Explode string to a multidimensional array

Question

I would like to explode an array to another array based on a key.

For example :

[
  {
    "key": "menu.company.footer",
    "content": "this is an example"
  },
  {
    "key": "menu.company.home.foo",
    "content": "bar"
  }
]

Would become:

[
  {
    "menu": 
    {
      "company": 
      {
        "footer": "this is an example"
      }
    }
  },
  {
    "menu": 
    {
      "company": 
      {
        "home": 
        {
          "foo": "bar"
        }
      }
    }
  }
]

Here is what I have done:

Done a foreach through my array
Explode the key
Done a for with the count of the explode

My question is how create the parent/children system dynamically because I don't know how many level there will have.

I think your solution is not dimension-limited. If you for over all exploded parts, you should be able to create any number of dimensions. — Wax Cage, Aug 29 '16 at 14:34
I was going to check it out but you need to at least post usable arrays. — AbraCadaver, Aug 29 '16 at 14:52
@AbraCadaver There is a linked question with a different output, interesting too [link](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/39249427/re-order-array-based-on-explode) — tomprouvost, Sep 01 '16 at 06:50

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:51

This is a frequent question with a little twist. This works:

foreach($array as $k => $v) {
    $temp  = &$result[$k];
    $path  = explode('.', $v['key']);

    foreach($path as $key) {
        $temp = &$temp[$key];
    }
    $temp = $v['content'];
}
print_r($result);

Using a reference & allows you to set the $temp variable to a deeper nested element each time and just add to $temp.

Loop through array and explode each key element
Loop through exploded values and create an array with the keys, nesting as you go
Finally, set the value of the multidimensional array to the content element

Also see How to write getter/setter to access multi-level array by key names? for something that may be adaptable.

Explode string to a multidimensional array

1 Answers1