PHP - foreach function with array - php

Question

Hi I have an error when I call a function.
"Warning: Illegal string offset 'id' in C:\xampp\htdocs\blog\posts.php
on line 28
2"
function:
function get_short_posts() {
$sql = "SELECT * FROM posts ORDER by id DESC LIMIT 0, 5";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
$timestamp = new DateTime($row['date']);
return array (
"id" => $row['id'],
"title" => $row['title'],
"content" => $row['content'],
"author" => $row['author'],
"date" => $timestamp->format('d-m-Y'),
"time" => $timestamp->format('H:i')
);
}
Call:
require_once "functions.php";
$_posts = get_short_posts();
foreach($_posts as $_post) {
echo $_post['id'];
}

Answer 1

You know you return after the first iteration in the get_short_posts function right, so the foreach will not work as expected.
Try:
<?php
function get_short_posts() {
$sql = "SELECT * FROM posts ORDER by id DESC LIMIT 0, 5";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
$return = array();
while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
$timestamp = new DateTime($row['date']);
$return[] = array (
"id" => $row['id'],
"title" => $row['title'],
"content" => $row['content'],
"author" => $row['author'],
"date" => $timestamp->format('d-m-Y'),
"time" => $timestamp->format('H:i')
);
}
return $return;
}
?>
<?php
require_once "functions.php";
foreach(get_short_posts() as $_post) {
echo $_post['id'];
}
?>
Also, Don't use mysql_* functions in new code. They are no longer maintained and are officially deprecated. See the red box? Learn about prepared statements instead, and use PDO, or MySQLi - this article will help you decide which. If you choose PDO, here is a good tutorial.

Answer 2

function get_short_posts() {
$sql = "SELECT * FROM posts ORDER by id DESC LIMIT 0, 5";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
$timestamp = new DateTime($row['date']);
$data [] = array (
"id" => $row['id'],
"title" => $row['title'],
"content" => $row['content'],
"author" => $row['author'],
"date" => $timestamp->format('d-m-Y'),
"time" => $timestamp->format('H:i')
);
}
return $data;
}
you return data, so the loop stops, save your data in a array and return that array like abive code

Answer 3

Your code is wrong it should be as below, assuming the query is returning data as mentioned.
function get_short_posts() {
$sql = "SELECT * FROM posts ORDER by id DESC LIMIT 0, 5";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
$rows = array();
$return_data = array();
while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
$timestamp = new DateTime($row['date']);
$data = array (
"id" => $row['id'],
"title" => $row['title'],
"content" => $row['content'],
"author" => $row['author'],
"date" => $timestamp->format('d-m-Y'),
"time" => $timestamp->format('H:i')
);
$return_data[] = $data;
}
return $return_data ;
}
require_once "functions.php";
$posts = get_short_posts();
foreach($posts as $key=>$val) {
echo $val['id'];
}