Question

I’m converting a csv file to xml using the following function:

I want to repeat the same action if $records[$row] value is the same as the previous time that it looped through. How can I accomplish this?

while (($data = fgetcsv($handle, 1000, ",")) !== FALSE) {
  $num = count($data);
  $records[] = $data;

  $stringData .= '<PayTo PTPayeeID="' . $records[$row][2];

  // if the value of $records[$row][2] is the same I want to repeat an action.
  echo "<div id=\"row\"><div id=\"num\">" .$row. "</div>";
  $row++;

  for ($c=0; $c < $num; $c++) {
     if ($c != 1) {
       echo "<div class=\"field\">" . $data[$c] . "</div>";
     }
  }
}

Answer 1

In general, to compare a row with the previous one, store the previous row’s value in a variable.
Make sure to assign the variable with a value that won’t occur as a real value in your data.

$prevValue = NULL;
while(condition) {
 if ($curValue == $prevValue) {
  .
  . do stuff
  .
 }
 $prevValue = $curValue;
}