Combine Arrays into One Multidimensional Array using PHP - php

Question

I am trying to combine arrays into one single multidimensional array. There could be more than 5 arrays that needs to be combined so I need a code that will automatically combine all arrays no matter how many they are. I tried array_merge but it requires manual defining of arrays in comma formatted parameters.
The code to convert is:
Array
(
[id] => 1
[name] => Item 1
[slug] => item-slug-1
[parent] => 0
)
Array
(
[id] => 2
[name] => Item 2
[slug] => item-slug-2
[parent] => 1
)
Array
(
[id] => 3
[name] => Item 3
[slug] => item-slug-3
[parent] => 2
)
Array
(
[id] => 4
[name] => Item 4
[slug] => item-slug-4
[parent] => 3
)
Array
(
[id] => 5
[name] => Item 5
[slug] => item-slug-5
[parent] => 3
)
And this is how I would like it to look:
Array
(
[0] => Array
{
[id] => 1
[name] => Item 1
[slug] => item-slug-1
[parent] => 0
}
[1] => Array
{
[id] => 2
[name] => Item 2
[slug] => item-slug-2
[parent] => 1
}
[2] => Array
{
[id] => 3
[name] => Item 3
[slug] => item-slug-3
[parent] => 2
}
[3] => Array
{
[id] => 4
[name] => Item 4
[slug] => item-slug-4
[parent] => 3
}
[4] => Array
{
[id] => 5
[name] => Item 5
[slug] => item-slug-5
[parent] => 3
}
)
Here is how the arrays are generated:
I receive a response JSON from the server that looks like this:
[{"slug":"item-slug-1","name":"Item 1","id":1},{"slug":"item-slug-2","name":"Item 2","id":2},{"slug":"item-slug-3","name":"Item 3","id":3,"children":[{"slug":"item-slug-4","name":"Item 4","id":4},{slug":"item-slug-5","name":"Item 5","id":5}]}]
I decode the JSON then convert it to an array like this:
$categories_obj = json_decode( $_POST['order'] );
$categories_arr = json_decode(json_encode( $categories_obj ), true);
I created a function that walks through each item so it would be easier to insert into my database:
function walk_and_update($data, $parent = 0, $count = 0) {
if( is_array($data) ) {
$combine = array();
/* The arrays are generated here */
foreach( $data as $key => $row ) {
$formatted = array(
'id' => $row['id'],
'name' => $row['name'],
'slug' => $row['slug'],
'parent' => $parent
);
print_r( $formatted );
/* My SQL update is here */
if( isset( $row['children'] ) ) {
walk_and_update( $row['children'], $row['id'], $count );
}
}
}
}
Then I use the function like this:
walk_and_update( $categories_arr );

Answer 1

Like this:
$arr1 = Array(
'id' => 1,
'name' => 'Item 1',
'slug' => 'item-slug-1',
'parent' => 0);
$arr2 = Array(
'id' => 2,
'name' => 'Item 2',
'slug' => 'item-slug-2',
'parent' => 1);
$arr3 = Array(
'id' => 3,
'name' => 'Item 3',
'slug' => 'item-slug-3',
'parent' => 2);
$new_arr = array();
for($i=1;$i<=3;$i++) {
$var_name = 'arr'.$i;
array_push($new_arr,$$var_name);
}
echo "<pre>";print_r($new_arr);
Output:
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[id] => 1
[name] => Item 1
[slug] => item-slug-1
[parent] => 0
)
[1] => Array
(
[id] => 2
[name] => Item 2
[slug] => item-slug-2
[parent] => 1
)
[2] => Array
(
[id] => 3
[name] => Item 3
[slug] => item-slug-3
[parent] => 2
)
)

Answer 2

you could make function to handle the array, then return expected array to multidimensional array.
can i know first, that the array you want to merging , did they produce one by one or just one time that can produce many array ?
//you could do this if your array produces one time only
$counter = 0;
$new_array=array();
foreach (your array as $key => $val)
{
$new_array[$counter]['id']= $val['id'];
$new_array[$counter]['name']= $val['name'];
$new_array[$counter]['slug']= $val['slug'];
$new_array[$counter]['parent'] = $val['parent'];
$counter++;
}
//if your array produces more than one time
function main ()
{
$data['counter']=0;
$data['newarray']=array();
$data = $this->mergin_array(your array,$data['counter'])
}
function merging_array(your array,$counter)
{
$data = array();
$counter_new = $counter;
foreach(your array as $key => $val)
{
$data['newarray'][$counter]['id'] = $val['id'];
$data['newarray'][$counter]['name'] = $val['name'];
$data['newarray'][$counter]['slug'] = $val['slug'];
$data['newarray'][$counter]['parent'] = $val['parent'];
$counter_new++;
}
$data['counter'] = $counter_new;
return $data;
}
so no matter how many you use , when you access the $data['newarray'] in your main function it will get you the combined for many array