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up vote 1 down vote favorite

This is where the code is at right now:

<ul>
    <?php
    while ($themes = $model->getAllThemes()) {
        echo '<li>' . $themes->id . ' ' . $themes->title . '</li>';
    }
    ?>
</ul>

The $themes array looks like this:

Array
(
    [0] => Theme Object
        (
            [id] => 11
            [title] => NewTheme
        )

    [1] => Theme Object
        (
            [id] => 12
            [title] => FakeTheme
        )
)

When I test it, it goes in an infinite loop pretty much, so I'm guessing it doesn't know how long the array is? I'm trying to avoid having to count the items in the array and I'm pretty sketchy on foreach loop syntax.

share|improve this question
1  
what is $model->getAllThemes ? is it a property, a method, a non-existing property in combination with __get() magic functions? At first sight it looks like you are looping for as long $model->getAllThemes is not false/0/null...probably forever. Could you provide the code behind getAllThemes? – dimi Jun 28 '11 at 20:14
    
sorry i was missing the () on it. it's a function that returns everything from the themes table – Damon Jun 28 '11 at 20:16
up vote 9 down vote accepted

Since getAllThemes is not an iterator, it should always return non-null/non-false, thus causing an infinite loop. You should be using a foreach loop instead:

<?php
foreach ($model->getAllThemes as $themes) {
    echo '<li>' . $themes->id . ' ' . $themes->title . '</li>';
}
?>
share|improve this answer
    
i've used while loops for parsing mysql_result_arrays and this seems the same thing at the root of it (iterating an array).. what's the main difference that sets this apart? – Damon Jun 28 '11 at 20:25
    
Since getAllThemes is a property that isn't being modified each time you access it, it won't change to being a NULL value. All the data is already stored in getAllThemes and doesn't need to be pulled from a resource, such as a MySQL database. – Tim Cooper Jun 28 '11 at 20:27
up vote 6 down vote

You aren't using a foreach loop. Do this:

foreach($model->getAllThemes() as $theme) {
    echo '<li>' . $theme->id . ' ' . $theme->title . '</li>';
}

Note that inside the loop I am using $theme as opposed to $themes. This is because the foreach loop takes the top item off the array and assigns it to the variable that comes after that as. In this case as $theme.

What you are currently doing is using a while loop, with an assignment inside.

while ($themes = $model->getAllThemes())

Another way to write that, which might make your problem more apparent, is this:

while (($themes = $model->getAllThemes()) != false)

Or, more clearly, this:

$themes = $model->getAllThemes();
while($themes != false)

Since $themes is populated by a valid array, it doesn't register in the loop as empty or false. It is always true. You're not actually cycling through any of the themes. You're just checking to see if the themes array exists, and if it does keep cycling. It always exists, hence infinite loop.

An actual foreach loop will run through each theme in your array and allow you to do something to it. It will work more like what you expect in your while loop's code.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

You're looking for a foreach loop:

 foreach ($model->getAllThemes() as $themes) {
    echo '<li>' . $themes->id . ' ' . $themes->title . '</li>';
}

Also looks like getAllThemes is a method, not a property?

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

Reading your piece of code....

while ($themes = $model->getAllThemes){
  // loop stuff
}

in this sentence, you are doing the following steps

  1. assign to $themes the array of themes (the two themes)
  2. evaluate if the assignment is true (yes, it is).
  3. do the loop stuff (inside code)
  4. back to step number one.

there is actually a infinite loop in your code.

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