convert string to array *** SOLVED ***

[poe]

i have a string like this:

[pre]
$mystring = "[name][age][pet][mike][22][dog][john][25][cat][kim][26][bird][pam][18][fish]";
[/pre]

each item is surrounded by []

i want to strip the [] and create into an array with the first 3 as the keys, then every other third grouping the values.

ie

$people[1] = array( 'name'=>'mike', 'age'=>'22', 'pet'=>'dog');
$people[2] = array( 'name'=>'john', 'age'=>'25', 'pet'=>'cat');
$people[3] = array( 'name'=>'kim', 'age'=>'26', 'pet'=>'bird');
$people[4] = array( 'name'=>'pam', 'age'=>'18', 'pet'=>'fish');


EDIT:

OK. I think it's solved now! :)

[toplay]

If you have control over the input string values, then put it in a better format making it easier for you to manipulate. This could be done in a few ways (like using preg_split), but here's a quick example of one way:
[code=php:0]

$mystring = "[name][age][pet][mike][22][dog][john][25][cat][kim][26][bird][pam][18][fish]";

$ary = explode(',', str_replace(array('[',']'), array('',','), $mystring));
array_pop($ary);  // Remove last blank entry

if (1 == (count($ary) % 3)) {
    exit('Error: Data not in multiples of 3');
}

$key1 = array_shift($ary);  // name
$key2 = array_shift($ary);  // age
$key3 = array_shift($ary);  // pet

$people = array();

for($i = 0, $cnt = count($ary); $i < $cnt; $i += 3) {
    $people[] = array($key1 => $ary[$i], $key2 => $ary[$i+1], $key3 => $ary[$i+2]);
}

print_r($people);
[/code]

[quote]

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [name] => mike
            [age] => 22
            [pet] => dog
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [name] => john
            [age] => 25
            [pet] => cat
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [name] => kim
            [age] => 26
            [pet] => bird
        )

    [3] => Array
        (
            [name] => pam
            [age] => 18
            [pet] => fish
        )

)
[/quote]

[pthurmond]

You want two things actually. You want to use a multi-dimensional array, such as $people[1][2]. This translates into row 1, column 2. You will have three columns: name, age, and pet. The great thing with php is you can use number or associative keys for you arrays. In fact I think you can even use a combination of the two. In this case you could access it like so in a loop, $people[$key]['name'].

The second thing you want is the implode and explode functions. Implode is for taking an array and building a string with a common value separating the data. Explode is for taking a string with a common value separating the data and building an array of those values. So in the most basic case you have a string of comma separated values, you have a string called $stuff. Here is how you would use it:
$stuff = implode(',', $stuffarray);
$stuffarray = explode(',' $stuff);

I don't know if this function can be used for a multi-dimensional array like what you are doing, but it might.
[url=http://us3.php.net/manual/en/function.explode.php]http://us3.php.net/manual/en/function.explode.php[/url]
[url=http://us3.php.net/manual/en/function.implode.php]http://us3.php.net/manual/en/function.implode.php[/url]

-Patrick

[Psycho]

[code]<?php
$mystring = "[name][age][pet][mike][22][dog][john][25][cat][kim][26][bird][pam][18][fish]";
$mystring = replace("][",",",$mystring);
$mystring = replace("[","",$mystring);
$mystring = replace("]","",$mystring);
$myarray  = explode(",",$mystring);

for ($i=3; $i<count($myarray); $i+=3) {
   $people[] = array(
       $myarray[0] => $myarray[$i+0],
       $myarray[1] => $myarray[$i+1],
       $myarray[2] => $myarray[$i+2]
   );
}
?>[/code]

[Nicklas]

Here´s yet another way

[code]<?php


$mystring = "[name][age][pet][mike][22][dog][john][25][cat][kim][26][bird][pam][18][fish]";



function toArray($name, $age, $pet) {
global $info;

$info[] = array('name' => $name, 'age' => $age, 'pet' => $pet);

}

preg_replace('/\[(.*?)]\[(.*?)]\[(.*?)]/e', 'toArray("\\1", "\\2", "\\3")', substr($mystring, 16));
print_r($info);

?>[/code]

[doni49]

[code]
<?php
$mystring = "[name][age][pet][mike][22][dog][john][25][cat][kim][26][bird][pam][18][fish]";

$match = preg_match_all('/(\[[a-zA-z0-9]+\])+/iU',$mystring, $matches);
$j = -1;
$people = array();
$matches = str_replace("[","", $matches[1]);
$matches = str_replace("]","", $matches);
$i = 3;
while($i<count($matches)){
  $j++;
  $people[$j] = array(
      $matches[0] => $matches[$i],
      $matches[1] => $matches[$i + 1],
      $matches[2] => $matches[$i + 2]
      );
  $i += 3;
}
echo "<pre>";
echo $people;
print_r($people);
echo "</pre>";
?>
[/code]

This is what I copied from my browser:
[quote]
ArrayArray
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [name] => mike
            [age] => 22
            [pet] => dog
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [name] => john
            [age] => 25
            [pet] => cat
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [name] => kim
            [age] => 26
            [pet] => bird
        )

    [3] => Array
        (
            [name] => pam
            [age] => 18
            [pet] => fish
        )

)
[/quote]

[poe]

thanks guys !