Turn string back into an array [duplicate] - php

Question

I have an array:
$a = array('foo' => 'fooMe');
and I do:
print_r($a);
which prints:
Array ( [foo] => printme )
Is there a function, so when doing:
needed_function(' Array ( [foo] => printme )');
I will get the array array('foo' => 'fooMe'); back?

Answer 1

I actually wrote a function that parses a "stringed array" into an actual array. Obviously, it's somewhat hacky and whatnot, but it works on my testcase. Here's a link to a functioning prototype at http://codepad.org/idlXdij3.
I'll post the code inline too, for those people that don't feel like clicking on the link:
<?php
/**
* #author ninetwozero
*/
?>
<?php
//The array we begin with
$start_array = array('foo' => 'bar', 'bar' => 'foo', 'foobar' => 'barfoo');
//Convert the array to a string
$array_string = print_r($start_array, true);
//Get the new array
$end_array = text_to_array($array_string);
//Output the array!
print_r($end_array);
function text_to_array($str) {
//Initialize arrays
$keys = array();
$values = array();
$output = array();
//Is it an array?
if( substr($str, 0, 5) == 'Array' ) {
//Let's parse it (hopefully it won't clash)
$array_contents = substr($str, 7, -2);
$array_contents = str_replace(array('[', ']', '=>'), array('#!#', '#?#', ''), $array_contents);
$array_fields = explode("#!#", $array_contents);
//For each array-field, we need to explode on the delimiters I've set and make it look funny.
for($i = 0; $i < count($array_fields); $i++ ) {
//First run is glitched, so let's pass on that one.
if( $i != 0 ) {
$bits = explode('#?#', $array_fields[$i]);
if( $bits[0] != '' ) $output[$bits[0]] = $bits[1];
}
}
//Return the output.
return $output;
} else {
//Duh, not an array.
echo 'The given parameter is not an array.';
return null;
}
}
?>

Answer 2

If you want to store an array as string, use serialize [docs] and unserialize [docs].
To answer your question: No, there is no built-in function to parse the output of print_r into an array again.

Answer 3

No. But you can use both serialize and json_* functions.
$a = array('foo' => 'fooMe');
echo serialize($a);
$a = unserialize($input);
Or:
echo json_encode($a);
$a = json_decode($input, true);

Answer 4

you cannot do this with print_r,
var_export should allow something similar, but not exactly what you asked for
http://php.net/manual/en/function.var-export.php
$val = var_export($a, true);
print_r($val);
eval('$func_val='.$val.';');

Answer 5

There is a nice Online-Tool which does exatly what its name is:
print_r to json online converter
From a JSON Object its not far to creating an array with the json_decode function:
To get an array from this, set the second paramter to true. If you don't, you will get an object instead.
json_decode($jsondata, true);

Answer 6

I think my function is cool too, works with nested arrays:
function print_r_reverse($input)
{
$output = str_replace(['[', ']'], ["'", "'"], $input);
$output = preg_replace('/=> (?!Array)(.*)$/m', "=> '$1',", $output);
$output = preg_replace('/^\s+\)$/m', "),\n", $output);
$output = rtrim($output, "\n,");
return eval("return $output;");
}
NB: better not use this with user input data

Answer 7

Here is a print_r output parser, producing the same expression in PHP syntax. It is written as an interactive Stack Snippet, so you can use it here:
function parse(s) {
const quote = s => '"' + s.replace(/["\\]/g, '\\$&') + '"';
const compress = indent => " ".repeat(((indent.length + 4) >> 3) * 4);
return "$data = " + (s.replace(/\r\n?/g, "\n") + "\n").replace(
/(Array|\w+ (Object)) *\n *\( *\n|^( *)(?:\[(?:(0|-?[1-9]\d*)|(.*?))\] => |(\) *\n+))|(-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?(?:E[-+]\d+)?)\n|(.*(?:\n(?! *\) *$| *\[.*?\] => ).*)*)\n/gm,
(_, array, object, indent, index, key, close, number, string) =>
object ? "(object) [\n"
: array ? "[\n"
: close ? compress(indent) + "],\n"
: indent ? compress(indent) + (index ?? quote(key)) + " => "
: (number ?? quote(string)) + ",\n"
).replace(/,\n$/, ";");
}
// I/O handling
const [input, output] = document.querySelectorAll("textarea");
(input.oninput = () => output.value = parse(input.value))();
textarea { width: 23em; height: 12em }
<table><tr><th>Input print_r format</th><th>Output PHP syntax</th></tr>
<tr><td><textarea>
Array
(
[0] => example
[1] => stdClass Object
(
[a[] => 1.43E+19
["] => quote
[] =>
)
)
</textarea></td><td><textarea readonly></textarea></td></tr></table>
Remarks
Don't remove any line breaks from the original print_r output. For instance, both the opening and closing parentheses after Array must appear on separate lines.
Don't change the spacing around => (one space before, one after).
As print_r does not distinguish between null, "" or false (it produces no output for these values), nor between true and 1 (both are output as 1), this converter will never produce null, false or true.
As print_r does not distinguish between numbers and strings (9 could represent a number or a string), this converter will assume that the data type is to be numeric when such ambiguity exists.
stdClass Object is supported and translates to (object) [...] notation
MyClass Object will be treated as if it was a stdClass object.
String literals in the output are double quoted and literal double quotes and backslashes are escaped.

Answer 8

Quick function (without checks if you're sending good data):
function textToArray($str)
{
$output = [];
foreach (explode("\n", $str) as $line) {
if (trim($line) == "Array" or trim($line) == "(" or trim($line) == ")") {
continue;
}
preg_match("/\[(.*)\]\ \=\>\ (.*)$/i", $line, $match);
$output[$match[1]] = $match[2];
}
return $output;
}
This is the expected input:
Array
(
[test] => 6
)

Answer 9

This is how I interpreted the question:
function parsePrintedArray($s){
$lines = explode("\n",$s);
$a = array();
foreach ($lines as $line){
if (strpos($line,"=>") === false)
continue;
$parts = explode('=>',$line);
$a[trim($parts[0],'[] ')] = trim($parts[1]);
}
return $a;
}
Works for both objects and arrays:
$foo = array (
'foo' => 'bar',
'cat' => 'dog'
);
$s = print_r($foo,1);
$a = parsePrintedArray($s);
print_r($a);
Output:
Array
(
[foo] => bar
[cat] => dog
)
doesnt work on nested arrays, but simple and fast.

Answer 10

use
var_export(array('Sample array', array('Apple', 'Orange')));
Output:
array (
0 => 'Sample array',
1 =>
array (
0 => 'Apple',
1 => 'Orange',
),
)

Answer 11

json_encode() and json_decode() function will do it.
$asso_arr = Array([779] => 79 => [780] => 80 [782] => 82 [783] => 83);
$to_string = json_encode($asso_arr);
It will be as a json format {"779":"79","780":"80","782":"82","783":"83"}
Then we will convert it into json_decode() then it gives associative array same as original:
print_r(json_decode($to_string));
Output will be Array([779] => 79 => [780] => 80 [782] => 82 [783] => 83) in associative array format.