Introduction:

HTML tables are a common way to display structured data on web pages. Sometimes, you might need to extract the data from these tables for further processing in your PHP application. Converting HTML tables into arrays is a fundamental skill for web developers. In this blog, we will explore multiple methods to achieve this in PHP. 

Method 1: Using PHP's DOMDocument and DOMXPath

The first method involves using PHP's built-in DOMDocument and DOMXPath classes to parse the HTML content and extract data from the table.

<?php
// Sample HTML content
$html = '<table>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
</table>';

$doc = new DOMDocument();
$doc->loadHTML($html);
$xpath = new DOMXPath($doc);

$tableRows = $xpath->query('//table/tr');
$data = [];

foreach ($tableRows as $row) {
    $rowData = [];
    foreach ($row->childNodes as $cell) {
        if ($cell->nodeType === XML_ELEMENT_NODE) {
            $rowData[] = $cell->textContent;
        }
    }
    $data[] = $rowData;
}

// Output the data
print_r($data);
?>

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 1, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 1, Cell 2
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 2, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 2, Cell 2
        )

)

• We start by creating a sample HTML table as a string.
• We use DOMDocument to parse the HTML and DOMXPath to navigate and query the HTML content.
• The XPath expression '//table/tr' is used to select all table rows.
• We then loop through the selected rows, extract cell data, and store it in a multidimensional array.
• The print_r($data) function is used to display the resulting array.

Method 2: Using Simple HTML DOM Parser

The Simple HTML DOM Parser is a third-party library for parsing and manipulating HTML documents. It provides an easier and more flexible way to work with HTML content.

<?php
// Include the Simple HTML DOM Parser library
require 'simple_html_dom.php';

// Sample HTML content
$html = '<table>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
</table>';

// Load the HTML
$dom = str_get_html($html);

$data = [];
foreach ($dom->find('table tr') as $row) {
    $rowData = [];
    foreach ($row->find('td') as $cell) {
        $rowData[] = $cell->plaintext;
    }
    $data[] = $rowData;
}

// Output the data
print_r($data);
?>

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 1, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 1, Cell 2
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 2, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 2, Cell 2
        )

)

• We include the Simple HTML DOM Parser library in our PHP script.
• Create a sample HTML table as a string.
• Load the HTML content using str_get_html().
• Use the library's simple and intuitive methods to find and extract table rows and cell data.
• Store the extracted data in a multidimensional array and then print it out.

Method 3: Using Regular Expressions

Regular expressions can be used to extract data from HTML tables when the structure is consistent and predictable.

<?php
// Sample HTML content
$html = '<table>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
</table>';

$data = [];

// Define regular expressions to match table rows and cells
$rowPattern = '/<tr>(.*?)<\/tr>/s';
$cellPattern = '/<td>(.*?)<\/td>/s';

// Find all table rows using preg_match_all
preg_match_all($rowPattern, $html, $tableRows, PREG_SET_ORDER);

foreach ($tableRows as $row) {
    $rowData = [];
    // Extract cell data using preg_match_all
    preg_match_all($cellPattern, $row[1], $cells, PREG_SET_ORDER);
    foreach ($cells as $cell) {
        $rowData[] = $cell[1];
    }
    $data[] = $rowData;
}

// Output the data
print_r($data);
?>

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 1, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 1, Cell 2
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 2, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 2, Cell 2
        )

)

• We define regular expressions to match table rows and cells using the /s modifier to ensure that . also matches newline characters.
• We use preg_match_all to find all table rows and then loop through them.
• For each row, we use preg_match_all again to find the cell data and store it in a multidimensional array.
• The resulting array is printed to the screen.

Method 4: Using External Libraries (e.g., PHP Simple HTML DOM Parser)

An alternative approach is to use external libraries like the PHP Simple HTML DOM Parser. This method is useful when you need to perform more complex operations on the extracted data.

<?php
// Include the PHP Simple HTML DOM Parser library
require 'simple_html_dom.php';

// Sample HTML content
$html = '<table>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
</table>';

// Load the HTML
$dom = str_get_html($html);

$data = [];
$table = $dom->find('table', 0); // Get the first table in the HTML

foreach ($table->find('tr') as $row) {
    $rowData = [];
    foreach ($row->find('td') as $cell) {
        $rowData[] = $cell->plaintext;
    }
    $data[] = $rowData;
}

// Output the data
print_r($data);
?>

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 1, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 1, Cell 2
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 2, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 2, Cell 2
        )

)

• We include the PHP Simple HTML DOM Parser library in our PHP script.
• Create a sample HTML table as a string.
• Load the HTML content using str_get_html().
• Use the library to find and extract table rows and cell data.
• Store the extracted data in a multidimensional array and then print it out.

Method 5: Using the DOMDocument Extension (PHP 8+)

Starting from PHP 8, the DOMDocument extension provides more concise and efficient methods for working with HTML documents.

<?php
// Sample HTML content
$html = '<table>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 1, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 1</td>
        <td>Row 2, Cell 2</td>
    </tr>
</table>';

$doc = new DOMDocument();
$doc->loadHTML($html);

$data = [];

// Get the first table in the HTML
$table = $doc->getElementsByTagName('table')->item(0);

if ($table) {
    foreach ($table->getElementsByTagName('tr') as $row) {
        $rowData = [];
        foreach ($row->getElementsByTagName('td') as $cell) {
            $rowData[] = $cell->textContent;
        }
        $data[] = $rowData;
    }
}

// Output the data
print_r($data);
?>

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 1, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 1, Cell 2
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => Row 2, Cell 1
            [1] => Row 2, Cell 2
        )

)

• We create a sample HTML table as a string.
• We use the DOMDocument extension in PHP 8+ to parse the HTML.
• We get the first table in the HTML and then loop through its rows and cells using getElementsByTagName.
• Cell data is extracted and stored in a multidimensional array, which is printed to the screen.

Conclusion:

In this blog, we have discussed multiple methods for converting HTML tables to arrays in PHP.  Here's a quick summary of the methods we covered:

• Using PHP's DOMDocument and DOMXPath: This method utilizes PHP's built-in DOM classes to parse and extract data from HTML tables.

• Using Simple HTML DOM Parser: We used the Simple HTML DOM Parser library to simplify the process of working with HTML content.

• Using Regular Expressions: Regular expressions were employed to extract data when the HTML structure is predictable.

• Using External Libraries (e.g., PHP Simple HTML DOM Parser): This method demonstrated the use of external libraries like PHP Simple HTML DOM Parser for more advanced HTML manipulation.

• Using the DOMDocument Extension (PHP 8+): If you're using PHP 8 or newer, the DOMDocument extension provides a more concise way to handle HTML content.