CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phparrays
Moshe Shaham
Moshe Shaham

Reputation: 15984

search for a key in an array (PHP)

How can I search for a key in an array that contains more arrays. For example I would like to search for "key" in "arr" and return this:

arr["some_inner_array"]["another_array_possible"][key"]

array_key_exists can tell me if it exists, but of course what I really need in the value...

I hope my question is clear...

EDIT: based on the answer below, I managed to do a recursive function for that:

function look_in_array ( $array, $key ) {  
            if  ( isset($array[$key]) )
                return $array[$key];
    foreach ($array as $item) {
        if (is_array($item)) {
            $value = look_in_array ($item,$key);
            if ($value)
                return $value;
        }              
    }
}

Upvotes: 0

Views: 227

Answers (4)

piotrekkr
piotrekkr

Reputation: 3181

Try this:

/**
 * @param $path array containing path
 * @param $array search array
 * @return element matching path or null
 */
function arr_search($path, &$array){
    $tmp = &$array;
    for($i = 0; $i < count($path); $i++){
        if(!isset($tmp[$path[$i]])) return null;
        $tmp = &$tmp[$path[$i]];
    }
    return $tmp;
}
$arr = array(
    'a' => array(
        'b' => array(
            'c' => 'abc',
        ),
        'd' => array('ad'),
    ),
    10 => array(100, 200, 300), 

);
var_dump(arr_search(array('a', 'b', 'c'), $arr));

var_dump(arr_search(array('a', 'd'), $arr));

var_dump(arr_search(array(10, 100), $arr));

var_dump(arr_search(array(10, 1), $arr));

// EDIT previous example was wrong, so here is new one :)

function arr_search($key, $array){
    $values = array();
    if(array_key_exists($key, $array)) $values[] = $array[$key];
    $stack = array_values($array);
    while($tmp = array_pop($stack)){
        if(is_array($tmp)){
            foreach($tmp as &$v){
                array_push($stack, $v);
            }
            if(array_key_exists($key, $tmp)){
                $values[] = $tmp[$key];
            }
        }
    }
    return $values;
}
$arr = array(
    'a' => array(
        'b' => array(
            'c' => 'abc',
        ),
        'd' => array('ad'),
    ),
    'e' => array(
        'a' => array(
            'b' => 'abc',
        ),
        'b' => array('xyz'),
    ),

    10 => array(100, 200, 300), 

);
var_dump(arr_search('b', $arr));

var_dump(arr_search(0, $arr));

Upvotes: 0

SERPRO
SERPRO

Reputation: 10067

This function should work:

function array_key_exists_recursive($searchKey, $array)
{
    $result = false;

    foreach($array as $key => $value)
    {
        if(is_array($array[$key]))
        {
            $result = array_key_exists_recursive($searchKey, $array[$key]);
        }
        else if(array_key_exists($searchKey, $array))
        {
            $result = $array[$searchKey];
        }

        if($result)
            break;
    }
    return $result;
}

Exmaple:

$array = array( "a" => array("b" => "1", "c" => "2") );


var_dump(array_key_exists_recursive("c", $array)); //Result: 2

Upvotes: 1

ThiefMaster
ThiefMaster

Reputation: 318518

You need to iterate over all elements in the first arrays and then use array_key_exists():

foreach($arr as $inner1) {
    foreach($inner1 as $inner2) {
        if array_key_exists($inner2, $key) {
            echo $inner2[$key];
            break 2; // if you only want the first match
        }
    }
}

Upvotes: 0

Deleteman
Deleteman

Reputation: 8700

You could just ask this:

isset(arr["some_inner_array"]["another_array_possible"]["key"])

Would this work for you? Otherwise maybe explaning a bit better about what you're trying to accomplish would help us help you :)

Upvotes: 0

Related Questions