How do I get value of specific array element by secondary key? - php

Question

This has to be easy but I am struggling with it. If the array below exists (named "$startersnames") and I specifically want to echo the value that has "qb" as the key, how do I do that?
I assumed $startersnames['qb'], but no luck.
$startersnames[0]['qb'] works, but I won't know that it's index 0.
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[qb] => Tannehill
)
[1] => Array
(
[rb] => Ingram
)
[2] => Array
(
[wr] => Evans
)
[3] => Array
(
[wr] => Hopkins
)
[4] => Array
(
[wr] => Watkins
)
[5] => Array
(
[te] => Graham
)
[6] => Array
(
[pk] => Hauschka
)
[7] => Array
(
[def] => Rams
)
[8] => Array
(
[flex] => Smith
)
)

Answer 1

You can use array_column (from php 5.5) like this:
$qb = array_column($startersnames, 'qb');
echo $qb[0];
Demo: http://3v4l.org/QqRuK
This approach is particularly useful when you need to print all the wr names, which are more than one. You can simply iterate like this:
foreach(array_column($startersnames, 'wr') as $wr) {
echo $wr, "\n";
}

Answer 2

You seem to be expecting an array with text keys and value for each, but the array you have shown is an array of arrays: i.e. each numeric key has a value which is an array - the key/value pair where you are looking for the key 'qb'.
If you want to find a value at $array['qb'] then your array would look more like:
$array = [
'qb' => 'Tannehill',
'rb' => 'etc'
];
now $array['qb'] has a value.
If the array you are inspecting is a list of key/value pairs, then you have to iterate over the array members and examine each (i.e. the foreach loop shown in your first answer).

Answer 3

For your multi-dim array, you can loop through the outer array and test the inner array for your key.
function findKey(&$arr, $key) {
foreach($arr as $innerArr){
if(isset($innerArr[$key])) {
return $innerArr[$key];
}
}
return ""; // Not found
}
echo findKey($startersnames, "qb");

Answer 4

You can try foreach loop
$key = "qb";
foreach($startersnames as $innerArr){
if(isset($innerArr[$key])) {
echo $innerArr[$key];
}
}

Answer 5

$keyNeeded = 'qb';
$indexNeeded = null;
$valueNeeded = null;
foreach($startersnames as $index => $innerArr){
//Compare key
if(key($innerArray) === $keyNeeded){
//Get value
$valueNeeded = $innerArr[key($innerArray)];
//Store index found
$indexNeeded = $index;
//Ok, I'm found, let's go!
break;
}
}
if(!empty($indexNeeded) && !empty($valueNeeded)){
echo 'This is your value: ';
echo $startersnames[$indexNeeded]['qb'];
echo 'Or: ':
echo $valueNeeded;
}
http://php.net/manual/en/function.key.php