How to increment a letter N times per iteration and store in an array?

Question

$letter = array();
for ($i = 'A'; $i !== 'ZZ'; $i++){
        $letter[] .= $i;
}
print_r($letter);

From above script I do a loop from A, B, C, D ... ZZ.

Now, I want to make it as A, C, E, G, I ... ZZ. (2 steps instead of 1)

I need direction to do it.

I would say make an array of odd letters like 1 is A 3 is c etc.. — Mr Pro Pop, Sep 07 '17 at 11:51
Related (but not a duplicate as the answer is not found on the page): https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14278603/php-range-from-a-to-zz and https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27003100/unexpected-behavior-with-strnatcmp-php — mickmackusa, Sep 07 '17 at 13:26
There is a lot of upvotes on Rahul's answer but it seems that no one bothered to test the method first. It breaks. — mickmackusa, Sep 07 '17 at 14:33
@mickmackusa : For your information. OP doesn't mentioned he wants range as dynamic. That's why Sahil upvoted me. And when I answered, then OP specified that he wanted range as dynamic. That's correction for your blame. Thank you! — Rahul, Sep 08 '17 at 04:21
@RahulMeshram Your methods break. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of your output array in your demo. Notice that `Z_` never happens. You're welcome. — mickmackusa, Sep 08 '17 at 06:02

Rahul · Answer 1 · 2017-09-07T12:11:18.710

3

Here is your solution for the problem,

$letter = array();
for ($i = 'A'; $i !== 'ZZ'; $i++){
        if(ord($i) % 2 != 0)
           $letter[] .= $i;
}
print_r($letter);

You need to get the ASCII value for that character which will solve your problem.

Here is ord doc and working code.

For your requirement, you can do like this,

for ($i = 'A'; $i !== 'ZZ'; ord($i)+$x){
  $letter[] .= $i;
}
print_r($letter);

Here set $x as per your requirement.

edited Sep 07 '17 at 12:11

answered Sep 07 '17 at 11:55

Rahul

18,271
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Thanks but it only works A, C, E.. Can we make it as dynamic as possible? Such a 3 steps, 5 steps, x steps? Thanks – Willy Mularto Sep 07 '17 at 12:08
Your working code is not working. ord() cannot be used the way you are using it. – mickmackusa Sep 07 '17 at 15:29

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 08 '17 at 04:11

ord() will not work because your end string is two characters long.

Returns the ASCII value of the first character of string.

Watch it break.

From my testing, you need to check that the end string doesn't get "stepped over". The perl-style character incrementation is a cool method, but it is a single-stepping method. For this reason, an inner loop helps it along when necessary. This is actually not a bother, in fact, it is useful because we need to check if the loop(s) should be broken on each single step.

Code: (Demo)

function excelCols($letter,$end,$step=1){  // function doesn't check that $end is "later" than $letter
    if($step==0)return [];  // prevent infinite loop
    do{
        $letters[]=$letter;  // store letter
        for($x=0; $x<$step; ++$x){  // increment in accordance with $step declaration
            if($letter===$end)break(2);  // break if end is "stepped on"
            ++$letter;
        }
    }while(true);
    return $letters;    
}
echo implode(' ',excelCols('A','JJ',4));
echo "\n --- \n";
echo implode(' ',excelCols('A','BB',3));
echo "\n --- \n";
echo implode(' ',excelCols('A','ZZ',1));
echo "\n --- \n";
echo implode(' ',excelCols('A','ZZ',3));

Output:

A E I M Q U Y AC AG AK AO AS AW BA BE BI BM BQ BU BY CC CG CK CO CS CW DA DE DI DM DQ DU DY EC EG EK EO ES EW FA FE FI FM FQ FU FY GC GG GK GO GS GW HA HE HI HM HQ HU HY IC IG IK IO IS IW JA JE JI
 --- 
A D G J M P S V Y AB AE AH AK AN AQ AT AW AZ
 --- 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO AP AQ AR AS AT AU AV AW AX AY AZ BA BB BC BD BE BF BG BH BI BJ BK BL BM BN BO BP BQ BR BS BT BU BV BW BX BY BZ CA CB CC CD CE CF CG CH CI CJ CK CL CM CN CO CP CQ CR CS CT CU CV CW CX CY CZ DA DB DC DD DE DF DG DH DI DJ DK DL DM DN DO DP DQ DR DS DT DU DV DW DX DY DZ EA EB EC ED EE EF EG EH EI EJ EK EL EM EN EO EP EQ ER ES ET EU EV EW EX EY EZ FA FB FC FD FE FF FG FH FI FJ FK FL FM FN FO FP FQ FR FS FT FU FV FW FX FY FZ GA GB GC GD GE GF GG GH GI GJ GK GL GM GN GO GP GQ GR GS GT GU GV GW GX GY GZ HA HB HC HD HE HF HG HH HI HJ HK HL HM HN HO HP HQ HR HS HT HU HV HW HX HY HZ IA IB IC ID IE IF IG IH II IJ IK IL IM IN IO IP IQ IR IS IT IU IV IW IX IY IZ JA JB JC JD JE JF JG JH JI JJ JK JL JM JN JO JP JQ JR JS JT JU JV JW JX JY JZ KA KB KC KD KE KF KG KH KI KJ KK KL KM KN KO KP KQ KR KS KT KU KV KW KX KY KZ LA LB LC LD LE LF LG LH LI LJ LK LL LM LN LO LP LQ LR LS LT LU LV LW LX LY LZ MA MB MC MD ME MF MG MH MI MJ MK ML MM MN MO MP MQ MR MS MT MU MV MW MX MY MZ NA NB NC ND NE NF NG NH NI NJ NK NL NM NN NO NP NQ NR NS NT NU NV NW NX NY NZ OA OB OC OD OE OF OG OH OI OJ OK OL OM ON OO OP OQ OR OS OT OU OV OW OX OY OZ PA PB PC PD PE PF PG PH PI PJ PK PL PM PN PO PP PQ PR PS PT PU PV PW PX PY PZ QA QB QC QD QE QF QG QH QI QJ QK QL QM QN QO QP QQ QR QS QT QU QV QW QX QY QZ RA RB RC RD RE RF RG RH RI RJ RK RL RM RN RO RP RQ RR RS RT RU RV RW RX RY RZ SA SB SC SD SE SF SG SH SI SJ SK SL SM SN SO SP SQ SR SS ST SU SV SW SX SY SZ TA TB TC TD TE TF TG TH TI TJ TK TL TM TN TO TP TQ TR TS TT TU TV TW TX TY TZ UA UB UC UD UE UF UG UH UI UJ UK UL UM UN UO UP UQ UR US UT UU UV UW UX UY UZ VA VB VC VD VE VF VG VH VI VJ VK VL VM VN VO VP VQ VR VS VT VU VV VW VX VY VZ WA WB WC WD WE WF WG WH WI WJ WK WL WM WN WO WP WQ WR WS WT WU WV WW WX WY WZ XA XB XC XD XE XF XG XH XI XJ XK XL XM XN XO XP XQ XR XS XT XU XV XW XX XY XZ YA YB YC YD YE YF YG YH YI YJ YK YL YM YN YO YP YQ YR YS YT YU YV YW YX YY YZ ZA ZB ZC ZD ZE ZF ZG ZH ZI ZJ ZK ZL ZM ZN ZO ZP ZQ ZR ZS ZT ZU ZV ZW ZX ZY ZZ
 --- 
A D G J M P S V Y AB AE AH AK AN AQ AT AW AZ BC BF BI BL BO BR BU BX CA CD CG CJ CM CP CS CV CY DB DE DH DK DN DQ DT DW DZ EC EF EI EL EO ER EU EX FA FD FG FJ FM FP FS FV FY GB GE GH GK GN GQ GT GW GZ HC HF HI HL HO HR HU HX IA ID IG IJ IM IP IS IV IY JB JE JH JK JN JQ JT JW JZ KC KF KI KL KO KR KU KX LA LD LG LJ LM LP LS LV LY MB ME MH MK MN MQ MT MW MZ NC NF NI NL NO NR NU NX OA OD OG OJ OM OP OS OV OY PB PE PH PK PN PQ PT PW PZ QC QF QI QL QO QR QU QX RA RD RG RJ RM RP RS RV RY SB SE SH SK SN SQ ST SW SZ TC TF TI TL TO TR TU TX UA UD UG UJ UM UP US UV UY VB VE VH VK VN VQ VT VW VZ WC WF WI WL WO WR WU WX XA XD XG XJ XM XP XS XV XY YB YE YH YK YN YQ YT YW YZ ZC ZF ZI ZL ZO ZR ZU ZX

Here is an array-functions approach:

Code: (Demo)

$start='C';
$end='DD';
$step=4;

// generate and store more than we need (this is an obvious method disadvantage)
$result=$array=range('A','Z',1);  // store A - Z as $array and $result
foreach($array as $a){
    foreach($array as $b){
        $result[]="$a$b";  // store double letter combinations
        if(in_array($end,$result)){break(2);}  // stop asap
    }
}
//echo implode(' ',$result),"\n\n";

// slice away from the front of the array
$result=array_slice($result,array_search($start,$result));  // reindex keys
//echo implode(' ',$result),"\n\n";

 // punch out elements that are not "stepped on"
$result=array_filter($result,function($k)use($step){return $k%$step==0;},ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY); // use modulo

// result is ready
echo implode(' ',$result);

Output:

C G K O S W AA AE AI AM AQ AU AY BC BG BK BO BS BW CA CE CI CM CQ CU CY DC

Wow it's very helpful code. FYI it requires at least PHP 5.4 — Willy Mularto, Nov 17 '17 at 18:07

How to increment a letter N times per iteration and store in an array?

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