3 arrays, preg_match and merge of the results in PHP

Question

I have 3 different multidimensional arrays:

// INPUT DATA WITH HOUSE DESCRIPTION. STRUCTURE: ID, OPTION DESCRIPTION

$input_house_data = array (
array("AAA","Chimney with red bricks"),
array("BBB","Two wide windows in the main floor"),
array("CCC","Roof tiles renewed in 2015")
);

// CATALOGUE WITH ALL HOUSE EQUIPMENT OPTIONS. STRUCTURE: ID, OPTION NAME

$ct_all_house_options = array (
  array("0001","Chimney"),
  array("0002","Garden"),
  array("0003","Roof tiles"),
  array("0004","Windows"),
  array("0005","Garage")
);

// SEARCH STRINGS AS REGULAR EXPRESSIONS. STRUCTURE: ID, EQUIPMENT OPTION NAME, REGULAR EXPRESSION TO SEARCH

$ct_house_options = array (
  array("0001","Chimney","/^Chimney with./"),
  array("0003","Roof tiles","/^Roof tiles./"),
  array("0004","Windows","/.windows./"),
  array("0004","Windows","/.wide windows./")    
);

I would like to search within $input_house_data by use of the regular expressions from the array $ct_house_options in order to indicate which equipment has a house. The result should be the whole list with all possible options and status "available" or "not available":

0001 - Chimney - available
0002 - Garden - not available
0003 - Roof tiles - available
0004 - Windows - available
0005 - Garage - not available

I tried to realize it as following:

$arrlength_input_house_data = count($input_house_data);
$arrlength_ct_all_house_options = count($ct_all_house_options);
$arrlength_ct_house_options = count($ct_house_options);

For loop with preg_match function. All results are written into array $matches (including dublicates):

for ($row1 = 0; $row1 < $arrlength_input_house_data; $row1++) {

   for ($row2 = 0; $row2 < $arrlength_ct_house_options; $row2++) {
   
if (preg_match($ct_house_options[$row2][2], $input_house_data[$row1][1]) === 1) {
    $matches[] = $ct_house_options [$row2][0];
}
}
}

Deleting of duplicates:

$unique = array_unique($matches);
print_r($unique);

So now I have got the unique results:

Array ( [0] => 0001 [1] => 0004 [3] => 0003 )

The next step should be merge of the array $ct_all_house_options and unique results from $unique. Unfortunately, I cannot get it realized. Do you have any idea how to get it? Maybe there is a more simple way to realize it?

12.08.2022

Hello dear all! thank you for your feedbacks. I checked and tested all of of them. Inbetween the business logic has been changed and became a little bit complicated:

1.There are 3 different constelations to indicate a product option.

• Only by regular expression within product description,
• By regular expression within description + product family or parts of product family,
• By regular expression within description + product family + product number.

2.The output can be different: TRUE/FALSE or specific string (e. g. color of the product "white", "green" etc.).

So please take a look how I designed a possible solution:

$input_product_data = array (
array("AAAA", "9999", "Chimney with red bricks"),
array("CCCC","2234","Two wide windows in the main floor"),
array("RRRR","0022","Roof tiles renewed in 2015"),
array("","2258","Floor has been renovated for two years. Currently it has ground in wood."),
array("","","Beautiful door in green color")

);

// CUSTOMIZING TABLE FOR PRODUCT OPTIONS. STRUCTURE: ID[0], OPTION NAME[1], OPTION CATEGORY[2], OPTION-FAMILY[3], PROD.-NR[4], REG. EXPRESSION[5], PRIORITY[6], OUTPUT[7]

$ct_product_options = array (
  array("0001", "Chimney", "Additional options", "/^AAAA/", "9999", "/^Chimney with./", "0", "TRUE"),
  array("0003", "Roof tiles", "Basic options", "/^RRRR/", "0022", "/^Roof tiles./", "0", "TRUE"),
  array("0004", "Windows", "Basic options", "/^C...$/", "2234", "/.windows./", "0", "TRUE"),
  array("0004", "Windows", "Basic options", "/^C...$/", "2567", "/.wide windows./", "0", "TRUE"), 
  array("0002", "Material of ground floor", "Additional options", "", "/^2.../", "/.wood./", "0", "Wood"),  
  array("0005", "Door color", "Basic options", "", "", "/.green./", "0", "Green") 
  
);

// IMPORTANT: THE REG. EXPRESSIONS CAN BE DEFINED MANY TIMES (e. g. 10 DIFFERENT REG. EXPRESSIONS FOR OPTION "WINDOWS"). POINTS "." REPRESENTS EMPTY SPACES WITHIN PRODUCT DESCRIPTION AND ARE IMPORTANT TO IDENTIFY EXACTLY AN OPTION. 


// FOR LOOP TO MAKE COMPARISON BETWEEN INPUT PRODUCT DATA AND PREDEFINED CUST. STRINGS

$matches_array = array();

foreach ($input_product_data as [$product_family, $product_number, $product_description]) {
    foreach($ct_product_options as [$option_id, $option_name, $option_category, $product_family_reg_exp, $product_number_reg_exp, $regular_expression, $priority, $output]) {
        
   if (preg_match($regular_expression, $product_description) == 1
   &&  preg_match($product_family_reg_exp, $product_family) == 1 ||
   
       preg_match($regular_expression, $product_description) == 1
   &&  preg_match($product_number_reg_exp, $product_number) == 1) {
    
    $matches_array [] = array("id" => $option_id, "option_name" => $option_name, "option_category" => $option_category, "output"=> $output);
    
    
    } 
    
    else {

   if (empty($product_family) && empty($product_number)) {

   if (preg_match($regular_expression, $product_description) == 1) {
    
    $matches_array [] = array("id" => $option_id, "option_name" => $option_name, "option_category" => $option_category, "output"=> $output);
    
   }
   }
    }   
  }
}

echo "<pre>";
print_r($matches_array);

// FUNCTION FOR DELETE DUBLICATES FROM ARRAY WITH MATCHES

function unique_multidimensional_array($array, $key) {
$temp_array = array();
$i = 0;
$key_array = array();

foreach($array as $val) {
    if (!in_array($val[$key], $key_array)) {
        $key_array[$i] = $val[$key];
        $temp_array[$i] = $val;
    }
    $i++;
}
return $temp_array;
}

echo "<br><h3>UNIQUE MATCHES</h3>";

// CALL OF THE FUNCTION TO GET UNIQUE MATCHES

$unique_matches = unique_multidimensional_array($matches_array, 'id');
sort($unique_matches);
echo "<pre>";
print_r($unique_matches);

// CALL OF THE FUNCTION TO CREATE LIST/ARRAY WITH ALL AVAILABLE PRODUCT OPTIONS

$list_all_product_options = unique_multidimensional_array($ct_product_options, 0);
$list_all_product_options_short = array();

foreach ($list_all_product_options as $option_item) {
    $list_all_product_options_short[] =  array("option_id" => $option_item[0], "option_name" => $option_item[1], "option_category" => $option_item[2]);
}

sort($list_all_product_options_short);

echo "<h3>LIST WITH ALL PRODUCT OPTIONS (SHORT VERSION)</h3>";
echo "<pre>";
print_r($list_all_product_options_short);

My questions:

1.How to get crossed two arrays $list_all_product_options_short and $unique_matches within an array in the following format: ALL values from $list_all_product_options_short and only field "output" from $unique_matches?

// EXAMPLE:

0001 - Chimney - Additional options - TRUE
0005 - Door color - Basic options - Green

// etc.

2.Additionally within indication process should be considered new parameter "Priority". It should be used to rewrite/to prioritise results for certain cases. E.g. when we have got two different colors for door "green" (priority = "0") and "red" (priority ="1"), door should get "Output" = "red".

3.For some hints regarding better coding for better performance I would be very appreciate.

Answer 1

Loop through the array with all options. Check if the ID is in your $unique list, then it's available.

foreach ($ct_all_house_options as [$id, $name]) {
    if (in_array($id, $unique)) {
        echo "$id - $name - available<br>";
    } else {
        echo "$id - $name - not available<br>";
    }
}

Answer 2

If performance is very important, you can prepare associative arrays to access the data faster. Here's a solution for the entire problem:

$optionsById = [];
foreach ($ct_house_options as $option) {
    $optionsById[$option[0]] = $option;
}

$availabilityById = [];
foreach ($ct_all_house_options as $option) {
    $id = $option[0];
    $availabilityById[$id] = false;
    foreach ($input_house_data as $data) {
        $option = $optionsById[$id] ?? null;
        if (!$option) {
            continue;
        }
        if (preg_match($option[2], $data['1'])) {
            $availabilityById[$id] = true;
            break;
        }
        
    }
}

foreach ($ct_all_house_options as $option) {
    $availabilityString = $availabilityById[$option[0]]
        ? 'available'
        : 'not available';
    echo "$option[0] - $option[1] - $availabilityString\n";
}

Performance:

• Execution time:
  • min: 0.00000476837158203s
  • max: 0.00047588348388672s
  • avg: 0.0000226473808289s
• Memory usage: 396KB

It's possible to do it with less code, though, if the foreach loop is changed:

$available = [];
foreach ($input_house_data as $data) {
    foreach ($ct_house_options as $option) {
        if (preg_match($option[2], $data['1'])) {
            $available[$option[0]] = true;
        }   
    }
}

foreach($ct_all_house_options as $option) {
    $availabilityString = isset($available)
        ? 'available'
        : 'not available';
    echo "$option[0] - $option[1] - $availabilityString\n";
}

Performance:

• Execution time:
  • min: 0.00000691413879395s
  • max: 0.00018811225891113s
  • avg: 0.0000229740142822s
• Memory usage: 396KB

If you still want to use the $unique, you can still prepare an associative array for performance reasons:

$indexById = array_flip($unique);
foreach ($ct_all_house_options as $option) {
    $availabilityString = isset($indexById[$option[0]])
        ? 'available'
        : 'not available';
    echo "$option[0] - $option[1] - $availabilityString\n";
}

Performance:

• Execution time:
  • min: 0.00000905990600586s
  • max: 0.00018906593322754s
  • avg: 0.0000392961502075s
• Memory usage: 397KB

Using in_array instead:

foreach ($ct_all_house_options as $option) {
    $availabilityString = in_array($option[0], $unique)
        ? 'available'
        : 'not available';
    echo "$option[0] - $option[1] - $availabilityString\n";
}

• Execution time:

  • min: 0.0000100135803223s
  • max: 0.0050561428070068s
  • avg: 0.0000860285758972s

• Memory usage: 396KB

I used PHP Sandbox to perform the tests. Of course, the execution time is not always the same.

Answer 3

1. Only column 1 of $input_house_data has value. By imploding the values into a consolidated haystack string, you reduce the total number of preg_match() calls needed.
2. Every house option should have its own single regex pattern. You could make a separate lookup array, but I would simply add a regex column to the "all options" array.

Code: (Demo) (or with a lookup array)

$dwellingInfo = [
    ["AAA", "Chimney with red bricks"],
    ["BBB", "Two wide windows in the main floor"],
    ["CCC", "Roof tiles renewed in 2015"]
];

$haystack = implode(
    ',',
    array_column($dwellingInfo, 1)
);

$dwellingAttributes = [
    ["0001", 'Chimney', '/\b(?:Chimney with|Big stove)\b/i'],
    ["0002", 'Garden', '/\bgarden\b/i'],
    ["0003", 'Roof tiles', '/\bRoof tiles\b/i'],
    ["0004", 'Windows', '/\bwindows?\b/i'],
    ["0005", 'Garage', '/\b(?:garage|car port|under cover area)\b/i']
];

foreach ($dwellingAttributes as [$id, $term, $pattern]) {
    printf(
        "%s - %s - %s\n",
        $id,
        $term,
        preg_match($pattern, $haystack)
            ? 'available'
            : 'unavailable'
    );
}

Output:

0001 - Chimney - available
0002 - Garden - unavailable
0003 - Roof tiles - available
0004 - Windows - available
0005 - Garage - unavailable