php - Saving complex multidimensional data from API into database - php

Question

I am using oxford dictionary API to develop a dictionary function on my website. I have successfully implemented the function as I can search the word and pull the results from the API. However, I have a problem with saving these data into MySQL database.
This is what I get when I print_r($dic_array):
Array
(
[metadata] => Array
(
[provider] => Oxford University Press
)
[results] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[id] => love
[language] => en
[lexicalEntries] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[entries] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[etymologies] => Array
(
[0] => Old English lufu, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit lubhyati ‘desires’, Latin libet ‘it is pleasing’, libido ‘desire’, also by leave and lief
)
[grammaticalFeatures] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => Mass
[type] => Countability
)
)
[homographNumber] => 000
[senses] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => a strong feeling of affection
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => their love for their country
)
[1] => Array
(
[text] => babies fill parents with intense feelings of love
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.007
[subsenses] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => a strong feeling of affection and sexual attraction for someone
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => they were both in love with her
)
[1] => Array
(
[text] => we were slowly falling in love
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.009
)
[1] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => affectionate greetings conveyed to someone on one's behalf
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => give her my love
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.010
)
[2] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => a formula for ending an affectionate letter
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => take care, lots of love, Judy
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.011
)
[3] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => a personified figure of love, often represented as Cupid.
)
[domains] => Array
(
[0] => Roman History
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.012
[variantForms] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => Love
)
)
)
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => a great interest and pleasure in something
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => his love for football
)
[1] => Array
(
[text] => we share a love of music
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.016
)
[2] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => a person or thing that one loves
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => she was the love of his life
)
[1] => Array
(
[text] => their two great loves are tobacco and whisky
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.018
[notes] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => count noun
[type] => grammaticalNote
)
)
[subsenses] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => a friendly form of address
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => it's all right, love
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.021
[regions] => Array
(
[0] => British
)
[registers] => Array
(
[0] => informal
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => used in affectionate requests
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => don't fret, there's a love
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.022
[notes] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => "a love"
[type] => wordFormNote
)
)
[registers] => Array
(
[0] => informal
)
)
)
)
[3] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => (in tennis, squash, and some other sports) a score of zero; nil
)
[domains] => Array
(
[0] => Tennis
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => love fifteen
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.024
)
)
)
)
[language] => en
[lexicalCategory] => Noun
[pronunciations] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[audioFile] => http://audio.oxforddictionaries.com/en/mp3/love_gb_1.mp3
[dialects] => Array
(
[0] => British English
)
[phoneticNotation] => IPA
[phoneticSpelling] => lʌv
)
)
[text] => love
)
[1] => Array
(
[entries] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[grammaticalFeatures] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => Transitive
[type] => Subcategorization
)
)
[homographNumber] => 001
[senses] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => feel deep affection or sexual love for (someone)
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => do you love me?
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.026
[subsenses] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[definitions] => Array
(
[0] => like or enjoy very much
)
[examples] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[text] => I just love dancing
)
[1] => Array
(
[text] => I'd love a cup of tea
)
)
[id] => m_en_gbus0596690.032
)
)
)
)
)
)
[language] => en
[lexicalCategory] => Verb
[pronunciations] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[audioFile] => http://audio.oxforddictionaries.com/en/mp3/love_gb_1.mp3
[dialects] => Array
(
[0] => British English
)
[phoneticNotation] => IPA
[phoneticSpelling] => lʌv
)
)
[text] => love
)
)
[type] => headword
[word] => love
)
)
)
To echo out the result on my website:
foreach($dic_array['results'][0]['lexicalEntries'] as $word) {
echo '<hr><div class="partOfSpeech"><p><b>'.$word['lexicalCategory'].'</b></p></div>';
foreach($word['entries'][0]['senses'] as $definition) {
echo '<p class="definition">'.$definition['definitions'][0].'</p>';
if (!empty($definition['subsenses'])) {
foreach($definition['subsenses'] as $subsenses) {
echo '<p class="subDefinition" style="padding-left: 10px; "> -'.$subsenses['definitions'][0].'</p>';
}
}
}
}

Answer 1

This is not an answer. I am the author who asks this question. Because I cannot write over 30000 characters, I use some extra content here.
This is what I tried:
foreach($dic_array['results'][0]['lexicalEntries'] as $word) {
$lexicalCategory = serialize($word['lexicalCategory']);
foreach($word['entries'][0]['senses'] as $definition) {
$wordDefinition = serialize($definition['definitions'][0]);
if (!empty($definition['subsenses'])) {
foreach($definition['subsenses'] as $subsenses) {
$wordSubdefinition = serialize($subsenses['definitions'][0]);
if(!empty($_POST['save'])) {
$sth = $this->db->prepare('INSERT INTO dictionary
(`word`, `partOfSpeech`, `definition`, `subDefinition`)
VALUES (:word, :partOfSpeech, :definition, :subDefinition)
');
$sth->execute(array(
':word' => $data['word'],
':partOfSpeech' => $lexicalCategory,
':definition' => $wordDefinition,
':subDefinition' => $wordSubdefinition
));
}
}
}
}
}
I know it is too nested but once I can get this done, I will separate this into several functions.