Splitting up an array formed by an api in PHP - php

Question

I'm working on some stat tracking code for a game (yes, it's runescape. sue me).
I want to pull information from the high scores using an api which produces an array looking like this (captured using print_r)
Array
(
[getHiscore] => Array
(
[overall] => Array
(
[rank] => 61995
[lvl] => 2273
[totalxp] => 193310588
)
[attack] => Array
(
[rank] => 93406
[lvl] => 97
[totalxp] => 11747494
)
...and so on.
My question is how can i take what this api gives me and place it into a database table; I want to get an array such as this for a particular user and update their stats with it.
Would i use explode? It seems like the right idea to me but how would i actually use it to split the separate numbers and words?
My database is not totally realised yet, however each record will include a user name and then the level and total xp in each of 27 "skills". This almost certainly not best practice for database design but i'm as novice as they come so it's the best i can do.

Answer 1

You don't need to explode. It's an array and therefore it's already exploded. You need to iterate through it to build meaningful queries.
I'm not familiar with runescape so I don't know if your example is showing just the relevant fields of you need to discard some part. If it's the former, then you should try something like
$query="insert into stats_table (description, rank, lvl, totalexp) values (:description, :rank, :lvl, :totalext);";
$Statement = $DBConn->prepare($query);
foreach($fullArray as $description=>$subArray) {
$Statement->bindValue(':description',$description, PDO::PARAM_STR);
foreach($subArray as $key=>$value) {
$Statement->bindValue($key,$value, PDO::PARAM_STR);
}
$Statement->execute();
}
That will insert two rows containing
overall 61995 2273 193310588
attack 93406 97 11747494
PD: $DBConn is a PDO connection instance to whatever DB engine you're using.

Answer 2

Let's say this is all stored in the variable $ary:
$ary['getHiscore']['overall']['rank'] = 61995;
$ary['getHiscore']['overall']['lvl'] = 2273;
$ary['getHiscore']['overall']['totalxp'] = 193310588;
$ary['getHiscore']['attack']['rank'] = 93406;
$ary['getHiscore']['attack']['lvl'] = 97;
$ary['getHiscore']['attack']['totalxp'] = 11747494;
So, to get those values, it's:
$attackLevel = $ary['getHiscore']['attack']['lvl'];
If you
echo $attackLevel;
it would be 97.

Answer 3

Just pull the arrays out with a foreach loop and write some sql to insert the data. I don't know anything about your DB so if you want help there update your question please.
Simplest way to do this:
foreach($highscores as $highScoreType => $highScoreValues){
$rank = $highScoreValues['rank'];
$lvl = $highScoreValues['lvl'];
$totalXp = $highScoreValues['totalxp'];
//then it's up to you to put it into a table somehow.
}
$highScoreType will contain the values 'overall','attack',etc
This format of the foreach loop is extremely handy when iterating over an associative array (hash map/hash table, which is actually what all PHP arrays are underneath) will allow you to not only grab the value of the current pointed to entry, but also the key for that entry.
So, assume we have a single entry hashmap with key 'foo' and value 'bar'. If I want to show 'bar' I would simple
echo $map['foo'];//will output 'bar'
and if I put this into the above type of foreach loop
foreach($map as $fooKey => $barValue) {
echo $fooKey;//outputs 'foo'
echo $barValue;//outputs 'bar'
}