CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phparraysloops
Malibur
Malibur

Reputation: 1783

Looping through PHP array with x indexes, but always returning 3 results

I have an array with a random number of words. It can contain a single word as a minimum or more than 10 words. Example:

$words = array (
 0 => 'This',
 1 => 'is',
 2 => 'my',
 3 => 'word'
)

Now, lets say i want to echo out 6 words from this array, starting over when we reach the end of the array. I want the logic to be something like this

for ($i=0; $i < 6 ; $i++) { 
    //if $words[$i] exist, print it, else reset the array and start over until we reach all 6
}

I'd like the result to be: "This is my word this is"

I struggle to figure out the maths for this. Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks

Upvotes: 0

Views: 65

Answers (8)

Torrezzzz
Torrezzzz

Reputation: 307

for ($i = 0; $i < 6 ; $i++) {
    if(!empty($words[$i])) 
        echo $words[$i];
    else
        for($j = 0 ; $j <= $i; $j++){
            echo $words[$j];
        }
}

Upvotes: 0

SubjectCurio
SubjectCurio

Reputation: 4872

To handle if $words[$i] exist, print it, else reset the array I'd use something neater $i % count($array), for example.

$array = array(
    '0' => 'This',
    '1' => 'is',
    '2' => 'my',
    '3' => 'word'
);

for ($i = 0; $i < 6; $i++) {
    echo $array[$i % count($array)] . ' ';
}

// "This is my word This is "

Or if you wanted your exact output as specified in your question, (no spaces on the end), I'd probably do

$string = '';
for ($i = 0; $i < 6; $i++) {
    $string .= $array[$i % count($array)] . ' ';
}

echo trim($string);

// "This is my word This is"

or alternatively something like

echo $array[$i % count($array)] . ($i == 5 ? null : ' ');

// "This is my word This is"

Upvotes: 2

t3chguy
t3chguy

Reputation: 1018

Your array is defined wrong to begin with:

$words = array (
  0 => 'This',
  1 => 'is',
  2 => 'my',
  3 => 'word'
);

Now to print it you can do:

for ($i=0; $i < 6 ; $i++) {
  if(isset($words[$i])) { echo $words[$i] . ' '; }
}

For your more strange requirement:

for ($i=0; $i < 6; $i++) { 
    echo $words[$i % count($words)], ' ';
}

Upvotes: 1

spencer
spencer

Reputation: 454

Try this :

for ($i=0; $i < 6 ; $i++) { 
    echo $words[$i%(sizeof($words))];
}

Upvotes: 0

TimoStaudinger
TimoStaudinger

Reputation: 42460

The most elegant solution that does not require a second variable for iteration would probably be to use the modulo operator:

for ($i=0; $i < NUMBER_OF_WORDS ; $i++) { 
    echo $words[$i % count($words)] . ' ';
}

This will echo NUMBER_OF_WORDS words of your array $words and start at index 0 again once all words of the array have been used.

Upvotes: 1

Psychemaster
Psychemaster

Reputation: 876

for($i=0; $i<6; $i++) {
  if($i >= sizeOf($words)) {
    echo $words[$i % sizeOf($words)];
  }
  else { echo $words[$i]; }
}

Should do the trick.

Upvotes: 0

Phantom
Phantom

Reputation: 1700

Try this: 

$words       = array('first', 'second', 'third');
$result      = '';
$index       = 0;
$words_count = count($words);

for ($i = 0; $i < 5; ++$i) {
    $result .= ' ' . $words[$index];
    ++$index;
    if ($index >= $words_count) {
        $index = 0;
    }
}

die(var_dump($result));

Upvotes: 2

Daniel
Daniel

Reputation: 3514

Just try something like this:

$n = 0;
for ($i=0; $i < 6 ; $i++) { 
    echo $words[$n];
    $n++;
    if($n == count($words){
        $n -= count($words);
    }
}

If you reach the end of your array it will reset $n to zero;

Upvotes: 0

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