Variables in braces - PHP coding question

Question

This is my PHP/MySQL script:

<?php
    mysql_connect('localhost', 'root', 'test') or die (mysql_error());
    mysql_select_db('info1') or die (mysql_error());
    $result = mysql_query("SELECT * from automobiles");

    //Table starting tag and header cells
    while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)){
        //Display the results in different cells
        echo "<dd><dl><img src=' " . $row['image'] . " '>" . $row['manufacturer'] ." " . $row['model'] . "</dd></dl>";
        echo "<dd><dl>" . $row['carinfo'] . "</dd></dl>";
    }

    //Table closing tag
    echo "</table>";
?>

However, would it work if I did it this way:

{$myvariable}

Is it a good idea to code the variables with the braces, or as:

echo " . $row['variable']. "

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Naftali · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-24 17:20:04Z

7

You can do this:

echo "<dd><dl>{$row['carinfo']}</dd></dl>";

You cannot do this:

echo "<dd><dl>$row['carinfo']</dd></dl>";

This also wont work:

echo '<dd><dl>{$row['carinfo']}</dd></dl>';

Your output would actually be:

<dd><dl>{$row[ SOME PHP ERROR

This is due to using single quotes instead of double quotes. And the error would be because you did not escape the single quotes inside the variable.

If you did this:

echo '<dd><dl>{$row["carinfo"]}</dd></dl>';

Your output would actually be:

<dd><dl>{$row["carinfo"]}</dd></dl>

For the same single quote vs double quote reasoning.

edited Aug 24, 2011 at 17:20

answered Aug 24, 2011 at 17:11

Naftali

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3 Comments

user529649 Over a year ago

+1 was going to say the same thing that I saw 2 new answers :P

Martin Matysiak Over a year ago

To add a bit information: please keep in mind that "inlining" variables works only if your string delimiters are double-quotes (i.e. "). Strings wrapped with single quotes (') won't get processed (i.e. no variables or escape characters will be replaced)

Naftali Over a year ago

@Martin -- that aspect has been added.

Book Of Zeus · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-24 17:13:17Z

4

I personally prefer using the " " . $row['variable']. " " syntax because it's easier to read code, specially if you have a code syntax highlighter. But using this syntax is acceptable: "{$var['field']}".

answered Aug 24, 2011 at 17:13

Book Of Zeus

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