Understanding the basics of multidimensional arrays - php

Question

I am new to using multidimensional arrays with php, I have tried to stay away from them because they confused me, but now the time has come that I put them to good use. I have been trying to understand how they work and I am just not getting it.
What I am trying to do is populate results based on a string compare function, once I find some match to an 'item name', I would like the first slot to contain the 'item name', then I would like to increment the priority slot by 1.
So when when I'm all done populating my array, it is going to have a variety of different company names, each with their respective priority...
I am having trouble understanding how to declare and manipulate the following array:
$matches = array(
'name'=>array('somename'),
'priority'=>array($priority_level++)
);

Answer 1

So, in what you have, your variable $matches will point to a keyed array, the 'name' element of that array will be an indexed array with 1 entry 'somename', there will be a 'priority' entry with a value which is an indexed array with one entry = $priority_level.
I think, instead what you probably want is something like:
$matches[] = array(name => 'somename', $priority => $priority_level++);
That way, $matches is an indexed array, where each index holds a keyed array, so you could address them as:
$matches[0]['name'] and $matches[0]['priority'], which is more logical for most people.

Answer 2

Multi-dimensional arrays are easy. All they are is an array, where the elements are other arrays.
So, you could have 2 separate arrays:
$name = array('somename');
$priority = array(1);
Or you can have an array that has these 2 arrays as elements:
$matches = array(
'name' => array('somename'),
'priority' => array(1)
);
So, using $matches['name'] would be the same as using $name, they are both arrays, just stored differently.
echo $name[0]; //'somename';
echo $matches['name'][0]; //'somename';
So, to add another name to the $matches array, you can do this:
$matches['name'][] = 'Another Name';
$matches['priority'][] = 2;
print_r($matches); would output:
Array
(
[name] => Array
(
[0] => somename
[1] => Another Name
)
[priority] => Array
(
[0] => 1
[1] => 2
)
)

Answer 3

In this case, could this be also a solution with a single dimensional array?
$matches = array(
'company_1' => 0,
'company_2' => 0,
);
if (isset($matches['company_1'])) {
++$matches['company_1'];
} else {
$matches['company_1'] = 1;
}
It looks up whether the name is already in the list. If not, it sets an array_key for this value. If it finds an already existing value, it just raises the "priority".

Answer 4

In my opinion, an easier structure to work with would be something more like this one:
$matches = array(
array( 'name' => 'somename', 'priority' => $priority_level_for_this_match ),
array( 'name' => 'someothername', 'priority' => $priority_level_for_that_match )
)
To fill this array, start by making an empty one:
$matches = array();
Then, find all of your matches.
$match = array( 'name' => 'somename', 'priority' => $some_priority );
To add that array to your matches, just slap it on the end:
$matches[] = $match;
Once it's filled, you can easily iterate over it:
foreach($matches as $k => $v) {
// The value in this case is also an array, and can be indexed as such
echo( $v['name'] . ': ' . $v['priority'] . '<br>' );
}
You can also sort the matched arrays according to the priority:
function cmp($a, $b) {
if($a['priority'] == $b['priority'])
return 0;
return ($a['priority'] < $b['priority']) ? -1 : 1;
}
usort($matches, 'cmp');
(Sourced from this answer)

Answer 5

$matches['name'][0] --> 'somename'
$matches['priority'][0] ---> the incremented $priority_level value

Answer 6

Like David said in the comments on the question, it sounds like you're not using the right tool for the job. Try:
$priorities = array();
foreach($companies as $company) {
if (!isset($priorities[$company])) { $priorities[$company] = 0; }
$priorities[$company]++;
}
Then you can access the priorities by checking $priorities['SomeCompanyName'];.