Find values in multidimensional arrays

Question

I've a multidimensional array:

array (
    array (
        "username"        => "foo",
        "favoriteGame"    => "Mario"
    )
    array (
        "username"        => "bar",
        "favoriteGame"    => "Mario"
    )
    array (
        "username"        => "xyz",
        "favoriteGame"    => "Zelda"
    )
)

How could I get the usernames of the persons that like to play for example Mario the easiest way possible?

EDIT: My fault: forget to explicitly mention that the "favoriteGame" value is dynamic and I cannot know which it is in advance.

My Solution:

foreach($users as $key => $value)
{
    if(!isset($$value['favoriteGame']))
    {
        $$value['favoriteGame'] = array();
    }
    array_push($$value['favoriteGame'], $value['username']);
}

Iterate over each sub-array and find its favoriteGame value. If there is not already an array $favoriteGame create it. Push the username-value of the actual sub-array to the $favoriteGame array.

Thanks for your replies, I just couldn't phrase this question properly.

This array is based on user-input. So it could be Mario, Zelda or even DeadSpace. I want to display a list with the values the players have entered alltogether (removing dublicates, of course). And foreach "favoriteGame" a list of the users that have entered this as "favoriteGame". — iceteea
– iceteea, Commented May 30, 2012 at 7:44

tigrang · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-30 07:45:42Z

6

function getUsernamesByFavoriteGame($data, $game) {
    $usernames = array();
    foreach($data as $arr) {
        if ($arr['favoriteGame'] == $game) {
            $usernames[] = $arr['username'];
        }
    }
    return $usernames;
}

edited May 30, 2012 at 7:45

answered May 30, 2012 at 7:38

tigrang

6,7671 gold badge22 silver badges22 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Aurimas Ličkus · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-30 07:38:31Z

5

 $usernames = array();
 foreach($array as $key => $value) {
     if ($value['favoriteGame'] == 'Mario') {
         $usernames[] = $value['username'];
     }
 }

answered May 30, 2012 at 7:38

Aurimas Ličkus

10.1k4 gold badges26 silver badges26 bronze badges

Comments

Okonomiyaki3000 · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-30 07:45:07Z

4

I would use array_filter. If you have PHP 5.3 or up, you can do it like this:

$favorite = "Mario";
$filter = function($player) use($favorite) { return $player['favoriteGame'] == $favorite; };
$filtered = array_filter($players, $filter);

It will be a little different for older versions because you won't be able to use lambda functions.

answered May 30, 2012 at 7:45

Okonomiyaki3000

3,70625 silver badges23 bronze badges

1 Comment

WildlyInaccurate Over a year ago

+1 I find array_filter much easier to understand when dealing with multidimensional arrays

Ruben Nagoga · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-30 07:44:01Z

2

 $game = 'Mario';   
 $users = array();
 foreach($array as $key => $value) {
     if ($value['favoriteGame'] == $game) {
         $users[] = $value['username'];
     }
 }

answered May 30, 2012 at 7:44

Ruben Nagoga

2,2182 gold badges20 silver badges32 bronze badges

Comments

Subir Kumar Sao · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-30 07:44:08Z

2

If you are using this more often then convert the data structure to something like this.

 array(
   "Mario" => array(
               "0":"foo",
               "1":"xyz"
               )
   "Zelda" => array(
               "0":"pqr",
               "1":"abc"
              )
 )

This will directly give you list of user names for a favorite game.

$arr[$favGame]

If you cannot change the data structure then go with with tigrang has suggested.

answered May 30, 2012 at 7:44

Subir Kumar Sao

8,4393 gold badges28 silver badges51 bronze badges

Comments

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:20:44Z

I think you should implement a custom multidimensional search function.
Take a look at this answer.

Here's how you would use it

Code | Live example

function search($array, $key, $value){
    $results = array();

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

        foreach ($array as $subarray)
            $results = array_merge($results, search($subarray, $key, $value));
    }

    return $results;
}

$arr = array (
    array (
        "username"        => "foo",
        "favoriteGame"    => "Mario"
    ),
    array (
        "username"        => "bar",
        "favoriteGame"    => "Mario"
    ),
    array (
        "username"        => "xyz",
        "favoriteGame"    => "Zelda"
    )
);

print_r(search($arr, 'favoriteGame', 'Mario'));

//OUTPUT
Array ( 
    [0] => Array ( 
        [username] => foo 
        [favoriteGame] => Mario 
    ) 
    [1] => Array ( 
        [username] => bar 
        [favoriteGame] => Mario 
    ) 
)

MH2K9 · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-12 14:15:55Z

$array = array( 'a' => 'A',
    'b'=>'B',
    'c'=>'C',
    'd'=>array(
        'e'=>array(
           'f'=>'D'
        ),
        'g'=>array(
            'h'=>'E'
        )
    ),
    'i'=>'F',
    'j'=>array(
        'k'=>'G'
    ),
    'l'=>'H'
);

$new_array = array();
foreach($array as $k1=>$v1){
    if(is_array($v1)){
        $new_array = parseArray($new_array, $k1, $v1);
    }else{
        $new_array = array_merge($new_array, array($k1=>$v1));
    }
}

function parseArray($new_array, $key, $val){
    if(is_array($val)){
        foreach($val as $k2=>$v2){
            if(is_array($v2)){
               $new_array = parseArray($new_array, $k2, $v2);
            }else{
               $new_array = array_merge($new_array, array($k2=>$v2));
            }
        }
    }else{
        $new_array = array_merge($new_array, array($key=>$val));
    }
    return $new_array;
}

Output

Array
(
    [a] => A
    [b] => B
    [c] => C
    [f] => D
    [h] => E
    [i] => F
    [k] => G
    [l] => H
)

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Find values in multidimensional arrays

7 Answers 7

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

7 Answers 7

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related