mysql/php - merge multiple arrays from mysql output in while statement - php

Question

I need to merge many arrays from a mysql DB I have. The amount of arrays can vary. I am serializing the data into the DB and unserializing it on the way out. Where I am stumped is trying to use array_merge but not sure how to get the data into it properly.
For instance I have
$sql_get_votes_data = "SELECT * FROM algo_users WHERE data LIKE '%$movie_id%'";
$result_get_votes_data = mysql_query($sql_get_votes_data);
$final_array = array();
while($row_get_votes_data = mysql_fetch_array($result_get_votes_data)) {
$final_array[] = unserialize($row_get_votes_data['data']);
}
Ultimately I need to be able to do a unique merge like this.
array_unique(array_merge($final_array1,$final_array2), SORT_REGULAR);
But since I have to place each array into a seperate variable in order to pass into array_merge I am not sure how to do that from the mysql call.
Any help would be awesome.

Answer 1

Why not merge every new array while you're still in your loop?
$mergedArray=array();
while($row_get_votes_data = mysql_fetch_array($result_get_votes_data)) {
$final_array = unserialize($row_get_votes_data['data']);
$mergedArray=array_merge($mergedArray,$final_array);
}
array_unique($mergedArray, SORT_REGULAR);
Or if you need to keep track of your individual arrays:
$mergedArray=array();
$i=0;
while($row_get_votes_data = mysql_fetch_array($result_get_votes_data)) {
$final_array[$i] = unserialize($row_get_votes_data['data']);
$mergedArray=array_merge($mergedArray,$final_array[$i]);
$i++
}
array_unique($mergedArray, SORT_REGULAR);
EDIT: I first understood you just wanted all arrays to be merged to a single array. The above edited answer now also removes duplicate entries as I now understand you wish.

Answer 2

You can e.g. use call_user_func_array for that.
<?php
$myarrs = array();
$result = call_user_func_array( 'array_merge', $myarrs); var_dump($result);
$myarrs[] = array(1,2,3);
$result = call_user_func_array( 'array_merge', $myarrs); var_dump($result);
$myarrs[] = array(4,5,6);
$result = call_user_func_array( 'array_merge', $myarrs); var_dump($result);
$myarrs[] = array(7,8,9);
$result = call_user_func_array( 'array_merge', $myarrs); var_dump($result);
but maybe it's more feasible to restructure the database and not to put the serialized arrays but single fields into the tables o the database can do the sorting/filtering/merging.