How to read a data-array saved in a text file and loop through them with PHP?

Question

This values

//myfile.txt

data:[
  {'name': 'Item 1', 'icon': 'snowplow', 'inv': 'B123', 'eh': 'h'},
  {'name': 'Item 2', 'icon': 'snowplow', 'inv': 'B456', 'eh': 'h'},
  {'name': 'Item 3', 'icon': 'snowplow', 'inv': 'B789', 'eh': 'h'},
  {'name': 'Item 4', 'icon': 'snowplow', 'inv': 'B102', 'eh': 'h'}
]

are stored in a *.txt file that I can't change. If i read this textfile with PHP like this:

      $fn = fopen("myfile.txt","r");
      
      while(! feof($fn))  {
        $result = fgets($fn);
        
        // echo $result[name];
        // echo $result[icon];
        // echo $result[inv];
        // echo $result[eh];

      }

  fclose($fn);

How can i loop through this values with PHP?

Have you really, definitely got no control over this data format? Because it's JSON-like, but not actually JSON. If you just store proper JSON then the problem will be trivial to solve. As it is, you need to write a custom parser, which really isn't trivial. Or maybe whoever created this format can give you some code, since they presumably have a way to parse it. — ADyson
– ADyson, Commented Dec 17, 2021 at 11:31

Professor Abronsius · Accepted Answer · 2021-12-17 12:06:57Z

As pointed out this task would be much simpler and less prone to failure if the source data were correctly formatted as a known data type such as JSON or even XML at a push. To fudge the above data so that it is easier to parse you need to remove the data: and change the single quotes for double quotes before continuing as you would normally. This is, it should be noted, a little hacky....

/*
    replace the single quotes for double quotes
    then split the resulting string using `data:` as the delimiter
    and then convert to JSON
*/
list( $junk, $data )=explode( 'data:', str_replace( "'", '"', file_get_contents('myfile.txt') ) );
$json=json_decode( $data );


foreach( $json as $obj ){
    /* 
        to get an unknown, potentially large, number of items from each object within data structure 
        you can iterate through the keys of the sub-object like this.
    */
    $keys=array_keys( get_object_vars( $obj ) );
    
    $tmp='';
    foreach( $keys as $key )$tmp.=sprintf( '%s=%s, ', $key, $obj->$key );
    printf('<div>%s</div>', $tmp );
    
    
    /* Or, with known items like this: */
    echo $obj->name . ' ' . $obj->icon . '/* etc */<br />';
}

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