Address multi dimensional array in PHP using variable name

Question

I've been searching for hours, read http://php.net/manual/en/language.variables.variable.php with all comments but did not find a solution for my problem :(

There is a multi dimensional array, for example:

Array
(
    [53] => Array
    (
        [59] => Array
            (
                [64] => Array
                    (
                        [65] => Array
                            (
                            )
                        [66] => Array
                            (
                            )
                    )
            )
    )
[67] => Array
    (
    )
[68] => Array
    (
        [69] => Array
            (
            )
    )

)

I need to replace $foo[53][59][64][65] by another array. The "path" is available as string, i.e. "53.59.64.65" or "[53][59][64][65]".

What is the correct syntax to solve this issue?

$foo[53][59][64][65] = new_array() what does this give you ? — Maximus2012
– Maximus2012, Commented Sep 25, 2013 at 14:42
Didn't got it. What is your problem, get the right array according to your "path" or just replace it? — DontVoteMeDown
– DontVoteMeDown, Commented Sep 25, 2013 at 14:42
The problem is, that I need to access the original array programmatically. The "path" read from a database. So I know that the variable is named $foo and the path is [53][59][64][65] but I need to replace the contents by another array $bar. — glutorange
– glutorange, Commented Sep 25, 2013 at 14:44

pNre · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-25 14:53:21Z

3

$array = array(
    5 => array(
        6 => array(
            7 => 'Hello'
        )
    )
);

// key of the object to replace
$path = "[5][6][7]";
// gets the int values from the keys
if (preg_match_all('/\[(\d+)\]/', $path, $matches) !== false) {

    //  reference to the array
    $addr = &$array;

    //  for each key go deeper
    foreach ($matches[1] as $key) {
        $addr = &$addr[$key];
    }

    //  replace the object's value with a new array
    $addr = array(8 => 'New');
    unset($addr);

    var_dump($array);
}

The output is

array(1) {
  [5]=>
  array(1) {
    [6]=>
    array(1) {
      [7]=>
      array(1) {
        [8]=>
        string(3) "New"
      }
    }
  }
}

answered Sep 25, 2013 at 14:53

pNre

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