Turn key-less array to associative array

Question

The following code outputs would where we expect it to output 12/5/10. The reason is array_search only works on associative arrays and explode returns a key-less array, so $k is false and $k+1 is 1.

$s = 'We would like to book a double room form 12/5/10 for three nights.';
$s_arr = explode(' ', $s);
$k = array_search('from', $s_arr);
$from = $s_arr[$k+1];
echo $from;

We can verify this by using a literal definition like this

$s_arr = array(
  0 => 'We',
  1 => 'would',
  2 => 'like',
  3 => 'to',
  4 => 'book',
  5 => 'a',
  6 => 'double',
  7 => 'room',
  8 => 'form',
  9 => '12/5/10',
  10=> 'for',
  11=> 'three',
  12=> 'nights.');
$k = array_search('from', $s_arr);
$from = $s_arr[$k+1];
echo $from;

This time the correct value is out which is 12/5/10.

Is there a way to turn a key-less array to an associative one?

Just tried the second code block, it fails too! What am I missing? — Majid Fouladpour
– Majid Fouladpour, Commented Jun 13, 2010 at 16:17
Why are you doing this at all? It seems the purpose of this function is to extract the date. If so, it would make sense to use a regular expression. preg_match is way faster for these things than your array explode roundtrip and array_search. — mario
– mario, Commented Jun 13, 2010 at 17:23
@mario - these are beginning steps to implement an intelligent responder. A lot will be changed, but for now explode+search would do. — Majid Fouladpour
– Majid Fouladpour, Commented Jun 13, 2010 at 17:30
You know, that's a difficult undertaking! ;] Natural language parsers/responders aren't easy. But especially since you've already run into one misspelling, you should take the regex route. It's way more reliable and shorter. preg_match("#[from]{2,6}\s*(\d+/\d+/\d+)#", $s, $match) for catching your date. Works for misspellings like frm, fromm, form, frrom, etc.. Easier. Come over to the dark side. — mario
– mario, Commented Jun 13, 2010 at 18:49

Gerco Dries · Accepted Answer · 2010-06-13 16:14:54Z

4

I would say it does this because you misspelled "from" in the original string you are exploding.

answered Jun 13, 2010 at 16:14

Gerco Dries

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2 Comments

cam8001 Over a year ago

Just tested this code with the spelling corrected, and it works fine.

John Carter Over a year ago

@Majid - I recommend using Netbeans or some other IDE - that should make it easier to identify typos like this. Also, set error logging to include E_NOTICE and keep an eye on the error log ( php.net/manual/en/errorfunc.configuration.php )

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