SQL output in multiple columns of unequal length - php

Question

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result41))
{
echo "<tr><td align='center'>" .$row['AdmitRollNo'] . " </td></tr>";
}
This returns around 50 Admit Roll Numbers in a single column of the table. But I need the output in 5 columns containing respectively 9, 10, 7, 11, 13 items.
How to proceed?

Answer 1

Using a modulus operator in PHP would be a good start. This should work:
// Set how many items per column.
$per_column = 9;
// Set the opening table row.
echo "<tr>";
// Setting the counter to 0.
$counter = 0;
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result41)) {
// Increment the counter by one.
$counter++;
// Do a modulus check between the counter & the per column value.
if ($counter % $per_column == 0) {
echo "</tr><tr>";
}
// Echo the table data columns.
echo "<td align='center'>" . $row['AdmitRollNo'] . " </td>";
}
// Set the closing table row.
echo "</tr>";
But you say 9, 10, 7, 11, 13 items per each column. A bit trickier. But I believe that can be done. And here is a concept I just whipped up. The idea is there is an array of per column values named $per_column_array plus a counter named $per_counter. The first time the modulus is reached, the counter is incremented by one, so the next $per_column_array value is grabbed.
// Set how many items per column.
$per_counter = 0;
$per_column_array = array(9, 10, 7, 11, 13);
// Set the opening table row.
echo "<tr>";
// Setting the counter to 0.
$counter = 0;
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result41)) {
// Increment the counter by one.
$counter++;
// Do a modulus check between the counter & the per column value.
if ($counter % $per_column_array[$per_counter] == 0) {
$per_counter++;
echo "</tr><tr>";
}
// Echo the table data columns.
echo "<td align='center'>" . $row['AdmitRollNo'] . " </td>";
}
// Set the closing table row.
echo "</tr>";
ANOTHER EDIT: Here is an attempt with columns. Please feel free to adjust but the basic concept is the values are placed in a nested <table> within the <table> structure you already have:
// Set how many items per column.
$per_counter = 0;
$per_column_array = array(9, 10, 7, 11, 13);
// Set the opening table row.
echo "<tr><td>";
echo "<table>";
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result41)) {
// Increment the counter by one.
$counter++;
// Do a modulus check between the counter & the per column value.
if ($counter % $per_column_array[$per_counter] == 0) {
$per_counter++;
echo "</table>";
echo "</td>";
echo "<td>";
echo "<table>";
}
// Echo the table data columns.
echo "<tr><td align='center'>" . $row['AdmitRollNo'] . " </td></tr>";
}
// Set the closing table row.
echo "</table>";
echo "</td></tr>";