parse.php

<?php
// Max Base
// https://github.com/BaseMax/ShopCategories

$data = file_get_contents("categories.txt");
$lines = explode("\n", trim($data));

$categories = [];
$main_parent_id = null;
$parent_id = null;

foreach($lines as $i => $line) {
    // if($i > 20) break;
    $name = trim($line);
    if($name === "") continue;
    if(str_starts_with($name, "**")) {
        $name = trim(str_replace("**", "", $name));
        $main_parent_id = count($categories);
        // print "Create $main_parent_id main category\n";
        $categories[$main_parent_id] = [
            "name" => $name,
            "childs" => [],
        ];
    } else if(str_starts_with($name, "==")) {
        $name = trim(str_replace("==", "", $name));
        $parent_id = count($categories[$main_parent_id]["childs"]);
        // print "Create $main_parent_id father category\n";
        $categories[$main_parent_id]["childs"][$parent_id] = [
            "name" => $name,
            "childs" => [],
        ];
    } else {
        $categories[$main_parent_id]["childs"][$parent_id]["childs"][] = [
            "name" => $name,
        ];
    }
}

print_r($categories);
file_put_contents("categories.json", json_encode($categories));