Searching for array index in a multi dimentional array

Question

I have an array like

Array ( 
     [0] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [SSN] => 123456789 [borrowerName] => Peter K  ) ) 
     [1] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [SSN] => 412516789 [borrowerName] => Jack P  ) ) 
     [2] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [SSN] => 999338999 [borrowerName] => Angel M  ) ) 
)

I want to be able to search for an SSN and get back the index of where it is

for example search($array,'SSN','412516789') should return 1

What is the point of the multidimensional array here? Your data could easily be expressed w/o the second array. — Aaron Yodaiken
– Aaron Yodaiken, Commented Jun 7, 2011 at 17:07
Just foreach() the parent array and rummage around for what you want. php's array search functions aren't built for multidimensional searching. — Marc B
– Marc B, Commented Jun 7, 2011 at 17:10
Changing the structure is not exactly an option so I will have to work with this. foreach would be very inefficient — ash
– ash, Commented Jun 7, 2011 at 17:22

dynamic · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-07 18:04:15Z

2

Of course you need a foreach. Can't do otherwise.

function search($array,$key,$value) {
  foreach($array as $k=>$v) {
    if ($v[0][$key]==$value)
      return $k;
  }
}

answered Jun 7, 2011 at 18:04

dynamic

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Comments

konsolenfreddy · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-07 18:33:55Z

0

Here's some function searching recursively in a multidim array, you may want to adapt it to your needs.

function findInMultiDim($array, $value){
    if(in_array($value,$array)) return TRUE;
    foreach($array as $v){
        if(is_array($v)){
            $result = findInMultiDim($v, $value);
            if($result === TRUE){
                return TRUE;
            }
        }
    }
    return FALSE;
}

answered Jun 7, 2011 at 18:33

konsolenfreddy

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