Call a function based upon an integer - php

Question

I have a php table that displays the days of the month in a table:
//count up the days, untill we've done all of them in the month
while ( $day_num <= $days_in_month )
{
echo "<td> $day_num </td>";
$day_num++;
$day_count++;
I have a second table that calls a separate query for each day of the month:
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td><?php do { ?>
<?php echo $row_apr1['appt_time']; ?> <em><?php echo $row_apr1['nickname']; ?></em><br>
<?php } while ($row_apr1 = mysql_fetch_assoc($apr1)); ?></td>
<td><?php do { ?>
<?php echo $row_apr2['appt_time']; ?> <em><?php echo $row_apr2['nickname']; ?></em><br>
<?php } while ($row_apr2 = mysql_fetch_assoc($apr2)); ?></td>
<td><?php do { ?>
<?php echo $row_apr3['appt_time']; ?> <em><?php echo $row_apr3['nickname']; ?></em><br>
<?php } while ($row_apr3 = mysql_fetch_assoc($apr3)); ?></td>
<td><?php do { ?>
<?php echo $row_apr4['appt_time']; ?> <em><?php echo $row_apr4['nickname']; ?></em><br>
<?php } while ($row_apr4 = mysql_fetch_assoc($apr4)); ?></td>
<td><?php do { ?>
<?php echo $row_apr5['appt_time']; ?> <em><?php echo $row_apr5['nickname']; ?></em><br>
<?php } while ($row_apr5 = mysql_fetch_assoc($apr5)); ?></td>
</tr>
Is there a way I can merge the code together into one table, like using the $day_num value to call the query code?
Example: April 4th - $day_num would be = 4 and display a 4 in the table. But then can't I use php concatenation or something to call the code:
<br><?php echo $row_apr4['appt_time']; ?> <em><?php echo $row_apr4['nickname']; ?></em><br>
<?php } while ($row_apr4 = mysql_fetch_assoc($apr4)); ?>
Sorry if this has been done before a million times. I've been searching and can't seem to find what I'm looking for.
Thanks!

Answer 1

You can use the variable variables or $$ option. http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.variables.variable.php
<td>
<?php
$variable_name = 'apr' . $day_num;
do { ?>
<?php echo $row['appt_time']; ?>
<em><?php echo $row['nickname']; ?></em><br>
<?php } while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($$variable_name)); ?>
</td>
Not sure this is the best option for you but based off the code you have supplied it is a possible solution.
FYI you shouldn't use mysql_ functions as they are deprecated.