PHP scripting with loops, elseif statements

Question

If someone could just talk to me and maybe point me in a direction. I work better if I have someone who understands it guiding me that I can talk to. Im not asking for it to be done for me. Thank you

The array below represents the item number of the items a small company has in stock.

$inventory = array ("ABC123X","TWX325R","NPR779N","PUY343S","MIS394A","RSE874W","WER343P");

Form:
Write an HTML form that accepts a single text input of an inventory number. (ALREADY DONE: Will be using $item = $_POST["item"]; in the script

PHP Script: Write a PHP script that searches the array.

If the item is in stock (is in the array), print the item in stock message.

If the item is not in stock (not in the array), print the item not in stock message.

Hints:

Use a foreach loop to search your array for the data sent to you by the user. Use a sequential search. (eg: Compare the first item, then the next, then the next, until you find the item you are seeking.)
You will need to nest an if-statement in your loop since not every item will be a match.
Create a flag variable that tracks whether or not an item is found. Set $flag = false at the beginning of your program. Set $flag to true ONLY if the item is found. At the end of your program, test $flag to determine whether or not you need to display the item not in stock message.

I have the following which is bits and peices but I am trying to figure out how to put it all together. I am basically doing this on my own with little information and have tried googling it

<?php

$item = $_POST["item"];
$inventory = array("ABC123X","TWX325R","NPR779N","PUY343S","MIS394A","RSE874W","WER343P")
$flag = false

foreach ($item as $inventory)

if ($flag == true)
 print "<font size=+3><b>ACME Hardware Store</b></font><br><br>";
 print "We have item $item in stock! Feel free to contact us for more info.";
else
if ($flag == false)
 print "<font size=+3><b>ACME Hardware Store</b></font><br><br>";
 print "That item not in inventory! Please contact us if you would like to special     order it.";

?>

I don't see the price. How much do you offer for the one who will do your work for you? — zerkms
– zerkms, Commented Mar 22, 2011 at 3:52
I dont want the work done for me, i need someone who understands looping to explain how things work and point me in a direction. — TBP
– TBP, Commented Mar 22, 2011 at 3:54
Your if and foreach syntax is incorrect and should trigger a error (why did not you mention it?). Read ru2.php.net/manual/en/control-structures.if.php + ru.php.net/manual/en/control-structures.foreach.php more carefully — zerkms
– zerkms, Commented Mar 22, 2011 at 3:55
@Tara Beth: is it a homework? If so - please mark the question with homework tag. And you can read how foreach works in the link I gave above. — zerkms
– zerkms, Commented Mar 22, 2011 at 3:56
I love when people do if(x == true), just write if($flag) that is enough... lol don't need to OVER compare, your if ends up being if(true). You are doing this right now: if(true == true) — Jakub
– Jakub, Commented Mar 22, 2011 at 3:59

Shameer · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-22 03:57:37Z

2

If what you need to check is if the item is there in inventory array, just try. Or if you should use foreach check the php manual for the syntax

if(in_array($item,$inventory)){
print "<font size=+3><b>ACME Hardware Store</b></font><br><br>";
 print "We have item $item in stock! Feel free to contact us for more info.";
}
else
{
 print "<font size=+3><b>ACME Hardware Store</b></font><br><br>";
 print "That item not in inventory! Please contact us if you would like to special     order it.";


}

answered Mar 22, 2011 at 3:57

Shameer

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3 Comments

Phoenix Over a year ago

This is the shortest, more correct way to go about it. Nican's method, however, goes more with the supplied hints on how to do it, but they're only hints.

TBP Over a year ago

I havnt learned the in_array. It wasn't in my notes. I appreciate your help though. I'm going to look at the link Nican supplied so that I can try to familiarize myself with it if it comes into class

Phoenix Over a year ago

in_array() essentially is a short cut for doing exactly this. It has an implied for each loop inside of it, as it goes through and checks each element of the array against the supplied search string or variable and returns true if it is in the array. There's also array_search() which works the same way, but returns false if it's not in the array, and returns the array key of the item if it is in the array. There's also array_keys() which can be supplied a search string in much the same way and returns an array of keys if they contain the variable/string/whatever.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2023-11-21 15:10:29Z

1

This sounds too simple, but I believe you are just looking for the in_array function.

https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.in-array.php

But if you really want to do it your way, I believe this would be the correct way:

foreach( $inventory as $inv_item ){
   if( $inv_item == $item ){
      $flag = true;
      break;
   }
}

if( $flag == true ) {
   ...
} else {
   ...
}

edited Nov 21, 2023 at 15:10

CommunityBot

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answered Mar 22, 2011 at 3:59

Nican

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2 Comments

TBP Over a year ago

why would you not do ($inventory as $item)? I am trying to understand so that i can maybe recognize it in the future

Phoenix Over a year ago

Doesn't matter what you call the variable in a foreach loop. In this case, $item is already set to $item = $_POST["item"]; so foreach($inventory as $item) won't work. Also, foreach ($item as $inventory) from your question won't work because $item isn't the array, $inventory is.

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