Removing a single element from an array

[Anon]

I have an array of values stored in a text file seperated by |=|, I need some way of removing a single value from the file without altering the ordering of the others or leaving behind a blank value....

Im really stumped over this, can anyone help?

[Anon]

something like:
<?
$itemtoremove="elementtoremove";
$newvalue="";

$fileread=file('textfile.txt');
$arrayfill=explode("|=|",$fileread);
$count=count($arrayfill);

for($n=0;$n<$count;$n++){
if($arrayfill[$n]==$itemtoremove){
$arrayfill[$n]=$newvalue;
}
}
$textstring=implode("|=|",$arrayfill);

$filewrite=fopen('textfile.txt',"W");
fputs($filewrite,$textstring);
fclose($filewrite);
?>

[Anon]

Doesnt work.

That just erases the entire file and replaces the contents with "Array".

[Anon]

Well, that is an example, although it looks good to me, it how you should write your code. That just means that the implode didnt work right. That snippet will do exactly what your asking if setup right.

[Anon]

<?
$itemtoremove="elementtoremove";
$newvalue="";

$fileread=file('textfile.txt');
$arrayfill=explode("|=|",$fileread);
$count=count($arrayfill);

for($n=0;$n<$count;$n++){
if($arrayfill[$n]==$itemtoremove){
$arrayfill[$n]=$newvalue;
}
}

$textstring=implode($arrayfill,"|=|");

$filewrite=fopen('textfile.txt',"W");
fputs($filewrite,$textstring);
fclose($filewrite);
?>

[blackmamba]

That still won't work. You can't explode an array. In $arrayfill=explode("|=|",$fileread); $fileread is an array.

[Anon]

OOPS! MY MISTAKE, here:
If the files data is all on one line, which I am assuming it is if its fields are split by |=|, and it starts on line 1, then this should do it,,,

<?
$itemtoremove="elementtoremove";
$newvalue="";

$fileread=file('textfile.txt');
$fileread=$fileread[0];
$arrayfill=explode("|=|",$fileread);
$count=count($arrayfill);

for($n=0;$n<$count;$n++){
if($arrayfill[$n]==$itemtoremove){
$arrayfill[$n]=$newvalue;
}
}

$textstring=implode($arrayfill,"|=|");

$filewrite=fopen('textfile.txt',"W");
fputs($filewrite,$textstring);
fclose($filewrite);
?>

Can you email me the text file? this would be easier by email, I know I can have a solution for you.

[e-mail]

[junebug]

do you know the value or the key of the field you will be removing? try this:

read the file into a variable. lets say its $var. explode it so that you have an array of values. i am leaving out spaces in the explode and implode functions because i am unsure of how you 'exactly' have them seperated. so like this:

$var = explode("|=|", $var);

now you have an array. do you know the key of the field you want deleted? if yes then do this:

unset($var[$key]);

change $key to be the name of the key for the field to delete. if you know the value and not the key, we can search the array to find the key to delete the field like so:

$key = array_search($value, $var);
unset($var[$key]);

in that you want to change $value to the value of the field you want deleted. now you put the array back into a string like so:

$var = implode("|=|", $var);

and now you write the string back into the file.

[Anon]

I dont actually have the file at the moment as I tend to keep erasing it when I try to experiment. :-) but the format is just a list of filenames separated by |=| so it would be file1.dat|=|file2.dat|=| and so on.....

What I was HOPING to eventually achieve was to have the filenames displayed in a list with a checkbox for each file, so you can select which files you wish to delete and which one you keep by ticking the box... Similar to the way you would select a message for deletion in hotmail or something.... I have the file listing already but just needed the code, Id seen some perl code that managed to do this same function with only a few lines......

I'll hopefully be able to figure that part for myself eventually, I'll try some of these solutions in the morning I think :-)