PHP array delete by value (not key)

Question

I have a PHP array like so:

$messages = [312, 401, 1599, 3, ...];

Given that the values in the array are unique, how can I delete the element with a given value (without knowing its key)?

Answer 1

The following answer using array_splice fails at 2 scenarios

1. If the searched value is not found, it removes the first element
2. It won't work with associative arrays.

Thus, it is not a good way to do. Not deleting my original answer because many others have also mentioned this array_splice as the best way. Therefore, updated my previous answer with reasons for it being the bad way to do.

Better if only removing 1 value from simple array

array_filter($array, fn($e) => $e !== $value)

Previous Original Answer Below

The Best way is array_splice

array_splice($array, array_search(58, $array ), 1);

Reason for Best is here at http://www.programmerinterview.com/index.php/php-questions/how-to-delete-an-element-from-an-array-in-php/

Answer 2

Using array_filter and anonymous function:

$messages = array_filter($messages, function ($value) use ($del_val) {
    return $value != $del_val;
});

You can run a code example here: https://onlinephp.io/c/4f320

Answer 3

The accepted answer converts the array to associative array, so, if you would like to keep it as a non-associative array with the accepted answer, you may have to use array_values too.

if(($key = array_search($del_val, $messages)) !== false) {
    unset($messages[$key]);
    $arr = array_values($messages);
}

The reference is linked here

Answer 4

PHP 7.4 or above

function delArrValues(array $arr, array $remove) {
    return array_filter($arr, fn($e) => !in_array($e, $remove));
};

So, if you have the array as

$messages = [312, 401, 1599, 3];

and you want to remove both 3, 312 from the $messages array, You'd do this

delArrValues($messages, [3, 312])

It would return

[401, 1599]

The best part is that you can filter multiple values easily, even there are multiple occurrences of the same value.

Answer 5

here is one simple but understandable solution:

$messagesFiltered = [];
foreach ($messages as $message) {
    if (401 != $message) {
        $messagesFiltered[] = $message;
    }
}
$messages = $messagesFiltered;

Answer 6

With PHP 7.4 using arrow functions:

$messages = array_filter($messages, fn ($m) => $m != $del_val);

To keep it a non-associative array wrap it with array_values():

$messages = array_values(array_filter($messages, fn ($m) => $m != $del_val));

Answer 7

I think the simplest way would be to use a function with a foreach loop:

//This functions deletes the elements of an array $original that are equivalent to the value $del_val
//The function works by reference, which means that the actual array used as parameter will be modified.

function delete_value(&$original, $del_val)
{
    //make a copy of the original, to avoid problems of modifying an array that is being currently iterated through
    $copy = $original;
    foreach ($original as $key => $value)
    {
        //for each value evaluate if it is equivalent to the one to be deleted, and if it is capture its key name.
        if($del_val === $value) $del_key[] = $key;
    };
    //If there was a value found, delete all its instances
    if($del_key !== null)
    {
        foreach ($del_key as $dk_i)
        {
            unset($original[$dk_i]);
        };
        //optional reordering of the keys. WARNING: only use it with arrays with numeric indexes!
        /*
        $copy = $original;
        $original = array();
        foreach ($copy as $value) {
            $original[] = $value;
        };
        */
        //the value was found and deleted
        return true;
    };
    //The value was not found, nothing was deleted
    return false;
};

$original = array(0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,4);
$del_val = 4;
var_dump($original);
delete_value($original, $del_val);
var_dump($original);

Output will be:

array(9) {
  [0]=>
  int(0)
  [1]=>
  int(1)
  [2]=>
  int(2)
  [3]=>
  int(3)
  [4]=>
  int(4)
  [5]=>
  int(5)
  [6]=>
  int(6)
  [7]=>
  int(7)
  [8]=>
  int(4)
}
array(7) {
  [0]=>
  int(0)
  [1]=>
  int(1)
  [2]=>
  int(2)
  [3]=>
  int(3)
  [5]=>
  int(5)
  [6]=>
  int(6)
  [7]=>
  int(7)
}

Answer 8

To delete multiple values try this one:

while (($key = array_search($del_val, $messages)) !== false) 
{
    unset($messages[$key]);
}

Answer 9

you can do:

unset($messages[array_flip($messages)['401']]);

Explanation: Delete the element that has the key 401 after flipping the array.

Answer 10

Borrowed the logic of underscore.JS _.reject and created two functions (people prefer functions!!)

array_reject_value: This function is simply rejecting the value specified (also works for PHP4,5,7)

function array_reject_value(array &$arrayToFilter, $deleteValue) {
    $filteredArray = array();

    foreach ($arrayToFilter as $key => $value) {
        if ($value !== $deleteValue) {
            $filteredArray[] = $value;
        }
    }

    return $filteredArray;
}

array_reject: This function is simply rejecting the callable method (works for PHP >=5.3)

function array_reject(array &$arrayToFilter, callable $rejectCallback) {

    $filteredArray = array();

    foreach ($arrayToFilter as $key => $value) {
        if (!$rejectCallback($value, $key)) {
            $filteredArray[] = $value;
        }
    }

    return $filteredArray;
}

So in our current example we can use the above functions as follows:

$messages = [312, 401, 1599, 3, 6];
$messages = array_reject_value($messages, 401);

or even better: (as this give us a better syntax to use like the array_filter one)

$messages = [312, 401, 1599, 3, 6];
$messages = array_reject($messages, function ($value) {
    return $value === 401;
});

The above can be used for more complicated stuff like let's say we would like to remove all the values that are greater or equal to 401 we could simply do this:

$messages = [312, 401, 1599, 3, 6];
$greaterOrEqualThan = 401;
$messages = array_reject($messages, function ($value) use $greaterOrEqualThan {
    return $value >= $greaterOrEqualThan;
});

Answer 11

A one-liner using the or operator:

($key = array_search($del_val, $messages)) !== false or unset($messages[$key]);

Answer 12

If you don't know its key it means it doesn't matter.

You could place the value as the key, it means it will instantly find the value. Better than using searching in all elements over and over again.

$messages=array();   
$messages[312] = 312;    
$messages[401] = 401;   
$messages[1599] = 1599;   
$messages[3] = 3;    

unset($messages[3]); // no search needed

Answer 13

I know this is not efficient at all but is simple, intuitive and easy to read.
So if someone is looking for a not so fancy solution which can be extended to work with more values, or more specific conditions .. here is a simple code:

$result = array();
$del_value = 401;
//$del_values = array(... all the values you don`t wont);

foreach($arr as $key =>$value){
    if ($value !== $del_value){
        $result[$key] = $value;
    }

    //if(!in_array($value, $del_values)){
    //    $result[$key] = $value;
    //}

    //if($this->validete($value)){
    //      $result[$key] = $value;
    //}
}

return $result

Answer 14

As per your requirement "each value can only be there for once" if you are just interested in keeping unique values in your array, then the array_unique() might be what you are looking for.

Input:

$input = array(4, "4", "3", 4, 3, "3");
$result = array_unique($input);
var_dump($result);

Result:

array(2) {
  [0] => int(4)
  [2] => string(1) "3"
}

Answer 15

Well, deleting an element from array is basically just set difference with one element.

array_diff( [312, 401, 15, 401, 3], [401] ) // removing 401 returns [312, 15, 3]

It generalizes nicely, you can remove as many elements as you like at the same time, if you want.

Disclaimer: Note that my solution produces a new copy of the array while keeping the old one intact in contrast to the accepted answer which mutates. Pick the one you need.

Answer 16

Using array_search() and unset, try the following:

if (($key = array_search($del_val, $messages)) !== false) {
    unset($messages[$key]);
}

array_search() returns the key of the element it finds, which can be used to remove that element from the original array using unset(). It will return FALSE on failure, however it can return a false-y value on success (your key may be 0 for example), which is why the strict comparison !== operator is used.

The if() statement will check whether array_search() returned a value, and will only perform an action if it did.

Answer 17

Or simply, manual way:

foreach ($array as $key => $value){
    if ($value == $target_value) {
        unset($array[$key]);
    }
}

This is the safest of them because you have full control on your array

Answer 18

If you know for definite that your array will contain only one element with that value, you can do

$key = array_search($del_val, $array);
if (false !== $key) {
    unset($array[$key]);
}

If, however, your value might occur more than once in your array, you could do this

$array = array_filter($array, function($e) use ($del_val) {
    return ($e !== $del_val);
});

Note: The second option only works for PHP5.3+ with Closures

Answer 19

One interesting way is by using array_keys():

foreach (array_keys($messages, 401, true) as $key) {
    unset($messages[$key]);
}

The array_keys() function takes two additional parameters to return only keys for a particular value and whether strict checking is required (i.e. using === for comparison).

This can also remove multiple array items with the same value (e.g. [1, 2, 3, 3, 4]).

Answer 20

$fields = array_flip($fields);
unset($fields['myvalue']);
$fields = array_flip($fields);

Answer 21

function array_remove_by_value($array, $value)
{
    return array_values(array_diff($array, array($value)));
}

$array = array(312, 401, 1599, 3);

$newarray = array_remove_by_value($array, 401);

print_r($newarray);

Output

Array ( [0] => 312 [1] => 1599 [2] => 3 )