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PHP PHP Arrays and Control Structures PHP Arrays Multidimensional Arrays

Daniel Breen
Daniel Breen
14,943 Points
Posted by Daniel Breen
Daniel Breen
14,943 Points

Stuck again :(

Array to string conversion array it happens no matter how I echo

// with single quotes on inner key
echo "<li>$contacts[0]['name'] : $contacts[0]['email']</li>\n";

// without single quotes on inner key
echo "<li>$contacts[1][name] : $contacts[1][email]</li>\n";

// desperation
print_r "<li>$contacts[2]['name'] : $contacts[2]['email']</li>\n";
index.php 
<?php
// In the code below, we have a simple array of contact names. 
// We want to use the $contacts array to fill in the hardcoded list of names an email addresses.
// To hold the email as well as the name for each contact, we need a multidimensional array,
// meaning each person in the contact list will have their own array. The first step is to make each person
// their own single item ASSOCIATIVE array, using 'name' as the key for these internal arrays.

//edit this array
//$contacts = array('Alena Holligan', 'Dave McFarland', 'Treasure Porth', 'Andrew Chalkley');

$contacts[] = [
  'name' => 'Alena Holligan',
  'email' => 'alena.holligan@teamtreehouse.com'
];

$contacts[] = [
  'name' => 'Dave McFarland',
  'email' => 'dave.mcfarland@teamtreehouse.com'
];

$contacts[] = [
  'name' => 'Treasure Porth',
  'email' => 'treasure.porth@teamtreehouse.com'
];

$contacts[] = [
  'name' => 'Andrew Chalkley',
  'email' => 'andrew.chalkley@teamtreehouse.com'
];

echo "<ul>\n";
// $contacts[0] will return 'Alena Holligan' in our simple array of names.
echo "<li>$contacts[0][name] : $contacts[0][email]</li>\n";
echo "<li>$contacts[1][name] : $contacts[1][email]</li>\n";
echo "<li>$contacts[2][name] : $contacts[2][email]</li>\n";
echo "<li>$contacts[3][name] : $contacts[3][email]</li>\n";
echo "</ul>\n";

1 Answer

Ken Stone
Ken Stone
29,703 Points
Ken Stone
Ken Stone
29,703 Points 
$contacts[] = array(
  'name' => 'Alena Holligan',
  'email' => 'alena.holligan@teamtreehouse.com'
);

$contacts[] = array(
  'name' => 'Dave McFarland',
  'email' => 'dave.mcfarland@teamtreehouse.com'
);

$contacts[] = array(
  'name' => 'Treasure Porth',
  'email' => 'treasure.porth@teamtreehouse.com'
);

$contacts[] = array(
  'name' => 'Andrew Chalkley',
  'email' => 'andrew.chalkley@teamtreehouse.com'
);

/*********
echo "<ul>\n";
foreach($contacts as $contact){
  echo "<li>" . $contact['name'] . ":" .  $contact['email']. "</li>\n";
}
echo "</ul>\n";
**********/

echo "<ul>\n";
echo "<li>" . $contacts[0]['name'] . " : " . $contacts[0]['email'] . "</li>\n";
echo "<li>" . $contacts[1]['name'] . " : " . $contacts[1]['email'] . "</li>\n";
echo "<li>" . $contacts[2]['name'] . " : " . $contacts[2]['email'] . "</li>\n";
echo "<li>" . $contacts[3]['name'] . " : " . $contacts[3]['email'] . "</li>\n";
echo "</ul>\n";
Daniel Breen
Daniel Breen
14,943 Points
Daniel Breen
Daniel Breen
14,943 Points

Interesting. So double-quotes only pulls out simple variables, but has a hard time with the arrays indices/keys?

Daniel Breen
Daniel Breen
14,943 Points
Daniel Breen
Daniel Breen
14,943 Points

Yup. Looks like that's the case: double-quotes don't interpret the indices/keys. That error message makes more sense now.

Also found the slightly cleaner solution:

// ...
echo "<li>{$contacts[0]['name']} : {$contacts[0]['email']}</li>\n";
echo "<li>{$contacts[1]['name']} : {$contacts[1]['email']}</li>\n";
echo "<li>{$contacts[2]['name']} : {$contacts[2]['email']}</li>\n";
echo "<li>{$contacts[3]['name']} : {$contacts[3]['email']}</li>\n";