Returning an array from a function

captainmerton · 07-14-2009, 07:42 PM

I want to create a function that goes away and collects data from a database that will be used in a form drop down. I assume the best way to do this is an array as the number of rows of data returned will vary. Essentially i want to build an array as i read th rows then return the array from the function. How do I go about doing this and how do I handle the data when calling the function. the code I have inside the function (PS i havent included all the function code just the main part of it):

PHP Code:


			
    function getList($data1,$data2) {



        $query = ("SELECT blahdata from blahtable

        WHERE blahcolumn == "$data1");

          

        $result = mysql_query($query) OR die("Cannot perform getList query!");



        if (mysql_num_rows($result) == 0) {

            return 0;

        } else {

            $arr=array();

            $counter=0;

            while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))

            {

                $arr[$counter]=$row['blahdata'];

                $counter=$counter+1;

            }

            return $arr;            

        }

            

    }

I find if I call the function using a print statement I get "0" when there is no rows as expected but "array" when there ares rows. Do i need to explode the array?

Village Idiot · 07-14-2009, 08:08 PM

Edit: It looks like I completely misunderstood your post. Arrays can not be directly printed, you have to grab the data and individually print it. Look into foreach.

captainmerton · 07-15-2009, 04:57 PM

That looks like what i need. many thanks.

rguy84 · 07-15-2009, 06:37 PM

why can't you do:

PHP Code:


			
<select style="margin-right:0.25em" name="cmbModPCProg">

        <?php

        echo "<option>Select a Program</option>\n".

        "\t\t<option>----------</option>\n";

        $qGetProg = "SELECT progID, progName FROM tblProg;";

        if ($rGetProg = $mysqli->query($qGetProg)){

            while($row = $rGetProg->fetch_assoc()){

                $rGetPID = $row['progID'];

                $rGetPN = $row['progName'];

                echo "\t\t<option value=\"".$rGetPID."\">".$rGetPN."</option>\n";

                }

        $rGetProg->close();

        }

        ?>

    </select>

(I made this years ago when I was learning php, so it may not be the cleanest)

captainmerton · 07-15-2009, 08:45 PM

My intention was to create the function to return an array which may or may not be used to produce a form drop down list. I've created another function to accept in the array and reformat it as a form drop down list. If that makes sense. But thanks for the help.