How to dynamically set array keys in php

Question

I have some logic that is being used to sort data but depending on the user input the data is grouped differently. Right now I have five different functions that contain the sa

Answer 1

You can use this library to get or set value in multidimensional array using array of keys:

Arr::getNestedElement($calcs, [
    $meter['Resource']['name'], 
    $meter['UnitType']['name'], 
    date('Y-m', $start)
]);

to get value or:

Arr::handleNestedElement($calcs, [
    $meter['Resource']['name'], 
    $meter['UnitType']['name'], 
    date('Y-m', $start)
], $data);

to set $data as value.

Answer 2

Here's a function I wrote for setting deeply nested members on arrays or objects:

function dict_set($var, $path, $val) {
    if(empty($var))
        $var = is_array($var) ? array() : new stdClass();

    $parts = explode('.', $path);
    $ptr =& $var;

    if(is_array($parts))
    foreach($parts as $part) {
        if('[]' == $part) {
            if(is_array($ptr))
                $ptr =& $ptr[];

        } elseif(is_array($ptr)) {
            if(!isset($ptr[$part]))
                $ptr[$part] = array();

            $ptr =& $ptr[$part];

        } elseif(is_object($ptr)) {
            if(!isset($ptr->$part))
                $ptr->$part = array();

            $ptr =& $ptr->$part;
        }
    }

    $ptr = $val;

    return $var;
}

Using your example data:

$array = [];

$array = dict_set($array, 'resource1.unit1.2017-10', 'value1');
$array = dict_set($array, 'resource1.unit2.2017-11', 'value2');
$array = dict_set($array, 'resource2.unit1.2017-10', 'value3');

print_r($array);

Results in output like:

Array
(
    [resource1] => Array
        (
            [unit1] => Array
                (
                    [2017-10] => value1
                )

            [unit2] => Array
                (
                    [2017-11] => value2
                )

        )

    [resource2] => Array
        (
            [unit1] => Array
                (
                    [2017-10] => value3
                )

        )

)

The second argument to dict_set() is a $path string in dot-notation. You can build this using dynamic keys with period delimiters between the parts. The function works with arrays and objects.

It can also append incremental members to deeply nested array by using [] as an element of the $path. For instance: parent.child.child.[]

Answer 3

You can use this if you want to get&set array values dynamically.

function getVal($data,$chain){
    $level = $data;
    for($i=0;$i<count($chain);$i++){
        if(isset($level[$chain[$i]]))
            $level = $level[$chain[$i]];
        else
            return null; // key does not exist, return null
    }
    return $level;
}

function setVal(&$data,$chain,$value){
    $level = &$data;
    for($i=0;$i<count($chain);$i++){
        $level = &$level[$chain[$i]]; // set reference (&) in order to change the value of the object
    }
    $level = $value;
}

How it works:

Calling getVal($data,array('foo','bar','2017-08')) will return the equivalent of $data['foo']['bar']['2017-08'].

Calling setVal($data,array('foo','bar','2017-08'),'hello') will set value as if you called $data['foo']['bar']['2017-08'] = 'hello'. non-existent keys will be created automatically by php magic.

This can be useful if you want to build the structure of the array dynamically.

Answer 4

Try to use a switch case.

<?php
$userinput = $calcs[$meter['UnitType']['name']] = $data;;

switch ($userinput) {
  case "useriput1":
    while () {
        $calcs[$meter['Resource']['name']][$meter['UnitType']['name']][date('Y-m',$start)] = $data;
    }
    break;
  case "userinput2":
    while () {
        $calcs[$meter['Resource']['name']][$meter['UnitType']['name']][date('Y-m',$start)] = $data;
    }
    break;

  ...

  default:
    while () {
        $calcs[$meter['Resource']['name']][$meter['UnitType']['name']][date('Y-m',$start)] = $data;
    }
}
?>

Answer 5

Would it not be easier to do the following

$calcs = array(
    $meter['Resource']['name'] => array(
        $meter['UnitType']['name'] => 'Some Value',
        $meter['UnitType']['name2'] => 'Some Value Again'
    ),
);

or you can use Objects

$calcs = new stdClass();
$calcs->{$meter['UnitType']['name']} = 'Some Value';

but I would advice you build your structure in arrays and then do!

$calcs = (object)$calcs_array;

or you can loop your first array into a new array!

$new = array();
$d = date('Y-m',$start);
foreach($meter as $key => $value)
{
    $new[$key]['name'][$d] = array();
}

Give it ago and see how the array structure comes out.

Answer 6

I agree with the comment on the OP by @Jake N that perhaps using objects is a better approach. Nonetheless, if you want to use arrays, you can check for the existence of keys in a conditional, like so:

if(
    array_key_exists('Resource', $meter)
) {
    $calcs[$meter['Resource']['name']][$meter['UnitType']['name']][date('Y-m',$start)] = $data;
} else {
    $calcs[$meter['UnitType']['name']] = $data;
}

On the other hand, if you want to use objects, you can create a MeterReading object type, and then add MeterReading instances as array elements to your $calcs array, like so:

// Object defintion
class MeterReading {
    private $data;
    private $resource;
    private $startDate;
    private $unitType;

    public function __construct(Array $meter, $start, $data) {
        $this->unitType   = $meter['UnitType']['name'];
        $this->resource   = $meter['Resource']['name'];
        $this->startDate  = date('Y-m',$start);
    }

    public function data() {
        return $this->data;
    }

    public function resource() {
        return $this->resource;
    }

    public function startDate() {
        return $this->startDate;
    }

    public function unitType() {
        return $this->unitType;
    }
}

// Example population
$calcs[] = new MeterReading($meter, $start, $data);

// Example usage
foreach($calcs as $calc) {
    if($calc->resource()) {
        echo 'Resource: ' . $calc->resource() . '<br>';
    }
    echo 'Unit Type: ' . $calc->unitType() . '<br>';
    echo 'Start Date: ' . $calc->startDate() . '<br>';
    echo 'Data: ' . $calc->data() . '<br>';
}

Obviously you can take this further, such as checking the existence of array keys in the object constructor, giving the object property resource a default value if not provided, and so on, but this is a start to an OO approach.