How can I create multidimensional arrays from a string in PHP? - php

Question

So My problem is:
I want to create nested array from string as reference.
My String is "res[0]['links'][0]"
So I want to create array $res['0']['links']['0']
I tried:
$result = "res[0]['links'][0]";
$$result = array("id"=>'1',"class"=>'3');
$result = "res[0]['links'][1]";
$$result = array("id"=>'3',"class"=>'9');
when print_r($res)
I see:
<b>Notice</b>: Undefined variable: res in <b>/home/fanbase/domains/fanbase.sportbase.pl/public_html/index.php</b> on line <b>45</b>
I need to see:
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[links] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[id] => 1
[class] => 3
)
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[links] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[id] => 3
[class] => 9
)
)
)
)
Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

So you have a description of an array structure, and something to fill it with. That's doable with something like:
function array_create(&$target, $desc, $fill) {
preg_match_all("/[^\[\]']+/", $desc, $uu);
// unoptimized, always uses strings
foreach ($uu[0] as $sub) {
if (! isset($target[$sub])) {
$target[$sub] = array();
}
$target = & $target[$sub];
}
$target = $fill;
}
array_create( $res, "[0]['links'][0]", array("id"=>'1',"class"=>'3') );
array_create( $res, "[0]['links'][1]", array("id"=>'3',"class"=>'9') );
Note how the array name itself is not part of the structure descriptor. But you could theoretically keep it. Instead call the array_create() function with a $tmp variable, and afterwards extract() it to achieve the desired effect:
array_create($tmp, "res[0][links][0]", array(1,2,3,4,5));
extract($tmp);
Another lazy solution would be to use str_parse after a loop combining the array description with the data array as URL-encoded string.

Answer 2

I have a very stupid way for this, you can try this :-)
Suppose your string is "res[0]['links'][0]" first append $ in this and then put in eval command and it will really rock you. Follow the following example
$tmp = '$'.'res[0]['links'][0]'.'= array()';
eval($tmp);
Now you can use your array $res
100% work around and :-)
`

Answer 3

$res = array();
$res[0]['links'][0] = array("id"=>'1',"class"=>'3');
$res[0]['links'][0] = array("id"=>'3',"class"=>'9');
print_r($res);
but read the comments first and learn about arrays first.

Answer 4

In addition to mario's answer, I used another function from php.net comments, together, to make input array (output from jquery form serializeArray) like this:
[2] => Array
(
[name] => apple[color]
[value] => red
)
[3] => Array
(
[name] => appleSeeds[27][genome]
[value] => 201
)
[4] => Array
(
[name] => appleSeeds[27][age]
[value] => 2 weeks
)
[5] => Array
(
[name] => apple[age]
[value] => 3 weeks
)
[6] => Array
(
[name] => appleSeeds[29][genome]
[value] => 103
)
[7] => Array
(
[name] => appleSeeds[29][age]
[value] => 2.2 weeks
)
into
Array
(
[apple] => Array
(
[color] => red
[age] => 3 weeks
)
[appleSeeds] => Array
(
[27] => Array
(
[genome] => 201
[age] => 2 weeks
)
[29] => Array
(
[genome] => 103
[age] => 2.2 weeks
)
)
)
This allowed to maintain numeric keys, without incremental appending of array_merge. So, I used sequence like this:
function MergeArrays($Arr1, $Arr2) {
foreach($Arr2 as $key => $Value) {
if(array_key_exists($key, $Arr1) && is_array($Value)) {
$Arr1[$key] = MergeArrays($Arr1[$key], $Arr2[$key]);
}
else { $Arr1[$key] = $Value; }
}
return $Arr1;
}
function array_create(&$target, $desc, $fill) {
preg_match_all("/[^\[\]']+/", $desc, $uu);
foreach ($uu[0] as $sub) {
if (! isset($target[$sub])) {
$target[$sub] = array();
}
$target = & $target[$sub];
}
$target = $fill;
}
$input = $_POST['formData'];
$result = array();
foreach ($input as $k => $v) {
$sub = array();
array_create($sub, $v['name'], $v['value']);
$result = MergeArrays($result, $sub);
}