How can I validate the structure of my PHP arrays? - php

Question

Is there a function out there to make sure that any given array conforms to a particular structure? What I mean is that is has particular key names, perhaps particular types for values, and whatever nested structure.
Right now I have a place where I want to make sure that the array getting past has certain keys, a couple holding a certain data type, and one sub-array with particular key names. I've done a lot of run-around because I was passing malformed arrays to it, and finally I'm at the point where I have a bunch of
if ( ! isset($arr['key1']) ) { .... }
if ( ! isset($arr['key2']) ) { .... }
if ( ! isset($arr['key3']) ) { .... }
I would have saved a lot of time and consternation if I could have checked that the array conformed to a particular structure beforehand. Ideally something like
$arrModel = array(
'key1' => NULL ,
'key2' => int ,
'key3' => array(
'key1' => NULL ,
'key2' => NULL ,
),
);
if ( ! validate_array( $arrModel, $arrCandidate ) ) { ... }
So, the question I'm asking is, does this already exists, or do I write this myself?

Answer 1

Convert array to JSON:
http://us.php.net/manual/en/function.json-encode.php
Then check against a JSON Schema:
http://json-schema.org/
http://jsonschemaphpv.sourceforge.net/

Answer 2

It doesn't exist built in.
Maybe try something like (untested):
array_diff(array_merge_recursive($arrCandidate, $arrModel), $arrModel)

Answer 3

You can use the Symfony Validation component
Installation:
composer require symfony/validator doctrine/annotations
Usage:
$myArray = [
'name' => ['first_name' => 'foo', 'last_name' => 'bar'],
'email' => 'foo#email.com'
];
$constraints = new Assert\Collection([
'name' => new Assert\Collection([
'first_name' => new Assert\Length(['min' => 101]),
'last_name' => new Assert\Length(['min' => 1]),
]),
'email' => new Assert\Email(),
]);
$validator = Validation::createValidator();
$violations = $validator->validate($myArray, $constraints);
For more details, see How to Validate Raw Values (Scalar Values and Arrays)

Answer 4

accepted answer make diff based on values, since it's about array structure you dont want to diff values. Insted you should use [array_diff_key()][1]
Function alone is not recursive. It will not work out of box on sample array from question.
Edit after years: Got into similar trouble whit recursive array functions, so there is mine array_diff_recursive, this does not solve original question because it compare values as well, but i believe it can be easily modified and someone can find it useful .
function array_diff_recursive(array $array1, array $array2){
return array_replace_recursive(
array_diff_recursive_one_way($array1, $array2),
array_diff_recursive_one_way($array2, $array1)
);
}//end array_diff_recursive()
function array_diff_recursive_one_way(array $array1, array $array2)
{
$ret = array();
foreach ($array1 as $key => $value) {
if (array_key_exists($key, $array2) === TRUE) {
if (is_array($value) === TRUE) {
$recurse = array_diff_recursive_one_way($value, $array2[$key]);
if (count($recurse) > 0) {
$ret[$key] = $recurse;
}
} elseif (in_array($value, $array2) === FALSE) {
$ret[$key] = $value;
}
} elseif (in_array($value, $array2) === FALSE) {
$ret[$key] = $value;
}
}
return $ret;
}//end array_diff_recursive_one_way()```
[1]: http://php.net/manual/en/function.array-diff-key.php

Answer 5

I know this is sort of an old post, sorry if my answer is not approppriate.
I'm in the process of writing a php package that does exactly what you are asking for, it's called Structure.
What you can do with the package is something like:
$arrayCheck = new \Structure\ArrayS();
$arrayCheck->setFormat(array("profile"=>"array"));
if ($arrayCheck->check($myArray)) {
//...
}
You can check it out here: http://github.com/3nr1c/structure

Answer 6

I came across a tool called Matchmaker on GitHub, which looks very comprehensive and has composer support and unit tests:
https://github.com/ptrofimov/matchmaker
You can include it into your project with
composer require ptrofimov/matchmaker.