PHP Array to List

Question

How do I go from this multidimensional array:

Array (
  [Camden Town] => Array (
    [0] => La Dominican
    [1] => A Lounge
  ), 
  [Coastal] => Array (
    [0] => Royal Hotel
  ), 
  [Como] => Array (
    [0] => Casa Producto 
    [1] => Casa Wow
  ), 
  [Florence] => Array (
    [0] => Florenciana Hotel
  )
)

to this:

<ul>
  <li>Camden Town</li>
  <ul>
    <li>La Dominican</li>
    <li>A Lounge</li>
  </ul>
  <li>Coastal</li>
  <ul>
    <li>Royal Hotel</li>
  </ul>
  ...
</ul>

above is in html...

so many things. This is my last gasp – Mazatec Nov 28 '09 at 17:16 — Mazatec, Nov 28 '09 at 17:16

score 24 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 19 '16 at 19:18

24

//code by acmol
function array2ul($array) {
    $out = "<ul>";
    foreach($array as $key => $elem){
        if(!is_array($elem)){
                $out .= "<li><span>$key:[$elem]</span></li>";
        }
        else $out .= "<li><span>$key</span>".array2ul($elem)."</li>";
    }
    $out .= "</ul>";
    return $out; 
}

I think you are looking for this.

edited Apr 19 '16 at 19:18

Machado

8,965
6
43
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answered Feb 04 '12 at 18:52

acmol

241
2
2

3

Rockstar code right here. Thanks for saving me the time of building it! – Beachhouse Feb 06 '14 at 21:37
I love that it's recursive – Francisco Presencia Mar 22 '14 at 20:57

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 28 '09 at 17:48

Here's a much more maintainable way to do it than to echo html...

<ul>
    <?php foreach( $array as $city => $hotels ): ?>
    <li><?= $city ?>
        <ul>
            <?php foreach( $hotels as $hotel ): ?>
            <li><?= $hotel ?></li>
            <?php endforeach; ?>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>

Here's another way using h2s for the cities and not nested lists

<?php foreach( $array as $city => $hotels ): ?>
<h2><?= $city ?></h2>
    <ul>
        <?php foreach( $hotels as $hotel ): ?>
        <li><?= $hotel ?></li>
        <?php endforeach; ?>
    </ul>
<?php endforeach; ?>

The outputted html isn't in the prettiest format but you can fix that. It's all about whether you want pretty html or easier to read code. I'm all for easier to read code =)

this is the correct answer. Perfect. Thanks for introducing me to endforeach. this is EXACTLY what I have been looking for. — Mazatec, Nov 28 '09 at 17:57
@Ash you may note, that `endforeach` is used here for the sense of readability, so the ordinary `foreach` can be used. See http://php.net/manual/en/control-structures.alternative-syntax.php — Dmitry Ginzburg, Nov 11 '14 at 16:58

ya.teck · Answer 3 · 2016-04-19T14:29:11.870

9

Refactored acmol's funciton

/**
 * Converts a multi-level array to UL list.
 */
function array2ul($array) {
  $output = '<ul>';
  foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
    $function = is_array($value) ? __FUNCTION__ : 'htmlspecialchars';
    $output .= '<li><b>' . $key . ':</b> <i>' . $function($value) . '</i></li>';
  }
  return $output . '</ul>';
}

edited Apr 19 '16 at 14:29

answered Jul 06 '13 at 10:13

ya.teck

2,060
28
34

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 06 '12 at 18:24

0

Assume your data is in $array.

echo '<ul>';
foreach ($array as $city => $hotels)
{
    echo "<li>$city</li>\n<ul>\n";
    foreach ($hotels as $hotel)
    {
        echo "    <li>$hotel</li>\n";
    }
    echo "</ul>\n\n";
}
echo '</ul>';

Haven't tested it, but I'm pretty sure it's right.

edited Apr 06 '12 at 18:24

benmarks

23,384
1
62
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answered Nov 28 '09 at 17:19

Francis Rath

183
9

This isn't quite what was requested, but it is probably what was intended. Some CSS will complete the formatting. – Ewan Todd Nov 28 '09 at 17:23
actually the above code only provides one "child" for each parent, so for example Camden Town is only given one hotel listed instead of 2. – Mazatec Nov 28 '09 at 17:30
its recommended to use echo over print in PHP – jason Apr 28 '11 at 12:47

PHP Array to List

4 Answers4