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# {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.

- Sections 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.

- 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 from the php script
`<?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's with {section} This is an example of printing an associative array of data within 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 Sections can be nested as deep as you like. With nested sections, you can access complex data structures, such as multi-dimensional arrays. This is a 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 in meaning.
    {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={$custid[cu]}<br />
    {/section}
The above example will output:
    iteration=1 index=5 id=3005<br />
    iteration=2 index=7 id=3007<br />
    iteration=3 index=9 id=3009<br />
    iteration=4 index=11 id=3011<br />
    iteration=5 index=13 id=3013<br />
    iteration=6 index=15 id=3015<br />
Another example uses the `iteration` property to output a table header block every five rows and uses `{if}` with the mod operator.
    <table>
    {section name=co loop=$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`s
    {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. `show` is a boolean value, `TRUE` or `FALSE`. 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`.

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