Ugly editing value on PHP nested array

Question

I have a JSON object that I try to modify. So I created the following function. I firstly deserialize the JSON object and then given the array and the path that I want to change I modify the value.

function setInDict($arr, $path, $value){
    switch(sizeof($path)){
        case 1:
            $arr[$path[0]] = $value;
            break;
        case 2:
            $arr[$path[0]][$path[1]] = $value;
            break;
        case 3:
            $arr[$path[0]][$path[1]][$path[2]] = $value;
            break;      
        case 4:
            $arr[$path[0]][$path[1]][$path[2]][$path[3]] = $value;
            break;
        case 5:
            $arr[$path[0]][$path[1]][$path[2]][$path[3]][$path[4]] = $value;
            break;
    }
    return $arr;
}

I tried a lot of things(recursion, &arr) to make it work dynamically but my PHP experience is limited and I cant make it to work.

Is there a clean way to do this. Is there something alternative that I can try?

For example I have the following JSON and I want to modify subsubkey to value 2

{  
  "key":{  
    "subkey":{  
      "subsubkey":3
    }
  }
}

I deserialize it using json_decode($json, true); and I create the $path array which would be

['key', 'subkey', 'subsubkey']

Possible duplicate of PHP: Set the value of a multidimensional associative array element using a path defined in a separate array — Matt Raines
– Matt Raines, Commented Jun 11, 2016 at 9:11

Ihor Burlachenko · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-11 11:22:25Z

1

If you don't want to create new updated array recursively you can use references. The following code walks through the given array and on each iteration changes the reference to the nested array until it reaches the field you want to change.

function setInDict(array $array, array $path, $value)
{
    if (!$path) {
        return $array;
    }

    $found = &$array;
    foreach ($path as $field) {
        if (!isset($found[$field]) || !array_key_exists($field, $found)) {
            throw new \InvalidArgumentException("There is no nested field '$field' in the given array");
        }

        $found = &$found[$field];
    }

    $found = $value;

    return $array;
}

edited Jun 11, 2016 at 11:22

answered Jun 11, 2016 at 11:15

Ihor Burlachenko

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4 Comments

YoloQ Over a year ago

That's what I was trying to express but I think I have misused references.

YoloQ Over a year ago

Can I also delete the key found using this?

Ihor Burlachenko Over a year ago

Yes, but the code will be a little bit different. You have to unset the last key from the path.

Ihor Burlachenko Over a year ago

Should be something like this if ($isLast) unset($found[$field]); else $found = &$found[$field];

sanurah · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-11 10:23:57Z

1

Is this what you are looking for?

$x= '{  
  "key":{  
    "subkey":{  
      "subsubkey":3
    },
    "subkeyx":{  
      "subsuwefwef":3
    }
  }
}';

$x = json_decode($x, true);
echo json_encode(checkValue($x,2,"subsubkey"));

function checkValue($x,$y,$keyName){

    if(is_array($x)){
        foreach($x as $key=>$value){
            if(is_array($value)){
                $check = checkValue($value,$y,$keyName);
                $x[$key] = $check;
            }elseif($key == $keyName){
                $x[$key] = $y;

            } 

        }
    }

    return $x;

}

Output:

{"key":{"subkey":{"subsubkey":2},"subkeyx":{"subsuwefwef":3}}}

edited Jun 11, 2016 at 10:23

answered Jun 11, 2016 at 9:35

sanurah

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3 Comments

YoloQ Over a year ago

This will change all keys recursively and not the specified one in the $path.

sanurah Over a year ago

@YoloQ I edited so it will check for "subsubkey". will that work for you? it won't check the whole path. just the last key in the path.

YoloQ Over a year ago

See the accepted answer of what I was trying to accomplish.

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