Question

I am searching for someone who could write me a script to output the following pattern:

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/3038/82351644.png

its starting with 0 in the center, then 1 to the left, 2 down, 3 right…you get the idea. – its always 0 to 9 and starting over again…

i found this topic , but it is clearly different from my request.
since i have no good understanding of php and the “pros” are here,
i am asking nicely if someone would spend some time doing this for me.
That would be great! Also if I could set in a variable how many “rounds” the script is performing, that would be awesome! – Thanks a lot

Answer 1

Just because I had nothing better to do and I always like a challenge:

<?php

// A few constants.
define('DOWN', 0);
define('LEFT', 3);
define('RIGHT', 1);
define('UP', 2);

// Dictates the size of the spiral.
$size = 11;

// The initial number.
$number = 0;

// The initial direction.
$direction = RIGHT;

// The distance and number of points remaining before switching direction.
$remain = $distance = 1;

// The initial "x" and "y" point.
$y = $x = round($size / 2);

// The dimension of the spiral.
$dimension = $size * $size;

// Loop
for ( $count = 0; $count < $dimension; $count++ )
{
  // Add the current number to the "x" and "y" coordinates.
  $spiral[$x][$y] = $number;

  // Depending on the direction, set the "x" or "y" value.
  switch ( $direction )
  {
    case LEFT: $y--; break;
    case UP: $x--; break;
    case DOWN: $x++; break;
    case RIGHT: $y++; break;
  }

  // If the distance remaining is "0", switch direction.
  if ( --$remain == 0 )
  {
    switch ( $direction )
    {
      case DOWN:
        $direction = LEFT;
        $distance++;

        break;
      case UP:
        $distance++;

      default:
        $direction--;

        break;
    }

    // Reset the distance remaining.
    $remain = $distance;
  }

  // Increment the number or reset it to 0 if the number is 9.
  if ( $number < 9 )
    $number++;
  else
    $number = 0;
}

// Sort by "x" numerically.
ksort($spiral, SORT_NUMERIC);

foreach ( $spiral as &$x )
{
  // Sort by "y" numerically.
  ksort($x, SORT_NUMERIC);

  foreach ( $x as $ykey => $y )
    // Output the number.
    echo $y . ' ';

  // Skip a line.
  echo PHP_EOL;
}

Outputs:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
9 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2 
7 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 3 
6 9 0 9 6 7 8 9 6 1 4 
5 8 9 8 5 0 1 0 7 2 5 
4 7 8 7 4 3 2 1 8 3 6 
3 6 7 6 5 4 3 2 9 4 7 
2 5 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 5 8 
1 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 9 
0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0