Can a variable embedded in string be changed after the string is declared?

Question

Not sure of a better title for this question but basically heres my code:

<?php

$v = file_get_contents('http://examplecom/index.php?=');

$popularnames = array('Gravity Falls','The Amazing World of Gumball','South Park','American Dad');

?>

Basically what im trying to do is reference the $popularnames array in different areas so like in my href for example this is what i need:

<a href="<?= $v.urlencode($popularnames[0]); ?>"><?= $popularnames[0]; ?></a>

Basically what it should be doing is adding popularnames[0] (Gravity Falls) url encoded to the file_get_contents url of $v but for some reason all it does is output Gravity Falls

But my result should have gotten me http://example.com/index.php?=Gravity+Falls and then have do file_put_contents to it and its result should then have been Hello World! or whatever the page was displaying.

I cant just add $popularname[0] to the $v as im using the $v in multiple href's so doing that it will make all the hrefs one url but I want them different like:

<a href="<?= $v.urlencode($popularnames[0]); ?>"><?= $popularnames[0]; ?></a>

<a href="<?= $v.urlencode($popularnames[0]); ?>"><?= $popularnames[1]; ?></a>

<a href="<?= $v.urlencode($popularnames[0]); ?>"><?= $popularnames[2]; ?></a>

Using this works fine doe so theres no issue with what the variable contain:

<?php $v = file_get_contents('http://example.com/index.php?q='.urlencode($popularnames[0])); echo $v; ?>

Any ideas?

From an answer below how can I make it more compact so it would preferably make me able to just do <?= $v.$v2.$popularnames[0]; ?>:

<?php
$v = 'http://example.com/index.php?q=';
$v2 = file_get_contents($v.urlencode($popularnames[0])); echo $v2;
?>

Do note that the echoed $v2 will be echoed inside a src=" "

David · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-01 13:18:52Z

1

But my result should have gotten me http://example.com/index.php?=Gravity+Falls

Then just store the URL fragment in $v:

$v = 'http://examplecom/index.php?=';

Currently you're getting the file contents of that URL fragment and storing that in $v:

$v = file_get_contents('http://examplecom/index.php?=');

If the contents of that incomplete URL are empty, then naturally $v would be empty. And concatenating an empty string with another string would result in just that other string.

(Side note: I'm not sure what you plan to do at index.php since the query string value you're sending doesn't have a key associated with it. Maybe you forgot to include the key in the URL fragment?)

answered Jul 1, 2015 at 13:18

David

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5 Comments

Kyubeh2435436 Over a year ago

Perfect, But is there a way to make it neater and more compact: Edited main post

David Over a year ago

@Kyubeh2435436: Define "neater and more compact". Setting string values to variables is about as simple and "compact" as it gets.

Kyubeh2435436 Over a year ago

As in how can I get it to be able to do <?= $v.$v2.$popularnames[0]; ?> and <?= $v.$v2.$popularnames[1]; ?> e.t.c wherever I want it to do file_get_contents.

David Over a year ago

@Kyubeh2435436: You can't alias a function call to a variable name. You have to actually call the function. You can store the result of the function call in a variable. But $v2.$something can't directly replace function($something).

Kyubeh2435436 Over a year ago

This is the most compact I could get it <?= file_get_contents($v.urlencode($popularnames[0])); ?> it will do.

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