{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. {section}'s 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: {$smarty.section.name.property} where name is the attribute name. {section} properties are index, index_prev, index_next, iteration, first, last, rownum, loop, show, total. Looping a simple array with {section} assign() an array to Smarty assign('custid',$data); ?> ]]> The template that outputs the array {/section}
{* print out all the values of the $custid array reversed *} {section name=foo loop=$custid step=-1} {$custid[foo]}
{/section} ]]> The above example will output: id: 1001
id: 1002
id: 1002
id: 1001
id: 1000
]]> {section} without an assigned array {section name=bar loop=21 max=6 step=-2} {$smarty.section.bar.index} {/section} ]]> The above example will output: 20 18 16 14 12 10 ]]> 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}. Looping an associative array with {section} This is an example of printing an associative array of data with a {section}. Following is the php script to assign the $contacts array to Smarty. '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 $contacts name: {$contacts[customer].name}
home: {$contacts[customer].home}
cell: {$contacts[customer].cell}
e-mail: {$contacts[customer].email}

{/section} ]]> The above example will output: name: John Smith
home: 555-555-5555
cell: 666-555-5555
e-mail: john@myexample.com

name: Jack Jones
home phone: 777-555-5555
cell phone: 888-555-5555
e-mail: jack@myexample.com

name: Jane Munson
home phone: 000-555-5555
cell phone: 123456
e-mail: jane@myexample.com

]]> {section} demonstrating the <varname>loop</varname> variable This example assumes that $custid, $name and $address are all arrays containing the same number of values. First the php script that assign's the arrays to Smarty. assign('custid',$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} id: {$custid[customer]}
name: {$name[customer]}
address: {$address[customer]}

{/section} ]]> The above example will output: id: 1000
name: John Smith
address: 253 Abbey road

id: 1001
name: Jack Jones
address: 417 Mulberry ln

id: 1002
name: Jane Munson
address: 5605 apple st

]]> Nested {section}'s {section}'s can be nested as deep as you like. With nested {section}'s, you can access complex data structures, such as multi-dimensional arrays. This is an example .php script thats assign's the arrays. 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, $contact_type[customer] is an array of contact types for the current customer. id: {$custid[customer]}
name: {$name[customer]}
address: {$address[customer]}
{section name=contact loop=$contact_type[customer]} {$contact_type[customer][contact]}: {$contact_info[customer][contact]}
{/section} {/section} ]]> The above example will output: id: 1000
name: John Smith
address: 253 N 45th
home phone: 555-555-5555
cell phone: 666-555-5555
e-mail: john@myexample.com
id: 1001
name: Jack Jones
address: 417 Mulberry ln
home phone: 123-456-4
web: www.example.com
id: 1002
name: Jane Munson
address: 5605 apple st
cell phone: 0457878
]]> Database example with a {sectionelse} Results of a database search (eg ADODB or PEAR) are assigned to Smarty assign('contacts', $db->getAll($sql)); ?> ]]> The template to output the database result in a HTML table  Name>HomeCellEmail {section name=co loop=$contacts} view {$contacts[co].name} {$contacts[co].home} {$contacts[co].cell} {$contacts[co].email} {sectionelse} No items found {/section} ]]> .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. {section} <varname>index</varname> property FYI $custid[customer.index] and $custid[customer] are identical. {/section} ]]> The above example will output: 1 id: 1001
2 id: 1002
]]> .index_prev index_prev is the previous loop index. On the first loop, this is set to -1. .index_next index_next is the next loop index. On the last loop, this is still one more than the current index, respecting the setting of the step attribute, if given. <varname>index</varname>, <varname>index_next</varname> and <varname>index_prev</varname> properties assign('rows',$data); ?> ]]> Template to output the above array in a table indexid index_prevprev_id index_nextnext_id {section name=row loop=$rows} {$smarty.section.row.index}{$rows[row]} {$smarty.section.row.index_prev}{$rows[row.index_prev]} {$smarty.section.row.index_next}{$rows[row.index_next]} {/section} ]]> The above example will output a table containing the following: .iteration iteration contains the current loop iteration and starts at one. This is not affected by the {section} properties start, step and max, unlike the index property. iteration also starts with one instead of zero unlike index. rownum is an alias to iteration, they are identical. A section's <varname>iteration</varname> property assign('arr',$id); ?> ]]> Template to output every other element of the $arr array as step=2 {/section} ]]> The above example will output: iteration=2 index=7 id=3007
iteration=3 index=9 id=3009
iteration=4 index=11 id=3011
iteration=5 index=13 id=3013
iteration=6 index=15 id=3015
]]> Another example that uses the iteration property to output a table header block every five rows. Uses the {if} function with the mod operator. {section name=co loop=$contacts} {if $smarty.section.co.iteration % 5 == 1}  Name>HomeCellEmail {/if} view {$contacts[co].name} {$contacts[co].home} {$contacts[co].cell} {$contacts[co].email} {/section} ]]> .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. {section} property <varname>first</varname> and <varname>last</varname> This example loops the $customers array, outputs a header block on the first iteration and on the last outputs the footer block. Also uses the total property. idcustomer {/if} {$customers[customer].id}} {$customers[customer].name} {if $smarty.section.customer.last} {$smarty.section.customer.total} customers {/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}. {section} property <varname>loop</varname> {/section} There are {$smarty.section.customer.loop} customers shown above. ]]> The above example will output: 1 id: 1001
2 id: 1002
There are 3 customers shown above. ]]> .show show is used as a parameter to section and is a boolean value. If &false;, the section will not be displayed. If there is a {sectionelse} present, that will be alternately displayed. <varname>show</varname> property Boolean $show_customer_info has been passed from the PHP application, to regulate whether or not this section shows. {/section} {if $smarty.section.customer.show} the section was shown. {else} the section was not shown. {/if} ]]> The above example will output: 2 id: 1001
3 id: 1002
the section was shown. ]]> .total total contains the number of iterations that this {section} will loop. This can be used inside or after a {section}. <varname>total</varname> property example {/section} There are {$smarty.section.customer.total} customers shown above. ]]> See also {foreach} and $smarty.section.