Question

I have an array which is generated from an XML file and it shows me like below when printed with print_r

Array
(
    [cxname] => Global CX 87 123
    [ipaddress] =>  66.240.55.87
    [slots] => Array
        (
            [slot] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [slotno] =>  1
                            [cardtype] => 0x24 
                            [modelno] =>  OP3524J
                            [label1] => OP 
                            [label2] =>  Module
                            [severity] => Minor
                        )

                    [1] => Array
                        (
                            [slotno] =>  2
                            [cardtype] => 0x25 
                            [modelno] =>  OP3524K
                            [label1] => OP 
                            [label2] =>  Module
                            [severity] => Major
                        )

                )

        )

)

When I print like this, it shows nothing

 echo $dataArray->cxname;

But following code works and prints “Global CX 87 123 “

 echo $dataArray["cxname"];

How can I make it work as above example.

Answer 1

Just do this:

$dataArray = (object)$dataArray;

It’ll convert the array in an stdClass object and allow you to use it that way. Please note that this will only convert the first level for the array. You’ll have to create a function to recurse through the array if you want to access all levels that way. For example:

<?php
function arrayToObject($array) {
    if(!is_array($array)) {
        return $array;
    }

    $object = new stdClass();
    if (is_array($array) && count($array) > 0) {
      foreach ($array as $name=>$value) {
         $name = strtolower(trim($name));
         if (!empty($name)) {
            $object->$name = arrayToObject($value);
         }
      }
      return $object; 
    }
    else {
      return FALSE;
    }
}

For more information, have a look at http://www.richardcastera.com/blog/php-convert-array-to-object-with-stdclass. To find out about typecasting, you can also read http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.object.php#language.types.object.casting.