Better array_search()

Question

I want to search an array by value, not by key. It's an array of country code => country name, as below.

$countries = array (
    'AF' => 'Afghanistan',
    'AX' => 'Åland Islands',
    'AL' => 'Albania',
    'DZ' => 'Algeria',
    'AS' => 'American Samoa');

Of course, PHP's array_search() is a perfect candidate, however I don't want to return the key of the found element, but the value. The only way I can think of doing this is to use the following (from a function):

return $countries[array_search($string, $countries)];

Is there a better/faster way to do this?

Your Common Sense · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-01 09:23:45Z

2

$countries = array (
    'Afghanistan' => 'AF',
    'Åland Islands' => 'AX',
);
if (isset($countries[$string])){
  return $string;
}

however, nothing bad in your current way.
If I were you, I wouldn't stumble upon such a trifle "problem"

answered Sep 1, 2011 at 9:23

Your Common Sense

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1 Comment

Ray Toal Over a year ago

Yes, I like this turning the array around; looks the OP is okay with it. You might be able to make it a little simpler by replacing your condition with array_key_exists. Yes, a trifle.... :)

genesis · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-01 09:22:16Z

2

I think your one is fast enough. It's like

$key = array_search($string, $countries);
return $countries[ $key ];

answered Sep 1, 2011 at 9:22

genesis

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Comments

Ray Toal · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-01 09:32:28Z

1

You can create a mirrored array (an inverted index) and search that.

This is acceptable if your original array doesn't change often if at all, since you will have two arrays to keep in synch.

I think, though, what you basically want is a set, since you seem to be saying that if 'Algeria' is your search term, then you want to return 'Algeria'. So either build the set from the values in your array and do a lookup on that, or, if you don't want a second structure, use array_search but don't go back into the array, or use in_array().

edited Sep 1, 2011 at 9:32

answered Sep 1, 2011 at 9:23

Ray Toal

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1 Comment

Bojangles Over a year ago

I thought about the mirrored array approach too. It's a good one, but I'd rather just go with one array. Thanks anyway, though!

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