder]']; 
$_POST['value[$adder]']; 

updateSpec($_POST['id[$adder]'],$_POST['desc[$adder]'],$_POST['value[$adder]']); 

[themonkey40]

when I use the following code:

$count = 25;
for($i = 1; $i < $count; $i++) {
    echo "the var is" . $id[$i] . "<br>";
}
exit(); 

i get the following output:

the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is
the var is

number and var are missing. not sure why?

[criterion9]

Something more like?

$i = 0;
foreach($_POST['id'] as $id) {
    echo "the var is" . $_POST['id'][$i] . "<br />";
    $i++;
} 

[themonkey40]

criterion9 I tried your code, but got the following error message:

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /edit_spec_process.php on line 5

Any ideas why?

[criterion9]

This will only run the code when the parameters are correct. Have you submitted the form correctly (i.e. form elements' name attribute = "id[]")?

if(isset($_POST['id']) && is_array($_POST['id'])){
    $i = 0;
    foreach($_POST['id'] as $id) {
        echo "the var is" . $_POST['id'][$i] . "<br />";
        $i++;
    } 
} 

[themonkey40]

What should my form look like?

[criterion9]

Like Stevish says you should really use an array for this. For example, if you create your forms like so:

<input type="text" name="id[]" value="this is id 1" />
<input type="text" name="id[]" value="this is id 1" />
<input type="text" name="id[]" value="this is id 1" />

Then you will receive post data as an array:

echo $_POST['id'][0]; // this is id 1
echo $_POST['id'][1]; // this is id 2 

I don't see why you would need to create a whole new set of variables when the data is already there in the post array. What purpose does copying all the data serve?

See above post.