Can I initialize variables using a for loop with a counter?

Question

I'm trying to initialize iterations of variables that i'm sending to my server-side script. I don't want to enter each of them individually so I am wondering if what I have is valid syntax or if there is a more efficient way of doing this.

for($i = 1; $i <=10; $i++){
  $itemNumber.$i = $_POST['title'.$i];
  $itemType.$i = $_POST['type'.$i];
  $itemDescription.$i = $_POST['description'.$i];
  $itemAmount.$i = $_POST['amount'.$i];
  $itemComments.$i = $_POST['comments'.$i];
}

My expected output is:

$itemNumber1 = $_POST['title1'];

$itemType1 = $_POST['type1'];

... after the first iteration and etc.

Why would you need to do this? I can almost guarentee there is a better way — GrumpyCrouton, Aug 17 '18 at 18:18
Have you read about [arrays](https://secure.php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php) yet? — mario, Aug 17 '18 at 18:19

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 17 '18 at 18:22

You can do this using PHP's Curly Brackets (Also called Complex Syntax)

for($i = 1; $i <=10; $i++){
    ${"itemNumber$i"} = $_POST["title$i"];
    ${"itemType$i"} = $_POST["type$i"];
    ${"itemDescription$i"} = $_POST["description$i"];
    ${"itemAmount$i"} = $_POST["amount$i"];
    ${"itemComments$i"} = $_POST["comments$i"];
}

But you really probably shouldn't, there is probably a much much better way to handle what you are trying to do.

Can I initialize variables using a for loop with a counter?

1 Answers1