string compare and join

[kaancho12]

hi,
i need to compare strings which are similar to this:
food>fruit>red>cherry
food>fruit>red>apple
is there a way to compare these strings and only copy the difference in the second one and add it to the first?
for example after comparing i need the string to be:
foor>fruit>red>cherry^apple

i am not sure what php function to use.
thanks
ko12

 

[kenrbnsn]

I would turn each string into an array, do an array_diff and then recreate the first string if necessary.

<?php
$str1 = 'food>fruit>red>cherry';
$str2 = 'food>fruit>red>apple';

$arr1 = explode('>',$str1);
$arr2 = explode('>',$str2);

$arr_diffs = array_diff($arr2,$arr1);

if (!empty($arr_diffs)) $str1 .= '^' . implode('^',$arr_diffs);

echo $str1;
?>

Typed without too much checking. YMMV.

Ken