{section},{sectionelse}

A {section} is for looping over arrays of data, unlike {foreach} which is used to loop over a single associative array. Every {section} tag must be paired with a closing {/section} tag.

Attribute Name	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	Yes	n/a	The name of the section
loop	mixed	Yes	n/a	Value to determine the number of loop iterations
start	integer	No	0	The index position that the section will begin looping. If the value is negative, the start position is calculated from the end of the array. For example, if there are seven values in the loop array and start is -2, the start index is 5. Invalid values (values outside of the length of the loop array) are automatically truncated to the closest valid value.
step	integer	No	1	The step value that will be used to traverse the loop array. For example, step=2 will loop on index 0,2,4, etc. If step is negative, it will step through the array backwards.
max	integer	No	n/a	Sets the maximum number of times the section will loop.
show	boolean	No	`TRUE`	Determines whether or not to show this section

Required attributes are name and loop.
The name of the {section} can be anything you like, made up of letters, numbers and underscores, like PHP variables.
{section}'s can be nested, and the nested {section} names must be unique from each other.
The loop attribute, usually an array of values, determines the number of times the {section} will loop. You can also pass an integer as the loop value.
When printing a variable within a {section}, the {section} name must be given next to variable name within [brackets].
{sectionelse} is executed when there are no values in the loop variable.
A {section} also has its own variables that handle {section} properties. These properties are accessible as: {$smarty.section.name.property} where "name" is the attribute name.
{section} properties are index, index_prev, index_next, iteration, first, last, rownum, loop, show, total.

Example 7-30. Looping a simple array with {section}

assign() an array to Smarty


<?php
$data = array(1000,1001,1002);
$smarty->assign('custid',$data);
?>

The template that outputs the array

{* this example will print out all the values of the $custid array *}
{section name=customer loop=$custid}
  id: {$custid[customer]}<br />
{/section}
<hr />
{*  print out all the values of the $custid array reversed *}
{section name=foo loop=$custid step=-1}
  {$custid[foo]}<br />
{/section}

The above example will output:

id: 1000<br />
id: 1001<br />
id: 1002<br />
<hr />
id: 1002<br />
id: 1001<br />
id: 1000<br />

Example 7-31. {section} without an assigned array

{section name=foo start=10 loop=20 step=2}
  {$smarty.section.foo.index}
{/section}
<hr />
{section name=bar loop=21 max=6 step=-2}
  {$smarty.section.bar.index}
{/section}

The above example will output:

10 12 14 16 18
<hr />
20 18 16 14 12 10

Example 7-32. Naming a {section}

The name of the {section} can be anything you like, see PHP variables. It is used to reference the data within the {section}.

{section name=anything loop=$myArray}
  {$myArray[anything].foo}
  {$name[anything]}
  {$address[anything].bar}
{/section}

Example 7-33. Looping an associative array with {section}

This is an example of printing an associative array of data with a {section}. Following is the php script to assign the $contacts array to Smarty.


<?php
$data = array(
          array('name' => 'John Smith', 'home' => '555-555-5555',
                'cell' => '666-555-5555', 'email' => 'john@myexample.com'),
          array('name' => 'Jack Jones', 'home' => '777-555-5555',
                'cell' => '888-555-5555', 'email' => 'jack@myexample.com'),
          array('name' => 'Jane Munson', 'home' => '000-555-5555',
                'cell' => '123456', 'email' => 'jane@myexample.com')
        );
$smarty->assign('contacts',$data);
?>

The template to output $contacts

{section name=customer loop=$contacts}
<p>
  name: {$contacts[customer].name}<br />
  home: {$contacts[customer].home}<br />
  cell: {$contacts[customer].cell}<br />
  e-mail: {$contacts[customer].email}
</p>
{/section}

The above example will output:

<p>
  name: John Smith<br />
  home: 555-555-5555<br />
  cell: 666-555-5555<br />
  e-mail: john@myexample.com
</p>
<p>
  name: Jack Jones<br />
  home phone: 777-555-5555<br />
  cell phone: 888-555-5555<br />
  e-mail: jack@myexample.com
</p>
<p>
  name: Jane Munson<br />
  home phone: 000-555-5555<br />
  cell phone: 123456<br />
  e-mail: jane@myexample.com
</p>

Example 7-34. {section} demonstrating the loop variable

This example assumes that $custid, $name and $address are all arrays containing the same number of values. First the php script that assign's the arrays to Smarty.


<?php

$id = array(1001,1002,1003);
$smarty->assign('custid',$id);

$fullnames = array('John Smith','Jack Jones','Jane Munson');
$smarty->assign('name',$fullnames);

$addr = array('253 Abbey road', '417 Mulberry ln', '5605 apple st');
$smarty->assign('address',$addr);

?>

The loop variable only determines the number of times to loop. You can access ANY variable from the template within the {section}

{section name=customer loop=$custid}
<p>
  id: {$custid[customer]}<br />
  name: {$name[customer]}<br />
  address: {$address[customer]}
</p>
{/section}

The above example will output:

<p>
  id: 1000<br />
  name: John Smith<br />
  address: 253 Abbey road
</p>
<p>
  id: 1001<br />
  name: Jack Jones<br />
  address: 417 Mulberry ln
</p>
<p>
  id: 1002<br />
  name: Jane Munson<br />
  address: 5605 apple st
</p>

Example 7-35. Nested {section}'s

{section}'s can be nested as deep as you like. With nested {section}'s, you can access complex data structures, such as multi-dimensional arrays. This is an example .php script thats assign's the arrays.


<?php

$id = array(1001,1002,1003);
$smarty->assign('custid',$id);

$fullnames = array('John Smith','Jack Jones','Jane Munson');
$smarty->assign('name',$fullnames);

$addr = array('253 N 45th', '417 Mulberry ln', '5605 apple st');
$smarty->assign('address',$addr);

$types = array(
           array( 'home phone', 'cell phone', 'e-mail'),
           array( 'home phone', 'web'),
           array( 'cell phone')
         );
$smarty->assign('contact_type', $types);

$info = array(
           array('555-555-5555', '666-555-5555', 'john@myexample.com'),
           array( '123-456-4', 'www.example.com'),
           array( '0457878')
        );
$smarty->assign('contact_info', $info);

?>

In this template, $contact_type[customer] is an array of contact types for the current customer.

{section name=customer loop=$custid}
<hr>
  id: {$custid[customer]}<br />
  name: {$name[customer]}<br />
  address: {$address[customer]}<br />
  {section name=contact loop=$contact_type[customer]}
    {$contact_type[customer][contact]}: {$contact_info[customer][contact]}<br />
  {/section}
{/section}

The above example will output:

<hr>
  id: 1000<br />
  name: John Smith<br />
  address: 253 N 45th<br />
    home phone: 555-555-5555<br />
    cell phone: 666-555-5555<br />
    e-mail: john@myexample.com<br />
<hr>
  id: 1001<br />
  name: Jack Jones<br />
  address: 417 Mulberry ln<br />
    home phone: 123-456-4<br />
    web: www.example.com<br />
<hr>
  id: 1002<br />
  name: Jane Munson<br />
  address: 5605 apple st<br />
    cell phone: 0457878<br />

Example 7-36. Database example with a {sectionelse}

Results of a database search (eg ADODB or PEAR) are assigned to Smarty


<?php
$sql = 'select id, name, home, cell, email from contacts '
      ."where name like '$foo%' ";
$smarty->assign('contacts', $db->getAll($sql));
?>

The template to output the database result in a HTML table

<table>
<tr><th>&nbsp;</th><th>Name></th><th>Home</th><th>Cell</th><th>Email</th></tr>
{section name=co loop=$contacts}
  <tr>
    <td><a href="view.php?id={$contacts[co].id}">view<a></td>
    <td>{$contacts[co].name}</td>
    <td>{$contacts[co].home}</td>
    <td>{$contacts[co].cell}</td>
    <td>{$contacts[co].email}</td>
  <tr>
{sectionelse}
  <tr><td colspan="5">No items found</td></tr>
{/section}
</table>

.index

index contains the current array index, starting with zero or the start attribute if given. It increments by one or by the step attribute if given.

Technical Note: If the step and start properties are not modified, then this works the same as the iteration property, except it starts at zero instead of one.

Example 7-37. {section} index property

FYI: $custid[customer.index] and $custid[customer] are identical.

{section name=customer loop=$custid}
  {$smarty.section.customer.index} id: {$custid[customer]}<br />
{/section}

The above example will output:

0 id: 1000<br />
1 id: 1001<br />
2 id: 1002<br />

.index_prev

index_prev is the previous loop index. On the first loop, this is set to -1.

.index_next

index_next is the next loop index. On the last loop, this is still one more than the current index, respecting the setting of the step attribute, if given.

Example 7-38. index, index_next and index_prev properties


<?php
$data = array(1001,1002,1003,1004,1005);
$smarty->assign('rows',$data);
?>

Template to output the above array in a table

{* $rows[row.index] and $rows[row] are identical in meaning *}
<table>
  <tr>
    <th>index</th><th>id</th>
    <th>index_prev</th><th>prev_id</th>
    <th>index_next</th><th>next_id</th>
  </tr>
{section name=row loop=$rows}
  <tr>
    <td>{$smarty.section.row.index}</td><td>{$rows[row]}</td>
    <td>{$smarty.section.row.index_prev}</td><td>{$rows[row.index_prev]}</td>
    <td>{$smarty.section.row.index_next}</td><td>{$rows[row.index_next]}</td>
  </tr>
{/section}
</table>

The above example will output a table containing the following:

index  id    index_prev prev_id index_next next_id
0      1001  -1	                1          1002
1      1002  0          1001    2          1003
2      1003  1          1002    3          1004
3      1004  2          1003    4          1005
4      1005  3          1004    5

.iteration

iteration contains the current loop iteration and starts at one.

Note: This is not affected by the {section} properties start, step and max, unlike the index property. iteration also starts with one instead of zero unlike index. rownum is an alias to iteration, they are identical.

Example 7-39. A section's iteration property


<?php
// array of 3000 to 3015
$id = range(3000,3015);
$smarty->assign('arr',$id);
?>

Template to output every other element of the $arr array as step=2

{section name=cu loop=$arr start=5 step=2}
  iteration={$smarty.section.cu.iteration}
  index={$smarty.section.cu.index}
  id={$custid[cu]}<br />
{/section}

The above example will output:

iteration=1 index=5 id=3005<br />
iteration=2 index=7 id=3007<br />
iteration=3 index=9 id=3009<br />
iteration=4 index=11 id=3011<br />
iteration=5 index=13 id=3013<br />
iteration=6 index=15 id=3015<br />

Another example that uses the iteration property to output a table header block every five rows. Uses the {if} function with the mod operator.

<table>
{section name=co loop=$contacts}
  {if $smarty.section.co.iteration % 5 == 1}
    <tr><th>&nbsp;</th><th>Name></th><th>Home</th><th>Cell</th><th>Email</th></tr>
  {/if}
  <tr>
    <td><a href="view.php?id={$contacts[co].id}">view<a></td>
    <td>{$contacts[co].name}</td>
    <td>{$contacts[co].home}</td>
    <td>{$contacts[co].cell}</td>
    <td>{$contacts[co].email}</td>
  <tr>
{/section}
</table>

.first

first is set to TRUE if the current {section} iteration is the initial one.

.last

last is set to TRUE if the current section iteration is the final one.

Example 7-40. {section} property first and last

This example loops the $customers array, outputs a header block on the first iteration and on the last outputs the footer block. Also uses the total property.

{section name=customer loop=$customers}
  {if $smarty.section.customer.first}
    <table>
    <tr><th>id</th><th>customer</th></tr>
  {/if}

  <tr>
    <td>{$customers[customer].id}}</td>
    <td>{$customers[customer].name}</td>
  </tr>

  {if $smarty.section.customer.last}
    <tr><td></td><td>{$smarty.section.customer.total} customers</td></tr>
    </table>
  {/if}
{/section}

.rownum

rownum contains the current loop iteration, starting with one. It is an alias to iteration, they work identically.

.loop

loop contains the last index number that this {section} looped. This can be used inside or after the {section}.

Example 7-41. {section} property loop

{section name=customer loop=$custid}
  {$smarty.section.customer.index} id: {$custid[customer]}<br />
{/section}
There are {$smarty.section.customer.loop} customers shown above.

The above example will output:

0 id: 1000<br />
1 id: 1001<br />
2 id: 1002<br />
There are 3 customers shown above.

.show

show is used as a parameter to section and is a boolean value. If FALSE, the section will not be displayed. If there is a {sectionelse} present, that will be alternately displayed.

Example 7-42. show property

Boolean $show_customer_info has been passed from the PHP application, to regulate whether or not this section shows.

{section name=customer loop=$customers show=$show_customer_info}
  {$smarty.section.customer.rownum} id: {$customers[customer]}<br />
{/section}

{if $smarty.section.customer.show}
  the section was shown.
{else}
  the section was not shown.
{/if}

The above example will output:

1 id: 1000<br />
2 id: 1001<br />
3 id: 1002<br />

the section was shown.

.total

total contains the number of iterations that this {section} will loop. This can be used inside or after a {section}.

Example 7-43. total property example

{section name=customer loop=$custid step=2}
  {$smarty.section.customer.index} id: {$custid[customer]}<br />
{/section}
   There are {$smarty.section.customer.total} customers shown above.

See also {foreach} and $smarty.section.