PHP - Loop two columns, one at a time

Question

I have a few questions and answers stored in the same table. Column Q and A.

----ID----Q----A----
   1   |  Q1  | A1 |
   2   |  Q2  | A2 |
   3   |  Q3  | A3 |

I want to echo all questions into a div slider and all answers into another div slider.

Something like this:

<div>
<ul>
<li>Question 1</li>
<li>Question 2</li>
<li>Question 3</li>
</ul>
</div>

<div>
<ul>
<li>Answer 1</li>
<li>Answer 2</li>
<li>Answer 3</li>
</ul>
</div>

Im selecting all rows order by RAND, otherwise I would just run the selection again (n00b style). How do I perform this loop, starting with first column continue with next in correct order? My knowledge in PHP is quite limited.

Code (how Im used to print tables):

<ul id="fade">
<?php
$num = "100";
$questions = "SELECT * FROM quiz ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT $num";


$result = mysql_query($questions, $dbconnection);

for ($i=0; $i < mysql_num_fields($result); $i++) {
$rank = 1;
}

  while($myRow = mysql_fetch_array($result)){
  echo "<li>" .$myRow['q']. "</li>";
  echo "<li>" .$myRow['a']. "</li>";
  rank++;       
  }
  ?>
  </div>

Please, don't use mysql_* functions in new code. They are no longer maintained and are officially deprecated. See the red box? Learn about prepared statements instead, and use PDO or MySQLi - this article will help you decide which. If you choose PDO, here is a good tutorial. — Charles
– Charles, Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 1:39
@Charles: some of the words in your comment aren't links yet :-( — zerkms
– zerkms, Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 1:41
@zerkms, they all seem to work for me. That's a c&p from the stock link guide in room 11... — Charles
– Charles, Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 1:42
@Charles: it was irony - my point was that you've had so many links so that it's less black words rather than blue :-) — zerkms
– zerkms, Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 1:43

Charles · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-05 16:55:43Z

1

Instead of echo them right away you could do add the questions to one array and the answers to another:

$questions = Array();
$answers = Array();

while($myRow = mysql_fetch_array($result)){
  $questions[] = $myRow['q'];
  $answers[] = $myRow['a']; 
 }

And then build the uls:

foreach($question as $q){
    echo "<li>" . $q . "<li>";
}

...

foreach($answer as $a){
    echo "<li>" . $a . "<li>";
}

Or something similar based on your needs.

edited Feb 5, 2014 at 16:55

Charles

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answered Feb 5, 2014 at 2:01

Mads T

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1 Comment

Charles Over a year ago

Instead of array_push, use the [] syntax to add elements to the end. Instead of the clunky for loop, use foreach to iterate over the members of the array.

aiiwa · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-05 02:01:41Z

1

You can do something like this:

$q = "";
$a = "";
while($myRow = mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
  $q .= "<li>" .$myRow['q']. "</li>";
  $a .= "<li>" .$myRow['a']. "</li>";
}

echo "<div><ul>$q</ul></div>";
echo "<div><ul>$a</ul></div>";

answered Feb 5, 2014 at 2:01

aiiwa

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