Replace string in Object Array PHP

Question

I thought this would be easy, but turning out to be hard. All I am trying to do is replace a value in an object then print out the changed string. This is within Joomla, by the way. Not that it matters, just to explain all the JHTML/and JURi stuff in the code.

The code that I have been trying is...

<?php

// Display the child select box.
if (isset($this->containers) && count($this->containers)):
    $items = str_replace("Your Favorite Places", "Browse By Region", $this->containers);
    echo JHtml::_('select.genericlist', $items, 'finder-containers','onchange="document.location=this.value; return false;"', 'link', 'indented', JUri::getInstance()->toString(array('path')));
endif;

?>

So my str_replace line is where I'm having the problems. $this->containers is just an array of states and other stuff echoes out a dropdown box. I tried to do the replace before it echoes out on the last line, but the words "Your Favorite Places" are still there. Do I have to put this in a foreach loop or something similar?

Here is a partial print_r (in fact the string I want to replace is in it. Category Title => Your Favorite Places)

Array (
    [0] => stdClass Object (
        [category_id] => 1
        [title]       => Gallery
        [alias]       => gallery
        [slug]        => 1:gallery
        [level]       => 0
        [my_items]    => 0
        [url]         => index.php?option=com_gallery&view=images&category_id=1
        [route]       => index.php?option=com_gallery&view=images&category_id=1:gallery&Itemid=1766
        [link]        => /your-favorite-places/categories/gallery.html
        [indented]    => Gallery
    )

    [1] => stdClass Object (
        [category_id] => 164
        [title]       => Your Favorite Places
        [alias]       => your-favorite-places
        [slug]        => 164:gallery/your-favorite-places
        [level]       => 1
        [my_items]    => 0
        [url]         => index.php?option=com_gallery&view=images&category_id=164
        [route]       => index.php?option=com_gallery&view=images&category_id=164:gallery/your-favorite-places&Itemid=3711
        [link]        => /your-favorite-places/gallery.html
        [indented]    =>   Your Favorite Places
    )

    [2] => stdClass Object (
        [category_id] => 87
        [title]       => North America
        [alias]       => north-america
        [slug]        => 87:gallery/your-favorite-places/north-america
        [level]       => 2
        [my_items]    => 0
        [url]         => index.php?option=com_gallery&view=images&category_id=87
        [route]       => index.php?option=com_gallery&view=images&category_id=87:gallery/your-favorite-places/north-america&Itemid=1775
        [link]        => /your-favorite-places/north-america.html
        [indented]    =>     North America
    )

I thought that was the way to do it. I'll take anyway to do it, just so it replaces those three words with Browse by Region — decaye
– decaye, Commented Aug 9, 2012 at 23:26

Stegrex · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-29 05:54:02Z

2

Property $this->containers is an array of objects.

You'll need to iterate through this array, access each object's title property, and replace that property's string value (if it is the correct string).

So...

Get rid of this block:

~~$items = str_replace("Your Favorite Places", "Browse By Region", $this->containers);~~

Replace it with this line:

$items = array(); // Create an array to load the objects in as values.
foreach($this->containers as $object) { // Iterate through $this->containers, which is an array. Load the object into temporary variable $object.
    if (strpos($object->title, 'Your Favorite Places') !== false) { // If the title property contains a string you're looking for, replace it with the value you want.
        $object->title = str_replace('Your Favorite Places', 'Browse By Region', $object->title);
    }
    if (strpos($object->indented, 'Your Favorite Places') !== false) { // Should work with any property value with whitespaces also.
        $object->indented = str_replace('Your Favorite Places', 'Browse By Region', $object->indented);
    }
    $items[] = $object; // Load the object into array $items.
}

Edit: I've added a way to check for part of the string rather than the whole string, and to replace the partial string match in order to preserve whitespaces.

edited Jul 29, 2013 at 5:54

answered Aug 10, 2012 at 0:36

Stegrex

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2 Comments

decaye Over a year ago

This will get the job done. Thanks, Stegrex and everyone else. However, though it worked on objects that didn't have a space. So when I changed the value from title to indented and tried that way it didn't replace. My initial thinking was it didn't seem to like the space...if you look in the dump...there is a little whitespace in the 'indented' object for "Your favorite Places" Could that be why? (Sorry, that was a print_r, I put up there...In my var_dump, you can see the space in some places and none in others.)

Stegrex Over a year ago

@decaye Yes, the whitespace is the reason my condition for matching won't work for $object->indented. I've modified my code to give an example of how to check for a substring and then replace only that part, preserving any whitespaces you have.

Stegrex · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-09 23:32:15Z

0

If I were to guess, I'd say the string "Your Favorite Places" is in the keys for $this->containers. While str_replace() will iterates over arrays, it iterates over the values, and not the keys.

I'd try something like:

foreach($this->containers as $key => $value) {
   if ($key == "Your Favorite Places") {
       $items["Browse By Region"] = $value;
   } else {
       $items[$key] = $value;
   }
 }

Edit from Stegrex: Changed = to => in loop

edited Aug 9, 2012 at 23:32

Stegrex

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answered Aug 9, 2012 at 22:50

ernie

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2 Comments

decaye Over a year ago

OK I took out the else and also made $key=Svalue into $key=>$value. What happened is the drop down box was only populated with the word 'Gallery'. Everything else was gone :)

decaye Over a year ago

OK with the else statement returned into the code...the dropdown list repopulated but the string was still there. Not replaced.

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