Associative arrays: how to get rid of duplicates?

Question

I have an array:

Array ( [0] => Array ( [attribute_name] => Appliances [attribute_value] => Washer ) [1] => Array ( [attribute_name] => Appliances [attribute_value] => Dryer ) [2] => Array ( [attribute_name] => Appliances [attribute_value] => Dishwasher ) [3] => Array ( [attribute_name] => Appliances [attribute_value] => Microwave ) [4] => Array ( [attribute_name] => Console [attribute_value] => Xbox360 ) [5] => Array ( [attribute_name] => Console [attribute_value] => PS3 ) )

I want to produce:

Array ( [0] => Array ( [attribute_name] => Appliances [attribute_value] => Washer, Dryer, Dishwasher, Microwave ) [1] => Array ( [attribute_name] => Console [attribute_value] => Xbox360, PS3 ) )

How is this achieved in PHP?

Here's my final code based on @andrewtweber's original solution:

http://codepad.org/E4WFnkbc

Will the duplicates always come in pairs? Will the duplicates always be consecutive? Will there always be pairs? — Ry-
– Ry- ♦, Commented Jun 27, 2012 at 23:26
@MarkReed - never saw that link before, going to have to use it from now on. :) — Duniyadnd
– Duniyadnd, Commented Jun 27, 2012 at 23:26
Can I suggest instead of combining them into a comma-separated list, that you combine them into another sub-array? array(0=> array('attribute_name' => "Appliances", 'attribute_value' => array('Washer','Dryer','Diswasher'))) — Michael Berkowski
– Michael Berkowski, Commented Jun 27, 2012 at 23:26
Or what about array( 'Appliances' => array('Washer', 'Dryer', 'Dishwasher') ) — andrewtweber
– andrewtweber, Commented Jun 27, 2012 at 23:33

andrewtweber · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-28 05:10:12Z

4

$new_arr = array(); foreach( $arr as $data ) { if( !isset($new_arr[$data['attribute_name']]) ) { $new_arr[$data['attribute_name']] = array(); } $new_arr[$data['attribute_name']][] = $data['attribute_value']; }

This will give you

array( 'Appliances' => array( 'Washer', 'Dryer', 'Dishwasher' ) );

http://codepad.org/m6l3je0H

edited Jun 28, 2012 at 5:10

answered Jun 27, 2012 at 23:40

andrewtweber

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2 Comments

Brandon Minton Over a year ago

That totally worked! I had an issue with the is_array part throwing an indexing error so I just used isset instead. I've posted an example that also makes the output into a string for craps and laughs.

andrewtweber Over a year ago

Ah good point - probably just a notice right? But I'll update my answer in case anybody else comes across it

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