PHP loop for array on the basis of index numbers

Question

I am getting an array as an output from Order tracking api, its values vary in even numbers like sometimes it contains 2 values, sometimes it contains 4, sometimes 6, or 8.

Forexample

$array = array(time1,status1);

and sometimes

$array = array(time1,status1,time2,status2);

Or

$array = array(time1,status1,time2,status2,time3,status3);

So what I am doing, I have a timeline to show order status. Here is its code

<div class="timeline">
  <div class="container left">
    <div class="content">
      <h2>time</h2>
      <p>status</p>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="container right">
    <div class="content">
      <h2>time</h2>
      <p>status</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

So what I want is to create a loop in php to show time (odd index number values) in h2 tag and status (even index numbers) in p tag

The number of values in array may vary so I want a loop to create timeline for each time and its corresponding status.

You should instead change the way the API outputs the data if possible. That format makes no sense. — GrumpyCrouton, Nov 16 '20 at 18:41

Xhynk · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-16T20:18:44.600

Ideally, you'd be able to configure the API to send out something in a 'key' => 'value' type pair, especially something as "key : value" related as "time : status". Unfortunately, I'm well aware that depending on the API provider, this may not be possible.

So, provided that you can't change the API's response at all, and you always just get an array that's 2n long, you can simply use a for() loop or while loop (or any other control structure, really) to loop through the array and output the information you need with one of the Increment Operators available. You could also make use of something from this SO answer to reorganize your array into key:value pairs, but that may be overkill for this.

Here's a simple example using a simple while loop:

// Sample API Response (unsure of format, so Unix Timestamp + Text Status)
$api_response = array(
    1605552893, 'Processing',
    1605451893, 'Pending',
    1605350893, 'Complete',
    1605250893, 'Complete',
    1605150893, 'Complete',
    1605050893, 'Complete'
);

// Define some starting variables
$i = 0;                    // Start a counter at 0
$n = count($api_response); // Store length as a variable
$side = 'left';            // Set the first directional side

// Proceed to loop through the response
while( $i < $n ){
    /**
     * This is the iterable HTML block
     *
     * We use the Post-Increment operator ($i++) to
     * get the current index [0] and then bump it up
     * to [1] automatically. This gives us [0][1] in
     * the first iteration, [2][3] in the second, etc
     */
    printf( '<div class="content %s">
        <h2>%s</h2>
        <p>%s</p>
    </div>', $side, date('M jS, D', $api_response[$i++]), $api_response[$i++]);

    // Set side to the opposite of current side
    if( $i % 2 === 0 )
        $side = ($side=='left') ? 'right' : 'left';
}

The output of which would be:

<div class="content left">
    <h2>Nov 16th, Mon</h2>
    <p>Processing</p>
</div>
<div class="content right">
    <h2>Nov 15th, Sun</h2>
    <p>Pending</p>
</div>
<div class="content left">
    <h2>Nov 14th, Sat</h2>
    <p>Complete</p>
</div>
<!-- … etc … -->

As you can see at this sandbox link (click on the Execute Code button to see the output.

Two final things:

• You may want to consider using an HTML/CSS structure that doesn't rely on left and right CSS classes like Grid or Flexbox, but I put in a simple Ternary Operator to switch between the two for you for now.

• In that while loop, you may want to validate what type of data each value of $api_response[$i] is, to make sure that you're getting a time string in your expected format, and status in your expected format. You can use continue to skip the iteration if something is wrong (like you got two time strings in a row or something).

PHP loop for array on the basis of index numbers

1 Answers1