PHP Array, if duplicate id concat values and delete duplicate - php

Question

I have an array like this
array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "ab0ce921dba8a810f6db3892399619d9" ["sites"]=> array(5) {
[0]=> array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "448ce5a1dba8a810f6db3892399619ba" ["service"]=> string(4) "IDMB" } [1]=> array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "448ce5a1dba8a810f6db3892399619ba" ["service"]=> string(4) "ODMB" } [2]=> array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "598ce5a1dba8a810f6db3892399619bc" ["service"]=> string(4) "IDMB" } [3]=> array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "876ce5a1dba8a810f6db38923996199f" ["service"]=> string(4) "IDMB" } [4]=> array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "876ce5a1dba8a810f6db38923996199f" ["service"]=> string(4) "ODMB" } } }
If there is a duplicate ['sys_ID'] I want to change the first ['service'] => "IDMB,ODMB" then delete the duplicate value so there is only 1. So the above would become
array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "ab0ce921dba8a810f6db3892399619d9" ["sites"]=> array(5) {
[0]=> array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "448ce5a1dba8a810f6db3892399619ba" ["service"]=> string(4) "IDMB,ODMB" } [1]=> array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "598ce5a1dba8a810f6db3892399619bc" ["service"]=> string(4) "IDMB" } [2]=> array(2) {
["sys_ID"]=> string(32) "876ce5a1dba8a810f6db38923996199f" ["service"]=> string(4) "IDMB,ODMB" } ]} }
The first array was made getting POST values;
<?php
foreach ($_POST['services'] as $item) {
$parts = explode(',', $item);
$siteID = $parts[1];
$services = $parts[0];
$data['sites'][] = [
'sys_ID' => $siteID,
'service' => $services
];
}
?>

Answer 1

Change the way you generate your array to something like this:
<?php
$data = [
'sites' => [],
];
foreach ($_POST['services'] as $item) {
// Gather your data
$parts = explode(',', $item);
$siteID = $parts[1];
$services = $parts[0];
// Set flag to remember whether you need to add it
$add = true;
// Loop through existing data and check if the sys_ID already exists
foreach ($data['sites'] as &$dataDetails) {
// It does ... so just append your service
if ($dataDetails['sys_ID'] === $siteID) {
$add = false;
$dataDetails['service'] .= ',' . $services;
break;
}
}
// Couldn't find the sys_ID => Add new entry
if ($add) {
$data['sites'][] = [
'sys_ID' => $siteID,
'service' => $services
];
}
}
?>

Answer 2

It will be better to fill the array properly from the beginning; however I will still post a solution. We have the array defined like this:
$arr = array(
'sys_ID' => 'ab0ce921dba8a810f6db3892399619d9',
'sites' => array(
0 => array(
'sys_ID' => "448ce5a1dba8a810f6db3892399619ba",
'service'=> "IDMB"
),
1 => array(
'sys_ID' => "448ce5a1dba8a810f6db3892399619ba",
'service'=> "ODMB"
),
2 => array(
'sys_ID'=> "598ce5a1dba8a810f6db3892399619bc",
'service'=> "IDMB"
),
3 => array(
'sys_ID'=> "876ce5a1dba8a810f6db38923996199f",
'service'=> "IDMB"
),
4 => array(
'sys_ID'=> "876ce5a1dba8a810f6db38923996199f",
'service'=> "ODMB"
)
)
);
To merge the elements like described, you can do the following loop:
// For each site (1)...
for($i=0; $i<count($arr["sites"])-1; $i++){
// Take each of sites starting from the next one to the end (2)
for($j=$i+1; $j<count($arr["sites"]); $j++){
// If there is a match in sys_ID beteen (1) and (2)
if($arr["sites"][$i]['sys_ID'] == $arr["sites"][$j]['sys_ID']){
// Merge the service into (1) with comma separation
$arr["sites"][$i]['service'] = $arr["sites"][$i]['service'].",".$arr["sites"][$j]['service'];
// then delete (2)
array_splice($arr["sites"],$j,1);
$j--;
}
}
}
Note that this will reindex the numebers (1,2,3...). If you wish to preserve them, you can use unset() instead.