Question

I have an object that needs to be returned, however I need to perform some pre-return manipulation before returning it.

The object has the following format:

object(PaginationHelper)[3]
    public 'current_page' => int 1
    public 'items_per_page' => int 10
    public 'dataset' => 
        array (size=10)
            0 => 
                object(AdvertSet)[4]
                    public 'Keywords' => string '' (length=0)
                    protected 'Adverts' => 
                        array (size=3) // SIZE = 3 SO REMOVE THIS FROM 'dataset' ARRAY
                        ...
                    public 'LiveStatus' => boolean false
            1 => 
                object(AdvertSet)[5]
                    public 'Keywords' => string '' (length=0)
                    protected 'Adverts' => 
                        array (size=1) // SIZE = 1 SO KEEP THIS IN 'dataset' ARRAY
                        ...
                    public 'LiveStatus' => boolean false

      etc etc ....
[End Object]

What I need to do:

Remove all parts of the ‘dataset’ array that doesn’t have an ‘Adverts’ count of 1, thereby preserving only those datasets that have an ‘Adverts’ array size of 1.
Retain the fact that it is an object, to be returned.

I’ve tried multi-dimensional recursive functions to get through this, however the fact that it’s an object and not an array is making progress hard, and I’m not sure I would be able to convert from an object to an array and back again without messing up the object’s internals.

Can anyone help with this? Here’s what I’ve gotten so far with a foreach…

foreach($results as $key => $value) {
    if($key == 'dataset') {
    // value is right array to check count
    foreach($value as $k => $v) {
        echo $v;
    }
}
}

It doesn’t work, but that’s the method I’m currently working on.

I’ve also tried something like:

if(count($results->dataset->(Array)AdvertSet->Adverts == 1) { }

but I can’t cast AdvertSet as Array.. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Just a quick note: it doesn’t have to be removed from the array, I just eventually need the same object without those that have an Adverts count of 3. So this could involve copying to a new array without those that have an Adverts count of <> 1.

Answer 1

My first thought was:

foreach($PaginationHelper->dataset as &$data) {
  if(count($data) !== 1)
     unset($data);
}

But after reading your question for the third time, I see you want to remove only those elements with a Adverts count not equal to 1.

Looking at your structure, the Adverts array is protected, and therefore there is now way to access it without subclassing Advertset object.

So, my final answer must be: It is not possible to remove them, with this structure!