Converting a linear array (like a mysql record set) into a tree, or multi-dimensional array can be a real bugbear. Capitalizing on references in PHP, we can 'stack' an array in one pass, using one loop, like this:
<?php
function array_stack (&$a, $p = '@parent', $c = '@children')
{
$l = $t = array();
foreach ($a AS $key => $val):
if (!$val[$p]) $t[$key] =& $l[$key];
else $l[$val[$p]][$c][$key] =& $l[$key];
$l[$key] = (array)$l[$key] + $val;
endforeach;
return $a = array('tree' => $t, 'leaf' => $l);
}
$node = array();
$node[1] = array('@parent' => 0, 'title' => 'I am node 1.');
$node[2] = array('@parent' => 1, 'title' => 'I am node 2.');
$node[3] = array('@parent' => 2, 'title' => 'I am node 3.');
$node[4] = array('@parent' => 1, 'title' => 'I am node 4.');
$node[5] = array('@parent' => 4, 'title' => 'I am node 5.');
array_stack($node);
$node['leaf'][1]['title'] = 'I am node one.';
$node['leaf'][2]['title'] = 'I am node two.';
$node['leaf'][3]['title'] = 'I am node three.';
$node['leaf'][4]['title'] = 'I am node four.';
$node['leaf'][5]['title'] = 'I am node five.';
echo '<pre>',print_r($node['tree'],TRUE),'</pre>';
?>
Note that there's no parameter checking on the array value, but this is only to keep the function size small. One could easily a quick check in there to make sure the $a parameter was in fact an array.
Hope you find it useful. Huge thanks to Nate Weiner of IdeaShower.com for providing the original function I built on.