[php] How can I get the current array index in a foreach loop?

How do I get the current index in a foreach loop?

foreach ($arr as $key => $val)
{
    // How do I get the index?
    // How do I get the first element in an associative array?
}

The current index is the value of $key. And for the other question, you can also use:

current($arr)

to get the first element of any array, assuming that you aren't using the next(), prev() or other functions to change the internal pointer of the array.

This is the most exhaustive answer so far and gets rid of the need for a $i variable floating around. It is a combo of Kip and Gnarf's answers.

$array = array( 'cat' => 'meow', 'dog' => 'woof', 'cow' => 'moo', 'computer' => 'beep' );
foreach( array_keys( $array ) as $index=>$key ) {

    // display the current index + key + value
    echo $index . ':' . $key . $array[$key];

    // first index
    if ( $index == 0 ) {
        echo ' -- This is the first element in the associative array';
    }

    // last index
    if ( $index == count( $array ) - 1 ) {
        echo ' -- This is the last element in the associative array';
    }
    echo '<br>';
}

Hope it helps someone.

$i = 0;
foreach ($arr as $key => $val) {
  if ($i === 0) {
    // first index
  }
  // current index is $i

  $i++;
}

You could get the first element in the array_keys() function as well. Or array_search() the keys for the "index" of a key. If you are inside a foreach loop, the simple incrementing counter (suggested by kip or cletus) is probably your most efficient method though.

<?php
   $array = array('test', '1', '2');
   $keys = array_keys($array);
   var_dump($keys[0]); // int(0)

   $array = array('test'=>'something', 'test2'=>'something else');
   $keys = array_keys($array);

   var_dump(array_search("test2", $keys)); // int(1)     
   var_dump(array_search("test3", $keys)); // bool(false)

based on @fabien-snauwaert's answer but simplified if you do not need the original key

$array = array( 'cat' => 'meow', 'dog' => 'woof', 'cow' => 'moo', 'computer' => 'beep' );
foreach( array_values( $array ) as $index=>$value ) {

    // display the current index +  value
    echo $index . ':' . $value;

    // first index
    if ( $index == 0 ) {
        echo ' -- This is the first element in the associative array';
    }

    // last index
    if ( $index == count( $array ) - 1 ) {
        echo ' -- This is the last element in the associative array';
    }
    echo '<br>';
}

well since this is the first google hit for this problem:

function mb_tell(&$msg) {
    if(count($msg) == 0) {
        return 0;
    }
    //prev($msg);
    $kv = each($msg);
    if(!prev($msg)) {
        end($msg);

        print_r($kv);
        return ($kv[0]+1);
    }
    print_r($kv);
    return ($kv[0]);
}

You can get the index value with this

foreach ($arr as $key => $val)
{
    $key = (int) $key;
    //With the variable $key you can get access to the current array index
    //You can use $val[$key] to

}

foreach($array as $key=>$value) {
    // do stuff
}

$key is the index of each $array element

$key is the index for the current array element, and $val is the value of that array element.

The first element has an index of 0. Therefore, to access it, use $arr[0]

To get the first element of the array, use this

$firstFound = false;
foreach($arr as $key=>$val)
{
    if (!$firstFound)
       $first = $val;
    else
       $firstFound = true;
    // do whatever you want here
}

// now ($first) has the value of the first element in the array