PHP loop, change last item? - php

Question

This might actually be a css question but I'm hoping not because I'd like this to work in IE.
I have the following loop:
<?php
if ($category)
{
foreach($category as $item)
{
echo $item['name'];
echo ", ";
}
} ?>
Which should output
item, item, item, item,
The only thing is...I'd like to NOT have a comma after the last item. Is there any way to do this within a loop?

Answer 1

Well to keep your code how it is, you could add a counter, and skip the last one.
<?php
if ($category) {
$counter = 0;
foreach($category as $item)
{
$counter++;
echo $item['name'];
if ($counter < count($category)) {
echo ", ";
}
}
}
?>
Or you can do it much, much, quicker:
<?php echo implode(", ", array_map(create_function('$item', 'return $item["name"];'), $category)); ?>

Answer 2

Don't echo immediately but save your output into a variable that you can trim.
<?php
if ($category) {
$output = '';
foreach($category as $item) {
$output .= $item['name'];
$output .= ", ";
}
echo rtrim($output, ', ');
}
?>

Answer 3

The implode solution is the simplest, but you asked for a loop. This method avoids putting an extra conditional in the loop, and therefore should be somewhat more efficient. Basically, instead of doing something different for the last item, you do something different for the first item.
$myArray = array(); //Fill with whatever
$result = $myArray[0];
for ($idx = 1; $idx < count($myArray); $idx += 1)
{
$result .= ', ' . $myArray[$idx];
}
EDIT: After realizing you want $item['name'] instead of just $item:
$myArray = array(); //Fill with whatever
$result = $myArray[0]['name'];
for ($idx = 1; $idx < count($myArray); $idx += 1)
{
$result .= ', ' . $myArray[$idx]['name'];
}

Answer 4

As lovely as foreach is,...
<?php
if ($category) {
$count = count($category) - 1;
for ($i = 0; $i <= $count; $i++) {
echo $category[$i]['name'];
if ($i < $count)
echo ', ';
}
}
?>
...for is sometimes necessary.

Answer 5

Assuming $category is an array, you can use implode to get what you want:
Edit: Missed the $categories['name'] part, this should work:
<?php implode(", ", array_keys($category, 'name')); ?>

Answer 6

The standard solution to the "last comma" problem is to put items into an array and then implode it:
$temp = array();
foreach($category as $item)
$temp[] = $item['name'];
echo implode(', ', $temp);
If you want this more generic, you can also write a function that picks ("plucks") a specific field out of each subarray:
function array_pluck($ary, $key) {
$r = array();
foreach($ary as $item)
$r[] = $item[$key];
return $r;
}
and then just
echo implode(', ', array_pluck($category, 'name'));

Answer 7

Or you could check for the last key:
end($category);
$lastkey = key($category);
foreach ( $category AS $key => $item ) {
echo $item['name'];
if ( $lastkey != $key ) {
echo ', ';
}
}

Answer 8

And another option:
<?php
$out = "";
foreach ($category as $item)
{
$out .= $item['name']. ", ";
}
$out = preg_replace("/(.*), $/", "$1", $out);
echo $out;
?>