current community

your communities

more stack exchange communities

Stack Exchange
tour help
stack overflow careers
Take the 2-minute tour ×
Stack Overflow is a question and answer site for professional and enthusiast programmers. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

Ok, I have a pretty customized question so bear with me.

I basically have two sets of data that I want to compare with a lot of different possibilities.

$data  = array(
             'object'=>'ball', // Should check VALID (Rule 2)
             'color'=>'white', // VALID (Rule 2)
             'heavy'=>'no',    // VALID (Rule 1)
             'name'=>'wilson', // VALID (Rule 5)
             'funny'=>'no'     // INVALID (Rule 4)
              );

$data_2 = array(
             'object'=>'box',   // VALID (Rule 2)
             'color'=> 'blue',  // VALID (Rule 2)
             'texture'=>'hard', // VALID (Rule 1)
             'heavy'=>'yes',    // INVALID (Rule 4)
             'stupid'=>'no'     // INVALID (Rule 4)
                                // Name is INVALID because it is missing (Rule 3)

);

$required = array(
             'color'=>array('white','blue'),
             'heavy'=> 'no',
             'name'
);

$errors = array(
         'color'=>array('required'=>'Color is Required','invalid'=>'Color invalid')
         'object'=>array('invalid'=>'Object invalid'),
         'texture'=>array('invalid'=>'Texture invalid'),
         'heavy'=>array('required'=>'Heavy is Required','invalid'=>'Heavy invalid'),
         'name'=>array('required'=>'Name is Required','max_char'=>'Name exceeds char limit',
         'invalid'=>'Invalid item provided',          
);

$blueprint = array(
                 'object'=>array('box','ball'),
                 'color'=>array('blue','white'),
                 'texture'=>'hard',
                 'heavy'=>'no',
                 'name'
             );

What I want to do is run $data through the $blueprint and make sure of the following:

  1. If the $data key/value pair matches a $blueprint key/value pair, $data's k/v is valid
  2. If the $data key/value pair matches a $blueprint key and a value from the nested array, $data's k/v is valid
  3. If the $data array omits a key/value pair which exists in $blueprint, $data's k/v may still be valid if it is not located in the $required array
  4. If the $data array supplies a key/value pair which does not exist in $blueprint, $data's k/v is invalid
  5. If the $data key from a key/value pair matches a $blueprint value without a defined key, $data's k/v can still be valid. However, if the $blueprint has both a key and value defined, $data's k/v must meet the requirements of rule 1 to be valid.
  6. I'd like to impose a character limit on several of the $blueprint k/v where if a $data's k/v exceeds this character limit, $datas k/v is not valid

If a $data's k/v is invalid, I'd then like to somehow associate an error with that particular k/v describing why it is invalid (surpassed character limit, general error etc.) Perhaps the error would be defined in a third array?

I've looked into array_intersect_assoc but not sure if this is beyond the scope of that function. Also, there will be a good amount of values in the $blueprint, so I need something as versatile as possible.

I think that this is right, my brain sort of melted while I was writing this, so please don't hesitate to ask if confused. Am I better off just validating each k/v individually?

Let's see who is the brainiac out there.

share|improve this question
    
are you able to add a range of arrays for us to play with ;) –  user137621 Dec 2 '10 at 2:12
    
sure, give me a few minutes here... –  Dave Kiss Dec 2 '10 at 3:37

5 Answers 5

up vote 2 down vote accepted

I feel sort of silly, but here's a brute force method. #6 you get for free because it's not 'in' the array in any sense.

foreach ($data as $k => $v) {
    if (empty($blueprint[$k])) {
        // (3) Data defines a key that isn't defined in blueprint.
    } else {
        if (is_array($blueprint[$k])) {
            if (in_array($v, $blueprint[$k])) {
                // (2) Data defines a valid value in a blueprint list.
            } else {
                // (also 4) Data defines a value not in a blueprint list.
            }
        } else if ($v == $blueprint[$k]) {
            // (1) Data defines a value in the blueprint.
        } else if (in_array($v, $blueprint)) {
            // (5) Data is in the blueprint without a key.
        } else {
            // (4) Data is invalid.
        }
    }
}

EDIT: This is the loop for checking if $blueprint has a key that $data doesn't define. There should probably be a toggle to make sure this is at all necessary (in the previous block) before running it.

foreach ($blueprint as $k => $v) {
    if (empty($data[$k])) {
        // (6) Data doesn't have a required key from blueprint.
    }
}
share|improve this answer
    
Why do you feel silly? Is this approach impractical? –  Dave Kiss Dec 2 '10 at 3:08
    
It looks like spaghetti waiting to happen. If you add your business logic in there, it'll be hard to follow without good comments. Also, I suspect that there's some technique to handle this with grace... so, it's not impractical but it's not elegant either. –  mqsoh Dec 2 '10 at 3:31
    
Also, I'm not sure if I'm reading this incorrectly, but in #3, I mean to say that $data can omit k/v that exist in $blueprint yet can still be valid if it passes another check which makes sure required options are present - any time $data defines a key that isn't in $blueprint, $data should be invalid –  Dave Kiss Dec 2 '10 at 3:32
    
Since we're looping through all the keys of data, nothing will happen for keys defined in blueprint but not data. If you need behavior for that condition, you'll need to add a loop outside the current one that loops through blueprints keys and specifically checks for that. As for '$data defines a key that isn't in $blueprint, $data should be invalid' -- that's the first condition. –  mqsoh Dec 2 '10 at 4:24
    
I went ahead and added that loop. –  mqsoh Dec 2 '10 at 4:27
up vote 3 down vote

I made one change to your sample code. It seems easier if you make name into a key rather than a numerically keyed value.

$required = array(
 'color'=>array('white','blue'),
 'heavy'=> 'no',
 'name' => '', # name now a key
);

This now works for a number of your rules. Primarily checking required keys exist, and that no extra keys outside of required and blueprint exist.

# check required keys
$missing = array_diff_key($required, $data);
if($missing) {
  var_dump($missing); # react to missing keys
}

# check against all possible keys
$possible = array_merge_recursive($blueprint, $required);
$extra = array_diff_key($data, $possible);
if($extra) {
  var_dump($extra); # react to extra keys
}

Now for the rest I would really need to know how you respond to malformed data etc. but if your data now passes these two tests and you respond in the way you see fit, you should be clear to iterate through the array and validate using array_search(), and filter_var() to check lengths.

share|improve this answer
    
I know of all of these array functions but am having a hell of a time finding the right combination to meet the requirements above. My brain feels like my code looks right now, so any assistance in usage would be super helpful! –  Dave Kiss Dec 2 '10 at 3:57
    
Thanks for the update - my thought for responding to malformed data would be to assign the $data some sort of error collecting k/v pair with a multidimensional array value containing any of the $data's k/v that failed. Then, the error could be assigned by sending that k/v through the $errors array and selecting the proper error string from $errors value's multidimensional array. Each error string will be customized, so there may or may not be a better process for doing this? Any ideas? –  Dave Kiss Dec 2 '10 at 13:35
up vote 2 down vote

Truth be told, that's not that difficult per se, its just complex. You can use the array_map function to simplify the mapping; it would look like this:

function validate_data($data, $blueprint)
{
    // an implementation of all that stuff you wrote using lots of
    // for loops and if statements
}

array_map('validate_data', $data, $blueprint);

Check out the man page for more specifics. You can be the braniac this time :)

share|improve this answer
    
I like the looks of this, will see what I can come up with and report back –  Dave Kiss Dec 2 '10 at 2:05
    
Difficulty is in the eye of the beholder.... this function is driving me crazy.. –  Dave Kiss Dec 2 '10 at 3:57
up vote 2 down vote

You want to use in_array(). It will search through the values of your array and find the different values, eg. 

foreach($data as $key => $val) {
  $check = in_array($val, $blueprint);
  if($check === false) {
    print("invalid");
    die;
  }
}
share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

Yes, you probably have to code it youself, as I don't think there is any internal function that can do this. Shouldn't be too hard as you already have a good description of your requirements - just translate it into PHP.

share|improve this answer
    
Yeah I doubted any function existed that would do this, but I'm really looking for direction on how to structure this function because anything I write keeps turning out like mush. –  Dave Kiss Dec 2 '10 at 1:48

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.