[php] PHP multidimensional array search by value

I have an array where I want to search the uid and get the key of the array.

Examples

Assume we have the following 2-dimensional array:

$userdb = array(
    array(
        'uid' => '100',
        'name' => 'Sandra Shush',
        'pic_square' => 'urlof100'
    ),
    array(
        'uid' => '5465',
        'name' => 'Stefanie Mcmohn',
        'pic_square' => 'urlof100'
    ),
    array(
        'uid' => '40489',
        'name' => 'Michael',
        'pic_square' => 'urlof40489'
    )
);

The function call search_by_uid(100) (uid of first user) should return 0.

The function call search_by_uid(40489) should return 2.

I tried making loops, but I want a faster executing code.

This question is related to php arrays multidimensional-array

The answer is


Expanding on the function @mayhem created, this example would be more of a "fuzzy" search in case you just want to match part (most) of a search string:

 function searchArrayKeyVal($sKey, $id, $array) {
    foreach ($array as $key => $val) {
        if (strpos(strtolower($val[$sKey]), strtolower(trim($id))) !== false) {
            return $key;
        }
    }
         return false;
 }

For example the value in the array is Welcome to New York! and you wanted the first instance of just "New York!"


Building off Jakub's excellent answer, here is a more generalized search that will allow the key to specified (not just for uid):

function searcharray($value, $key, $array) {
   foreach ($array as $k => $val) {
       if ($val[$key] == $value) {
           return $k;
       }
   }
   return null;
}

Usage: $results = searcharray('searchvalue', searchkey, $array);


If question i.e.

$a = [
     [
       "_id" => "5a96933414d48831a41901f2",
       "discount_amount" => 3.29,
       "discount_id" => "5a92656a14d488570c2c44a2",
     ],
     [
       "_id" => "5a9790fd14d48879cf16a9e8",
       "discount_amount" => 4.53,
       "discount_id" => "5a9265b914d488548513b122",
     ],
     [
       "_id" => "5a98083614d488191304b6c3",
       "discount_amount" => 15.24,
       "discount_id" => "5a92806a14d48858ff5c2ec3",
     ],
     [
       "_id" => "5a982a4914d48824721eafe3",
       "discount_amount" => 45.74,
       "discount_id" => "5a928ce414d488609e73b443",
     ],
    [
       "_id" => "5a982a4914d48824721eafe55",
       "discount_amount" => 10.26,
       "discount_id" => "5a928ce414d488609e73b443",
     ],
   ];

Ans:

function searchForId($id, $array) {
    $did=0;
    $dia=0;
   foreach ($array as $key => $val) {
       if ($val['discount_id'] === $id) {
           $dia +=$val['discount_amount'];
           $did++;
       }
   }
    if($dia != '') {
        echo $dia;
        var_dump($did);
    }
   return null;
};
print_r(searchForId('5a928ce414d488609e73b443',$a));

I want to check tha in the following array $arr is there 'abc' exists in sub arrays or not

$arr = array(
    array(
        'title' => 'abc'
    )
);

Then i can use this

$res = array_search('abc', array_column($arr, 'title'));
if($res == ''){
    echo 'exists';
} else {
    echo 'notExists';
}

I think This is the Most simple way to define


I had to use un function which finds every elements in an array. So I modified the function done by Jakub Trunecek as follow:

function search_in_array_r($needle, $array) {
    $found = array();
    foreach ($array as $key => $val) {
        if ($val[1] == $needle) {
            array_push($found, $val[1]);
        }
    }
    if (count($found) != 0)
        return $found;
    else
        return null;
}

/**
 * searches a simple as well as multi dimension array
 * @param type $needle
 * @param type $haystack
 * @return boolean
 */
public static function in_array_multi($needle, $haystack){
    $needle = trim($needle);
    if(!is_array($haystack))
        return False;

    foreach($haystack as $key=>$value){
        if(is_array($value)){
            if(self::in_array_multi($needle, $value))
                return True;
            else
               self::in_array_multi($needle, $value);
        }
        else
        if(trim($value) === trim($needle)){//visibility fix//
            error_log("$value === $needle setting visibility to 1 hidden");
            return True;
        }
    }

    return False;
}

If you are using (PHP 5 >= 5.5.0) you don't have to write your own function to do this, just write this line and it's done.

If you want just one result:

$key = array_search(40489, array_column($userdb, 'uid'));

For multiple results

$keys = array_keys(array_column($userdb, 'uid'), 40489);

In case you have an associative array as pointed in the comments you could make it with:

$keys = array_keys(array_combine(array_keys($userdb), array_column($userdb, 'uid')),40489);

If you are using PHP < 5.5.0, you can use this backport, thanks ramsey!

Update: I've been making some simple benchmarks and the multiple results form seems to be the fastest one, even faster than the Jakub custom function!


for( $i =0; $i < sizeof($allUsers); $i++)
    {   
    $NEEDLE1='firstname';
    $NEEDLE2='emailAddress';
    $sterm='Tofind';
     if(isset($allUsers[$i][$NEEDLE1]) && isset($allUsers[$i][$NEEDLE2])
        {
            $Fname= $allUsers[$i][$NEEDLE1];
            $Lname= $allUsers[$i][$NEEDLE2];

            $pos1 = stripos($Fname, $sterm);
            $pos2=stripos($Lname, $sterm);//not case sensitive 

            if($pos1 !== false ||$pos2 !== false)
            {$resultsMatched[] =$allUsers[$i];}
            else
            {   continue;}              
        }

}
Print_r($resultsMatched); //will give array for matched values even partially matched

With help of above code one can find any(partially matched) data from any column in 2D array so user id can be found as required in question.


you can use this function ; https://github.com/serhatozles/ArrayAdvancedSearch

<?php 
include('ArraySearch.php');

$query = "a='Example World' and b>='2'";

$Array = array(
'a' => array('d' => '2'),
array('a' => 'Example World','b' => '2'),
array('c' => '3'), array('d' => '4'),
);

$Result = ArraySearch($Array,$query,1);

echo '<pre>';
print_r($Result);
echo '</pre>'; 

// Output:
// Array
// (
//    [0] => Array
//        (
//            [a] => Example World
//            [b] => 2
//        )
//
// )

I modified one of examples below description function array_search. Function searchItemsByKey return all value(s) by $key from multidimensional array ( N levels). Perhaps , it would be useful for somebody. Example:

 $arr = array(
     'XXX'=>array(
               'YYY'=> array(
                    'AAA'=> array(
                          'keyN' =>'value1'
                   )
               ),
              'ZZZ'=> array(
                    'BBB'=> array(
                          'keyN' => 'value2'
                   )
               )
              //.....
           )
);


$result = searchItemsByKey($arr,'keyN');

print '<pre>';
print_r($result);
print '<pre>';
// OUTPUT
Array
(
  [0] => value1
  [1] => value2
)

Function code:

function searchItemsByKey($array, $key)
{
   $results = array();

  if (is_array($array))
  {
    if (isset($array[$key]) && key($array)==$key)
        $results[] = $array[$key];

    foreach ($array as $sub_array)
        $results = array_merge($results, searchItemsByKey($sub_array, $key));
  }

 return  $results;
}

You can use array_column for that.

$search_value = '5465';
$search_key   = 'uid';
$user = array_search($search_value, array_column($userdb, $search_key));

print_r($userdb[$user]);

5465 is the user ID you want to search, uid is the key that contains user ID and $userdb is the array that is defined in the question.


In later versions of PHP (>= 5.5.0) you can use this one-liner:

$key = array_search('100', array_column($userdb, 'uid'));

I know this was already answered, but I used this and extended it a little more in my code so that you didn't have search by only the uid. I just want to share it for anyone else who may need that functionality.

Here's my example and please bare in mind this is my first answer. I took out the param array because I only needed to search one specific array, but you could easily add it in. I wanted to essentially search by more than just the uid.

Also, in my situation there may be multiple keys to return as a result of searching by other fields that may not be unique.

 /**
     * @param array multidimensional 
     * @param string value to search for, ie a specific field name like name_first
     * @param string associative key to find it in, ie field_name
     * 
     * @return array keys.
     */
     function search_revisions($dataArray, $search_value, $key_to_search) {
        // This function will search the revisions for a certain value
        // related to the associative key you are looking for.
        $keys = array();
        foreach ($dataArray as $key => $cur_value) {
            if ($cur_value[$key_to_search] == $search_value) {
                $keys[] = $key;
            }
        }
        return $keys;
    }

Later, I ended up writing this to allow me to search for another value and associative key. So my first example allows you to search for a value in any specific associative key, and return all the matches.

This second example shows you where a value ('Taylor') is found in a certain associative key (first_name) AND another value (true) is found in another associative key (employed), and returns all matches (Keys where people with first name 'Taylor' AND are employed).

/**
 * @param array multidimensional 
 * @param string $search_value The value to search for, ie a specific 'Taylor'
 * @param string $key_to_search The associative key to find it in, ie first_name
 * @param string $other_matching_key The associative key to find in the matches for employed
 * @param string $other_matching_value The value to find in that matching associative key, ie true
 * 
 * @return array keys, ie all the people with the first name 'Taylor' that are employed.
 */
 function search_revisions($dataArray, $search_value, $key_to_search, $other_matching_value = null, $other_matching_key = null) {
    // This function will search the revisions for a certain value
    // related to the associative key you are looking for.
    $keys = array();
    foreach ($dataArray as $key => $cur_value) {
        if ($cur_value[$key_to_search] == $search_value) {
            if (isset($other_matching_key) && isset($other_matching_value)) {
                if ($cur_value[$other_matching_key] == $other_matching_value) {
                    $keys[] = $key;
                }
            } else {
                // I must keep in mind that some searches may have multiple
                // matches and others would not, so leave it open with no continues.
                $keys[] = $key;
            }
        }
    }
    return $keys;
}

Use of function

$data = array(
    array(
        'cust_group' => 6,
        'price' => 13.21,
        'price_qty' => 5
    ),
    array(
        'cust_group' => 8,
        'price' => 15.25,
        'price_qty' => 4
    ),
    array(
        'cust_group' => 8,
        'price' => 12.75,
        'price_qty' => 10
    )
);

$findKey = search_revisions($data,'8', 'cust_group', '10', 'price_qty');
print_r($findKey);

Result

Array ( [0] => 2 ) 

Looks array_filter will be suitable solution for this...

$userdb=Array
(
    (0) => Array
        (
            (uid) => '100',
            (name) => 'Sandra Shush',
            (url) => 'urlof100'
        ),

    (1) => Array
        (
            (uid) => '5465',
            (name) => 'Stefanie Mcmohn',
            (pic_square) => 'urlof100'
        ),

    (2) => Array
        (
            (uid) => '40489',
            (name) => 'Michael',
            (pic_square) => 'urlof40489'
        )
);

PHP Code

<?php 
$search = 5465;
$found = array_filter($userdb,function($v,$k) use ($search){
  return $v['uid'] == $search;
},ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH) // With latest PHP third parameter is mandatory.. Available Values:- ARRAY_FILTER_USE_BOTH OR ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY  

$values= print_r(array_values($found));
$keys =  print_r(array_keys($found)); 

Just share, maybe can like this.

if( ! function_exists('arraySearchMulti')){
function arraySearchMulti($search,$key,$array,$returnKey=false)
{
    foreach ($array as $k => $val) {
        if (isset($val[$key])) {
            if ((string)$val[$key] == (string)$search) {
                return ($returnKey ? $k : $val);
            }
        }else{
            return (is_array($val) ? arraySearchMulti($search,$key,$val,$returnKey) : null);
        }
    }
    return null;
}}

Here is one liner for the same,

$pic_square = $userdb[array_search($uid,array_column($userdb, 'uid'))]['pic_square'];

$a = ['x' => ['eee', 'ccc'], 'b' => ['zzz']];

$found = null;
$search = 'eee';

array_walk($a, function ($k, $v) use ($search, &$found) {
    if (in_array($search, $k)) {
        $found = $v;
    }
});

var_dump($found);

No one else has used array_reduce yet, so thought I'd add this approach...

$find_by_uid = '100';
$is_in_array = array_reduce($userdb, function($carry, $user) use ($find_by_uid){
    return $carry ? $carry : $user['uid'] === $find_by_uid;
}); 
// Returns true

Gives you more fine control over the 'search' logic than array_search().

Note that I have used strict equality here but you could opt for different comparison logic. The $carry means the comparison needs to be true once, and the final result will be TRUE.


Even though this is an old question and has an accepted answer, Thought i would suggest one change to the accepted answer.. So first off, i agree the accepted answer is correct here.

function searchArrayKeyVal($sKey, $id, $array) {
   foreach ($array as $key => $val) {
       if ($val[$sKey] == $id) {
           return $key;
       }
   }
   return false;
}

Replacing the preset 'uid' with a parameter in the function instead, so now calling the below code means you can use the one function across multiple array types. Small change, but one that makes the slight difference.

    // Array Data Of Users
$userdb = array (
    array ('uid' => '100','name' => 'Sandra Shush','url' => 'urlof100' ),
    array ('uid' => '5465','name' => 'Stefanie Mcmohn','url' => 'urlof100' ),
    array ('uid' => '40489','name' => 'Michael','url' => 'urlof40489' ),
);

// Obtain The Key Of The Array
$arrayKey = searchArrayKeyVal("uid", '100', $userdb);
if ($arrayKey!==false) {
    echo "Search Result: ", $userdb[$arrayKey]['name'];
} else {
    echo "Search Result can not be found";
}

PHP Fiddle Example


Try this

<?php
 function recursive_array_search($needle,$haystack) {
    foreach($haystack as $key=>$value) {
        $current_key=$key;
        if($needle===$value OR (is_array($value) && 
            recursive_array_search($needle,$value) !== false)) {
             return $current_key;
        }
    }
    return false;
 }
 ?>

Examples related to php

I am receiving warning in Facebook Application using PHP SDK Pass PDO prepared statement to variables Parse error: syntax error, unexpected [ Preg_match backtrack error Removing "http://" from a string How do I hide the PHP explode delimiter from submitted form results? Problems with installation of Google App Engine SDK for php in OS X Laravel 4 with Sentry 2 add user to a group on Registration php & mysql query not echoing in html with tags? How do I show a message in the foreach loop?

Examples related to arrays

PHP array value passes to next row Use NSInteger as array index How do I show a message in the foreach loop? Objects are not valid as a React child. If you meant to render a collection of children, use an array instead Iterating over arrays in Python 3 Best way to "push" into C# array Sort Array of object by object field in Angular 6 Checking for duplicate strings in JavaScript array what does numpy ndarray shape do? How to round a numpy array?

Examples related to multidimensional-array

what does numpy ndarray shape do? len() of a numpy array in python What is the purpose of meshgrid in Python / NumPy? Convert a numpy.ndarray to string(or bytes) and convert it back to numpy.ndarray Typescript - multidimensional array initialization How to get every first element in 2 dimensional list How does numpy.newaxis work and when to use it? How to count the occurrence of certain item in an ndarray? Iterate through 2 dimensional array Selecting specific rows and columns from NumPy array