alternating table row colors

[atomicmunky]

i have a script which displays a list of names and stats from a database in a table.

right now i have it set up to display 11 names per page. i figured that it would be easier on the eyes of the viewer if every other block of data had a different table background color.

what's the best way to go about doing this?
i have a while loop which will print out the records from the db in a table (11 per page) as long as data exist, but i can't figure out how to make it alternate between the records.

has anyone done this before?
thanks.

[manipura]

I was just looking at my code for that a few minutes ago

$cellBGN="#FFFFFF";
($cellBG==$cellBGN ? $cellBG="#CCCCCC" : $cellBG="#FFFFFF");



echo ( "<tr bgcolor=$cellBG><td>*Info*</td></tr>";

[slighltywhacked]

Make a var (lets say $x)

then do a loop, check if $x is even or odd. even prints one color, oddprints the other.

if($x % 2 =0)
{
//color 1
}
else
{
//color 2
}


then add 1 to $x with $x++;

[mandi_nole]

Thanks for that code, dude - I've been wondering how to replace my Mod function from ASP...

It's cool to watch masters at work...

Mandi

[TWTCommish]

Originally posted by slighltywhacked
Make a var (lets say $x)

then do a loop, check if $x is even or odd. even prints one color, oddprints the other.

if($x % 2 =0)
{
//color 1
}
else
{
//color 2
}


then add 1 to $x with $x++;

Actually, I don't know if that will work -- I believe you need two equals signs (=) to compare values. Anyway, it's a bit cleaner to use this:

$color = ($x % 2 == 0) "white" : "red";

[thetakerfan]

very cool
BTW, shouldn't it be

$color = ($x % 2 == 0) ? "white" : "red"; 

[slighltywhacked]

no, the single = sign will work here. I use it all the time... Normaly u would use the == instead though, = usualy asigns a value and the == compares vallues

[TWTCommish]

That's what I get for staying up until 2AM. Thanks Taker

[slighltywhacked]

scratch that.. u do have to use ==

little out of it here

[thetakerfan]

Originally posted by TWTCommish
That's what I get for staying up until 2AM. Thanks Taker

[atomicmunky]

ok so i used manipura's code and it worked perfectly. thanks alot.

could someone please explain either one of these 2 pieces of code for me?

$color = ($x % 2 == 0) "white" : "red"; 

i was trying to find some info on using % and how it relates to the rest of the code, but i found nothing in the php manual.

likewise, i can't seem to wrap my brain around the following piece. it seems somewhat similar to the one above with the

$var == $var ? $var ="somthing" : $var="somthing" 

but i just don't get what exactly is going on there.

($cellBG==$cellBGN ? $cellBG="#CCCCCC" : $cellBG="#FFFFFF"); 

anybody care to endulge?

[thetakerfan]

ok,

$color = ($x % 2 == 0) ? "white" : "red"; 

straight from the php manual, the % is:

Remainder of $a divided by $b

or in this case, $x divided by 2.
if the remainder of x / 2 is 0, meaning an even number, then $color will be white, if not, $color will be red.
basically, if

($x % 2 == 0) 

is true, then what comes after the "?" is used, if its not, then whats after the ":" is used

[tipiyanos]

It is an alternate form of if/else statement.

($cellBG==$cellBGN ? $cellBG="#CCCCCC" : $cellBG="#FFFFFF"); 

Here first it checks whether $cellbg==$cellbgn. if true it follows the first condition ie. assigns #cccccc to $cellbg. if false it follows the other part.
written in the conventional form it would be

if ($cellBG==$cellBGN) {
$cellBG="#CCCCCC";
}

else {
$cellBG="#FFFFFF");
} 

Hope that helps.

[atomicmunky]

thank you for all the info. it's definitely helpful to have things explained so clearly.

one more question. if i was using this line :

$color = ($x % 2 == 0) "white" : "red"; 

do i declare what $x is at any point before it? or is it basically a placeholder?

thanks again.

[manipura]

Originally posted by manipura

$cellBGN="#FFFFFF";
($cellBG==$cellBGN ? $cellBG="#CCCCCC" : $cellBG="#FFFFFF");

I like using shorter term for things as easy as this, saves time. I think everyone should work on making things short. Like instead onf <?php echo"$var"; ?> Just go <?=$var?>

I also love keyboard shortcuts!
alt+f+o (open file)
alt+f+s (save file)

Or easy stuff like in Internet explorer
F4 =Highlights Address Bar
F5 = refesh
F6 = Selects different frames
F11 = View Fullscreen!

[timnz]

do i declare what $x is at any point before it? or is it basically a placeholder?

Before your while loop, declare $x to be 0, or 1, or whatever you like, then inside your while loop, at the end say, put $x++ to increment the $x variable by one.

And make sure you use the code WITH the ?

$color = ($x % 2 == 0) ? "white" : "red"; 

[ucahg]

Originally posted by manipura


I like using shorter term for things as easy as this, saves time. I think everyone should work on making things short. Like instead onf <?php echo"$var"; ?> Just go <?=$var?>
.....

Does that work if you do not have short tags on?
I do, but I always code so it will work without short tags.

[TWTCommish]

$cellBGN="#FFFFFF";
($cellBG==$cellBGN ? $cellBG="#CCCCCC" : $cellBG="#FFFFFF");

I'm confused...don't you need a variable there to catch the result? I also don't see how the conditional will alternate the color. I also don't see how the parentheses are around the whole thing.

[thetakerfan]

here is what I think

$cellBGN="#FFFFFF"; 
($cellBG==$cellBGN ? $cellBG="#CCCCCC" : $cellBG="#FFFFFF"); 

is supposed to do, even though it should atleast be like this

$cellBGN="#FFFFFF"; 
($cellBG==$cellBGN) ? $cellBG="#CCCCCC" : $cellBG="#FFFFFF"; 

and actually, perhaps this is easier, depending on what you like
it first sets $cellBG to #FFFFFF. so then, $cellBG = $cellBGN, and so the color is #CCCCCC. Now on the next row, since $cellBG is not equal to $cellBGN, $cellBG is now #FFFFFF, and that is what is used. so it does alternate the color thats used, just in a weird way. I don't think I'd have ever thought of doing it that way

[thetakerfan]

this would work too wouldn't it?

$cellBGN="#FFFFFF"; 
$cellBG = ($cellBG==$cellBGN) ? "#CCCCCC" : "#FFFFFF"; 

[freakysid]

Originally posted by thetakerfan
very cool
BTW, shouldn't it be

$color = ($x % 2 == 0) ? "white" : "red"; 

There is one small logic erro with the above. You need to increment the counter:

$color = ($x++ % 2 == 0) ? "white" : "red"; 

$cellBGN="#FFFFFF";*
$cellBG*=*($cellBG==$cellBGN)*?*"#CCCCCC"*:*"#FFFFFF"; 

I had never thought of toggling a value in this manner. It's very neat!

[TWTCommish]

Sid: I was presenting it as an alternative to the if/then structure, and as such figured that the rest that was said (about incrementing and such) would be a given. Yeah, that method is interesting...surprised you havn't seen it before, though. I've seen it once...on these same forums, of course.