array to string conversion error, need to explode and then implode

Question

I want to explode an array, read each value and print them back in an array...

I dont understand where i am getting wrong. Please help me..this is my code..

I am getting an array to string conversion error

$query="SELECT categories FROM shops";
$result = mysql_query($query);  
while($column = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)){
    $categories=explode(",",$column['categories']);
    foreach($categories as $value){
        $new_query="SELECT name from categories where id='$value'";
        $name = mysql_query($new_query);    
        $name_column= mysql_fetch_assoc($name);
        array_push($shops_list,$name_column);

    }
}
echo implode(",",$shops_list);

quick hint on performance, don't do queries inside loop if not neccessary. — Tom
– Tom, Commented Oct 18, 2012 at 13:49
Learn how to use SQL Joins, and you won't need to do this inefficient query looping: learn how to use MySQLi or PDO as well... then you won't need to use deprecated libraries — Mark Baker
– Mark Baker, Commented Oct 18, 2012 at 13:50

Teena Thomas · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-18 13:51:40Z

2

$shop_list is not defined, before using it in this line array_push($shops_list,$name_column);. And, this line

    array_push($shops_list,$name_column);

needs to be, as you need to mention the key name,

    array_push($shops_list,$name_column['name']); //or better
    $shop_list[] = $name_column['name'];

answered Oct 18, 2012 at 13:51

Teena Thomas

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2 Comments

user1694724 Over a year ago

why the loop is not breaking after each id?

Teena Thomas Over a year ago

foreach($categories as $value){ will loop through all the values in array categories. isn't that what you want?

Explosion Pills · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-18 13:49:32Z

1

Several issues:

$name_column = mysql_fetch_assoc($name);
$name_column = $name_column['name'];

name_column is an array.

shops_list is never initialized.

You should use [] instead of array_push.

answered Oct 18, 2012 at 13:49

Explosion Pills

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Comments

tazer84 · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-18 13:57:57Z

1

The other guys hit it on the nose, but when you did your array push on $name_column, since $name_column is an array, you end up with:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [name] => boo
        )
)

Obviously doing an implode on that is going to not work.

That being said, what you really need to do here is not keep your category mappings as a comma delimited string in the database. Standard DB architecture dictates you use a mapping table.

Table shops
Table categories
Table shop_category_map that has shop_id and category_id

answered Oct 18, 2012 at 13:57

tazer84

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Dev · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-18 14:05:23Z

1

use group_concat to retrieve values. and after getting the result, use them directly for searching. like

$result_array = explode(",",$row['category']);

    foreach($result_array as $ra)
    {
    //sql command. fetch here.
    $new_query="SELECT name from categories where id='$value'";
    $name = mysql_query($new_query);    
    $name_column= mysql_fetch_assoc($name);
    $shops_list[] = $name_column;
    }

try else go for better solution

answered Oct 18, 2012 at 14:05

Dev

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Noel · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-04 12:25:24Z

1

// explode an array and then implode until a particular index of an array

$a = '192.168.3.250';
$b = explode('.',$a);
$ar = array();

for($i=0;$i<=2;$i++)
{
   array_push($ar,$b[$i]);
}

$C = implode($ar,'.');
print_r($C);

edited Jun 4, 2013 at 12:25

Noel

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answered Jun 4, 2013 at 12:07

Kishore Malviya

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