How to apply custom keys to my sequential array/collection of arrays using Laravel or PHP?

Question

I'm trying to apply custom keys to a collection in laravel.

The best way that I found was using functions like transform or mapWithKeys.

$result = $collection->map(function ($item) {
    return [
        'custom_key_name_1' => $item[0],
        'custom_key_name_2' => $item[1],
        'custom_key_name_3' => $item[2],
    ];
});

I was hoping to find something like:

$keys = ['custom_key_name_1', 'custom_key_name_2', 'custom_key_name_3'];
result = $collection->withKeys($keys);

Do you know any other way to do that with a less verbose code?

I'm working in a legacy Laravel 5.5 project.

Input Example

$collection = collect([
    [ 'first', 'second', 'third' ],
    [ '1', '2', '3' ],
    [ '1st', '2nd', '3rd' ],
]);

Expected Output

[
  [
    'custom_key_name_1' => 'first',
    'custom_key_name_2' => 'second',
    'custom_key_name_3' => 'third',
  ],
  [
    'custom_key_name_1' => '1',
    'custom_key_name_2' => '2',
    'custom_key_name_3' => '3',
  ],
  [
    'custom_key_name_1' => '1st',
    'custom_key_name_2' => '2nd',
    'custom_key_name_3' => '3rd',
  ],
]

There is no other way, what is the issue with that code? Is it that overbosed for you? — matiaslauriti, Feb 17 '23 at 23:51
@matiaslauriti yeah, it seems unnecessarily verbose for me. Anyway, thanks for clarify that, I thought that there was a less-code way. — FabianoLothor, Feb 18 '23 at 00:35
No worries, but belive me that that code is not overbosed at all. It may not be the best one, but it is pretty good. Maybe you would like to create a macro for a Collection, so you create your own `withKeys` (following your example) and end up with the same stuff. Read [this](https://laravel.com/docs/5.5/collections#extending-collections) — matiaslauriti, Feb 18 '23 at 02:27
What do you not like? That you have to do `$item[0], $item[1], ...` ? — Chin Leung, Feb 18 '23 at 03:45

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 24 '23 at 23:43

Since you're working with a collection of arrays, you can use PHP's array_combine() method to put the keys and values together:

$collection = collect([
    [ 'first', 'second', 'third' ],
    [ '1', '2', '3' ],
    [ '1st', '2nd', '3rd' ],
]);
$keys = collect(['custom_key_name_1', 'custom_key_name_2', 'custom_key_name_3']);

$result = $collection->map(fn ($v) => $keys->combine($v));

dump($result);

Result:

Illuminate\Support\Collection^ {#5189
  #items: array:3 [
    0 => array:3 [
      "custom_key_name_1" => "first"
      "custom_key_name_2" => "second"
      "custom_key_name_3" => "third"
    ]
    1 => array:3 [
      "custom_key_name_1" => "1"
      "custom_key_name_2" => "2"
      "custom_key_name_3" => "3"
    ]
    2 => array:3 [
      "custom_key_name_1" => "1st"
      "custom_key_name_2" => "2nd"
      "custom_key_name_3" => "3rd"
    ]
  ]
  #escapeWhenCastingToString: false
}

The important caveat being that, per the documentation, "a ValueError is thrown if the number of elements in keys and values does not match."

I'm marking that as right answer because I don't think we'll find anything better nowadays. The combine option reduces the boiler plate, but it isn't optimal yet. Initial code calls just `map` while the answer calls `map+combine`, anyway, thank you for the help. — FabianoLothor, Feb 24 '23 at 23:42

How to apply custom keys to my sequential array/collection of arrays using Laravel or PHP?

1 Answers1