An old file of mine has data in it.
It's an old file, from which I want to extract
values to use for a javascript array variable.

The old file's data looks like this:

$elem[0][0] = 0;
$elem[0][1] = 1;
$elem[0][2] = 1;
$elem[0][3] = "John likes fishing on Sundays";
$elem[0][4] = 7;

$elem[1][0] = 6;
$elem[1][1] = 1;
$elem[1][2] = 3;
$elem[1][3] = "Be careful of porcupines";
$elem[1][4] = 12;
....


I'd like to turn it into this:

var newArray =
[
$elem[0] = [0, 1, 1, "Jack climbed the beanstock", 7] ;
$elem[1] = [6, 1, 3, "Be careful of porcupines", 12] ;
...
]

Can you help this newbie? Thank you.

PHP Code:

<script>
var newArray = [];
<?php
foreach($elem as $key => $inner) {
    echo 'newArray.push(['.$inner[0].','.$inner[1].','.$inner[2].','.$inner[3].','.$inner[4].']);';
}
?>
</script>

In javascript everything is an object and can have properties.

So you create an object then create an array of the object.

function o_ObjName(prop0,prop1,prop2,prop3) {
	this.property0 = prop0;
	this.property1 = prop1;
	this.property2 = prop2;
	this.property3 = prop3;
}

var a_ObjArray(1);
	a_ObjArray(0) = new o_ObjName(0,1,1,"John likes fishing on Sundays",7);
	a_ObjArray(1) = new o_ObjName(6,1,3,"Be careful of porcupines",12);

I just noticed a mistake in my original question.
This is the end result I want, and not the one I
presented at first:

var newArray =
[
[0, 1, 1, "Jack climbed the beanstock", 7] ;
[6, 1, 3, "Be careful of porcupines", 12] ;
...
]

1) Do your answers to my first post change in any way?

Additional question arose for me:
2) Since I want to use this new javascript array for a new
development project, I need to write the new array into
a file, which I'll then include as an external script reference.
Can you include for me how to do this, please?
I suppose "pushing" therefore becomes the wrong output format.

3) Do I include the oldFile with a PHP include_once statement,
or do I open it as a file?

Thank you wayfarer07 and chrishirst for your time!

Your new structure is not any different than the old one you presented, except it has an implied order (0,1,2,3) instead of an explicit one. I also notice that you are putting a semi-colon where there should not be one. Arrays are ordered with commas, and not semi-colons, so even an array within an array must have a comma after all but the last member:

var newArray = 
[
 [0, 1, 1, "Jack climbed the beanstock", 7],
 [6, 1, 3, "Be careful of porcupines", 12] 
]

In my original example, I am using the array object's push method, which simply adds another member to the end of the array, with an automatically incremented index. This is a fast procedural way to output server-side data into JavaScript.

Chris's example will also work elegantly, though you won't be able to take advantage of the push method since the objects won't be arrays. Arrays are also objects; as Chris pointed out, everything in JavaScript is an object.

But wayfarer07, I need to somehow save the javascript somewhere,
to use it when I start my new project.

Can I use that push code to save for a later occasion?

Perhaps if I can simply take the old PHP (with the original array),
and "massage" it, to look like a javascript file, then later, change the
name of the file and include it as an externally referenced js file?

What do you think? (Thanks, again.)

I need to somehow save the javascript somewhere,
to use it when I start my new project.

I don't understand what you mean by this.

Probably you do like the rest of us do, and build our own "code libraries".

I have a "library" of several (lots of) files that I simply include into each project that needs these functions.

chrishirst - I mean this:
My future project should not need to run the
php code to create the javascript array - then.
My code then should not be encumbered with
this "unnecessary" php code, if I can create the
array now. I want to have the javascript array
ready and waiting for me, when I need it,
without running php then to create it.

With you guys helping me now, I want to run a
php script now, save the javascript array
in a file, and throw away this one-time-only
conversion php code.

Wayfarer's code creates the javascript array
in a variable, but I need it in a file, so one day
I can include that file, for example, like this:
<script src='newArray.js' type='text/javascript'></script>

You could create something that writes the data to a file called whatever you like, but another solution would be to take advantage of the fact that PHP allows you to send Content-type headers from a .php file, allowing it to be linked to as a script, CSS file, etc, if you wish.

Example:

PHP Code:

<?php
//myscript.php
header("Content-type: text/javascript");//allow to be linked to from SCRIPT tag.
$elem[0][0] = 0;
$elem[0][1] = 1;
$elem[0][2] = 1;
$elem[0][3] = "John likes fishing on Sundays";
$elem[0][4] = 7;

$elem[1][0] = 6;
$elem[1][1] = 1;
$elem[1][2] = 3;
$elem[1][3] = "Be careful of porcupines";
$elem[1][4] = 12;
?>
var newArray = [];
<?php
foreach($elem as $key => $inner) {
    echo 'newArray.push(['.$inner[0].','.$inner[1].','.$inner[2].','.$inner[3].','.$inner[4].']);';
}
?>

Then, from any HTML document:

<script type="text/javascript" src="myscript.php"></script>

Note the script is pointing to a PHP file. It is just acting like a JavaScript file because it has the right Content-type header being sent.

Wayfarer - you seem to like the esoteric solutions
to simple problems. You're suggesting I stick with
your php code, keep it inside a script, and tell the system
there's a javascript array somewhere in that script.

I don't need all that bloated stuff. I just want a simple
js array created as a file, to be referenced in the future by
<script src='newArray.js' type='text/javascript'></script>.
No php to be seen or heard from
(except temporarily now to create that file).

There's nothing weird about sending a Content-type header, in fact it is a very common occurrence. In fact it is less "bloated" than other solutions that will require a cron-job, or some other event that causes a reading of the data and writing of it to a file a single time. If you prefer to do it this way I suggest you read up on PHP's file functions.

Definitely not an esotoric soution. Using server side code to to send out different content headers is a pretty run of the mill operation.

"forced" downloads, "hiding" image paths etc.
I do the same thing with menus, when you have a specific point you want a menu to be opened at.

Some of my sites do not have a "physical" robots.txt file, I just sent a "text/plain" header along with some content from an ASP script based on the UA string.