Loop through array related models, creating one nested array

Question

Trying to create an organizational chart, or nested array, where we have one final array with each person under their supervisor. I am imagining some kind of array walk where a function is called when a condition is met - but unsure how to keep calling the same function when going several relationships deep. Final array should look like:

Array
(
    [0] => 1
    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2
            [1] => Array
                (
                    [0] => 3
                    [1] => 4
                    [2] => 5
                    [3] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => 6
                        )

                )

        )

)

personnel_id	personnel_firstname	personnel_supervisor
1	jeff	-
2	todd	1
3	maria	2
4	john	2
5	sarah	2
6	joe	5

Does this answer your question? [Recursive function to generate multidimensional array from database result](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8587341/recursive-function-to-generate-multidimensional-array-from-database-result) — Definitely not Rafal, Apr 26 '21 at 17:13
@DefinitelynotRafal yes, thank you. Couldn't figure how to search for it, the tree term evaded my ideas. — Jon Erickson, Apr 26 '21 at 17:30

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 26 '21 at 18:00

First of all, you might consider reshaping your array to be associative so that any given person's subordinates are directly associated with them. Consider how I structured the 'original data' array below.

Doing it like this also translates well to JSON as a human-readable object

<?php

// original data

$chart = array(
    array(
        "name" => "John",
        "id" => 1,
        "staff" => array(
            array("name" => "Jane", "id" => 2),
            array(
                "name" => "Sally", "id" => 3,
                "staff" => array(
                    array("name" => "Bill", "id" => 4),
                    array("name" => "Fred", "id" => 5)
                )
            ),
            array("name" => "Alan", "id" => 6)
        )
    ),
    array("name" => "Susan", "id" => 7)
);

function extractStaff($array)
{
    // flatten the array out so we can iterate our table
    $tableArray = array();
    foreach ($array as $person) {
        $tableArray = getChildren($person, $person['name'], $tableArray);
    }
    return $tableArray;
}

function getChildren($person, $supervisor, $tableArray)
{
    //first add in the top level person
    $supe =  ($person['name'] == $supervisor) ? "-" : $supervisor;
    $tableArray[] = array("id" => $person['id'], "name" => $person['name'], "supervisor" => $supe);
    if ($person['staff'] && count($person['staff']) > 0) {
        foreach ($person['staff'] as $staff) {
            $tableArray = getChildren($staff, $person['name'], $tableArray);
        }
    }
    return $tableArray;
}

$tableArray = extractStaff($chart);
?>

Then you can just iterate through your array

<table>
<?php foreach ($tableArray as $person) {?>
<tr>
<td><?=$person['id']?> </td>
<td><?=$person['name']?> </td>
<td><?=$person['supervisor']?> </td>
</tr>
<?php }?>
</table>

Loop through array related models, creating one nested array

1 Answers1