CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phparrayssearchmultidimensional-array
AL-zami
AL-zami

Reputation: 9076

why it returns empty value but of boolean type when no match is found

I am using the following code to search an element inside a multi dimensional array.When a match is found it returns the index.But when no match is found it returns a empty value.Not 0 or 1.But if i print out the type , it says boolean.What does that boolean mean if it returns empty.Does it mean that it will be equal to empty string ?

$arr =Array
(
    0 => Array
        (
            'uid' => '100',
            'name' => 'Sandra Shush'
        ),

    1 => Array
        (
            'uid' => '5465',
            'name' => 'Stefanie Mcmohn'      
        ),

    2 => Array
        (
            'uid' => '40489',
            'name' => 'Michael'   
        )
);

$match = array_search('546',array_column($arr, 'uid'));

echo gettype($match);

Upvotes: 0

Views: 321

Answers (5)

axiac
axiac

Reputation: 72286

array_search() returns FALSE when it cannot find the needle in the haystack.

The comparison is done using ==. This means, the values are converted to the same type, if needed. But their values must be the same after conversion. It doesn't match substrings.

echo(FALSE); doesn't print anything. The type of FALSE is boolean, indeed. And FALSE is == with the empty string (''), zero (0), the string that contain the number zero ('0') and other empty values.

Upvotes: 1

Shafiqul Islam
Shafiqul Islam

Reputation: 5690

your code is working , when array_search not found then return false and if gettype($match); then show boolean and if found then return index so in this case return integer

this is code which return 

<?php
$arr =Array
(
    0 => Array
        (
            'uid' => '100',
            'name' => 'Sandra Shush'
        ),

    1 => Array
        (
            'uid' => '5465',
            'name' => 'Stefanie Mcmohn'      
        ),

    2 => Array
        (
            'uid' => '40489',
            'name' => 'Michael'   
        )
);

$match = array_search('5465',array_column($arr, 'uid'));

echo gettype($match);

and output is: integer

this is normal example

<?php
$array = array(0 => 'blue', 1 => 'red', 2 => 'green', 3 => 'red');

$key = array_search('green', $array); // $key = 2;
$key = array_search('red', $array);   // $key = 1;
?>

for more information

http://php.net/manual/ro/function.array-search.php

Upvotes: 2

Mayank Pandeyz
Mayank Pandeyz

Reputation: 26278

array_search() function returns the key for needle if it is found in the array, FALSE otherwise. So when you are using gettype() on the return value, then it will return the type of FALSE i.e. BOOLEAN for unsuccessful search, otherwise INT index value.

Upvotes: 2

Dennis de Best
Dennis de Best

Reputation: 1108

http://php.net/manual/en/function.array-search.php

This function may return Boolean FALSE, but may also return a non-Boolean value which evaluates to FALSE. Please read the section on Booleans for more information. Use the === operator for testing the return value of this function.

When converting to boolean, the following values are considered FALSE:

the boolean FALSE itself
the integer 0 (zero)
the float 0.0 (zero)
the empty string, and the string "0"
an array with zero elements
the special type NULL (including unset variables)
SimpleXML objects created from empty tags

Every other value is considered TRUE (including any resource and NAN).

Upvotes: 2

BDS
BDS

Reputation: 200

If you take a look at array_search method description http://php.net/manual/ro/function.array-search.php it says: Returns the key for needle if it is found in the array, FALSE otherwise. There is your answer.

Upvotes: 2

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