How to convert this string into an array

Question

I have a string being returned from my database that I want to use as an array. It is already in an assoc array form. Here is a sample of what this looks like so far. How would I do this?

'test1' => 'value 1',
'test1' => 'value 1a,
'test2' => 'value 2'

Ok, this is the database code:

 SELECT
 inventory.invId,
 GROUP_CONCAT(CONCAT( '''', inventory.vehicle, ''' => ', '''', inventory.color, '''' )) AS vehicle,
 vehicle.vehicle_id
 FROM
 inventory
 Inner Join vehicle ON vehicle.invId = inventory.invId

This is the print_r from the database results

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [system] => AR3
            [vehicle] => 'geo' => 'red', 'honda' => 'blue', 'ford' => 'black'
            [vehicle_id] => 1232132
        )
)

Did you by chance print_r your array, and use the return value to put in your database? — Tyler Carter
– Tyler Carter, Commented Mar 7, 2010 at 5:49
Hey Chacha, I am actually returning a group_concat from the database. When I do a print_r on the resultset, I get a string. The output from the database is not an array but a string. — jim
– jim, Commented Mar 7, 2010 at 5:51
Can you put up some more code, like a sample of your query and result loop? — Jage
– Jage, Commented Mar 7, 2010 at 5:53
Yeah, Jage, give me a couple of minutes to get the db code. Its in a stored procedure. — jim
– jim, Commented Mar 7, 2010 at 5:54
At first glance, it looks like I have a problem with the way in which I've tried to arrange the array in the concat. Notice that the array goes from vehicle=> type => color. This is not correct. Maybe someone can help me get the concat right. — jim
– jim, Commented Mar 7, 2010 at 6:07

deceze · Accepted Answer · 2010-03-07 06:19:49Z

2

I'd strongly advise against returning data in such a format. First of all, you need to take much more care creating this special format to make it parse-able. What if a value contains the character "'"? You'd get 'key' => 'value '', which will throw the whole parsing process for a loop. Secondly, it's a non-trivial form to parse and would require a lexer or using the PHP tokenizer, which is much more work than it's worth.

For transporting native structures in strings, there's a special serialized format. You're just reinventing the wheel here. Badly, I might add. :)

Just return the results as normal SELECT * FROM table … and build the array in PHP, that's the proven and fastest way to do it.

answered Mar 7, 2010 at 6:19

deceze♦

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6 Comments

deceze Over a year ago

@jim You can still get the data you need without multiple roundtrips. You just do the same thing you're doing now, just without the concatting. Getting the right data in a query by applying the necessary JOINs and SELECTing the right fields is independent of the format in which you return the data.

deceze Over a year ago

@jim Why do you need them 8 times, what's the criteria and why do you think returning the data in fake PHP array syntax would help you? Better take a step back and clarify what you have and what you need. You're missing the bigger picture by trying to fix this syntax issue.

jim Over a year ago

I'm saying that I agree with you. By returning a fake data array, I am reinventing the wheel. What I need to do is to understand how to sort the data so that I can use it. I know exactly what I need but just am unclear as to how to get it.

deceze Over a year ago

@jim Open a new question then to get help with the big picture. :)

jim Over a year ago

I've deleted the concat syntax and put back in my field list, all of the columns that I need. I now have 8 rows of data of which I need 8 rows but only 4 columns worth. I need a single row of 3 columns. Am I making any sense here? :)

|

Devin Ceartas · Accepted Answer · 2010-03-07 06:42:24Z

1

$f  = array();
$a1 = explode( ',', $string );
foreach( $a1 as $s ) {
  $a2 = explode( '=>', $s ) {
    $a2[0] = preg_replace( "/^'/", '', $a2[0] );
    $a2[0] = preg_replace( "/'\s*$/", '', $a2[0] );
    $a2[1] = preg_replace( "/^\s*'/", '', $a2[1] );
    $a2[1] = preg_replace( "/'$/", '', $a2[1] );
    $f[$a2[0]] = $a2[1];
  }
}

note: Thanks for adding the code block formatting codaddict! ... Ps agree with answer on how to return result better: this is just a literal answer to Q

edited Mar 7, 2010 at 6:42

answered Mar 7, 2010 at 6:20

Devin Ceartas

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5 Comments

Tanzelax Over a year ago

For a second, I thought that was an attempt at obfuscated code, and then I realized you just didn't put it in a code block. :p

jim Over a year ago

Oh my God, Devin! :) I'd have to agree with Tanzelax in that I thought too that it was obfuscated code. :) Thanks for the serialized example. deceze, below is recommending against this method and I may go another route.

jim Over a year ago

You definitely get an A+ for this effort though. :)

Devin Ceartas Over a year ago

Well, I guess obfuscated code and heavy use of regex is what you would expect--I am a perl coder, after all ;-)

jim Over a year ago

Not bad at all Devin! Thanks! I'm honestly still trying to figure out why all the regex. Looks like codeaddict helped you out by reformatting your code. Looks much nicer now.

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