2d array duplicate removal procedure

[IER506]

Good evening co-coders. I'm facing some problems while trying to remove duplicates from one array. Here is how my array looks

like:

 

Array (
[0] => Array ( [name] => george [days] => 20 ) 
[1] => Array ( [name] => george [days] => 10 )
[2] => Array ( [name] => nickie [days] => 20 )
) 

 

... and after the conversion I want my array to look like this:

 

Array (
[0] => Array ( [name] => george [days] => 20 ) 
[1] => Array ( [name] => nickie [days] => 20 )
) 

 

As you've noticed I just want to keep the distinct values of the name but with the larger value of the days! Any ideas?

 

PS:My table is sorted if that helps (NAME ASC, DAYS ASC).

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

 

[Pikachu2000]

SELECT DISTINCT name_field, field2, field3 ORDER BY name_field

[IER506]

SELECT DISTINCT name_field, field2, field3 ORDER BY name_field

 

Hi Pikachu2000 and thanks for your answer but I'm not having an SQL problem here, this is a php problem! This is a php array, and not a table in a database!

[Pikachu2000]

Oh, I just assumed the data was coming from a DB query based on the "NAME ASC, DAYS ASC" comment you had in the OP . . . However, have a look at array_unique(). It may work for what you're doing.

[IER506]

Thanks again Pikachu , but unfortunately array_unique is not doing the job for 2d tables. I've tried to create a function based on it, but with no results. Can anyone suggest and idea?

[Alex]

From the sounds of your problem it definitely seems like it can and should be solved through MySQL.

 

You can try:

SELECT name, MAX(days) as max_days FROM table GROUP BY name

 

In the case that I'm misunderstanding and this really can't be achieved through MySQL here's a PHP solution:

 

$arr = array(
array(
	'name' => 'george',
	'days' => 20
), 
array(
	'name' => 'george',
	'days' => 10
),
array(
	'name' => 'nickie',
	'days' => 20 
)
);

function getNameIndex($arr, $name) {
foreach($arr as $key => $val) {
	if($val['name'] == $name) {
		return $key;
	}
}
return false;
}

$new = array();
foreach($arr as $key => $val) {
if(($index = getNameIndex($new, $val['name'])) !== false) {
	if($new[$index]['days'] < $val['days']) {
		$new[$index]['days'] = $val['days'];
	}
} else {
	$new[] = $val;
}
}

echo "<pre>" . print_r($new, true) . "</pre>";

 

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [name] => george
            [days] => 20
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [name] => nickie
            [days] => 20
        )

)

[AbraCadaver]

I agree to do it in the query, but if your array is already sorted, then here's one way:

 

foreach(array_reverse($array) as $row) {
$new[$row['name']] = $row;
}
$array = array_reverse(array_values($new));

[Alex]

I agree to do it in the query, but if your array is already sorted, then here's one way:

 

foreach(array_reverse($array) as $row) {
$new[$row['name']] = $row;
}
$array = array_reverse(array_values($new));

You forgot to take into account that he wants the largest day value to be used if multiple exist.

[AbraCadaver]

You forgot to take into account that he wants the largest day value to be used if multiple exist.

Yes, they said:

PS:My table is sorted if that helps (NAME ASC, DAYS ASC).

 

And I said:

if your array is already sorted

[Alex]

Ah, if the data is ordered that way then yeah, that's a better solution.

[IER506]

I agree to do it in the query, but if your array is already sorted, then here's one way:

 

foreach(array_reverse($array) as $row) {
$new[$row['name']] = $row;
}
$array = array_reverse(array_values($new));

 

That was exactly what i was trying to do! Thank you all for your help and support guys! When my project is completed I'll feedback with the results!