search for a key in an array (PHP) - php

Question

How can I search for a key in an array that contains more arrays.
For example I would like to search for "key" in "arr" and return this:
arr["some_inner_array"]["another_array_possible"][key"]
array_key_exists can tell me if it exists, but of course what I really need in the value...
I hope my question is clear...
EDIT:
based on the answer below, I managed to do a recursive function for that:
function look_in_array ( $array, $key ) {
if ( isset($array[$key]) )
return $array[$key];
foreach ($array as $item) {
if (is_array($item)) {
$value = look_in_array ($item,$key);
if ($value)
return $value;
}
}
}

Answer 1

This function should work:
function array_key_exists_recursive($searchKey, $array)
{
$result = false;
foreach($array as $key => $value)
{
if(is_array($array[$key]))
{
$result = array_key_exists_recursive($searchKey, $array[$key]);
}
else if(array_key_exists($searchKey, $array))
{
$result = $array[$searchKey];
}
if($result)
break;
}
return $result;
}
Exmaple:
$array = array( "a" => array("b" => "1", "c" => "2") );
var_dump(array_key_exists_recursive("c", $array)); //Result: 2

Answer 2

You could just ask this:
isset(arr["some_inner_array"]["another_array_possible"]["key"])
Would this work for you? Otherwise maybe explaning a bit better about what you're trying to accomplish would help us help you :)

Answer 3

You need to iterate over all elements in the first arrays and then use array_key_exists():
foreach($arr as $inner1) {
foreach($inner1 as $inner2) {
if array_key_exists($inner2, $key) {
echo $inner2[$key];
break 2; // if you only want the first match
}
}
}

Answer 4

Try this:
/**
* #param $path array containing path
* #param $array search array
* #return element matching path or null
*/
function arr_search($path, &$array){
$tmp = &$array;
for($i = 0; $i < count($path); $i++){
if(!isset($tmp[$path[$i]])) return null;
$tmp = &$tmp[$path[$i]];
}
return $tmp;
}
$arr = array(
'a' => array(
'b' => array(
'c' => 'abc',
),
'd' => array('ad'),
),
10 => array(100, 200, 300),
);
var_dump(arr_search(array('a', 'b', 'c'), $arr));
var_dump(arr_search(array('a', 'd'), $arr));
var_dump(arr_search(array(10, 100), $arr));
var_dump(arr_search(array(10, 1), $arr));
// EDIT previous example was wrong, so here is new one :)
function arr_search($key, $array){
$values = array();
if(array_key_exists($key, $array)) $values[] = $array[$key];
$stack = array_values($array);
while($tmp = array_pop($stack)){
if(is_array($tmp)){
foreach($tmp as &$v){
array_push($stack, $v);
}
if(array_key_exists($key, $tmp)){
$values[] = $tmp[$key];
}
}
}
return $values;
}
$arr = array(
'a' => array(
'b' => array(
'c' => 'abc',
),
'd' => array('ad'),
),
'e' => array(
'a' => array(
'b' => 'abc',
),
'b' => array('xyz'),
),
10 => array(100, 200, 300),
);
var_dump(arr_search('b', $arr));
var_dump(arr_search(0, $arr));