Remove duplicate items inside multidimensional array

Question

I have an array which contains multiple of the same data:

array(2) {
  [0]=>
  array(2) {
    ["id"]=>
    string(11) "43000173601"
    ["data"]=>
    array(2) {
      [0]=>
      array(2) {
        ["id"]=>
        string(5) "52874"
        ["name"]=>
        string(3) "x70"
      }
      [1]=>
      array(2) {
        ["id"]=>
        string(5) "52874"
        ["name"]=>
        string(3) "x70"
      }
    }
  }
  [1]=>
  array(2) {
    ["id"]=>
    string(11) "43000173602"
    ["data"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(2) {
        ["id"]=>
        string(5) "52874"
        ["name"]=>
        string(3) "x70"
      }
    }
  }
}

I have tried using array_unique() to remove these entries, but receive this error:

Array to string conversion

The outer arrays contain route ID's, some busses may have 2 different routes so in this case, they can stay however, I just want to remove the dupe entries inside the 1 route:

[0]=>
  array(2) {
    ["id"]=>
    string(11) "43000173601"
    ["data"]=>
    array(2) {
      [0]=>
      array(2) {
        ["id"]=>
        string(5) "52874"
        ["name"]=>
        string(3) "x70"
      }
      [1]=>
      array(2) {
        ["id"]=>
        string(5) "52874"
        ["name"]=>
        string(3) "x70"
      }
    }

To help me remove the duplicate entries inside the routes, please @u_mulder — Jaquarh
– Jaquarh, Commented Oct 20, 2018 at 19:10
this comment in the docs might help: php.net/manual/de/function.array-unique.php#97285 — Jeff
– Jeff, Commented Oct 20, 2018 at 19:11
When posting questions it's best to post arrays made by var_export and not print_r the ones from var export are usable in code, the ones from print_r are human readable, so to use it one has to fix it first, where as var export can just be pasted and worked with. I'd help you but I'm to lazy to fix it. One day I will make a print_r converter ... — ArtisticPhoenix
– ArtisticPhoenix, Commented Oct 20, 2018 at 19:24

u_mulder · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-20 19:12:30Z

1

Code can be something like this:

$new_array = [];
foreach ($your_array as $item) {
    if (!isset($new_array[$item['id']])) {
        // item id is not in `new_array` - add `item`
        $new_array[$item['id']] = $item;
    } else {
        // item id already presents - add `data` item to it
        $new_array[$item['id']]['data'][] = $item['data'];
    }
}

answered Oct 20, 2018 at 19:12

u_mulder

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1 Comment

Jaquarh Over a year ago

Thanks! This did work but I found an easier way to do it, but I will mark this since it does work!

Andreas · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-20 19:15:04Z

1

You can use array_column to make the array associative. That will remove any duplicates.
Array_values will then remove the associative and make it normal indexed array again.
Rsort makes sure you get the lowest key as the result array.

rsort($arr);
$arr = array_values(array_column($arr, Null, "id"));

answered Oct 20, 2018 at 19:15

Andreas

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Comments

Jaquarh · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-20 19:16:04Z

1

I fixed it by doing this:

$stripped = [];
foreach($arr as $single) {
    $stripped[] = ['id' => $single['id'], 'data' => array_unique($single['data'])];
}

Since the duplicates existed inside the inner arrays, not the outer array, I had to use array_unique() on the inner arrays.

answered Oct 20, 2018 at 19:16

Jaquarh

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