Create new multidimensional array from flat array - directory paths - PHP

Question

Hope someone can point me in the right direction here...

I've got directory paths and partial file outputs form a unix grep. I have a flat array from these outputs. Now I'd like to do a bit of PHP magic to turn this flat array into a more hierarchical multidimensional array for more refined user output

Current array;

array(7) {
  [0]=>
  string(160) "/home/user/data/section1/dir1/20120107/filename.txt:random text after the colon"
  [1]=>
  string(160) "/home/user/data/section1/dir1/20120108/filename.txt: More random text after the colon"
  [2]=>
  string(160) "/home/user/data/section1/dir2/20120107/filename.txt: More random text after the colon"
  [3]=>
  string(160) "/home/user/data/section1/dir2/20120108/filename.txt: More random text after the colon"
  [4]=>
  string(160) "/home/user/data/section1/dir3/20120107/filename.txt: More random text after the colon"
  [5]=>
  string(160) "/home/user/data/section1/dir3/20120106/filename.txt: More random text after the colon"
  [6]=>
  string(160) "/home/user/data/section1/dir3/20120108/filename.txt: More random text after the colon"
}

What i would really like

array(1) {
    array(3) {
        ["dir"]=>
        string(4) "dir1"
        ["date"]=>
        string(8) "20120107"
        ["text"]=>
        array (2) {
          [0]=>
          string(160) "random text after the colon"
          [1]=>
          string(160) "More random text after the colon"
          }
    }
    array(3) {
        ["dir"]=>
        string(4) "dir1"
        ["date"]=>
        string(8) "20120108"
        ["text"]=>
        array (2) {
          [0]=>
          string(160) "More random text after the colon"
          [1]=>
          string(160) "More random text after the colon"
          }
    }
    array(3) {
        ["dir"]=>
        string(4) "dir2"
        ["date"]=>
        string(8) "20120107"
        ["text"]=>
        array (2) {
          [0]=>
          string(160) "More random text after the colon"
          [1]=>
          string(160) "More random text after the colon"
          }
    }
}

I have tried a lot of foreach's, SPL iterator methods, but i'm just not coming out trumps. Looking for any guidance.

Thanks all

It's not clear why you have two "random" strings for each entry... — Amarnasan
– Amarnasan, Commented May 18, 2012 at 9:37

OdinX · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-18 09:51:08Z

This code (using a for loop):

<?php
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir1/20120107/filename.txt:random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir1/20120108/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir2/20120107/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir2/20120108/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir3/20120107/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir3/20120106/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir3/20120108/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";

for($i = 0; $i < count($data); $i++) {
    $data[$i] = str_replace('/home/user/data/section1/','',$data[$i]);
    $tmp = explode('/', $data[$i]);

    $newData[$i] = array(
        'dir' => $tmp[0],
        'date' => $tmp[1]
    );

    $tmp = explode(':', $tmp[2]);

    $newData[$i]['fileName'] = $tmp[0];
    $newData[$i]['text'] = $tmp[1];
}

print_r($newData);
?>

Or this code (using a foreach loop):

<?php
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir1/20120107/filename.txt:random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir1/20120108/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir2/20120107/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir2/20120108/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir3/20120107/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir3/20120106/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";
$data[] = "/home/user/data/section1/dir3/20120108/filename.txt: More random text after the colon";

foreach($data as $d) {
    $tmp = explode('/', str_replace('/home/user/data/section1/','',$d));
    $tmp2 = explode(':', $tmp[2]);

    $newData[] = array(
        'dir' => $tmp[0],
        'date' => $tmp[1],
        'filename' => $tmp2[0],
        'text' => $tmp2[1]
    );
}

print_r($newData);
?>

Outputs:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [dir] => dir1
            [date] => 20120107
            [fileName] => filename.txt
            [text] => random text after the colon
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [dir] => dir1
            [date] => 20120108
            [fileName] => filename.txt
            [text] =>  More random text after the colon
        )

============ more data here ============

    [6] => Array
        (
            [dir] => dir3
            [date] => 20120108
            [fileName] => filename.txt
            [text] =>  More random text after the colon
        )

)

Community · Accepted Answer · 2023-11-17 19:55:19Z

0

Explode each string of path with "/".You will get an array after that.Then push required element in the array.

edited Nov 17, 2023 at 19:55

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered May 18, 2012 at 9:26

heyanshukla

6698 silver badges17 bronze badges

Comments

K.. · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-18 09:31:43Z

0

Make a foreach over the first array and preg_match() the elements for the informations you want to extract from each string.

foreach( $firstArray => $strElement )
{
   $newArray[] = array();

   if( preg_match( "~(?<=section1/)[.-\w]*~i", $strElement, $astrMatches) >= 1 )
     $newArray['dir'] = $astrMatches[0];
   ...etc...
}

edited May 18, 2012 at 9:31

answered May 18, 2012 at 9:26

K..

4,2538 gold badges50 silver badges89 bronze badges

Comments

Amarnasan · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-18 09:49:39Z

0

function magic($array_of_strings)
{
    define('REGEX','_^/home/user/data/section1/(dir\d+)/(\d+)/filename.txt:(.*)$_');
    $ret_array = array();

    foreach($array_of_strings as $string) {
        if (preg_match(REGEX, $string, $matches)) {
            $ret_array []= array(
              'dir'=>$matches[1],
              'date'=>$matches[2],
              'text'=>$matches[3],
            );
        }
    }
    return $ret_array;
}

answered May 18, 2012 at 9:49

Amarnasan

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Comments

George Reith · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-18 10:14:03Z

Ok this will do the job, you can change the directory structure as much as you like as long as the the last two directories keep the same order /dir/date.

You can add as many strings as you like to the text section of the array by seperating them with multiple colons after the URL. e.g. /blah/dir/date/filename.txt : string 1 : string 2.

Your original array must be called $array.

Enjoy:

foreach ($array as $string) {
   $temp = array();
   $temp["strings"] = explode(':', $string); //Convert the string into an array using `:` as a seperator
   $temp["path"] = explode('/', $temp["strings"][0]); //Convert the url into an array using `/` as a seperator (each directory is it's own entry)
   $path_count = count($temp["path"]); //Count number of directories in the url
   $output = array(
      "dir" => $temp["path"][$path_count - 3],
      "date" => $temp["path"][$path_count - 2],
      "text" => array()
   );
   foreach ($temp["strings"] as $index => $value) { //Loop through and add any additional text to array
      if ($index) {
         array_push($output["text"], trim($value));
      }      
   }
   print_r($output);
}

Stacky · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-19 13:34:48Z

Thanks all for the input and scripts. I have actually learned quite a bit about massaging data into multidimensional arrays from these scripts. Unfortunately, none of them worked out exactly as i wanted. One thing i've learned researching this issue, is, 'is there another way to present the data?' and in this case i found it. A shell script, to search all files, output the filename, and then the relevant text.

find /home/user/data/section1 -name 'filename.txt' | xargs grep -il texttxet | 
   while read file 
       do
          echo "$file"
          grep -i  -A 4 texttxet "$file" 
       done

File:/home/user/data/section1/dir1/20120107/filename.txt
line1
line2
line3

File:/home/user/data/section1/dir1/20120108/filename.txt
line1
line2

File:/home/user/data/section1/dir2/20120108/filename.txt
line1
line2

I can easily get this info in an array from this point. Thanks all again

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