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I want to combine two arrays, one as a key and the other as the data. However when I print_rthe array, I see that there was a mysterious space added to the keys. Even if I take a completely different array, the spaces seem to reappear after the array_combine.

Also if I try to access the array element by adding a space tot the key, I still get the error Undefined offset: 200.

This is my code:

$codes = file('H_codes.txt');
$sentences = file('H_sentences.txt');
$H_sentences_combined = array_combine($codes,$sentences);

echo $H_sentences_combined['200'];

I retrieve the arrays from two text files: H_codes.txt

200
201
202
...

and the $H_sentences file is in the same format (i.e. with no inline spaces, only next line spaces)

"Zeer licht ontvlambare aerosol."
"Ontvlambare aerosol."
"Zeer licht ontvlambare vloeistof en damp."
...

This is the result of the print_r($H_sentences_combined)

 Array ( [200 ] => "Instabiele ontplofbare stof." [201 ] => "Ontplofbare stof: gevaar voor massa-explosie." [202 ] => "Ontplofbare stof, ernstig gevaar voor scherfwerking." ...)

I really have no idea what's going wrong.

Any help is appreciated! Thank you.

share|improve this question
    
Probably some issue with your end line characters on the file read. Make sure the files have the end line character appropriate to the os the code is running on. If you created the file in windows and are reading it on linux or mac it may create this type of effect. – danielson317 Nov 10 '14 at 17:07
    
thanks, that seems to be it, however how can I erase those spaces through PHP? – user1793646 Nov 10 '14 at 17:10
    
just use trim() php.net/manual/en/function.trim.php or beter yet check out buggabill's answer. He has the better options. – danielson317 Nov 10 '14 at 17:12

2 Answers 2

up vote 2 down vote accepted

That extra character is a newline character. file adds these to each line that it reads into an array.

Change your file calls like so to get rid of those extra new line characters:

$codes = file('H_codes.txt', FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES);
$sentences = file('H_sentences.txt', FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES);
$H_sentences_combined = array_combine($codes,$sentences);
share|improve this answer
    
Thank you! This solved it entirely! – user1793646 Nov 10 '14 at 17:24
up vote 0 down vote

The character after the index is not actually a space, it's a newline (or two). Basically in your text file at the end of each line will be either \n or \r\n. To remove these before inserting, simply use the trim($content) function built into PHP, which will remove all whitespace at the left and right of the string. e.g. trim(' hello world! ') would return 'hello world!'

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