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up vote 0 down vote favorite

I am working on a project that requires imploding an array with character separation. I have successfully used join and implode interchangeably in other parts of the project, but I can't get it to work in this section. 

$dbQuery = "SELECT ftc.*, fc.name
            FROM facilities f
            LEFT JOIN facility_to_category ftc ON f.fid = ftc.fid
            LEFT JOIN facility_categories fc ON ftc.cid = fc.cid
            WHERE f.listing_year = '2011'
                AND fc.parent_cid = '2'
              AND f.fid = ('".$listing_fid."')";
    $dbResult = $dbc->query($dbQuery,__FILE__,__LINE__);
    $num_results = $dbc->num_rows($dbResult);
    echo '<h3>Demographics</h3>
    <div>';
    while($catdata = $dbc->fetch($dbResult)) {
        $demographics = array();
        $demographic_names = array('',trim($catdata->name));
        $demographics = implode('  '.chr(149).'   ',$demographic_names);   
        print $demographics; 
    }

The result is this: 

Demographics
• Affluent • Children • Hard-to-Reach • Parents

instead of 

Demographics
Affluent • Children • Hard-to-Reach • Parents

I've tried using double quotes instead of single quotes around '.chr(149).'. I've tried using commas or bars or just spaces. I've tried different ways of trimming and not trimming $catdata->name.

I also thought about trying string concatenation, but then I'll end up with an extra character at the end instead of the beginning. Implode or join seem the better way to go.

What am I missing?

share|improve this question
    
Is $demographic_names[0] blank? Also, why are you setting $demographics = array(); then almost immediately turning it into a string? –  Matt H Jan 24 '12 at 21:01

5 Answers 5

up vote 1 down vote

I am not sure I understand what you are trying to do, but why not use

$demographics_names = array();
while($catdata = $dbc->fetch($dbResult)) {
    array_push($demographics_names, trim($catdata->name));
}
$demographics = implode('  '.chr(149).'   ',$demographic_names);   
print $demographics;
share|improve this answer
    
Moving the implode outside of the while statement helped! –  deewilcox Jan 24 '12 at 21:08
up vote 1 down vote accepted

Thank you, everyone, for your help! I ended up reformatting the query and array. Here is the final code: 

$dbQuery = "SELECT ftc.*, fc.name
            FROM facilities f
            LEFT JOIN facility_to_category ftc ON f.fid = ftc.fid
            LEFT JOIN facility_categories fc ON ftc.cid = fc.cid
            WHERE f.listing_year = '2011'
                AND fc.parent_cid = '2'
              AND f.fid = ('".$listing_fid."')";
    $dbResult = $dbc->query($dbQuery,__FILE__,__LINE__);
    $num_results = $dbc->num_rows($dbResult);
    echo '<h3>Demographics</h3>
    <div>';
    while($catdata = $dbc->fetch($dbResult)) {
        $demographics = array();
        if (is_array($demographics)) {
        $demographic_names[] = trim($catdata->name);
        }
    }
    $demographics = join('  '.chr(149).'   ',$demographic_names);           
    print $demographics;

The result is: 

Demographics
Affluent • Children • Hard-to-Reach • Parents

Hopefully this will be helpful to someone else!

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

You're inserting a blank element into the array that you're imploding:

$demographic_names = array('',trim($catdata->name));
                           ^--- here
share|improve this answer
    
Thank you -- I tried removing that, but it somehow prevented the join character from working at all. The result was AffluentChildrenHard-to-ReachParents –  deewilcox Jan 24 '12 at 21:08
    
Well this is because you only have 1 element in your $demographic_names array. implode() will only put the join character between 2 elements. Use @JeromeWAGNER's answer. –  drrcknlsn Jan 24 '12 at 21:10
up vote 0 down vote

Seems like you have a blank demographic_name. Use array_filter on the resulting array.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

Check the first array is empty.

while($catdata = $dbc->fetch($dbResult)) {
    $demographics = array();
    $demographic_names = array('',trim($catdata->name));
    if(!empty($demographic_names))
    {
      $demographics = implode('  '.chr(149).'   ',$demographic_names);   
      print $demographics; 
    }
}
share|improve this answer
    
That's a good idea -- I will try it –  deewilcox Jan 24 '12 at 21:09

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