PHP: increment name of variable in a for loop

Question

The for loop fails because "$" is an invalid variable character:

<?php 
$num1 = "Number 1";
$num2 = "Number 2";
$num3 = "Number 3";

for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++) {
    echo $num$i . "<br>";
}
?>

(I didn't understand this question)

You're looking for variable variables. But in almost any case, using an array is better. — Qirel, Jan 9 '16 at 16:04

u_mulder · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-09 16:10:12Z

$num1 = "Number 1";
$num2 = "Number 2";
$num3 = "Number 3";

for ($i = 1; $i <=3; $i++) {
    $num = 'num' . $i;
    echo ${$num} . "<br>";
}

But using array is simpler:

$nums = array("Number 1", "Number 2","Number 3");
for ($i = 0; $i <3; $i++) {
    echo $nums[$i] . "<br>";
}

Fawzan · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-09 16:11:32Z

What you are trying to do is variable variables (but I recommend you to use an array).

Here is how you should do it.

<?php 
$num1 = "Number 1";
$num2 = "Number 2";
$num3 = "Number 3";

for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++) {
    echo ${"num".$i} . "<br>";
}

Sajeeb Ahamed · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-09 16:12:36Z

0

Why don't you use an array? Try this-

<?php 
  $num = Array("Number 1","Number 2","Number 3");
  for ( $i = 0; $i< 3; $i++ ){
    echo $num[$i]."<br>";
  }
?>

answered Jan 9 '16 at 16:12

3,6572 gold badges11 silver badges20 bronze badges

Vigneswaran S · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-09 16:15:02Z

0

<?php 
$num1 = "Number 1";
$num2 = "Number 2";
$num3 = "Number 3";

for ($i = 1; $i <= 3; $i++) {
    echo ${"num".$i} . "<br>";
}

?>

answered Jan 9 '16 at 16:15

1,9021 gold badge17 silver badges31 bronze badges

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:23:31Z

In your case it would be something like

for($i = 1; $i <= 3; $i++){
     echo ${"num" . $i} . "<br/>";
}

But I would recommend you use arrays instead of this method as arrays give you better control.

Qirel · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-09 16:18:59Z

You're asking for variable variables. An example, like this

for ($i=1; $i<=3; $i++) {
    echo ${"num".$i}."<br />";
}

Usage of variable variables can often result in messy code, so usage of an array is often considered better practice.

Should you want to try out an array, you can do it like this.

$number = array("Number 1", "Number 2", "Number 3");

You can then use a foreach-loop to echo it out, like this

foreach ($number as $value) {
    echo $value."<br />";
}

or as you're using, a for-loop

for ($i=0; $i <= count($number); $i++) {
    echo $number[$i]."<br />";
}

6 Answers 6