How Can I Efficiently Merge Data from Multiple Arrays in PHP?

Merging Row Data from Multiple Arrays: A Comprehensive Guide

In programming, often you encounter a need to combine data from multiple arrays into a single, cohesive structure. To achieve this, you'll need an effective way to merge the data while preserving its integrity.

To illustrate a practical example, suppose you have two arrays: one containing product-related information and another containing order details. Your task is to merge these arrays to obtain a consolidated array that captures both product and order data.

Using array_merge alone won't suffice because it only flattens the arrays into a single dimension. However, array_merge_recursive comes to the rescue as it recursively merges elements, allowing keys to be used as criteria.

To prepare for the merge, numeric array keys should be converted to strings, creating associative arrays. This conversion ensures that keys will not conflict during the merge process.

With the arrays set up correctly, utilize array_merge_recursive($ar1, $ar2) to perform the merge. This function will merge elements from both arrays, resulting in an array with keys containing both product and order data.

For further clarification, consider an example provided in the question:

$ar1 = [
    ['gross_value' => '100', 'quantity' => '1'],
    ['gross_value' => '200', 'quantity' => '1']
];

$ar2 = [
    ['item_title_id' => '1', 'order_id' => '4'],
    ['item_title_id' => '2', 'order_id' => '4']
];

By applying array_merge_recursive and converting keys to strings, you will obtain the following merged array:

$result = [
    [
        'gross_value' => '100',
        'quantity' => '1',
        'item_title_id' => '1',
        'order_id' => 4
    ],
    [
        'gross_value' => '200',
        'quantity' => '1',
        'item_title_id' => '2',
        'order_id' => 4
    ]
];

Through this merging technique, you can effectively combine data from multiple arrays, providing a consolidated view of your information.

The above is the detailed content of How Can I Efficiently Merge Data from Multiple Arrays in PHP?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!