Convert comma separated string with value to nested array

Question

I am receiving csv data as separate strings which I am trying to convert into nested arrays, and then json.

The strings I am receiving are like this, where the last element is the value.

$str1 = "name,firstname,Bob";
$str2 = "name,lastname,Dylan";

Here I need to convert the strings into nested arrays which would be equivalent to the arrays below. This is the bit I am struggling with.

$arr1 = ["name" => ["firstname" => "Bob"]];
$arr2 = ["name" => ["lastname" => "Dylan"]];

I can then use a array_merge_recursive to combine them

$merged = array_merge_recursive($arr1, $arr2);

After that I can convert the merged array into json

Answer 1

1. Pass in your dynamic number of strings to a loop.

2. Parse the comma-separated values.

3. Use the values to push data into your array structure.

Code: (Demo)

$strings = ["name,firstname,Bob", "name,lastname,Dylan"];
$result = [];
foreach ($strings as $csv) {
    [$level1, $level2, $value] = str_getcsv($csv);
    $result[$level1][$level2] = $value;
}
var_export($result);

Output:

array (
  'name' => 
  array (
    'firstname' => 'Bob',
    'lastname' => 'Dylan',
  ),
)

---

Or more succinctly, you can push directly from the array destructuring step to achieve the same result as above: (Demo)

$result = [];
foreach ($strings as $csv) {
    [$level1, $level2, $result[$level1][$level2]] = str_getcsv($csv);
}
var_export($result);