Parse string into array of key=>value in PHP

Question

I have a string like:

$string = "/key/value/anotherKey/anotherValue/thirdKey/thirdValue"

I would like to parse this string to an array of key => value:

array(
    key => value,
    anotherKey => anotherValue,
    thirdKey => thirdValue
);

The only solution I have found is the following, but it seems that there should be an easier way to achieve my goal:

$split = preg_split("[/]", $string, null, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY);
$i = 0;
$j = 1;
$array = [];
for(;$i<count($split)-1;){
    $array[$split[$i]] = $split[$j];
    $i += 2;
    $j += 2;
}

I have looked at this SO post, put it only works for query strings like:

"key=value&anotherKey=anotherValue&thirdKey=thirdValue"

Can anyone guide me towards a more "simple" solution (by that I mean less code to write, the usage of PHP functions and I would like to prevent using loops)? Thank you!

You could reveiew the Zend 1 source and see how they achieve this with [Zend_Uri](http://framework.zend.com/manual/1.12/en/zend.uri.chapter.html) — Ash, May 18 '15 at 08:31
@skirato i have answered for your question,plz look at that once and let me know. — RaMeSh, May 18 '15 at 09:07
@Rizier123 I like your answer's logic, but it is not working (see comment on answer) — skirato, May 18 '15 at 09:22
Downvoter, please explain yourself? How can my question be more clear, explained? — skirato, May 18 '15 at 09:24
I have updated my question, please reconsider your downvote :) — skirato, May 18 '15 at 09:31
@skirato Too late to party here but I have updated my answer anyway as per your updated question. It does not use loop now. — Ulver, May 18 '15 at 10:20

Ulver · Answer 1 · 2015-05-18T10:19:32.893

Here is another simply way of achieving this using preg_replace() and parse_str():

$string = '/key/value/anotherKey/anotherValue/thirdKey/thirdValue';

// Transform to the query string (replace '/key/val' by 'key=val&')
$string = trim(preg_replace('|/([^/]+)/([^/]+)|', '$1=$2&', $string), '&');

// Parse the query string into array variable
parse_str($string, $new_array);
print_r($new_array);

Outputs:

Array
(
    [key] => value
    [anotherKey] => anotherValue
    [thirdKey] => thirdValue
)

Rizier123 · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-18T09:32:18.803

2

This should work for you:

First I explode() the string into an array. Here I make sure to remove slashes at the beginning and at the end of the string with trim(), so I don't get empty elements.

After this I just array_filter() all elements out which have an even key as keys and all elements with an odd key as values.

At then end I simply array_combine() the two arrays into one.

<?php

    $string = "/key/value/anotherKey/anotherValue/thirdKey/thirdValue";
    $arr = explode("/", trim($string, "/"));

    $keys = array_filter($arr, function($k){
        return ($k % 2 == 0);
    }, ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY);
    $values = array_filter($arr, function($k){
        return ($k % 2 == 1);
    }, ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY);

    $result = array_combine($keys, $values);
    print_r($result);

?>

output:

Array
(
    [key] => value
    [anotherKey] => anotherValue
    [thirdKey] => thirdValue
)

Demo

For PHP <5.6, just use a workaround with array_flip(), since you can't use the flags from array_filter():

Demo

edited May 18 '15 at 09:32

answered May 18 '15 at 09:14

Rizier123

58,877
16
101
156

Thanks for your answer I like this logic, but $keys and $values are null for me... – skirato May 18 '15 at 09:21
@skirato What is the output of: `echo phpversion();` for you? – Rizier123 May 18 '15 at 09:22
@skirato Then the problem is, that you can't use the constants from `array_filter()`, just do a little workaround with `array_flip()` -> http://3v4l.org/AA3F8 – Rizier123 May 18 '15 at 09:28
1

Nice, only thing you should have minimum PHP 5.6.0 for 3rd argument `ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY` – Akshay Hegde May 18 '15 at 10:06

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered May 18 '15 at 08:23

1

explode it and generate the array by looping through it. Hope this could help -

$string = "/key/value/anotherKey/anotherValue/thirdKey/thirdValue";

$vars = explode('/', $string);

$i = 0;
$newArray = array();
while ($i < count($vars)) {
   if (!empty($vars[$i])) {
     $newArray[$vars[$i]] = $vars[$i+1];
     $i += 2;
   } else {
     $i++;
   }
}

Output

array(3) {
  ["key"]=>
  string(5) "value"
  ["anotherKey"]=>
  string(12) "anotherValue"
  ["thirdKey"]=>
  string(10) "thirdValue"
}

answered May 18 '15 at 08:23

Sougata Bose

31,517
8
49
87

Thanks for your answer. The only simplification I see is the fact that you use only one index variable instead of two, which is indeed better. But explode doesn't allow to remove empty values, so you have to use an if/else. For that, I do prefer my preg_split with the NO_EMPTY flag. I was wondering if there wasn't a way to simplify this much more (but maybe there isn't...) – skirato May 18 '15 at 08:28

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered May 18 '15 at 08:58

You can also try like this

 [akshay@localhost tmp]$ cat test.php
 <?php

 $string = "/key/value/anotherKey/anotherValue/thirdKey/thirdValue";

 $array  = array_flip(explode('/',rtrim(ltrim($string,'/'),'/')));

 print_r( 
          array_combine(
                        array_flip(array_filter($array,function($v){return (!($v & 1)); })),
                        array_flip(array_filter($array,function($v){return ($v & 1);    })) 
                       )
        );

 ?>

Output

 [akshay@localhost tmp]$ php test.php
 Array
 (
     [key] => value
     [anotherKey] => anotherValue
     [thirdKey] => thirdValue
 )

`rtrim(ltrim($string,'/'),'/')` = `trim($string,' /')` – mickmackusa Jul 12 '22 at 19:58 — mickmackusa, Jul 12 '22 at 19:58

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered May 18 '15 at 09:05

This is working like as your requirement: Look at this code once:

<?php
$str = 'key/value/anotherKey/anotherValue/thirdKey/thirdValue';
$list = explode('/', $str);
$result = array();
for ($i=0 ; $i<count($list) ; $i+=2) {
    $result[ $list[$i] ] = $list[$i+1];
}
echo "After Split String".'<pre>';
print_r($result);
echo '</pre>';
?>

Output:-

After Split String
Array
(
    [key] => value
    [anotherKey] => anotherValue
    [thirdKey] => thirdValue
)

For your reference click Demo Example

Parse string into array of key=>value in PHP

5 Answers5