PHP convert text function

[mannouch]

Hi there im wondering if you can help me out.

I’m basically trying to write a function where a number will be replaced by text… but im rubbish.

Heres my situation.

- im drawing my content from a database, so it will be displayed as this:

     <?php echo $row_psanews[‘psanews_datem’]; ?>

      as an example the page will result in echoing: 10

I want to write a function which will convert this into text.

So I’ll change my php into:

     <?php echo converter ($row_psanews[‘psanews_datem’]); ?>

     converter being the name of the function, the page will result in echoing: October

.. the function would be something along the lines of

function converter (){

01 = “January”

02= "February"

etc etc

its all a major learning curb for me, and I hope im making sense here

[Guest]

http://php.net/manual/en/function.preg-replace.php

(found by searching for php replace. remember... search is your friend!!!)

[Guest]

It might be a little more intuitive to use arrays. Regex can be a bear at the best of times.

Say you set the variable $value = 10; Define an array like:

$months[1] = "January";

$months[2] = "February";

...

then your output would be

     echo ($months[$value]);

Barry

[geotrice · Accepted solution]

It seems like you're trying to do two different things:

1. Convert a number to a custom string of text.
2. Convert a number (1-12) to the textual representation of that month.

If 1 is what you want, then a switch is probably the simplest and best route to take.

switch($row_psanews['psanews_datem']){
     case 1:
          //code to be performed
          //maybe something like
          $result = "January";
          break; //Break out of this case.
     case 2:
          //code to be performed
          $result = "February";
          break; //Break out of this case.
     //add more cases here...
     //don't forget a default case!
     default:
          //code to be performed if we couldn't account for a possibility
          $result = "Unknown";
          //No break needed, since this is the last check.
}

Check out this page on the Switch Statement.

If 2 is what you need, then PHP has a built in function for that as part of it's Date Function.

<?php
//row_psanews is a whole number (1-12)
$row_psanews[‘psanews_datem’]; //10, in this example
//Create a timestamp
//mktime(hour, minute, second, month, day, year, daylight savings time)
$month = mktime(0,0,0,$row_psanews['psanews_datem'],0,0,0);
//Find the month
$month_name = date("F", $month);
//Write out the month name
echo($month_name);
//Writes out "October"
?>

For formatting the result of the date function check this out.

For other date functions check this out.

[mannouch]

I love all of you guys!

Thank you so much for your help!

Each technique is exactly what Im looking for.

I had discovered preg-replace before this post, but i couldnt work it out, but managed to get one working a few hours later. whish i could tag everyone as giving the correct answer.

Many thanks again for your time! Life savers