Question

For the sake of being able to search and index/sort an array

I have a large multidimensional array that I am trying to parse. Right now, I am simply using the CakePHP shell to do so, but any method will suffice. What I need to do, is take the array of parent/children/more children and create an array of id’s with the associated ‘Outline Number’

So for example:

1
1.1
1.2
1.2.1
1.2.2
1.2.3

And so forth.

Here is an example of my ‘Input Array’:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [AsapStructure] => Array
                (
                    [id] => 1
                    [lft] => 30267
                    [rght] => 32774
                    [parent_id] => 
                    [wbs] => 
                )

            [children] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [AsapStructure] => Array
                                (
                                    [id] => 2
                                    [lft] => 30268
                                    [rght] => 30773
                                    [parent_id] => 1
                                    [wbs] => 1
                                )

                            [children] => Array
                                (
                                    [0] => Array
                                        (
                                            [AsapStructure] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [id] => 3
                                                    [lft] => 30269
                                                    [rght] => 30382
                                                    [parent_id] => 2
                                                    [wbs] => 1.1
                                                )

What I envisioned, was having a simple parsing mechanism that is self-recursive. An example of what I have developed is as follows:

<?php
    var $structIndex = array();

    private function __parseStruct( $toParse,$prefix = null ) {
        $iterator = 0;
        if ( $prefix )
            $prefix = $prefix . '.';

        foreach( $toParse as $datum ) {
            $iterator++;
            if ( $datum['AsapStructure']['id'] == 1 )
                $this->structIndex[ 1 ] = NULL;
            else            
                $this->structIndex[ $datum['AsapStructure']['id'] ] = $prefix . $iterator  ;

            $subiterator = 0;
            foreach( $datum['children'] as $key => $data ) {
                $subiterator++;
                $this->structIndex[ $data['AsapStructure']['id'] ] = $prefix . $subiterator;
                if ( ! empty( $datum['children'] ) ) {
                    $this->__parseStruct( $datum['children'],  $subiterator );
                }
            }
        }
        return $this->structIndex;
    }

?>

What I do, is I call this $this->__parseStruct( $data ) function and pass the array to it. The function then loops over the array, calling the function for the nested child arrays. I have that part working okay, I just can’t seem to get the logic correct for creating the ‘indexes’, that is the 1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1 and so forth.

So my target output would then be:

$array[ $rowid ] = [ 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.2.1 / 1.2.2 ] or any combination as such.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I was on the right track, I was just adding an extra unnecessary step.

private function __parseStruct( $toParse,$prefix = null ) {

    $iterator = 0;

    if ( $prefix )
        $prefix = $prefix . '.';

    foreach( $toParse as $datum ) {

        $iterator++;

        if ( $datum['AsapStructure']['id'] == 1 )
            $this->structIndex[ 1 ] = NULL;
        else            
            $this->structIndex[ $datum['AsapStructure']['id'] ] = $prefix . $iterator  ;



        if ( ! empty( $datum['children'] ) ) {

            $this->__parseStruct( $datum['children'],  $prefix.$iterator );

        }



    }

    return $this->structIndex;

}

This solved the issue. However, due to the nature of my array, it was necessary for me to call the function initially by doing: $this->__parseStruct( $data[0]['children'] ); otherwise I ended up with a 1. prefixing every data element in the resulting array.