Retrieving values from a PHP Multi-dimensional Array

Question

I have a multi-dimensional array that I want to print statistics from for a website admin. My problem is that once I get the data into an array in the format I want it, I can't figure out how to retrieve it. I have to know the key values in order to get it e.g. $uniqueBrowser["Firefox"]["14.0.1"]['times'];

I want to be able to say for example - Firefox 70%, IE 30% as a start (aggregate all version 'times used' for the browsers). I then want to drill down further to specific versions e.g. FF3.6 14%, FF14 51% etc. (simply printing out the times value associated with the version).

EDIT: My Question is, how do I retrieve my data in the way described above? My head is fried and I've been on this for too long. Please someone put me out of my misery. If there is a better way to do this, please let me know also.

The code I have so far is below. This code is run in a for each loop which iterates through data returned by the database. The $browser and $version variables are set to the browser values and version values returned from the database at each iteration of the foreach loop.

if(in_array($browser, $uniqueBrowser)) {        
    if(in_array($version, $uniqueBrowser[$browser])) {
        $uniqueBrowser[$browser][$version]['times'] = $uniqueBrowser[$browser][$version]['times'] + 1;
    } else {            
        $uniqueBrowser[$browser]['version'] = $version;
        $uniqueBrowser[$browser][$version]['times'] = 1;
    }       
} else {
    $uniqueBrowser[] = $browser;
    $uniqueBrowser[$browser]['version'] = $version;
    $uniqueBrowser[$browser][$version]['times'] = 1;
}

When I run this code, it gives me this (via var_dump):

Browser data: array(4) {
  [0]=>
  string(7) "Firefox"
  ["Firefox"]=>
  array(3) {
    ["version"]=>
    string(6) "14.0.1"
    [15]=>
    array(1) {
      ["times"]=>
      int(2)
    }
    ["14.0.1"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["times"]=>
      int(15)
    }
  }
  [1]=>
  string(17) "Internet Explorer"
  ["Internet Explorer"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["version"]=>
    string(9) "8.0.0.253"
    ["8.0.0.253"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["times"]=>
      int(1)
    }
  }
}

add echo '<pre>'; before var_dump and give the new results here. It's hard to read this array now. — Peon
– Peon, Commented Sep 7, 2012 at 12:34
If you use COUNT with GROUP BY in your query, it should make things a little easier. — Baylor Rae'
– Baylor Rae', Commented Sep 7, 2012 at 12:35
Added the formatted var_dump data now. Thanks for the tip. Makes it a lot easier to read and noticed that there is also an issue with the version data in that the key value is wrong. — Ren
– Ren, Commented Sep 7, 2012 at 12:41

JvdBerg · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-07 12:36:49Z

4

Instead of getting data out of the database, and put it in a complex array, you should let the database do the work for you, and retrieve the values from a query in the format that you want.

Let the database do the calculations, and do not use PHP to do that. It makes it over complex.

answered Sep 7, 2012 at 12:36

JvdBerg

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1 Comment

Ren Over a year ago

Thanks, going to go with a DB based solution as yourself and Baylor have suggested.

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:34:52Z

I know JvdBerg has already given an answer like this, but I added my comment first. So I don't feel like I'm copying him.

As an example I've created the following table structure. Hopefully it's like yours.

+---------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| Field   | Type             | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
+---------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| id      | int(11) unsigned | NO   | PRI | NULL    | auto_increment |
| browser | varchar(120)     | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
| version | varchar(50)      | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
+---------+------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+

Then I inserted the following rows, again, hopefully like yours.

+----+---------+---------+
| id | browser | version |
+----+---------+---------+
|  1 | Firefox | 3.6     |
|  2 | Firefox | 4.1     |
|  3 | Firefox | 3.6     |
|  4 | Safari  | 5.1.7   |
|  5 | Safari  | 6       |
|  6 | Firefox | 14.0.1  |
|  7 | IE      | 7       |
|  8 | IE      | 8       |
|  9 | IE      | 7       |
| 10 | Firefox | 14.0.1  |
| 11 | Opera   | 12.0.1  |
| 12 | Safari  | 5.1.7   |
+----+---------+---------+

Then the following query produced these results.

mysql> SELECT browser, version, COUNT(version) AS times FROM demo.browsers GROUP BY browser;
+---------+---------+-------+
| browser | version | times |
+---------+---------+-------+
| Firefox | 3.6     |     5 |
| IE      | 7       |     3 |
| Opera   | 12.0.1  |     1 |
| Safari  | 5.1.7   |     3 |
+---------+---------+-------+

If you want it to be more precise you can use GROUP BY browser, version instead of just by the browser.

mysql> SELECT browser, version, COUNT(version) AS times FROM demo.browsers GROUP BY browser, version;
+---------+---------+-------+
| browser | version | times |
+---------+---------+-------+
| Firefox | 14.0.1  |     2 |
| Firefox | 3.6     |     2 |
| Firefox | 4.1     |     1 |
| IE      | 7       |     2 |
| IE      | 8       |     1 |
| Opera   | 12.0.1  |     1 |
| Safari  | 5.1.7   |     2 |
| Safari  | 6       |     1 |
+---------+---------+-------+

Very similar yes. Thanks, I will try this now and report back on how it went. Will make things much easier and no one who comes in to maintain the page will be cursing me :)

Ian Dundas · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-07 12:34:36Z

1

I'm not sure I fully understand your question, but have you tried iterating over the array using an extended for loop?

e.g.:

foreach ($uniqueBrowser as $browserName=>$values){

    echo $browserName .' contains '. print_r($values,true);

}

answered Sep 7, 2012 at 12:34

Ian Dundas

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