Index of array not extracting correct element in array | PHP

Question

I am having a weird problem in PHP. I have an array with some integer values in it. When I try to compare the values in the array to a target integer, the index does not work with the array and also cannot be incremented. Here is an example.

The problem lies in the if($j == $indexOfExposed[$k])

/*  This is a simple function to show some letters of a patient name, while the rest of letters are replaced with asterisks.
    @Param: Patient name
    @Return: limited preview of patient name;
*/
function encodeName($name){

    $len = strlen($name);                       // This is the lenghth of $name. used to itterate and set a range.
    $numOfExposedLetters = rand(1, 4);          // Random value assigned to see how many letters of the name will be exposed.
    $indexOfExposed = array();                  // This is an array of indexes for exposed letters.
    $k = 0;                                     // This counter is used to traverse the $indexOfExposed array.
    $encodedName = "";                          // This is the value we will return after it is generated.
    $previous = 0;                              // Used to keep track of previous value in the $indexOfExposed array. This is incase we have repeated values in the array;

    /*  This loop is used to append random values to the arary of indexes,
        With $numOfExposedLetters being the quantity of exposed letters.    */
    for($i = 0; $i < $numOfExposedLetters; $i++){
        $indexOfExposed[$i] = rand(2, $len);
    }
    sort($indexOfExposed);                      // Sort the array, for easier access.


    /* Ecoding name */
    for($j = 1; $j <= $len; $j++){

        if($indexOfExposed[$k] == $previous){
            $encodedName .= "*";
            $k++;
            continue;
        }

        if($j == $indexOfExposed[$k]){
            $encodedName .= $name[$j-1];
            $previous = $indexOfExposed[$k];
            $k++;
        }

        else
            $encodedName .= "*";
            $k++;

    }   // end of encode

    return $encodedName;

}

This code takes in a person's name and replaces the letters in the name with asterisks. random indexes with expose the actual letters in the name.

if($indexOfExposed[$k] = $previous){ thats not a comparison, its an equal, use ==, learn to debug... — Ricardo Ortega Magaña
– Ricardo Ortega Magaña, Commented Mar 3, 2017 at 20:43
Hey man, chill out. It's not like you have never missed an extra equal sign haha. Thanks for the catch though! probably happened when I was DEBUGGING and accidently deleted the extra = — Jose Ortiz
– Jose Ortiz, Commented Mar 3, 2017 at 20:48
@RicardoOrtegaMagaña This error happens dozens of times a day here, get used to it. Point out the error politely, flag the question for closing as a typo, and move on. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Mar 3, 2017 at 20:53
Not a typo. That does not solve the problem. I just accidently deleted when i posted the code onto StackOverflow. — Jose Ortiz
– Jose Ortiz, Commented Mar 3, 2017 at 20:55
Your algorithm is too complicated. The entire thing can be sorted out (after you generate $indexOfExposed) in three lines of code: $encodedName = $name; foreach ($indexOfExposed as $idx) { $encodedName[$idx] = '*'; }. There is no need to sort $indexOfExposed (there is even no need to generate it, you can do the encoding on the fly). It doesn't expose but it masks the characters whose indices are generated in $indexOfExposed but as long as the indices are randomly generated, it doesn't make any difference. — axiac
– axiac, Commented Mar 3, 2017 at 21:01

axiac · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-03 21:10:55Z

2

Debugging your code is a tedious work that is not worth it. I suggest you an alternative implementation that, hopefully, uses the algorithm you have in mind, is easier to read and understand and probably runs faster.

function encodeName($name)
{
    $len = strlen($name);
    $numOfExposedLetters = rand(1, 4);
    $encodedName = str_repeat('*', $len);
    while ($numOfExposedLetters --) {
        $index = rand(2, $len - 1);
        $encodedName[$index] = $name[$index];
    }

    return $encodedName;
}

answered Mar 3, 2017 at 21:10

axiac

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3 Comments

Jose Ortiz Over a year ago

Beautiful code. Thank you for this implementation. I will still try to debug my previous code so I can keep my sanity. But I will definitely use a version of your implementation.

Just a student Over a year ago

This is not guaranteed to expose $numOfExposedLetters letters. When the random index is the same all the time, only one letter is exposed.

Jose Ortiz Over a year ago

Yeah, but this is okay though. I only need to expose the letter once!

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