Php string to multilevel lists HTML - php

Question

I have file
animals.txt
fishes shark,tuna,salmon
birds parrot,pigeon
mammals cow,dog,cat
In every line, for example between fishes and shark is tabulation.
I wanna get this output:
<ul type="disc">
<li>fishes<br>
<ul type="disc">
<li>shark</li>
<li>tuna</li>
<li>salmon</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>birds<br>
<ul type="disc">
<li>parrot</li>
<li>pigeon</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>mammals<br>
<ul type="disc">
<li>cow</li>
<li>dog</li>
<li>cat</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
I wrote simple code, but I don't know what can I do next, can someone help me solve it?
index.php
$file = fopen('animals.txt', 'r');
while (!feof($file)) {
$line = fgets($file);
$a = explode(" ", $line);
$b = str_replace(",", " ", $a);
$c = explode(" ", $b);
print_r($b);
}
fclose($file);
?>

Answer 1

If you're simply going to read that file and not write in it, maybe using file will be simpler than fopen as it creates an array of lines.
You'll want to double explode every line, once on the tabulation to separate family and animals and a second time to split animals individually.
To create a nicely structure array of families and animals, try the following and add some var_dump at different steps to see the logic:
$file = file('animals.txt');
$groupedAnimals = array();
foreach ($file as $line) {
// First explode on tabulations
$line = explode("\t", $line);
$family = $line[0];
// Then explode on commas
$animals = explode(',', $line[1]);
foreach ($animals as $animal) {
$groupedAnimals[$family][] = $animal;
}
}
The groupedAnimals array should be populated like that:
Array
(
[fishes] => Array
(
[0] => shark
[1] => tuna
[2] => salmon
)
[birds] => Array
(
[0] => parrot
[1] => pigeon
)
[mammals] => Array
(
[0] => cow
[1] => dog
[2] => cat
)
)
Once the groupedAnimals array is populated, you can simply print them the way you want, following your template:
<ul type="disc">
<?php foreach ($groupedAnimals as $family => $animals): ?>
<li>
<?php echo $family ?>
<ul>
<?php foreach ($animals as $animal): ?>
<li><?php echo $animal ?></li>
<?php endforeach ?>
</ul>
</li>
<?php endforeach ?>
</ul>

Answer 2

function xxAxx(){
$output='';
$file = fopen('animals.txt', 'r');
while (!feof($file))
{
$line = fgets($file);
//replace white spaces with a different delimiter
$line = preg_replace('/\s+/', '-', $line);
$line = trim($line);
// explode with your delemeter
$a = explode("-", $line);
$category = $a[0];
$categoryItems = explode(",", $a[1]);
$output .= "<li>".$category ."<br>";
$output .= "<ul type='disc'>";
foreach ($categoryItems as $item) {
$output .= '<li>'.$item.'</li>';
}
$output .= "</ul>";
$output .= "</li>";
}
fclose($file);
return $output;
}
?>
<ul type="disc">
<?php echo xxAxx(); ?>
</ul>