Defining a constant

[Johnny Wong]

Guys,

I defined a group of constant in a data.php.
define(MON1,"Jan");
define(MON2,"Feb");
define(MON3,"Mar");
define(MON4,"Apr");
.
.
.

Is there any way that I can use some code to retrive the data dynamically?

I tried to do this but it didn't work.
$varname = "MON";
for ($i=1; $i<$max; $++){
print $varname.$i;}

There are many other way to get the solution. But I want to understand deeper the concept. If you have any idea, please let me know. Thanks!

Johnny:>

[gerilya]

Ok, about the concept:

print $varname.$i;

prints a value of a $varname followed by the value of $i. What I think you are trying to achieve is dynamic creation of a variable name. Here's how it looks like:

$test = "a";
$str = "test";
print $$str;

You can also take a look at eval function at http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.eval.php

[Johnny Wong]

I'm trying to do is for constant, not for variable.

I want to use the code to create this:
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr


not this:
MON1
MON2
MON3
MON4

Welcome any input.
Thanks!
Johnny:>

[jason]

Constants aren't designed to be manipulated. You'd be better off using an array to do what you are trying to do:

$months[0] = "Jan";
$months[1] = "Feb";
etc.

Then you can loop through them as you were originally trying to do.

Constants are designed to be substitutes for values. For example, say you have a function in a script that produces some sort of output. You wnat to provide two forms of output, raw and formatted. In this case you could set up constants:

define(DATA_RAW, 1);
define(DATA_FORMATTED, 2);

Then you create a function that takes an argument with the type of output you want

function getData($format) {
...
}

To call this function you could pass in a 1 or a 2 for $format, but such numbers can be confusing to keep straight, especially when you strat having multiple arguments and many options. However, with constants it is eaier to keep track of and makes your conde more readable:

$data = getData(DATA_FORMATTED);

Hope this helps.

--Jason

[Johnny Wong]

Thanks!