Brett
Brett

Reputation: 3316

PHP two dimensional array into HTML

A simple Google search will reveal a multitude of solutions for converting a two dimension array into HTML using PHP. Unfortunately none of these has the answers I am looking for.

I want a generic piece of code that converts an array into a HTML table. Where most examples go wrong is that they assume the programmer knows the name of the table's fields . I want this code to be generic such that I can use it even if I do not know the name of the fields.

I can see I need two loops. One nested inside of the other. What I am not sure of is how to get the values out given I don't know the keys.

The end result will hopefully output html something like this:

<th>
  <td>x/y</td>
  <td> x1 </td>
  <td> x2 </td>
</th>
<tr>
  <td>y1</td>
  <td> x1y1 </td>
  <td> x2y1 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td>y2</td>
  <td> x1y2 </td>
  <td> x2y2 </td>
</tr>

Please remember I want a generic and simple solution. I hope this is clear.

Upvotes: 6

Views: 18096

Answers (3)

Juan Cort&#233;s
Juan Cort&#233;s

Reputation: 21132

The following code will look through the two dimensions of the array and make them into a table. Regardless of what the key may be, you will get a visual representation of it. If they do have key name and not just an index, the values will be available in $key and $subkey respectively. So you have them if you need them.

The code:

$myarray = array("key1"=>array(1,2,3,4),
                 "key2"=>array(2,3,4,5),
                 "key3"=>array(3,4,5,6),
                 "key4"=>array(4,5,6,7)); //Having a key or not doesn't break it
$out  = "";
$out .= "<table>";
foreach($myarray as $key => $element){
    $out .= "<tr>";
    foreach($element as $subkey => $subelement){
        $out .= "<td>$subelement</td>";
    }
    $out .= "</tr>";
}
$out .= "</table>";

echo $out;

The result:

enter image description here

If you want to see the keys as headings, you could add this code after the echo "<table>"; line:

echo "<tr>";
foreach($myarray as $key => $element) echo "<td>$key</td>";
echo "</tr>";

Resulting in this:

enter image description here

Upvotes: 14

Jake M
Jake M

Reputation: 544

You'll need two loops. One to loop through the first level, and another to go through the second level. This assumes that your two dimensional array is regularly rectangular.

//our example array
$foo['one']['a'] = '1a';
$foo['one']['b'] = '1b';
$foo['two']['a'] = '2a';
$foo['two']['b'] = '1b';

//open table
echo '<table>';

//our control variable
$first = true;

foreach($foo as $key1 => $val1) {
    //if first time through, we need a header row
    if($first){
        echo '<tr><th></th>';
        foreach($val1 as $key2 => $value2){
            echo '<th>'.$key2.'</th>';
        }
        echo '</tr>';

        //set control to false
        $first = false;
    }

    //echo out each object in the table
    echo '<tr><td>'.$key1.'</td>';
    foreach($val1 as $key2 => $value2){
        echo '<td>'.$value2.'</td>';
    }
    echo '</tr>';
}

echo '</table>';

Haven't tested it, but that should do it for you. First level of the array is rows, second level of the array is columns.

Sample Output for our $foo array:

+-----+-----+-----+
|     |  a  |  b  |
+-----+-----+-----+
| one | 1a  | 1b  |
+-----+-----+-----+
| two | 2a  | 2b  |
+-----+-----+-----+

Upvotes: 3

napolux
napolux

Reputation: 16114

Your loops will be something like this:

foreach($myArray as $k => $v)

In $k you'll kave the key, in $v the value... Then you can print both.

Upvotes: -1

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