PHP
downloads | documentation | faq | getting help | mailing lists | reporting bugs | php.net sites | links | conferences | my php.net

search for in the

array_shift> <array_reverse
Last updated: Fri, 10 Oct 2008

view this page in



array_shift> <array_reverse
Last updated: Fri, 10 Oct 2008
 
add a note add a note User Contributed Notes
array_search
s0i0m at dreamevilconcepts dot com
12-Sep-2008 01:10
Just a small note on my code below...you should break twice to end the foreach loop as well.
s0i0m at dreamevilconcepts dot com
12-Sep-2008 11:39
I wrote a better array_search_recursive function.  The other functions listed work and will evaluate to true, however, they loop through the stack even after the needle is found: so this function will take the overhead off the cpu =P

<?php

  function array_search_recursive($needle, $haystack)
  {    
    foreach ($haystack as $k => $v)
    {
      for ($i=0; $i<count($v); $i++)
        if ($v[$i] === $needle)
        {
          return true;
          break;
        }
    }
  }

  $access['admin'] = array('nick1');
  $access['voice'] = array('nick2', 'nick3');

  if (array_search_recursive('nick3', $access))
    echo 'yes';
  print_r($access);

?>

I wrote this for an access list that I have implemented into an IRC bot.  See more interesting stuff at dreamevilconcept's forum.
dcez at land dot ru
30-Apr-2008 10:15
Simple way to get variable name by using array_search function:

<?php

function varname($var){

    return (isset($var))? array_search($var, $GLOBALS) : false;

}

$boogie = 'tonight';

echo varname($boogie);

?>
andreas dot damm at maxmachine dot de
04-Apr-2008 02:07
Combining syntax of array_search() and functionality of array_keys() to get all key=>value associations of an array with the given search-value:
<?php
function array_search_values( $m_needle, $a_haystack, $b_strict = false){
    return array_intersect_key( $a_haystack, array_flip( array_keys( $a_haystack, $m_needle, $b_strict)));
}
?>

Usage:
<?php
$array1 = array( 'pre'=>'2', 1, 2, 3, '1', '2', '3', 'post'=>2);
print_r( array_search_values( '2', $array1));
print_r( array_search_values( '2', $array1, true));
print_r( array_search_values( 2, $array1, true));
?>

Will return:
array(4) {
    ["pre"] =>
    string(1) "2"
    [1] =>
    int(2)
    [4] =>
    string(1) "2"
    ["post"] =>
    int(2)
}
array(2) {
    ["pre"] =>
    string(1) "2"
    [4] =>
    string(1) "2"
}
array(2) {
    [1] =>
    int(2)
    ["post"] =>
    int(2)
}
dot dot dot dot dot alexander at gmail dot com
09-Mar-2008 05:30
This is the phpfied version of the array_search function for PHP version under 4.0.5

<?php
if(!function_exists("array_search")){
    function array_search( $needle, $haystack, $strict = FALSE ){
        if( !is_array($haystack) )return FALSE;
        foreach($haystack as $key => $val){
            if(   (  ( $strict ) && ( $needle === $val )  ) || (  ( !$strict ) && ( $needle == $val )  )   )return $key;
        }
        return FALSE;
    }/* endfunction array_search */
}/* endfunction exists array_search*/
?>
mjaning at gmail dot com
06-Feb-2008 08:42
Hi! Based on Chris function, I made another to simplify code and improve diferents features...

With this function you can:
- Filter Key and Values recursively
- Call function many times using previows result
- Final result always will be an array numeric index contenting a value or sigle array key=>value.

Thanks for PHP!

<?php
function array_search_recursive($needle, $haystack, $nodes=array())
{     
  foreach ($haystack as $key1=>$value1)
  {
    if (is_array($value1))
      $nodes = array_search_recursive($needle, $value1, $nodes);
   elseif (($key1 == $needle) or ($value1 == $needle))
      $nodes[] = array($key1=>$value1);
  }
  return $nodes;
}
   
$arg[] = array("column1"=>"Class3");
$arg[] = array("column2"=>"Class1");
$arg[] = array("column3"=>"Class3");
$arg[] = array("column4"=>"Class4");
$arg[] = array("column4"=>"Class3");
$arg[] = "column3";
   
$filter = array_search_recursive("Class3",$arg);
echo "<hr>";var_dump($filter);
   
$filter = array_search_recursive("column3",$filter);
echo "<hr>";var_dump($filter);
?>
pmmout at gmail dot com
29-Jan-2008 01:55
MultiArray find function.
After some time unsuccessful looking for algorithm to find a string in multidimensional array I wrote one:

function multidimArrayLocate($array, $text){
  foreach($array as $key => $arrayValue){
    if (is_array($arrayValue)){
      if ($key == $text) $arrayResult[$key] = $arrayValue;
      $temp[$key] = multidimArrayLocate($arrayValue, $text);
      if ($temp[$key]) $arrayResult[$key] = $temp[$key];
    }
    else{
      if ($key == $text) $arrayResult[$key] = $arrayValue;
    }
  }
  return $arrayResult;
}
Fyorl
23-Jan-2008 01:48
In response to <phpawe at aweawe dot cjb dot net>'s comments: Your function still uses strtolower() inside a loop, a better example of a case-insensitive array search is the following:

<?php
    function array_isearch($str, $array) {
        foreach($array as $k => $v) {
            if(strcasecmp($str, $v) == 0) return $k;
        }
        return false;
    }
?>
phpawe at aweawe dot cjb dot net
16-Jan-2008 05:29
In many examples here strtolower() appears inside a loop so I guess this would be a good time to repeat something which all programmers should know: DON'T make useless calculations inside a loop since doing something O(n) times can become a lot more costly then doing it O(1) times.

The following function would do a case insensitive search in a given array:

public static function array_isearch($str, $array){
    $str = strtolower($str);
    foreach ($array as $k => $v) if (strtolower($v) == $str) return $k;
    return false;
}
steev at anticulture dot co dot uk
13-Jan-2008 11:46
Just adding my two penneth to someone else's script from below. If you need to easily index your csv use this slightly modified script to parse a csv file into an associative array 2d, indexed by the first column value

function buildStock($File) {
        $handle = fopen($File, "r");
        $fields = fgetcsv($handle, 1000, ",");

        while($data = fgetcsv($handle, 1000, ",")) {
            $detail[] = $data;
        }
        echo "details";
        var_dump($detail);
        echo "<br />";

        $x = 0;
        $y = 0;

        foreach($detail as $i) {
            foreach($fields as $z) {
                //original code
                //$stock[$x][$z] = $i[$y];
                $stock[$i['0']][$z] = $i[$y];
                $y++;
            }
            $y = 0;
            $x++;
        }
        return $stock;
    }

var_dump(buildStock("conf.csv"));
info at bitandbit dot com dot ar
06-Dec-2007 11:20
Hi! i modify a little the function made by Chris, i thought it might be better to return an array width the keys only, for example array(2) { [0]=>  int(36) [1]=>  int(70) }. by the way chris awesome function, THANKS!
Regards

<?php

/*Erratum from my previous post.
* Returns all the keys to all the needles found
*and put them in an array.
*/

function array_search_recursive($needle, $haystack, $a=0, $nodes_temp=array()){
global $nodes_found;
  $a++;
  foreach ($haystack as $key1=>$value1) {
    $nodes_temp[$a] = $key1;
    if (is_array($value1)){   
      array_search_recursive($needle, $value1, $a, $nodes_temp);
    }
    else if ($value1 === $needle){
      $nodes_found[] = $nodes_temp[$a];
    }
  }
  return $nodes_found;
}
?>
toni dot garcia dot gutsens at gmail dot com
02-Dec-2007 02:35
Sorry, in the previous note empty arrays not unset. Add three comment code lines:

function array_search_recursive($needle, $haystack,&$tree=Array(),$index=""){
        if (is_array($haystack)){
            if (count($tree)==0) $tree=array_merge(Array(),$haystack);
            foreach($haystack as $k=>$current){
                if (is_array($current)){
                    array_search_recursive($needle,$current,$tree,$index."[$k]");
                    eval("\$a=\$tree{$index}[{$k}];"); // unset all elements = empty array
                    if (count($a)==0)  //is empty?
                        eval("unset(\$tree{$index}[$k]);"); // unset array
                }
                else{
                    if ($current!=$needle){
                        eval("unset(\$tree{$index}[{$k}]);");
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        return $tree;
    }
toni dot garcia dot gutsens at gmail dot com
02-Dec-2007 01:38
Make a recursive search on array and return the matches elements in the same structure than the original array:

function array_search_recursive($needle, $haystack,&$tree=Array(),$index=""){
        if (is_array($haystack)){
            if (count($tree)==0) $tree=array_merge(Array(),$haystack);
            foreach($haystack as $k=>$current){
                if (is_array($current)){
                    array_search_recursive($needle,$current,$tree,$index."[$k]");
                }
                else{
                    if ($current!=$needle){
                        eval("unset(\$tree{$index}[{$k}]);");
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        return $tree;
    }
chris
21-Nov-2007 04:11
<?php

/*Erratum from my previous post.
* Returns all the keys to all the needles found
*and put them in an array.
*/

function array_search_recursive($needle, $haystack, $a=0, $nodes_temp=array()){
global $nodes_found;
  $a++;
  foreach ($haystack as $key1=>$value1) {
    $nodes_temp[$a] = $key1;
    if (is_array($value1)){    
      array_search_recursive($needle, $value1, $a, $nodes_temp);
    }
    else if ($value1 === $needle){
      $nodes_found[] = $nodes_temp;
    }
  } 
  return $nodes_found;
}
?>
Chris
21-Nov-2007 02:19
<?php
//Another recursive array_search that works better for me

function array_search_recursive($needle, $haystack, $a=0, $nodes_temp=array()){
global $nodes_found;
  foreach ($haystack as $key1=>$value1) {
    $nodes_temp[$a] = $key1;
    if (is_array($value1)){
      $a++;
      array_search_recursive($needle, $value1, $a, $nodes_temp);
    }
    else if ($value1 === $needle){
      $nodes_found[] = $nodes_temp;
    }
  }
  $a--;
  return $nodes_found;
}
?>
zwijntje82 at hotmail dot com
21-Sep-2007 09:39
use 3x === if you want to kill doubles in an array.
others will not work

if(array_search($twee[0],$y)===false){
echo $twee[0].array_search($twee[0],$y).'<br>';
}
kermes [at] thesevens [dot] net
12-Sep-2007 12:09
A variation of previous searches that returns an array of keys that match the given value:

<?php
function array_ksearch($array, $str)
{
    $result = array();
    for($i = 0; $i < count($array); next($array), $i++)
        if(strtolower(current($array)) == strtolower($str))
            array_push($result, key($array);
   
    return $result;
}
?>

Usage would be as follows:
<?php
$testArray = array('one' => 'test1', 'two' => 'test2', 'three' => 'test1', 'four' => 'test2', 'five' => 'test1');
    print_r(array_ksearch($testArray, 'test1'));
?>
robertark at gmail dot com
02-Sep-2007 08:20
A better array_isearch would be to store all results in an array, then return the KEYS stored in $found, such as:

<?php
function array_isearch($str, $array){
  $found = array();
  foreach ($array as $k => $v)
      if (strtolower($v) == strtolower($str)) $found[] = $k;
  return $found;
}
?>

To use, simply have an array to search from then search it, for example:

<?php

function array_isearch($str, $array) {
  $found = array();
  foreach($array as $k => $v)
    if(strtolower($v) == strtolower($str)) $found[] = $k;
  return $found;
}

$stored = "these are an array";
$stored = explode(" ", $stored);

$compare = array("these", "are", "some", "results", "stored", "in", "an", "array");
foreach($stored as $store) {
  $results = array_isearch($store, $compare);
  foreach($results as $key => $result)
    echo "Key: ".$results[$key]."<br />Found: ".$compare[$result]."<br />";
}

?>

Hope this helps :-)

-Rob
xurizaemon
13-Jul-2007 03:11
@ ben, your array_isearch function returns the value, while array_search returns the key. to get equivalent (but case-insensitive) functionality, you would return $k not $v.
ben at reload dot me dot uk
25-May-2007 08:50
A refinement on chappy at citromail dot hu's case-insensitive search function...

<?php
function array_isearch($str,$array){
    foreach ($array as $k=>$v) {
        if (strtolower($v) == strtolower($str)) { return $v; };
    };
    return false;
}
?>

Shall return false on no match or return the first value that matches if one or more matches are found (same functionality as the array_search() function).  It is also more efficient as it stops searching the array once a match is found.
php5 site builder
23-May-2007 07:14
If you encounter a situation where condition test is failing on the result of either array_search or in_array, even when using "===" and "!==", make sure to set $strict = true in your array_search() or in_array() function call.

A situation such as :

$arTemp[0] = 1;
$arTemp[1] = 0;
$arTemp[2] = 3;
$arTemp[3] = 5;
$sTempTest = 'BLAH';

$bResult = in_array($sTempTest,$arTemp);
$bResult2 = array_search($sTempTest,$arTemp);

var_dump($bResult);
var_dump($bResult2);

will result in :

boolean true
int 1

Using :

$bResult = in_array($sTempTest,$arTemp,true);
$bResult2 = array_search($sTempTest,$arTemp,true);

will yield :
boolean false
boolean false

This is necessary in any instance where you have an array value equal to the integer zero.  As soon as you put the zero in quotes or double quotes (a string), the evaluation works with in_array & array_search without the $strict parameter being set.
rob at robspages dot net
16-Feb-2007 06:49
php dot net at surfnation dot de's function with a slight mod to correct for axo at axolander dot de's comments:

<?php

   function multiArraySearch($needle, $haystack){
        $value = false;
        $x = 0;
        foreach($haystack as $temp){
                 $search = array_search($needle, $temp);
                 if (strlen($search) > 0 && $search >= 0){
                      $value[0] = $x;
                    $value[1] = $search;
                      }
                 $x++;
            }
    return $value;
  }
?>
axo at axolander dot de
14-Feb-2007 02:32
to php dot net at surfnation dot de

please make sure you read the warning on array_search - your multi-dimensional function will not return anything if the first element is the one you're looking for.
php dot net at surfnation dot de
04-Feb-2007 12:03
Here is my solution for a 2-dimensional search.
It combines the foreach with the faster array_search (I did use a recursive way, cause I am at war with it :) ).
it is quick, easy and (hopefully) very stable.

<?php

$map = array();
$map[1][1] = 11;
$map[2][1] = 21;
$map[3][1] = 31;
$map[1][3] = 13;
$varGesuchtesElement = 21;

$varGefundenesElement = fktMultiArraySearch($map,$varGesuchtesElement);

if ($varGefundenesElement){
    print_r($varGefundenesElement);
}
else{
    echo "Kein Element gefunden!";
}

function fktMultiArraySearch($arrInArray,$varSearchValue){
   
    foreach ($arrInArray as $key => $row){
        $ergebnis = array_search($varSearchValue, $row);
       
        if ($ergebnis){
            $arrReturnValue[0] = $key;
            $arrReturnValue[1] = $ergebnis;
            return $arrReturnValue;
        }
    }
}

?>
elvenone at gmail dot com
27-Jan-2007 02:10
<?php
        function array_reverse_search($value, $array) {
             for($i = sizeof($array)-1; $i>=0; $i--) {
                if ($array[$i] == $value) return $i;
             }
            return -1;    
        }
?>
francois at tekwire dot net
18-Jan-2007 11:34
Please note that, in PHP5, if you search for an object in an array using the array_search() function, PHP will return the first object whose properties match, not the same class and instance as your needle. In other words, the object comparison is of type '==', not '===' (see the 'Comparing objects' page).
erick dot xavier at gmail dot com
04-Jan-2007 01:57
Modifing the "multiarray_search" to unordered Array....
<?PHP
function multiarray_search($arrayVet, $campo, $valor){
    while(isset($arrayVet[key($arrayVet)])){
        if($arrayVet[key($arrayVet)][$campo] == $valor){
            return key($arrayVet);
        }
        next($arrayVet);
    }
    return -1;
}

//I.e.:

$myArr = array(
    13 => array(
        "fruit" => "banana"
    ),
    654 => array(
        "fruit" => "apple"
    ),
    2445 => array(
        "fruit" => "nothing more"
    )
);

print(multiarray_search($myArr , "fruit", "apple"));

/*
Output:
654
*/

//and

print(multiarray_search($myArr , "fruit", "orange"));

/*
Output:
-1
*/
?>
otto at twbc dot net
14-Dec-2006 08:06
Unlimited depth array regular expression search, I found it useful, perhaps someone else will too. Searches on the array values only. Key search could be easily added.

function Array_Search_Preg( $find, $in_array, $keys_found=Array() )
{
    if( is_array( $in_array ) )
    {
        foreach( $in_array as $key=> $val )
        {
            if( is_array( $val ) ) $this->Array_Search_Preg( $find, $val, $keys_found );
            else
            {
                if( preg_match( '/'. $find .'/', $val ) ) $keys_found[] = $key;
            }
        }
        return $keys_found;
    }
    return false;
}
evert_18 at hotmail dot com
13-Nov-2006 03:18
This function can search in multidimensional arrays, no mather how multidimensional the array is!

<?php
function array_search(&$array,$needle)
{
    foreach($array as $key => $value)
    {
        if($value == $needle || $key == $needle)
            return(true);
        else
            if(is_array($value))
                $this->search($value,$needle);
            else
                return(false);
    }
}
?>
dmitry dot polushkin at gmail dot com
22-Oct-2006 07:03
To get the key of the found search value, use:
<?php
$a = array('a', 'b', 'c');
echo array_search(array_search('c', $a), array_keys($a));
?>
jupiter at nospam dot com
29-Sep-2006 11:25
Checks that array value STARTS with the string(needle), while other functions require an exact match OR the needle can be anywhere within.  This function can be manipulated to END with the needle if needed
<?php
// returns first key of haystackarray which array valuestring starts with needlestring, is case-sensitive
function arrayHaystackStartsWithNeedleString($haystackarray, $needlestring) {
    if (is_array($haystackarray)) {  // confirms array
        $needlelength = strlen($needlestring);  // length of string needle
        foreach ($haystackarray as $arraykey => $arrayvalue) {  // gets array value
            $arraypart = substr($arrayvalue, 0, $needlelength);  // first characters of array value
            if ($needlestring == $arraypart) {  // did we find a match
                return $arraykey;  // return will stop loop
            }  // end match conditional
        }  // end loop
    }  // end array check
    return false;  // no matches found if this far
}
?>
I haven't speed tested this, but it should be pretty quick.
Digitally Designed dot co dot uk
28-Sep-2006 11:48
My Function to search a Multidimensional array.

Pass in :

$theNeedle as what you want to find.
$theHaystack as the array
$keyToSearch as what key in the array you want to find the value in.

<?   

function myMulti_Array_Search($theNeedle, $theHaystack, $keyToSearch)
        {
        foreach($theHaystack as $theKey => $theValue)
            {
            $intCurrentKey = $theKey;   
               
            if($theValue[$keyToSearch] == $theNeedle)
                {
   
                return $intCurrentKey ;
                }
            else
                {
                return 0;
                }
            }
        }

?>
lars-magne
22-Sep-2006 02:19
Further comments on the multidimensional array searches given earlier:

I needed an extended search function which could search in both keys and values in any # dimension array and return all results. Each result contains key/value hit, type (key or value), key path and value (in case result is a key).

<?php

function array_search_ext($arr, $search, $exact = true, $trav_keys = null)
{
  if(!is_array($arr) || !$search || ($trav_keys && !is_array($trav_keys))) return false;
  $res_arr = array();
  foreach($arr as $key => $val)
  {
    $used_keys = $trav_keys ? array_merge($trav_keys, array($key)) : array($key);
    if(($key === $search) || (!$exact && (strpos(strtolower($key), strtolower($search)) !== false))) $res_arr[] = array('type' => "key", 'hit' => $key, 'keys' => $used_keys, 'val' => $val);
    if(is_array($val) && ($children_res = array_search_ext($val, $search, $exact, $used_keys))) $res_arr = array_merge($res_arr, $children_res);
    else if(($val === $search) || (!$exact && (strpos(strtolower($val), strtolower($search)) !== false))) $res_arr[] = array('type' => "val", 'hit' => $val, 'keys' => $used_keys, 'val' => $val);
  }
  return $res_arr ? $res_arr : false;
}

// I.e.:
$haystack[754] = "Norwegian";
$haystack[28]['details']['Norway'] = "Oslo";
$needle = "Norw";

if($results = array_search_ext($haystack, $needle, false))
  foreach($results as $res)
    echo "Found '$needle' in $res[type] '$res[hit]', using key(s) '".implode("', '", $res['keys'])."'. (Value: $res[val])<br />\n";

/* Printed result will be:
Found 'Norw' in val 'Norwegian', using key(s) '754'. (Value: Norwegian)
Found 'Norw' in key 'Norway', using key(s) '28', 'details', 'Norway'. (Value: Oslo)
*/

?>
mark dot php at mhudson dot net
12-Sep-2006 02:49
I was going to complain bitterly about array_search() using zero-based indexes, but then I realized I should be using in_array() instead.

// if ( isset( $_GET['table'] ) and array_search( $_GET['table'], $valid_tables) ) {  // BAD: fails on first[0] element
// if ( isset( $_GET['table'] ) and ( FALSE !== array_search( $_GET['table'], $valid_tables) ) ) { OK: but wasteful and convoluted
   if ( isset( $_GET['table'] ) and in_array( $_GET['table'], $valid_tables) ) { // BETTER

The essence is this: if you really want to know the location of an element in an array, then use array_search, else if you only want to know whether that element exists, then use in_array()
ob at babcom dot biz
28-Aug-2006 11:55
This function is based on the function in comment "array_search" from July 26th 2006.

I added the possibility of defining the key which $Needle shall be searched for.

<?php
// search haystack for needle and return an array of the key path,
// FALSE otherwise.
// if NeedleKey is given, return only for this key
// mixed ArraySearchRecursive(mixed Needle,array Haystack
//                            [,NeedleKey[,bool Strict[,array Path]]])

function ArraySearchRecursive($Needle,$Haystack,$NeedleKey="",
                              $Strict=false,$Path=array()) {
  if(!is_array($Haystack))
    return false;
  foreach($Haystack as $Key => $Val) {
    if(is_array($Val)&&
       $SubPath=ArraySearchRecursive($Needle,$Val,$NeedleKey,
                                     $Strict,$Path)) {
      $Path=array_merge($Path,Array($Key),$SubPath);
      return $Path;
    }
    elseif((!$Strict&&$Val==$Needle&&
            $Key==(strlen($NeedleKey)>0?$NeedleKey:$Key))||
            ($Strict&&$Val===$Needle&&
             $Key==(strlen($NeedleKey)>0?$NeedleKey:$Key))) {
      $Path[]=$Key;
      return $Path;
    }
  }
  return false;
}
?>

Remove unnecessary new lines. I had to add them because of too long lines.
26-Jul-2006 04:19
/**
 * Searches haystack for needle and returns an array of the key path if it is found in the (multidimensional) array, FALSE otherwise.
 *
 * mixed array_searchRecursive ( mixed needle, array haystack [, bool strict[, array path]] )
 */

function array_searchRecursive( $needle, $haystack, $strict=false, $path=array() )
{
    if( !is_array($haystack) ) {
        return false;
    }

    foreach( $haystack as $key => $val ) {
        if( is_array($val) && $subPath = array_searchRecursive($needle, $val, $strict, $path) ) {
            $path = array_merge($path, array($key), $subPath);
            return $path;
        } elseif( (!$strict && $val == $needle) || ($strict && $val === $needle) ) {
            $path[] = $key;
            return $path;
        }
    }
    return false;
}
gullevek at gullevek dot org
19-Apr-2006 07:31
There were two previous entries for having a recursive search. The first one only searched for values, second one for values with an optional key.

But both of those stopped after they found an entry. I needed, that it searches recursive, with optional key and returns me all matches found in the array.

So I wrote this function:

needle is the value you search, haystack is the array of course, key is the optional key in the array where the needle should be. path should be never set on intial call. its an internal used variable.

It returns an array $path with the array entry 'found' where you can find all found groups. In these groups you have the array which holds the keys to find the data.

I hope this helps some of you.

<?php
    function array_search_recursive_all($needle, $haystack, $key, $path = NULL)
    {
        if (!$path['level'])
            $path['level'] = 0;
        if (!$path['work'])
            $path['work'] = array();
        if (!is_array($haystack))
            $haystack = array();

        // go through the array,
        foreach ($haystack as $_key => $_value)
        {
            // only value matches
            if (is_scalar($_value) && $_value == $needle && !$key)
            {
                $path['work'][$path['level']] = $_key;
                $path['found'][] = $path['work'];
            }
            // key and value matches
            elseif (is_scalar($_value) && $_value == $needle && $_key == $key)
            {
                $path['work'][$path['level']] = $_key;
                $path['found'][] = $path['work'];
            }
            elseif (is_array($_value))
            {
                // add position to working
                $path['work'][$path['level']] = $_key;
                // we will up a level
                $path['level'] += 1;
                // call recursive
                $path = array_search_recursive_all($needle, $_value, $key, $path);
            }
        }
        // cut all that is >= level
        array_splice($path['work'], $path['level']);
        // step back a level
        $path['level'] -= 1;
        return $path;
    }
?>

If you call it with this:

<?
    $right_side = array ('foo' => 'alpha', 'bar' => 'beta', 'delta' => 'gamma', 'gamma' => 'delta');
    $value = 'beta';
    $key = 'bar';
    $pos = array_search_recursive_all($value, $right_side, $key);
?>

You will find in $pos this data

<?
Array
(
    [level] => -1
    [work] => Array
        (
        )

    [found] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [0] => bar
                )

        )

)
?>
RichGC
20-Mar-2006 02:54
To expand on previous comments, here are some examples of
where using array_search within an IF statement can go
wrong when you want to use the array key thats returned.

Take the following two arrays you wish to search:

<?php
$fruit_array = array("apple", "pear", "orange");
$fruit_array = array("a" => "apple", "b" => "pear", "c" => "orange");

if ($i = array_search("apple", $fruit_array))
//PROBLEM: the first array returns a key of 0 and IF treats it as FALSE

if (is_numeric($i = array_search("apple", $fruit_array)))
//PROBLEM: works on numeric keys of the first array but fails on the second

if ($i = is_numeric(array_search("apple", $fruit_array)))
//PROBLEM: using the above in the wrong order causes $i to always equal 1

if ($i = array_search("apple", $fruit_array) !== FALSE)
//PROBLEM: explicit with no extra brackets causes $i to always equal 1

if (($i = array_search("apple", $fruit_array)) !== FALSE)
//YES: works on both arrays returning their keys
?>
congaz at yahoo dot dk
10-Mar-2006 04:38
Search a multi-dimensional array on keys!
-------------------------------------------

I needed to search dynamically in a multi-dimen array on keys. I came up with this little neat function. It is so amazingly simple, that I actually didn't think it would work - but it does...

mixed array_searchMultiOnKeys(array, array);

<?php
function array_searchMultiOnKeys($multiArray, $searchKeysArray) {
    // Iterate through searchKeys, making $multiArray smaller and smaller.
    foreach ($searchKeysArray as $keySearch) {
        $multiArray = $multiArray[$keySearch];
        $result = $multiArray;
    }
   
    // Check $result.
    if (is_array($multiArray)) {
        // An array was found at the end of the search. Return true.
        $result = true;
    }
    else if ($result == '') {
        // There was nothing found at the end of the search. Return false.
        $result = false;
    }

    return $result;
// End of function,
}

// --- Test array_searchMultiOnKeys ---
$multiArray['webpages']['downloads']['music'] = 1;
$multiArray['webpages']['downloads']['pressmaterial'] = 5;
$multiArray['webpages']['links'] = 7;

array_searchMultiOnKeys($multiArray, array('webpages', 'links')); // returns 7.
array_searchMultiOnKeys($multiArray, array('webpages', 'downloads')); // returns true.
array_searchMultiOnKeys($multiArray, array('webpages', 'downloads', 'software')); // returns false.

?>

$multiArray / $searchKeysArray can be any size.

Happy hacking...
chappy at citromail dot hu
11-Feb-2006 09:26
If you're searching for strings and you need a case-insensetive script, there's one:

function array_lsearch($str,$array){
    $found=array();
    foreach($array as $k=>$v){
        if(strtolower($v)==strtolower($str)){
            $found[]=$v;
        }
    }
    $f=count($found);
    if($f===0)return false;elseif($f===1)return $found[0];else return $found;
}

It returns the original string, not the lower. Also good if use strtoupper().
hansen{ä}cointel.de
09-Feb-2006 03:26
may be good to take note of PHP's mind-boggling 'fuzzy' (vulgo "magic type-casting") comparison features not only in using the results, but also in the search, too:
<?php
$a=array("a","b",0,"c","d");
echo "a: ".array_search("a",$a);
echo "b: ".array_search("b",$a);
echo "c: ".array_search("c",$a);
echo "d: ".array_search("d",$a);
echo "0: ".array_search("0",$a);
echo "x: ".array_search("x",$a);
echo "1: ".array_search("1",$a);
?>
will result in:
a: 0, b: 1, c: 2, d: 2, 0: 2, x: 2, 1: false

as from "c" on, the first match found in $a is "0", as any string compared to an int is automatically cast to (int)0.
chrisAdams at 407x dot com
25-Jan-2006 10:32
This has been noted but took me a while to figure out: When the array that you are searching starts with position '0' array_search returns '0' for a match - evaluating as FALSE:

$usernameArray[0]='moe';
$usernameArray[1]='larry';
$usernameArray[2]='curly';

$username='moe';

// broken
if ($userNameArrayPosition=array_search($username, $usernameArray))
{ // even though the expression is true, will eval as false
echo 'userNameArrayPosition -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}else{
echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition = -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}
// will echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition = - 0'

// works
if (is_numeric($userNameArrayPosition=array_search($username, $usernameArray))
{ // will be true for all numeric values, but not bool. false
echo 'userNameArrayPosition -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}else{
echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition = -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}
// will echo 'userNameArrayPosition  - 0'

$username='homer';
if (is_numeric($userNameArrayPosition=array_search($username, $usernameArray))
{ // will be true for all numeric values, but not bool. false
echo 'userNameArrayPosition -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}else{
echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition = -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}
// will echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition =  - FALSE'
chrisAdams at 407x dot com
25-Jan-2006 09:53
This has been noted but took me a while to figure out: When the array that you are searching starts with position '0' array_search returns '0' for a match - evaluating as FALSE:

$usernameArray[0]='moe';
$usernameArray[1]='larry';
$usernameArray[2]='curly';

$username='moe';

// broken
if ($userNameArrayPosition=array_search($username, $usernameArray))
{ // even though the expression is true, will eval as false
echo 'userNameArrayPosition -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}else{
echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition = -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}
// will echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition = - 0'

// works
if (is_numeric($userNameArrayPosition=array_search($username, $usernameArray)==TRUE)
{ // will be true for all numeric values, but not bool. false
echo 'userNameArrayPosition -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}else{
echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition = -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}
// will echo 'userNameArrayPosition  - 0'

$username='homer';
if (is_numeric($userNameArrayPosition=array_search($username, $usernameArray)==TRUE)
{ // will be true for all numeric values, but not bool. false
echo 'userNameArrayPosition -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}else{
echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition = -'.$userNameArrayPosition;
}
// will echo 'evaluates false - userNameArrayPosition =  - FALSE'
chernyshevsky at hotmail dot com
08-Jan-2006 02:53