Create nested arrays from specific variables within session

Question

I have several values stored in $_SESSION beginning with 'first_name_' & 'last_name_' which then a number appended to the end deepening on how many names are generated.

I am able to extract each of these values from the session and add to an array but would like to pair up the first and last names together within a nested array. (if that makes sense)

at the moment I have:

$users_array = array();

foreach ($_SESSION as $key => $value) {
    if(strpos($key, 'first_name_') === 0) {
        $users_array[] = $value;            
}
    if(strpos($key, 'last_name_') === 0) {
        $users_array[] = $value;
    }
}

This produces an output with var_dump:

array
0 => string 'John' (length=4)
1 => string 'Smith' (length=8)
2 => string 'Jane' (length=4)
3 => string 'Doe' (length=3)

But what I would like is something like:

array
'user' => 
    array
    'first_name' => string 'John' (length=4)
    'last_name' => string 'Smith' (length=5)
    array
    'first_name' => string 'Jane' (length=4)
    'last_name' => string 'Doe' (length=5)

Any suggestions on how I can achieve this?

Why aren't they stored in that format in the session to begin with? — deceze
– deceze ♦, Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 19:41
Not sure, this just seemed the easiest way to do what I wanted. It may be better to store them like that in the session, could you provide an example? — User787665
– User787665, Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 19:59
Uhm... $_SESSION['users'][] = array('first_name' => 'John', 'last_name' => 'Doe') when putting them into the session...?! — deceze
– deceze ♦, Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 20:03

ryan0319 · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-28 19:50:56Z

1

deceze is right in his comment... But just so people with similar issues with creating 2-dimensional array from a 1-dimensional array, here is a solution. Also, note that PHP does not guarantee that the order will be same when iterating using FOREACH. As this will work, it is still prone to errors.

$users_array = array();

foreach ($_SESSION as $key => $value) {
    if(strpos($key, 'first_name_') === 0) {
        $users_array[] = array();
        $users_array[count($users_array)-1]['first_name'] = $value;         
}
    if(strpos($key, 'last_name_') === 0) {
        $users_array[count($users_array)-1]['last_name'] = $value;
    }
}

answered Nov 28, 2013 at 19:50

ryan0319

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