Multi-Dimensional Sub-Array to Comma Separated List (PHP)? - php

Question

The function works well for creating a formatted table from a multi-dimensional array and assigning it to a variable. When there is a sub-array it will nest another table nicely but instead, i'd like to display a comma-separated list (conditional only for sub-arrays).
What php function / logic could help me accomplish this and how should I implement it?
It currently displays this...
<table>
<tr>
<td><span style="color:#ffeeee;">Keywords</span></td>
<td>
<span style="color:#eeeeff;">
<table>
<tr>
<td><span style="color:#ccffcc;">Alex</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="color:#ccffcc;">Mic</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span style="color:#ccffcc;">snowboarding</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
</span>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
Would prefer something like this...
<table>
<tr>
<td><span style="color:#ffeeee;">Keywords</span></td>
<td><span style="color:#eeeeff;">Alex, Mic, snowboarding</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
PHP Code (display_array_processor.php):
//----------------------------------------------------//
/*
// Iterating complex php multidimensional multi-level array
// to html table using return instead of echo
*/
//----------------------------------------------------//
if($_POST)
{
//check if its an ajax request, exit if not
if(!isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_REQUESTED_WITH']) AND strtolower($_SERVER['HTTP_X_REQUESTED_WITH']) != 'xmlhttprequest') {
$output = json_encode(array( //create JSON data
'type'=>'error',
'text' => 'Sorry Request must be Ajax POST'
));
die($output); //exit script outputting json data
}
$process_method = $_POST["process_method"];
$process_levels = $_POST["process_levels"];
//Sanitize input data using PHP filter_var()
//$process_method = filter_var($_POST["process_method"], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
//----------------------------------------------------//
if ($process_levels == "noheaders") {
// Sample array from shell command (No Headings)...
$myArray = array(
array(
"Size" => "914 kB",
"Date" => "2015:02:08 18:01:00-08:00",
"Attributes" => "Regular; (none)",
"Names" =>
array(
"Alex Smith",
"Mike Jones"
),
"Keywords" =>
array(
2015,
"Alex",
"Mike",
"snowboarding",
array(
'A snow',
'B cold',
'C fun'
)
),
"Software" => "Invisible Space-Monkey Monitoring System 01",
"Duration" => 4800
)
);
} elseif ($process_levels == "headers") {
// Sample array from shell command (With Headings)...
$myArray = array(
array(
"SourceFile" => "test.txt",
"Tool" =>
array(
"Version" => 11.12
),
"File" =>
array(
"Size" => "104 kB",
"ModifyDate" => "2016:02:08 18:01:00-08:00"
),
"Region" =>
array(
"RegionAppliedToDimensionsUnit" => "pixel",
"RegionName" =>
array(
"Alex Smith",
"Mike Jones"
),
"Subject" =>
array(
2015,
"Alex",
"Mike",
"snowboarding"
)
)
)
);
} else {
// Small Sample Array...
$myArray = array(
"Source" => "test.txt"
);
}
if ($process_method == "tables") {
//$html = recursive_array($myArray);
$html = recursive_array_table($myArray);
} elseif ($process_method == "commas") {
$html = array_table($myArray);
} else {
$html = "Do not know the process method.";
}
//$html .= '<p><textarea rows="10" cols="75">'.$process_method.'</textarea></p>';
$output = json_encode(array('type'=>'message', 'text' => $html));
die($output);
}
//----------------------------------------------------//
// Recursive Array Functions - COMMA SUB-ARRAYS
//----------------------------------------------------//
// Two generic utility functions:
function is_nested($array) {
return is_array($array) && count($array) < count($array, COUNT_RECURSIVE);
}
function is_assoc($array) {
return is_array($array) && array_keys($array) !== range(0, count($array) - 1);
}
function array_table_row($key, $row) {
$content = array_table($row);
return "<tr>\n<th>$key</th>\n<td>$content</td>\n</tr>\n";
}
function array_table($array) {
if (is_nested($array) || is_assoc($array)) {
$content = implode("", array_map('array_table_row', array_keys($array), $array));
return "<table border=1>\n<tbody>\n$content</tbody>\n</table>\n";
}
// At this point $array is too simple for a table format:
$color = is_array($array) ? "922" : "292";
$content = htmlspecialchars(is_array($array) ? implode(", ", $array) : $array);
return "<span style='color:#$color'>$content</span>";
}
//----------------------------------------------------//
// Recursive Array Functions - TABLE SUB-ARRAYS (ORIG)
//----------------------------------------------------//
function recursive_array_table($array) {
return "<table border=1>\n<tbody>\n" .
recursive_array_table_row($array) .
//implode("", array_map('recursive_array_table_row', array_keys($array), $array)) .
"</tbody>\n</table>\n";
}
function recursive_array_table_row($array) {
foreach($array as $key => $value) {
$content .= '<tr>';
if (is_array($value)) {
$content .= '<td colspan="1"><span style="color:#992222;">'.htmlspecialchars($key).'</span></td>';
$content .= '<td><span style="color:222299;">'.recursive_array_table($value).'</span></td>';
} else {
// Filter out some info...
//if (
//($key != "Error") &&
//($key != "SourceFile")
//) {
//if (!is_numeric($key)) {
$content .= '<td>'.htmlspecialchars($key).'</td>';
//}
$content .= '<td><span style="color:#229922;">'.$value.'</span></td>';
//}
}
$content .= '</tr>';
}
return $content;
}
function recursive_array_csv($array) {
//return is_array($array)
// ? "[" . implode(", ", array_map('array_csv', $array)) . "]"
// : htmlspecialchars($array);
}
HTML:
<html>
<head>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.0.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery(document).ready(function() {
jQuery("#submit_btn").click(function() {
post_data = {
'process_levels' : jQuery('select[name=process_levels]').val(),
'process_method' : jQuery('select[name=process_method]').val(),
'process_name' : jQuery('input[name=process_name]').val(),
'process_msg' : jQuery('textarea[name=process_message]').val()
};
jQuery.post('display_array_processor.php', post_data, function(response){
if(response.type == 'error'){ //load json data from server and output message
output = '<div class="error">'+response.text+'</div>';
}else{
output = '<div class="success">Done! Here is the response:</div><div>'+response.text+'</div>';
}
jQuery("#contact_results").hide().html(output).slideDown();
}, 'json');
});
});
</script>
<link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>
<body>
<div class="form-style" id="contact_form" style="max-width:650px;">
<div id="contact_results"></div>
<br />
<div id="contact_body">
<h3>Simple Bootstrap jQuery Ajax Form</h3>
Levels:
<select name="process_levels" id="process_levels" class="input-sm form-control" />
<option value="noheaders">No Headers</option>
<option value="headers">With Headers</option>
<option value="">None</option>
</select>
Method:
<select name="process_method" id="process_method" class="input-sm form-control" />
<option value="commas">Commas</option>
<option value="tables">Tables</option>
<option value="">None</option>
</select>
<input type="submit" id="submit_btn" value="Submit" />
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Answer 1

Here is a way to generate a table where values will be represented as comma-separated as soon as the data is considered more suitable for that.
Concretely, data will be represented as comma-separated if it is a non-nested, sequential array, so without named keys.
Here it is:
// Two generic utility functions:
function is_nested($array) {
return is_array($array) && count($array) < count($array, COUNT_RECURSIVE);
}
function is_assoc($array) {
return is_array($array) && array_keys($array) !== range(0, count($array) - 1);
}
function array_table_row($key, $row) {
$content = array_table($row);
return "<tr>\n<th>$key</th>\n<td>$content</td>\n</tr>\n";
}
function array_table($array) {
if (is_nested($array) || is_assoc($array)) {
$content = implode("", array_map('array_table_row', array_keys($array), $array));
return "<table border=1>\n<tbody>\n$content</tbody>\n</table>\n";
}
// At this point $array is too simple for a table format:
$color = is_array($array) ? "922" : "292";
$content = htmlspecialchars(is_array($array) ? implode(", ", $array) : $array);
return "<span style='color:#$color'>$content</span>";
}
See in eval.in
Output for the "headers" sample data:
Previous answer:
function array_csv($array) {
return is_array($array)
? "[" . implode(", ", array_map('array_csv', $array)) . "]"
: htmlspecialchars($array);
}
function array_table_row($index, $row) {
return "<tr>\n <th colspan='2'>Row ". ($index+1) . "</th>\n</tr>\n" .
implode("", array_map(function ($key, $value) {
return "<tr>\n <td>" . htmlspecialchars($key) . "</td>\n" .
" <td><span style='color:#" . (is_array($value) ? "ccf" : "cfc") . ";'>" .
array_csv($value) . "</span></td>\n</tr>\n";
}, array_keys($row), $row));
}
function array_table($array) {
return "<table border=1>\n<tbody>\n" .
implode("", array_map('array_table_row', array_keys($array), $array)) .
"</tbody>\n</table>\n";
}
echo array_table($myArray);
See it run on eval.in.
This is the output for the sample data:
<table border=1>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th colspan='2'>Row 1</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Size</td>
<td><span style='color:#cfc;'>914 kB</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Date</td>
<td><span style='color:#cfc;'>2015:02:08 18:01:00-08:00</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Attributes</td>
<td><span style='color:#cfc;'>Regular; (none)</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Names</td>
<td><span style='color:#ccf;'>[Alex Smith, Mike Jones]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Keywords</td>
<td><span style='color:#ccf;'>[2015, Alex, Mike, snowboarding, [A snow, B cold, C fun]]</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Software</td>
<td><span style='color:#cfc;'>Invisible Space-Monkey Monitoring System 01</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Duration</td>
<td><span style='color:#cfc;'>4800</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
It was not clear from your question what you want to do when arrays are nested deeper, going beyond the level of the comma-separated values.
With the above code, the comma-separated lists are wrapped in brackets, so it is clear where sub-arrays start and end within such lists.
Note that you should escape some characters of your data (like less-than and ampersand characters) with a function like htmlspecialchars.