Merge an array with specified values into one key - php

Question

Right now, I have array sets like these:
[9] => Array
(
[sl] => 10
[upload_dt] => 2015-04-15 14:39:58
[total_files] => 3
[file_name] => logo01.png
[remarks] => qqq
[status] => pending
[download_file] => http://localhost/web/download_file21
)
[10] => Array
(
[sl] => 10
[upload_dt] => 2015-04-15 14:39:58
[total_files] => 3
[file_name] => face.jpg
[remarks] => 5645645
[status] => pending
[download_file] => http://localhost/web/download_file22
)
[11] => Array
(
[sl] => 10
[upload_dt] => 2015-04-15 14:39:58
[total_files] => 3
[file_name] => ID_11401871809904(15).pdf
[remarks] => 567567
[status] => pending
[download_file] => http://localhost/web/download_file23
)
Now, I need to merge same values in some of the indices into one arrays.
The merged array values should look like this in the end.
[9] => Array
(
[sl] => 10
[upload_dt] => 2015-04-15 14:39:58
[total_files] => 3
[file_name] => logo01.png , face.jpg, ID_11401871809904(15).pdf
[remarks] => qqq, 5645645 , 567567
[status] => pending, pending ,pending
[download_file] => http://localhost/web/download_file21,
http://localhost/web/download_file22,
http://localhost/web/download_file23
)
Now, I tried using array_merge but it didn't actually work in this case.

Answer 1

Solution will be like this:
<?php
$result = array();
$ar1[9] = Array
(
'sl' => 10,
'upload_dt' => '2015-04-15 14:39:58',
'total_files' => 3,
'file_name' => 'logo01.png',
'remarks' => 'qqq',
'status' => 'pending',
'download_file' => 'http://localhost/web/download_file21'
);
$ar1[10] = Array
(
'sl' => 10,
'upload_dt' => '2015-04-15 14:39:58',
'total_files' => 3,
'file_name' => 'face.jpg',
'remarks' => '5645645',
'status' => 'pending',
'download_file' => 'http://localhost/web/download_file22'
);
$ar1[11] = Array
(
'sl' => 10,
'upload_dt' => '2015-04-15 14:39:58',
'total_files' => 3,
'file_name' => 'ID_11401871809904(15).pdf',
'remarks' => 567567,
'status' => 'pending',
'download_file' => 'http://localhost/web/download_file23'
);
foreach($ar1 as $record){
$keys = array_keys($record);
foreach($keys as $key) {
if(array_key_exists($key,$result)){
$valeInKey = explode(',', $result[$key]);
if (!in_array($record[$key], $valeInKey)){
$result[$key]= $result[$key] .",".$record[$key];
}
} else{
$result[$key]= $record[$key];
}
}
}
echo"<pre>";print_r($result);exit;
?>

Answer 2

You're actually merging strings inside those arrays so just ditch the array_merge idea, and just use a simple loop then use the key as your basis to concatenate strings. Rough example:
$result = array();
foreach($array as $values) {
if(!isset($result[$values['sl']])) {
$result[$values['sl']] = $values; // initial
} else {
foreach(array('file_name', 'remarks', 'status', 'download_file') as $field) {
$result[$values['sl']][$field] .= ", {$values[$field]}";
}
}
}
Sample Output

Answer 3

array_merge won't work, because the keys would overwrite each other.
A solution would be to merge them with a the help of a foreach. Something like this:
$new = array();
foreach($arr as $key => $value) {
$new[$key] .= ", ".$value;
}
But you would have multiple entries for every single array you want to merge. If you just want to have them for a few, you have to check the key and do something accordingly.