'Stripping' the edges of an array

[prouski]

I have an array (50 x 50) that is populated from the center outwards. As the data will vary in size each time the script is run, the boundaries of the data withn the array will also vary.

I need to strip the white space around the data within the array (leaving a rectangle of data). Eg. the data might fill 10 x 10 from the centre, meaning that I need to strip the top 20 rows, bottom 20 rows, right 20 columns and left 20 columns, so that I can output the remaing data (ie an array 10 x 10) to a correctly formatted table.

I've looked everywhere but cannot find a simple way of doing this. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Pete

[dalecosp]

I don't know if there is a simple way. Of course, I'm not sure I'm even understanding you correctly.

Are you looking for the table to vary with the size of the returned array? Seems likely, I'd say... what am I thinking?

Do you need the array to start from a [0] index, even though the original array might start at, say, [25] ?

I used this once:

function compact_array($array_size) {

if ($the_array) {
   for ($y=$array_size; $y>0; $y--) {
      $x=($y-1);
      if (((empty($the_array[$x]) || (!($the_array[$x])))) && ($the_array[$y])){
         $the_array[$x]=$the_array[$y];
         unset($the_array[$y]);
         }
   }
}
}

Replace $the_array with the name of your array, and feed the function the desired size to check (in your case, 50, I guess). This is working on a $_SESSION array in a cart script I've completed --- there could be scope issues on other arrays, I've not tested....

[HalfaBee]

This is probably overkill, but it would do the job.
It all depends on how your array is setup.

HalfaBee

<?
// check for the left and right hand end points

// find right lefthand side
for( $x=0,$left=-1;($x<25)&&($left!=-1);$x++ )
{
    for( $y=0;$y<50;$y++ )
        if( ($array[$x][$y] != ' ') && ($left!=-1) ) // this may have to change on definition of whitespace
        {
            $left=$x;
            break;
        }
}

// find right lefthand side
for( $x=50,$right=-1;($x>=25)&&($right!=-1);$x-- )
{
    for( $y=0;$y<50;$y++ )
        if( ($array[$x][$y] != ' ') )  // this may have to change on definition of whitespace
        {
             $right=$x;
             break;
        }
}

for( $y=0,$top=-1;($y<25)&&($top!=-1);$y++ )
{
    for( $x=$left;$x<$right;$x++ )
    {
        if( ($array[$x][$y]!=' ' )
        {
            $top=$y;
            break;
        }
    }
}
for( $y=50,$bot=-1;($y>=25)&&($bot!=-1);$y-- )
{
    for( $x=$left;$x<$right;$x++ )
    {
        if( ($array[$x][$y]!=' ' )
        {
            $bot=$y;
            break;
        }
    }
}
?>