Grouping array values by similar - php

Question

i'm making a grocerylist system that takes into account amount of recipies you throw at it.
based on that, it combines values and outputs a grocerylist for you.
i'm looping a mysql query and create arrays like this:
foreach sql loop{
$ingredients = array(
"id"=>array($id),
"name"=>array($name),
"amount"=>array($amount),
"unit"=>array($unit)
);
foreach ($ingredienser as $key => $value) {
foreach ($value as $index => $v) {
echo $key."=";
echo $v;
echo "<br><hr>";
}
}
}
That whole ordeal outputs a list like this if i throw 1 recipe at it:
id=150
name=Cherrytomater
amount=300
unit=Gram
id=151
name=Kyllingfilet
amount=4
unit=Stykk
if i throw 2 recipies it throws the next recipe under it.
However, i need it to do a certain set of things.
merge values if the name is similar
ignore the above merge if unit is different (its a shopping list after all)
output a combined list of ingredients based on the recipies and amount of recipies i throw at it.
To further explain; the sql equivalent of what im trying to achieve is :
$dupe = "2" //amount of similar recipies
SELECT i.id, i.ingred, r.enhet, r.id, SUM(r.mengde * $dupe) total, r.enhet FROM oppskriftingred r left join ingrediens i on i.id = r.ingrediens WHERE r.oppskriftid IN $vars2 GROUP BY i.ingred, r.enhet ORDER BY i.ingred
However, the sql approach wont work as the SUM doesn't differentiate between different recipies.. if $ dupe is 4 for one recipe and 2 for another, its 4 for both.
So how can i do this in php with arrays? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Your "this is what I need list" has one problematic point:
1. merge value if the name is SIMILAR
The rest is quite simple. You have an array of ingerdients $ingredients. You need to loop through this and compare every entry to a result array, to figure out if your points 2 and 1 match it to a existing or new entry. I would give the new array a key, that makes matching easy. Let's say the unit and the name as a string: 'Gram-Cherrytomater'
$result = array();
foreach ($ingerdients as $item) {
$newKey = $item['unit'].'-'.$item['name'];
if (isset($result[$newKey]) {
// add amount to existing item
$result[$newKey]['amount'] += $item['amount'];
} else {
// add new item
$result[$newKey] = $item;
}
}
// now loop trough the result and display whatever you want
The problem is with the SIMILAR thing. I do not know, how you want to compare to strings that are similar. You should do this when getting the $newKey. Do something with $item['name'] to make it "similar".
You could use some php function like similar_text(), levenshtein() or soundex(). I do not know how good this works for your language (Danish?).