PHP find second highest element value in a multidimensional array

Question

How can i get the second highest element value in a multidimensional array. I use this function to get the highest value. But how can i find the second highest.

function get_max($array)
{
    $max = -999999999;
    $found_item = null;

    foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
        if ($value['transaction_no'] > $max) {
           $max = $value['transaction_no'];
           $found_item = $value;
        }
    }

    return $found_item;
}

For example if i call get_max($transactions) i get the array number 4 because it has the highest value: 5 in the transaction_no. But how can i get the second highest? for example when i call for get_second_max($transactions) i should get array number 3 because it has 4 in the transaction_no.

$transactions = Array
    (
        [0] => Array
            (
                [transaction_user_id] => 359691e27b23f8ef3f8e1c50315cd506
                [transaction_no] => 1
                [transaction_total_amount] => 589.00
                [transaction_date] => 1335932419
                [transaction_status] => cancelled
            )

        [1] => Array
            (
                [transaction_user_id] => 9def02e6337b888d6dbe5617a172c18d
                [transaction_no] => 2
                [transaction_total_amount] => 79.00
                [transaction_date] => 1336476696
                [transaction_status] => cancelled
            )

        [2] => Array
            (
                [transaction_user_id] => 9def02e6337b888d6dbe5617a172c18d
                [transaction_no] => 3
                [transaction_total_amount] => 299.00
                [transaction_date] => 1336476739
                [transaction_status] => cancelled
            )

        [3] => Array
            (
                [transaction_user_id] => 9def02e6337b888d6dbe5617a172c18d
                [transaction_no] => 4
                [transaction_total_amount] => 79.00
                [transaction_date] => 1336476927
                [transaction_status] => cancelled
            )

        [4] => Array
            (
                [transaction_user_id] => 8e9050a3646c98342b9ba079fba80982
                [transaction_no] => 5
                [transaction_total_amount] => 129.00
                [transaction_date] => 1336477032
                [transaction_status] => cancelled
            )

    )

Sort the array by the transaction number, then get the second element of the array. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Jul 27, 2014 at 13:22
If you get this items from SQL query - then find a result right in a query with order by and limit — u_mulder
– u_mulder, Commented Jul 27, 2014 at 13:24

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:27:20Z

1

<?php
function get_max($array) {

    $all = array();
    foreach($array as $key=>$value){
        $all[] = $value['transaction_no'];
    }

    rsort($all);
    return $all[1];
}

To return the array and not only the value:

function get_max($array) {

    $all = array();
    foreach($array as $key=>$value){
        /* creating array where the key is transaction_no and
           the value is the array containing this transaction_no */
        $all[$value['transaction_no']] = $value;
    }

    /* now sort the array by the key (transaction_no) */
    krsort($all);

    /* get the second array and return it (see the link below) */
    return array_slice($all, 1, 1)[0];
}

PHP: Get n-th item of an associative array

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:27

CommunityBot

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answered Jul 27, 2014 at 13:24

idmean

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6 Comments

u_mulder Over a year ago

asort returns bool

Fallen Over a year ago

Either you've to sort in decreasing order or return $all[count($all) - 2]

RaduS Over a year ago

This returns the value of the second highest but how do i get the array of that element

RaduS Over a year ago

@wumm my problem is getting the entire element of the second highest value in the transaction_no, not just the value

RaduS Over a year ago

Hey @wumm, thanks for updating, there are some small typing errors in the update, but many thanks, i will accept this as the right answer

|

bukart · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-27 13:46:56Z

For testing purposes your given array

$transactions = array(
    array(
        'transaction_user_id'       => '359691e27b23f8ef3f8e1c50315cd506',
        'transaction_no'            => 1,
        'transaction_total_amount'  => 589.00,
        'transaction_date'          => 1335932419,
        'transaction_status'        => 'cancelled',
    ),
    array(
        'transaction_user_id'       => '9def02e6337b888d6dbe5617a172c18d',
        'transaction_no'            => 2,
        'transaction_total_amount'  => 79.00,
        'transaction_date'          => 1336476696,
        'transaction_status'        => 'cancelled',
    ),
    array(
        'transaction_user_id'       => '9def02e6337b888d6dbe5617a172c18d',
        'transaction_no'            => 3,
        'transaction_total_amount'  => 299.00,
        'transaction_date'          => 1336476739,
        'transaction_status'        => 'cancelled',
    ),
    array(
        'transaction_user_id'       => '9def02e6337b888d6dbe5617a172c18d',
        'transaction_no'            => 4,
        'transaction_total_amount'  => 79.00,
        'transaction_date'          => 1336476927,
        'transaction_status'        => 'cancelled',
    ),
    array(
        'transaction_user_id'       => '8e9050a3646c98342b9ba079fba80982',
        'transaction_no'            => 5,
        'transaction_total_amount'  => 129.00,
        'transaction_date'          => 1336477032,
        'transaction_status'        => 'cancelled',
    ),
);

A simple function to get the n-th ancestor of the maximum transaction number.

It retrieves your array with the transactions and the index of the ancestor you want. Internally it checks wether your array is large enough to get the defined ancestor, sorts the given array by the transaction number and returns the n-th (ancestor-th) element.

function getTransactionMaxAncestor($transactions, $ancestor = 0)
{
    if ($ancestor > count($transactions)) {
        throw new Exception('Not enough transactions available');
    }   

    usort($transactions, function ($a, $b) {
        $ta = $a['transaction_no'];
        $tb = $b['transaction_no'];

        if ($a == $b) {
            return 0;
        }

        return $a > $b ? -1 : 1;
    });

    return $transactions[$ancestor];
}

The relevant call to get the second highest element

$secondHighest = getTransactionMaxAncestor($transactions, 1);

Fallen · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-27 18:05:24Z

When a larger value than current max value is found, you know that the current max value is the 2nd largest till now. Or if there's a larger value found which is less than or equal to current max value while larger than the current second largest, update the current second largest accordingly.

Updated Code:

function get_max($array) {
    $max = -999999999;
    $max_item = null;
    $second_max_item = null;
    foreach($array as $key=>$value)
    {
        if($value['transaction_no'] >= $max)
        {
            $max = $value['transaction_no'];
            $second_max_item = $max_item;
            $max_item = $value;

        } else if($value['transaction_no'] > $second_max_item['transaction_no']) {

            $second_max_item = $value;

        }
     }

    return $second_max_item;
}

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