How to unset dynamically generated multidimensional array - php

Question

I am trying to delete an array whereby one of its values..(time) meet a specific condition. \The code I'm currently working with looks like this:
foreach($_SESSION as $key) {
foreach($key['time'] as $keys=>$value){
if(condition){
unset($key);
}
}
}
The array looks like this.
Array
(
[form1] => Array
(
[hash] => lFfKBKiCTG6vOQDa8c7n
[time] => 1401067044
)
[form5] => Array
(
[hash] => TTmLVODDEkI1NrRnAbfB
[time] => 1401063352
)
[form4] => Array
(
[hash] => XCVOvrGbhuqAZehBmwoD
[time] => 1401063352
)
I tried to adapt solutions from these pages but didn't work.
Remove element in multidimensional array and save
PHP - unset in a multidimensional array
PHP How to Unset Member of Multidimensional Array?

Answer 1

If you want to unset the values inside it, a simple single foreach will suffice. Consider this example:
$values = array(
'form1' => array('hash' => 'lFfKBKiCTG6vOQDa8c7n', 'time' => 1401067044),
'form5' => array('hash' => 'TTmLVODDEkI1NrRnAbfB', 'time' => 1401063352),
'form4' => array('hash' => 'XCVOvrGbhuqAZehBmwoD', 'time' => 1401063352),
);
$needle = 1401067044;
foreach($values as $key => &$value) {
if($value['time'] == $needle) {
// if you want to remove this key pair use this
unset($values[$key]['time']);
// if you just want to remove the value inside it
$value['time'] = null;
// if you want to remove all of this entirely
unset($values[$key]);
}
}
Fiddle

Answer 2

Unsetting in a for loop can lead to issues, its easier and better to use array_filter which is optimized for this kind of problem. Here is how to do it with your example. ideone running code
<?php
$ar = Array(
"form1" => Array
(
"hash" => 'lFfKBKiCTG6vOQDa8c7n',
"time" => '1401067044'
),
"form5" => Array
(
"hash" => 'TTmLVODDEkI1NrRnAbfB',
"time" => '1401063352'
),
"form4" => Array
(
"hash" => 'XCVOvrGbhuqAZehBmwoD',
"time" => '1401063352'
)
);
$condition = '1401067044';
$newArray = array_filter($ar, function($form) use ($condition) {
if (!isset($form['time'])) {
return true;
}
return $form['time'] != $condition;
});
var_export($newArray);
array_filter

Answer 3

Assuming your values are stored in $_SESSION
foreach($_SESSION as $key => $value) {
if(isset($value['time']) && $value['time'] < 1401063352) {
unset($_SESSION[$key]);
}
}
If you are storing your values in $_SESSION you may want to consider storing them in a subfield like $_SESSION['myForms'] so if you need to add other values to your session you can easily access only the values you need.

Answer 4

You need to do
unset($_SESSION[$key])
However as mentioned by Victory, array_filter is probably a better approach to this.