PHP merge associative arrays by replacing same keys and adding new - php

Question

I have an array of variable size structured like this (categories is only one of the keys inside data):
print_r($json[123]["data"]["categories"]);
array(
array(
'id' => '2',
'description' => 'Single-player'
),
array(
'id' => '1',
'description' => 'Multi-player'
),
array(
'id' => '9',
'description' => 'Co-op'
),
array(
'id' => '22',
'description' => 'Steam Achievements'
),
array(
'id' => '28',
'description' => 'Full controller support'
)
)
print_r($json[456]["data"]["categories"]);
array(
array(
'id' => '21',
'description' => 'Downloadable Content'
),
array(
'id' => '1',
'description' => 'Multi-player'
)
)
Now, I want to merge these sub-arrays (they can be in variable number) and have all keys added and replaced. I've tried array_merge but it replaces the keys without adding new ones.
In this case I need to obtain this array:
print_r($merged["data"]["categories"]);
array(
array(
'id' => '2',
'description' => 'Single-player'
),
array(
'id' => '1',
'description' => 'Multi-player'
),
array(
'id' => '9',
'description' => 'Co-op'
),
array(
'id' => '22',
'description' => 'Steam Achievements'
),
array(
'id' => '28',
'description' => 'Full controller support'
),
array(
'id' => '21',
'description' => 'Downloadable Content'
)
)
Any help?
Edit:
I think I didn't expressed myself well enough. $json[$id]["data"] has multiple keys I want to merge (categories is just an example). Also the number of $json[$id] keys is variable
Edit2:
The arrays can have duplicate values, and the depth of the keys can be variable. I need to get something like array_merge_recursive() but with same values replaced.
Edit3:
This is the current array. http://pastebin.com/7x7KaAVM I need to merge all keys that have sub-arrays

Answer 1

Try below code:
$json = array(
'123' => array('data' => array('categories' => array(
array(
'id' => '2',
'description' => 'Single-player'
),
array(
'id' => '1',
'description' => 'Multi-player'
),
array(
'id' => '9',
'description' => 'Co-op'
),
array(
'id' => '22',
'description' => 'Steam Achievements'
),
array(
'id' => '28',
'description' => 'Full controller support'
)
))
),
'456' => array('data' => array('categories' => array(
array(
'id' => '21',
'description' => 'Downloadable Content'
)
))
),
);
//print_r($json);
$merged = array();
foreach($json as $j1)
{
foreach($j1 as $j2)
{
foreach($j2 as $key => $j3)
{
foreach($j3 as $j4)
{
$merged[$key][] = $j4;
}
}
}
}
print_r($merged);
Result:
Array
(
[categories] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[id] => 2
[description] => Single-player
)
[1] => Array
(
[id] => 1
[description] => Multi-player
)
[2] => Array
(
[id] => 9
[description] => Co-op
)
[3] => Array
(
[id] => 22
[description] => Steam Achievements
)
[4] => Array
(
[id] => 28
[description] => Full controller support
)
[5] => Array
(
[id] => 21
[description] => Downloadable Content
)
)
)
Demo:
http://3v4l.org/X61bE#v430

Answer 2

Try this . To generalize I have added some more arrays.
<?php
$merged_array = array();
$final_array = array();
$json[123]["data"]["categories"] = array(
array(
'id' => '2',
'description' => 'Single-player'
),
array(
'id' => '1',
'description' => 'Multi-player'
),
array(
'id' => '9',
'description' => 'Co-op'
),
array(
'id' => '22',
'description' => 'Steam Achievements'
),
array(
'id' => '28',
'description' => 'Full controller support'
)
);
$json[456]["data"]["categories"] = array(
array(
'id' => '21',
'description' => 'Downloadable Content'
)
);
$json[786]["data"]["categories"] = array(
array(
'id' => '31',
'description' => 'Downloadable Content'
)
);
$json[058]["data"]["categories"] = array(
array(
'id' => '41',
'description' => 'Downloadable Content'
)
);
foreach($json as $key=>$value){
array_push($merged_array,$json[$key]["data"]["categories"]);
}
foreach($merged_array as $value){
foreach($value as $val){
array_push($final_array,$val);
}
}
print_r($final_array);
?>
RESULT
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[id] => 2
[description] => Single-player
)
[1] => Array
(
[id] => 1
[description] => Multi-player
)
[2] => Array
(
[id] => 9
[description] => Co-op
)
[3] => Array
(
[id] => 22
[description] => Steam Achievements
)
[4] => Array
(
[id] => 28
[description] => Full controller support
)
[5] => Array
(
[id] => 21
[description] => Downloadable Content
)
[6] => Array
(
[id] => 31
[description] => Downloadable Content
)
[7] => Array
(
[id] => 41
[description] => Downloadable Content
)
)