Retrieving post meta array (attachment)

Question

I have a post meta for image uploads which allows a maximum of 5 files.

The data is stored in like this:

a:5:{i:0;s:3:"694";i:1;s:3:"694";i:2;s:3:"697";i:3;s:3:"695";i:4;s:3:"696";}

The problem is, I can't get the image URLs. My code:

                <?php $ppics = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'shop_demosc', false );
            $ppurl = wp_get_attachment_url($ppics);
            foreach ($ppics as $key => $ppurl){
                echo '<img src="'. print_r($ppurl) .'">';
            } ?>

This code returns:

Array
 (
   [0] => 694
   [1] => 694
   [2] => 697
   [3] => 695
   [4] => 696
 )

whats wrong? How can I get the URLs to the 5 images?

Answer 1

Your var_dump looks like it's returning an array because you're passing false to get_post_meta(). Also you don't want to print_r() on an echo line.

Retrieve post meta field for a post.

• $post_id (int) (Required) Post ID.
• $key (string) (Optional) The meta key to retrieve. By default, returns data for all keys. Default value: ''
• $single (bool) (Optional) Whether to return a single value. Default value: false

<?php 

$ppics = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'shop_demosc', true );

// if the value is an array of an array, just set to the first array
if( is_array($ppics) && count($ppics) === 1 && is_array($ppics[0]) ){
    $ppics = $ppics[0];
}

foreach ( $ppics as $key => $attachment_id ) {
    $image_url = wp_get_attachment_url( $attachment_id );
    printf( '<img src="%s">', $image_url );
} 

?>   

Answer 2

You need to move

    $ppurl = wp_get_attachment_url($value); // $value of the foreach

In the foreach loop

so your code might look like this

  <?php $ppics = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'shop_demosc', true);// true to get the unserialize array directly

        foreach ($ppics as $key => $attachment_id){
            $ppurl = wp_get_attachment_url(attachment_id);
            echo '<img src="'. $ppurl .'">';
        } ?>