path to array value deep multidimensional array - php

Question

I have an array where I need the path (keys) to a given value. I've written a function for it but I can't get it working, the array can have an infinite depth to be controlled in another function, I haven't decided on a limit yet but the depth is variable, it actually works up to a point but the depth may be 30-40-50 deep so I need it to work that way, this function is really just for value identification, the numbers are templates, the tags are tags in the templates, each tag has a single template associated with it, all template names are unique and tags names aren't because they are only associated with a single template, id values are separated by a dash (illegal in template and tag ids), where template ids are only numeric and tag ids are wrapped with squigglies and a dollar sign like so {$TAG}, don't have to worry about duplicate values because infinite loops are forbidden (template can't link to itself or a template that links to itself) plus ids are given only to templates where template names are unique. The id of the template named 4 in the given array would be 0-{$CONTENT}-2-{$PARAGRAPH}-4, where I lose it is my function won't go beyond this depth, thanks for the help
array (size=1)
0 =>
array (size=4)
'{$TITLE}' => null
'{$NAME}' => null
'{$FRIENDS}' =>
array (size=1)
1 =>
array (size=2)
'{$friend}' => null
'{$friends[$i]}' => null
'{$CONTENT}' =>
array (size=1)
2 =>
'{$HEADING}' =>
array (size=1)
3 =>
array (size=0)
empty
'{$PARAGRAPH}' =>
array (size=1)
4 =>
array (size=1)
'{$AnotherParagraph}' => null
here is my function, I've added the depth variable just for testing purposes, $this->family is the array given above, calling the function: $id = $this->get_id(4);
public function get_id($member, $family=null, $id=null, $depth=0) {
if (empty($this->family)) {
return false;
}
if (is_null($family)) {
$family = $this->family;
}
foreach ($family as $parent => $tag_child) {
if ($member === $parent) {
return $member;
}
foreach ($tag_child as $tag => $child) {
if (is_null($child) || empty($child)) {
continue;
}
$childkey = key($child);
if ($member === $childkey) {
$id .= '-'.$parent.'-'.$tag.'-'.$member;
$id = ltrim($id, '-');
return $id;
}
$family = $child;
if (!is_null($id) && !empty($id)) {
$id_array = explode('-', $id);
foreach ($id_array as $id_value) {
if ($id_value !== $childkey) {
$new_id_array[] = $id_value;
}else{
break;
}
}
$id = implode('-', $new_id_array);
}
if ($parent === 0) {
$id = $parent.'-'.$tag.'-'.$childkey;
}else{
$id .= '-'.$tag.'-'.$childkey;
}
$id = ltrim($id, '-');
$depth++;
$id = $this->get_id($member, $family, $id, $depth);
}
}
}

Answer 1

Use a recursive function. Here's one I wrote for this EXACT purpose.
public function recurseArray($array, $builtKey = "") {
$values = array();
foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
if (is_array($value)) {
if (!empty($builtKey)) {
$values = array_merge($values, recurseArray($value, $builtKey.".".$key));
} else {
$values = array_merge($values, recurseArray($value, $key));
}
} else {
if (!empty($builtKey)) {
$values[$builtKey.".".$key] = $value;
} else {
$values[$key] = $value;
}
}
}
return $values;
}
This results in a flat array that transforms this:
array(
"key" => array(
"of" => array(
"many" => array(
"depths" => "value"
)
)
),
"key2" => "value"
);
Into this:
array(
"key.of.many.depths" => "value",
"key2" => "value"
);