Assign number as array key name

Question

I need to assign in an associative array a number as key name, but if I do:

// Places (generated by mysql)
$places = array (
    0 => '1234',
    1 => '2345'
 );

// Week stats (generated by mysql)
$week = array (
  1234 => 
  array (
    0 => 
    array (
      'iid' => '1234',
      'mid' => 'xxxxxxxx',
      'name' => 'Name1',
    ),
    1 => 
    array (
      'iid' => '1234',
      'mid' => 'xxxxxxxx',
      'name' => 'Name3',
    )
  ),
  2345 => 
  array (
    0 => 
    array (
      'iid' => '2345',
      'mid' => 'xxxxxxxx',
      'name' => 'Name2',
    ),
    2 => 
    array (
      'iid' => '2345',
      'mid' => 'xxxxxxxx',
      'name' => 'Name4',
    )
   )
  );

  foreach($places as &$place) {

     echo $place;

     $i = 0;

     foreach($week[$i] as &$value) {

       echo $value["name"];
       $i++;
     }

  }

it doesn't work: http://codepad.viper-7.com/Y1g37t

because seems I should call it with:

echo $arr[<specific index>];

Instead I need to set "1234" and "2345" as strings, like this array:

$arr = Array("foo" => "bar");

So I can call it with

$arr[0] // bar

How can I do?

Solution

Thanks to @kirilloid

i use this code:

$vararr = array_keys($week);
$key =  $vararr[$i];

To get the key

Freelancer · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-04 22:24:23Z

3

It because it's an map and map associates values to keys so you have to do this :

<?php
$myNumber = 1234;
$myValue = "foo";
$arr = Array( $myNumber => $myValue );
echo $arr[1234];
?>

And don't forget to replace the ":" at your first line !

To iterate on a "map" you can use the foreach function :

foreach($arr as $key=>$value) {
    echo $key;
    echo $value;
}

This should display your key and the value associated :

1234
foo

Here is the difference with a simple array:

$array = array("foo", "bar", "hallo", "world");
echo $array[0];

edited Sep 4, 2013 at 22:24

answered Sep 4, 2013 at 22:17

Freelancer

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6 Comments

PurpleFoxy Over a year ago

ok but what if I need to iterate it in a for loop? I need to assign numbers as key names and not as index, like they was trings...

brbcoding Over a year ago

You iterate over the whole array... like foreach($arr as $k=>$v){ .. echo $k; }. Instead of $k[0], it would just be $k inside the loop

PurpleFoxy Over a year ago

the ":" was a typo on stack, by the way I was using 'as &$value' but even using your suggestion I get '$key = 0'

Freelancer Over a year ago

@user2070518 if this is the only code you have i don't see where is your problem. My code works well on my computer :s

brbcoding Over a year ago

Also, regarding your comment "by the way I was using 'as &$value'"... Why are you passing by reference? Are you modifying the array in any way?

|

kirilloid · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-04 22:15:42Z

2

You may either use array_keys:

echo $arr[array_keys($arr)[0]];

or reset and current:

reset($arr);
echo current($arr);

answered Sep 4, 2013 at 22:15

kirilloid

14.4k6 gold badges42 silver badges54 bronze badges

4 Comments

PurpleFoxy Over a year ago

I like the first solution but doesn't works :( 'Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '[''

PurpleFoxy Over a year ago

I needed to split it in two lines and now works! perfect, exactly what I needed!

kirilloid Over a year ago

Hmm, actualy first solution works in php 5.4+. And I get used to javascript, where this always were possible.

PurpleFoxy Over a year ago

I know, in JS I use it too, but in my machine with PHP I need to split it as I said.

user1864610 · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-04 22:16:40Z

2

There is no problem here - this is how it is supposed to work.

If you create an array like this:

$myNumber = 1234;
$myValue = "foo";
$arr = Array( $myNumber => $myValue );

then the index of the element is 1234, not 0.

You can retrieve it with echo $arr[1234]

If you need to loop over the array you can do so with

foreach($arr as $key=>$value) {
  // do something with $value
}

answered Sep 4, 2013 at 22:16

user1864610

Comments

gontrollez · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-05 12:01:19Z

0

There is no problem. As the value of $myNumber is 1234, you should access the array element like this:

echo $arr[1234];

If you need to access them in a foor loop you can get the keys as an array:

$keys = array_keys($arr);
$keys_count = count($keys);
for ($i=0; i<$keys_count; $i++) {
    echo $arr[$keys[$i]];
}

edited Sep 5, 2013 at 12:01

answered Sep 4, 2013 at 22:14

gontrollez

6,5682 gold badges32 silver badges39 bronze badges

3 Comments

PurpleFoxy Over a year ago

yes but I need to call it using 0,1,2,3 ($i) etc in some for loop, so I can't use $myNumber

Eric Over a year ago

@user2070518: foreach($arr as $key => $value) ...

gontrollez Over a year ago

I've edited my answer so you can loop the values by using 0, 1, 2, etc. Anyway I'm curious about why you can't iterate as suggested.

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