Simplifying these arrays

[csdude55]

I have a series of arrays that are set up like this:

$navList = array(
 'Category 1',
 'Category 2',
 'Category 3'
);

$navLinks = array(
 '/category1/',
 '/category2/',
 '/category3/'
);

$subNavList = array(
 array('Cat 1 Subcat 1', 'Cat 1 Subcat 2', 'Cat 1 Subcat 3'),
 array('Cat 2 Subcat 1', 'Cat 2 Subcat 2', 'Cat 2 Subcat 3'),
 array('Cat 3 Subcat 1', 'Cat 3 Subcat 2', 'Cat 3 Subcat 3')
);

$subNavLinks = array(
 array('/category1/subcat1/', '/category1/subcat2/', '/category1/subcat3/'),
 array('/category2/subcat1/', '/category2/subcat2/', '/category2/subcat3/'),
 array('/category3/subcat1/', '/category3/subcat2/', '/category3/subcat3/')
);

In this example, the menu would show the list of $navList and link the category to the corresponding $navLinks, then beneath each category show the corresponding $subNavList that links to the corresponding $subNavLinks.

And, of course, in real life they would have real names instead of "category1" and all that. This is just for the example.

Is there a better / faster-to-process / easier-to-read way to associate the 4 arrays in the same way?

[lucy24]

I realize it's hard to be sure when you have to "exemplify" everything, but isn't it all awfully redundant? Seems like you should be able to make more of a nested structure along the lines of

array("category1/", array("subcat1/","subcat2/","subcat3/"))

et cetera.

[Peter_S]

All depends what you are doing exactly with these arrays. If this is only to display a menu, or if you are doing look-up / search through them, etc.

Here are some examples:

$nav = array(

 array (
  'title' => 'Category 1' ,
  'link' => '/category1/' ,
  'sub' => array (
   array (
    'title' => 'Cat 1 Subcat 1' ,
    'link' => '/category1/subcat1/'
   ) ,
   array (
    'title' => 'Cat 1 Subcat 2' ,
    'link' => '/category1/subcat2/'
   ) ,
  array (
    'title' => 'Cat 1 Subcat 3' ,
    'link' => '/category1/subcat3/'
   ) ,
  ) ,
 ) ,

 array (
  'title' => 'Category 2' ,
  'link' => '/category2/' ,
  'sub' => array (
   array (
    'title' => 'Cat 2 Subcat 1' ,
    'link' => '/category2/subcat1/'
   ) ,
   array (
    'title' => 'Cat 2 Subcat 2' ,
    'link' => '/category2/subcat2/'
   ) ,
  array (
    'title' => 'Cat 2 Subcat 3' ,
    'link' => '/category2/subcat3/'
   ) ,
  ) ,
 ),
 
 array (
  'title' => 'Category 3' ,
  'link' => '/category3/' ,
  'sub' => array (
   array (
    'title' => 'Cat 3 Subcat 1' ,
    'link' => '/category3/subcat1/'
   ) ,
   array (
    'title' => 'Cat 3 Subcat 2' ,
    'link' => '/category3/subcat2/'
   ) ,
  array (
    'title' => 'Cat 3 Subcat 3' ,
    'link' => '/category3/subcat3/'
   ) ,
  ) ,
 )
);

$nav = array(

 'Category 1' => array (
  'link' => '/category1/' ,
  'sub' => array (
   'Cat 1 Subcat 1' => array ( '/category1/subcat1/' ) ,
   'Cat 1 Subcat 2' => array ( '/category1/subcat2/' ) ,
   'Cat 1 Subcat 3' => array ( '/category1/subcat3/' ) ,
  ) ,
 ) ,

 'Category 2' => array (
  'link' => '/category2/' ,
  'sub' => array (
   'Cat 2 Subcat 1' => array ( '/category2/subcat1/' ) ,
   'Cat 2 Subcat 2' => array ( '/category2/subcat2/' ) ,
   'Cat 2 Subcat 3' => array ( '/category2/subcat3/' ) ,
  ) ,
 ) ,

 'Category 3' => array (
  'link' => '/category3/' ,
  'sub' => array (
   'Cat 3 Subcat 1' => array ( '/category3/subcat1/' ) ,
   'Cat 3 Subcat 2' => array ( '/category3/subcat2/' ) ,
   'Cat 3 Subcat 3' => array ( '/category3/subcat3/' ) ,
  ) ,
 )
) ;

$nav = array(

 'Category 1' => array (
  '/category1/' ,
  array (
   'Cat 1 Subcat 1' => array ( '/category1/subcat1/' ) ,
   'Cat 1 Subcat 2' => array ( '/category1/subcat2/' ) ,
   'Cat 1 Subcat 3' => array ( '/category1/subcat3/' ) ,
  ) ,
 ) ,

 'Category 2' => array (
  '/category2/' ,
  array (
   'Cat 2 Subcat 1' => array ( '/category2/subcat1/' ) ,
   'Cat 2 Subcat 2' => array ( '/category2/subcat2/' ) ,
   'Cat 2 Subcat 3' => array ( '/category2/subcat3/' ) ,
  ) ,
 ) ,

 'Category 3' => array (
  '/category3/' ,
  array (
   'Cat 3 Subcat 1' => array ( '/category3/subcat1/' ) ,
   'Cat 3 Subcat 2' => array ( '/category3/subcat2/' ) ,
   'Cat 3 Subcat 3' => array ( '/category3/subcat3/' ) ,
  ) ,
 )
) ;