Is there a more efficient way to make sure a randomized list doesn't contain a portion of the URL?

Question

I'm looking for a more efficient way to make sure a randomized list of four items (from an array) doesn't contain the filename from the current url.

The solution does not use a database. $relatedArray[$rand_keys[0]] is a standard array created in this .php file. It contains about 100 code snippets and each snippet (item in the array) contains a unique url.

I've come up with the solution below. It works, but I'm guessing there is a more efficient solution. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

// How to isolate a filename in a URL - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2183486/php-get-file-name-without-file-extension
$fileName =  pathinfo($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']);

$rand_keys = array_rand($relatedArray, 4);

//Ignore if array value contains variable value. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4366730/how-do-i-check-if-a-string-contains-a-specific-word-in-php
if (strpos($relatedArray[$rand_keys[0]], $fileName['filename']) !== false) {
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[1]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[2]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[3]] . "\n<br>";
    } elseif (strpos($relatedArray[$rand_keys[1]], $fileName['filename']) !== false) {
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[0]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[2]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[3]] . "\n<br>";
    } elseif (strpos($relatedArray[$rand_keys[2]], $fileName['filename']) !== false) {
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[0]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[1]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[3]] . "\n<br>";
    } elseif (strpos($relatedArray[$rand_keys[3]], $fileName['filename']) !== false) {
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[0]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[1]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[2]] . "\n<br>";
    } else {
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[0]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[1]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[2]] . "\n<br>";
    echo $relatedArray[$rand_keys[3]] . "\n<br>";
}

There's `foreach` language construct. – u_mulder Jun 11 '17 at 20:09 — u_mulder, Jun 11 '17 at 20:09

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 11 '17 at 20:13

1

Filter your $rand_keys array with array_filter:

$name = $fileName['filename'];
$rand_keys = array_rand($relatedArray, 4);
$filtered = array_filter(
    $rand_keys,
    function ($v) use ($name) { return strpos($v, $name) === false; }
);
print_r($filtered);

answered Jun 11 '17 at 20:13

u_mulder

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Hey u_mulder, Thanks a MILLION for your suggestion. This is obviously 'less code', but do you know if it is 'more efficient' from a server perspective? Thanks again. – Mr. B Jun 11 '17 at 20:57
Run tests and compare times and memory limits. – u_mulder Jun 11 '17 at 21:51
And for 4 elements in array there's nothing to optimize, I'm sure. – u_mulder Jun 11 '17 at 21:52

Is there a more efficient way to make sure a randomized list doesn't contain a portion of the URL?

1 Answers1