string question(s)

[bdina]

I have been trying to figure this one out, and so far have come up empty... what I want to do is parse a text file, I am working with this file by using fopen to open it, and then assigning a file pointer to it pulling it in byte by byte. When I get the bytes, I examine them, manipulate some local variables if necessary, and store the chars in their proper containers. When I hit a new line in the input text file, I want to reset all local variables, and use the strings that I have parsed out of the file. This is where I get unexpected results. When I try to print the contents of my arrays, I get the word "Array" for all of them as output. If I print the Arrays by accessing each elements using a loop to print each character, the data is there. I thought this could mean I do not have a null terminator at the ends of my arrays, and because I am using echo to print them out, echo prints out Array, but I don't think this is the case, anyway, here is my code:

first the one that does print:

<?php

// local variable declaration.
$param1 = 1;
$param2 = 0;

$name = array();
$display = array();

/* Grab the conf file that holds the file names and
* their descriptions
*/
$fp = fopen("/home/bdina/public_html/help/howtos.file", "r");

/* Now to move along the file byte-by-byte, and parse
* it...
*/
while(!feof($fp)) {
$char = fgetc($fp);

// detect a newline.
if(ord($char) == 10) {
$param1 = 1;
$param2 = 0;

foreach($name as $val) {
echo ord($val);
}

echo " ";

foreach($display as $val) {
echo $val;
}

echo "<br>";

unset($name);
unset($display);
}

// detect first space.
if((ord($char) == 32) && ($param1 == 1)) {
$param1 = 0;
$param2 = 1;
}

if(($param1 == 1) && ($param2 == 0)) {
$name[] = $char;
}

if(($param1 == 0) && ($param2 == 1)) {
$display[] = $char;
}
}

/* Close it up cause I am done fool. */
fclose($fp);
?>

that code prints the strings out... this one does not...


<?php

// local variable declaration.
$param1 = 1;
$param2 = 0;

$name = array();
$display = array();

/* Grab the conf file that holds the file names and
* their descriptions
*/
$fp = fopen("/home/bdina/public_html/help/howtos.file", "r");

/* Now to move along the file byte-by-byte, and parse
* it...
*/
while(!feof($fp)) {
$char = fgetc($fp);

// detect a newline.
if(ord($char) == 10) {
$param1 = 1;
$param2 = 0;

echo $name . " " . $display . "<br>";

unset($name);
unset($display);
}

// detect first space.
if((ord($char) == 32) && ($param1 == 1)) {
$param1 = 0;
$param2 = 1;
}

if(($param1 == 1) && ($param2 == 0)) {
$name[] = $char;
}

if(($param1 == 0) && ($param2 == 1)) {
$display[] = $char;
}
}

/* Close it up cause I am done fool. */
fclose($fp);
?>

I'm still looking for the answer to this, but if anyone knows it would be appreciated...

thanks,
--Bryan

 

[sleipnir214]

If you want to output the contents of an array, you must use print_r() instead of print.

PHP does not have a default conversion from array type to string for printing.



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[bdina]

so there is no way to just output the array as a string?? I have to use some type of a loop???

 

[sleipnir214]

There is no looping. "print_r" is short for "print recursive".


If $foo is an array, just do

print_r ($foo);


If you need to capture the output of print_r() into a string, that option is available, too. See the PHP online manual entry for print_r()





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[kenrbnsn]

You might want to look at the implode function.

$ary = array('a','b','c','d','e');
$str = implode(':',$ary);
echo 'Ary = '.$ary;

would print

Ary = a:b:c:d:e

You could try

echo implode('',$name) . " " . implode('',$display) . "<br>";

This is untested, so YMMV

Ken

 

[KarveR]

..../
Ok I read this, and read it again, and I'll derail slightly if I may .

1) what are you trying to extract from the file?
2) does this *have* to be done character by character ?
3) when you print out your array, have you tried $your_array[0]; ?
4) is the file a fixed length file?
or definitive standard file (e.g Ansi x12 / as2 etc) ?

Just thinking that maybe theres a different way to approach the beast;
the first way isn't always the right way,
the right way isnt always the easiest way,
the easiest way isnt always the best way.


______________________________________________________________________
There's no present like the time, they say. - Henry's Cat.

 

[bdina]

I don't have to accomplish this this way, I am somewhat working with it more because I am just trying to learn php, and see what it can do for me. I could just store the names of the files in the MySQL db, and also their descriptions, which would be really easy, however I am trying it in a flat file to see how php handles files. I will look at the implode function, however if I can not print strings, then I can not print strings.... I have yet to check out the functions documentation but am wondering if it is like the implode function of SML/NJ.

 

[KarveR]

when reading files, normal text or html I normally try to split on whitespace if possible, or a suitable delimiter, also assigning lines a number. heres a quickie example to help you get the idea. (code checked OK)

<?php
$file="somefile.txt";

if (file_exists($file)){

	$fcontents = file($file);

	while (list ($line_num, $line) = each ($fcontents)) {

		$parts=explode(' ', $line);

		$num_parts=count($parts);

		$i=0;

		while($i < $num_parts){

			echo "$line_num: $parts[$i]<br>";

			$i++;
		}

		echo "<hr>";

	}
}

echo "EOF";

?>

______________________________________________________________________
There's no present like the time, they say. - Henry's Cat.

 

[kenrbnsn]

Do you have to store your strings in variables?

Instead of initializing them as

   $name = array();
   $display = array();

can't you just initialize them as the null string?

$name = '';
$display = '';

Then you would do

      if(($param1 == 1) && ($param2 == 0)) {
         $name .= $char;
      }

      if(($param1 == 0) && ($param2 == 1)) {
         $display .= $char;
      }

The '.=' operator appends whatever is on the right side of the operator to what's on the left side.

Your 'echo' statement would then work as you intended.

Ken