get distinct values from an array

[jarvis]

Hi All,

 

Sorry I'm struggling with trying to get distinct values from an array. I have the following code which pulls a list of clients from a news table:

  list($client_newsRecords, $client_newsMetaData) = getRecords(array(
    'tableName'   => 'news',
'orderBy'     => 'client ASC',
  ));

I then use the list to create a drop down:

  <select name="fieldname" size="1" onChange="openDir( this.form )">
    <option selected="selected">-- Please Select --</option>


<?php foreach ($client_newsRecords as $record): ?>
    <option value="downloads.php?client=<?php echo urlencode($record['client']); ?>" selected><?php echo $record['client']; ?></option>
  <?php endforeach ?>
  </select>

The problem is, if several news articles are added with the same client, the drop down list shows loads of the same client in the list. Hence the reason for the removal of any duplicates.

 

Any help is much appreciated

 

Thanks again in advanced

[danielgrieve]

Try using 'GROUP BY' in your MySQL statement, which I'm guessing will be something like so:

 

  list($client_newsRecords, $client_newsMetaData) = getRecords(array(
    'tableName'   => 'news',
'orderBy'     => 'client ASC',
'groupBy'     => 'client'
  ));

 

Hopefully your getRecords() function is set up to handle 'groupBy' as the actual MySQL syntax is 'GROUP BY'.

[jarvis]

Thanks for the reply, unfortunately, that doesn't work. I get the error:

 

Unknown option 'groupBy' specified. Valid option names are: (tableName, where, orWhere, orderBy, limit, offset, perPage, loadUploads, allowSearch, requireSearchMatch, loadCreatedBy, useSeoUrls, loadListDetails, joinTable, debugSql, leftJoin, useCache, pageNum, ignoreHidden, ignorePublishDate, ignoreRemoveDate, requireSearchSuffix, includeDisabledAccounts, addSelectExpr)

 

Hope that helps?

 

Thanks again!

[PravinS]

May array_unique()  will help you.

[jarvis]

Thanks again, I'd tried that:

list($client_newsRecords, $client_newsMetaData) = getRecords(array_unique(

But got the following error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_DOUBLE_ARROW in

 

Or have I not used it in the correct way?

Thanks

[trq]

Your likely missing a )

[jarvis]

Thanks thorpe, where abouts?

list($client_newsRecords, $client_newsMetaData) = getRecords(array_unique(																	  
    'tableName'   => 'news',
'orderBy'     => 'client ASC',
  ));

All brackets close correctly?

[PravinS]

Try this

 

 

list($client_newsRecords, $client_newsMetaData) = getRecords(array_unique(array(																	  
    'tableName'   => 'news',
'orderBy'     => 'client ASC',
  )));

 

 

[jarvis]

Thanks pbs, that seems to shift the error, however, the list still contains duplicates!?

 

Why are the simple things always the most annoying!

Thanks

[trq]

I fear your applying array_unique to the wrong array. What exactly does getRecords() do and how does it work? You really need to pass it a GROUP BY clause but considering it is not standard php, we have no way of letting you know how to do that.

[jarvis]

Thanks thorpe. I would assume getrecords() retrieves the details from the db table, you then pass them into the code and reference each element.

This code is from a CMS, not something I've done myself. However, I'm trying to modify a particular page hence this post.

The GROUPBY didn't work as I tried that too.

 

Apologies if this doesn't answer your questions or is a little vague!

[PravinS]

Yes it will be better if you fetch correct data from database using query as mentioned by thorpe.

[jarvis]

Thanks all for your replies. Unfortunately, I'm not able to use the GROUPBY option. What if I therefore go through all the elements in the array and count them? Then remove if the number is greater than 1? Something like:

<?php $record_count_arr = array_count_values($client_newsRecords); ?>
<?php
foreach($client_newsRecords as $record => $client) { 
  if($record_count_arr[$client] > 1) 
  { 
    unset($client_newsRecords[$record]); 
  } 
} 
?>

Although that gives an error:

Warning: array_count_values(): Can only count STRING and INTEGER values! in ....php

 

So may need some work!

[trq]

Its 'GROUP BY' not 'GROUPBY' and you will need to find out how the getRecords() function works. Is there any documentation for this CMS? Otherwise, locate the function and take a look at it yourself.