PHP: Replace duplicate instances of string within array, more complex than it sounds

Question

First time posting here after having great results searching for other answers on stackoverflow. I've hit a roadblock in an app I'm trying to build. It involves plotting a graph with JS using dynamic values pulled from a database.

I'm at the point now where I have all the values I need to plot a graph using a javascript library. The basic requirement to plot a graph is a basic array that looks something like this:

var plot1 = [ [2,15], [4,23], [5,25] ];

In my case of [x,y] x = date and y = clicks. With that data, you could call the function like so:

$.plot($("#placeholder"), [ plot1 ];

This does all the work for you and builds a nice little graph. In my case I do all of this dynamically. Here's where I'm stuck. I have an array that outputs this when printed:

Array ( 
    [0] => var test7 = [[1, 1]]; 
    [1] => var test2 = [[1, 1]]; 
    [2] => var test2 = [[4, 1]]; 
    [3] => var test2 = [[15, 2]]; 
    [4] => var test1 = [[2, 1]]; 
    [5] => var test1 = [[6, 7]]; 
    [6] => var test1 = [[14, 1]]; 
    [7] => var test1 = [[15, 1]]; 
    [8] => var giver = [[3, 2]]; 
    [9] => var giver = [[14, 1]]; 
    [10] => var test4 = [[4, 1]]; 
);

What I need to do now, is group all of the values that contain the same linkId (test2 has 3 instances for example) together into one line. Here's what I need the array to look like:

Array ( 
    [0] => var test7 = [[1, 1]]; 
    [1] => var test2 = [ [1, 1], [4, 1], [15, 2] ]; 
    [4] => var test1 = [ [2, 1], [6, 7], [14, 1], [15, 1] ]; 
    [8] => var giver = [ [3, 2], [14, 1] ]; 
    [10] => var test4 = [[4, 1]]; 
);

From that point I can run a foreach on it an echo out the values inside a script tag, and we're up and running!

Suggestions? I know there isn't going to be a single built in function that accomplishes everything I need in one quick swoop. array_unique() is close but not quite what I need. I think I can use array_walk($array, callback) which accepts an array and a callback function that is executed on each value within the array, but I'm really not sure where to go from there.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

is each value in the array a string with the text `"var testN = [[X,Y]];"`? I only ask because it seems to me like in php it should be structured a little different. For example is that formatted from the result of a query? if so then it would probably be easier to structure the data differently to make the output easier to format. As in a simple `json_encode()` on the array and then use javascript to loop through. — Jonathan Kuhn, Feb 08 '11 at 00:36
@Jonathan - Yeah, each value contains a string. It took me about 80 lines just to get to that point. I'm sure it's not the most efficient process, but I'll improve it over time. Thanks for your input. — sagalbot, Feb 08 '11 at 02:07

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 08 '11 at 00:09

$array = array( 
  'var test7 = [[1, 1]];', 
  'var test2 = [[1, 1]];', 
  'var test2 = [[4, 1]];', 
  'var test2 = [[15, 2]];', 
  'var test1 = [[2, 1]];', 
  'var test1 = [[6, 7]];', 
  'var test1 = [[14, 1]];', 
  'var test1 = [[15, 1]];', 
  'var giver = [[3, 2]];', 
  'var giver = [[14, 1]];', 
  'var test4 = [[4, 1]];' 
);

foreach ($array as $val) {
  preg_match('~var ([^ ]+) = \[\[([^\]]+)~',$val,$var);
  $tArray[$var[1]][] = "[".$var[2]."]";
}
$array = array();
foreach ($tArray as $key => $val) {
  $array[] = 'var '.$key.' = ['. implode(',',$val) . '];';
}

Thanks alot man! This did exactly what I needed. Just couldn't wrap my head around it. — sagalbot, Feb 08 '11 at 02:03

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 08 '11 at 00:04

0

You know you can use strings as array indexes in Javascript right?

So you could do something like... (pseudo code btw)

final = array();
final[arrayWithData->Key] += arrayWithData->value

answered Feb 08 '11 at 00:04

Nick

3,096
3
20
25

PHP: Replace duplicate instances of string within array, more complex than it sounds

2 Answers2