Multidimensional array undefined index problem

Question

I am getting a multidimensional array from an HTML form. When I want to get a single value, e.g.

$chapters = $_POST["chapters"];

echo $chapters[0]["title"];

it says undefined index title.

When I print the array, it shows as

Array
(
    [chapters] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    ['title'] => this is title
                    ['text'] => this is text
                    ['photo'] => this is photo source
                    ['photo_caption'] => photo caption
                )

        )
)

(a) Which array are you printing? $_POST or $chapters? (b) If this is the exact output, why are the string keys one time in quotes (e.g. ['title']) and the other time without quotes ([chapters]) ? print_r never prints string keys with quotes, so you must have manipulated the output. — Felix Kling
– Felix Kling, Commented Aug 23, 2011 at 14:58
possible duplicate of PHP: "Notice: Undefined variable" and "Notice: Undefined index" — Jocelyn
– Jocelyn, Commented Mar 29, 2013 at 11:56

Felix Kling · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-24 00:23:55Z

6

Based on your comments, the problem seemed to be following:

print_r never prints quotes for string keys. If you have not manipulated the output somehow, then it can only mean that the single quotes are actually part of the key.

This should work:

echo $chapters[0]["'title'"];

but better you fix the keys.

From your comment:

the problem was that i was using single quotes (name="chapter[0]['photo_caption']") in html form, corrected to name="chapter[0][photo_caption]" solved the problem

edited Aug 24, 2011 at 0:23

answered Aug 23, 2011 at 21:36

Felix Kling

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Comments

Madara's Ghost · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-23 14:56:46Z

4

According to your output, you should be using $chapters["chapters"][0]["title"].

Note that you have 3 nested arrays in your output, therefore you'll need to go 3 levels deep to get your value.

answered Aug 23, 2011 at 14:56

Madara's Ghost

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3 Comments

mobius Over a year ago

$chapters["chapters"][0]["title"] :)

Shoaib Iqbal Over a year ago

thanks Felix Kling, the problem was that i was using single quotes (name="chapter[0]['photo_caption']") in html form, corrected to name="chapter[0][photo_caption]" solved the problem, many many thanks

Felix Kling Over a year ago

@Shoaib: Ah, so the they keys literally contained single quotes? That was tricky...

Shoaib Iqbal · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-21 12:16:17Z

0

Yeah, I faced the same problem. Then I realized, I was doing wrong with the keys. Actually, I was using the quote while naming the form elements as an array

Example-

echo "<input type='hidden' name= userprogramscholarship[$user->id]['checkstatus'] value= $val />";

I corrected and removed quotes as below

echo "<input type='hidden' name= userprogramscholarship[$user->id][checkstatus] value= $val />";

It was minor mistake. Removed quotes and it worked then.

edited Apr 21, 2016 at 12:16

Shoaib Iqbal

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answered Feb 16, 2016 at 15:44

Suraj Kumar

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