{foreach},{foreachelse}

{foreach} is used to loop over an associative array as well a numerically-indexed array, unlike {section} which is for looping over numerically-indexed arrays only. The syntax for {foreach} is much easier than {section}, but as a tradeoff it can only be used for a single array. Every {foreach} tag must be paired with a closing {/foreach} tag.

Attribute Name	Type	Required	Default	Description
from	array	Yes	n/a	The array you are looping through
item	string	Yes	n/a	The name of the variable that is the current element
key	string	No	n/a	The name of the variable that is the current key
name	string	No	n/a	The name of the foreach loop for accessing foreach properties

Required attributes are from and item.
The name of the {foreach} loop can be anything you like, made up of letters, numbers and underscores, like PHP variables.
{foreach} loops can be nested, and the nested {foreach} names must be unique from each other.
The from attribute, usually an array of values, determines the number of times {foreach} will loop.
{foreachelse} is executed when there are no values in the from variable.
{foreach} loops also have their own variables that handle properties. These are accessed with: {$smarty.foreach.name.property} with "name" being the name attribute.
Note: The name attribute is only required when you want to access a {foreach} property, unlike {section}. Accessing a {foreach} property with name undefined does not throw an error, but leads to unpredictable results instead.
{foreach} properties are index, iteration, first, last, show, total.

Example 7-5. The item attribute


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

Template to output $myArray in an un-ordered list

<ul>
{foreach from=$myArray item=foo}
    <li>{$foo}</li>
{/foreach}
</ul>

The above example will output:

<ul>
    <li>1000</li>
    <li>1001</li>
    <li>1002</li>
</ul>

Example 7-6. Demonstrates the item and key attributes


<?php
$arr = array(9 => 'Tennis', 3 => 'Swimming', 8 => 'Coding');
$smarty->assign('myArray', $arr);
?>

Template to output $myArray as key/val pair, like PHP's foreach.

<ul>
{foreach from=$myArray key=k item=v}
   <li>{$k}: {$v}</li>
{/foreach}
</ul>

The above example will output:

<ul>
    <li>9: Tennis</li>
    <li>3: Swimming</li>
    <li>8: Coding</li>
</ul>

Example 7-7. {foreach} with associative item attribute


<?php
$items_list = array(23 => array('no' => 2456, 'label' => 'Salad'),
                    96 => array('no' => 4889, 'label' => 'Cream')
                    );
$smarty->assign('items', $items_list);
?>

Template to output $items with $myId in the url

<ul>
{foreach from=$items key=myId item=i}
  <li><a class="blue" HREF="res_item.php?id={$myId}">{$i.no}: {$i.label}</li>
{/foreach}
</ul>

The above example will output:

<ul>
  <li><a class="blue" HREF="res_item.php?id=23">2456: Salad</li>
  <li><a class="blue" HREF="res_item.php?id=96">4889: Cream</li>
</ul>

Example 7-8. {foreach} with nested item and key

Assign an array to Smarty, the key contains the key for each looped value.


<?php
 $smarty->assign('contacts', array(
                             array('phone' => '1',
                                   'fax' => '2',
                                   'cell' => '3'),
                             array('phone' => '555-4444',
                                   'fax' => '555-3333',
                                   'cell' => '760-1234')
                             ));
?>

The template to output $contact.

{foreach name=outer item=contact from=$contacts}
  <hr />
  {foreach key=key item=item from=$contact}
    {$key}: {$item}<br />
  {/foreach}
{/foreach}

The above example will output:

<hr />
  phone: 1<br />
  fax: 2<br />
  cell: 3<br />
<hr />
  phone: 555-4444<br />
  fax: 555-3333<br />
  cell: 760-1234<br />

Example 7-9. Database example with {foreachelse}

A database (eg PEAR or ADODB) example of a search script, the query results assigned to Smarty


<?php
  $search_condition = "where name like '$foo%' ";
  $sql = 'select contact_id, name, nick from contacts '.$search_condition.' order by name';
  $smarty->assign('results', $db->getAssoc($sql) );
?>

The template which display "None found" if no results with {foreachelse}.

{foreach key=cid item=con from=$results}
    <a class="blue" HREF="res_contact.php?contact_id={$cid}">{$con.name} - {$con.nick}</a><br />
{foreachelse}
    No items were found in the search
{/foreach}

.index

index contains the current array index, starting with zero.

Example 7-10. index example


{* The header block is output every five rows *}
<table>
{foreach from=$items key=myId item=i name=foo}
  {if $smarty.foreach.foo.index % 5 == 0}
     <tr><th>Title</th></tr>
  {/if}
  <tr><td>{$i.label}</td></tr>
{/foreach}
</table>

.iteration

iteration contains the current loop iteration and always starts at one, unlike index. It is incremented by one on each iteration.

Example 7-11. iteration and index example


{* this will output 0|1, 1|2, 2|3, ... etc *}
{foreach from=$myArray item=i name=foo}
{$smarty.foreach.foo.index}|{$smarty.foreach.foo.iteration},
{/foreach}

.first

first is TRUE if the current {foreach} iteration is the initial one.

Example 7-12. first property example


{* show LATEST on the first item, otherwise the id *}
<table>
{foreach from=$items key=myId item=i name=foo}
<tr>
  <td>{if $smarty.foreach.foo.first}LATEST{else}{$myId}{/if}</td>
  <td>{$i.label}</td>
</tr>
{/foreach}
</table>

.last

last is set to TRUE if the current {foreach} iteration is the final one.

Example 7-13. last property example


{* Add horizontal rule at end of list *}
{foreach from=$items key=part_id item=prod name=products}
  <a class="blue" HREF="res_#{$part_id}">{$prod}</a>{if $smarty.foreach.products.last}<hr>{else},{/if}
{foreachelse}
  ... content ...
{/foreach}

.show

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

.total

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

Example 7-14. total property example


{* show rows returned at end *}
{foreach from=$items key=part_id item=prod name=foo}
{$prod.name><hr/>
{if $smarty.foreach.foo.last}
  <div id="total">{$smarty.foreach.foo.total} items</div>
{/if}
{foreachelse}
 ... something else ...
{/foreach}

See also {section} and $smarty.foreach.