Get Array Values Recursively with PHP
I've been helping to write a WordPress plugin (I'm not ready to share it yet) and one of the tasks required is validating an array of user-selected values against a list of known valid values. The known valid array is actually a key=>value
array so unfortunately array_values
wont help get the simple list I'd like.
Instead a more advanced custom function was needed:
// http://php.net/manual/en/function.array-values.php
function array_values_recursive($array) {
$flat = array();
foreach($array as $value) {
if (is_array($value)) {
$flat = array_merge($flat, array_values_recursive($value));
}
else {
$flat[] = $value;
}
}
return $flat;
}
This recursive function dives into arrays, even key=>value
arrays, to retrieve the final list of values. Thank you PHP.net!
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No need to create a new array, just use iterators. There is an interface for iterators with values that can be iterators called RecursiveIterator. To wrap a nested array there is RecursiveArrayIterator. And to flatten an RecursiveIterator you can use RecursiveIteratorIterator, which by default only returns the leaves.
If you want to convert it to an array use iterator_to_array():
Although if you’re going to call
iterator_to_array()
I think you’ve defeated your stated purpose for using iterators.I just love this blog, I always get to know something new. I didn’t know about this. Very useful!