can this be calculated without using two for loops - php

Question

I have the following structure of data in an array and I am trying to calculate the total duration:
$elements = array(
'elementfrom-work' => "09:00",
'elementto-work' => "17:00",
'elementdays-work' => "5",
'elementfrom-karate' => "18:00",
'elementto-karate' => "20:00",
'elementdays-karate' => "3",
'elementfrom-stamp' => "21:00",
'elementto-stamp' => "22:00",
//it doest have the default days 'elementdays-stamp' set
//so it will take the default 7
'element-simple1' => "4", //it will take the default 7
'element-simple2' => "8", //it will take the default 7
'element-simple3' => "1",
'elementdays-simple3' => "1", //day is set
);
I have managed to do it but my code is messy, for each item it gets the sub string and runs another for loop to check if any other elements exists when it is not simple (like days) .
I am trying to calculate for each item the total duration e.g outcome is:
Work:40
Karate:6
Stamp:7
Simple1=28
Simple2=56
Simple3=1
total duration:138
Can this be done without two for loops and how ? If it is not possible how would you calculate it.

Answer 1

I actually found this problem quite interesting, so you can do something like:
$elements[] = array(
'elementfrom-work' => "09:00",
'elementto-work' => "17:00",
'elementdays-work' => "7",
'elementfrom-karate' => "18:00",
'elementto-karate' => "20:00",
'elementdays-karate' => "3",
'elementfrom-stamp' => "21:00",
'elementto-stamp' => "22:00",
'a' => "21:00",
'b' => "22:00"
);
And use those two functions:
function negative($x)
{
if($x < 0)
{
return -$x;
}
return $x;
}
function isTime($string)
{
$split = explode(":", $string);
if(isset($split[1]))
{
return true;
}
return false;
}
foreach($elements as $key => $val)
{
$total = 0;
$temp = 0;
$i = 0;
foreach($val as $innerKey => $time)
{
$isTime = isTime($time);
$split = explode(":", $time);
$h = $split[0];
switch($i)
{
case 0:
$temp -= $h;
break;
case 1:
$temp += $h;
break;
case 2:
if($isTime)
{
$mult = $temp *= 7;
$unsigned = negative($mult);
$total += $unsigned;
$temp = 0;
$temp -= $h;
$i = 0;
break;
}
$mult = $temp *= $h;
$unsigned = negative($mult);
$total += $unsigned;
$temp = 0;
$i = -1;
break;
default:
break;
}
$i++;
}
echo $total;
}
Your idea of the carry is a bit funky but something like that should work.

Answer 2

It looks like you know the expected name of the days item... check if it's exists instead of looping, iterate the array keys, when you get to "elementfrom-work" you can check if array got key "elementdays-work" instead of re iterate to search this item in N level complexity...