MultiDimensional arrays output - php

Question

I am currently learning PHP and I am stuck with this problem while testing foreach with multi-dimensional arrays.
Here is my array:
$employees = array(
'Josh' => array(
'age'=>'55',
'salary'=>'105,000',
'hobbies'=> array('none')
),
'John' => array(
'age'=>'45',
'salary'=>'125,000',
'color'=>'red',
'hobbies'=> array('none')
),
'Jane' => array (
'age'=>'25',
'salary'=>'93,000',
'hobbies'=> array ('fishing', 'flying')
)
);
Whenever I try to output I always get an error of Array to string conversion or Invalid argument. Can somebody tell me how could I correctly output this multi-dimensional array using foreach?
If I do it this way, the data like 125,000, basically the value assigned to age and salary isn't written out.
foreach($employees as $names_of_employees=>$data) {
echo $names_of_employees.'<br>';
foreach($data as $specifics=>$values) {
echo $specifics.'<br>';
}
foreach($values as $hobbies) {
echo $hobbies;
}
}
If I do it this way, then it writes out, but as well it writes out "Array" and array to string error:
foreach($employees as $names_of_employees=>$data) {
echo $names_of_employees.'<br>';
foreach($data as $specifics=>$values) {
echo $specifics.$values.'<br>';
}
foreach($values as $hobbies) {
echo $hobbies;
}
}
Thanks.

Answer 1

Try following code
<?php
$employees = array(
'Josh' => array(
'age'=>'55',
'salary'=>'105,000',
'hobbies'=> array('none')
),
'John' => array(
'age'=>'45',
'salary'=>'125,000',
'color'=>'red',
'hobbies'=> array('none')
),
'Jane' => array (
'age'=>'25',
'salary'=>'93,000',
'hobbies'=> array ('fishing', 'flying')
)
);
foreach( $employees as $names_of_employees => $data ){
echo $names_of_employees.'<br>';
echo "Salary: ".$data['salary'].'<br>';
echo "Age: ".$data['age'].'<br>';
if( isset($data['hobbies']) && !empty($data['hobbies']) ) {
echo "Hobbies: ";
foreach( $data['hobbies'] as $hobbies ) {
echo $hobbies.'<br>';
}
}
}

Answer 2

Well, it depends on what you want.
foreach( $employees as $name => $data ){
echo $name;
echo $data['age'];
echo $data['salary'];
// ...etc...
}

Answer 3

It looks like for array element 'John' you've got an extra item in the second dimension. I believe this is ok in PHP but perhaps you have to account for this in the code you use to read the values out.

Answer 4

It is because you are trying to convert an array to a string. The problem is caused by hobbies since it is an array. So in your foreach loop that goes through $data you need to check if it is an array or if the key is equal to hobbies.
foreach($employees as $names_of_employees=>$data) {
echo $names_of_employees.'<br>';
foreach($data as $specifics=>$values) {
if(is_array($values)) { //or you could say if($specifics == 'hobbies')
echo $specifics . ': ' . implode(',',$values) . '<br>';
} else {
echo $specifics . ': ' . $values . '<br>';
}
}
}