I'm working on the "xml parse to keyed-array" post from yesterday. The problem is much more fundamental that parsing the XML. I simply do not understant how php's "referencing" works.

As an example, I try the following:

// start out with an array containing just "0"
$root = array(0);
// make $root the "parent" for the next array to go inside
$parent =& $root;
// add 5 more arrays, one inside the other
for ($i=1; $i<=5; $i++) {
    // an array containing just $i
    $newArray = array($i);
    // push this onto the end of $parent
    $parent[] = $newArray;
    // make the new array the new parent
    $parent =& $newArray;
    // show use what $root looks like now
    print_r($root);
    echo "<br/>";
}

what I am expecting is a growing nest like this:


Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 1 ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 1 [1] => Array([0] => 2) ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 1 [1] => Array([0] => 2 [1] => Array([0] => 3)) ) )
...etc.

BUT, instead I just get this:

Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 1 ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 1 ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 1 ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 1 ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 1 ) )

So, something is wrong with my referencing, right?

Thanks for any help.

Andrew

BTW, I tried changing line 10 below from a simple assignement to a reference, and I got recursion. Why is this?

Thanks!

// start out with an array containing just "0"
$root = array(0);
// make this the "parent" for the next array to go inside
$parent =& $root;
// add 5 more arrays
for ($i=1; $i<=5; $i++) {
    // an array containing just $i
    $newArray = array($i);
    // push this onto the end of $parent
    $parent[] =& $newArray;
    // make the new array the new parent
    $parent =& $newArray;
    // show use what $root looks like now
    print_r($root);
    echo "<br/>";
}


Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 1 ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 2 [1] => Array *RECURSION* ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 3 [1] => Array *RECURSION* ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 4 [1] => Array *RECURSION* ) )
Array ( [0] => 0 [1] => Array ( [0] => 5 [1] => Array *RECURSION* ) )