How can I break an outer loop with PHP?

Question

I am looking to break an outer for/foreach loop in PHP.

This can be done in ActionScript like so:

top : for each(var i:MovieClip in movieClipArray)
{
    for each(var j:String in nameArray)
    {
        if(i.name == j) break top;
    }
}

What's the PHP equivalent?

Always have a look at the documentation first: http://php.net/manual/en/control-structures.break.php — Felix Kling, May 04 '11 at 08:14
I've posted 2 solutions, one with labels, as in action script and other that just uses `break` — Edgar Villegas Alvarado, May 04 '11 at 08:22

score 318 · Accepted Answer · answered May 04 '11 at 08:14

318

In the case of 2 nested loops:

break 2;

http://php.net/manual/en/control-structures.break.php

answered May 04 '11 at 08:14

lucian303

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27

that goes for `continue 2`,just for more info =) – Arash Jun 27 '17 at 14:00

score 43 · Answer 2 · answered May 04 '11 at 08:13

43

PHP Manual says

break accepts an optional numeric argument which tells it how many nested enclosing structures are to be broken out of.

break 2;

answered May 04 '11 at 08:13

Shakti Singh

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score 22 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 03 '19 at 15:20

22

You can using just a break-n statement:

foreach(...)
{
    foreach(...)
    {
        if (i.name == j) 
            break 2; //Breaks 2 levels, so breaks outermost foreach
    }
}

If you're in php >= 5.3, you can use labels and gotos, similar as in ActionScript:

foreach (...)
{        
    foreach (...)
    {
        if (i.name == j) 
            goto top;
    }
}
top:

But goto must be used carefully. Goto is evil (considered bad practice)

edited Oct 03 '19 at 15:20

Nik

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answered May 04 '11 at 08:17

Edgar Villegas Alvarado

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2

There are quite valid uses for goto. Even eval() is not evil (and it is). It has even less uses than goto. – lucian303 May 31 '13 at 19:14
1

Yes. That's why I said "goto must be used carefully" – Edgar Villegas Alvarado Aug 29 '13 at 08:05
1

In that note I believe this page is relevant: http://php.net/manual/en/control-structures.goto.php – Ruggi May 19 '16 at 14:14

score 13 · Answer 4 · answered May 04 '11 at 08:13

13

You can use break 2; to break out of two loops at the same time. It's not quite the same as your example with the "named" loops, but it will do the trick.

answered May 04 '11 at 08:13

Jon

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score 7 · Answer 5 · edited Oct 03 '19 at 15:22

7

$i = new MovieClip();
foreach ($movieClipArray as $i)
{
    $nameArray = array();
    foreach ($nameArray as $n) 
        if ($i->name == $n) 
            break 2;
}

edited Oct 03 '19 at 15:22

Nik

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answered May 04 '11 at 08:17

Jordan Arsenault

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Nice try at converting the entire supplied code to PHP, though the break statement doesn't do what I need it to do (it only ends the inner loop). – Marty May 04 '11 at 08:18
refresh you page :) I replaced with _break 2_ ... which according to PHP Manual: "break accepts an optional numeric argument which tells it how many nested enclosing structures are to be broken out of. " – Jordan Arsenault May 04 '11 at 08:22

score 6 · Answer 6 · edited Oct 03 '19 at 16:16

6

Use goto?

for ($i = 0, $j = 50; $i < 100; $i++) 
{
  while ($j--) 
  {
    if ($j == 17) 
      goto end; 
  }  
}
echo "i = $i";
end:
echo 'j hit 17';

edited Oct 03 '19 at 16:16

Nik

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answered May 04 '11 at 08:16

Petr Abdulin

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I know this is a 10-year-old answer but goto was never the right answer. If it's 2021+ and you are reading this, please, never use goto! – nickpapoutsis Feb 07 '21 at 05:04
3

Even the manual itself warns against it: https://www.php.net/manual/en/control-structures.goto.php – blues Aug 31 '21 at 08:35

How can I break an outer loop with PHP?

6 Answers6

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