Combining arrays into one multidimensional array

PHP
1

If I was to have three or more arrays like below how could I combine them into a mutlidimensional array?

I’ve tried array_combine but that only combines two arrays:

  'menu' => 
    array
      1 => string '6' (length=1)
      4 => string '5' (length=1)
      7 => string '3' (length=1)
      10 => string '2' (length=1)
      13 => string '0' (length=1)
      16 => string '0' (length=1)
      19 => string '0' (length=1)
      22 => string '0' (length=1)
  'hidden_menu_id' => 
    array
      2 => string 'C' (length=1)
      5 => string 'C' (length=1)
      8 => string 'M' (length=1)
      11 => string 'M' (length=1)
      14 => string 'M' (length=1)
      17 => string 'C' (length=1)
      20 => string 'M' (length=1)
      23 => string 'C' (length=1)
  'hidden_menu_name' => 
    array
      3 => string 'Category here' (length=13)
      6 => string 'Category Four' (length=13)
      9 => string 'Times' (length=5)
      12 => string 'Guardian' (length=8)
      15 => string 'Home' (length=4)
      18 => string 'Category Two' (length=12)
      21 => string 'Telegraph' (length=9)
      24 => string 'Yet Another Category' (length=20)

array_combine creates:

array
  'Category here' => string '6' (length=1)
  'Category Four' => string '5' (length=1)
  'Times' => string '3' (length=1)
  'Guardian' => string '2' (length=1)
  'Home' => string '0' (length=1)
  'Category Two' => string '0' (length=1)
  'Telegraph' => string '0' (length=1)
  'Yet Another Category' => string '0' (length=1)
2

How mutlidimensional array do you want? Could you give a sample output? I don’t understand your question clearly.

3

I -think- what you’re trying to do is…


foreach($input['menu'] AS $key => $value) [
$out[] = array('menu'=>$value,'hidden_menu_id' => $input['hidden_menu_id'][($key + 1)],'hidden_menu_name' => $input['hidden_menu_name'][($key+2)]);
}

Though this would probably better be solved by sorting your initial data better…

If it’s not what you’re looking for, then as stated above, I dont understand what output you want.

4

I’ve always found this behaviour of array_map quite funky (notice the passing of null as a callback).


<?php
$array = array(
  'menu' => array(
    1 => 6,
    4 => 7,
  ),
  'hidden_menu_name' => array(
    2 => 'C',
    5 => 'D',
  ),
  'hidden_menu_id' => array(
    3 => 'Category One',
    6 => 'Category Two'
  ),
);

$array = array_map(
  null,
  $array['menu'],
  $array['hidden_menu_name'],
  $array['hidden_menu_id']
);

print_r($array);

/*
  Array
  (
    [0] => Array
    (
      [0] => 6
      [1] => C
      [2] => Category One
    )
    [1] => Array
    (
      [0] => 7
      [1] => D
      [2] => Category Two
    )
  )
*/
5

Doesnt preserve the associative names, but a nifty trick to learn :slight_smile:

6
Off Topic: 


$menu =  array(
      1 => 6,
      4 => 5,
      7 => 3,
);

Write your start arrays in PHP like that and you will get more help, likewise write a full array which outlines exactly the end array you require, will save a lot of unnecessary posts.

7

That’s perfect! just what I needed - yes