counting up/down the number of the comment based on its number in the list

Question

while($qry_comment = mysql_fetch_array($sql_comment)) {
echo "#1,";
echo $qry_comment['content'];
echo "<br />";
}

i'm trying to make the number count up in the while loop, but i just don't know how. something with ++ , i tried a few ways but I couldn't make it work the right way. can anyone help me out here? thanks

Do you want to display each comment's number next to the comment, or do you want to count the total number of comments? — Nic Wortel, Dec 10 '13 at 23:06
i got the number next to it. how can i make it count the total? — user2617739, Dec 10 '13 at 23:09
By the way, [you shouldn't use mysql_ functions](http://stackoverflow.com/q/12859942/1001110). Use [mysqli](http://www.php.net/mysqli) or [PDO](http://php.net/pdo) instead. — Nic Wortel, Dec 10 '13 at 23:27
can you suggest me a link to an easy and understandable guide for mysqli or pdo? — user2617739, Dec 10 '13 at 23:42
I don't have a specific guide, but if you search Google for 'pdo beginners guide' or something like that, you'll find a lot of results. — Nic Wortel, Dec 10 '13 at 23:52

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 10 '13 at 23:04

0

Just use a variable that increments on each loop iteration:

$counter = 1;
while($qry_comment = mysql_fetch_assoc($sql_comment)) {
  echo "#" . $counter . ",";
  echo $qry_comment['content'];
  echo "<br />";
  $counter++;
}

answered Dec 10 '13 at 23:04

John Conde

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it jumps by two all the time, why? – user2617739 Dec 10 '13 at 23:07
Because `mysql_fetch_array` retrieves both a numerical and associative based array. Try using `mysql_fetch_assoc` instead. (See my edit above) – John Conde Dec 10 '13 at 23:08

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

There are multiple ways to increase the value of a variable with 1:

Arithmetic operators:

$a = $a + 1;
$a += 1;

Incrementing/Decrementing Operators:

$a++;
++$a;

The location of the incrementing / decrementing operator determines when the calculation is executed. When using a pre-increment (++$a;), the variable is incremented, then returned. When using a post-increment ($a++;), the variable is returned first, and then incremented.

Example:

$a = 5;
echo $a++; // echoes '5'
echo $a;   // echoes '6'

$a = 5;
echo ++$a; // echoes '6'
echo $a;   // still echoes '6'

Of course, if you don't echo the value, it doesn't matter if you use $a++ or ++$a.

Returning to your case, you can use the following code:

$counter = 1;

while($comment = mysql_fetch_assoc($sql_comment)) {
    echo '#' . $counter++ . ','; // First echo $counter, then increment it
    echo $comment['content'];
    echo "<br />";
}

By the way, you can use MySQL instead of PHP to count the comments as well.

counting up/down the number of the comment based on its number in the list

2 Answers2