php - get specific variable from a foreach - php

Question

I have a functioning foreach that I want to expand on. It's simple:
<ul>
<?
$sql_find = "SELECT DISTINCT(column_chosen) as Sec FROM column_a WHERE column_chosen NOT LIKE '' ";
$get_var = mysqli_query($db, $sql_find);
while ($r=mysqli_fetch_assoc($find_var)){
foreach($r as $newest_variable) {
echo '
<li>'.$newest_variable. '</li>';} }?>
</ul>
Let's say its html output is this:
<li>one</li>
<li>two</li>
<li>three</li>
I want to be able to get a specific variable ($newest_variable) and put it in $_SESSION or do other things, maybe alert it with javascript, etc, etc.
Question:
Is this possible with this structure? How could I get a specific variable $newest_variable?
For example, in the 2nd <li>, just get two and put into $_SESSION['result']
Any insight or direction is grealty appreciated.

Answer 1

<ul id="itemList">
<?
$sql_find = "SELECT DISTINCT(column_chosen) as Sec FROM column_a WHERE column_chosen NOT LIKE '' ";
$get_var = mysqli_query($db, $sql_find);
while ($r=mysqli_fetch_assoc($find_var)){
foreach($r as $newest_variable) {
echo '
<li>'.$newest_variable. '</li>';} }?>
</ul>
<script>
$('#itemList li').click(function() {
var index = $(this).index();
var text = $(this).text();
alert('Index is: ' + index + ' and text is ' + text);
});
</script>
Heres small code with JQuery, you can pass those variables to php with ajax and set as session, as well execute other functions you want :)

Answer 2

If you want to make an array of all the elements from the foreach, it's pretty simple:
<ul>
<?
$sql_find = "SELECT DISTINCT(column_chosen) as Sec FROM column_a WHERE column_chosen NOT LIKE '' ";
$get_var = mysqli_query($db, $sql_find);
while ($r=mysqli_fetch_assoc($find_var)){
foreach($r as $newest_variable) {
$newArray[] = $newest_variable; //Makes an array of all elements of the foreach
echo '
<li>'.$newest_variable. '</li>';
}
}
?>
</ul>
Now, the array $newArray will have all values of the foreach so that, for example, if you wanted the second element, you could use $newArray[1].