implode() an array with multiple database columns, except on last entry PHP - php

Question

I am using PHP to create an XML document from a database to import into Adobe InDesign. I want to be able to add a comma after each entry but not on the last one. I have tried using implode() but I have had no luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here is the code with out any attempt at adding the comma. I can just add a comma after the closing but that will still give me one on the last entry. Any advice on how to attack this would be much appreciated. Thanks!
function getAssocXML ($company) {
$retVal = "";
// Connect to the database by creating a new mysqli object
require_once "DBconnect.php";
$staffResult = $mysql->query("
SELECT company,
fName,
lName,
title,
contact1,
contact2
FROM staff
WHERE company = '$company'
AND title
LIKE '%Associate%'
AND archive = 0
");
if ($staffResult->num_rows >= 1 && $staffResult->num_rows < 4) {
$retVal = $retVal;
for ($i = 0; $i < $staffResult->num_rows; $i++) {
// Move to row number $i in the result set.
$staffResult->data_seek($i);
// Get all the columns for the current row as an associative array -- we named it $aRow
$staffRow = $staffResult->fetch_assoc();
// Write a table row to the output containing information from the current database row.
$retVal = $retVal . "<staff>";
$retVal = $retVal . "<name>" . $staffRow['fName'] . " " . $staffRow['lName'] . "</name>";
$retVal = $retVal . "<contact>" . staffContact($staffRow['contact1'], $staffRow['contact2']) . "</contact>";
$retVal = $retVal . "</staff>";
}
$retVal = $retVal . " — Associate
";
$staffResult->free();
}
if ($staffResult->num_rows > 4) {
$retVal = $retVal;
$retVal = $retVal . "<staffHeader>Associates: </staffHeader>";
for ($i = 0; $i < $staffResult->num_rows; $i++) {
// Move to row number $i in the result set.
$staffResult->data_seek($i);
// Get all the columns for the current row as an associative array -- we named it $aRow
$staffRow = $staffResult->fetch_assoc();
// Write a table row to the output containing information from the current database row.
$retVal = $retVal . "<staff>";
$retVal = $retVal . "<name>" . $staffRow['fName'] . " " . $staffRow['lName'] . "</name>";
$retVal = $retVal . "<contact>" . staffContact($staffRow['contact1'], $staffRow['contact2']) . "</contact>";
$retVal = $retVal . "</staff>";
}
$retVal = $retVal . "
";
$staffResult->free();
}
return $retVal;
}
print getAssocXML(addslashes($aRow['company']));

Answer 1

You can do it with the help of this query
echo join(' and ', array_filter(array_merge(array(join(', ', array_slice($array, 0, -1))), array_slice($array, -1)), 'strlen'));
OR
$last = array_slice($array, -1);
$first = implode(', ', array_slice($array, 0, -1));
$both = array_filter(array_merge(array($first), $last), 'strlen');
echo implode(' and ', $both);

Answer 2

I'm afraid that I don't readily grasp your intent here. I don't see anything in your code that is using any sort of array, which is a pre-requisite for implode() (a.k.a. join())
However, here's a little trick that I've used numerous times when I am building something in a loop:
$result = "";
$comma = "";
foreach (...) {
.. calculate some $value ..
$result = $result . $comma . $value;
$comma = ",";
}
The first time through the loop, $comma isn't a comma! It's an empty string. At the end of the first iteration through the loop, it becomes a comma, for use next time. It's a simple but effective way to build an arbitrarily-long "comma-separated string" in-place.
HTH!