Manipulating multiple arrays to output a table of unique values - php

Question

I have 5 different arrays which I need to use to generate a table showing the info. This table cannot have duplicates. This is in a way a fairly easy task, but what I am looking for is the most elegant solution - one that doesn't require lots of for loops, array merging etc etc.
The table needs to output information for photo printing. And should look a bit like this:
Not like this:
The arrays look like this:
//img arr:
$img_arr = array(array('002_chrysanthemum', '6x4'), array('002_chrysanthemum', '9x6'));
//size arr:
$size_arr = array('6x4', '9x6');
//finish arr:
$finish_arr = array('glossy', 'glossy');
//qty arr:
$qty_arr = array(2, 3);
//media arr:
$media_arr = array('std', 'std');
Thanks.
EDIT - Typo with finish / qty arr pointed out, changed, thanks.

Answer 1

Group your images into an array indexed first by image name and second by its size.
Loop through each size to render the column headers, then loop through each grouped image to render the rows.
$img_arr = array(array('002_chrysanthemum', '6x4'), array('002_chrysanthemum', '9x6'));
$size_arr = array('6x4', '9x6');
$finish_arr = array('glossy', 'glossy');
$qty_arr = array(2, 3);
$media_arr = array('std', 'std');
$images = array();
foreach($img_arr as $key => $img) {
$images[$img[0]][$img[1]] = array(
'finish' => $finish_arr[$key],
'qty' => $qty_arr[$key],
'media' => $media_arr[$key],
);
}
print "<table>";
print "<tr><th></th>";
foreach($size_arr as $size) {
print "<th>$size</th>";
}
print "</tr>";
foreach($images as $name => $image) {
print "<tr><td>$name</td>";
foreach($size_arr as $size) {
print "<td>" . $image[$size]['qty']
. '#' . $image[$size]['finish']
. ' ' . $image[$size]['media'] . "</td>";
}
print "</tr>";
}
print "</table>";

Answer 2

$img_arr = array('002_chrysanthemum', '002_chrysanthemum');
$size_arr = array('6x4', '9x6');
$finish_arr = array('glossy', 'glossy');
$qty_arr = array(2, 3);
$media_arr = array('std', 'std');
Could be combined into one sensible array like:
foreach($img_arr as $k=>$img) {
foreach($size_arr as $size) {
$prints[$img][$size]['finish'] = $finish_arr[$k];
$prints[$img][$size]['qty'] = $qty_arr[$k];
$prints[$img][$size]['media'] = $media_arr[$k];
}
}
The result, which is based on the idea that image array is the x-axis and sizes are the y-axis and all other arrays are properties based on position to the y-axis. So then:
print_r($prints);
returns
Array (
[002_chrysanthemum] => Array
(
[6x4] => Array
(
[finish] => glossy
[qty] => 3
[media] => std
)
[9x6] => Array
(
[finish] => glossy
[qty] => 3
[media] => std
)
)
)
Which is the very elegant and simple data collection that you want to transform into a table, which it can be now that it is normalized.