Array Processor

The Array Processor makes it possible to pass a single array through multiple chained mutation methods, and then output the result as either the transformed array, or a string. It supports all Array Helper methods in a chained form.

Extracting The Array

When you've done all the processing necessary, you can get the array back by calling to_array().

//['BAR','BAZ','FOO']
(new Array_Processor(['foo','bar','baz']))
    ->sort()
    ->map(fn(string $item) => strtoupper($item))
    ->to_array();

Converting a processed array into a string

Array_Processor implements Can_Convert_To_String, which means that it can be typecast into a string directly, or passed into any method or function that typehints a string, and it will automatically be converted into a string when passed through.

By default, the array processor will convert the array into a comma-separated value, like so:

// 'foo,bar,baz'
(new Array_Processor(['foo','bar','baz']))->to_string();

However, if you provide a separator, it will use that instead of ,:

// 'foo & bar & baz'
(new Array_Processor(['foo','bar','baz']))->set_separator(' & ')->to_string();

You can directly echo the processor, or generally treat it like a string, too.

// "The following items are set in the array: foo,bar,baz
$result = "The following items are set in the array: " . (new Array_Processor(['foo','bar','baz']));

// Echos "foo and also bar and also baz"
echo (new Array_Processor(['foo','bar','baz']))->set_separator('and also');

Gotchas

The Array Processor assumes that you will always start, and finish with an array. This means that some implementations, such as reduce can cause unexpected errors when the accumulator is something other than an array:

class Tag implements Can_Convert_To_String {

    public function __construct(public readonly string $slug, public readonly string $name){

    }
}

// This won't work.
(new Array_Processor([new Tag('rv-life','RV Life'), new Tag('travel','Travel')]))
    ->reduce(function(string $acc, Tag $value){
        $acc .= $value->name . ' ' . $value->slug;

        return $acc;
    },'')
    ->to_string();

// But this would! And it would return the same result as what the reducer above would return.
//Note the accumulator is an array, which gets converted to a string.
(new Array_Processor([new Tag('rv-life','RV Life'), new Tag('travel','Travel')]))
    ->reduce(function(array $acc, Tag $value){
        $acc[] = $value->name . ' ' . $value->slug;

        return $acc;
    },[])
    ->set_separator('')
    ->to_string();