Problem with array_search(

[rmelino]

Hello,

 

I've been struggling to figure this out and can't seem to make it work.

 

I'm using the array_search function.  The problem occurs when I am searching for a value that appears twice in the array.  In the example below, you'll see that '1-2-3' is the value for both 'Dog Brown' and 'Dog Black'.  When I post, I am only able to echo out 1-2-3 when the posted values are $animal = 'Dog' and $color = 'Brown'.  If i post $animal = 'Dog' and $color = 'Black' the it echoes out nothing.  I am assuming this is because '1-2-3' appears twice in the array and 'Dog Brown' is the first one in the array list?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance...

 

if (isset($_POST['calculate']) || isset($_POST['calculate_x'])) {
$animal = ($_POST['animal']);	
$color = ($_POST['color']);	
}

$search = $animal.''.$color;

$array = array( 
'1-2-3' => 'Dog Brown',
'1-2-3' => 'Dog Black',
'4-5-6' => 'Cat Brown',
'7-8-9' => 'Bird Black' };

$result = array_search($search,$array);

echo $result;

[MadTechie]

You can't use the same key for different values

'1-2-3' => 'Dog Black' is replacing '1-2-3' => 'Dog Brown', so 'Dog Brown' doesn't exist,

[rmelino]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the reply.  So how do I get around this then?  I need to pull '1-2-3' for both Dog Black and Dog Brown...

[salathe]

You could swap around the array keys and values, like:

 

$array = array(
    'Dog Brown'  => '1-2-3',
    'Dog Black'  => '1-2-3',
    'Cat Brown'  => '4-5-6',
    'Bird Black' => '7-8-9'
};

$result = 'No match';
if (isset($result[$search])) {
    $result = $result[$search];
}

echo $result;

[rmelino]

Thanks Salathe.

 

This still isn't working for me because when I swap around the array keys and values my array_search function no longer works.

 

Perhaps I'm not fully understanding what you meant with this part of your code:

 

$result = 'No match';
if (isset($result[$search])) {
    $result = $result[$search];
}

echo $result;

 

 

[salathe]

The intention was to show that you don't use array_search with my code snippet. The if/isset block replaces your use of array_search.

[MadTechie]

slight typo in salathe code, it should be

$result = 'No match';
if (isset($array[$search])) {
    $result = $array[$search];
}

[salathe]

Cheers MadTechie, I am a little cross-eyed. Apologies for the typo. :-)

[MadTechie]

On first glance I missed it too,

 

(PS: I know it was a typo, as your coding is normally a high standard)

[rmelino]

Ahh, thanks everyone.  I was having trouble figuring out how that would work without any mention of $array!

 

Thanks again...

[MadTechie]

I have marked this as solved, (you could do this itself by clicking "Mark Solved") or "Mark Unsolved" to unsolved it.