php generate all combinations from given array

Question

What is the simplest way to convert this PHP array

$a = array(\'A\' => array(1, 2),
           \'B\' => array(3, 4),
           \'C\' =>         


        

Answer 1

You can use this function for this request:

function pc_array_power_set($array) {
    // initialize by adding the empty set
    $results = array(array( ));

    foreach ($array as $element)
        foreach ($results as $combination)
            array_push($results, array_merge(array($element), $combination));

    return $results;
}

Usage:

$set = array('A', 'B', 'C');
$power_set = pc_array_power_set($set);

Output:

array( );
array('A');
array('B');
array('C');
array('A', 'B');
array('A', 'C');
array('B', 'C');
array('A', 'B', 'C');

Resource: http://docstore.mik.ua/orelly/webprog/pcook/ch04_25.htm

Answer 2

Like this one:

$a = array('A' => array(1, 2),
           'B' => array(3, 4),
           'C' => array(5));

function get_combinations($arrays) {
    $result = array(array());
    foreach ($arrays as $property => $property_values) {
        $tmp = array();
        foreach ($result as $result_item) {
            foreach ($property_values as $property_value) {
                $tmp[] = array_merge($result_item, array($property => $property_value));
            }
        }
        $result = $tmp;
    }
    return $result;
}

Output

var_dump(get_combinations($a));

array (size=4)
  0 => 
    array (size=3)
      'A' => int 1
      'B' => int 3
      'C' => int 5
  1 => 
    array (size=3)
      'A' => int 1
      'B' => int 4
      'C' => int 5
  2 => 
    array (size=3)
      'A' => int 2
      'B' => int 3
      'C' => int 5
  3 => 
    array (size=3)
      'A' => int 2
      'B' => int 4
      'C' => int 5