$line) { //name our node $node[$key]['name'] = $key; $items = explode(',', $line); //iterate over each dataitem from our line foreach($items as $itemKey => $item) { //this is a child of $key if($item == 1) { //if childCount equals 1 we have encountered the first childNode if($childCount == 1) { $node[$key]['leftChild'] = $itemKey; } else { $node[$key]['rightChild'] = $itemKey; } $childCount++; } } $childCount = 1; } echo json_encode($node); ?>