parsing php array to javascript

[freefony]

Am trying to parse a php array into javascript but i found that only one element of the array was present in the javascript array. here is my code code

<?php
include("../../connect.php");
$qry="select * from stock";
$rst=mysql_query($qry) or die("Error in Query.".$qry." ".mysql_error());
while($row=mysql_fetch_assoc($rst)){
    $item=$row['item'];
    $list[$item]=$row['price'];
}
foreach($list as $key =>$value){
    echo $key."-";
    echo $value."<br/>";
}
echo $list['coke'];
?>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
list = new Array("<?php echo $list[$item]; ?>")
alert(list);
</script>
 

the foreach loop worked just fine printing all the keys and values in the database but in the process of parsing it i seem to be doing something wrongly
cos the alert is only printing the value the last key "5000"

[Dormilich]

the problem is that a Javascript array is somewhat different from a PHP array. a Javascript array uses only numeric values as key. or put in other words, there is no such thing as an associative array in Javascript.

an associative array in Javascript is called: object. you have several options to define a (standard) object
- using the Object Literal

var obj_name = {
    key1 : value1,
    key2 : value2
// etc.
}

- create an object with “new”, applicable if you have a predefined set of keys

function MyObject(value)
{
    this.key = value;
}
var obj_name = new MyObject("a value");

- create a new empty object and append the values

var obj_name = new Object;
obj_name.key1 = value1;
obj_name.key2 = value2;
// etc.

and regarding the output. calling $list[$item] is exactly one value.

[freefony]

i think i uderstand the 1st and last options but the array is being generated by values from a table in the database and i have no control over the size of the array and worse i dont think javascript have the foreach loop equivalent

[Dormilich]

@freefony
wrong.

nevertheless, it doesn’t matter. since PHP long finished execution when JavaScript starts, you have to print each and every key - value combination by PHP (using method 1 or 3 (2 was for completeness))

[freefony]

echo "<script languege='javascript'>";
foreach($list as $key=>$val){
 echo "var item=".$key;
 echo "var price=".$val;
}
echo "</script>";
 

[freefony]

is there any chance that would work?

[gits]

@Dormilich
wouldn't that be similar to:

echo 'var obj_name = '.json_encode($php_array);
 

kind regards

[Dormilich]

@freefony
nope, you’d end up redeclaring 2 variables

@gits: looks like that.

[gits]

i did ... and i thought ... even when i'm not a php-expert that for the current case:

echo 'var list = '.json_encode($list);

could do the job? it should create a string that is later on evaled by JavaScript as an object (or assoc array if you want to call it that) with all keys and values in the $list array?

kind regards

[freefony]

Hey the jason function is a powerful tool! but little problem tho i still cant get the javascript array.

//these two lines works perfectly
$mylist=jason_encode($list);
var_dump($mylist);
//output: string(64) "{"coke":"70","Emzor Paracetamol BP":"2","Paracetamol BP":"5000"}" 

but the following codes return nothing what am i doing wrong?

echo "<script languege='javascript'>";
echo "var mylist=".json_encode($list);
echo "document.write(mylist)";
echo "var data=eval(mylist)";
echo "</script>";
 

[Dormilich]

1. you don’t have an Array
2. what do you expect document.write(mylist) to output?*

* from the JavaScript Point-of-View, it outputs the variable’s string representation (for object it’s the toString() method’s return value)

PS. had a look in Firebug, the object was created as desired
PPS. there’s a typo on line 1 and you really should use the type attribute there

[didoamylee]

<script type="text/javascript">
var a = new Array('<?php echo implode("','",$php_array); ?>');
</script>
 

That should do the trick.

[Dormilich]

@didoamylee
it doesn't. because the PHP array is associative and javascript arrays are always numeric.

[freefony]

Ok guys! i got working

<?php
$qry="select * from stock";
$rst=mysql_query($qry) or die("Error in Query.".$qry." ".mysql_error());
while($row=mysql_fetch_assoc($rst)){
    $item=$row['item'];
    $list[$item]=$row['price'];
}
?>
<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
var list=new Array('<?php echo json_encode($list); ?>');
document.write(list);
 
</script>
 

this suits my purpose and would solve a lot of problems i ve been facing with jscript and php arrays thanks to u guys

[Dormilich]

but you know that you sacrifice your PHP array keys with this?

how to do print_r() in Javascript

var my_php_array = { //… } // from json_encode()
my_php_array.toString = function()
{
    var str = "";
    for (var key in this)
    {
        str += key+" => "+this[key]+"\n";
    }
    return str;
}
 div.innerHTML = my_php_array;

[freefony]

even with the toString function above javascript still sees my php_array as just on element of the list array what can i do to solve that problem?

[Dormilich]

do not use new Array()