Create and write an array to a file

[waherne]

Could anyone help me put the following information into an array and then write that array instantly to a file (as opposed to looping through it - if possible)?

The data (to be separated by |) is:
row1 tim sean dan mick tom
row2 mary helen
row3 mike kelly fred dan liam dave jim ....(unlimited number - the data size could be large here!)


I have tried to do this for several hours but all that gets written to my file is the word "Array"!!

Thanks,

Willie

[Paul S]

Ok, let's say you have something like this

$thearray[0] = 'tim sean dan mick tom';
$thearray[1] = 'mary helen';
$thearray[2] = 'mike kelly fred dan liam dave jim ....'; 

So if you want to save the entire content of this array into a file, putting a | to separate each row then use,

 $data = implode('|',$thearray);
 /*
 This will produce
 $data = 'tim sean dan mick tom|mary helen|mike kelly fred dan liam dave jim ....';
 */ 

Now, open a file for writing and insert $data, and that's it

 $fh = fopen('filename'.'w')
 fwrite($fh,$data);
 fclose($fh); 

[waherne]

Thanks for your reply,

My plan was to print the following to the file:

row1|tim|sean|dan|mick|tom|/n
row2|mary|helen|/n
row3|mike|kelly|fred|dan|liam|dave|jim|....|/n

This is a bit different to what your code would do! Any ideas on how to sort me out?

Willie

[rwar]

Use something like this (use the code you gave too):

$string = str_replace(" ","|",$string);

Use this before you save you data to a file.

[waherne]

I am not so sure that what you said would work. Yes, the '|' are inserted but I feel that the file would not be written to correctly.

File (text.txt)
row1|tim|sean|dan|mick|tom|/n
row2|mary|helen|/n
row3|mike|kelly|fred|dan|liam|dave|jim|....|/n

For instance, how would you apply what you said where one reads the data in text.txt into a multidimensional array, then you change kelly to say dick and then you write back the full array to the file.

This should be such a simple exercise yet I agree with earlier comments I read regarding the complexity of the PHP manual!

Willie

[M. Johansson]

Why not serialize() it when inserting and unserialize() when getting it?

[waherne]

I have no idea on how to go about that!

[waherne]

Would anyone have some time to help me out on this one?

[Paul S]

If I understand you, you've got a file text.txt like

|tim|sean|dan|mick|tom|(end of line)
|mary|helen|(end of line) 
|mike|kelly|fred|dan|liam|dave|jim|....|(end of line) 

and you want to insert the content into a multidimensional array. Try the following code and tell me if that's what you exactly are looking for:

 $content = @file('text.tx');
 
 foreach ($content as $line)
    $data[] = explode('|',$line); 

that will produce
$data[0] = array('','tim','sean','dan','mick ...
$data[1] = array('','mary',...
and so on.

To change 'kelly' to say 'dick', then

  echo $data[2][1]; /* this print out kelly */
  $data[2][1] = 'dick'; 

Paul

[waherne]

Thanks Paul,

Yes you are on the right track.

Now the final step that is needed is to write the updated contents back to the file text.txt - this could be difficult!

Willie

[M. Johansson]

Originally posted by waherne
I have no idea on how to go about that!

If your array is $array - just do this to write the array to file:

$data = serialize($array);
$fh = fopen('filename'.'w')
fwrite($fh,$data);
fclose($fh);

and this to get the array:

$data = file('filename');
$array = unserialize($data);
I have not tested that, but it should work like that - I belive.

[Paul S]

Originally posted by waherne
Thanks Paul,

Yes you are on the right track.

Now the final step that is needed is to write the updated contents back to the file text.txt - this could be difficult!

Willie

Come on!! I've already given you the clue, check:

 foreach ($data as $a) {
   $line = implode('|',$a);
   $text .= "$a\n";
 }

 $fh = fopen('filename','w')
 fwrite($fh,$text);
 fclose($fh); 

[waherne]

Paul,

I actually got is sorted prior to your most recent post! I will close out this thread later with the final code for others to see.

I'm sure that I tried something like your code before and that it resulted in the word "Array" being printed to the file - maybe I am mistaken.

In any case, what matters most is the support you have given and many thanks for that, and of course, the fact that my script now works.

Willie