91

How would you flip 90 degrees (transpose) a multidimensional array in PHP? For example:

// Start with this array
$foo = array(
    'a' => array(
       1 => 'a1',
       2 => 'a2',
       3 => 'a3' 
    ),
    'b' => array(
       1 => 'b1',
       2 => 'b2',
       3 => 'b3' 
    ),
    'c' => array(
       1 => 'c1',
       2 => 'c2',
       3 => 'c3' 
    )
);

$bar = flipDiagonally($foo); // Mystery function
var_dump($bar[2]);

// Desired output:
array(3) {
  ["a"]=>
  string(2) "a2"
  ["b"]=>
  string(2) "b2"
  ["c"]=>
  string(2) "c2"
}

How would you implement flipDiagonally()?

Edit: this is not homework. I just want to see if any SOers have a more creative solution than the most obvious route. But since a few people have complained about this problem being too easy, what about a more general solution that works with an nth dimension array?

i.e. How would you write a function so that:

$foo[j][k][...][x][y][z] = $bar[z][k][...][x][y][j]

?(ps. I don't think 12 nested for loops is the best solution in this case.)

2
  • 3
    @Calvin I know it was many years ago (11!), yet.. have you accepted any answer or not? Have you noticed that the most popular answer is basically wrong, because doesn't support single-rows [[1,2,...N]]? Check out the sandbox for the illustration: sandbox.onlinephpfunctions.com/code/… Commented Feb 3, 2020 at 1:22
  • 1
    Furthermore the splat operator cannot unpack string keys. Proof of the error: 3v4l.org/1WSQH ...whoops, I just realized that I said this over a year ago as an answer on this page! Commented Jun 23, 2020 at 13:20

15 Answers 15

271
+50
function transpose($array) {
    array_unshift($array, null);
    return call_user_func_array('array_map', $array);
}

Or if you're using PHP 5.6 or later:

function transpose($array) {
    return array_map(null, ...$array);
}
Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

16 Comments

NULL is given as the parameter to array_unshift, which adds a value to the start of the array. So, the first line inserts NULL as the first value of the array. The next line calls array_map with all the entries of $array as the parameters. So it's the same as calling array_map(NULL, $array[0], $array[1], $array[2], etc etc). In the array_map documentation there's a detail: "An interesting use of this function is to construct an array of arrays, which can be easily performed by using NULL as the name of the callback function"
This function doesn't keep the indexes if they are of type String. It returns the transposed matrix with numeric index. The flipDiagonally function works fine in this case. Upvote anyways for simplicity
This breaks down when there is only one row e.g. transpose( [[1,2]] ) Expected: [[1],[2]] Actual: [1,2]
should be some description in the answer.
but why does this work? this answer is totally opaque to me
|
86

With 2 loops.

function flipDiagonally($arr) {
    $out = array();
    foreach ($arr as $key => $subarr) {
        foreach ($subarr as $subkey => $subvalue) {
            $out[$subkey][$key] = $subvalue;
        }
    }
    return $out;
}

3 Comments

Even though Codler's answer is more concise, I think that this is actually the better way to do it because it is so much more clear what is going on. If someone with coding experience but not a php guru were to look at the two answers, they would immediately understand what this one does but would have to read the fine print of the documentation to follow the other. +1
Has anyone profiled the two solutions? How well does the Codler's solution scale if count($arr) is really high?
@donquixote Codler's solution is wrong. Badly. It doesn't support associative arrays and fails on the trivial edge case of single row/column: [[a,b,...,z]]. It must be devalued to not confuse people.
9

I think you're referring to the array transpose (columns become rows, rows become columns).

Here is a function that does it for you (source):

function array_transpose($array, $selectKey = false) {
    if (!is_array($array)) return false;
    $return = array();
    foreach($array as $key => $value) {
        if (!is_array($value)) return $array;
        if ($selectKey) {
            if (isset($value[$selectKey])) $return[] = $value[$selectKey];
        } else {
            foreach ($value as $key2 => $value2) {
                $return[$key2][$key] = $value2;
            }
        }
    }
    return $return;
} 

Comments

4

Transposing an N-dimensional array:

function transpose($array, &$out, $indices = array())
{
    if (is_array($array))
    {
        foreach ($array as $key => $val)
        {
            //push onto the stack of indices
            $temp = $indices;
            $temp[] = $key;
            transpose($val, $out, $temp);
        }
    }
    else
    {
        //go through the stack in reverse - make the new array
        $ref = &$out;
        foreach (array_reverse($indices) as $idx)
            $ref = &$ref[$idx];
        $ref = $array;
    }
}

$foo[1][2][3][3][3] = 'a';
$foo[4][5][6][5][5] = 'b';

$out = array();
transpose($foo, $out);

echo $out[3][3][3][2][1] . ' ' . $out[5][5][6][5][4];

Really hackish, and probably not the best solution, but hey it works.

Basically it traverses the array recursively, accumulating the current indicies in an array.
Once it gets to the referenced value, it takes the "stack" of indices and reverses it, putting it into the $out array. (Is there a way of avoiding use of the $temp array?)

Comments

4

Codler's answer fails for a single-row matrix (e.g. [[1,2]]) and also for the empty matrix ([]), which must be special-cased:

function transpose(array $matrix): array {
    if (!$matrix) return [];
    return array_map(count($matrix) == 1 ? fn ($x) => [$x] : null, ...$matrix);
}

(note: PHP 7.4+ syntax, easy enough to adapt for older versions)

1 Comment

This is only suitable for indexed arrays.
1

I got confronted with the same problem. Here is what i came up with:

function array_transpose(array $arr)
{
    $keys    = array_keys($arr);
    $sum     = array_values(array_map('count', $arr));

    $transposed = array();

    for ($i = 0; $i < max($sum); $i ++)
    {
        $item = array();
        foreach ($keys as $key)
        {
            $item[$key] = array_key_exists($i, $arr[$key]) ? $arr[$key][$i] : NULL;
        }
        $transposed[] = $item;
    }
    return $transposed;
}

1 Comment

This answer is missing its plain English explanation.
1

Before I start, I'd like to say thanks again to @quazardus for posting his generalised solution for tranposing any two dimenional associative (or non-associative) array!

As I am in the habit of writing my code as tersely as possible I went on to "minimizing" his code a little further. This will very likely not be to everybody's taste. But just in case anyone should be interested, here is my take on his solution:

function arrayMap($cb, array $arrays) // $cb: optional callback function
{   $keys = [];
    array_walk($arrays, function ($array) use (&$keys) 
                        { $keys = array_merge($keys, array_keys($array)); });
    $keys = array_unique($keys); $res = [];
    foreach ($keys as $key) {
      $items = array_map(function ($arr) use ($key)
                         {return isset($arr[$key]) ? $arr[$key] : null; },$arrays);
      $res[$key] = call_user_func(
        is_callable($cb) ? $cb 
                         : function($k, $itms){return $itms;},
        $key, $items);
    }
    return $res;
}

Now, analogous to the PHP standard function array_map(), when you call

arrayMap(null,$b);

you will get the desired transposed matrix.

1 Comment

There are certainly more direct/concise/efficient ways to gather the unique second level keys. For instance: $keys = array_keys(array_merge(...array_values($arrays))); a language construct will have less complexity and even better performance.
1

I needed a transpose function with support for associative array:

    $matrix = [
        ['one' => 1, 'two' => 2],
        ['one' => 11, 'two' => 22],
        ['one' => 111, 'two' => 222],
    ];

    $result = \array_transpose($matrix);

    $trans = [
        'one' => [1, 11, 111],
        'two' => [2, 22, 222],
    ];

And the way back:

    $matrix = [
        'one' => [1, 11, 111],
        'two' => [2, 22, 222],
    ];

    $result = \array_transpose($matrix);

    $trans = [
        ['one' => 1, 'two' => 2],
        ['one' => 11, 'two' => 22],
        ['one' => 111, 'two' => 222],
    ];

The array_unshift trick did not work NOR the array_map...

So I've coded a array_map_join_array function to deal with record keys association:

/**
 * Similar to array_map() but tries to join values on intern keys.
 * @param callable $callback takes 2 args, the intern key and the list of associated values keyed by array (extern) keys.
 * @param array $arrays the list of arrays to map keyed by extern keys NB like call_user_func_array()
 * @return array
 */
function array_map_join_array(callable $callback, array $arrays)
{
    $keys = [];
    // try to list all intern keys
    array_walk($arrays, function ($array) use (&$keys) {
        $keys = array_merge($keys, array_keys($array));
    });
    $keys = array_unique($keys);
    $res = [];
    // for each intern key
    foreach ($keys as $key) {
        $items = [];
        // walk through each array
        array_walk($arrays, function ($array, $arrKey) use ($key, &$items) {
            if (isset($array[$key])) {
                // stack/transpose existing value for intern key with the array (extern) key
                $items[$arrKey] = $array[$key];
            } else {
                // or stack a null value with the array (extern) key
                $items[$arrKey] = null;
            }
        });
        // call the callback with intern key and all the associated values keyed with array (extern) keys
        $res[$key] = call_user_func($callback, $key, $items);
    }
    return $res;
}

and array_transpose became obvious:

function array_transpose(array $matrix)
{
    return \array_map_join_array(function ($key, $items) {
        return $items;
    }, $matrix);
}

2 Comments

This looks like unnecessary convolution for what OIS has demonstrated by nesting a loop inside another loop. I don't see any compelling reason to use this technique in a project.
array_map_join_array() could be a native PHP function, because mapping/joining on array keys is a usefull pattern. it was some kind of generalisation.
1

Here's a variation of Codler/Andreas's solution that works with associative arrays. Somewhat longer but loop-less purely functional:

<?php
function transpose($array) {
    $keys = array_keys($array);
    return array_map(function($array) use ($keys) {
        return array_combine($keys, $array);
    }, array_map(null, ...array_values($array)));
}

Example:

<?php
$foo = array(
    "fooA" => [ "a1", "a2", "a3"],
    "fooB" => [ "b1", "b2", "b3"],
    "fooC" => [ "c1", "c2", "c3"]
);

print_r( transpose( $foo ));
// Output like this:
Array (
    [0] => Array (
        [fooA] => a1
        [fooB] => b1
        [fooC] => c1
    )

    [1] => Array (
        [fooA] => a2
        [fooB] => b2
        [fooC] => c2
    )

    [2] => Array (
        [fooA] => a3
        [fooB] => b3
        [fooC] => c3
    )
);

Comments

1

We can do this by using Two foreach. Traveling one array and another array to create new array
Like This:

$foo = array(
    'a' => array(
       1 => 'a1',
       2 => 'a2',
       3 => 'a3' 
    ),
    'b' => array(
       1 => 'b1',
       2 => 'b2',
       3 => 'b3' 
    ),
    'c' => array(
       1 => 'c1',
       2 => 'c2',
       3 => 'c3' 
    )
);

$newFoo = [];
foreach($foo as $a => $k){
   foreach($k as $i => $j){
       $newFoo[$i][]= $j;
   }
}

Check The Output

echo "<pre>";
print_r($newFoo);
echo "</pre>";

3 Comments

This is no different to the answer posted over 11 years before yours.
It is slightly different because it is re-indexing the subarrays.
...but re-indexing is not is not the typical behavior of transposing.
1

On the topic of transposing a 2d array, if:

  1. You have a (precisely) 2d array with numeric first level keys and non-numeric second level keys AND
  2. You need to transpose an array than will be GUARANTEED to have a minimum of 2 rows of data AND
  3. You don't need to preserve the numeric first level keys after transposing AND
  4. You have a code styling constraint which forbids using language constructs to iterate, THEN...

Code: (Demo)

var_export(
    array_merge_recursive(...$array)
);

The above is more stable than the following script which assumes that all column values will be presented in all rows and be in the same order. Run the following demo to see how 2nd level associations can become broken. (Demo)

var_export(
    array_combine(
        array_keys($array[array_key_first($array)]),
        array_map(null, ...$array)
    )
);

Neither of the above is actually suitable for general use; you need to be 100% confident of the data structure for these techniques to return the correct result. To be more explicit about potential corruptions of data, if either technique is given a 2d array containing a single row, then the output will be a flat, associative array -- this is incorrect transposition. If array_merge_recursive() is fed an empty array it will correctly return an empty array. If the array_combine(array_keys(), array_map()) script is given an empty array it will emit a Warning, then a Fatal error.


For a completely stable means of transposition without using language constructs, you can use nested array_walk() calls, but then you are effectively making an uglier, more convoluted version of a nested foreach() loop structure. This doesn't suffer any of the aforementioned caveats and does preserve the initial first level keys. (Demo)

$result = [];
array_walk($array, function ($row, $i) use (&$result) {
    array_walk($row, function ($v, $k) use (&$result, $i) {
        $result[$k][$i] = $v;
    });
});
var_export($result);

If you want a functional style solution that actually offers a returned value, it is again ugly, but you can use array_reduce(). (Demo)

var_export(
    array_reduce(
        array_keys($array),
        function ($result, $i) use ($array) {
            array_walk($array[$i], function ($v, $k) use (&$result, $i) {
                $result[$k][$i] = $v;
            });
            return $result;
        },
        []
    )
);

If using Laravel, there isn't yet a pre-built transpose() method, so you can declare and use a macro() and that is most simply done by implementing language constructs, but if you still want iteration via Laravel methods, here is a way: (PHPize Demo)

var_export(
    $collection->reduce(
        function($result, $row, $i) {
            collect($row)->each(function($v, $k) use (&$result, $i) {
                $result[$k][$i] = $v;
            });
            return $result;
        },
        []
    )
);

Comments

0

This is another way to do the exact same thing which @codler s answer does. I had to dump some arrays in csv so I used the following function:

function transposeCsvData($data)
{
    $ct=0;
    foreach($data as $key => $val)
    {
        //echo count($val);
        if($ct< count($val))
            $ct=count($val);
        }
    //echo $ct;
    $blank=array_fill(0,$ct,array_fill(0,count($data),null));
    //print_r($blank);

    $retData = array();
    foreach ($data as $row => $columns)
    {
        foreach ($columns as $row2 => $column2) 
        {
            $retData[$row2][$row] = $column2;
            }
        }
    $final=array();
    foreach($retData as $k=>$aval)
    { 
        $final[]=array_replace($blank[$k], $aval);
       }
    return $final;
    }

Test and output reference: https://tutes.in/how-to-transpose-an-array-in-php-with-irregular-subarray-size/

Comments

0

Here is array_walk way to achieve this,

function flipDiagonally($foo){
    $temp = [];
    array_walk($foo, function($item,$key) use(&$temp){
        foreach($item as $k => $v){
            $temp[$k][$key] = $v;     
        }
    });
    return $temp;
}
$bar = flipDiagonally($foo); // Mystery function

Demo.

1 Comment

Why bother mixing functional iterator that does return a value and language construct? If you aren't going to return a value, thento foreach loops is simpler. If you want functional style iteration, why use foreach?
-1

Variant of Codler's answer with proper support of empty array and 1x1 array:

function transpose($a) {
    if (count($a) < 2) return $a;
    return array_map(null, ...$a);
}

1 Comment

3v4l.org/Qo8Ea (sample data from the asked question)
-1
// This short code perfectly works.

$output = [];
foreach ($foo as $key => $subarr) {
    foreach ($subarr as $subkey => $subvalue) {
        $output[$subkey][] = $subvalue;
    }
}
echo "<pre>";
print_r($output);
echo "<pre>";

1 Comment

This is an unhelpful copy of the technique demonstrated at stackoverflow.com/a/63806024/2943403

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