Converting text file into multidimensional array in php

Question

I tried to write a php code that would read a text file, convert it into a multidimensional array.
My text looks like:

Random Header 1
1. List item 1
2. List item 2
3. List item 3
...........
...........

Random Header Title 2
1. List item 1
2. List item 2
3. List item 3
...........
...........
and the random header and lists

And now, I want to convert the above text into array that looks,

Array
(
    [Random Header 1] => Array
        (
           [0] => "1. List item 1",
           [1] => "2. List item 2",
           [2] => "3. List item 3"
     ),
     [Random Header Title 2] => Array
        (
           [0] => "1. List item 1",
           [1] => "2. List item 2",
           [2] => "3. List item 3"
     )
)

Notice that the headers begins with a string, and list items start with number.
I used php's file() function to read, I have a hard time converting into the way I wanted.

Solution please!! it's not working like that. First, show us what have you tried so far. — Elon Than
– Elon Than, Commented Sep 13, 2015 at 1:16
I read a txt file named "text.txt" using php read function. I used foreach to loop through each line, I explode each line by space, to differentiate between header and list items that followed. Now, I needed a solution to form array shown above. — Lian
– Lian, Commented Sep 13, 2015 at 1:22

Rizier123 · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-13 01:21:22Z

1

This should work for you:

Just use file() as you already did and loop through each line and check with preg_match() if the first character of the line is a non-digit character (\D -> [^0-9]). If yes use it as key until you hit the next line with a non-digit character at the start.

<?php

    $lines = file("text.txt", FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES);
    $arr = [];
    $header = FALSE;

    foreach($lines as $line){
        if(preg_match("/^\D/", $line))
            $header = $line;
        if($header != $line)
            $arr[$header][] = $line;
    }

    print_r($arr);

?>

output:

Array
(
    [Random Header 1] => Array
        (
           [0] => 1. List item 1
           [1] => 2. List item 2
           [2] => 3. List item 3
     )
     [Random Header Title 2] => Array
        (
           [0] => 1. List item 1
           [1] => 2. List item 2
           [2] => 3. List item 3
     )
)

answered Sep 13, 2015 at 1:21

Rizier123

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2 Comments

Lian Over a year ago

I'm new here, I tried to vote but I could not. It solves my problems. Thanks, you're the best @rizier123

Rizier123 Over a year ago

@Lian You're welcome. Have a nice day :) (If you are new here, you can take a quick tour: stackoverflow.com/tour to get an overview of this site)

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