gistfile1.aw

<?php 
function parse( $string ) { 
  $string = trim($string); 
  //if the string starts with a '@' then we're starting a new array, which may have multiple parts: 
  if ( substr($string, 0, 1) == '@' ) { 
    //find the first key in the array: 
    preg_match("/^@\[([^\]]+)\]/", $string, $foo); 
    $key = $foo[1]; 
    //split the string on the first key to get all the keys of the "parent" array: 
    $parts = explode( "@[{$key}]", $string ); 
    //kill the first part, it's empty 
    unset($parts[0]); 
    //build the array: 
    $results = array( $key => array() ); 
    foreach ( $parts as $part ) { 
      $parse = parse($part); 
      foreach ( $parse as $k => $v ) { 
        $results[$key][$k] = $v; 
      } 
    } 
    return $results; 
  }  
  //ok, we're not starting a new array.  we must be at another key: 
  elseif ( substr($string, 0, 1) == '[' ) { 
    //find the key: 
    preg_match("/^\[([^\]]+)\]/", $string, $foo); 
    $key = $foo[1]; 
    //no need to find the parts, there aren't repeats of this key: 
    //get the existing key out of there: 
    return array( $key => parse( preg_replace("/^\[" . preg_quote($key) . "\]/", '', $string) ) ); 
  } 
  //not a new array and not a key, must be a straight assignment: 
  elseif ( substr($string, 0, 1) == '=' ) { 
    //find the value to assign: 
    preg_match("/^=\s*([^\@\[]+)/", $string, $foo); 
    return trim($foo[1]); 
  } 
  //unhandled condition: 
  else { 
    die("UNHANDLED:\n\t{$string}\n\n"); 
  } 
} 

print_r( parse( "@[item_1][door] @[mozart][grass] = yes @[mozart][green] = no @[mozart][human] @[blue][movie]=yes @[item_1][beat] = yes @[item_1][music] = no " ) );