Capturing an array inside text file

Question

I have a program that, unfortunately, saves some information in a text file, making the text file almost like a database. So I decided to create a front end that is able to handle it.

An example of what's in the file:

Host {
  Name = test1
  Address = 192.168.0.1
  Port = 8080
 }

Host {
  Name = test2
  Address = 192.168.0.2
  Port = 8080
 }

To start I'm using fwrite() to insert new Hosts at the end of the file. But when I try to edit the Hosts through functions using seek() it doesn't work well because it counts byte by byte. Ok, so I tried to create an array for this, to try to edit the data like the "Name". I'm actually basing a lot on this article: how to convert a string with brackets to an array in php.

Array ( [Host ] => Array ( [ Name = test1 Address = 192.168.0.1 Port = 8080 ] => Array ( ) ) )

Can anyone guide me in the right way to do it?

My code:

<?php
    $input = shell_exec("cat /etc/Program/Hosts.conf");
    
                    $output = array();
                    $pointer = &$output;
    
                    while( ($index = strpos( $input, '{')) !== false) {  
                        if( $index != 0)  { 
                            $key = substr( $input, 0, $index);
                            $pointer[$key] = array();
                            $pointer = &$pointer[$key];
                            $input = substr( $input, $index);
                            continue;
                        }
                        $end_index = strpos( $input, '}'); 
                        $array_key = substr( $input, $index + 1, $end_index - 1);
                        $pointer[$array_key] = array();
                        $pointer = &$pointer[$array_key];
                        $input = substr( $input, $end_index + 1);
                    }
    
                    print_r( $output);
?>

As you haven't shared a single line of code, it's impossible to tell you where this is going wrong. Also, if you think that writing to this file is a bad idea, why not refactor your application to write this data to a proper database? — Nico Haase
– Nico Haase, Commented Feb 8, 2022 at 14:58
@ruleboy21, I intend to convert it to an array first and then manipulate the data, such as the Host, Address and Port. I think it's a good way to do this, but you can give your suggestion. — David
– David, Commented Feb 8, 2022 at 15:25
Hello @NicoHaase! I edited the post. I'm basically using the same code as the post I used as a reference. About refactoring my app, I didn't actually develop it. So I'm trying to improve it for common users. — David
– David, Commented Feb 8, 2022 at 15:41
You could make your life easier and append json_encoded (single) lines that you later read one line at a time and decode. Would save you from parsing a custom format. — Markus AO
– Markus AO, Commented Feb 8, 2022 at 18:19

ruleboy21 · Accepted Answer · 2022-02-08 15:53:45Z

0

You can use file() to convert the file to array of lines and then manipulate the array to get array of hosts. Try this

function hostsToArray($filepath){
    $file  = array_map('trim', file($filepath, FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES));
    $array = [];
    $i     = 0;

    foreach ($file as $line) {
        if( $line === 'Host {' ){
            $array[$i] = [];
        }else if( $line === '}' ){
            $i++;
        }else{
            list($key, $value) = explode(' = ', $line);
            $array[$i][$key] = $value;
        }
    }

    return $array;
}

$hosts = hostsToArray('/etc/Program/Hosts.conf');
print_r($hosts);

answered Feb 8, 2022 at 15:53

ruleboy21

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1 Comment

David Over a year ago

thanks! It worked!

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