How to access and manipulate multi-dimensional array by key names / path?

Question

I've to implement a setter in PHP, that allows me to specify the key, or sub key, of an array (the target), passing the name as a dot-separated-keys value.

Given the following code:

$arr = array('a' => 1,
             'b' => array(
                 'y' => 2,
                 'x' => array('z' => 5, 'w' => 'abc')
             ),
             'c' => null);

$key = 'b.x.z';
$path = explode('.', $key);

From the value of $key I want to reach the value 5 of $arr['b']['x']['z'].

Now, given a variable value of $key and a different $arr value (with different deepness).

How can I set the value of the element referred by by $key?

For the getter get() I wrote this code:

public static function get($name, $default = null)
{
    $setting_path = explode('.', $name);
    $val = $this->settings;

    foreach ($setting_path as $key) {
        if(array_key_exists($key, $val)) {
            $val = $val[$key];
        } else {
            $val = $default;
            break;
        }
    }
    return $val;
}

To write a setter is more difficult because I succeed in reaching the right element (from the $key), but I am not able to set the value in the original array and I don't know how to specify the keys all at once.

Should I use some kind of backtracking? Or can I avoid it?

Answer 1

This is an approach using a static class. The benefits of this style is that your configuration will be globally accessible in your application.

It works by taking in a key path for example "database.mysql.username" and splitting the string into each of the key parts and moving a pointer to create a nested array.

The benefits of this approach is you can give a partial key and get back arrays of configuration values, you're not limited to just the end values. It also makes "default values" trivial to implement.

If you would like to have multiple configuration stores, just remove the static keywords and use it as an object instead.

Live Example

class Config
{
    private static $configStore = [];
    // This determines what separates the path
    // Examples: "." = 'example.path.value' or "/" = 'example/path/value'
    private static $separator = '.';

    public static function set($key, $value)
    {
        $keys = explode(self::$separator, $key);

        // Start at the root of the configuration array
        $pointer = &self::$configStore;

        foreach ($keys as $keySet) {
            // Check to see if a key exists, if it doesn't, set that key as an empty array
            if (!isset($pointer[$keySet])) {
                $pointer[$keySet] = [];
            }

            // Set the pointer to the current key
            $pointer = &$pointer[$keySet];
        }

        // Because we kept changing the pointer in the loop above, the pointer should be sitting at our desired location
        $pointer = $value;
    }

    public static function get($key, $defaultValue = null)
    {
        $keys = explode(self::$separator, $key);

        // Start at the root of the configuration array
        $pointer = &self::$configStore;

        foreach ($keys as $keySet) {
            // If we don't have a key as a part of the path, we should return the default value (null)
            if (!isset($pointer[$keySet])) {
                return $defaultValue;
            }
            $pointer = &$pointer[$keySet];
        }

        // Because we kept changing the pointer in the loop above, the pointer should be sitting at our desired location
        return $pointer;
    }
}

// Examples of how to use
Config::set('database.mysql.username', 'exampleUsername');
Config::set('database.mysql.password', 'examplePassword');
Config::set('database.mysql.database', 'exampleDatabase');
Config::set('database.mysql.host', 'exampleHost');

// Get back all the database configuration keys
var_dump(Config::get('database.mysql'));

// Get back a particular key from the database configuration
var_dump(Config::get('database.mysql.host'));

// Get back a particular key from the database configuration with a default if it doesn't exist
var_dump(Config::get('database.mysql.port', 3306));

Answer 2

Yet another solution for getter, using plain array_reduce method

@AbraCadaver's solution is nice, but not complete:

• missing optional separator parameter & split if required
• it raises an error in case of trying to obtain a key from a scalar value like 'one.two' from ['one' => 2]

My solution is:

function get ($array, $path, $separator = '.') {
    if (is_string($path)) {
        $path = explode($separator, $path);
    }

    return array_reduce(
        $path,
        function ($carry, $item) {
            return $carry[$item] ?? null;
        },
        $array
    );
}

it requires PHP 7 due to ?? operator, but this can be changed for older versions pretty easy ...

Answer 3

Assuming $path is already an array via explode (or add to the function), then you can use references. You need to add in some error checking in case of invalid $path etc. (think isset):

$key = 'b.x.z';
$path = explode('.', $key);

Getter

function get($path, $array) {
    //$path = explode('.', $path); //if needed
    $temp =& $array;

    foreach($path as $key) {
        $temp =& $temp[$key];
    }
    return $temp;
}

$value = get($path, $arr); //returns NULL if the path doesn't exist

Setter / Creator

This combination will set a value in an existing array or create the array if you pass one that has not yet been defined. Make sure to define $array to be passed by reference &$array:

function set($path, &$array=array(), $value=null) {
    //$path = explode('.', $path); //if needed
    $temp =& $array;

    foreach($path as $key) {
        $temp =& $temp[$key];
    }
    $temp = $value;
}

set($path, $arr);
//or
set($path, $arr, 'some value');

Unsetter

This will unset the final key in the path:

function unsetter($path, &$array) {
    //$path = explode('.', $path); //if needed
    $temp =& $array;

    foreach($path as $key) {
        if(!is_array($temp[$key])) {
            unset($temp[$key]);
        } else {
            $temp =& $temp[$key];
        }
    }
}
unsetter($path, $arr);

*The original answer had some limited functions that I will leave in case they are of use to someone:

Setter

Make sure to define $array to be passed by reference &$array:

function set(&$array, $path, $value) {
    //$path = explode('.', $path); //if needed
    $temp =& $array;

    foreach($path as $key) {
        $temp =& $temp[$key];
    }
    $temp = $value;
}

set($arr, $path, 'some value');

Or if you want to return the updated array (because I'm bored):

function set($array, $path, $value) {
    //$path = explode('.', $path); //if needed
    $temp =& $array;

    foreach($path as $key) {
        $temp =& $temp[$key];
    }
    $temp = $value;

    return $array;
}

$arr = set($arr, $path, 'some value');

Creator

If you wan't to create the array and optionally set the value:

function create($path, $value=null) {
    //$path = explode('.', $path); //if needed
    foreach(array_reverse($path) as $key) {
        $value = array($key => $value);
    }
    return $value;
}    

$arr = create($path);    
//or
$arr = create($path, 'some value');

For Fun

Constructs and evaluates something like $array['b']['x']['z'] given a string b.x.z:

function get($array, $path) {
    //$path = explode('.', $path); //if needed
    $path = "['" . implode("']['", $path) . "']";
    eval("\$result = \$array{$path};");

    return $result;
}

Sets something like $array['b']['x']['z'] = 'some value';:

function set(&$array, $path, $value) {
    //$path = explode('.', $path); //if needed
    $path = "['" . implode("']['", $path) . "']";
    eval("\$array{$path} = $value;");
}

Unsets something like $array['b']['x']['z']:

function unsetter(&$array, $path) {
    //$path = explode('.', $path); //if needed
    $path = "['" . implode("']['", $path) . "']";
    eval("unset(\$array{$path});");
}

Answer 4

Here a simple code to access and manipulate MD array. But there's no securities.

setter :

eval('$vars = &$array["' . implode('"]["', explode('.', strtolower($dot_seperator_path))) . '"];');
$vars = $new_value;

getter:

eval('$vars = $array["' . implode('"]["', explode('.', strtolower($dot_seperator_path))) . '"];');
return $vars;

Answer 5

I have a really simple and dirty solution to this (really dirty! DO NOT use if the value of the key is untrusted!). It might be more efficient than looping through the array.

function array_get($key, $array) {
    return eval('return $array["' . str_replace('.', '"]["', $key) . '"];');
}

function array_set($key, &$array, $value=null) {
    eval('$array["' . str_replace('.', '"]["', $key) . '"] = $value;');
}

Both of these functions do an eval on a snippet of code where the key is converted to an element of the array as PHP code. And it returns or sets the array value at the corresponding key.

Answer 6

This function does the same as the accepted answer, plus is adds a third parameter by reference that is set to true/false if the key is present

function drupal_array_get_nested_value(array &$array, array $parents, &$key_exists = NULL) {
  $ref = &$array;
  foreach ($parents as $parent) {
    if (is_array($ref) && array_key_exists($parent, $ref)) {
      $ref = &$ref[$parent];
    }
    else {
      $key_exists = FALSE;
      $null = NULL;
      return $null;
    }
  }
  $key_exists = TRUE;
  return $ref;
}

Answer 7

If the keys of the array are unique, you can solve the problem in a few lines of code using array_walk_recursive:

    $arr = array('a' => 1,
        'b' => array(
            'y' => 2,
            'x' => array('z' => 5, 'w' => 'abc')
        ),
        'c' => null);

    function changeVal(&$v, $key, $mydata) {
        if($key == $mydata[0]) {
            $v = $mydata[1];
        }
    }

    $key = 'z';
    $value = '56';
    array_walk_recursive($arr, 'changeVal', array($key, $value));

    print_r($arr);

Answer 8

I have solution for you not in the pure PHP, but using ouzo goodies concretely Arrays::getNestedValue method:

$arr = array('a' => 1,
    'b' => array(
        'y' => 2,
        'x' => array('z' => 5, 'w' => 'abc')
    ),
    'c' => null);

$key = 'b.x.z';
$path = explode('.', $key);

print_r(Arrays::getNestedValue($arr, $path));

Similarly if you need to set nested value you can use Arrays::setNestedValue method.

$arr = array('a' => 1,
    'b' => array(
        'y' => 2,
        'x' => array('z' => 5, 'w' => 'abc')
    ),
    'c' => null);

Arrays::setNestedValue($arr, array('d', 'e', 'f'), 'value');
print_r($arr);

Answer 9

As a "getter", I've used this in the past:

$array = array('data' => array('one' => 'first', 'two' => 'second'));

$key = 'data.one';

function find($key, $array) {
    $parts = explode('.', $key);
    foreach ($parts as $part) {
        $array = $array[$part];
    }
    return $array;
}

$result = find($key, $array);
var_dump($result);

Answer 10

I have a utility I regularly use that I'll share. The difference being it uses array access notation (e.g. b[x][z]) instead of dot notation (e.g. b.x.z). With the documentation and code it is fairly self-explanatory.

<?php
class Utils {
    /**
     * Gets the value from input based on path.
     * Handles objects, arrays and scalars. Nesting can be mixed.
     * E.g.: $input->a->b->c = 'val' or $input['a']['b']['c'] = 'val' will
     * return "val" with path "a[b][c]".
     * @see Utils::arrayParsePath
     * @param mixed $input
     * @param string $path
     * @param mixed $default Optional default value to return on failure (null)
     * @return NULL|mixed NULL on failure, or the value on success (which may also be NULL)
     */
    public static function getValueByPath($input,$path,$default=null) {
        if ( !(isset($input) && (static::isIterable($input) || is_scalar($input))) ) {
            return $default; // null already or we can't deal with this, return early
        }
        $pathArray = static::arrayParsePath($path);
        $last = &$input;
        foreach ( $pathArray as $key ) {
            if ( is_object($last) && property_exists($last,$key) ) {
                $last = &$last->$key;
            } else if ( (is_scalar($last) || is_array($last)) && isset($last[$key]) ) {
                $last = &$last[$key];
            } else {
                return $default;
            }
        }
        return $last;
    }

    /**
     * Parses an array path like a[b][c] into a lookup array like array('a','b','c')
     * @param string $path
     * @return array
     */
    public static function arrayParsePath($path) {
        preg_match_all('/\\[([^[]*)]/',$path,$matches);
        if ( isset($matches[1]) ) {
            $matches = $matches[1];
        } else {
            $matches = array();
        }
        preg_match('/^([^[]+)/',$path,$name);
        if ( isset($name[1]) ) {
            array_unshift($matches,$name[1]);
        } else {
            $matches = array();
        }
        return $matches;
    }

    /**
     * Check if a value/object/something is iterable/traversable, 
     * e.g. can it be run through a foreach? 
     * Tests for a scalar array (is_array), an instance of Traversable, and 
     * and instance of stdClass
     * @param mixed $value
     * @return boolean
     */
    public static function isIterable($value) {
        return is_array($value) || $value instanceof Traversable || $value instanceof stdClass;
    }
}

$arr = array('a' => 1,
             'b' => array(
                 'y' => 2,
                 'x' => array('z' => 5, 'w' => 'abc')
             ),
             'c' => null);

$key = 'b[x][z]';

var_dump(Utils::getValueByPath($arr,$key)); // int 5

?>