php create array and sub array from string

Question

I want to convert a string to an array. I want an array that has a sub array like this :

my string :

field=3,icon=[class='test',svg=null],test=[pass='345',username='salar']

to :

array("field"=> 3,"icon"=> [ "class" =>  "test", "svg" => null ], "test"=> [ "pass" =>  "345", "username" => 'salar' ] )

Hi! Welcome to StackOverflow! Please read our tour to get a better understanding about how to ask a good question. Please show us what you've tried. — 0stone0
– 0stone0, Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 14:50
Where is the input format from? Instead maybe it could be better to use some more common like JSON? — biesior
– biesior, Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 14:51
Where is this string coming from? Maybe instead of generating a string like this, you could have it generate a JSON string or something? — gen_Eric
– gen_Eric, Commented Apr 2, 2021 at 14:51

gen_Eric · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-02 15:55:23Z

1

I would highly suggest changing the string format being generated. It's better to use an existing format like JSON than to create/parse your own format.

Speaking of JSON, one way to "parse" this format is to convert it to JSON and then parse that.

So, convert the = to :, wrap all keys (and values) in "", convert [] to {}, and then wrap the whole thing in {}.

<?php
$data = "field=3,icon=[class='test',svg=null],test=[pass='345',username='salar']";

// Fix quotes
$jsonData = str_replace("'", '"', $data);

// Convert arrays to objects
$jsonData = str_replace(['[', ']'], ['{', '}'], $jsonData);

// Fix keys
$jsonData = preg_replace("/(^|,|{)(.+?)=/", '$1"$2":', $jsonData);

// Parse as JSON
$result = json_decode('{' . $jsonData . '}', true);

edited Apr 2, 2021 at 15:55

answered Apr 2, 2021 at 15:48

gen_Eric

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1 Comment

Salar Izadi Over a year ago

thank you! This code was great and it was exactly what I wanted

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