How can I iterate over this php array

Question

I have this variable that INSERTs to a db the attached filename from a html form input.

$insertAttachments->execute( array(':attachment2' => $attachment2) );

Now the problem is it INSERTs only one filename although the input is set to allow multiple. So I tried to do this:

$uploads = count($attachment2);  //counts the number of attachments
for($i=0; $i<$uploads; $i++){
    $insertAttachments->execute( array(':attachment2' => $attachment2) );
}

which left me wondering where to place [$i] so that it iterates over array(':attachment2' => $attachment2) ?

If I assign it a variable and have it like -

$alluploads = array(':attachment2' => $attachment2);
for($i=0; $i<$uploads; $i++){
    $insertAttachments->execute( $alluploads[$i] );
}

It runs into an error. Any ideas how I should pull this off? I'm extending a php 5.3 / slim framework application.

Answer 1

Foreach let's you iterate over an associative array.

$alluploads = array(':attachment2' => "attachment2");
foreach($alluploads as $key => $value){
    echo "key: " . $key . " Has value: ". $value ."\n";
}

https://3v4l.org/uPBug

---

Here is an example with a for loop using array_keys to get the associative array keys and using that in the loop.

$alluploads = array(':attachment2' => "attachment2");
$keys = array_keys($alluploads);
for($i=0;$i<count($keys);$i++){
    echo "key: " . $keys[$i] . " Has value: ". $alluploads[$keys[$i]] ."\n";
}

https://3v4l.org/45fnM

---

And as a third example you can use array_values to remove the associative keys.
This method should only be used if you know all the values in the arrays are uploads and should be treated the same.

$alluploads = array(':attachment2' => "attachment2");
$alluploads = array_values($alluploads);
for($i=0;$i<count($alluploads);$i++){
    echo "key: " . $i . " Has value: ". $alluploads[$i] ."\n";
}

https://3v4l.org/IrDrv

Answer 2

You can use a foreach loop, and that way you don't need the count, like this:

foreach ($attachment2 as $a){
    $insertAttachments->execute( array(':attachment2' => $a['some index with the file path']) );
}

Don't forget to change the index o the array