PHP recursive replace

Recursively replace array with placeholders in PHP.

Goal

We need a recursive replacement of values within the same array.

Instead of repeating values throughout a JSON file or a PHP Array, use placeholders to fill in repeatable portions of values.

Example:

{
    "home": "/home/vagrant",
    "app": "php_example_app",
    "app_version": "1.3.0",
    "app_path": "{{home}}/{{app}}",
    "app_version_path": "{{app_path}}/{{app_version}}",
    "webroot_path": "{{app_version_path}}/www",
    "config_path": "{{app_version_path}}/app/config"
}

Instead of:

{
    "home": "/home/vagrant",
    "app": "php_example_app",
    "app_version": "1.3.0",
    "app_path": "/home/vagrant/php_example_app",
    "app_version_path": "/home/vagrant/php_example_app/1.3.0",
    "webroot_path": "/home/vagrant/php_example_app/1.3.0/www",
    "config_path": "/home/vagrant/php_example_app/1.3.0/app/config"
}

Installation

git clone https://github.com/stemar/php-recursive-replace.git
cd php-recursive-replace

Test

One local file

wget -O phpunit.phar https://phar.phpunit.de/phpunit-8.phar
php phpunit.phar ReplaceRecursiveTest.php

With Composer

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer | php
php composer.phar require phpunit/phpunit
vendor/bin/phpunit ReplaceRecursiveTest.php

Usage

Copy the replace() function from replace_recursive.php anywhere in your code.

Examples

Try:

<?php
$array = [
    "home" => "/home/vagrant",
    "app" => "php_example_app",
    "app_version" => "1.3.0",
    "app_path" => "{{home}}/{{app}}",
    "app_version_path" => "{{app_path}}/{{app_version}}",
    "webroot_path" => "{{app_version_path}}/www",
    "config_path" => "{{app_version_path}}/app/config"
];
$replaced_array = replace($array, $array);
echo replace("App version path: {{app_version_path}}", $replaced_array);

Result:

App version path: /home/vagrant/php_example_app/1.3.0

Try:

$json = <<<JSON
{
    "home": "/home/vagrant",
    "app": "php_example_app",
    "app_version": "1.3.0",
    "app_path": "{{home}}/{{app}}",
    "app_version_path": "{{app_path}}/{{app_version}}",
    "webroot_path": "{{app_version_path}}/www",
    "config_path": "{{app_version_path}}/app/config"
}
JSON;
$array = json_decode($json, TRUE);
$replaced_array = replace($array, $array);
echo replace("Config path: {{config_path}}", $replaced_array);

Result:

Config path: /home/vagrant/php_example_app/1.3.0/app/config

Try with a symbol placeholder:

$json = <<<JSON
{
    "home": "/home/vagrant",
    "app": "php_example_app",
    "app_version": "1.3.0",
    "app_path": ":home/:app",
    "app_version_path": ":app_path/:app_version",
    "webroot_path": ":app_version_path/www",
    "config_path": ":app_version_path/app/config"
}
JSON;
$array = json_decode($json, TRUE);
$replaced_array = replace($array, $array, '/:(\w+)/');
echo replace("Config path: :config_path", $replaced_array, '/:(\w+)/');

Result:

Config path: /home/vagrant/php_example_app/1.3.0/app/config